The Cat Who Connected Us

The coaxial cable dangling from my bedroom wall had been loose for weeks, but Dad was too busy with his new girlfriend to notice. Honestly, I didn't care either until tonight, when the internet cut out mid-DM.

"You're kidding me," I groaned at the black screen.

That's when Mochi—my cat, basically my only friend since we moved to this suburb three months ago—squeezed through the gap behind the cable.

"No, Mochi, wait—"

Too late. The orange tabby had vanished into the wall space, probably chasing whatever lived in there. Mochi was an escape artist, but this was new.

I wedged myself against the wall, peering into the darkness. "Mochi? Here kitty, kitty."

A knock on my window made me jump. I lived on the second floor.

A girl with messy braids and glasses was dangling from the balcony above, holding a very familiar cat. "This yours? He was literally scaling the building like he's in the Olympics or something."

"Oh my god, yes." I unlatched the window. "I'm Maya."

"Alex." She hopped down with Mochi curled in her arms like she'd been doing this forever. "He climbed up the cable line? That's actually kind of badass."

"Yeah, he's... something." I petted Mochi's head, still processing that someone had just climbed down from upstairs. "Are you—did you climb down here?"

"The cable was right there." Alex shrugged like this was normal behavior. "I saw the cat and my brain just went 'must rescue,' you know?"

"You literally Spider-Manned down a cable for a cat you don't know."

"Seemed like the right call." She grinned, and something in my chest did this weird flutter thing. "Also, I saw your profile picture on that server invite that got posted in the group chat today. You're into cosplay?"

"Yeah, I'm working on a—"

"Wait." Her eyes lit up. "Are you doing the Suki build from Earth's Last Stand?"

"How did you—"

"I've been trying to figure out the armor patterning for weeks." She pulled out her phone, already scrolling. "We should absolutely talk. Also, you need to secure that cable before your cat becomes a repeat offender."

"Yeah." I smiled, feeling something loosen in my chest that had been tight since we moved here. "I think I can handle that."

"Cool." She headed for the window. "I'm in 3B if you need cable-securing help. Or if you want to talk armor patterning. Or if Mochi decides to go rogue again."

"I'll take you up on that."

After she left, I looked at Mochi, who was purring like nothing had happened. The cable was still dangling loose, but for the first time in months, I didn't feel like I was hanging by a thread anymore.