Coffee, Cats, and Space Buns

Chapter 1

 Oh no, what if she doesn't come?  Steven had been staring at his phone for a couple of minutes now outside of a windowed cat café. The street was bustling with couples and families rushing around to enjoy their Saturday afternoon. As the seconds ticked by, the clock on his phone hit 2:10pm. Brows furrowed, his foot tapped rapidly against the dark grey flagstones. It was odd that Connie hadn't been there before him. After all, Connie had a penchant for being punctual. It was hard for Steven to remember the last time she had been even a minute late What if she isn't okay? Maybe I should call her...

He turned his head both ways to look for any sight of Connie before dialing her number into his phone. Her phone number had never changed from the one she had as a kid. When Steven had first developed an interest in her, he had accidentally memorized the number from the countless nights looking at her contact, too afraid to take the plunge and call. Taking a deep breath, he put the phone to his ear as the dial tone played.

Riiiiing..... Riiiiing.... Butterflies flew around wildly in his stomach as he waited for her to pick up. Just as he thought she wouldn't answer, he heard her good-natured voice on the other end, "Hey Steven! What's up, how are you?"

Steven stammered a bit, "H-Hey! I was, uh, just wondering if you were on your way? Uh, to Coffee Cats?" He felt his heart sink. It was clear what she was about to say. "Oh my goodness, Steven, I'm so sorry! I completely forgot about our date! I promised some friends that I'd help them study for our next Exa-" She was cut off by a group of people laughing and the sound of a guitar.

Steven's head drooped as he said nothing. They all seemed to be having such a good time for supposedly studying. Connie's faint laughter could be heard in the background before she brought the phone up to respond to him. "Anyways Steven, I can't g-" A cocky voice cut Connie's off when she tried to reply. His voice was deep, far deeper than Steven's, with an air of arrogance and swagger. "Hey! Connie! You comin' back to the group or what?"

Connie quickly replied, "Hold on! I'm coming! Hey, Steven, do you want to maybe go tomorrow? I'm kind of busy today. I'm so sorry I forgot!"

Steven forced a laugh, "Haha, yeah, that's fine! It happens. Have fun with your friends! See you tomorrow, same ti-?" He was cut off by the familiar beeping of the dial tone.

Steven kicked at the flagstones dejectedly before shoving his phone in his pocket. Sure, he had been coming through town anyway, but to think that Connie would blow him off like that! His face burned pink at that fact. A little voice nagged at him within his head, She probably didn't want to come because she's having such a great time with whoever that guy was... He quickly shook his head. Connie wasn't like that. She would have let him know straight out if she didn't want to come with him to the café.

But it isn't like Connie and I are dating... Maybe she just didn't want to tell me about this new guy... He let out a sigh and looked up at the cream-colored sign above the glass doors leading into the café. It had an adorable cat laying next to the bubbly font spelling "Coffee Cats". Spotting a cat through the window staring at him with wide eyes, he let out a chuckle. It looked exactly how he imagined a real-life Cookie Cat would. The cat mewed and pawed at the window as it kept staring intently at him.

"Well, I guess I can enjoy my time, alone..." He sighed and reached out to open the door. As he did, a soft, manicured hand met his. Pulling his hand away quickly, he looked up to see a girl slightly shorter than him with bubblegum pink hair drawn up into messy space buns. He felt his cheeks burn. The girl looked up at him in surprise. She had wide grey eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. It reminded Steven of the cat in the window.

They stared at each other awkwardly before he cleared his throat. Steven opened the door for her, "S-Sorry! Here you go!" He could feel his hands getting clammy. The girl smiled sweetly at him as she shoved her hands back into her white hoodie. "Th-Thanks, sorry about that." She waltzed past him into the coffee shop and he caught a whiff of cotton candy perfume and the smell of pencil shavings. Maybe she's a student where Connie goes to school at?

Swallowing hard, he followed after her and looked around. It was a simply decorated place; It had pastel cats stenciled on the walls with multicolored bean bags, cat trees, and tables placed around. The baristas made their coffee behind a mahogany counter with room underneath to put treats out in display. Multiple confectionaries were in the shape of cat heads. "Welcome! Please seat yourself and someone will be by with menus to get your order!" Quickly glancing at the girl, he found himself a seat in a bean bag near a front window. The girl looked around for a second before her shoulders slumped in disappointment. She took a seat in an identical bean bag near Steven before pulling out her phone and staring at it.

Steven's attention was torn away from the girl by a barista who took his order. He ordered a blended Caramel Oreo Mocha and a chocolate chip cookie before the barista scurried away. Cookie Cat sauntered over to him before sitting in front of him and meowing. He mumbled to the small black cat, "Hey there, buddy, how are you doing today?" The cat butted its' head against his leg and hopped up into his lap with a purr. He chuckled and gave it pets before noticing the girl staring at the cat.

"Do you, um, want to pet him?" Steven gave a polite smile and the girl quickly shook her head, "S-Sorry, no, go ahead. He's just cute." He looked back down at the cat in his lap before giving a nod, "Definitely. My name's Steven by the way. What's your name?"

She hesitated, giving one last glance at her phone before putting it in her pocket. "My name's Olivia. My friend's call me Liv though." She gave a weak smile, "Did you come to the cat café by yourself, or are you waiting for someone?"

Steven's face fell at the reminder of being stood up. "W-Well, uh, I had a date, but um... She isn't coming today." Liv looked back at him with pity, "You too? Man, this place must be cursed or something..." A fluffy ragdoll cat found its' way into her lap, making biscuits on her pink, plaid skirt.

"I-I mean, she'll be coming tomorrow! She just forgot she had a study group! It was just an accident." There was a pause as they both got their drinks. He took a sip of his mocha and crinkled his nose at the bitterness. The girl looked down, "Lucky you... I don't think my date's going to show. I think he's ghosted me..."

They sat in silence. The only sounds around where the quiet chattering of other customers and the clattering of coffee-making. After an entire minute of awkwardness, she spoke up. "I hate it. When people don't show, I mean... It'd be great if people actually took our time seriously, y'know?"

He just gave a nod. Liv's hands gripped her drink tighter as she teared up, "Man, this is like, the fourth time too... Guys suck..." Steven's eyebrows raised as he looked up from his drink, "Your fourth time? Jeez, what's wrong with people?" He couldn't wrap his head around why people would do that. What kind of person just doesn't show without any warning? Connie was going to do it because she forgot, that's all... She's not like the guys Liv's had to deal with.

He felt a pit forming in his stomach as Liv sniffled and took another sip of her drink. He felt a tug at his heart and gave her a sad smile, "W-Well, we're in the same boat. Do you uh, want to hang out maybe? I have an extra movie ticket I can't really use now... We could go see the movie together. Th-That's if you want..."

She smiled back at him, "I-I'd love to, promise! I can pay for the snacks too. What movie is it? It's not horror, is it...?"

Steven's smile grew wider as he dug into his pockets to show the tickets. "RoboCop 4. I've seen all the others, it's really, really awesome! Have you seen it?" As he pulled the tickets out, Liv's entire demeanor shifted into excitement. He could practically feel her buzzing from where she sat. "Omigosh, I LOVE Robocop! He's so cool! Remember that one part in RoboCop 3 where there's that runaway train and he saves all those people JUST before the train explodes? It was amazing! And the special effects! My good-"

Now he could feel himself buzzing too, but not from excitement. He pulled out his phone to see Connie calling him. Feeling his face fall, he thought to himself for a moment before swiping to ignore her call and putting his phone on silent. Even though it made his stomach tighten into knots, he did not want to answer. Not after she backed out of their plans together for... Whoever those people were. Whoever that guy was. Of course she had her own friends, but he barely ever got to see her! He would've thought she would be as excited to see him too. If she would brush him off like that, he would enjoy his time with Olivia instead, space buns and all. He was sure they'd have a great time. At least, he hoped...