In the sixth grade, the girl sitting next to me spent a bit of free time in class pouring over an issue of Catmopolitan, Cat Fancy, or one of those other magazines filled with pictures of kitties that are a step above dressing the cats up as people. Out of curiosity and confusion, I glanced over her shoulder.

With her eyes still focused on the magazine, she said, “My cat’s in here.”
“Really?” I said. “That’s pretty cool.”
“Well,” she said, “I just pretend. But she should be because she’s a princess.”

I said nothing. This continued to be my tactic with this girl through the rest of middle school and high school.