" Cyberbullying is no laughing matter, sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as harmful as saying it to their face. "

Practically everyone in that cafeteria could care less about Counselor Blatt's speech about cyberbullying. Most were on their phones and some talking to their friends. Meanwhile, Katie was multitasking, listening to the speech and analyzing her notes for a test she had next period. It was for one of her AP classes and she had to ace this one if not she was screwed.

Demetri passes along one of his notes to Katie. Noticing her stressing out as she flips through pages. Katie gave a brief smile to him and gratefully took it.

" I'm not gonna name names but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity"

Katie's head shot up from her notes, looking mortified at what their school counselor had said. Everyone started whispering and pointing at Eli, making him hide his scar with his finger.

" I'm sorry?" Katie mumbled under her breath, looking at Counselor Blatt in disbelief.

"Might well point at Eli while you're at it" She threw her hand in the air while looking at Demetri, who only gave her a sad look in return. Katie shook her head and pulled out a small bag full of Oreos from her backpack.

" You wanna help me finish these?" Katie asks softly to Eli who smiled, and took a cookie from the bag.

" If you're sick of getting bullied my karate dojo's looking for recruits" Miguel speaks up from beside Eli, making the quiet boy nod in consideration.

" Yeah, right you hear that Eli?" Demetri looks at his best friend. Katie rolled her eyes knowing what was coming.

" A little karate training and you're gonna kick some major ass," He says, mimicking chopping movements with his hands.

"I'm serious Demetri" Miguel shifts in his seat to sit up a bit more. " My sensei's the real deal, I'm sure I could get you both discounts." He says in a persuading tone.

" Plus my sister might join if Coach Johnson doesn't kick her off the Volleyball team" Katie adds with a shrug.

This only made Demetri shake his head in disagreement. " As enticing as that sounds I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face," He says with an annoyed look.

This only made Katie let off a huff and stuffed another Oreo in her mouth. Normally Katie wouldn't mind Demetri's behavior or his sarcastic comments, but today was a different story. She was stressed out of her mind, this test was very important, and forgetting to study put her in a bad mood.

" One last thing" Counselor Blatt adds to her long list of concerns that nobody carries to listen to.

" While we're all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example instead of 'sexy nurse', maybe try 'gender-neutral hospital employee"

Her advocate on the issue made a mockery of her position. Students shaking their heads or laughing along with their friends. However, counselor Blatt was oblivious to the situation.

While lunch resumed, Katie couldn't get the thought about Karate out of her head." Have you ever considered that maybe, Eli wants to do something that benefits him?"

" Really? We're still on that-"

" Maybe that's what he needs, karate can help him find confidence in himself you know" She interrupts him and in return, he gives a scowl to her as he leans forward.

"Are we seriously going to argue about this right now?" Demetri asks her with a frown.

"I don't know, are we? " Katie glares at him, slightly moving forward as well.

Miguel and Ei look at each other worriedly before the Diaz boy speaks up. " Uh, so what are you gonna be for Halloween Katie?" He asks the girl who sits back in her chair, still holding her stare with Demetri.

"This" She motions her finger between her and the pale boy "Isn't over" Demetri gulps before averting his eyes somewhere.

"I honestly haven't given much thought about it yet" Katie answers truthfully, with a shrug.

Demetri gasps dramatically, "What?", he looks at her wide-eyed. "Katie Wilson not knowing what costume to wear for Halloween?" He puts his hand over his heart, " That's so unheard of" Ending his sarcastic remarks with pursed lips and a sad head tilt.

Don't do it, Don't do it. Katie thought to herself, giving Demetri a passive-aggressive smile. Trying to hold her will not to reach across the table and slam his slice of pumpkin pie onto his face.

"Aren't you like obsessed with Halloween?" He resorted, crossing his arms over the table.

" How about you Miguel? Are you going as Spider-Man?" Katie asks, turning her gaze to Miguel, ignoring her friend's question.

"Deadpool" He stated, grabbing his chocolate milk and taking a long sip of it. Katie nods before going back to her frantic studying, with Eli looking over her written notes. His eyes scanned for any misleading information until he found one.

" Right here " He points at the letter, causing Katie to glance over. "It's supposed to be an N for that equation" She sighs in relief. "Eli you're a lifesaver, thank you" Katie gives him a small nudge on his shoulder.

" No problem Katie" Eli softly says, grabbing a pencil and changing the answer for her.

" But I don't know if I should go as Deadpool though" Miguel questions unsure, leaning his chin to rest on his palm.

Katie takes in his words and thinks for a second before giving Miguel a mischievous smile. "We could go as Mean Girls? For starters, Demetri could be the Regina George version of the group"

All three let out snickers while Demetri gives a confused look towards the Wilson girl. "And why would I go as Regina George?" He asks.

"You're kinda judgmental at times" Miguel inputs his honesty as he leans back into his seat.

"Kinda?" Katie gives him a look of humor with an eyebrow raise.

"I am not! Eli, I'm I judgmental?" Demetri resorts back, his arms flailing in the air in disbelief. Eli just smiles at his best friend and looks down.

¸.·✩·.¸¸.·¯⍣✩

It was yet again another cloudy day in the valley. The wind breezed throughout the spaced skaters. Mixes of yellow and orange colored leaves rustling against the ground, making their way to different places in life. Fall was settling in and Katie loved every second of it.

Katie breathes in a breath of fresh air as she glides her fingers through the soft black fur. The Main Coon purrs loudly at the constant affection that it's receiving. Sleepily closing his bright yellow eyes. The large black fluff covers almost all of her lap, lying comfortably.

" Such a pretty kitty you are," Katie says in a whisper. Gazing down at the now healthy cat, that's resting its chin on its stretched-out arms, with a peaceful look on its whiskery face.

The skatepark started to become a regular hangout spot for Katie. Ever since feeding the poor beaten-up feral cat, she had found weeks ago. She and the precious creature became close with her promise to continue to visit.

At first, it was extremely hard to tend to the cat from the painful state it was in. Earning her small gifts in return from the cat who hissed and scratched at the attempts of contact. Slowly and surely Katie started to gain its trust, seeing how she wasn't going to harm him.

So when days and weeks pass by, the small creature would wait for the girl, with wild curly hair to come visit. So she can love and care for the cat that's been desperately seeking it for years.

Yet she hadn't given a name to the little soul, which she was still deciding on.

Today, however, when Katie came by and tried to give a fancy brand of food to him. Instead he barely bats an eye at it and he walks over to her lap and settles down.

Gently grabbing the cat off her lap, she stands up from her spot. Attempting to dust her pants off, the sound of a skateboard clashed against the hard ground with a thud. Katie looks up, seeing the board rolling its way to her.

Her heart begins to fasten at the sight of the familiar person she once saw weeks ago. Only this time instead of standing, Robby sat on the ground with a slight wince coming out of his mouth, holding his side.

"Shit are you alright?!" Katie yells out in panic, running her way towards him, he looks up at her with a pained face. "Yeah I'll be fine" He grunts trying to get up. She stops by his side, grabbing Robby's upper arm, and helping him up to his feet.

"Thanks," He says, smiling at her.

As they both make eye contact, Katie becomes enchanted with the unique color of his eyes. They are a beautiful shade of green with a golden ring around the pupils. She stood there starstruck.

"Are you okay?" He lets out a breathy chuckle, noticing her frozen state.

"Sorry" Katie stutters out, "It's just your eyes are really pretty," She says without thinking, her pair looking back and forth between his own. Robby could feel his face getting hot at her sudden compliment. He looks down trying to contain his growing smile.

Katie snaps out of the trance she was in. Her anxiety skyrocketed as she covered her mouth with her hand in shock, realizing what she had just said. The poor girl wanted to mentally melt in a puddle of nothing. Realizing she said something so stupid to make the boy in front of her feel uncomfortable. All Katie wanted to do at that moment was run away and never look back. Screw it, Mia can take care of the cat.

"Oh god, sorry I'm usually not this forward," She says with worry. Scared of what his reaction might be. Her hands nervously clasp together in front of her.

The sound of her nervous voice makes Robby look up with a frown. "No it's okay," He says reassuringly. Only Katie took his frown as a sign of discomfort and avoided eye contact with him.

Still noticing her nervousness he makes an excuse. "Don't worry I get that a lot" He did not, he only said that so the pretty girl in front of him didn't feel embarrassed. He felt quite flattered by her compliment. Robby reaches out and gently grabs the side of her arm, making Katie look at him again.

"You have pretty eyes too," He says with a grin while his eyes hold intense eye contact with her blue ones.

Katie's heart flutters slightly at his unexpected compliment. "Thank you" She whispers to him. Robby pulls away from her and tucks both of his hands in his pockets. His smile is still apparent on his face.

"I'm Robby," He introduces himself.

The Wilson girl pushes her curly hair out of her face, from the wind flowing through them. "Katie" She shares, having the courage to look at him again. His green eyes grew vibrant as the sun started to dim.

Robby flinched upon feeling a drop of water hit his nose. He looked up at the sky, while Katie pulled out her phone from her back pocket. Another oncoming wave of vibrations came from the device.

Mia🧌

𝘉𝘶𝘨 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶?
𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 10 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰
𝘏𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦

"Damn it" Katie sighs at the messages her sister left her. After telling her about the cat she found a month ago. Mia would cover for Katie, knowing how much she loves cats. If Charlotte knew what Katie was up to this past month, it would be another ongoing lecture.

" What's wrong?" Robby asked, his face growing in concern, seeing her nervously typing on her phone.

Before the girl could even speak, another small drop of water landed on Katie's forehead, making her also look up at the sky. Then another drop fell, but this time on Robby's cheek. Then another and another, until a sudden downpour came crashing down on the two.

"Finally, it took you long enough!" She cries out, annoyed with the fact of it eventually raining in the valley. Robby curses under his breath, and grabs Katie's hand, taking them both to shelter, in a hurried manner.

As they were running, Katie slipped from the wet ground. Making Robby immediately grab her by the waist, to steady herself from falling. When they safely made it under the park shed, Katie hunched over. Catching her breath from the distance she had to run. All while barely having any sense of Robby's presence not with her.

Hearing the rush of footsteps coming towards her, makes Katie look up. Seeing Robby standing in front of her, who was more drenched, and vaguely out of breath. He smiles, handing her backpack to her.

" I can't believe I forgot about that '' Katie shakes her head at herself, for being so forgettable. Robby chuckles as they both take a seat on top of the discolored table. Their feet propped on the wooden seats.

She uncomfortably shifts in her spot, at the feeling of her jeans clinging on to her body like second skin. Katie ran her fingers through her short hair, trying to detangle out the frizzed knots. Except giving up halfway through and decided to put it in a ponytail instead.

"Here" Robby says, making Katie turn to her side to face him. "So you don't get sick" He gestures to the blue zip up hoodie he pulled out of his bag, discarding it to the side.

Katie disagrees, already feeling bad enough not only he went out in the rain to not only get his stuff, but also hers. "No, I'm good, I really don't need it" A breeze of rain air hits them, making her arms appear with goosebumps on her slight shivered form.

"Are you sure about that?" He comments with a quirk of an eyebrow. "Yes I'm sure, Robby, what about you?"Her eyes motion in worry to his soaked clothes.

"Don't worry about it Katie, I'll be fine" He protests. Handing over his blue zip-up hoodie, her fingers crossed paths with his hands in the process. Making her feel his cold rings brush against her fingertips.

Katie stares at the clothing that is given to her, unsure if she should put it on. Taking a look at Robby, he nods assuring her. She puts it on, feeling the immediate warmth engulfing her, replacing the chill of the soaked clothes.

"Thank you, Robby," Katie says, before checking her backpack to make sure nothing was ruined from the unexpected rain.

" No problem" His lips tug to the side, smiling at her.

Here and there as the rain continues to pour. The two teenagers sat there in comfortable silence. Katie, texting her sister in nervous distress, informed her that their mother had arrived home and was already asking where she was. Robby on the other hand is drying his skateboard with a rag that was in his backpack.

Shutting off her phone she sets it down on the surface of the table. "Are you sure about me wearing your jacket?" Katie voices out, her eyes flicking from her hands to the pole of the shed.

Robby momentarily stops what he's doing "I promise I'm fine" He states with a chuckle. "I've handled worse"

Katie didn't know how to feel about the fact he had handled worse. However, she didn't question it, because if asked that herself, she wouldn't condone answering. Katie's eyes glace upwards, upon hearing distant taps of the rain weakening.

She gets up from her seat, catching Robby's attention. Katie walks towards the edge of the broken-down building. Sticking her hand out, she felt the cold water droplets hit the palm of her hand.

"I should get home before I end up in more trouble" Katie pulls her hand back to her side and wipes it on her semi-dry pants.

"Wait, did you walk here?" Robby asks quickly, standing up from his spot. Katie stares at him, unsure if she should tell him.

"Let me walk you home." He offers, walking closer to the girl who remains hesitant.

Robby shakes his head,"It's not safe at this time of day, especially on this side of town" He informs, wanting to persuade her. Robby knew this side of town and how ugly it could get.

Deciding whether or not she should trust him. He seems nice and he did lead his jacket to her when he didn't have to. Robby didn't seem to be like one of Mia's ex-boyfriends, but she still kept that thought on the back of her mind. Katie takes another glance at the sky, it noticeably getting dark. She looks back at Robby who's patiently waiting for her answer. Giving him a nod, they both grab their stuff before leaving the shed together.

On making their way out of the skatepark, Robby takes notice of a cat following Katie, he lets out a chuckle.
"Looks like you've got a shadow following you"

Katie abruptly stops with him, she gasps, looking at him like he just won something " That's it! His name should be Shadow" Katie exclaims excitedly, jumping up and down. Robby couldn't help, but smile at her as she made her way to the courageous feline.

" Thanks for the name Robby" She looks back at him with a big smile. He returns the smile while stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets. " How come you haven't taken him home with you" He questions, watching her take out a zip-lock bag filled with cat treats from her backpack.

" I wanted to, but my family's allergic to cats," Kaite replies with a frown, crouching down. She drops a few treats to the ground, shadow immediately munching on them.

" Wait" Another thought comes into Katie's mind, "How do you know Shadow's a he?" Katie now questions him standing up from her spot.

She sees him freeze for a second before shrugging. "Rumors, Shadow's quite popular around here"

" Oh" Is all she says before walking back to her usual hangout spot. Robby stood there dumbfounded before trailing off behind her.

Watching Katie move her head to the side, to look under the park bench. Seeing as he finally ate the canned food she'd brought him earlier. Shadow makes his way between her ankles, rubbing himself to catch her attention.

"Question is" She pauses glancing down at the cat who's purring loudly. " Who's been feeding you when I'm not here" Katie turns to Robby who only shrugs, " No clue, could be anyone"

" Well at least he's eating, that's all that matters," Katie tells Robby who nods at her words " Yeah"

Before the two left the skatepark, Katie made sure to leave another canned food and a refill of water in his plastic yellow bowl. Robby and Katie make small talk as they walk the crosswalks and pass the flower shop.

Robby would sometimes steal glances at Katie, seeing her so engrossed in the valley. " Are you new here?" He asks the girl beside him, who pulls her stare away from one of the shops, she had her eye on. Katie's face turns red, and she lets out a small laugh " I make it obvious huh"

"Took a guess" He smiled as they stopped at a nearby street, waiting for the traffic to pass. Katie set her sights on a restaurant near them, the smell of fast food reaching their nostrils.

"I could show you around here if you want?" Robby suggests as the light turns green indicating for them to walk across. Katie takes a look at him when they reach the other side. "I'd like that," She tells him, they both enter her small neighborhood with Katie quickly spotting her house.

"That's my mine right there" She leans over to him, pointing to her residence that's on the end of the cul-de-sac. Robby also leans in looking at where she's alluding. "Pink?'' He leaned back, giving her an amused look.

"Yeah" Katie lightly chuckled, " The owners weren't very specific on what color it was" Katie smiled to herself when remembering the first day they moved here. They had gotten lost because Mia couldn't believe the house was pink.

"What's with the boxes?" Robby asks, noticing the large brown cardboard boxes on the front porch and even some on the side of the walkway. Katie couldn't help, but roll her eyes. Knowing Mia got too lazy putting all of them on the porch, so it could go inside.

"Halloween decorations and some stuff for my party" Katie answered, as they stopped in front of her house.

"You're having a party?" Robby asks curiously, moving from her side to face her better.

"My birthday, it's next week" Katie clarifies to him, making him nod thinking. She smiles a little while playing with her fingers. "My mom is really big on throwing parties, especially mine," She adds, giving him a small shrug. Before Robby could ask further, Katie's phone rang from her pocket.

"Sorry," Katie quietly tells Robby, taking the device from her back pocket. 'Mia's contact name appears on the screen making Katie groan."I have to go inside already, but thank you for walking me home Robby"

Giving him one last smile before turning around and making her way to her porch. Robby stood there stunned, not knowing what to say, but the only words he got out were, " I'll see you around?" He speaks out, causing the Wilson girl to stop in her tracks

She turns her body halfway, her eyes looking straight back to his green ones. With a nod "See you around Robby" Katie tells him before entering inside her home.

"Took you long enough" Mia came out of nowhere, startling poor Katie who was taking out her books from her backpack. "You gotta stop doing that shit" She tells her sister with her hand over her chest, Mia only scoffed at her words.

" No 'Hi Mia, thank you for covering my ass while I was gone'? " She questions.

"Do you know the lengths I had to go through with you not here?!" Mia whispers shouts, following the younger to the laundry room. Katie stops from hanging her bag to dry and gives an apologetic look to her sister. "Your right I'm sorry Mia"

Mia only laughed and shook her head, not the slightest bit upset. " I told mom you were at Miguel's place and that you'd be home after the rain stops" She said in amusement, seeing Katie giving her a look.

Turning around Katie clips the other side of her backpack, on the hanging line so it could dry. "So she believed it?"

"Duh we wouldn't be standing here talking if she didn't" Mia states the obvious to Katie, who mumbles a "My bad" With surrendered hands.

" Where's mom at?" Both sisters leave the laundry room and head their way to the staircase by the living room.

"She's up stairs, getting ready for a date" Mia replies casually as they take the first wooden steps. Katie frowns at that. " Why upstairs? Her bathroom light not working again?"

Mia shakes her head even though Katie can't see that."No it's not that, ours has better lighting"

When reaching the top of the stairs, Mia stops Katie from going further into the short hallway. "So who's the guy with the Dora haircut, I saw with you?" She questions with crossed arms.

Katie's eyes widened, not knowing what to say to her sister, as Mia was waiting impatiently for the younger to give some sort of explanation. Mia's frown soon turns to an unreadable expression when she sees the dark blue sweater that is still on Katie. Mia quickly steps closer to her, making Katie step back. " Mia what are you doing-"

" Wait a minute," Mia's eyes darted between Katie's eyes and the clothing.

"Are you wearing his jacket?" She whispers the last word out, so their mom wouldn't hear. Katie's face gradually turns red when Mia tugged the fabric on her arm.

"Um" Katie lets out a nervous laugh, her eyes looking anywhere else that is not her sister, "I can explain"

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

So what do you guys think of this chapter?? They finally met! 😭 Who do you think fed shadow?? Any guesses?

-M

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Tootles ✨