Twenty-four-year-old Jonny Twobyfour walked up a flight of stairs to his one bedroom apartment, his satchel thrown over his shoulder.
Jonny was a sociable young man, but if you asked him if he'd changed much since childhood, he'd tell you that he hadn't changed all that much… despite the fact that he went from the chubby kid with the buzz cut and a big, round head to the lanky teen with a dark colored dreads on his big, round head to the skinny guy with five o'clock shadow and his dark curly hair cut short on his, still, big, round head. The reason why he'd say he hadn't changed much was because he was still lonely.
But, then again, he often felt that way.
His job wasn't one he enjoyed (office worker), he had no girlfriend (now or ever), and despite the guys from his childhood neighborhood often inviting him out and such, he still felt as if there was something that separated him from the other guys and he didn't feel as close to them as he wished he did.
He sighed as he fished around his pockets for his keys, the one thing he would admit changed over the years was that Plank was gone. His long time porous pal had vanished one morning during his fourteenth summer without a trace. Jonny had looked high and low, asked his parents and neighbors if they'd seen him, he even begged the cul-de-sac teens and even the Kanker sisters (who only helped because the Eds were kind enough to get on their knees and beg with him) to help him look, but they never found him.
Jonny had been crushed, everyone had done their best to console him, but it didn't do him much good. By the time school started up, Jonny decided to immerse himself in activities, doing his best to seem like his normal cheerful self so the others around him wouldn't be worried and hoping that he could make some new friends while he did so.
Unfortunately that plan didn't really work out for him.
The others in the cul-de-sac and the Kankers were the only ones who ever included him in anything, half the time they seemed to be the only people who even realized he was there. He ended up leaving almost all of the things he signed up for by midterms because he either didn't like them or the people involved with those things kicked him out for not being serious enough about it.
All he wanted was people in his life and to get rid of this hollow feeling he'd been carrying…
What he got was rejection.
"Story of my life." He sighed as he finally pulled his keys out to unlock the door…
Only for a white cat to leap out of nowhere and snatch them from his hands and run off towards the forest.
"Hey!" he cried as he ran down the stairs and gave chase into the forest by his home, "Give those back!"
It was dark and the little light the moon and stars allowed him by his front door was eclipsed by the foliage of the trees, but the cat was white and Jonny had always had good night vision (probably all the veggies and fruits he ate as a kid), so he managed to keep the cat in his sights…
Until he reached a boulder-filled clearing, then, just like Plank, the cat just vanished into thin air. Jonny glanced around, desperately searching for white of the cat's fur or at least the glint of the metal of his keys, calling out, "Here, Kitty, kitty, kitty! I need my keys to get home! Here, kitty!"
After running around the clearing, looking like an idiot for what felt like forever but was probably only for about ten minutes, Jonny plopped down on a boulder, defeated.
"Ugh, now I'm gonna have to talk to my land lord…" he groaned as he leaned backwards, his eyes closed as he threaded his fingers through his black curls, "Just what I need! Captain Melonhead verses his land lord, Cabbage Breath, and his sidekick-slash-wife, the Missing Link!" he cried, throwing his arms into the air before finally lying on the boulder on his back and letting his arms flop to the ground with a huff.
Then he heard something.
He opened his eyes and listened carefully, hoping it was the cat who took his keys so he could go home and not have to pay a late night visit to his stinky land lord or his hairy wife.
It sounded like someone was laughing… And if he was judging simply by the voice, it was probably an angel. He lost himself in the melodic laughter before realizing that he wasn't alone in the clearing. He quickly got up and turned towards the sound, startled (and more then a little embarrassed).
On the edge of the clearing, stood a tall, thin woman with straight, long dirty blonde hair. She didn't have much in the way of curves, but the smile she wore as she laughed more then made up for it… at least, it did to Jonny. She wore a red hooded sweatshirt, jean shorts and flip-flops, and held the white cat in her arms, and if he wasn't so busy ogling her and being embarrassed for being heard referring to himself as his childhood superhero persona, he would have noticed his keys dangling off one of her fingers.
After a moment of staring (on his end) and laughing (on hers) the woman finally calmed herself and realized that he had noticed her and flushed as she quickly made her way towards him and gave him an apologetic look as she held up the keys.
'I guess these are yours?' she asked in a voice that made Jonny's body feel like Jell-O, when he didn't reply, she seemed to recall something and groan as she placed the cat down and reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a pen and paper and began writing. It was then that Jonny realized that it was probably best to reply to her question, "Yeah, thanks." He said, embarrassed as he reached out and took them, barely brushing her hand in the process and making his heart feel like someone was doing a drum solo on it and his big round head like it was a hot air balloon and could float into the air. Then he heard a purring sound and looked down at his feet, where the cat was rubbing against his legs. He opened his mouth to tell the cat that if it thought he was gonna not be mad about it stealing his keys, it had another thing coming, but after one wide eyed pleading look from the cat, his anger had melted away, "Aw, geez," he chuckled as he picked it up and held it in his arms, "You just wanted attention, didn't ya?" he asked it as he scratched it's chin, getting a happy sounding 'meow' in response.
Jonny was so busy being flustered and scratching the cat, he hadn't noticed the woman's shock until she asked, 'You can hear me?'
Jonny was taken aback by the question and the stunned expression on her face, "Of course I can, why wouldn't I?" he asked.
A smile lit up her face and make his heart do what he was guessing was the cha-cha in his chest (although, with the little he knew about dancing, it could have been a congo line for all he knew, luckily he was too smitten to give a hoot).
'What's your name?' she asked him, 'I mean, besides 'Captain Melonhead.'' She teased. Jonny felt his face burn and juggled the cat so it was now sitting in the crook of his left arm.
"I'm Jonny, Jonny Twobyfour, and what's yours?" he replied, holding out his cat-free hand.
'Patricia, Patricia Timber, but you can call me Patty.' She said, taking it and making Jonny's hand tingle a bit as they shook hands. They then let go and stood there, not really sure what to do now.
"Uh." Jonny indicated the white cat that was happily rubbing it's head against his chin, "Is this your cat?"
Patty shook her head vigorously and held up her hands before explaining that, 'It took something of mine too.'
"What'd it take?" he asked.
Patty flushed and shoved her hands into her hoodie pocket, avoiding eye contact, 'nothing important.' She said in a squeaky voice that wasn't too convincing. Jonny quickly decided not to pry and then asked, "Well, did you get it back?" She nodded vigorously, flushing a bit. "Well that's good!" he said cheerfully. She nodded again, her face pink with what he guessed was embarrassment.
They were quiet for a moment before she broke the silence, 'do you live around here?'
"Yeah, I live in an apartment nearby, you?"
'I just moved into a condo around here.' She informed him. Jonny quickly drew a map in his mind, behind his apartment building and on the other side of the forest they were currently standing in, was a new building full of condos that was taking new residents. Jonny had checked it out a while ago, wanting to find a nicer place to live, but found that he could not afford to rent one… at least, not without selling a kidney.
He put the cat on his shoulder, where it then walked around towards his neck and curled around it, making anyone who passed by believe he was wearing a scarf and held out his arm, "Want me to walk you home?" he asked, hoping that she would agree. She gave him a coy smile, 'I think I can manage, but thanks. I'll see you around, Captain Melonhead.'
And with that, she waved good bye and walked out of the clearing, Jonny smiled widely and waved enthusiastically like a dork as she disappeared into the darkness of the forest. He then headed home, his keys in his pocket, a cat wrapped around his neck, and, for the first time in years, the hollow feeling he'd had was gone. Not that he really noticed, he was too busy wondering and hoping he'd see Patty again.
Jonny scratched under the cat's chin, "Well, since you're not Patty's cat and you have no collar, I'm guessing you don't have a home, huh, kitty?" the cat rubbed the top of it's head on his chin, "Well, you're welcome to come live with me if you want." Jonny offered. The cat meowed an affirmative and licked his cheek, making him chuckle, "I guess I have to give you a name, huh?" he said. He thought about it as they made their way out of the forest, thinking of name after name, but not feeling satisfied with them, finally, as he unlocked his door and let himself and his new cat in, he thought up the perfect on. He lifted his new fluffy roommate up and declared that, "I'll call you Cupid. 'Cause I think you just helped me meet the girl of my dreams!"