Zac stared out of the window. The girl was there again. She was sitting on her knees petting the most unlovable cat in the neighborhood. Zac, who was wonderful with animals couldn’t even get the cat to go near him.

But this girl all she had to do was kneel down on the ground and this cat was in her lap. She did this every Friday night. She would sit out there from nine to about eleven, just sitting there petting that cat. She never spoke, she never moved, she just sat there, and stroked that cat.

Isaac knocked on the door and came in. “Hey Zac, what are you watching?”

“This girl outside my window.”

“What girl?” Isaac asked as he looked out the window.

“Her.” Zac pointed.

“Hey, isn’t that the mean cat?”

“Yeah. “

“I can’t believe it’s letting her pet it.”

“I can’t either. I watch her do this every Friday night.”

“Every?”

“Every…you know Ike, I think I’m gonna go out there and get her story.”

“Get her story?”

“Everyone has a story. I have a story. You do too. I want to know hers.” Zac grabbed his coat and went outside. He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets and walked along the grass until he reached the girl.

“Hi.” He said bravely.

She jumped a little and looked up. “I’m sorry, am I on your property? I’ll leave.”

“No, no, no. I was just watching you from my window and was wondering why you were out here and why that cat likes you. That cat hates everyone on this street.”

“You don’t wanna know…”

“Yeah, I do. I wanna here about someone else’s life. I’m tired of telling people mine. I wanna hear yours.” Zac sat on the sidewalk facing her. For the first time the cat actually allowed Zac to pet him.

“I don’t even know you.” She said shyly.

“Well, my name is Zac. Yours?”

“Asia.”

“Wow, that’s cool. I’ve been there. I never knew anyone that was named that.”

“Wow, you’ve been to Asia? What is it like there? Was it neat?”

“Yeah, the things they had there are so cool. I’ve never seen so many people with black hair in my life. The smells were so different from here. Yes, I notice stupid things like that.”

“Oh, so do I. It’s like I noticed that you smell real good.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”

She smiled. “How old are you, Zac?”

“Fourteen. You?”

“Eighteen.”

“I have a brother that just turned nineteen.”

“I don’t have any siblings.”

“You want a couple? I can spare a few.”

“How many do you have?”

“Six.”

“Wow.”

“Well, do you feel like you know me enough to tell me why you are out here by yourself? Petting the most unfriendly cat in the neighborhood.”

“Well, I’m on a date.”

“Okay, that makes sense.” He said sarcastically.

“Well, that’s what I told my parents.”

“Why? Obviously you aren’t.”

“I just don’t want my mom to think that I have no friends.”

“Do you?”

“No, I have no friends.”

“Why, you are nice?”

“I’ve never had time to make friends. My mom is sick.”

“Sick?”

“She's dying. I can’t exactly explain what it is that‘s wrong with her but…””

“Oh my God, I don’t know what I would do without my mom.”

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do without mine.”

Zac just watched her intently. He couldn’t see her face all he could see was the outline of her face and her hair. It was odd not being able to see the person he was talking to but at the same time it was refreshing. He wasn’t being judged on what he looked like and he couldn’t judge her on what she looked like.

“Well, I didn’t want my mother to worry about me. I mean the last thing I want for my mother is to worry about me. She needs to worry about herself. She has this idea of me. The way I should be. I’m trying to be that person for her. I want her to be happy. She wants me to have a boyfriend. So somewhere in the back of my mind I conjured up a guy. I tell her that we go out every Friday with friends.”

“Friends that I don’t have. I’ve given her this description of him. I just love seeing the look on her face when I talk about him. She just gets so proud. She can’t get out of bed anymore. So she makes me model what I’m wearing for him so when I go out I can look perfect. I leave and I come here and pet the kitty and then I think of something to tell her about my date and then I go home and tell her.” She said sadly. “I just want her to be proud of me. I just want her to be happy.

Zac was speechless. He wondered what he would do in her situation he rationed that he would probably do the same thing that she is doing.

“That must suck.” He said bluntly.

She laughed a little. “I’ve never heard anyone put that quite so bluntly but yes. Why are you tired of telling people about your life?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“Yeah, kinda, I want to take a second from thinking about my mother.”

“Well…I guess I can understand that. Ummm well, I’m tired of moving around and having to tell people all about me to make friends and then leave them.” Zac hated lying to her but he didn’t want the truth.

“It must be nice to be able to see the world. My mom sickness takes all of the extra money. The farthest I’ve gotten is to LA that was cool. My mom said that my dad should take me. I’ll always remember that. I had so much fun. Granted it was fifteen min away from the house but still. What’s the world like?”

“Parts of it are wonderful. I love the states they are home. Europe was cool. Love the Dr. Martin store. They have awesome shoes.” She laughed. "But nothing can compare with the sights and sounds and even the smells of my hometown.”

“Where is that?”

“Tulsa.”

“Oklahoma?”

“Yeah, go ahead with the hick jokes.”

“No…I’ve always wanted to see out that way. It would be neat to see Oklahoma.”

“Wow, you are the first person I’ve met to tell me that.”

She just laughed slightly at him. “Yes, well.”

They sat there in a silence for a while.