Kitty

19

Jay's idea of a fun day is feeding stray cats. Honestly, he's too pure for this world.

I shiver as I watch him, regretting not bringing a jacket. It's November. I'm a moron. I feel warmer watching him happily dish out greasy cat food for the three strays circling around him. I squat down, pretty far from Jay and the cats, hugging my arms.

"What'd you name these three?" I ask, staring at the brown tabby in particular. We've visited his four other stray cat feeding spots, and thankfully this is the last one. I'm thankful there's not more stray cats in this area. Not thankful that we're stopping, because I would love to tag along with Jay some more and talk to him about his favorite hobby.

"The black one is Moe, the brown one is Oscar, and the small black one is Kyle." Jay says, stepping back to admire his work. The cats hunch over the silver food bowls, munching away contently. I feel a smile tugging at my lips as I watch.

"Why did they get good names?" I whine playfully, heart skipping a beat when Jay starts heading my way.

"Because I came up with yours at the moment, and I think Kitty is an awesome cat name." Jay says, ruffling my hair before squatting down next to me. "Are you cold?"

I shrug, definitely not shaking and hugging myself. He snorts at the sight, throwing his bomber jacket from last night over my shoulders. I feel my face heat up from the smell of him enveloping me.

"Thanks," I mutter, looking away so he doesn't see how my cheeks have turned a nice shade of crimson.

🐈🐈🐈

When we arrive back at my house, we find my parents making coffee and arguing. So I turned around and walked right back out. Not today.

"Let's go to your house instead," I mutter, glaring at the ground.

We walk in silence, me kicking a piece of gravel over and over again until we get there. He unlocks the gate and opens it for me, saying, "After you, sir."

I smile a little, feeling a smidge better after having to see my parents fight. They usually don't, so it must be about something big. I wish they would never fight. At least not in front of me.

I lead the way into his house this time, standing around in his kitchen until he catches up with me.

"Want a snack or something?" He asks, taking his jacket off and throwing it on a chair. I nod, about to sit down when I see a beige blotch in the corner of my eye.

I don't remember having control over my body in the next minute, but find myself on Jay's dining table, far away from his dog.

When Jay turns around to see where I am, he starts laughing nonstop. Wow. What a great guy.

I stay on the table though, not daring to get near the dog. She's almost killed me. No way am I getting close to her.

Peanut stands there, looking at me, then Jay, then back at me again. Mean dog is probably thinking of how delicious I was.

When Jay stops laughing, he shuts Peanut outside and helps me down, looking slightly guilty.

"Sorry about that, Leo. We usually don't have her inside while we're gone."

I grunt, not accepting his apology.

"I'm still hungry."

He sighs, strolling over to one of the cabinets and opening it to rummage around in. While he's looking for a snack, I find a TV remote in the living room and switch on the massive TV over the fireplace.

I flip through movies to watch on Netflix, deciding on one with Leonardo DiCaprio in it. I'm pretty sure my mom named me after him, but she won't confirm it.

"Here, I found some popcorn we can eat while we watch whatever movie you put on."

I glance over at him, confused as to why he's putting nail polish down with the popcorn on the coffee table in front of me.

"Sit down," he says, pushing me onto the couch.

"I was going to, but you decided to be all pushy about it."

He rolls his eyes, sitting in front of me on the ground.

"How are you going to watch the movie in that position?" I ask, grabbing for the popcorn bowl. He shrugs, snatching my one hand that's not wrapped around the popcorn bowl.

"What're you doing?" I ask cautiously.

"Painting your crusty nails, duh." He says, pulling fingernail clippers out of nowhere.

I gasp, pretending to be offended.

"They are not crusty! Yes, maybe it's been a month or two since I've cut them, but they are not crusty!"

He rolls his eyes again, trimming away. I decide to ignore him and watch the movie, surprised when he finishes cutting them and I'm not missing a finger.

I examine them, thinking, "not bad". When he takes my hands again, I go back to watching the movie, glancing at him every now and then. I'm suddenly aware of how close he is, and I try to suppress the blushing I seem to do all the time.

The movie was pretty good, and I got a pretty set of fingernails painted as well. He painted them some light green color. They're pretty, but not too noticeable. I love them.

"Want me to paint yours?" I ask, looking into his mocha colored eyes.

"Nah, I always scuff them on stuff and they never last long." He says, holding his own fingers up to show me. I'd never noticed, but he's got really short fingernails and some black polish is left on a few of them.

"Too bad," I say, reaching for a dark blue to cover his nails with. "I think the point is that you can enjoy them while they last."

I spend about thirty minutes delicately painting them, listening to him talk about random facts he remembers.

We sit and wait for them to dry outside, watching the sky grow dark. This has been such a great day for me. I hope Jay feels the same way.

I head home around eight o'clock to eat dinner. He walks me there, saying goodbye and giving me a random hug before he sprints away.

He's crazy. But it all works out because I'm crazy for him.

I shuffle inside, screaming on the inside from the hug. My parents are most likely upstairs, because I don't see them when I stroll in the kitchen.

I pull out some leftover lasagna and toss it in the microwave, the buttons beeping as I type in one minute.

I lean back on the counter behind me, pondering on the reasoning behind the random hug.

Does he like me? Was that a friendly gesture? Did I look sad? Does he just feel bad for me?

I keep coming up with more guesses until the microwave starts screaming. I pop it open, taking off with my lasagna and a glass of water. Time to do homework. I've got school tomorrow.

🐈🐈🐈

I groan when I'm woken up by my ringing cell phone. I grapple along my bedside table, trying to locate it in the dark while being half asleep.

"Yeah?" I say drowsily, finally answering the phone.

"Leo! Come quick! My place! Please, Leo, I need help!" Then silence. The urgency and fear in Jay's voice sends chills down my spine. So I waste no time shoving on a sweater and some jeans and sneaking out through the front door. Sneaking? Yes, it's two a.m. I'm going to be so tired at school today.

I make it to Jay's house in a flurry, unlocking the gate and rushing in. Don't worry, I make sure to shut everything behind me so the stupid dog cant run away. Wouldn't want any more poor cats getting chomped on.

Trying to catch my breath, I wobble into Jay's room. He's on his bed, bent over a gray fuzzball. A kitten.