Learning to Live

Chapter 9

"He does."

"What is he doing?" I asked, taking another bite of my burger.

"The orange asshole is sleeping on my laptop, that's what," he said. "Where are you anyway? Are you having dinner home?"

"Nope. I'm eating out. Do you guys want me to pick up something for you. It's your turn to cook, right?"

"No need. Scott is having dinner with his teammates in his coach's place," Stefan said. "I'll just make myself a sandwich."

He hung up without saying goodbye. My brother was a jerk. I shook my head and dropped my phone on the table.

"Cheddar?" Hunter asked, picking up a fry.

"My cat," I said. I hesitated. "He was my father's cat. Dad and I found him in a box when he was just a tiny baby. I think I was about five or six years old. Cheddar was supposed to die. Kittens that young can't survive without their mother, you know. We took him to the local shelter, where they assigned him to a foster mother."

"A foster mother?"

"Yeah, there are a couple in our town. They foster animals until someone adopts them. The foster mom had to keep an eye on Cheddar almost twenty four seven for the first couple of weeks."

"You ended up adopting him."

I smiled. "Yeah, dad and I visited him every other day until he was ready for adoption. Then we took him home. He's an old, grumpy cat now."

I took a sip of my milkshake. It cooled down my throat, soothing the burn of memories. Hunter demolished the first burger and started on the second. He didn't touch his fries.

"You like cats," he said.

"I like animals. Cats, dogs. Jason had a turtle when we were in preschool, and when I'd go visit, I'd put her in my backpack and take her home with me." I chuckled, remembering my father's face when he found the turtle in my room for the third time. Good times.

I snatched a fry from Hunter's plate and popped it in my mouth. He stared at me. "What?" I said around the fry in my mouth. "You're not eating it."

"I eat my fries last," he said.

I scoffed and stole another fry. "That's a crime. you don't know how to eat a burger properly."

His lips twitched up as he took another mammoth bite of his burger. He washed it down with coke before speaking. "And how do you eat a burger properly?"

"A bite of your burger, fries, drink, repeat. That's how it's done, Hunter Jamison." I took a sip of my milkshake.

"You didn't tell Stefan you're out with me."

I choked on my drink. It almost came out trough my nose. Very elegant.

Hunter gave me a napkin. I wiped my mouth. I had completely forgot we were going out, actually going out. So this was supposed to be a date then? I looked down at myself. I was wearing a hoodie and jeans. My hair, still slightly damp from my shower in the gym, was pulled in a messy knot over my head. I did not look like someone out on her first date.

"No. I didn't," I said. "Is this a date?"

He shrugged, slowly chewing on his food. "It is if you want it to be."

"I'm not dressed up," I said, half-joking. "I'm supposed to be all glammed up and sparkly for my first date."

"If I wanted someone glamorous and sparkly, I wouldn't have asked you out."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" I stole more fries. "Are you saying I'm not feminine?"

"Dressing up in a skirt and putting on make up isn't what makes you female," he said, his eyes flickering over my features and lingering on my lips. "You're fine. More than fine."