The noise

I head into my room and change out of my school uniform first. I put my phone on the charger for now, so I don't let it die again. I'm about to text Laureen, but Dad knocks on my door. I open it and he's holding Shawn. He's such a cute furball!

"I thought you'd like to hold him," Dad hands him to me as a reach for him, my eyes are sparkling. "and I need to run to the store. Most cats can handle being alone when they're older, but this one is really young and has a sprained paw."

"I would love to hold him," I reply, happy, "he's such the cutest! I want to adopt him."

"Well he's a stray, so we kinda did..." Dad jokes.

"You know what I mean," I say, laughing.

"Anyway, I'm just picking up groceries for dinner tonight and your mother should be home around 6:30ish. We're having stew and some cookies that I made yesterday."

"Ooo, cookies."

"Anyways, you need anything?"

"Nah, but I'll let you know if I do."

"Ok, sounds good kiddo." He heads out the door with his keys and starts the one car we have. One parents will usually drop off the other at work, but I'll be at school by then.

I sit down and put the cat on my lap. It lays down and falls asleep like the perfect angel it is. I text Laureen and send a picture. To my surprise, she responds that she's almost off her break, but glad to hear Shawn is doing great.

I text her back saying, 'We also get to keep him, I'm so happyyyyyy'

She replies, 'Haha, so cute. Anyway, break ends in about a minute. Ttyl.'

I just respond, 'Ttyl', and put my phone down. I start petting Shawn and he starts purring. I'm about to die from cuteness. It doesn't help that the next thing he does sends me into cuteness overload. He wakes up and rolls around on his back. I'm about to scream, he's just so damn cute!

I pet him for a while, then he goes back to sleep. I go back on my phone and just play a few games. I get bored so I actually do my homework. Yeah, you don't see that everyday.

I'm just there vibing when I hear something. I hear it loud and clear. I start to panic. Why? What could it be? I'm not prepared for this. I gently pick up Shawn and set him down. He wakes up and I'm about to cry, I feel like I betrayed him. I stand up. Should I really leave my room? Should I lock my door? Should I call the police? That last one probably isn't necessary. At least I better hope not.

I decide to do something I may regret. Something that may traumatize me even though I'm almost an adult. It really shouldn't, but I have severe anxiety. I leave my room and check it out.

Author's note (again): I don't usually do author's notes, so there won't be one tomorrow. I am feeling better and I'm sorry that I've been taking a while to update. I will try to send out a few extra chapters tomorrow when I'm in full strength. I still apologize for any errors, I had a headache and I can't type well when I do. Luckily it's gone away, and I feel much better than before. Thanks for keeping up with the story and I am very thankful for all the support I've gotten. Thank you guys so much, you make me really happy.