Different

Little Felt Envelope.

'It must be, true love, true love...'

It was Friday again, a week since Jade had stopped being her friend. School was over, and Cat's phone had been blasting Pink's True Love all afternoon, when all she wanted to do was practice her song. Hey, she didn't have any lines to learn, so why not? Cat knew it was Jade, although she was constantly changing the ID to try and trick her. If Cat had been a gloom-and-doom sort of person, she'd be thinking of how We Be Jammin' wouldn't pick an extra. But, being the general optimist she was, she figured that being really peppy and upbeat about her part might catch their attention.

Her phone fell silent. At last, thought Cat thankfully. She continued practising. She didn't want lights-they hurt her eyes. She didn't want effects-they provided distractions. She just wanted to be her. Eventually, she had to stop when her voice started going hoarse. This alarmed her a little, but she decided to stop practising for a few days.

But now, she was bored. Usually Jade would come over, maybe Tori. But neither of them were speaking to her. She didn't want to be seen with Beck at the minute, since Jade and Tori were both going to flip. André was Tori's best friend, so he was a no-no too. And Robbie was at his grandma's house.

Oh, well! I can go out without them, Cat decided, then told her mum she was going out. She grabbed her purse, which was stuffed with savings, and walked out. After getting her bike out of the garage and putting her purse in the basket, she headed out.

Soon, she stopped at the market. After chaining her bike up, she rushed to a nearby stall, gazing around in wonder. Markets were so interesting! This particular one was selling wigs, so Cat moved on. Another sold clothes, which was nice. Market clothes were always cheap and cheerful, and very colourful. She bought a bunny jumper, feeling a pang as she remembered her rabbit picture...

No, she told herself firmly. Don't even think about that. Today's going to be a day of fun, for YOU.

So she circled even more stalls, all bright and zany and slightly weird. Through the crowd, she saw a boy coming her way. The funny thing was, he looked exactly like... Robbie?!

It was Robbie! He continued walking over, now slightly pink. His fist was clenched, the one not holding Rex.

"Hi, Robbie!" Cat announced. "How was your grandma?"

"Well," said Robbie nervously. "I didn't go to my grandma's."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Cat gasped, heart thudding. Not another friend, I can't have lost another friend!

"This was meant to be a surprise," Robbie explained, unclenching his fist and opening it up. In his palm, lay a necklace. It was a delicately carved cat face, with big, begging eyes, pointed ears and a sweet smile. It was a pale, pale peach-almost like a pearl. "I found a pearl in a pearl oyster on the beach the other day, and there's a guy on the market who turns any stones into necklaces."

He put the silver chain around Cat's neck, and fastened it gently. Cat stared at the happy little cat face for a moment, the real pearl cat face. Then she looked at Robbie-and promptly burst into tears.

"What's wrong? I'm sorry I lied, Cat!" Robbie said desperately.

"I told you to buy her a proper thing, dude," Rex scoffed, while Robbie looked utterly bewildered.

"No, no. I love it! It's like a cat!" Cat managed to smile through her tears. "But I thought I'd lost you, like I've been losing everyone else recently..."

Robbie smiled, then suddenly enveloped her into a hug.

"It's been a while since I've had a hug like this," Cat said softly. "Not since..."

Since the fateful day at McDonalds, the day she'd started losing her friends. No matter how hard she tried to hold onto them, they slipped through her hands like water. And no matter how hard she tried to stay that cute, loveable, positive Cat, her old, uncertain self kept peeking through. And she didn't like it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Cat slowly rode home, she kept smiling at the little cat face. It was perfect. She propped her bike up in the garage, grabbed her purse and ran to her front door. But something was there.

Mr Purple. His neck had been painstakingly sewed back on, so it wouldn't come off again in a hurry. Cat squealed and picked him up, then noticed something was riding on his back. She plucked it off and looked at it. It was a little witch toy, with silky black hair and tiny black clothes. It had a miniature felt letter in its hand, which Cat opened out of curiosity. A bit of material, with a few words stitched on.

Sorry, kitten.

J

xxx

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Dedicated to @awesome126 for making that cute lil cover on the side! <3 Go check out Sarcastic Much! It's in the external link =)