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Jeanice

tipped her head down and became quiet. She sat on the couch

stoically, her hands lightly clenched on her lap. Sue, her wolf

roommate and friend, looked on from the kitchenette. She was becoming

quite disconcerted. It was rare for her to see even the mildest frown

on the face of her normally chipper weasel friend. "But

what can we do?" Sue broke the silence as she nervously twirled one

of her grey curls in her finger. "Cassie - she said for us to

leave her alone. If we go over there, maybe we'll make things

worse."Jeanice

thought for a moment, then turned her head to look at Sue. With

determined eyes she said, "We've known Cassie since we were in

middle school. You know how timid she can get. I don't care what she

said - she's just not going to be able to get through this on her

own." She closed her eyes and shook her head. "We've got to go

over there."Sue

gave a sigh punctuated with a slight whine. She was never good at

dealing with serious issues. The good part of her sheltered

upbringing was that she had never had to face poverty, or a hostile

or unsupportive family growing up. The bad part of it was that her

lack of experience with true adversity meant that she was helpless in

a crisis. 

 "Well...I

mean, I want Cassie to get better, too, but...we're not

therapists....""Sue!"

Sue was startled when Jeanice suddenly barked her rebuke. The weasel

scowled and shook her head. "I don't like this either. Honestly,

I'm kind of scared to go over there. But...." Jeanice's expression

changed to one of a mixture of sadness and worry. "We've been

through so much together, the three of us. I just think of us

abandoning her and her-" She couldn't say the words. She was not

the type of woman to be candid about the issue of self-harm. "Sue,

honey, sometimes you have to stick your neck out for a friend even if

you really don't want to do it. Let's go see her. Please."After

several seconds of hesitation, Sue sighed and nodded. "I guess we

have to."Fifteen

minutes of driving and Jeanice pulled into Cassie's condo driveway,

with Sue as her nervous passenger. The ignition was turned off and

the two women got out of the car. Jeanice steeled herself towards

whatever scene she might have found in Cassie's home. Sue had her

ears pinned back, the inside of her mouth dry. They walked to the

door and Jeanice carefully knocked.

 No

answer. Another set of knocks with no answer and Jeanice took it upon

herself to call Cassie on her cell. After

enough rings that Jeanice feared her call would go to voicemail: ".

. . Hi Jeanice. 'Sup?""That's

me knocking, Cassie. Open up." Jeanice heard a slow sigh and then

the phone cut off. After a moment she and Sue saw the front door open

to reveal their mutual friend.She

was not doing well. Even with the short hair of her breed, a Bengal

feline, she looked disheveled. Her coat lacked luster, and the

stripes patterned on her head seemed to smear into each other; all in

all, she desperately needed to groom herself. Her shirt and pants, a

favorite outfit that her mother had bought her as a birthday gift a

couple years prior, were horribly wrinkled with the shirt being

buttoned up in a childishly lopsided fashion. Her eyes were

bloodshot, and her head was low. She barely lifted her head up enough

to look her friends wearily in the eyes."Why'd

you guys come over?"Sue

gave Jeanice an anxious look. The weasel was the first to step

inside, letting Sue close and lock the door behind her. Jeanice

replied, "Cassie, look at yourself. You've been a mess for months.

You've become so withdrawn lately. We're worried about you!"

 Cassie

looked sadly at Jeanice, then Sue. Despite the lump in her throat,

Sue was able to say, " . . . Yeah. You were always so fun to be

around. But lately you've just been so sad. I know Jeanice has been

calling you every week-" She was silent for an instant as a sudden

pang of guilt hit her. She'd been too scared to call Cassie. But she

was here now, she thought, so it was best to focus on what she could

do for her friend - "But you keep giving her one-word answers. We

just want to know what's going on with you, and if we can help

somehow.""Mhm,"

Cassie grunted wistfully. She reflexively stroked a whisker - they

were the only part of her person that wasn't disheveled. Sue and

Jeanice waited a moment, and were both relieved when Cassie nodded

and motioned for them to sit on her living room couch.Sue

sat down and took a glance at the furnishings, which were in their

proper places, but in obvious need of dusting. She noticed two

unorganized piles, one of various documents, the other of what were

presumably clothes that needed to be washed. Jeanice had headed

straight for the kitchen, hoping to find tea or some other calming

drink. All there was a 4-pack of bottled mocha, so she too sat on the

couch, using her hands to ensure that her long tail dangled elegantly

at her side. 

 Cassie

joined her girlfriends at the end portion of the couch where they

weren't sitting. She leaned her head against the couch and looked at

nothing in particular. "I

. . ." the Bengal sighed. "I don't know. I've just been . . . not

enjoying my life right now. Life's stressful, you know? It's just

hard to get away from your problems."Jeanice's

expression was full of empathy. She replied, "But sweetie, you're

just not yourself anymore." She looked to Sue for agreement; the

wolf gave a somber nod. "Have you seen yourself lately? You're a

mess, baby! You look like you haven't been outside for months. I

don't mean to be mean, but I'm surprised Fly Fashions hasn't fired

you yet!" Fly Fashions was Cassie's job of two years. It was a

boutique store for trendy women; Cassie's knowledge of what looked

best on her clients caused her to be promoted from part-time

assistant to assistant manager in rapid time. "I

don't look a mess when I'm at work," said Cassie with absolutely no

enthusiasm. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna make myself homeless. It

just sucks having to be there until closing."

 ".

. . Does your boss give you shit?" Sue questioned."No,

she and the other workers are actually alright," Cassie admitted.

"It's not them. I don't even know if it's the job. I used to really

like helping other women choose a new wardrobe, but for some reason .

. . the fun's just gone out of it. It's like, one day I was happy

with my life and career, and the next everything became so blah for

some reason."Jeanice

twiddled her hands, thinking. "Really? You just got into a

depression for no reason? I mean, I know that happens to people, but

you seemed to be so happy. I can't see why - hey, where's

Kent?" Cassie

got very sad, and looked downcast. "He left me."Jeanice

gasped. Kent was Cassie's boyfriend, a lion. Jeanice and Sue didn't

see him very much but when they did, he seemed to be a good match

with their friend. Sue gave an awkward "Oh," and looked away.

With her eyes wetting, Jeanice said. "Oh, honey, what did I tell

you about breakups? You don't throw your life away because a man

leaves you!""No,"

Cassie sighed, "I'm not like this because he left." Seeing

Jeanice be so concerned reminded her of her wounds after the end of

the relationship. She lowered her ears and became misty-eyed as well.

"I started feeling depressed months before that. Kent tried to help

me get over it. He told me to see a doctor about it but I wouldn't. I

didn't feel like a doctor could do anything to help me. I'm sure he .

. . got tired of me hiding under the covers as soon as I got home in

the evening." Her frown turned into a grimace in a show of

regretful realization. "I wasn't fun to be around, we weren't

having sex, I didn't want to do anything to change the situation -

no wonder he couldn't do it anymore."

 Sue

also made a grimace when she saw that the tears welling up in

Cassie's eyes were threatening to cascade down her cheeks. "Hm.

Well, it's true that no one can help you if you don't want to help

yourself," said the wolf. She absentmindedly stroked her lap. "But

are you sure this depression came out of nowhere? Because if it did,

it must be clinical. I mean, lots of people have to take medicine

because their brain chemistry is out of whack. You . . . don't have

to be ashamed if that's what you need to do to get better. I mean,

girl . . . you've got to get your life back together. Seeing you like

this - scares the hell out of us.""It

really does. It really does," Jeanice repeated, nodding sincerely.

She patted a hand on the couch cushion. "Sweetie, come

here."Cassie

looked questioningly at her. At length, she scooted over close to

Jeanice. The weasel placed her hand on top of Cassie's and eyed her

with compassion. Cassie looked down, feeling guilty but silently

accepting the gesture. Being on the other side of Jeanice, Sue leaned

in and focused on Cassie, one hand on Jeanice's shoulder, the other

placed on her own chest. Now she, too, had moist eyes. 

 For

several moments, the friends were quiet. When Jeanice felt that

Cassie was ready to receive advice, she said, "You should've told

us you were struggling. This isn't something you have to deal with

alone. We've been girlfriends since we were eleven. Did you think

we'd ignore you if you came to us for help?"Cassie's

ears flattened and her features, including her whiskers, dropped. "I

just . . . didn't want to bother you guys. I mean, if my mom died or

something like that, well, that's a reason to be depressed. But

having you see me sad and crying for no reason . . . I wanted to

spare you. I didn't want you to worry about me over

nothing.""Nothing?!"

exclaimed Sue. "Look at the mess in this place. You're a mess! And

Kent left you! You're gonna ruin your life if you don't do something

to get over this. Here," thought Sue, "why don't Jeanice and I

find a list of psychologists, and you can call one to get an

appointment?""Yes!"

urged Jeanice. "All we want is to help you to get better. Let your

girls help you, Cassie." She wrapped an arm around Cassie's

shoulders and squeezed. "Okay?"

 Cassie

looked away. After several moments' thought, she quietly nodded her

head. Her

two best friends smiled. "That-a-girl!" said Sue

happily.Jeanice

added, "Okay, honey. We're a family, and Sue and I are going to do

whatever we can to help you get better." She gently squeezed

Cassie's hand. "We'll always be here for you."With

that, Cassie gave a small, but sincere smile. She had newfound hope

that her friends would get her through this time in her life.