Something More

1

Ravyn

"Number 76, your caramel frappe is ready." I said, dinging the order bell. An older man with a bowler hat walked up and thanked me for the coffee.

"That was the last one," Andrew said behind me as the old man walked out of the coffee shop, Cafe Grande. "Your turn to lock up." He tossed me the keys to the doors.

I sighed and began to wipe off the counter tops and tables. I could hear him turning off the machines on his way out the back door.

After Andrew left, it didn't take me long to finish up. I locked the door after me when I left.

Outside, it was dark. The only light was the bright moon, making everything grey scale. I hurried to the post my bike was tied to and climbed on.

I hate being the last one to leave the shop, I thought to myself as I unlocked the chain and threw it in my bag. I pushed off and started peddling the few blocks to my flat.

I was still new to town, and didn't know the area very well. New to town may have been an understatement. I was new to the entire country.

I had gotten a huge opportunity to study abroad in England through a nationwide creative writing scholarship. My parents hadn't been thrilled when I told them where I was going, but they were fully supportive and promised to help me with the program.

And help me they did. Thanks to them, I now had my own flat just a mile away from University. And a fancy new bike - apparently they don't do cars in the UK.

I smiled as I thought of my parents, they were so far away. It had been really hard at first, living in a big city like London all on my own, miles and oceans away from any one I knew.

Things got easier once classes started. I didn't have as much time to sit and think about how new and different everything was. I spent most of my time in class, studying or working at the cafe. And during rare periods of free time, I wrote short stories. Writing was my one, true passion.

I needed to maintain a 4.0 average to stay in the program. Luckily for me I had always kind of been a brainiac when It came to school.

I jumped off my bike and pushed it up the steps to my flat. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was a decent size and in a friendly neighborhood. I unlocked the door and stepped inside the dark apartment.

Flipping on the kitchen switch, the lights came on and I heard quiet jingle of bells and a quiet meow.

Looking down, I smiled. And there was Melvin. I bent down and scooped him up into my arms, scratching inbetween his ears lightly.

Melvin was the cat my parents had gotten me as a birthday present my senior year of highschool. He was my bestfriend these days.

"Hey Melvin, how're you doing?" I asked him. He meowed again and jumped out of my arms, circling around my feet, brushing his tail against me.

"I'll bet your hungry." I got his food from the pantry and filled his bowl. He began scarfing it all down immediately.

I shook my head watching him and my own stomach rumbled. I sighed and opened the fridge, pulling out left overs from the night before.

Melvin and I sat in the quiet as we both finished our meals. After I had rinsed my plate, I carried him to my bedroom, setting him on his cat bed, which was shaped like a castle.

"Fit for a king," I told him, as I normally did every night.

I changed into my PJs and crawled into bed under the quilt my mother made me before I left.

I shook my head, looking at Melvin across the room.

"Is this all that life has for us?" I asked. Sighing I switched off the lamp on my nightstand.

I don't know how long I laid in the darkness before I finally fell asleep.