Loving Him

A Quick Upside

“Easton Everett,” The words tumble out and I fluster to hide the cat I’m holding but then realize that’s stupid since I still don’t have my jacket and holding a cat isn’t wrong and technically it doesn’t matter that he’s seeing me now after my night of eventful events. He couldn’t know what just went down and by the way, his face morphs from surprise to disdain he doesn’t seem to care.

    “Aren’t you that kid Wren brought over?” He asks giving me a once over. “What did you just crawl out of a sewer? You smell disgusting.”

    My mouth nearly drops open but I glare at him, “Thanks? Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

    “Clearly,” He glances at the cat in my arms and then back at my face. “Are you a meth addict or something?”

    “What!? No!” I clear my throat and clutch the cat tighter to my chest. “I-it was cold outside and I forgot to grab a jacket. Cats like me so it was easy to nab this one from that alley over there. He’s my personal heater.”

    The lack of sleep probably won’t start seriously getting to me until at least this evening so I know I’m not having hallucinations. Scratch what I said about Easton Everett being dangerous he might just be a jerk.

    “Can I help you with something? I was just on my way to pick up Eden.” I notice then that he’s been holding onto this pink bicycle this entire time and it must belong to that cute little girl that somehow shares his genes.

    “No—” I freeze. Bumping into him had been a total accident. I was on my way to Sally’s youth center in downtown to possibly pick up some new clothes or take a shower when I bumped into him. “Actually could you maybe not mention to Wren that you saw me?”

    His reaction to the thrown food during lunch had been pure violence and I sort of don’t want to know just what he’ll do if he somehow finds out the truth about my life.

    “Why would I tell Wren that his boyfriend is walking around clutching a mangy flea-infested animal without a coat in this weather?” Easton rolls his eyes. “I have to go now good luck with whatever is happening here.”

    Talk about a total three-sixty from yesterday. I’m almost tempted to throw my cat at him but I don’t instead march onwards.

    I reach the center and bump shoulder with a familiar head of bleached blonde hair.

    “Now what is my favorite nymphomanic doing here?” Les eyes me up and down zeroing in on the cat. He seems less depressed since the last time I saw him but I know that he’s pretending to be okay, mostly because even as we stand in line his hands keep fidgeting.

    “I made a new friend,” I just the orange tabby towards him. Les and I aren’t really the type of friends to discuss emotional traumas but I understand that he needs something to hold and if theres one thing I know about him its that he likes cuddling—mostly because that’s all he ever does to me whenever he’s seriously depressed. But I guess birds of a feather flocked together.

    “Oh wow, he’s mean-looking.” The orange tabby slinked into his hold and stared dispassionately at both of us. It was true that the mangy thing hadn’t bothered to fight when I picked him up earlier but I suppose I took that to mean that he recognized that I wasn’t about to eat him or something. “What’s his name?”

    “Joe, for now at least. You know until I decide to let him free again.” I took back the cat and cradled him in my arms.

    “No jacket in this weather? Guess I know what that means,” Les’ sly grin causes my stomach to turn and for a second I think he does know what it means. “I’d offer you mines but you know…”

    I did know so I made no effort to continue that revenue.

    Juliet would sometimes tell me that I liked to avoid awkward conversations too much. I mean she wasn’t wrong but then again she isn’t here to tell me to be a shoulder for Les to cry on. So…

    “Next—you? I haven’t seen you in months, Ellie, how you been?” Sally is a sweet old woman with a soft southern drawl in her tone. She motioned me towards her and wrapped me in a strong hug.

    I let her hug me despite knowing that my skin felt like a million little ants were crawling all over it. I needed my jacket.

    “I’ve been good Mrs. Sally. Just need a new jacket so I don’t freeze out there.”

    Her eyes go wide, “Now why are you walking around in this cold holding nothing but a street cat to keep you warm? Don’t tell me you spent the whole night out there again?”

    “Something like that,” I smile sheepishly. She moves around some boxes and pulls out a thick black jacket that looks like it’ll swallow me whole.

    Perfect.

    “Now I’ve told you once sugar, just race on over here before seven-thirty and claim one of these beds if you need it. I’ll save you a bowl of soup too.” She pats my shoulder and I smile at her in thanks.

    I never felt the urge to claim one of the beds because doing that always felt like I was taking up space that someone else could use. Its not like I don’t have my own bed or my own room, it’s just that some nights I choose to sleep in alleys or under benches. The beds in the youth center should go to someone who actually needed them.

    “Well Joe, lets go find our bench for the night.” The cat meows from within my jacket his head sticking out as he purrs from within the oven of warmth I’ve just formed.

    I’m halfway down the street when a hand wraps around my bicep and spins me around. I raise my arm to defend myself when I catch sight of that familiar violet gaze.

    “Wren?”

    “I thought that was you,” He seems to breathe a sigh of relief and quickly gives me a once over. “What are you doing out here?”

    “Uh, I was suspended remember? Don’t you have school?”

    “I went to your house to look for you.”

    I wince. Please tell me he didn’t…

    “Your mom said she didn’t know where you were. She seemed pretty worried.”

    The drugs, I wanted to point out to him that she wasn’t worried about me. She probably woke up a lot more sober than she’d gone to bed and realized she still had like seven more trays of cupcakes to make if she wanted to meet this week's quota. You know if she wants to pay back her dealer in time.

    “Why did you go to my house?” I ask him to divert the conversation.

    “ wasn’t until Easton called me. I wanted to make sure you were okay. He said you looked out of it?”

    “Well, I’m not okay so—”

    “Meow~” Joe seemed to contradict me and Wren’s gaze shifted to him.

    “Is that a cat?”

    “His names Joe.”

    “He smells—”

    “That’s not him its me okay!”

    I huff and clutching his arm drag him from the center of the sidewalk closer to one of the buildings.

    “I walked through a pile of s**t and since I can't go home and shower I now permanently reak of shit.”

    To my surprise, he smiles, “That’s cool just come over to my house then.”