Next day was going to be a good day. Both Laura and Angelica had decided.

            Angelica was happy that she was going to experience one normal thing in her torturous life, something all the other kids had the privilege to enjoy. While Laura was happy, thinking that this might be the one night where her daughter will be herself, make people like her and enjoy life as it is.

           And both of them prayed to the Lord above before they closed their eyes for a good night sleep.

           Time sped as fast as possible as the seconds flashed by. Both, mother and daughter were waiting for that moment to just get ready and enjoy. And it did come fast.

         Tom could see how anxious both of them were, waiting for the perfect moment that he just chuckled at their impatient actions. But that time did come. The mother was more excited than the daughter.

             Laura picked her daughter up and put her in the tub, giving her a lovely bath. After getting her completely clean from head to toe, she made her put on clothes perfect for the occasion.

          To be precise, when the little kitty wore them, she looked like a princess from the ethereal world, not that she is not. She was put in a beautiful black sleeveless yet collared black lace dress which landed just above her knees and were complimented with dark grey ankle boots. The good part is it also hid her humongous life like tattoo. The dress was so perfect that it seemed like it was made for her.

         Laura, happy with what her daughter was wearing, made her put on silver dangling earrings and a simple pendant. Along with that, a brown purse was strapped across her shoulder loosely. Now that was a complete attire.

          All that was left was make up and hair.

          So a dab of lip gloss smacked on to her lips and eye liner curving the ends of her eyes and she was done. As for her hair, Laura tucked her ears in and let it curl down. And to make it better, she just clipped her flicks up and was ready.

            A sharp intake of breath was taken by both her parents. She was that beautiful, she was that gorgeous. She was perfect and she was now good to go.

            Truthfully Kitty hated dressing up, she would prefer reading any day. In fact she hated it when Laura fusses a lot about her clothes. Well, no one could help it if their mother was such a fashion freak.

         But today was one day, an exception where Kitty didn't mind Laura's excitement. It was something that was mutual. Plus she was excited because she was going to experience fun. For the first time.

              Tom was driving her to the carnival. It was a little far from home. Plus he knew which carnival Max was talking about as he had his own memories made there.

      He remembered when he was eighteen, it was in this fair that he had managed to have guts to ask his first crush out, Laura, his one and only.

              Laura remembered that well enough too. She had laughed over his foolishness which did make a huge embarrassment out of him. She even managed to convince him that he did nothing of that sort.

         When Laura had encountered the fact to Angelica, they both laughed whole-heartedly. Yes, Laura did trust her kitty with all her heart just as kitty trusted her.

          "Oh, my baby is looking so lovely..." Laura complimented as tears of happiness had been streaming down her cheeks.

          They were at the doorstep of the house. She was kneeling down in front of her and had held her daughter's hands. She was so happy with the magic her hands had created.

             "Angelica! It's time to go..." Her father told her gently and Laura understood it was meant for her. She wiped the tears of her face. "Okay, be safe and be with the group, okay?" Angelica smiled and gave a small nod.

           "I know you can handle yourself. You have done it all these years. But I still worry for you... Are you sure you don't want us to be around?" Her mother asked as the concern was hinted strongly in her voice as well as her eyes. Angelica cupped her mother's face with one hand and wiped the tears with her thumb.

          "Mom, I'll be fine... And I really want to experience this." She replies, her eyes twinkling in excitement more than ever. "Okay, I guess. I trust you... Just come back safe, okay?" She nods and then hugs her. Laura hugs her back. And then she leaves the house with her dad.

       The whole drive there was quiet. Tom was smiling at himself as he was reliving those memories during his young days. Kitty sees that but doesn't say a word. She knows the story behind his smile and she didn't want to interrupt his flashback of memories.

            In less than the duration of ten minutes, the bright red car slowed down right in front of the entrance where the fair was situated. And right in front of the huge ticket booth, a group of teens stood there with Max waiting for the kitty to join.

            When Max noticed that she had come, he excused himself from his company and jogged towards the car as Angelica opened the door and stepped outside. "Hey Angelica!" He greeted, happy that she did show up.

            Cause if she didn't, that would be such a huge embarrassment for him in front of his friends. She acknowledged his presence with a small nod and a smile as he reached to her.

         Suddenly a clearance of the throat and they both turned to the source,Tom who was still sitting in the car.

         "So when do I pick her up?" He asked out of the blue. "Ummm Sir, would ten o'clock will be fine?" Max asked humbly. "Yeah, sure!" The kitty and her new friend turned to go but Tom's voice stopped them.

         "Kids have fun, ok?" She smiled. "Sure Dad! Bye!" She yelled in her sweet soft satin voice. "Ummm Max, may I talk to you?" Max gulped.

          Just before their joy could start, he is going to get empty threats from the girl's father. Sure that was bound to happen. "Yes sir!" And he walked towards the car, leaving Angelica behind. Only for a while.

         "Keep Angelica safe, ok? This is her first time making friends. Just be with her at all times." Max nodded.

           He could understand how parents would feel when they leave their children to friends and award them their freedom. He could understand the insecurity they feel when they leave their little ones on their own feet, step by step.

         "I promise, sir, I promise." Max let out softly. Tom nodded, convinced of his sincerity and left.

          Max walked back to Angelica and held her hand. He didn't want things to start all awkward by the way he made her feel.

            "What did my father say?" She whispered to him curiously. "Nothing much... He just wants you to have the best time of your life..." He assured her softly.

         "Ok, guys! This is my friend, Angelica. And Angelica, this is..." And he went on introducing each of his friends who were present there. In total, there were five girls and six boys including Max, right in front of her.

           And they all had their own good attributes of their physical characters, or as Kitty observed but soon she realised she was no one to judge. They were normal. She was a freak.

         All of them accepted her as a friend willingly as they waved with a smile as they were introduced and she returned it with a shy nod. She knew that even though this may be the first and the last time they will ever meet, she will still remember their names.

         So much for a cat's etched memory.

            "Sammy, you got the tickets?" Max asked the boy who had these icy blue eyes and messy brown hair.

          "Yeah, man!" He replied in his deep voice. And then he turned and slid the tickets into the hole that was left by the huge glass window of the ticket counter. 

   "Ummm... Max? Did you pay for me?" She asked him softly. "Yes, why?" He asked confused as he let his fingers intertwine with hers. "Well, I had the money." She let out, implying that now she has to pay him. Laura had given her some money to enjoy her day in that purse that was strung across her shoulder.

            "It's ok. I took the permission for you to join us. So I think I should also arrange the tickets... Just forget about it, ok?" She nodded and whispered a thank you in his ear as soon as they were all allowed in.

            "So ready to part?" Another boy announced. Angelica looked confused.

           "We are parting?" She asked Max, a little scared. She didn't want to be left all alone, or worse she didn't want be left all alone with a guy. The only person she trusted up till now was Max. The others didn't give her that vibe, let alone trust them.

              "Yeah, we are separating in pairs. So it will be easier for all of us to explore. I think that is a good idea." Max informed her and she nodded. She was just hoping that she was partnered up with Max and not anybody else.

             "Kiara and Sammy, you guys go together... Rosie and Kevin, you both... Kat and I will be together... and Angelica, I hope you don't mind going with Max." He waited for her to express what she thought. Her lips broke out in a cute smile.

             "I don't mind." She let out softly. "Ok, so then we split..." And they all went their separate ways, in pairs.

           "So any explanation on why we were split that way?" Kitty asked him curiously as their arms were linked.

        "Well, Rosie and Kevin are dating... Kiara and Sammy are close to dating... And Kat and Tommy are best friends..." He explained. "And that leaves you. What about you?" She continued to poke into his bubble of privacy even though they barely knew each other for more than a few hours.

          "Well, I'm single and my best friends are dating... so I thought let them have their privacy and I will get my own date?... By the way, did I mention, you look really beautiful."

        Angelica began blushing at his compliment. She liked the way Max had said 'date'. It was so cute. And all this time she was beginning to like this boy. Was this a beginning of a pet crush?

           No, it can't be. She can't have a crush on a normal boy. She can't let him get to her. Cause once he gets to know her of what a freak she is, he is definitely going to abandon her. Plus her only plan for today is to have fun and get the most of today. And she will have to stick to that.

            For now.

            Their 'date' started off amazingly well and as time passed by, Angelica realised that she was having so much fun and she wanted gulps of it.

        She loved her day that much. They started off at the carousel where she sat on a horse and he, on a lion which were side by side. Then they moved on to a few rollercoasters which were speeding up and down and in and out, in their high and lows.

         Angelica loved the speed and Max was amused by the way she was enjoying herself. She was unknowingly getting her true self out.

          And then proceeded to the Giant Ferry Wheel as Angelica dragged him even when he flatly refused. Max found this part of the time they spent, best of all even though he wasn't fond of the wheel.

          Since it was two seater, they had only each other's company to rely on. At first it was calmingly easy, where they were just talking.

          But when they reached the peak of its height. It stopped and their tiny little glassed cabin rocked a little causing Max to look down. Which freaked the hell out of him since his darkest fear was heights.

         Angelica understood that and let out a little giggle. No, she wasn't scared of it. In fact she enjoyed it. Cause she knew she wasn't that breakable.

          "Max?" He looked up at her and she could see the fear he felt right through his glossy eyes. "I'm scared-" "I know." She interrupted and softly smiled. She slipped her fingers through his and gripped it tight as a sense of assurance that she was there. And he returned the gesture of gripping hers too as he let his eyes shut. He was going to wait till it's over.

           "Max? Look at me." She ordered. He opened his eyes and he saw her grey eyes staring back at his. And began observing every speck of colour in those beautiful gems.

             The wheel started moving again and in excitement, she looked down to see the view. He realised he was no more scared as his attention had been turned away. He moved towards her and kissed her on her cheek. This simple action shocked her. What did he just do?

         Her ears were itching to come out but she kept them under tight control. She didn't want betray her normalcy under the pretence she was playing in. And she definitely didn't want him to know about them. She kept silent.

          Both the things, her attention to her secret being hidden and the innocent kiss was tearing her apart. She didn't know how to react. But she still hasn't left his hand yet.

          "Thanks... It made me feel so much better..." He let out really gently and softly just as the ride ended which brought out tingles on every inch of her skin. But quickly she shook the awkwardness she felt.

            "Anytime!" She replied with a smile. "So what do we do next?" Kitty pretended like nothing happened. And he followed her lead.

        "Well, we could play the mini games..." And they went for it.

          They started off with the target shooting game where you get three bullets to try shooting the empty cola cans.

        Max tried his best, paying five times, to get Angelica a soft toy of her choice. But he couldn't do it. So Angelica took a chance.

        With her cat eyes, she managed to gain accuracy and shot all three bullets in one can. Both the man handling the game and Max were impressed.

         And when asked what she would like, she chose a huge grey cat with 'the blue eyes' and she loved it. The inner cat in her was mewing because it found a companion like her, even if it was inanimate.

            They tried other mini games. Angelica knew that she could win all of them because of her perfect eye-hand co-ordination. But she was pretending to be normal so she couldn't.

          So she had to purposely miss some of the chances so that she could lose. Plus she was amused and enjoyed seeing Max try his best to win the games and get her a toy with his own efforts. But all were in vain.

          There was one thing which caught Angelica's eye when she was having the time of her life. A particular man.

            He had nerd glasses on which complimented his blue eyes and dark shade of blonde hair and he was keeping an eye out on her. Plus it was weird that this was the same man who had waited on her family yesterday.

          What was he doing out there? Plus why was the kitty feeling like she had seen him somewhere before? Was he going to do something to her? She had to be on guard. Even as she was having fun.

          After they tried many of the mini games, Angelica was hungry and Max heard her stomach rumble.

          He laughed as her cheeks took on a dark shade of red. She was embarrassed and she wanted to hide her face.

          So he got her a huge ball of candy floss, something he knew she would enjoy and something she has never tasted in life. Well, in her previous life, she was never given treats. So she never experienced anything new.

          He laughed again when he saw her purring in happiness. It was really cute the way she was trying to eat it.

           In fact she was so intrigued the way they were making it that the man allowed her to stick her hand in. And the way she laughed because she said it was ticklish, got Max smiling too.

             He was really beginning to like her. But he kept his distance as he too was hurt, by past experiences.

           It was nearing ten and soon they would have to leave but they had enough time to go for one more adventurous game and it was a mutual thought for the Haunted House.

           Max wanted to prove to Angelica that he wasn't a weakling but a brave knight while Angelica knew that she couldn't really be scared in the dark because of her sudden reflexes, her intuitions and her perfect eye sight which could see in the dark too.

            So they went in together, hand-in-hand.

            They entered and it was pitch dark but Angelica could see the outlines of things that were there. She also sensed a presence that should not have been there. But she thought it was a simple part of the act.

            They went a little deeper and by chance, her hand left his.

            At that time, something else gripped her by the arm. It was a person's silhouette, she could make out. The same presence she felt. She screamed in a high pitched tone.

             But then it was muffled by his hand. Which later she realised was coated by a handkerchief which contained a strong sedative.

            Suddenly she began to feel light and dizzy. Everything in front of her was blur. She tried to get her mind clear. But more she tried, the more she was falling deeper into it.

            Last thing she remembered was Max calling out for her.