"Oh, hi Chloe!"

"Hey, Mackenzie," She looked like she was with her parents and her sister.

"Are you adopting a pet today?" She asked. As Mackenzie talked to me, her parents walked towards the receptionist holding a box and talked to her, Mackenzie's little sister was looking at some of the products on display. I didn't buy the products in the adoption centre, even though they were cheaper, because I wanted to get everything in one transaction, I was going to have to go to the pet store anyways to get the scratching pole, litter and litterbox.

"Yeah, I'm actually getting a cat."

"Really? That's so cool. What did you name it?"

I hadn't actually thought of a name for the cat yet. I took a little while to think through some possible names. It was a boy, so I scoured my brain for all the boy names I knew, Sausage? No, that's a terrible name. Why did I think about that... I guess I'll have some lunch when I get home. How about Ritsu? I mean, it's alright, but it didn't seem it fit the dorky-looking cat. Hm... What about... Mittens! That's perfect. It had little paws that looked like mittens.

"He's named Mittens."

"Mittens? That's such a basic name."

"Huh?" Now that I thought about it, I had heard the name 'Mittens' used on a lot of cats. Oh well, it's too late now. I've already committed to the name Mittens.

"Well, it's a cute name anyways. We're just here to drop off a stray baby bird we found. We weren't that sure what to do with it when we found it, so we came here." That was probably why they were holding the box. Now that I thought about it, I could ask Mackenzie if they could drop me off back home. It was going to be practically impossible for me to get home on the bus whilst carrying all the stuff I had purchased.

It was a nice opportunity to get to know her anyways, so I decided to ask. "I just had a favour. Would you guys be able to drop me home? I bought all this stuff and didn't realise that I couldn't really get home." Mackenzie thought about it and looked over at her parents."We should be able. Let me just ask." I was pretty thankful for Mackenzie's outgoing personality. Before long, one of the workers came out of the back holding a pretty big crate with a funny-looking ball of fluff stuffed inside. He passed me the crate and seemed concerned by the number of goods I had sitting around me. Mackenzie had a short conversation with her parents before coming back over. "Yep, we should be able to." Thank goodness, I thought I was going to do some balancing trick in order to carry all this stuff. "Thank you so much."

After her parents finished talking to the receptionist about the baby bird, the worker took the box and walked into the back. Her parents came over and helped me carry some of the bags. "Thank you." We made out way over to their car, which was parked just outside on the loose gravel path beside the grassy hell. We loaded everything into the trunk of their expensive-looking car, and I held onto the crate with the cat and sat on the back right seat. Mackenzie sat in the middle with her sister on the other side.

Mackenzie peaked into the crate and smiled as she twiddled her finger at the cat. They seemed rather aloof and didn't really react to her teasing. "He looks so sad," she said. I also agreed that the cat looked sad, although I'm pretty sure it was just his face structure and not because he was actually sad. "Aw, he's so fluffy I just want to pet him." Mackenzie's sister also had a similar sociable personality and looked at the cat through the crate.

"By the way, Chloe, was it? What's your address?" Asked her dad. I told them my address, and they typed it into the GPS. It was connected directly to the screen in the car it was all completely touch screen. "Hey, can I play some songs?" Asked her sister. Her parents agreed, and she played a few pop songs on her phone, which connected to the car via Bluetooth.

A little while later, we arrived at the driveway of my house. I thanked her parents for taking me home and Mackenzie got out of the car with me and helped me carry some of my things into my house. "Have fun with Mittens!" She laughed and went back outside. "See you." I waved her goodbye.

I was now here with a ton of cat items and a dorky cat. I guess I'd let him out and see. I expected him to instantly dark under a couch or something as adopted cats usually do when they're just adjusting to their new home. Instead, Mittens just came out of the crate and looked around, staying close to me. I kneeled down and scratched his chin, it was like touching a tiny sad-looking cloud. So cute.

I took the litter box and found a place in the laundry room to put it. "Okay Mittens, hopefully you come pre-programed knowing how to use these." I looked at the instructions on the bag of kitty litter, 'Pour into litter box until half full', alright, seems easy enough. Mittens followed me around the entire time as I put out the various pieces of equipment I had bought for him. I put the scratching pole and water bowl in the living room and decided to have a seat on my bed to relax after this long day.

Mittens jumped up onto the bed and laid down beside my leg. The soft sensation of his fur was even better than a pillow. I hugged him and grabbed one of the little mouse toys I got. His eyes were instantly glued on the toy as I swayed it around, occasionally pouncing on it like he was a tiger.

Ah, this was a long day.

I put out a can of food on the ground beside me and laid back on my bed. I wonder what I was going to have for lunch. I had been obviously hungry just an hour prior, so I got up again and made my way over to the kitchen. I was hungry to the point that even Mitten's food looked appetising... maybe not, upon another observation.In the end, I just decided to make myself some spaghetti bolognese.

*

I still had flashbacks to back when I was in the Side Room.

It wasn't necessarily a bad place.

I never thought that it was really abusive or anything of the like.

I wouldn't be the person I am now if I never went there.

The reason why I'm good at sports.

The reason why I'm smart.

It is all because of the Side Room.

For some reason, aside from a few vivid memories, my life in the Side Room was a blur.

I seem to briefly remember something important to me.

What was it?

What was it that I seemed to be missing?