At school, it was hard to find a moment to talk to Reuben without Meera overhearing. Once or twice, I was sure he’d noticed me making signs at him, but he pretended not to see. After a couple times when he plainly saw me and ignored me, I stopped trying to get his attention.
I just didn’t understand why he was mad at me. Was he still offended because he had to keep a secret from Meera? He’d never been that offended with her for not keeping mine.
The days went by, and I had no one to talk to about the hardest decision in my life. Beli was there for me, just a phone call away, but it just wasn’t the same.
The one thing that almost made up for having to keep the secret was having proof of how much Andromeda Elementary’s mood had improved since the Kitten Cupid had taken over Astro. One day at lunch, Solange, Lilah, and Jojo were squealing over Max’s new video and Harry’s photos of him wearing a tiny crown.
“The videos are the highlight of my day,” Solange said, twirling her hair around her finger.
“That little Max is a spunky one!” said Lilah, with longing in her voice.
“I wish I could kiss that tiny adorable Care Bear face,” said Jojo with a wistful expression on her face. “I love how he washes his face in the videos, have you seen him?”
Lilah replied, “I have no idea how the person raising them decides who they go to, though. Do you think you know who it is?”
My heart pounded as I tried to hear Jojo’s answer without looking like I was eavesdropping on them.
“It has to be someone with access to AstroSnap, my sister said. Most likely, an adult is making all the videos and captions,” Jojo said.
“The graphics aren’t that great, though,” Solange said, and Jojo and Lilah agreed.
It was almost impossible not to scream to the four walls of the lunch room that I’d done it all without help, bad graphics and all. But instead of letting the cat out of the bag, I threw the rest of my sad cafeteria lunch away and walked to PE, feeling like I was floating.
Everyone loved the videos, but having to choose the families was the worst. I’d started out so excited to pick the kittens’ new owners, but I hadn’t expected to feel so much pressure. I wanted the drama and stress to end, but at the same time, I didn’t want the moment to arrive when I’d have to say goodbye to the kittens for good.
The night before the big announcement was supposed to go out, I hardly slept, and in the morning, I lost track of time in the shower trying to make up my mind, comparing kittens and people, matching their differences and similarities. I’d been so immersed in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed the bathroom was thick with vapor, and I had to open the bathroom window to let it out so I could see myself in the mirror.
Mami had left earlier than usual, and I didn’t even get to talk to her. With Valentine’s weekend upon us, I didn’t expect she’d be home much. She’d said this year they had record orders for arrangements. Besides, I wanted to show her I could take care of placing the kittens without having to involve her, like I’d promised.
But I was distracted all day, and during resource class, I almost missed the conversation happening between Andrew and Reuben. I was glad my ears caught the urgency of their voices, and I stopped working on my math problems.
“Yes,” Reuben said, “I applied for one too. Did you?”
I put my pencil down and stared at Reuben. He’d been making jokes about Johnnycakes, but he hadn’t applied. Now, though, why would he lie about it to Andrew?
His cheeks were bright red when he lifted his gaze and realized I was looking at him.
Had he applied for a kitten, then? The answer was plain on his face, but I’d never seen his application. I looked at Andrew next, and he must have felt my eyes on him because he looked over his shoulder, and when he saw me, he smirked.
“I applied the first day. I wonder how we’ll know when we’re getting one,” Andrew said. “Do you think they’ll message us on Astro today like they said or was it all a hoax?”
“If you’re getting one, you’ll get a message,” Reuben corrected him. “It’s not a hoax, but if I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Andrew puffed up like the puffer fish in the library’s fish tank, making himself bigger than he already was.
“And why do you think I won’t get one? It’s not like I’m that weirdo Natalia,” Andrew said. “Brigham applied too, for his brother, Trevyn. What kind of person wouldn’t agree to give a kitten to a first grader?”
“The kind of people who know Trevyn,” Meera said without taking her eyes off her paper.
Andrew clenched his fists, and his face was red and splotchy. “What did you just say?”
I almost yelled for Meera to be careful—who knew what Andrew could do when he got upset?—but it wasn’t necessary. In that moment, Reuben stepped in between Andrew and Meera, protecting her.
Mr. Warthon heard the commotion and came to our corner of the room. He looked at me and asked, “What’s wrong?”
There was no reason for him to ask me. I hadn’t even said anything, but I guess he was just like everyone else, blaming me because of the past. I glanced from Andrew to Reuben to Meera, and back at Andrew.
What could I tell the teacher? That we were arguing about kittens? If the teachers found out about my FAstro, it wouldn’t be hard for the rest of the truth to come out. And if I didn’t confess, it was only a matter of time before anyone else discovered my almost eight-week-old secret. The truth was just as hard to contain as the kittens themselves.
Soon, the kittens would be adopted, and then no one would care about Kitten Cupid or my FAstro anymore. A few more hours and I’d be free of the whole thing that, instead of bringing me kindness or happiness, had created so much trouble.
“So?” Mr. Warthon repeated his question. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s okay,” I said, and went back to my worksheet.
But Andrew was way smarter than I’d ever given him credit for. After resource, I saw him heading to the office, and soon I’d find out why.
During language arts, we had a sub, and we were supposed to be doing silent reading when I overheard Brigham and Andrew talking about the kittens—but that wasn’t all.
“It has to be her,” Andrew was saying. “I mean, if you compare the style of her graphics and fonts to her normal Astro, they’re practically identical.”
Each of his words was a stone that fell to my stomach with a clank.
“It can’t be Meera,” Brigham said in a soft voice. “Her little brother seems very excited about getting a kitten today. We would know if they were already in his house. No six-year-old could ever keep that kind of secret.” Aha! I’d thought they had realized it was me—but Andrew thought Meera was behind the account!
“It’s Reuben, then,” Andrew whispered. “I tell you, when I said I wanted a kitten, he blushed to the tips of his ears. You know—the way he does when he’s nervous about making a shot? I know he’s hiding something.”
“Silence,” the sub said. She was a young woman, older than my sister, way younger than my mom. She had a pinched face and long fake eyelashes, and she barely looked up from scrolling on her phone.
Andrew and Brigham kept whispering, but now I couldn’t hear what they said.
“What do you think?” Solange asked softly, startling me. I hadn’t realized she’d been looking at me the whole time.
“About what?”
She motioned with her head to the boys sitting a couple rows behind us. “Do you agree with them? That Reuben and Meera are behind the Kitten Cupid account?”
Sometimes in movies or books, the character says they saw their whole life flash before their eyes when they experienced a near-death situation. Well, this time, the whole future flashed across my eyes. If Andrew didn’t get what he wanted, a kitten, he would dig and dig until he found out who had passed him over, and then he’d destroy that person.
It was Slime Supreme all over again, except that
this time, no one would be posting a recipe to keep people happy. Once the kittens were gone, they were gone.
Why had I thought an anonymous act would bring more happiness to our school? That gifting kittens would convince anyone to like me again? I was just ruining things even more.
Now I was in a mess, and I didn’t know how to get out of it. But I had to keep these angry boys away from Meera and Reuben. Meera didn’t know anything about the kittens, and Reuben had only been my helper. But if someone went to the principal with the wrong information, would she believe them? Would Reuben’s reputation be ruined forever?
Maybe he’d seen this coming, and that’s why he’d distanced himself from me. It had been so unfair of me to drag him into this mess.
Solange was waiting for my answer, so I shook my head and said, “No, I don’t believe they have anything to do with it. Do you?”
Solange shrugged. “I’m not sure about Reuben. He’s been talking about the kittens nonstop, and the way he talks about the gray one, Johnnycakes, it’s like he knows him in real life. He’s in love, and if he’s not the Kitten Cupid, he should get that kitten.”
My mouth went dry. Solange was right, and I needed to speak to Reuben to clear things up once and for all.
“Did you apply for one?” Solange asked, taking me by surprise.
“No,” I said, and it wasn’t even a lie. “And you?”
Solange smiled sadly. “I really wanted to, but my dad’s allergic.”
“That’s too bad,” I said, saying thanks in my heart that no one in my family was. “Can he take medicine for it?”
Solange laughed. “He tried, but after a while, the medicine stops having an effect on him. A long time ago, he and my mom said that if I really wanted a cat, I would have to volunteer at the shelter, so that’s what I do every Saturday.”
I looked at her like I’d never seen her before. “You do? I had no idea.”
“It’s the best of both worlds, actually,” Solange said. “I get to play with the kittens and socialize them, but I don’t have to do the hard stuff like cleaning up after them, you know? You do have to be sixteen or have an adult come with you, so my older brother volunteers too. My love for kittens spread over to him, and now he brings his girlfriend, who got her mom involved in fostering animals. It was like a chain of kitten love.”
That was exactly what I had wanted to do as the Kitten Cupid. What if there was a way to continue the kitten love after my litter was placed with families?
“Isn’t it hard that the kittens aren’t yours to keep, though?” I asked.
Solange shook her head. “My maman told me once that just because you love something or someone, that doesn’t mean you have to own them, you know? It’s like, I can love to look at a garden of flowers, but it doesn’t mean I need to cut them and put them in vases in my house.”
It all sounded very elegant when she said it in her accent. Her mom sounded like she’d get along with Mami and Beli.
“Maybe you could come with me, some day?” Solange asked, and it seemed like she’d been wanting to ask me for a long time but just didn’t know how.
But in that moment, Lilah knocked on my classroom door and gave a yellow slip to the sub. The teacher read it and then looked up and said, “Natalia Flores? Principal Snow wants you in her office.”
Last year I’d promised Mami that I’d never return to the principal’s office, at least not for some drama that I had created. But here I was, sitting on the uncomfortable chair facing Mrs. Snow, and not because I was about to receive a ribbon for good behavior.
Reuben sat in the room next door, waiting for his turn. The school secretary, Mrs. Ali, tried to talk to him a couple of times, but he was quiet, looking out the window like the world was ending, even though the sun was shining. I couldn’t believe I’d brought him into this mess with me.
“So, here we are, Natalia. Again,” Mrs. Snow said, her elbows on the desk, and her hands clasped as if she were praying for patience. Her light brown eyes looked big behind her glasses, and I wondered what she saw when she looked at me.
“Here we are,” I said, and then I bit my lip because I was sure I hadn’t been supposed to answer.
Principal Snow sighed, and I held my breath.
Finally, she said, “I’ve been watching you for a long time.”
I blushed to the tips of my ears, and the rush of blood to my head kind of hurt.
“I’ve seen how you struggled at the beginning of the year, and I’m sorry about that,” she continued. “Last year you were one of my brightest students, but after the incident with the slime, and your dad’s deployment, you turned into a little shadow. You’ve been so lonely.”
I was surprised. I thought Mrs. Snow just thought I was a troublemaker.
“I had Reuben,” I said, all too aware that I spoke in the past tense.
Mrs. Snow nodded. “You did, but then two things happened at once.”
My heart was thumping. How did the principal see all of this happening? How did she know?
“After the break, you returned to class and you were still quiet, but the light was back in your eyes. At the same time, that cute Kitten Cupid AstroSnap account started getting all the likes from the students. Andromeda Elementary got kitten fever overnight. I feel the two events are linked. Am I right?”
I didn’t know if I was supposed to keep an innocent face or own up to my crimes. I had to look away from her all-seeing eyes before she saw all the truth inside me—including the parts I wasn’t proud of.
“How do you know about it?” I asked after a few seconds of heavy silence. There was no point in denying anything, but I wanted to know who had gone to the principal with the gossip.
“I know everything that happens in my school, young lady.” Her voice wasn’t loud, but I was sure that if it echoed inside me, the people outside the office could hear it too. “I also noticed that at the same time the spark came back to your eyes, the whole school seemed … happier.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.
The corner of her mouth flickered. “Last year you promised you wouldn’t use the school social media for any kind of secret ventures.”
I hung my head in shame. I had promised. I couldn’t deny that I’d broken my word.
“But also last year you said something that made me think. You said that slime had helped you to calm down when you were feeling anxious or sad, so you wanted other people to benefit from it too. Isn’t that why you created Slime Supreme? To spread the joy? You told me you never did it for the money, even though you earned quite a bit from it.”
She had heard me that day after all. Then why had she made me stop making my slime and sharing it with others?
“I didn’t do it for the money,” I agreed, unable to stay quiet any longer. “I only charged so I could afford more materials.” Mrs. Snow arched an eyebrow, and I added softly, “I did what you said, and I closed the account. Also, when Meera posted the recipe, I didn’t take it down.”
“I know, and I also know how hard that must have been.”
She had no idea.
Mrs. Snow gave a tiny smile. “I’ll say this, although several people tried the recipe, they said it never turned out the same for them,” the principal said, and I was tempted to ask if she was one of the people who’d tried it and couldn’t figure it out.
“My grandma Beli says it’s all in the hands,” I said, and my voice sounded tiny, like Max’s meows. I looked at my clenched fists on my lap. A small tub of slime or a purring kitten would be fantastic right now.
When I looked up at Mrs. Snow, she asked, “Tell me, what led you to create this elaborate operation to place the kittens?”
A little light seemed to come alive inside me. When I pictured the first time I found Gigi and her babies, the image took over me, until I felt the light spilling from my eyes. I felt like a real-life star emoji.
“The mom needed help, and I helped her. I can’t keep all the babies, and I knew everyone at
school would love them, so I thought that since not everyone would be able to adopt one, the rest of the people could at least enjoy the cuteness.”
The principal looked at me with a strange expression in her eyes. “But you broke your word, and I remember your mom saying that if nothing else, you were honest. Creating a fake identity was not the honest way to do this.”
Everyone had a FAstro, but saying so wouldn’t fix this mess I’d created. And like she’d said before, she knew everything that happened in this school, and chances were, she was aware of all the FAstros in the system, including those like Andrew’s, in which he showed his real face and character.
The principal continued, “Because this is the second time you’ve misused your account, I will have to revoke your privileges. Permanently.”
At her words, a knot in my throat hurt more than when I’d been sick, and that was saying a lot. She wasn’t done, though. “Last time we had an incident with a student misusing our social media, I ended up with a bitter taste in my mouth. So as part of the consequence for your actions, I’m going to go ahead and delete your Astro, and I’m also going to give you an assignment.”
My shoulders sagged, and I was sure my face was falling too. What kind of assignment would I get? Wasn’t deleting my Astro and being outcast from the school social life enough?
The principal stayed quiet, so I looked up at her, and she continued, “Your teacher Mrs. Thomas shared with me a paper you wrote for her a few weeks ago, about the need for our whole community to come together to protect animals. Why don’t you send me an email with a project that will bring the school together in a more open way than the Kitten Cupid did? Does that sound fair to you?”
“A project to do what?” I asked, perplexed. Why couldn’t she assign me something to do, sweeping the hallways, or sorting through the lost and found? I had no idea what she wanted.
She seemed to read my mind. Now she smiled widely and said, “I’ll only give you the project name: Kindness Club. Now you go and be creative with it.”
Random Acts of Kittens Page 12
