Cat

Cat is a petite sorority girl and Amber’s vice president in the Autism Awareness Network, recognizable by her frequent use of hand sanitizer. She first appears as a friendly acquaintance to Brendan, but at an exhibition displaying his face beneath the words HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT, she greets him with unexpected hostility. The contrast gives her limited appearances a pointed turn: the careful, familiar routines that mark her in one setting accompany a rebuke in another.

Identity and Introduction

Cat is introduced in a discussion about Ellen, the twenty-two-year-old autistic sister of a redheaded student. Amber asks the student what it was like to grow up with Ellen, and then passes the conversation to Cat, her petite vice president. Cat keeps a jumbo dispenser of Purell in her purse and squirts it onto her hands every five minutes; the smell fills the room. Her hygiene routine is described as a repeated, highly visible behavior, while her position places her alongside Amber in the network’s social and organizational life.

Encounters with Brendan

At a dim, half-naked body-acceptance party, Brendan recognizes Cat as the only person there he has met before. She is alarmingly thin, with ribs, elbows, and hip bones visible, and wears a leopard-print bra and panties, blue flip-flops, and white surgical gloves. Brendan finds her appearance striking and admits to himself that he finds her sexy. The scene also introduces her by a lanyard reading FURRY ARM HAIR: she tells Brendan, “Hey Brendan.” and “Good to see you again.” He squints at her completely hairless forearms, making the mismatch between the label and what he sees part of their brief exchange.

The Exhibition and Reversal

Later, Brendan stands before a wall displaying his face with the words HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT beneath it. He cannot stop staring at the image, which looks as real as his reflection, and notices that he is grinning despite the hurtful caption. A sharp medicinal odor draws his attention to Cat beside him, rubbing sanitizer into her hands. Her greeting is no longer warm: “Wow,” she says. “Look who’s here. You’ve got some nerve.” Brendan is surprised by the coldness because Cat had always seemed nice to him. She nods toward the wall, connecting her rebuke to the displayed portrait and its insulting summary, though the scene does not establish any further explanation from her. The change in tone makes Cat a witness to Brendan’s public exposure and marks how an apparently familiar acquaintance can meet him, in this setting, with accusation rather than welcome.