If you are following me and read the message I send out every Sunday to my followers (it starts with CatMint5's Sunday News), you'd know that the reason why I didn't update S&R for so long was because I'm having some health problems. If you didn't know that, then 1 - now you do, and 2 - follow me on Wattpad and read my Sunday message to keep up to date with my updates and whatever is going on in my life that could influence my updates.

I'm not going to go into details about my health, but I'd like to say THANK YOU for the GET WELL wishes I got!

And now, for the long-awaited first update of the week.

I kicked, the round black-and-white ball swishing through the cold air and past John's outstretched arms, right into the net behind him.

Yes! I fistpumped the air, my teammates gathering around to pat me on the back while the girls clapped and cheered from the sidelines.

5:1 for my team, four of the goals being scored by yours truly.

Now that Horace and I were friends, he would join the games and darn: he'd proved to be one Hell of a goalkeeper! The other team had made several breaks through our defences, but so far only Billy had managed to score and that was only once.

"Not bad," my human best friend also patted me even though he was the captain of the opposing team.

"Better than you, that's for sure," I teased, sticking my tongue at him. He laughed and then shouted towards the girls:

"Time?"

"About time to go home," Mira answered, after glancing at her phone.

"Mhmm," Billy hummed and nodded before he turned to me. "Guess you win this one too, K."

"Pftt. Of course!" I grinned as if that had been the only possible outcome. But human as they may be, some of the players on Billy's team were pretty good, especially when my best friend took charge of them. If it wasn't for Horace, I'm sure they would've scored at least a couple of more times.

The boys from both teams headed towards the sidelines, a few of them winking at the girls.

"Sorry you didn't get to play," I said to Mira when I approached her. Unlike her bestie Jizelle, she'd often join in not just when we needed someone so both teams had the same amount of players.

"That's okay." She shrugged.

"I wouldn't have minded you guys having an extra player," Billy - never the sore loser - noted. "Heck, maybe you could play for my team next time, Mira."

I'm sure John would like that, I thought.

"Oh, she prefers to play with Kennedy." Jizelle giggled.

Billy and I exchanged a look. We both knew - pretty much everyone knew - Mira has had a slight crush on me since forever. Sometimes I thought I was the reason why she played soccer with us more than just occasionally.

"You did great today." I was just about to remind Billy that he'd already said something similar to me when I realized he'd been talking to Horace, the latter smiling awkwardly in response, his back stiff. Having spent so much time on the sidelines with the girls and the occasional boy spectators, he still wasn't used to being one of those in the spotlight. I was glad he was opening up though, I was glad that he was fast becoming a good friend of mine, and I was glad that now that we spent so much time together, he was getting well with my best friend. A bit awkwardly, but well.

"Come on," Mira prompted.

"What's your hurry?" John asked.

"We've got stuff to do." Jizelle shrugged.

"Like...?" My classmate kept pressing. I was sure he'd been hoping to spend more time with the girls because... Well, he was a guy and they were both very pretty.

"Stuff," Mira said, annoyance creeping in her voice. She grabbed her handbag off the bench and slung it over one shoulder. "Come on."

I knew why she and Jizelle were in a hurry. They had planned a shopping trip after lunch. And not just any shopping trip: they were going to try and pick presents for Horace's birthday. They couldn't say so with Horace around, plus, Billy, John and the other humans weren't invited for security reasons.

And yet, Billy had insisted that we buy Horace a present together. He wasn't angry or upset at not being invited to the party; there was just quiet understanding in his eyes, as if he knew this wasn't personal, that the party was solely for our community. He didn't know what we were, of course - none of my human classmates did - and yet he could sense that we were somehow different and accepted it. I'd always wanted to tell him about us, but our world had rules and one of the most important ones was not to reveal ourselves unless necessary. It was irritating sometimes and infuriating at others that I couldn't share everything I wanted to with my best friend, especially since I'd always felt he'd eventually be cool with us, but that was how things were and I couldn't find a non-selfish reason to change them.

We parted ways - a handful of shifters and a larger group of humans - and my kind headed towards our grounds.

"You okay?" I asked Horace as we fell into step.

"Yeah, I just... Never mind," he finished quietly.

"You want to invite Billy and maybe some of the other guys to your birthday party."

My guess had him halting in surprise. He answered as he resumed walking:

"I think I'd like that, but we both know I can't really do it."

I nodded.

"You could always buy sweets and treat them after school," I suggested.

"I guess." He shrugged. I could just hear his thoughts: But it wouldn't be the same.

"Or we can have a whole party, just us teens, shifter and not," I went on.

"Too expensive." He sighed and a light bulb lit up in my head.

"Fair point," I said, taking out my phone and typing:

Have a plan. Give deets later. Don't tell Horace.

I sent it as a group message, excluding soon-to-be Birthday Boy, of course.

Mira and Jizelle's phones beeped at the same time and after a few seconds - the time it took them to read the text - they both snuck a glance at me.

Soon, I thought in my head.

We chatted all the way to the Silver Bullet's neighbourhood, splitting up to go to our respective homes. I hurried up to my bedroom and as soon as I was in, I jumped in my bed and send a text to the group I labelled Super Secret Birthday Party Group.

I laid on my back in the bed, waiting for my phone to beep again. It wasn't long - maybe a minute or so - before I got another series of texts. They weren't from the Super Secret Birthday Party Group though; they were from Horace.

A/N: A short one, but you'll get more on Sunday, and yes, it will involve Alec; any ideas what he might be doing at Everett's?

Small as it may be, I hope you still enjoyed the chapter; please give it a VOTE if you did.

Do you think Kennedy & Co. can organize a good Birthday party for Horace or will it all end up in disaster?

How do you think Horace would react either way?

What do YOU think they should buy as Horace's birthday present?

AND NOW: TO CLEAR SOMETHING UP.

I've announced a long time ago (and several times, actually), that there are going to be four main couples in the Dogs, Bats & Monkeys series and each will have their own book (well, two versions of one book in the case of Rhys and Riley). The books and the relationship for the main couples in them are as follow:

- You Are the Answer/We Are the Answer - LGBT

- Sentiments & Reason - straight

- Sweeter than Sweets (working title for Alec's story) - LGBT

- More than Friends... Maybe (working title for Kennedy's story) - straight

I expect many of you to get angry *cough* *murderous* *cough*, but I announced this looooong before you started shipping Kennedy and Horace. It's even in the cover I posted on social media last year:

As you can see, there's a girl on Kennedy's cover.

That is all.

Have fun sharpening your knives. Don't forget your receipts for the rat poison. You get extra points if you try to kill me in a more creative way.

PS: Callum's character profile is available on Wattpad as part of my Wattpad Block Party post. I'll give a link to it in the first comment and as an External link. The post starts with blogging tips. Scroll to the bottom for Callum's profile.