My roommate and I have a cat. Of course living in a dorm, we are not allowed to have pets; but we’ve managed to keep him a secret from the Resident Life students on our floor.

We named him Lucifer after the cat in Cinderella. It seemed to fit since we got him around Halloween and he has the tendency to scare the crap out of our friends. He doesn’t do much, just sleeps all day or watches you with his unblinking eyes, but he’s a great guard cat, always making sure unwanted people stay out of our room.

I guess I should probably tell you now that our “cat” isn’t alive, in fact he has no heart at all. Lucifer is a Halloween cat skeleton decoration, but he is as real as any cat to us.

Lucifer’s story begins with my crafty, cat obsessed roommate. It was after fall break when my roommate looked me in the eye and said very seriously, “I got us a cat.” I was quite shocked, pets aren’t allowed in dorms! Yet figuring my roommate and knowing how stubborn she can be, would have found a way to bring a cat here anyway. She grabs her bag and slowly brings out a cat. That is a cat skeleton the size of an actual cat and holds him out to me. It was decided, over some debate, that Lucifer would be his name. Roommate goals.

When our friends would come visit us we would ask if they would like to see our cat, to which they replied, “You have a cat in your room!?” All was cleared when they saw Lucifer, much to their surprise I should add, and asked us just one word; Why? Because like any other human being on the planet, we want the company of a cat, but we are not allowed.

The rules of college dorms are simple and meant to keep everything under control, but would a dorm cat really bring that much trouble? They sleep all day and party at night, much like the dorm residents themselves! They are easy to feed and because society says that we are adults anyway, we can clean up after them too! So why aren’t cats allowed again? This leads to where Lucifer comes in. We may not be able to have pets, but Lucifer makes up for the fact.

Everyone loves Lucifer once they get by his cold demeanor (and the part were he has no fur). He gets lovings and petted by our friends, played with, and even cuddled by people everyday. And that is all that counts when you have a pet. He may not be real, but he is way better than a fish for company.