"C'mere Shire! Kitty, come here!"
Mreow!
At 17 years old, Evie was just your average high school senior. She did very well in all of her classes, currently was the President of the Chess Club, and held pride in her position as the All-Star Captain of her school's Co-Ed Badminton team.
"I'm not scary, don't worry!"
Mreooow!
Like almost every girl her age, Evie also loved animals – particularly cats and birds.
"I'm not going to do anything to you! Please, come down! You too, Kayna!"
Mreow-hissss!
Unfortunately, animals generally didn't return her feelings.
Shire, a male tabby, ignored the girl calling out his name and groomed himself from where he was sitting high up in a tall tree. Lounging lazily next to the tabby was a white cat with a red bow tied around her neck; that was Kayna, who belonged to her friend Fiona.
A large shadow passed over Evie's head, and something plucked both cats out of the tree before landing on the ground in front of her with a heavy thump that sent the schoolgirl sprawling onto the ground.
The cats meowed and nuzzled happily at the man holding them.
Evie stared.
Ripping muscles barely held in check by the sleeveless black t-shirt, coffee-hued skin, and wild hair spiked up into a striking hairstyle.
"Um, excuse me? Thank you very much for getting them out of the tree, but I need to take them home now." Evie inched towards the man, feeling nervousness curling in her stomach.
Under the mass of hair, bushy eyebrows and squinty eyes glared menacingly at her. Evie felt a chill pass her by, before it disappeared completely with little fanfare. Before she could say anything else, however, the man took off in a sprint and disappeared around a street corner rather quickly for someone who looked like he bench-pressed two-tons of solid metal every day.
Evie tore her gaze away from the street corner the strange man had disappeared around when two questioning mreows and two pairs of claws scratched at her bare legs. She picked up both cats with a huff.
"C'mon kitties, let's go—"
The cats immediately started struggling and scratching her arms and face.
"Whyyy?! You two were nice to him!"
"—and he was so tall and muscular, like one of those superheroes on TV!" Evie talked and chewed at the same time in excitement, spraying sandwich crumbs all over the coffee table.
"Mhm."
"His skin was dark too, like mocha or chocolate! I wonder if he's from Malina? Or is Malina just all tanned bikini babes?"
"Mhm."
"Maybe he's a transfer student? He looked older than me, but not as old as you. He was just… big! His shoulders were like watermelons! Bigger than watermelons!"
"Mhm."
"You're not listening to me, are you?"
"Mhm."
"Kai! Please, I need some feedback here!"
Twenty-two and just about done with his younger sister's hour-long rant about some boy she just met, Kai looked up from his laptop with an impassive look. "You don't even know him, and you saw him once."
Evie deflated and stuffed the rest of her turkey-and-cheese sandwich into her mouth with a pout. "Che wusth stho handthshom dhou!"
"Don't talk with your mouth full, it's disgusting."
"You're disgusting!" Evie swallowed her food and then stuck out her tongue as she climbed over the couch, purposely kicking her older brother in the head before falling onto the floor in a sprawl.
Evie simply lied there on the carpet for a few moments before saying, "If I see him again, do you think I have a chance?"
"The secret to a lasting marriage is to keep his stomach full and his balls empty."
"THAT'S NASTY! WHY THE FUCK! I AM NEVER TALKING TO YOU AGAIN, YOU PERVERT!" Her face tomato-red in embarrassment, Evie slapped the back of her brother's head several times before running full-pelt into her bedroom and slamming the door.