Wow. Finally, a long day of class was over. Ugh. College was going to be harder than I thought...

Beep! My phone buzzed in the back pocket of my jeans. With a sigh, I pulled it out, rolling my eyes when I read the text. It was from Alfred.

Come to FAEBS when u r done

Quickly, I replied. He wouldn't have to waste any time being hopeful or any crap like that. There was no way I was going.

No.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket as I opened one of the tall, glass doors and stepped into the chilly fall air. Shivering, I started on my way to my dorm room. Oddly enough, I didn't have a roommate, though I couldn't say I was displeased by that. It was kind of nice having the whole room to myself.

My phone alerted me of another text.

Please?

I paused. Why would Alfred, Alfred Jones, ever use the word please? I was pretty sure it wasn't even in his vocabulary.

Why?

I got an immediate reply.

Because I have something for u. U will like it.

Though I didn't trust Alfred the slightest bit, he awoken some curiosity inside of me. What did he have for me?

Sighing, I turned my back on the chill and started for the exit of the campus. I guessed that Alfred wouldn't stop bugging me until I went. That was just the kind of person he was...an annoying one.

As I carefully crossed the street, trying to avoid the cars zipping back and forth, I wondered what he had for me. It itched in my head. Oh god. What would've happened if I'd refused his offer? The curiosity would have eaten me up inside.

The building was huge. I mean, I expected it to be big because of everything that went on there (plus I got a sneak peek when I drove to the school) but it was ten times what I thought it would be. It's red brick walls had to be five times taller than I, and I'm a tall girl. Alfred stood in front of the double doors leading into FAEBS, and he held a cardboard box in his hands. As I approached, quickening my pace, I noticed that the box was quietly...meowing?

"Hey, dude, look what I found!" Alfred yelled. I cringed slightly. His voice seemed to grate on my ears. Rolling my eyes, I strode right up to him. "What is it, Alfred dear?" I asked, the sarcasm in voice painfully obvious. He bit his bottom lip. "Well, it's a gift for you, but I'm starting to think you don't deserve it."

I stared at him blankly. A gift? For me? This was a prank...right?

"Open it."

With an exaggerated sigh, I opened the still-meowing and obviously cat-laden box. Immediately, I fell in love. The cat wasn't just a cat, but a teeny tiny black kitten. Its big green eyes stared up at me with curiosity as I stared, speechless. Picking it up, I cuddled the small creature beside my face, feeling its soft fur as it meowed softly and yawned, sticking out its pink tongue.

"Alfred," I began slowly, tearing my eyes away from the kitten and meeting his, "where did you get this?"

He shrugged. "Eh, I just found it."
I laughed softly and shook my head, suddenly feeling more friendly towards the boisterous man. "Alfred, if you just found this cat on the street, it would be feral. That means ... well, it certainly wouldn't be this comfortable around humans. So where'd you really get it?"

Alfred blushed, looking down at the pavement and scratching the back of his head. "I, uh, bought it for you. See, I've been talking to Arthur a lot lately and--HEY DID YOU SAY HI TO ARTHUR?"

I took a step back in shock from the volume of his shrieking. "Um, yeah, I think I saw him earlier, but why did you buy me a--"

"Hey, you guys need to catch up! He's probably in the back room where we keep the boxes! Let's go dude!"

He grabbed my hand, making me tense up, and yanked me toward the doors. We turned left, then right, and just as we were halfway through a long corridor, I pulled Alfred to a stop.

"Alfred! Stop it! I'm still holding THIS CAT!"

He looked flustered as he grabbed the kitten out of my hands and bundled it into his coat. "Okay dude, we're good now. Let's go."

I didn't follow as he started to run. "Alfred! What are you doing? Please explain the cat! Alfred, I have stuff to do. Can you just ... stop?"

He sighed. "Look, Ally, I'm sorry. Like ... I'm really sorry, for everything. I shouldn't have done what I did, and I apologize. I wanted us to be friends again and I thought that if I gave you a nice gift-I know you've wanted a black kitten since fourth grade-we might be able to go back to the way it was." As he said this, he pulled the kitten out of his coat. It looked panicked and terrified ... which is probably how I would feel after being shoved into Alfred's coat too. I sighed. Of course, simply forgiving the person who had made my life absolute hell for the past four years was hard. Plus, I hated Alfred. Hadn't I just said a few hours that I never wanted to talk to him again?

"Alfred. I appreciate your apology, but saying that you want to go back to eighth grade ... I'm sorry, but I can't. You just ... you hurt me too much Alfred, okay?"

He nodded, then flashed a smile. "All right dude. I get it. Sure. I'm just glad that you know how I feel now. Oh, and ..." He passed me the cat. "You can keep the kitten."

I smiled sadly, cradling the scared animal in my arms. "Thanks Alfred, but ... uh ... oh god, how do I make this better?"

"How about we just start over?" Alfred asked, his big blue eyes full of hopefulness. Something inside of me, the forgiving and compassionate part, made me smile and reply, "Sure." I held out my hand and, like they do in movies and cute romance books, said, "I'm Allison."

He shook it, looking satisfied, and returned the introduction. "I'm Alfred, Alfred F. Jones."

We both grinned and the cat meowed. "Oh. I need to think of a name for it..."
"Well, you could always name it something cheesy like America."

I snorted. "America? Why America?"

"I was joking."

"You know what? I will name him America. Eric for short, okay?"

Alfred smirked. "He's your cat."

Suddenly a hearty laugh came from behind a door to our left, followed by a higher pitched, girly laugh.

"Who was that?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Alfred stepped closer to the door, looking shocked. "It almost sounded like..."

The laugh sounded again, this time clearer. Alfred's eyes widened. "Arthur," he breathed. "It's Arthur, but that's a girl's laugh!"

"So...?" I was confused. Why was that such a big deal. Unless Arthur had changed a lot since I had last spoken with him a few years, he was charming and caring, if he was an awful cook.

"So, Arthur's not cool! He's nerdy and talks to himself! How could he have a girlfriend?"

I shrugged, still not understanding what the problem was. At that moment, Eric started to whine and cry. It was so loud, and I shoved my hand over the cat's tiny mouth, whispering, "No, Eric. Shhhh! We don't want them to hear us!"

"Do you hear that?" asked the voice from the other side of the door. Alfred seemed to be freaking out as a female responded, "No, Art, I didn't hear anything. It was probably just someone outside in the hallway."

I rolled my eyes, then grimaced as Eric yowled again.

"Rosie, I really think I should go check on that. It sounds like an animal. Or Alfred. Same thing, really. Though we are in his office."

Alfred yanked on his hair, making a face that seemed to scream WHAT?!?! I didn't even realize this was my office! What are they doing in there?

I grinned, striding up to the door, knocking once then pulling it open. Behind it was Arthur, as Alfred had expected, and a pretty blonde girl I assumed was Rosie. Arthur had a lipstick stain on his cheek, but besides that, the scene was completely normal. They were both sitting at Alfred's desk, sifting through some papers.

"BRO OH MY GOD! WHY ARE YOU IN MY OFFICE! DUDE, GET OUT!"

Again, I had to take a step backwards from Alfred to prevent my eardrums being shattered. Arthur blushed and stood up, Rosie copying him. Alfred gestured to the door, and Arthur opened his mouth like he was going to say something, then stopped. On his way out, he nodded to me like he had this morning.

"Oh my gosh, is that your cat?" asked Rosie. "Um, yeah," I answered. She smiled widely. "What's his name?"

"Eric."

There was an awkward pause before I said, "Well, um, my name is Ally. I'm Alfred's-"

"Boyfriend? Oh my gosh, really? That's so cute. You two seem like such a cute couple!"

Alfred and I both blushed like crazy and I stuttered, "N-no, we're just friends."

"Oh, right," she said with a wink, still grinning and starting to follow the incredibly embarrassed Arthur out of the room. "I'm Rosie. Nice meeting you!"

Alfred slammed the door behind them, leaning on the back of the door. "Dude, I can't believe this! Arthur's got a date! WHAT?"

I poked his arm playfully. "Alfred, don't be so rude! I think Arthur's very charming."

"Really?" Alfred asked, raising an eyebrow. His arm somehow found its way around my waist, pulling me closer to him, but I immediately pushed it off with the hand that didn't have a cat in it.

"Alfred, just so this is clear... I hated you this morning, so I'm not going to kiss you now. You know that, right?"

"So...that means you might kiss me sometime?"

"Eh. Probably not."

He hung his head in mock disappointment. "Dude, that sucks."

I poked his chest. "You're joking, right?"

He laughed. "Yeah, don't worry. I've got my eye on this girl-oh, she is so hot! Her name is Elle, though I think she's dating my friend Magnus."

"All right, big shot," I said to Alfred, setting the kitten down on the floor and letting him explore the new room.

Suddenly, the door opened, throwing Alfred from his position up against it onto me. Over his shoulder, I saw the intruder. He wore along, white coat, had almost white hair, and a white scarf.

"Excuse me," he began, "but I need to take a few papers from Alfred's desk. Just some records of donations and stuff like that."

He smiled, but his eyes were odd. They seemed mysterious and lonely, like he was broken on the inside but still pretending to be okay. I knew the feeling.

Alfred only muttered under his breath, "Yeah, sure." I smiled at the newcomer, trying to make it less awkward asAlfred very rudely excused himself and left the room. "Hello," I said, holding up a hand and waving carefully.

"Hi," the man replied with a broken grin. I continued to smile, until it got weird, then grabbed my cat and turned to follow Alfred out of his office. As I caught up with him, I murmured, "Does he have a secret girlfriend?"

Alfred laughed. "Nope. But you know, I think he's got his eyes on my brother Matthew's girlfriend Mandy."

"I thought you said he was dating Elle?"

Alfred shook his head. "Nope, Elle is Magnus's girlfriend. My brother is Matthew. You know, the dude who lives in Canada and loves pancakes?"

I shrugged. "Actually, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't remember him."

"It's okay," Alfred said. "Sometimes I forget he's even there. I mean, he lives kinda far away after all."

I paused. That seemed kind of sad, and the old, jerk Alfred that I hated seemed to be back for a second or two. How could he talk about forgetting his brother existed in such an offhanded way? It was almost like he didn't care.

The kitten started crying again and I looked down at it. "Oh, well ... I better take this guy to my room. Thanks Alfred."

He flashed his teeth and said happily, "Hey, no problem dude. Any time. Are you allowed to take that cat with you? Because I can keep it in my office if you want."

I got an odd feeling, like he was flirting with me, and I'd already had my fill of flirting with him for today.

"I don't know if the cat is legal or not, but there's no need to go back to your office. But...if you're a volunteer, why do you need an office?"

"Oh my god Ally, you can't just people why they have an office!"

I snorted. "You did not just quote Mean Girls!"

"Yes I did."

I laughed, smiling as he winked. "Okay. Bye then."

"Bye. Oh, and I adopted that cat from a rescue shelter, by the way." He looked so proud. I held the kitten tightly and raised an eyebrow at Alfred.

"Well. I guess that makes you the hero, right?"

"Exactly," he laughed. "I'm the hero."