Cats in the Basket

Nick moves to a new school in California and makes the oddest friends possible. One morning, years after meeting these friends, they witness a tragedy.

    

 Life really does tend to be difficult when you accidentally get sucked into the weirdest friend group possible. I mean, it wasn’t as though I just looked at this group of people and was like “Yes. This is it. These are the people who I choose to spend many of my days with and try to have fun with.” It didn’t happen like that at all.

     I’ll start you all from the beginning. I moved to Ricksdale, California at the tender age of fifteen determined to make the best friends of my life on the first day of school. I was going to be cool. I was going to play football. I was going to get the hottest girl in school to be my girlfriend. That was my plan at least. However, there were a few flaws in my plan, the main one being that I was, well still am kind of, a scrawny little weirdo. So, being the scrawny little weirdo I was, I did not make instant friends with the cool kids. I did not make the football team and man those tryouts were painful, both physically and mentally in terms of my self-esteem. And, I could barely get a girl to look my way, let alone go on a date with me. So, I was off to a terrible start in my new life. It didn’t get any better when the first kid who even tried talking to me was a creep.

     “Hey,” the black haired, black lipped skinny boy who sat behind me in geometry said. “You’re the new kid right?”

     I turned around and looked at the boy. It had been my assumption that goth kids were supposed to spend the whole day sulking, not talking to anyone besides their goth friends and spirits that followed them around. “Yeah,” was my response.

     “I’m Charlie,” he said. “What’s your name?”

     Charlie the goth kid who talked too much. I couldn’t wrap my mind around this oxymoron that had been presented to me. “Nick,” I said.

     “Cool. Cool, so do you have anyone to sit with at lunch today? I saw you sitting alone yesterday and I figured I’d invite you to sit at our table. You’ll like Meredith and Pablo. I mean, Meredith is a little odd and Pablo can barely speak a word of English, but they’re cool.”

     I thought for a moment. It was true that the day before I had sat at a table in the corner alone. It had just been my assumption that I would automatically get invited to sit at the table with the cool kids, but that didn’t happen. Eating lunch alone was actually very depressing, but did I really want to sit at the table that was clearly intended for the freaks? I mean, I’d only seen Charlie so far, but judging by the looks of him and the small descriptions of his friends, I was expecting an equally as goth girl and a Mexican boy who didn’t know what the hell was going on. However, despite my negative thoughts, I couldn’t stand the idea of suffering through another lonely lunch, so I said, “Sure.”

     Charlie smiled. “Awesome. Awesome. We can walk there together after class.”

     “Okay,” I said, with slight regret edging into my voice.

     After math, I gathered my things and shoved them into my backpack, careful not to squash the lunch I had made myself that morning. I walked out of the classroom trailing behind Charlie and his long, black trench coat. His boots clomped on the floor distractingly, especially next to my ratty green Converse. I shoved my hands in my pocket and made sure to stay a step behind Charlie at all times to possibly avoid people thinking that we were walking together. The whole walk to the cafeteria, Charlie had this big grin on his face and was talking non-stop about whatever. I wasn’t really listening, I was just keeping my head down, trying to avoid the attention I knew that I was most likely getting.

     When we got to the table, Charlie set down his black backpack and said, “Well, I guess we’re the first ones here. Are you going to buy your lunch?”

     “No,” I said as I pulled the brown paper bag out of my backpack.

 

    “Cool. Cool,” Charlie said. “I’ll be right back then.” And with that, he left to get into the lunch line.

     I sat down and pulled out my turkey sandwich that was only slightly smashed. Before I had the chance to take my first bite, a girl with insanely red hair that floated around her head as though it had a mind of its own said to me, “This is my table. You shouldn’t be sitting here because this is my table.”

     I was surprised. “Oh,” I said, “Sorry. Uh, Charlie, that uh goth guy, said I could sit here but, I mean, I could move I guess.”

 

    The girl glared at me and then sat down. “Charlie likes to change things on me without telling and I do not like that. Not one bit.” She pulled a thermos out of her bag. “I’m Meredith.” She pulled out a plastic spoon as well.

     “Ah, yeah,” I said. “Meredith. He mentioned you.”

     Meredith looked at me, her eyes wide and a little crazy. “What did he say about me?”

     I was taken aback. “Nothing. Nothing besides that you sit here too,” I lied leaving out the part about her being odd, which I can say the words “a little” didn’t exactly cover it.

     “Oh,” she said. Meredith focused back on her thermos which I assumed held some sort of soup.

     I looked back to my sandwich and finally took that first bite. I moved in to take a second when an accented voice disrupted me.

     “Hola,” the small boy who I was assuming to be Pablo said. “Como esta?”

     “Bien,” Meredith replied.

     Pablo looked at me. “Who are you?” he asked in heavily accented English.

     “Uh, my name is Nick. Charlie said I could sit with you guys today. I’m new,” I answered not knowing if he understood a word I had just said.

      Pablo gave me two thumbs up and sat down. He and Meredith continued to talk in Spanish. Finally, Charlie came back with a try full of food that I found to be undefinable. “I see you all met,” he said with a smile. He turned to Pablo and said, “Pablo, tu bien?”

     Pablo nodded. “Si, muy bien.”

     “Good. Good,” he said. “And Meredith, how are you?”

     “Fine,” she snapped.

     “In a pleasant mood as always, I see.” Then he turned to me. “So, Nick my man, where are you from?”

     “Wisconsin,” I said. I looked back down at my sandwich and continued to eat. I half listen to their odd conversation that Charlie mostly carried and responded when questions were directed at me for the rest of the lunch.

     It was awkward, but for some reason, I continued to eat lunch with them every day after that and eventually it wasn’t awkward anymore. I found out that even though Pablo spoke barely any English, he was the top of class. I found out that Meredith really liked cats, I mean really liked them. She would practically only ever talk about cats. Cats and dead people. She never got any less odd than what I had originally perceived her as. And Charlie, well the only reason Charlie looked the way he did was to piss of his parents. He really had no reason other than that to look like the stereotypical goth kid.

     So, that’s how I ended up here, in an empty graveyard at five o’clock in the morning standing with my arms crossed next to Charlie who was looking as goth as ever. It’s the middle of the summer after our senior year of high school and I am anticipating getting out of the state of California and back to Wisconsin to go to the University there.

     “Where’s Pablo?” I ask.

     “He went to take a leak,” Charlie answers.

     “And Meredith?”

     “She said she had a few stops to make.”

     “It’s five o’clock in the morning, what kind of errands could she possibly need to run?”

     “She didn’t say.”

     I look down at my ratty old Converse that I still wear and the dead grass that surrounds my feet. The drought had been going on for what seemed like a century and it was doing nothing to help the creepy state of this cemetery. Charlie still towered over me, as he did on the first day that we met, but I had grown half a foot since then making me stand tall at five feet nine inches.

     Finally, I see Meredith approaching us in the dim light carrying a basket. When she gets closer, I can hear what sounds like a soft meowing. I look down at the basket and then back up at her in shock. There are three kittens in the basket that she is holding with both of her hands.

     “Mer,” I start, “why do you have those three cats?”

     “I stole them from the pet shop,” she says casually.

     “What do you mean you stole them? You can’t just go around stealing cats!” I yell.

     She laughs quietly. “Maybe you can’t.”

     I sigh. I don’t know why I’m surprised. This isn’t at all out of character for her. She’s sort of a kleptomaniac and she does love cats.

     Just now, Pablo walks up and says, “Here.”

     “Good. Good,” Charlie says, rubbing his hands together. “So, let me tell you all why I have gathered you here on this lovely July morning.”

     I groan at his peppiness.

     “I have brought you all here to help me dig up the grave of my great grandfather.”

     “Wait, what?” I ask in horror.

     Charlies laughs. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding. There’s a new donut shop across the street that opens at 5:30 that I wanted to go to. They’re supposed to have the best jelly filled donuts in all of California.”

     I glare at him. “You woke me up at five in the morning for donuts that we could easily have several hours later?”

     “Yup,” he says with a grin.

     Pablo smiles as well and says, “Donuts,” with two thumbs up. Well, at least Pablo is excited.

     Meredith sighs and sits down against a grave with her cat basket next to her. “I don’t know where I am going to put my kittens when we go in the donut shop. They will not like having animals in there, I’m sure.”

     I turn and look at her, “You could put them back in the pet store.”

     She shakes her heads and says, “I am not a fan of that idea.”

     I sigh. “Of course you’re not.”

     I shove my hands in my pockets and stare at the donut shop watching the lights turn on signaling that it’s almost time for it to open. At 5:30 on the dot, the florescent open sign turns on and the door unlocks.

     Charlie’s grin widens and he says, “Let’s go.”

     But before we could take more than two steps, the four of us were knocked off our feet by a powerful blast. I struggle up onto my elbows and look at the donut shop that is now up in flames.

     “What the hell?” I ask.

     The grin was off of Charlie’s face. He shakes his head, “I don’t know. It sounded like a bomb went off. Oh, God, there were people in there.”

     “What the hell?” I ask again. I slowly get up onto my feet and just stare at the burning building that once held California’s best jelly filled donuts.

     I look down at the basket and see that Meredith’s stolen cats are gone. They most likely had ran away after Meredith dropped the basket in surprise. The sound of the firetruck sirens filled my ears. I watch as they arrive and attempt to put out the fire. The police show up next. And then an ambulance. And then the coroners.

     I find out later that two out of the five people in the shop died, and the remaining three were badly injured. I overhear a policeman say that he expects arson. This was done on purpose. My friends and I all go home, heads and hearts both heavy after the morning’s events. It’s a very, very good thing the fire didn’t spread because a whole lot more destruction could have happened.

     On the news the next night, I find out that the fire was started by a competitor of the donut shop who was jealous of their success. All this over jealousy.

     I stay mostly in my room for a week after that, until my mom knocks on the door and says, “Nick, your friends are here. They’re worried about you.”

     Charlie, Meredith and Pablo all walk into my room.      “How are you doing, bud?” Charlie asks.

     “Horrible,” I respond. “How are you all not doing horrible?”

     “We are,” Meredith says. “What happened is terrible for those people, but you should at least be thankful that it didn’t happen to you. A minute later and we would have been in that donut shop.”

     I consider this. She is right. I could be dead, but I’m not. “You’re right,” I say. “I should stop moping around and remember that it’s my last summer with you guys before we all go off to college.” I hug Meredith and then Charlie goes in for one and I reluctantly accept. Pablo just gives me two thumbs up.

     “I have something for you,” Meredith says. She reaches into her bag, pulls out a kitten, and places into my arms. I should have expected nothing less from her.

Author's Note

Hey all! Please let me know what you think! I feel like I can go a lot further with this story and these characters. And as always, I am totally open to constructive criticism.

Reviews

[Tsubaki Kuro]

Nice Job. that is a really good story. I love it. How much longer did you want to extend it.

[Katherine P. Haley]

Thank you so much! And I'm not totally sure how much I want to extend it. I just feel like I could go further with this story

[Tsubaki Kuro]

Ok cool. if you want me to find a way for you to extend it, message me