After breakfast, Maya drove us back to her apartment. I spent the entire drive teasing her, despite her promising that I was going to get in trouble. I didn't care. Watching her get all worked up was too much fun. And how much trouble could I possibly get in.

"Nick, I promise I'm going to tie your hands behind your back!" she yelled at me. I kept pinching her sides as we walked up the stairs.

I wrapped my arms around her waist as she unlocked her apartment door. "Try it."

She swatted my hands away. "You are the true definition of a mess." I held the door open behind her, so she could walk in.

"A hot mess, I hope." She rolled her eyes walking away from me. I heard her say something about me being a cornball as she walked down the hall.

As I was closing the front door, I felt something brush against my leg. I looked down to see what it was, but there was nothing there. Huh, must have been the wind.

There was still antacid residue in my mouth from when Maya gave it to me after breakfast. I hated it, but it had helped with my stomach ache. It was my own fault for eating so much. But everything tasted so good I couldn't stop. I want to go back and get more. Hopefully, Stephanie won't be there this time.

Seeing her was unwanted to say the least. I didn't pretend to be happy to see her, because I wasn't. Maya didn't pretend to be super excited to meet her either. She didn't even smile at her. I liked that she didn't try to make unnecessary small talk with her. Many would see it as rude, but I appreciated her honesty.

I grabbed a glass out of the cabinet and poured myself a glass of water. Swishing it around my mouth, I tried to get any left over powder out of my mouth. Rubbing a hand over my jaw, I started thinking about Maya's beard comment from earlier.

How would I look with a beard?

I was always afraid that I would look old with one. I'm only seventeen, eighteen in three months, I don't want to look thirty. My facial hair grows fast so growing it in wouldn't be an issue. Maya thinks I would look nice so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea. What's the worst that can happen? If I hate it I can always shave it off.

I finished drinking my glass of water, washing and drying the cup before placing it back in the cabinet. Walking back in the living room, I stopped in my tracks as I approached the couch.

"Maya, I think you have a visitor!"

A orange and white cat sat on her couch staring up at me. It had matted fur and looked like it'd seen it's fair share of fights.

"What happened to you?" I said out loud.

It meowed in response.

"Who is it-oh my gosh!" exclaimed Maya, coming into the living room. "How did a cat get in here?"

"I don't know it must have slipped in when we came inside," I replied still keeping my eyes on it. Watching out for any unexpected attacks. When it saw Maya it hopped off the couch and sauntered over to her, like she was the visitor and it lived there.. She stood frozen as it wrapped its way around her legs and sniffed at her ankles.

Slowly as if not to scare it, she knelt down. She held out her hand, almost asking if she could pet it. He bumped his head against her hand giving her permission. He purred loudly as she scratched between his ears.

"He likes you," I said going towards them.

"He looks so sickly," she said looking at him sadly. And getting a closer look she was right. He was extremely thin, the scratches on his body were an angry red color, and as I got closer I noticed that he had no tail. Just a short nub where one should have been. I couldn't tell if it was from an accident or a birth defect. It was hard to tell it's age or how long it had been out in the streets. It was so thin, who knew when it's last meal had been.

"I think I have a can of tuna in my cabinet and could you get a bowl of water?" She asked me, still petting him. He was soaking up the affection laying on his back so she could rub his belly.

"Yes, of course." I found the can of tuna on a high shelf in one of the kitchen cabinets and I filled a bowl with water. When I went back into the living room, I set the opened can and bowl on the floor by where Maya and the cat were sitting.

As soon as I sat the food down, it was on it. Jumping out of Maya's lap and leaping towards it. "My God," I said under my breath as I watched the hungry cat eat with vigor.

"He probably hasn't eaten in days," she said still sitting on the floor. She looked deep in thought as she watched him. I sat on the floor next to her.

"What are you thinking?" I asked curious. I could tell that she was worried. She sat with her legs crossed, staring as the cat ate.

"I think that maybe we should take him, or her, to a vet."

"A vet?"

"Well, yeah, look at it. It doesn't even have a tail, Nick," she said furrowing her brows together. "And all with all those scratches it could have an infection or something. We should take it to get checked out."

I watched as he/she lapped up some water, the can of tuna was empty, it had completely licked it clean. It was obvious that the cat needed help, I don't even want to think of what could happened if it went back out on the streets. "Okay," I sighed. "Okay, we can take him--or her."

"Thank you!" Maya jumped up. "I'll go get something to wrap him in, and I should find a pet hospital. Just stay here it won't take me long."

"I'll be right here." I told her. She disappeared into her room to find a spare blanket, leaving me and the cat alone. Once he'd had his fill of water he crawled in my lap the bottom portion of his mouth soaked. I petted the top of his head making him close his eyes. Drops of water dripped from his beard onto my shirt.

"Don't you worry, we're going to take you to vet and you're going to be just fine."

Maya walked back in with a gray blanket. "Okay, I found a blanket and there's a pet hospital fifteen minutes away. All of their reviews are good, and they take walk-ins."

She walked towards us unfolding that blanket as she sat in front of me. It didn't take much coaxing on Maya's part to get it in the blanket. Once she unraveled it, the cat stepped out of my lap to go inspect it. Finding it comfortable, it laid down. Maya then took that opportunity to fold it over him.

"Will you hold him/her while I drive?" she asked me.

"Of course," I agreed. She handed the blanket with it inside. It looked out of the opening in the top curiously, meowing lightly.

She grabbed the keys to the Mercedes off her coffee table. "Let's go."

For something with such a high chance of having an infection this cat didn't seem to care. It was acting normal. It was the friendliest cat, I had ever encountered. It was trying it's hardest to lick my face, and I was trying my hardest to keep it's rancid breath away from me. God, it was worse than Sam's morning breath. And that shit stinks.

The little fur ball licked out his scratchy tongue and licked my jaw blowing his breath straight in my face. I gagged. This was going to be a long fifteen minutes.