Kerosene Hearts

iv.

Late August
Marsden Residence
Zelda

"You have a cat?"

I think I'm gonna faint.

Jeremy chuckled. "It's my neighbour's cat. They're not home a lot, though, so Socks makes it a habit jumping into my room without my permission."

With gooey eyes, I dropped my bag without hesitance and kneeled on the floor to get closer to the black cat. With my legs folded beneath me, I leaned forward and extended my arms. The little cat froze for a moment before approaching me cautiously, slightly touching my hand with her nose, before retreating.

"You like cats?" Jeremy asked, sounding amused.

"I love cats," I said with adoration, my eyes not leaving the dark shadow that now made itself comfortable by curling into a ball on Jeremy's bed. I did sat up straight, however, crossed my legs in front of me. "There were a bunch of those at a dry-goods store in the wet market I visited a lot. I was pretty close to the owner."

"She seems to like you," Jeremy commented, making me smile widely. "She wouldn't even touch Paris in the first month. I'd been playing with her for a whole year before he made it into my bedroom."

I was grinning now, completely satisfied. "Really? I sure do hope she likes me. It would be a very awkward and one-sided relationship if she doesn't."

Before he could reply, the door was banged open, revealing Paris with several packets of chips and a six-pack of Sprite. Socks immediately got on all fours, alert. She hissed at Paris once before settling down again.

"Oh, c'mon," Paris groaned, dropping everything on Jeremy's desk. "Why's the cat here?"

"Ask her," Jeremy teased him. "And I though we're here to catch up with school, not to throw a party?"

I was pretty nervous about starting school, so a while back, I asked Karen if she could lend me her notes from last year to check my progress. She told me apologetically that that she didn't keep any of them. She was nice enough to persuade Jeremy and Paris, both apparently pretty top students, to help me, though. So here we were, at Jeremy's place.

Paris sat on the ground somewhere near me and teared open a packet of Lays. "Why not both? Where do you want to start?"

"Do you have any old notes or books I can look through real quick? I don't need a lot."

Jeremy scratched his head, in thought. "I'll look around and see. Do you want to play with Socks for a bit? I can grab her toy."

Paris snorted. "She's already making her move."

I was about to defend myself when I felt something furry brushing against my back. Grinning excitedly, I turned around to face Socks, whose face was right in front of mine. She took a step back immediately, eyes wide and alert. I cautiously reached a hand out to stroke her back, scratching her neck a little before going to scratch her below her jaw. She lied down, relaxing under my touch.

"Hey, buddy. You like that, don't you?" I cooed. "Awww. I want to take her home already."

"That's what she said."

"Paris."

I ignored them. Socks purred, squinting her eyes at me.

"Traitor," I heard Jeremy mumble behind me. I could imagine him resisting a smile and shaking his head.

I just chuckled.

"You're gonna end up being one of those old and pissy cat ladies," Paris decided, chewing his chips loudly. "Just wait and see."

"If you don't want to have one of my many cats thrown at you in the future, shut your trap."

They both laughed. For some reason, they seemed to find my ability of being rude and vulgar... entertaining. The first time Will swore in front of me, his sister had this look of horror, and she immediately checked for my reaction to see if I was offended. When I shrugged nonchalently, almost confused, these two- who happened to be at the Andersons' place quite often- laughed.

"I think I found something," Jeremy announced, pulling out a file of notes as well as some thick textbooks.

Keeping a hand on Socks, I took the file and books from him, and then I started flipping through it. I would need to spend some time on the science subjects, and I should try to get the book list for English earlier to prepare myself. The English lesson was my biggest concern so far, but it was also what I was most excited about.

"So?" Paris probed. "What do you need to catch up with?"

"Physics, Chemistry, and Biology," I listed absent-mindedly, still scanning through the pieces of text. "I have to get some reading done for English as well. Do you think you can lend me your books for a week?"

"Uh, sure," Jeremy said, scratching his head. "Do you need any help with catching up or... nah?"

"Nah, I'm good. Did you take History as an elective?"

"I did. Wait." Another thick book landed on the top of the pile.

"I probably have to catch up with that as well," I mused, speaking more to myself than to them. "I don't think we're learning about the same thing."

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Paris persisted. "School's almost starting, and you look like you have a lot to catch up with."

"I do, don't I?" I agreed with a half-hearted smile. "But I'll manage. Thanks, though. I think I'll leave early and start catching up today. Do you mind, if I do that?"

They exchanged a look, seemingly weirded out, and I started to feel uncomfortable. I had always been all business when necessary, even though the timing was absurd sometimes. It was just the result of basically being free to do whatever I wanted to for all those years before. I had always thought I was flexible because of that. Now, though, it seemed to be getting in the way of me building relationships with people around me.

"No, not at all," Jeremy finally said, genuine even though he didn't seem to understand. "Do you need a ride home? That's a lot of stuff."

"Nah, I'm good. But thanks for the offer." I stood up, my hand leaving Socks, making her look up, too. I scratched her head briefly before bending to pick up the pile of books and notes on the floor. "And thanks for helping me today."

"Yeah, sure. You're welcome?" Jeremy muttered, uncertainly.

I smiled at them politely and walked away.

I noticed I did a lot of that, these days.