“I actually have some math to do. It’s due in the morning and I waited till the last minute,” she said with a grimace. “Thought I’d get the core classes out of the way first so I can do all the fun writing stuff later.”
“I could help you,” I said.
“Bro!” Mikey objected, offended I was bailing on him.
Kitty smiled, good-natured. “It’s alright. I managed the last three years without you. Y’all go on.”
I fidgeted with my backward baseball cap. “Alright, well, since I came to your show, do you want tickets to our game Friday? It’s the home opener.”
Her eyes brightened. “Yeah, I’d love that.”
“Bring your friend,” Mikey said, gesturing to her blonde teammate.
Kitty laughed. “We’ll see. I don’t know that she’s the bloodsport type.”
“She could be,” Mikey said.
“Okay, we’re going,” I said, ushering Mikey away. “You were lovely, Birdy.”
We sat around at the main hockey house, drinking beers for a mid-week shoot-the-shit session. I’d had maybe two sips of beer when my phone buzzed.
KITTYBIRD
Help me solve an equation
Sure!
If Guy leaves the party at 10:04 p.m., and Kitty leaves
her dorm at 10:07, who will arrive first to that coffee and
waffle shop on Mass Ave?
Really? I can leave now
I don’t deserve you
See you soon
When I got to the decided-upon coffee shop, Kitty had changed into sweats with her hair up in one of her signature ponytails. She already had her book open and was chewing on the end of her pencil.
“Hey,” I greeted her, walking up to the booth.
“Hey,” she said, not really looking up. “When the server comes, get yourself whatever you want. I already gave her my card since they’re closing soon. I didn’t realize that.”
I got a hot herbal tea with a waffle when the server came over. Kitty was still in the zone. I grabbed her hand to get her attention.
“What do you want on top,ma puce?”
Kitty seemed surprised to see the server, then forced a smile at me. “You pick. I trust you.”
I asked for strawberries and whipped cream. Strawberries made me think of her lip balm.
“Thanks,” she mumbled. Her eyes screwed up in a pained, frustrated expression.
“Math still gets you worked up, huh?” I said, moving to slide next to her in the booth.
“I can’t wait until I’m totally done with it,” she sighed. “Just this semester and next and then I’m free.”
