AUGUST, 1988, SEATTLE, WA
WITH ANOTHER CLOSE of an exceedingly eventful summer, Lindy felt somber about having to once again re-commit to hours of schoolwork instead of dedicating her spare time to work and goofing around with Kurt. She sat in his bedroom, her legs crossed and a heavy human-anatomy textbook in her lap as she studied its open pages. The only way to get ahead would be to take advantage of having bought the book early.
It wasn't long before Kurt came bounding happily into the room, a large cardboard box in his hands. His blue eyes held a captivating glimmer of excitement.
"Linds, I have a surprise for you," he announced. Lindy glanced up from her book, her dark hair, which had grown past her elbows in the last few months, falling into her eyes.
"What is it?" she asked, attempting to make her voice sound upbeat rather than tired, a reflection of how much it pained her to scan rows of tiny text for so long.
On the contrary to Kurt's so-called 'surprise,' Lindy found herself feeling less than astounded by whatever he was about to present. It wasn't because she was pessimistic or found him to be a bore, but because she had grown very used to the buoyant and cheery behavior Kurt had been displaying since the news of the Sub Pop recording session.
They had been planning all summer for the single to be released in the fall, which would in turn mean more shows and (in Kurt's own words) a potential album. He was on cloud nine, floating about the house, offering to cook and cleaning without being asked to. Lindy had always thought of Kurt to be an inherently good-natured person, but never had she seen him be so optimistic about the world.
She and the others, meaning Krist, Shelli and Chad, had ended up far more suspicious of what had been going on that summer than Kurt. While Kurt had maintained a positive outlook on behalf of the efforts Sub Pop was putting into their future single, everyone else had been quick to notice the fishy behavior of the label.
It had all began when Kurt had been asked to shell out two-hundred dollars on loan by one of Sub Pop's owners. Everyone had been outraged but Kurt had obliged, insisting that it would quite literally pay off in the coming months. Lindy herself had started to harbor a strong distrust of the label, but would have preferred to see Kurt happy over anything. She didn't know much about the industry and would have hated to assume her position and upset him.
"Take a look," he grinned, setting the box down gingerly at the foot of his bed. Lindy smiled curiously, removing her book from her lap and crawling across the bed towards her awaited gift.
When she pulled apart the flaps at the top and peered in, she shrieked with delight.
"A kitten! No way!" she cried. At the bottom of the box was a mewling black and white kitten, looking up at her with startling green eyes as if begging to be removed from its temporary shelter.
Lindy scooped the tiny cat up in her hands, cradling it to her chest with a look of true elation on her face. She could have cried she was so euphoric, having shared a love of cats with Kurt from the beginning of their relationship.
"He's cute, right? Well, I think it's a he, as far as I can tell. I found him a few streets over, hiding under a bush. Took me awhile to catch him but I couldn't just leave him there."
"Absolutely not," Lindy agreed, holding the kitten up to her face so she could stare into its perfectly round eyes.
"Hi baby," she cooed. "You're safe now."
"What should we call him?" Kurt mused, sitting down besides Lindy and reaching out to pet the kitten's nose with his pointer finger.
"I always said if I were to have my own cat, I'd name him Freddie," Lindy admitted. Kurt snickered.
