I get up the next morning, thankful that I don't have to go to work. It's Sunday and Marcus closes the Blacksmith shop every Sunday. The sun is bright when it comes through my windows and onto my bed. I realize that my headache is gone when I open my eyes and see Pumpkin laying at my feet. I swear, that cat must be part dog. I lay there in my nice warm bed, wanting to get up and eat because my stomach is grumbling, but not wanting to feel the cold air that has seeped into my apartment while I slept. The days have been getting colder and so have the nights. I lay there in bed for ten minutes, fighting myself on what I should do. My hungry side ends up winning, like it usually does, so I roll out of bed and quickly put on a jacket over my t-shirt and slip on a pair of socks to go with my long pants. Pumpkin wakes up at my movement, but can't be bothered to get up and follow me, so he just stretches out and falls back asleep. Oh, to have the life of a cat with no worries or responsibilities. I wish I could switch lives with him sometimes. I groggily walk into the kitchen and put some water into the coffee maker. The last few days, I haven't been able to have my usual morning cup of coffee. After about five minutes, the machine beeps and I take my first sip, forgetting how much I missed that earthy, hot liquid. I take my cup and shuffle over to the living room couch. Turning on the television, I quickly realize that there is nothing interesting on. Some sports games, a few cooking shows, and a couple fighting over who was in the wrong when the husband slept with the wife's gay boyfriend. Clicking the remote off, I sigh at people's stupidity. Despite it being cold, I decide to walk out onto the balcony to enjoy the morning. I live on the ground floor of my apartment, so I can watch people wander the streets. As I lean on my railing, enjoying the sunlight, I see my friend Ben walking out of our building. "Ben!" He stops in his tracks and turns to me. He smiles and walks to my balcony, as if he didn't realize how horrible the date went two nights ago. "Hey Gale! You look happy." Ben says, sounding shocked. He knows I'm not a morning person. "Day off." I say as I raise my cup of coffee in a mock toast. Ben raises his hand along as well, but says, "You suck." He adds a smile. "I'm not thrilled that you get to stay home while I have to go into work." I laugh. "Well, it serves you right, you moron." Ben looks at me, puzzled. I take another sip of my coffee. "You shouldn't have taken me to a bar. It turned horrible." He laughs, nervously, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, sorry about that. Travis told me about what you did. Not cool, dude." I stare at him. How does Travis know about that I said? "How does he know?" I take another sip of my coffee, not taking my eyes off of Ben. "He goes and talks to Maria, the elderly woman Velvet works for, during lunch on slow days. Yesterday was slow." Ben shrugs, as if it's nothing. I really wish he didn't know about that. Well, this just ruins my morning. "Some friend you are." I say to Ben, annoyed. "What? I won't tell anybody else. It's not a big deal anyway. So you called Velvet, Katniss, so what?" "It was embarrassing Ben!" "Fine, fine. Just chill, man. You're so uptight. Well, I have to go, I don't want to be late. See ya!" Ben waves behind his shoulder as he walks off. "See ya." I mutter, as I head back inside. I sit back down on the couch, but don't turn on the TV. Since I finished my coffee outside, I sit the mug down on the table in front of me and stare at Pumpkin. He is sitting on his window seat I made him and looking at all the people passing by on the street. I know that I can't go and talk to Velvet today. I had already tried. Now, it was her turn. When? I don't know. I do know that I won't start any conversations with her. I don't want to seem pushy. I mean, I already made her cry yesterday. I think about calling Travis and talking to him, but I don't want to screw that up as well. After a few minutes of deciding what I should do, I get up, put my coffee in the sink, and go take a shower. I want to wash off all of these emotions and have a normal day. Well, as normal as possible.
