"Oh, uh, Ashley’s picking me up." I see the corners of his mouth turn up slightly. I know it’s always safe to mention her name around him. If I’d said that to mom, her expression would turn into a permanent scowl.

"Oh, yeah?" he questions with an uppity tone while walking over to me and putting his arm around my shoulder. "I’m sorry, but it’s hard to imagine that Ashley would want to be at school super early."

I let out a small laugh, "True. We’re just going to go to Panera to get some breakfast before school," I bite my lower lip, "That’s okay, right?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah." he shakes his hand as if he’s erasing my last question. "You need some money?"

I shake my head, "No, I’ve got some, thanks. Besides, knowing Ashley, like I do, she won’t let me pay for anything, anyway."

"Oh, lucky girl, you are, then." he beams at me. "Oh! I almost forgot; how was your day out, yesterday?"

"It was great." I say simply, "We went to the park."

"The park? Really?"

"Uh huh." I laugh. He seems just as confused about it as I was. "We found a cat." I add as I grab a glass from the cabinet and fill it with water.

"A cat, you say?"

“Mhmm. It was really pretty with all kinds of different colors. It was a tabby, I think.” I take a sip of my drink.

“Well, make sure you wash those clothes really well, so everyone’s allergies won’t act up, because knowing you, and your love of cats, you probably played with it instead of Ashley.”

I choke on my last sip and try to keep from coughing, so I won’t spew water everywhere. He’s chuckling, so apparently he didn’t realize the irony of his statement. I manage to swallow, and I set the glass down, wiping the tears from my eyes.

He needn’t worry, though, me and Ash had plenty of ‘play time’ in the back seat of her SUV, before we went to the pet store. Well, that is until the cat jumped on her back. I chuckle, remembering her facial expression and yelp of pain. She was so pissed. Thank God I grabbed the cat before she did, too. It would have gone flying out the window, otherwise.