Kitten?

Chapter 9

CHAPTER SONG: The Night We Met by Lord Huron

Katrina's POV

"Bye Katrina, have a good weekend!" Loren said from the front desk as Steven and I walked past it.

"You too" I waved back. I mumbled 'thanks' when Steven held the door open for me. We walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes until he spoke up.

"So how's work?" He asked shoving his hands in his pockets. The air was beginning to get chilly and the green leaves began to lose their color over the past few days, not that I'm surprised, it is the first week of October after all.

"Good...I've always liked libraries so it was an easy adjustment" I answered.

"Me too, they have a weird tranquil atmosphere, plus I like reading...well no shit, I am an English major" He glanced down at me as he spoke. Steven's a funny guy, an hour ago he was making immature kitten jokes and now he's raving about libraries.

"What's your favorite book?"

"'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn' have you read it?" I smiled at his excitement.

"Yeah it's nice...what did you like about it?" I don't know why but I liked learning new things about him. He's not how I thought he would be. I thought he would be the kind of guy who cares about nothing except partying and girls. God knows I was wrong. He's a bit of a flirt and every time he even comes near me, my heartbeat quickens and that's probably because no guy has ever even tried to talk to me in that way, so flirting will take a bit getting use to. My heart swelled with endearment when he told me he had come to hang out with me, not any other reason, just to spend time. So my first impression of him being a basic frat boy was wrong, he actually has personality; a nice one.

"I love everything about it, the whole immigrant experience, parenthood, I just learned a lot from it...my dad made me and my sister read it so we don't get cocky about what we have, so we understand that everyone isn't as lucky as we were growing up, there are people who go through a lot of shit just for one meal a day. It really changed the way I look at the world. I first read it when I was thirteen." He said seriously but let out a sheepish laugh, "But I've probably read it like ten times since then". I listened to him carefully.

"Is that why you always wanted to work? To have something of your own?" I asked looking ahead but didn't take in my surroundings, too lost in our conversation to focus on anything else.

"Exactly, just to say, 'yeah, I fucking earned this' instead of just asking my dad for money, not that I'm mad at him for not letting me, I'm still grateful. I'm grateful for everything." he spoke with an impassioned expression. I wondered about his mother because he doesn't seem to talk about her but I didn't push him since I don't mention anyone from my family.

"Good...and hey you'll be saying those words when you receive your English degree because you're working hard for it," I said readjusting my book bag on my shoulders.

He nodded while he smiled down at me, "Yeah and I'm guessing that's how you feel about photography like it changed your life"

"Yeah pretty much" I laughed lightly.

"Why did I tell you all that?" He said with a confused expression.

"I don't know" I shrugged.

He chuckled before talking, "Maybe it's 'cause you're a good listener"

"Maybe" I grinned up at him, which he returned.

"So you're Brazilian?"

"Yeah" I nodded.