Oh Brother

Somebody Loves Your Cat?

That night, I hadn't slept a wink. I was thinking about Sean, and the note. I felt a warm fuzzy feeling in my chest. This lasted long into the next day. At breakfast, I was unusually cheerful, despite not having slept well. Mom noticed this.

"What's made you so happy?" she asked, smiling as she flipped a pancake.

"Oh, everything!" I said happily, throwing my arms out, almost knocking over a glass of orange juice. But I didn't care. Nothing could phase me.

That is, until I read the note again.

The writing was sloppy, and small. Sean's writing was large, and he pressed hard with his pencil. This writing was soft, and light. I examined the note again. I could barely make out the writing. I had assumed it said "Somebody loves you back." I looked closer.  Maybe...maybe it said something else. I looked hard. I realized that it definitely didn't say what I thought it had said. I couldn't even make out what it said. It didn't look like Sean's writing, and it didn't say "Somebody loves you back." How could I have even made that mistake? I had read it so many times. I needed Nikki's support. I pulled out my phone and texted her.

Hey, can we meet at the stop sign in 5 min?

sure! why?

I need your advice on something.

omw

I ran to the stop sign at the corner of the street, feet pounding almost as fast as my heartbeat. I clutched the note in my hand, afraid to look at it again. I waited at the corner for a few seconds, then Nikki appeared, brown curls flying as she ran.

"What's up?" she asked.

"This," I said, and handed her the note. She looked carefully, sitting down on the sidewalk. I sat next to her, reading over her shoulder.

"What the heck?" she said, peering at it. "It says 'Somebody loves your cat.'"

"What??" I cried, snatching the note from her and reading it again. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I dunno," she said. "Hold on..." She took the note again. "Maybe it says 'Somebody looks like trash.'"

"What???" I said even louder. "What the hell? Who would say that??"

"Wait..." she said again. She looked closer. I waited in anticipation, palms sweating. She sat back.

"Nah, I got nothin," she said, handing me the note again. "Somebody's got bad handwriting." I slumped down. 

"Will I never know what this means?" I cried, throwing my hands into the air. Nikki patted my back. 

"Don't worry," she said. "Just keep investigating. I'm sure we'll figure it out." She glanced at her watch. "Sorry, Kate, but I gotta run. Sean has a baseball game." I sat up.

"Can I come?" I asked suddenly. Nikki looked at me strangely.

"I mean, I guess," she said. "It'll be really boring."

"No, it's okay!" I gasped. "I want to hang out more!" I whipped out my phone and texted my Mom that I was going. I got the okay, and then we were off. I read the note one more time. It did say "Somebody loves you back." It had to. What else could it say? I was so confused. Despite how nerve-wracking it would be, I had to get to the bottom of this message.