The Catfish Cable Guy
Maya's phone buzzed with the eighth 'you coming???' text of the night. The biggest party of sophomore year was happening, and she was sitting on her living room floor clutching a ethernet cable like it was a lifeline.
'Your internet's down again?' Mr. Harrison from next door knocked on her open front door, toolbox in hand. 'Your dad called, said I could check the cable modem.'
Maya wiped her eyes. 'It's not the internet. It'sā'
A cat ā an enormous orange tabby she'd NEVER seen before ā came sailing over the couch and landed directly on her chest, knocking the breath out of her.
'WHERE did you COME from?' Maya gasped as the cat started purring like a motorboat.
Mr. Harrison's eyes widened. 'That's Mittens! He's been missing for three days.' He laughed. 'Guess he found your water fountain.' He pointed to Maya's cat drinking fountain, a gift from her grandma that she'd secretly been using as an anxiety-soothing prop.
The party texts kept coming. 'PPL R ASKING WHERE U R'
'You know,' Mr. Harrison said, sitting on the couch and scratching Mittens behind the ears, 'when I was your age, I missed the biggest dance of my freshman year because I was helping my mom with the garage. Thought my life was over.'
Maya blinked. 'What happened?'
'She made me her famous chocolate chip pancakes. We watched old movies. It was actually... pretty sick.' He checked the cable connection on the wall. 'Sometimes the best memories are the ones you didn't plan for.'
The orange cat was now curled up in Maya's lap, completely zonked out. Her phone kept buzzing, but suddenly it didn't matter so much.
'Mr. Harrison?' she said. 'Do you think maybe I could... stay here? With you and Mittens?'
He smiled, testing the internet connection. 'Kid, I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, I have Disney+ on my cable package.'
Maya put her phone on silent. The party would be there next weekend. But an orange cat named Mittens and a neighbor who understood? That was rare.
'Hit me with the playlist,' she said. 'Let's watch something from when you were my age.'
Mr. Harrison laughed. 'You're gonna regret that. 1998 was a weird year for fashion.'
Maya grinned. 'Bring it on.'