***

I stayed up that night waiting for my mom. I knew she'd be tired, I just wanted to talk to her. I sat on the couch, my phone in hand, scrolling through one minute Instagram makeup tutorials and fifteen second videos of people mixing paint together with plastic knives.

I tensed up as I heard the front door u lock, but I quickly relaxed when the door opened to reveal my mom. Her hair was in a messy bun as she wore her classy business wear as I called it.

When she saw me on the couch her face softened.
"Hi, honey." She said, almost excitedly. I guess she was expecting me to be asleep.  I smiled at her as I stood up from the couch to give her a hug.

She hugged me back with a sigh.
"What're you doing up?" She asked as she set down her purse on the kitchen counter.
"Waiting for you." I said. She gave me a smile as she opened up the refrigerator.

"How's your day been? How was school?" She asked as she pulled out leftovers from the previous night.
"It was okay. Zachary Gorden and David Hunkle silly stringed the principals office today, so that was fun." I told her as I hoped up on the counter next to her purse.

"That Zachery Gorden, I swear." She mumbled, making me chuckle.

"What about you?" I asked, I saw her face light up slightly.
"I finally got a promotion!" She said excitedly.
"Really? That's great!" I said, giving her a toothy smile.

"More Christmas presents for you, sweet boy!" She said. I chuckled as I hopped down from the counter.

I put a hand over my mouth to stop myself from yawning, it was nice talking to my mom. She seemed to notice. She brushed my bangs to the side. A small smile on her face.

"Go to bed, pumpkin. I'll be home earlier tomorrow."
I nodded and gave her a kiss on the cheek before walking back to my room.
I sighed as I sat on my bed, the blankets sinking into my sides as I did so. I cracked my neck and my fingers next as I let out a long breath.

I was about to lay down, but a noise caught my attention.
A meow.

And it definitely didn't sound like Daya.
My eyes widened in realization. "Oh shit!" I mumbled, I forgot Dustin the cat was in here. I heard the noise coming from underneath my bed, so that's where I looked.

Sure enough, the gray Sphynx cat was curled up in a ball right at the end of my bed, I couldn't see much of him because of the darkness underneath the bed.

I reached forward, praying he wasn't a scratcher, and put my hand underneath his stomach, lifting him an inch off the ground and bringing toward me.
I then cradled him in my arms and stood up, walking toward the still opened door and back to the kitchen.

"Hey, mama?" I said as I saw her putting food in the microwave.
"Yes?" She asked as she looked toward me, her eyes widening.

"You shaved Daya!" She shouted. I laughed before answering.

"No no, definitely not. I found this cat on my way to school. Mr. Jennings left him when he moved." I said. My mom frowned.

"Poor kitty." She said, walking up to me and putting the cats head, the cat nuzzling into her hand, making her chuckle.

She must've seen the look on me face, because she sighed. "Are you sure you can take care of another cat?" She asked. I smiled wide and nodded eagerly.

"Defiantly. 100%. For sure. Absolutely." I said. My mom hesitated before sighed with a smile.

"You can keep him. But take him to the vet to make sure he doesn't have some weird disease." She ordered, walking back to the microwave.

I nodded. "Can do!" I said before refunding back to my room.

***

Derick, god I need to change his name, was curled up next to me as I tried to sleep. I tossed and turned for a solid hour before groaning.

I wanted to see Scott and tell him about the cat. And I wanted to see Kirstie, and Kevin- and basically everyone.

I finally felt my eyelids get heavier as I stared into total darkness.
I heard faint laughter as I drifted off into sleep...prepared to wake up and see Scott.

***