Hate Me (Black Mountain Academy)

by Ashley Jade

Three hours later, I have the kitten—who’s evidently a female—swaddled in a blanket in my arms as I feed her formula from a dropper. While sitting on the floor of Knox’s bedroom. Smoking his cigarette, he glares at me from across the room. “It will only be for a few days,” I assure him. “As soon as Whiskers is healthy, she’ll go back to being an outdoor cat.” But I’ll make sure to stock up on cat food and sneak her some every day after school so she doesn’t go hungry. He glowers. “Whiskers?” I stroke Whisker’s fur. “I figured she should have a name during her stay.” I smile as her tiny whiskers tickle my fingers. “Whiskers is cute. Just like she is.” He grunts. After Whiskers is done eating, she curls up into the blanket on the floor. “She’s only three weeks old, so she’ll need to eat every three to four hours.” He glances at his watch. “Guess your ass will be back down here at two a.m. then.” I should have expected nothing less from him. Knox doesn’t have a nice bone in his body…not even when it comes to poor, innocent animals. Although, he did give me a ride to the vet and albeit, reluctantly— agreed to let Whisker’s stay down here for a few days. “For what it’s worth, I appreciate you doing this.”