The Hockey Player (Matt Sturniolo)

Sketchy

Aurora's POV

"Aurora?" By Sarah's irritated tone, my kitten playtime was over. "There's some guy here to see you. Kinda sketchy. I can ask him to leave if you want"

Sketchy? No one stood at the window. I assumed she meant Dan, and if he was here, he could wait in the lobby until I was done. Dan wasn't sketchy, but he was angry all week. He silently ate his dinner and went back to his room.

"No thanks" I said to Sarah. Dan would tell me what was wrong when he was ready, and he could wait until I was done. I picked up three kittens and put them back in a cage Maria cleaned.

"This stinks" Maria whispered when Sarah left. "Literally"

The smell of cat litter and urine burned the inside of my nose. "It does"

"It can't be as bad as the blood drive" she shuddered. "I wish we could skip that one"

"One at a time" I mumbled

We moved down a wall of thirty six cages and transferred a lot of cat smell on to us. An hour later, they were clean and an ache of fatigue weighed down my arms. Maria folded more blankets and towels and I scrubbed the walls and floors with a bleach that burned the inside of my nose.

I never wanted to see a cat again. After we refilled their bowls, removed more cat pee and poop, we let out a sigh of relief.

"The boys got it easier with the dogs" Maria whispered. "I saw them walking a herd outside and then leave ten minutes ago"

Dogs. That's where Matt was? Caleb arrived when Raine dropped me off, but since I couldn't lift a bag of dog food and Maria was allergic to dogs, we did the cats. I walked into Sarah's office to get my participation form.

"Thanks" she mumbled and handed me back the form.

"You're welcome" I forced a smile and tucked it into my bag. No one came in since I seen her last. "Did that guy leave?"

"Guess he was just visiting" she shrugged, furrowing her eyebrows. "We get people who come browsing for pets"

"I'll wait in the lobby for my ride" I shifted on my feet. "Thanks"

After we said goodnight, I walked down the hall, past the cat room and pulled out my phone in the lobby. Jake promised to pick me up, but he wasn't here.

Six new messages. None from Matt. After daily texts from him, my phone was silent since Meals on Wheels. Did I scare him? I still couldn't believe I almost cried in front of him. "Why did Dan want me to stay away from you?" I whispered to my phone. "Are you as bad as I thought?"

I didn't text Matt, but I should have thanked him for trying to making me feel better. What would I say?

Aurora: sorry I missed you tonight

The 'missed me' tease didn't come and my message was left on delivered. Despite trying to stay distracted by school and homework, I couldn't forget Matt. I couldn't break this weird magnetic pull to him, the rush at the idea of seeing him tonight and the disappointment when I didn't.

My internal mind wondering was interrupted by a new message from Dan and the door opening. "Hey, Aurora" a familiar voice said. It wasn't Dan.

"Luke?" I gasped. What the hell was he doing here? My phone vibrated again and I shifted my eyes down to it.

Dan: I got held up. Luke will pick you up. Sorry

Great.

"Dan's stuck in class" Luke looked away from me and shoved his hands in his pockets. "He didn't want to make you wait longer, so I'm here to take you home"