Any Better

Boris

(TIME JUMP: The week of Christmas)

Those exams were easy. With me tutoring him, Malcolm passed with flying colours. But know everyone's stressed about Christmas. Gifts, decoration, parties, everyone's gone mad.

"So, anything you're wishing for?" Malcolm asks me. I look at him, and smile. "A kitten named Boris. Black." I giggle sarcastically. "Okay. I'll go by the pet shop off campus."

"What?"

"They allow pets just off campus, y'know."

"Well yeah, but we don't need a cat."

"Oh. Eh, oh well. Cats are fun."

I jump onto Malcolm's back playfully, ruffling his hair. "What do you want for Christmas?" I ask. "A black kitten named Boris." He chuckles. I hop off and sit on the new couch in the same spot the old bed stood. "Are we ready to be parents?" I say.

"What?! -- Oh. Parents... of a cat," Malcolm says, correcting himself. "Maybe."

"Maaaaaarcy," I say, talking with my best friend over the phone.

"Beettthhhhh," she replies.

"I might be getting a cat with Malcolm!" I exclaim. I hear a gasp from through the phone.

"It'll be so cute to hear the little pitter-patter of paws roaming the dorm," Marcy sighs happily.

"Oh, about the dorm..." I start. There was a little pause until I continued. "We have to move." There's a house slightly off campus that we bought, we'll be moving Christmas Day."

"Moving, seriously?" Marcy sighs again, but this time, it sounded sad. "Yeah, we aren't aloud pets in dorms. Allergy warnings." I try and explain the details to her, but I end up failing.

"Beth, what happened to my best friend who promised me she'd live in the same dorm as me in university?"

"Marcy, listen, j-"

"Your best friend or your boyfriend, Beth. Make your choice."

And that was it. She hung up on me.

I sigh and slouch in my seat. "How'd Marcy take it?" Malcolm asks, sitting on the couch beside me. "She hates me." I groan. "I know it."

A few minutes later, I found myself in Malcolm's car on our way to the pet store. When we arrived, we quickly rushed to the cats that were for sale.

"Beth! Look at this little guy!" He calls me, and I rush over to find an adorable brown, tabby cat. I wanted to cry, I'm surrounded by animals!

"Hey, this little one has black fur," I say, pointing to a little kitten, lying down inside it's cage. Malcolm hops in front of the info sign that's stuck onto the cage. "Male!" He starts. "Perfect!"

Of course, we wanted a boy. We specifically wanted a boy to name it Boris.

I picked him up and held him in my arms, and he was still asleep. "He's a heavy sleeper," I whispered. "Yeah. That's what it says here," Malcolm quietly said back to me. "What else is there?" I ask him. He puts his finger on the list of his traits. He giggles and says, "Loud. He must meow a lot." I chuckle and look at the cat, who's eyes are slightly opening.

"Malcolm, Malcolm! Look at this!" I yell and nudge up on Malcolm's shoulder. He looks at the kitten from over my shoulder. It's eyes are wider now, and the little tail started wagging.

A faint meow escaped from it's little mouth. "Oh!" I giggle. I tickle his little stomach and he meows again. "Shall we?" Malcolm asks me, looking down at me now. I look into his deep eyes and reply, "We shall." We kiss and take him over to an employee.

Sooner than I thought, we were back in the car. This time, with a kitten on my lap. His cage was by my feet, along with a bag of toys and food.

"Oh, here's the list of his traits and such." Malcolm says, and hands me the sheet of paper. He starts the car and we were on our way to the new house.

"Well behaved, loud, heavy sleeper, and smart." I read aloud.

- - -

We arrived at the house. We stepped inside and heard a meow from Boris. I put him down and he ran into the room on the left. I followed him, and Malcolm went into a room on the right.

The room I was in was a living room. 2 couches, a couple of living chairs, and a TV.

"The kitchens here," Malcolm called. Boris ran after the voice and once again, I followed him.

- - -

We had toured the entire house, and we were now in the living room watching the news.

There was a specific channel for university news.

Boris was on Malcolm's lap this time, and we were both petting him. Just then, the "Breaking News" segment came on.

"First-Year Marcel was hit by a car just earlier today, around 9am. The car that hit her was speeding, and unfortunately, not caught. The police have cleared the street..." The announcer read.

I couldn't believe it.

Marcy was in the hospital.

She could be dead as we speak.

I needed to get down there, fast.

"Stay here with Boris, I'll go." I said to Malcolm through my rough voice. Holding the cat, he stood up and kissed me. "Good luck," he whispered. He sat back down and continued watching for more information.

I sped down to the hospital as fast as I could.

When I arrived, I tried to run past the nurses and hospital beds. I ran into a doctor, and held onto his shoulders. "Marcy. Where's Marcy?" I asked.

He took me down the hall to a room. He opened up the door for me. There was unconscious Marcy.

My best friend.

She was alive, though her heartbeat was slow.