Katie
I stood in front of the mirror, angrily brushing my hair. Sveti, sitting on the bed behind me, was reading that ridiculous diary by Panchenko and… damn it, she was laughing! But I wasn’t in the mood for jokes. The whole university was shipping me with that idiot, calling us an old married couple.
“Katie, why are you so mad at him? It’s hilarious! Everyone on campus knows you now. That’s fame,” my friend chirped cheerfully.
“It’s stupid fame! I don’t need it. And Duckie’s an idiot. Everyone who’s pairing us up is an idiot too.”
“Duckie,” Sveti snorted and finally tucked her phone into her pocket. “What a nickname. Poor Danny, he doesn’t deserve that. Why’d you turn him down anyway?”
“As if you don’t know! I’m not interested in a one-night stand, and that’s all he’s ever offered. This whole diary thing? It’s just a big joke to him. Besides, I’ve got Yaroslav.”
Sveti made a face.
“Yaroslav…” she muttered under her breath, clearly unimpressed, as she pulled out her phone again. “He’s a jerk…”
“Sveti!” I spun around to face her, my outrage boiling over. “Don’t you dare talk about my boyfriend like that! I don’t badmouth yours, do I? And honestly, I think Panchenko’s a bigger jerk than Yaroslav.”
Biting my lip, I realized I’d said too much. I turned back to the mirror and kept brushing my hair, even though it was already perfectly straight. The motion calmed me down.
“Danny’s a good guy. He just likes getting a reaction out of you with his teasing.”
“That’s exactly why it pisses me off! Everyone adores him, practically worships him. Meanwhile, I’m the stuck-up one. Which isn’t even true about me.”
“It kind of is.”
I groaned, admitting the truth to my best friend.
Okay, fine, sometimes I overdid it. I could get carried away and post something online just to grab attention. But in real life, I was way more reserved.
“He’s just getting back at me for the ‘Duckie’ thing,” I concluded. “But first of all, he doesn’t need to keep quacking at me all the time, and second, this is payback for calling me ‘Kitty-Cat.’”
Sveti burst out laughing again, looking up from her smartphone.
“You two are like middle schoolers, honestly. Making up nicknames for each other, bickering over nothing…”
“I don’t even mess with him!” I tried to defend myself but bit my tongue. Yesterday, he posted about wanting to throw a get-together, a meet-up so we could all finally hang out in person. And I couldn’t resist—I tried to trash the idea as much as I could. Of course, no one backed me up. As usual, I ended up looking like a fool. A show-off who just wants all the attention on her.
“Katie! I know what’s really going on! You’re just mad at him because he didn’t notice you back then. You know, in English class. So now you’re deliberately provoking him. It’s your weird way of getting revenge!”
“Oh, so you’re a psychologist now? Should I get you a diploma for your birthday? Start charging for consultations?”
“Only for you!”
“I’m mad because he gets under my skin. That’s the whole secret. Come on, we’ve got to get to campus. It’s going to be a long, tough day.”
I sighed heavily and finally set the hairbrush down.
I didn’t want to admit that I’d been rejected back then.
***
“Well, look who it is! Catherine, darn it, Rudnyk! Kitty in the flesh! What brings you to our neck of the woods?”
“Don’t. Call. Me. That.”
That nickname, which had stuck to me by accident, had been haunting me for years. No matter how hard I tried to shake it off, nothing worked. Everyone kept calling me Kitty. And that jerk Panchenko knew it drove me up the wall, so he made a point to rub it in even more.
“Come on, it’s a cute name. So, what brings you here?”
A group of students standing behind Duckie immediately perked up, clearly interested in our exchange. Looked like they were his classmates.
“None of your business,” I hissed through gritted teeth, trying to sidestep him. But he took a step to the side, blocking my path.
Today, Panchenko was especially irritating. A wide, toothy grin spread across his annoyingly handsome face, and his dark hair seemed to have a life of its own. His eyes locked onto mine, probably trying to hypnotize me. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his red-and-black hoodie and looked down at me with a hint of smugness.
“Kitty, I messaged you, but you didn’t reply. You coming to the party?”
I rolled my eyes in frustration and looked away—I couldn’t stand his stupid magnetic charm.
Yes! Yes! Even though Panchenko annoyed every fiber of my being, I had to admit—he was pretty attractive. But he’s a total player. And besides, I’ve got a boyfriend!
“I’m Katie, and you know full well I hate that nickname. I don’t like it.”
“Which one? Kitty?”
He was mocking me! The jerk knew exactly what he was doing, but he kept pushing just to get a rise out of me. I needed to stay calm and composed. The more I got worked up, the wider that smug grin on his face grew.
“Yes,” I wrinkled my nose, “I don’t like cats. I’m in a hurry, sorry, sweetheart!”
I quickly darted to the side, using our height difference to duck under the arm he tried to stop me with.
Good thing luck was on my side today—I’d worn sneakers instead of heels. Otherwise, I’d have looked clumsy. Or worse, he’d have caught me easily.
“Kat,” he called after me as I sprinted a good thirty feet down the hallway, “why do you hate cats so much?”
“They remind me of you,” I shot back without turning around. “Just as useless and annoying!”
“Alright, fine, I’m used to your attitude by now! But what did those cute little furballs ever do to you?”
Realizing he wasn’t going to chase after me, I slowed my pace and eventually stopped by the door I needed. I glanced back at Duckie, who was shamelessly staring at my backside, and, rolling my eyes again, shouted:
“They’re too sneaky and deceitful. You never know what to expect from them.”
“Well, on that, I agree, Kitty, I agree!”
Realizing what I’d just implied, I finally stepped into the journalism dean’s office at the request of our department head.
I had an important task—pick up some documents and bring them back to our floor. But the secretary politely asked me to wait on the couch by the entrance.
I sat there, bored, thinking about that stupid nickname, my hatred for it, and, well, for cats in general.
It all started with those sneaky, annoying creatures. Back in kindergarten. I don’t remember why, but I meowed loudly, making the whole group laugh. And then some kid, Ivan, shouted that I was a kitty… and damn it, it stuck. The other kids teased me to tears sometimes, and I kept trying to prove I wasn’t a cat.
Things got better in middle school. The nickname faded, the kids calmed down, and Ivan moved to another city.
But then my friend decided to give herself a new name—Sveti. And they started calling me a cat again, just a different kind. Sveti and Kitty—best friends forever.
I tried for ages to get them to stop, but nothing worked. Not even throwing punches helped.
I thought college would be a fresh start, but some jerk brought my nickname here too. And Panchenko, curse him, made ‘Kitty’ famous across the entire campus…
After grabbing the documents, I stepped back into the hallway and breathed a sigh of relief—thankfully, that annoying Duckie was gone.
But this awful school day couldn’t end so easily. As I hurried toward the exit, some other idiot bothered me again.
“Kitty, wait up!”
I stopped and turned to see who was calling me. That nickname again! Again! How they all drove me nuts!
I was ready to unleash all the anger I’d built up over this miserable week on this fool.
“Kitty, you…”
“I hate being called that!” I snapped, glaring into the frightened eyes of what looked like a freshman.
“But… everyone calls you that. I’ve heard it myself.”
“And every time, I say I don’t like it! But somehow, everyone goes deaf when I do!”
“Sorry…” The guy sounded sincere, but I was still fuming, so I kept walking. He followed me casually.
“Can you help me?”
“What do you want?” I grumbled, clearly annoyed. I always liked helping people—I loved feeling needed.
“I need help with an exam.”
And then he went quiet. Was I supposed to drag the details out of him?
“Which exam?” I asked, like I was talking to a child, as I headed down the stairs. I was in a rush—Yaroslav was waiting for me by the main entrance.
“History.”
“What kind of history?” I stared at him.
“Uh… American History…”
The kid was clearly intimidated by me. American History. A freshman, just as I’d guessed. Fine, I’d try to be patient.
“And how am I supposed to help? I’m an economics major. I’ve got nothing to do with the history department.”
“You don’t, but Danny… I heard he’s friends with a history major…”
That name turned me into a beast. The second someone mentioned that damn Panchenko around me, I couldn’t hold back my anger. Soon, my eye would start twitching. Or I’d start foaming at the mouth.
“What does that have to do with me?!” I shouted, making the poor guy jump. No big deal. Maybe they’d finally get that I can’t stand him.
“Well… aren’t you two… together?”
For a few seconds, I stared into his terrified eyes, which looked like they were about to well up with tears. I took a deep breath, realizing my anger wouldn’t change anything. I’d just scare the kid.
“We’re not together,” I said, a hint of despair in my voice. I was so tired of explaining this to everyone.
The freshman kept looking at me, confused, before blurting out:
“Did you break up?”
I swear, in the split second before I slapped my forehead and stormed off through the spacious lobby toward the exit, I saw tears in his eyes.
I don’t know if he was upset that Duckie wasn’t my boyfriend or that I couldn’t help him. It didn’t matter to me anymore. I just switched gears and pushed the helpless kid out of my mind. Let him go to Panchenko and sort out his problems with him.
Yaroslav was waiting for me in his SUV, staring at his phone with a furrowed brow.
“You took forever,” he said, pocketing his phone and turning the key in the ignition.
“Sorry, a professor held me up,” I said, kissing him on the cheek and buckling my seatbelt. “Where are we going? A café? Or a walk? It’s such nice weather today. I’d love to head downtown, maybe stroll around the main street. I haven’t been there in ages. I heard a new store just opened—I’d like to check it out.”
But Yaroslav said we were going to his friends’ place. I was a little disappointed but didn’t argue. It was pointless. Once Yaroslav made up his mind, that was it.