This Cat Has Claws

1: Assface

It was one of those weird, randomly nice days in late October here in the Northwest. No one was expecting it. I hadn't checked the weather in the morning like I usually do because I just assumed it would be cloudy with a chance of raining all day long, so that's what I prepared for when getting dressed. But of course, this is Eugene, Oregon I'm talking about, so you never really know what the weather is going to be like in the Fall.

It was a nice surprise for me, though, when I left my house for school to see that it was super sunny with few clouds in the sky. Of course, I wasn't exactly dressed for warmer weather, but that could be fixed by taking my jacket off. But I also hate stuffing my jacket into my backpack because that makes it so much heavier and bulkier, so I avoided it as much as I could. But, today, it was just too hot to leave my jacket on.

So I make my way into my first of two classes for the day. That was the largest change for me from high school to college; the schedule. I was so used to having school start at roughly the same time every year and ending at roughly the same time. But now I got to choose when I wanted to have my classes, as long as they were available, and I only had four classes total. Anyway, upon opening the door, I ran into someone. This is something that I stress about happening almost every time I have to open a door that's not in my own home.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I rush out taking a step back and to the side so whoever I ran into can get past me.

It turns out that accidentally running into someone, completely by accident, is somehow the most atrocious and offensive thing a person could do. Or at least that was the look this guy was giving me. This guy was probably only three inches taller than I am, so not very tall since I'm 5'5", but damn. He had a very pleasing face to look at, if that's all you did. Don't talk to him and definitely don't accidentally run into him otherwise that nice face will look at you like it wants you dead.

So as I was left a little awestruck at how this guy was looking at me, all because we mutually ran into each other (this was not all my fault), he scoffed quietly and walked past me. Alright then. I guess you only find nice hot guys on TV? I wouldn't know because I've only really encountered cute guys. There's a difference between guys that are cute and hot, and most of the ones I've ever known have been cute, but not necessarily hot.

"Okay, you piece of shit asshole," I cursed under my breath as I took one last glance at him before walking into my classroom. Yeah, I wasn't the nicest person and had a quick temper.

Assface (my new nickname for this guy) apparently heard me or something because he turned his head and looked at me briefly before I went into the classroom. He definitely caught me looking at him, too. That was probably the worst first encounter that I've ever personally experienced, but what can you do? So I just let it go and sat down.

Fifty minutes has never felt so long. The class felt like it dragged on and on forever. I'm sure some of this was Assface's fault for ruining my mood right before class started. Usually this class is rather enjoyable, but today, I just wanted to leave and sit and listen to music. Or run around in cat form. Yes, I can shapeshift into a cat. I'm a super cute cat, too.

My second and final class of the day was right after my first class, and I was looking forwards to it much more. Math. My love. I've already taken the class in high school, but I had to retake it since it this course was slightly different and more catered to my major. It was also my largest class. This was another big change from high school. People always complained about classroom sizes when a class had over 35 students in it, but now 35 students is super duper small. Higher level classes or discussion groups are that size.

My mood had improved during math, but once it was over, I remembered that I had to work later. Now, it's not that I hated my job, it's just that I hated having to leave the comfort of my home to go to it. I always had fun, but it definitely took me a full ten minutes to get in the mood to be around people and do work. My roommates totally had it easy. I had to pay for housing and for college, though a lot of it was paid for by scholarships, but my three roomies didn't have to worry about anything. Their college and housing and food was all paid for by their parents. My parents helped out the best they could by buying me food. I tried not to think about that too much because we all got along pretty well, and if I complained too much that would be awkward and create tension.