"Hello, mister James," Katelyn said greeting a man in the café.
"Hello, Katelyn." The man named Mr James replied.
"Who's your friend?" He asked.
"Oh, this is Asher. This is his first time at a cat café so I will be treating him." Katelyn said with a proud smile.
"I see. How long will you be staying?" He asked taking out a card from underneath the counter.
"One hour. You know the usual."
"Yes of course."
"You must be wondering what I meant. You see my... father has a lot of money so they just charge his credit card." She explained.
"Oh," I replied. 'Why did she hesitate before saying, father?'
"Yeah so anyway... Let's go see the cats!" She said leading me inside a room.
I slid out of my chair and sat on the floor.
"You okay just sitting on the floor like this?" She asked, worried.
"Y-yeah."
"H-hello..." I said to a cat that was rubbing its head on my arm.
"Oh. It seems Hina likes you." Katelyn said sitting in front of me.
"H-Hina?" I asked now petting the cat.
"That's her name. She's usually a tsundere cat that pretends she doesn't actually like the attention she gets when she actually does... But she seems so comfortable with you petting her..." Katelyn stated.
"No way!" Katelyn yelled as two cats joined Hina in my lap.
"W-what?" I asked confused.
"Simon and Diara too... Cats seem to like you. Simon is a very stuck up cat and doesn't usually let people touch him while Diara is usually shy and avoids humans." Katelyn explained jealousy dripping off every word.
"S-seeing all these c-cats m-makes me w-want to a-adopt one," I said changing the topic.
"Mmm? Why don't you?" Katelyn asked.
"My b-brother is a-allergic," I explained.
"I see. What about a puppy I know they're not the same but..."
"He's a-also a-allergic."
"Oh... So have you given up on trying to get a pet?" She asked.
I nodded in response.
"That's sad."
"Excuse me. Would you like to order anything?" A girl in a maid outfit asked.
"Yes. I'll take two of everything I usually order."
"Okay. I'll be back with your order in a moment." She said as she left.
I continued to play with the cats.
"You're so cute," Katelyn said staring at me.
"H-huh!?" I asked shocked.
"I said you're cute. That look on your face while you play with the cats it's absolutely precious." She said smiling at me.
'My heart is beating fast again. It feels like it'll jump out at any moment. Please don't tell me I'm actually allergic to cats and I'm going to have a heart attack.'
"You're even cuter when you blush like that. Everything about you is absolutely adorable. You're like the perfect little brother."
'Why did it hurt when she said I was the perfect little brother? And I'm blushing... Like that thing people do when they're with someone they...like... Wait do I like Katelyn!? No, we've only known each other for two days there's no way!'
"Oh, our foods here. Want me to feed you?"
"N-no–"
"Nonsense. Here." She said feeding me.
'What's this feeling... Could it really be true? Could I have possibly fallen in love with someone I just met? Would she like me back? Should I even tell her?'
~Flashback~
"So... New guy, what is she to you?" Taylor asked sitting on a desk.
"N-nothing?"
"Nothing, huh? Then why did she take you to have lunch with her?" Taylor asked, crossing his arms. The other two were just there they didn't even look like they wanted to be there.
"B-b-because we're f-friends?"
"Oh yeah? Look at you shaking and stuttering haha."
'He thinks I'm stuttering because I'm scared? And what the heck I'm not shaking. Why'd I be scared of someone like him.'
"Let me just tell you this now. She's mine so back off." He said pointing at me.
~Flashback End~
'Right. I shouldn't get ahead of myself. She already has her own issues... Plus she... Already has someone who likes her... Someone normal. I know what I said before but what if she actually likes him and was only acting like that because of me? She seemed to know a lot about him... Maybe they are close? The thought of someone like me dating someone like her is exactly that, just a thought. Sigh, Come on Ash. You should be grateful you're even friends with her. Don't complicate things. There's no way it would work we just met.'
Two hours later.
"Uh oh. I have to go home soon. I'll have to take you home first so we're going to have to leave now." Katelyn said after checking her phone.
"B-bye," I said as we reached in front of my house.
"Bye Asher~," She said then ran home.
'I wonder why see rushes home like that? Anyway...'
"Oh, baby you're back. I was so worried when you said you'd be late. What happened?" Mom said running up to me.
"I w-went to a c-cat cafe w-with a f-friend," I explained.
"Aww. That's nice but you're going to have to take a bath and keep these clothes away from Andy. You know your brother is allergic."
"Yes, m-mom."
"Good boy."
"H-here." I gave her my left overs.
After my bath, I put on my Pjs and played with KC again on Fantasia Online. We had a lot of fun doing quests and we signed up for the Christmas competition.
The same repeated throughout the week. I would go to school hang out with Katelyn after then come home and played with KC. On the weekends I would stay home and played Fantasia Online with KC when Katelyn was busy.
If Katelyn isn't busy we hang out on Saturday and I play with KC on Sundays. Soon KC and I became really close and she would tell me things about herself and what she's been through.
When Christmas break came I met up with Katelyn two times each week and played with Katelyn the rest of the time. After we won The Christmas tournament she started telling me about things that happened during her day.
But even though the first term of school was nice and calm the next term to come was exactly what I expected to happen. It was the hell I knew I was being signed up for but not only for me but for Katelyn too.