little surprises

Syreeta knew where her friends were. They were over at Vada's.  Not that she was particularly upset about no invite. She wasn't that close to any of them. She felt way out of her element these days.

Maybe if she'd stuck with Sawyer, she'd be in with the other happy couples. Not that she wanted to wallow in her mishaps of relationships. There were other things to do. Like studying. There would be papers due soon. She needed to get busy and have it done.

In her head, she was dreaming how fantastic the English teacher would talk about her paper on great African American women writers. How she got the paper in, a week before it was due. Of course, she was staring at a very fat book from the library that she couldn't even manage to turn the page.

It was making her tired.

Thank God, the doorbell rang.

She trotted downstairs to get it. After all, her mom was on the phone with her best friend and her Dad was doing something out in the garage.

It was Clive and he had a kitten.

She blinked. Before she knew it, the little furry creature was in her arms, attaching its-self to her sweater.

"I can't keep it." He looked so sad. She had to say yes.

"Clive?" She winced as if that was the worst idea ever.

"Her name is Chloe and we just don't have food for her. She's hungry." Oh, he would have to have a sad story. She handed him the kitten.

 He was probably more hungry than the kitten. She went to the kitchen to see what was in the fridge. She got out the mac n' cheese from supper. She warmed it up for him.

"Thanks." He smiled as if he was happy to see she wanted to help.

She wanted to tell him no, but how could she with those sad eyes of his.

She fed the kitten some milk.

"We don't have any kitty litter." She informed him

"Oh." He shrugged.

"We'd have to go to the grocery store or some place." She sighed as if he was making this difficult.

He didn't have an answer for her because his mouth was full of cheesy noodles.

He was kind of funny. She held in a laugh. Actually, she liked watching him eat. What was the matter with her? No, no..she found herself shaking her head no. She couldn't be falling for him.

"What? We could walk over to CVS." He dug out a 10 dollar bill from his jean's pocket.

Syreeta set there at the dining table hugging herself.

"I love Chloe. I just don't want anything to happen to her at my house." He got up to wash his dish.

She looked at him wondering what other mysterious things he might bring up.  He bundled up the kitten in his jacket.

"Well, come on, we have a cat now. And I won't make, you, do everything." He held out his hand as soon as she grabbed her coat.

She took his hand. It was much softer than she expected. Actually, it was warm and such a comfort.