Fanboy- A Fangirl story by Rainbow Rowell

part 2

'Meet you at love library in ten?', the text from Cath read as I hastily said my goodbyes to Sarah and Andrew, who were adorned head to toe in their Starbucks-black. I braced myself for the inevitable laughs from Cath, when I met her in all black. She always said that the colour black was the exact opposite of me, that me wearing black was like a My little Pony dressing up as a witch on Halloween, that I was just a badly-done cosplay of myself when I worked my Starbucks shifts. 

The two lattes still steaming in my hands, I slowly closed the library door, pulling my earphones out of my ear as I did so. I breathed  in the familiar scent, that due to Cath, I was so accustomed to, and scanned the room looking for signs of her : trails of loose paper, and the tapping of a keyboard. Just as I assumed, she was tucked up into a corner, her big, green jumper almost obscuring her face, whilst her hands furiously tapped away at the keyboard. Sensing me, or the coffees, she glanced up, a smile slowly forming on her face as she tucked two strands of her behind her ears.

'Hey', she said, as I pulled up a chair, passing her the coffee, our fingers touching momentarily. 

'How's the new story going', I said shoving Cath's papers into her rucksack lying empty on the floor 

'Much better, Lucy and Alice are actually doing things now, instead of wondering around aimlessly in search of their mother'

'Give them my regards as usual', I replied, slinging her bag over my shoulder, my index finger resting gently on the small of her back as she led us out of the yellow-lighted library, into the cold November air. 

'Are you cold?' I asked, unwrapping the scarf from my neck as she shook her head, her cheeks gently colouring in the Nebraskan air. 

'Cather your father would not like you to be cold while your boyfriend walked next to you in a scarf'

'Levi my dad could not care less about whether or not I wear a scarf' 

'All right, I care that you wrap up warm', I said, winding the scarf around her neck until just her eyes were visible, shining brightly as they watched me. I could tell she was smiling.

Cath doesn't always smile, not at other people anyway. We're different in that way, I always try to share my smile around, much to Cath's remarks. Truly, I just don't see the point of not smiling at other people, it doesn't cost me anything. 

'You all set to finish the last Hunger Games book today', I asked, my fingers drawing circles in her palm, cold from the November frost. 

' I'm always ready to read the last Hunger Games book with you,' she replied, holding my gaze through her horn-rimmed glasses. 

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'So remind me what's going on'

'Peeta has been brainwashed by the Capitol so now he doesn't know Katniss. Come on Levi, are you listening, is it getting too late?' 

'No, no Miss Avery, continue on continue on', I murmur, my head sinking further into the depths of her green jumper. 

Her voice continued on, a constant comfort, as I allowed my body to tinker further on the crevice of sleep. Cath has a different voice when she reads, softer, smoother, as if the new world she finds herself in, is a different comfort than her own. Her voice, often quiet and unassured seems to gain a new sense of confidence when she reads the works of Gemma T. Leslie or Suzanne Collins, as if no fear or insecurity can touch her.  

She isn't the same when she doesn't have the complete assurance that what she is reading is fictional gold, such as when she read me a snippet of her own novel she had been working on for her creative writing class.  

'Levi! You're not even listening now, it is too late!'

'It's never too late for some lovely Cath Avery original' I heard myself say, as a new burst of energy I recieved pulled the book away from her, and unplugged the laptop from her desk. 

'It's never too late' I murmur, my head falling into her lap, as she placed the book on her desk.  With my eyes flickering shut, she lay back, pulling the blanket over us both, my head completely covered in the blue wool. I shuffled closer to her chest, the familiar thump of her heartbeat in my ears. Faintly, my phone rang, as if in a different world, a world apart from the world that was just me and Cath, Cath and me. Nuzzling my nose into her soft, warm chest, the phone chimed again, as I lifted my head wearily under the blanket. 

'Levi its your mom,' Cath chimed, throwing the phone onto a spot just beside my head. Grasping and grappling at the blanket, I uncovered myself, my eyes still blurry from my almost-nap, and stared down at the phone, which bore two words. Call Me.