Cat's Out...a Darla The Alpha Cat Novel

Chapter 11 - iTrouble

The next several minutes are a tad tense.

"I don't suppose you'd believe a second date?" I turn my Coke can on the counter, debating whether or not to eat my new friend in order to tie up loose ends.

"Not unless you all went to batting practice." Jack crosses her arms over her chest, the international girl-signal that she isn't going to buy any BS.

"Well, we do both play baseball..."

She shakes her head, wide and slow. She's got the girl-signals down.

I plop onto the stool next to hers. "Listen, Jack...I can't tell you..."

"About your sister?"

You have got to be kidding me. Did she bug my freakin' car? "How..."

"Because me and your new boyfriend--"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"--talk. We're good friends."

I want to be angry. But she's not the only one keeping secrets, so my anger isn't exactly justified. Though eating her is still an option. "He told you about our date?"

"If you wanna call it that." She spins in the stool and props her elbows on the island. "At first, I wanted to throttle you. But then I thought, what if it were my sister?"

"You would have done the same thing."

"I didn't say that. Messing with street gangs is strictly a second date activity. But I get it."

"Good." I let out a gush of air. "I'm glad that's out in the open, now why don't we--"

A palm shoots up, stopping me short. "But I would not go off into the city by myself in the middle of the night armed with nothing more than a baseball bat! I wouldn't go if I had a battalion of Marines behind me."

"I had to know. The police won't help."

"Sounds like the police got more sense." She closes her eyes for a moment and draws a breath. "But you're here. Not sign of gunshot wounds or missing limbs. So what happened?"

How do I explain this? I don't, that's how. "Nothing. I didn't find her."

"You found something." She almost looks hopeful.

"Druggies and a few scary guys. I avoided them."

The way her eyes lock on mine, I wonder if she's downloading my memory into her own for further evaluation. "So you'll let the police handle this now?"

"Yes. Scout's honor."

"You're not a Scout."

"Does it show? Okay, new friends honor."

"Good enough." Jack eye-burns me a little more. I can almost feel the data transfer from my brain to hers. But what can she do? Not like she can ground me or anything. As I eye-burn her right back, though, I get the feeling that she's far more interested in my sister-hunt than she lets on.

               #

We're on our third episode of iCarly when Grant shows up. He raises an eyebrow when he catches the TV screen. "Umm, slow day?"

Jack points to my mother's 60-inch Sony. "This is classic American art. iCarly goes to the depths of all the physiological, gender-bias, and socioeconomic issues of our time."

Grant sits in the recliner. "Nothing else on, huh?"

I shake my  head. "For rich people, my mother and her husband don't get a lot of channels."

"Copy that." Grant surveys the living room. "They don't spend much time in here, do they?"

He's right. The room is all white furniture and fancy decor. It's like a museum of modern wealth. "I guess not. There's at least two other TVs in the house." Which means I can hang out in here and not be bothered. "So, you and Jack are good friends? Talk every day?"

His face turns a lovely pinkish. "Oh. Yeah. We go back a few years. I was friends with--"

Jack shoots him a glare and he clamps his mouth shut.

What's that all about? I let it slide. "And you told her about what a lousy date I am?"

"I never said that," Grant says. "In fact, I think it was kind of awesome. Except for the risk of dying."

Stick around. But he can't stick around. I can't get involved with anyone. I'm not really human anymore, am I? Which is news to my hormones. As my eyes wander across Grant's tanned arms, every human cell in my body is firing up and ready to pounce. Maybe edible was an appropriate choice of words.

All three of us hang out for the rest of the afternoon. Finally, Grant checks his phone and announces it's time for dinner at his house. I note that my own "family" isn't even home yet.

"So we never caught our movie," he says on his way out.

"No. All my fault."

"How about tonight?" He leans against the doorframe, tilting his smile at a perfect seventeen-degree angle for maximum melting ability.

The  problem is, I don't plan to be around tonight. But I can hardly tell him that. But if I say no, Jack will know I'm breaking my promise to her. Besides, I really want to go with him. I can make it work. I have to make it work. "Sure. Maybe a late show?"

"Thought your parents went to bed early."

"Oh...they do." I look to Jack for help, but she's studying her fingernails with way too much interest. "But I can't let that ruin my summer, right? I can be quiet."

Jack coughs.

"Great," he says. "I think there's a ten o' clock show. Pick you up around 9:30?"

Not enough time. But what choice do I have? "Okay."

He leans toward me. My heart catches. But he only says, "See you tonight."

The three words every girl wants to hear. My body quivers. Control. You're a vicious predator. You can't let a boy do this to you.

But one just did.