-THREE-
The sounding of the alarm in the next room broke through Kate's sleepily mind, making her roll over onto her other side to glance at the digital clock – 4.45AM. She let out a distasteful groan and snuggled deeper under her covers as she heard Damien getting ready for the neighbourhood runs with the team.
When the next morning came around, the beeping of the alarm once again woke her up in the early morning. She rolled over onto her back, her eyes staring at the ceiling in a state of being widely conscious. She could hear her brother in the bathroom as Kate decided to get up and put her leggings and runners on.
Damien came out of the bathroom and was surprised to see his sister leaning against the wall, waiting for him in her usual workout clothes. "You actually joining us?" He questioned, knowing that their runs would no doubt involve hills like the rest of the mornings.
"It can't be that hard." She shrugged her shoulders and followed her brother down the stairs to their father waiting at the door in his own sweats. "Morning." She greeted to her father.
"Morning Kate." Coach replied, startled at their tag along. "I assume this means that you have completed your homework."
"Yes Sir." She answered in a good manner, taking the backseat behind Damien and rubbing her finger tips to keep them warm.
The car pulled up to a street, parking in front of the waiting group of Richmond's basketball team. The men got out of the car and Kate followed her brother to the edge of the group. "Alright, you know the drill." Coach Carter stated and raised his eyebrows when no one moved. "Well start running." His encouragement sent the team in a slow jog as they started down the street.
"Thought you'd play with the big boys." Lyle spoke from beside her in a teasing manner.
"Big boys?" She joked back, earning herself a nudge in the shoulder.
"You think you can do that without breaking a sweat?" Worm questioned, nodding his head to the large, steep hill in front of them with amusement.
She'd been too busy speaking to Lyle that Kate hadn't been paying attention to their direction, but yes, the hill did manage to make her eyebrows rise up. "Bet I can beat your skinny ass."
Lyle let out a loud chuckle at the girl's words, she always seem to surprise him with her nerdy personality but she had some spark behind her.
"You're on." Worm said without hesitation. "What do I get if win?"
"A little something something." Lyle wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, making the younger girl unable to contain her blush.
"What is it that you have in mind?" Kate asked curiously after hearing Lyle's comment.
Worm could think of many things, or situations he would have liked to have with the woman in front of him but he chose the safer direction. "You buy me lunch." He simply stated.
Kate nodded, knowing that he could have chosen anything. "Deal."
"I'll see ya at the top Katie." Worm called before picking up his speed to catch up with Battle's long legs at the front of the team.
"You officially just lost." Lyle stating, confusing the woman as they watched Worm jogged forward.
"How?" Kate questioned, not seeing what Lyle was saying as they had only begun their run and there was miles ahead of them.
"You gave him motivation." He pointed out, knowing once Worm focused on something, the man was hard to overcome.
It had reached the end of the week and Kate couldn't keep the smile off her face as she listened to the cheers of Richmond – they had won another basketball game. The team seemed to be improving with their teamwork and skills, which she knew had to do with the suicides and morning runs that her father had the team participating in. Thinking about the morning runs, it reminded Kate that Worm had yet to collect his debt of a free lunch from her.
She slowly made her way down the stands of the stadium, watching the roaring crowd dispatch and teams going into the change rooms. She made her way to the door of the change rooms, leaning there to wait for the team and her father.
A few Richmond basketball players exited the change rooms, they briefly nodded at her in greeting before going out to the car park. She didn't know at which point it happened, but she had strangely gotten accepted throughout the basketball practices – whether it be attending to the games or encouraging them during the time with Cruz.
"Waiting for me?" Worm cockily announced at coming out of the change room.
"Right." She rolled her eyes at his way of greeting. "When are you going to collect?" She questioned, once again thinking it would have happened sooner.
"Oh…" He didn't hide the glance of her body. "Very soon."
"Mr. Willis, Can I help you?" Coach appeared out of the room, taking a stand between his daughter and player.
"No, Sir." Worm's posture stiffened at the older man's voice.
"I'll see you in practice on Monday Mr. Willis." Coach walked between them, heading for the stadium doors. "Come now Kate." She shared a look with Worm before following her father's footsteps into the parking lot.
When Kate got into the car, her father was seated in the driver's side with the phone against his ear. "I know Kenny, if you could work Thursday night I would be grateful." She heard a mutter on the end of the phone. "Thank you Kenny."
"Are you having troubles with the store?" Kate questioned after Coach disconnected the call.
"Coaching is limiting my time at the store." Her father signed heavily at the thoughts on his mind.
"I could do some hours after school at the store." She offered, knowing that her parents had been talking about opening a second store and business was important to them.
Coach turned in his seat to look at his daughter. "A couple of hours in the afternoon would be great, though I don't want it interfering with your studies."
"If I'm struggling, you'll know." She agreed, knowing that her education meant a lot to her father. She wouldn't be surprised if he took to checking up with her teachers every once and awhile.
X:X:X:X:X:X
Rebecca and Kate were seating in the cafeteria, the buzzing of the school was the dance. "You are going right?" Rebecca questioned, like the woman across from her was insane to think about not attending the school dance.
"I don't know." Kate admitted to her red head friend, she picked at the hot chips on her plate.
"What cha mean you don't know?" Rebecca took a chip from her friend's plate. "It's a reason to dress up and let your hair down."
Kate stared at her food as she spoke to Rebecca. "I don't want to turn up by myself." It was the truth, Rebecca had someone taking her to the dance and though it wasn't a formal dance, Kate would still feel like she would be third wheeling it if she stayed by Rebecca's side.
"You seem to be getting close with that basketball player." Rebecca suggested. "Why don't you ask him?" Kate simply shrugged her shoulders in response, thinking that Worm would no doubt be taking someone else as much as she disliked it. "Girl, you need to get out! Do something that isn't going to basketball games or working at the shop." The redhead told the truth, simple and blunt about it.
"I'll see what I can do." Kate replied, though both woman knew that she wouldn't do anything about the matter.
That afternoon, she didn't go to the stadium like usual because she had shift at the family sports store. She caught the bus at the school, the loud voices of students became background sound as she focused on the novel in her lap. She glanced around her every once and awhile to make sure the bus hadn't driven past her stop.
Half an hour later, the bus came to a halt and making Kate put away with her novel. She stood up, shouldering her bag and got off two blocks away from the sports store. She didn't mind walking the blocks, it gave her time to unwind though unfortunately, the novel or the walk wasn't doing anything to distract her thoughts from the conversation about the dance.
She would like to do the dance, like Rebecca said, get out and do something different though she wasn't sure if going to a dance and going to a basketball game was a little far-fetched. It was true that she had spent some time with Worn outside of the basketball stadium and she did have passing thoughts about him that she didn't have with the rest of the team. She wasn't sure, it was new territory for her. But she did know that if she had to attend the dance with anyone, she would rather it be Worm because even though he joked around a fair amount, she trusted him among other things.
Kate let out a sign before pushing the door open, the bell above the door 'dinged' at her entrance into the store. "Hey Kenny."
The older man with the small afro gave the young woman a large smile, one that brought a smile to Kate's lips. "Kate! How are you?" The man asked genuinely, he could remember the young girl helping around the shop when she was in the younger years of primary school.
"Good as usual." She cared for Kenny like an Uncle but she wasn't about to upload him with the twirling thoughts in her mind. "You've got an extra pair of hands for the shift." She held her hands up with a smile and came to stand next to the older man. "What can I do for you?"
"Would you mind giving me a hand with restocking the jumpers?" Kenny asked.
She looked behind the counter to see half a dozen boxes filled with stock. "I'll get right onto it." She dropped her shoulder bag behind the counter and picked up one of the boxes to take to the over to the shelves.
Opening the box, she found herself looking at 'Richmond' jumpers which made her think about the basketball team and Worm. It seemed the winning games of Richmond was helping with the mechanise at the shop – seemed like life was getting on track with her father taking the lead, if only she could sort out herself than everything would be perfect.
Darkness had fallen when Coach pulled up to the shop, he had finished practised and dropped Damien off before making his way to the sports store. Basketball practice hadn't been a light hearted one, he had dug into the team about their grades after catching up with their teachers and finding their grades below avenge, meaning they were disregarding their contract for being on the basketball team. The frowning faces hadn't been something Coach liked but he hoped that his words would help them choice a different pathway. Unfortunately, not all members of the team was content to sit through his speech about picking up their act as Battle threw in the towel and walked away from the stadium. He only hoped that the boy would think about his words and come to a positive conclusion as Coach saw potential in the young man, just like he did in every other player on his team.
Coach got out of his vehicle and tried to turn his thoughts away from the team. At the moment his business needed his attention if they were going to start up a second store.
"Hey Dad." Kate pulled Coach from his thoughts as he entered the store.
"Evening sweetheart." He reached forward and gave a kiss to her cheek. "Everything alright?" He questioned, his eyes looking at the documentation that she had spread out on the counter.
"Yeah, just double checking the books." She replied.
Coach nodded his head, giving his daughter a smile before going to catch up with Kenny in the back room to see how the store was going on at his end.
Kate watched her father walk away before turning back to the paper spread out in front of her. The frown that had been present on her father's forehead concerned her slightly, but she knew whatever the issue that was causing his worry would soon be fix – he always found a way. Letting out a small sign, she scanned over her calculations. The store seemed to be doing alright financially but watching the come and go of customers, she knew why Kenny needed the help of each hands.
The bell above the door rang as it was opened, drawing Kate's attention from the finance books to see the new customer. "Worm?" She questioned, surprised to see his face in their store.
"Heya Katie." He flashed her a smile, his eyes screening over the store and was relieved to see Coach wasn't in the area, he'd seen his car parked out front. "Need to replace my ball." He said, explaining his reason for been at the store. His younger brother had busted his ball during the weekend, at the time Worm had been angry at him but with a clear head he could see that his little brother hadn't meant it.
"I'm sure I can help you with that." She smiled, walking around the counter to led him to the wall of basketballs. "This is your avenge ball, good price too." She pointed out, taking the ball from the wall to pass to the man.
Worm rolled the ball in his hands, it felt like a decent one and would do around the house. "This will do just fine." At his words, Kate reached forward and grabbed the boxed basketball from the ground and started to make her way to the counter. Worm put the display ball back on the wall and followed her, biting his lip as he watched her scan it through the computer. She told him the amount and he dig through his pockets for the money before handing it over – he was running out of time. "You heard about the dance?" Grabbing the shopping bag as he asked.
"Yeah." Kate answered, caught off guard by the sudden question.
"Well…would you like to…join me?" He asked, briefly stumbling the question.
"Mr. Willis?" Worm winced at seeing Coach appear from the back of the shop, he wondered how much of their conversation he had caught.
"Sir." He greeted, briefly glancing at his with a nod before looking back at Kate who hadn't answered him yet. Did the silence mean 'no'? Had he read all the signs wrong? Because he was sure that the woman had flirted with him the times that had managed together. "I was just asking Katie whether or not she wanted to come to the school dance with me." Worm answered honestly, not hundred percent sure how the Coach would react.
Coach slowly nodded his head, not giving away his emotions. "Kate?" He was grateful that the young basketball player had expressed his plan to him but it was Kate's choice to who she did and didn't date. Coach could think of a few men that he'd rather his daughter stay away. He wasn't totally pleased with it been someone from his basketball team but she could do worst.
"I'd love to go." Kate finally answered, well aware that her father was in the room and she felt even more proud when Worm didn't shoot away from the store or ignore her.
"Great!" He let himself smile, relief flowing through his veins. "I'll get the tickets." He offered to which she nodded her head in thanks before Worm started to make his way out the store. "I'll see you tomorrow Sir." Worm gave farewelled to his Coach and left the store before either one of the Carters could say anything.
It wasn't until later that evening that another team member from Richmond came through the front door of the store. Kate stayed back with the clothing, folding them when a shorter, dark skinned woman marched into their store. She only heard bits and pieces said between her father and the woman, whoever she was seemed determined to make amends. When she felt the store, she came back moments later with a taller man who Kate recognised was Battle from the basketball team. The woman who Kate came to the conclusion was his mother, stood back while Battle spoke to her father about improving his studies. With a stern expression, her father agreed for Battle to come back to the team which led to the mother mouthing 'thank you' and leaving as swiftly as she came.
X:X:X:X:X:X
It was another afternoon at school, Kate sat in a circle surrounded by other students in her drama class as they practise lines for their play. For some godly reason, Shakespeare Hamlet was chosen for their play which Kate had to admit wasn't too bad compared to Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet held more depth of characters and surrounded by death to which nearly every character dies by the end of the script.
It did so happen that Rebecca tried out for the main female role as Gertrude, the Queen of Denmark and Hamlet's mother while Michael got the main character of Hamlet. It the middle of that was Alisha, who did pout at not being the main role but suppressed further actions when given the role of Ophelia, the daughter of Polonius.
Unfortunately for Kate, she was given a bigger role than wanted. She was Laertes, the son of Polonius and brother of Ophelia, which meant she was related to Alisha. She does play a major role, in the final scenes, she gets to fence with Michael which results to him, Hamlet dying from her poisoned sword to avenge the deaths of Polonius and Ophelia. She would have much rather to be the priest for Ophelia's funeral, a small part that had little responsibility but their drama teacher thought otherwise.
So here, she sat listening to the others rehearsed and waited for her lines.
Michael's voice hardly stumbled over the words of Hamlet. "I am glad of it. A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear."
A student named Gareth spoke next as Rosencrantz. "My lord, you must tell us where the body is and go with us to the king."
Michael was fast to reply, the riddle flowing off his tongue. "The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is a thing-"
"A thing, my lord?" Ben interrupted as Guildenstern, another one of Michael's friends.
"Of nothing, bring me to him. Hide, fox, and all after." Michael replied to Ben in hast. Kate had to admit, she liked the old language though at times it was hard to understand the meaning behind them. It was better than some of the modern words of 'stuff' and 'things' among the swear words. In the old language, they could insult someone with the simplest of words and smooth riddles.
"I'm actually really glad that I listened to you." Rebecca said as the pair walked away from the drama room across the empty school yard.
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Kate answered honestly. Rebecca was defiantly in her element with the character of Gertrude, even if she didn't get to be cuddly with Michael.
"And what happened to you being a tree?" Rebecca teased.
"Shut it." Kate muttered, shifting her shoulder bag onto the other shoulder. "So who are you taking to the dance?" She had forgotten to ask her after Rebecca had flustered her up about Worm.
"I may or may not be taking Michael." The other girl said with a cheshire grin.
"Michael?" Kate questioned, she couldn't remember her red head friend talking about the man outside of drama class. "When did this happen? How?"
"We did a couple of rehearsals at his place." She continued to grin.
"Right, rehearsals." Kate groaned, knowing that there was defiantly more going on than Hamlet if they were going to the dance together. "Well I'm going to leave you with Hamlet." She stated, going in the other direction of the girl to the stadium.
She knew basketball practise was over, it run the same time as her drama class after school which was handy for her getting home with her father. Instead of heading for the court, she made her way down to the change rooms and the Coach's office. She didn't go any further when reaching the door, her father knew what time drama class was finishing so the man was expecting her.
Her brother was the first out of the change room with Worm by his side, he gave her a smile before turning to Worm. "I'll see ya tomorrow." Damien said, leaving the boy and girl alone.
"Katie." Worm said in greeting, moving to lean against the wall with his body slightly brushing against her own. "How you been?"
"Good, we're slowly getting through our rehearsal." She couldn't help the smile at having him beside her. They hadn't really gotten a chance to talk after his visit to the store.
"Hamlet right?" Worm double checked.
"Yeahhh." She couldn't help feeling touched that he remembered about the drama class, it meant that he did listen to her. "And you?"
"Coach is pushing us a bit harder after last week." He admitted, knowing that Coach hadn't been impressed by their low marks. "We did get a phone call today." Worm turned to positive news.
"Yeah?" She asked interested in his sudden change in tone.
"We're going to a Tournament next week." He said feeling excited about getting into the tournament, it would no doubt led to good things if they could win the game.
"That's fantastic!" In her excitement, she reached forward and gave him a quick hug. "Who's the opposing team?"
"Bay Hill." He couldn't remember playing against them before. "It should be a good game." He said in afterthought.
"You guys will do fine against them." She said with confidence, having seen the guys grow with each afternoon practice.
"We'll see." Worm didn't want to get too confident in case the team landed on their asses. "Soo…I brought the tickets for the dance on Tuesday, did you want me to pick you up?" He offered, thinking he could borrow his mother's car.
"Damien is going, I can catch a lift with him." She didn't want Worm having to drive out of his way to come collect her. "Thanks for the offer though." She gave him a smile.
"I got to go." Worm said glancing down at his watch. "But I'll see ya soon, real soon."
"See ya soon." She replied back, content to have gotten to spend some time with him even if it was for only a few moments.
Kate hadn't been sure what to wear to the school dance as the dance wasn't formal, so she had invited Rebecca over to help with the choice of clothing. It hadn't taken long for Rebecca to choice some clothing from her wardrobe with a sign, her friend had said something along the lines of needing to wear clothing like this more often to which Kate rolled her eyes.
That had been a couple of hours ago, Kate only had half an hour to the dance and the nerves had already started within her. Looking in the full length mirror, the black skinny jeans was something she was used to as she wore them most days along with a hoodie, but the hoodie was replaced with a dark blue singlet top and a brown leather jacket. And the runners that usually held her feet were small brown, high heeled boots that made her legs appear slightly longer than usual. She had some light makeup on her face, a bit of bronzer and red lipstick. Like usual, her hair was curly and sticking out in directions but she didn't try styling it, merely leaving the dark hair down.
"Hey Kate! You ready?" Damien's voice come from the other side of her bedroom, followed by a knock.
"Yeah!" She replied back, putting her phone and money into her jacket pockets before opening the bedroom door.
Two lines appeared on Damien's forehead at the sight of his sister. "You look different." He couldn't remember seeing his sister put so much effort into her appearance. Damien glanced at his sister's feet before back to her face, seeing her nervously bite her lip. "Different in a good way." Damien back tracked, wanting to make his sister feel better. "You look great." He answered honestly which he was rewarded with a smile.
"You don't look to bad yourself." She answered honestly with his green sweater and blue jeans. "You driving?" She questioned.
"Yeah, got the keys for the night." He replied as they made their way down the hallway.
"See ya Mum and Dad!" The twins hurriedly said in goodbye and headed for the front door.
"Have fun kids!" Their mother yelled from the kitchen.
Unfortunately their father was waiting at the door for them, "Rules?" He asked with his arms crossed standing next to the door with authority.
"No drink driving." Damien answered.
Kate followed after her brother. "And no drugs."
Their father looked at them again, expecting more.
"No unprotected sex." Damien said as a question.
"No sex." Their father agreed, pointy looking at his daughter. "And no scratches on the car." He switched his pointed eyes to his son. "Have a good night." He unhappily said, watching his two children scrabble out the door and to the car parked in the driveway.
The two teenagers had parked in the school parking lot, watching other students make their way into the dance. "You have your phone?" Damien asked, wanting to make sure he could contact his sister if need be.
"Of course." Kate said, her eyes wondering the parking lot as she tried to spot Worm within the bodies.
"Left hand side of the doorway." Her brother signed, pointing out his fellow basketball player.
"Thanks." She couldn't stop the slight blush from reaching her cheeks at her actions became obvious. "I guess I'll see ya later?" She questioned, getting ready to step outside the car.
"Back here…say twelve thirty?" Damien questioned, trying to find the fine line between having a good night and not getting on the wrong side of their father.
"Sure." Kate agreed, figured she'd be over the crowded rooms by then. "Don't have too much fun." She joked while opening the door to the car.
She slowly made her way from the car and closer to Worm, her nerves very much alive as she drew closer to the man. "Hey." She spoke softly, not sure what to say in their situation.
"Hey you." Worm stepped forward away from the wall of the building to join her. "You look… you look really good." He honestly said, "You want to head in?"
She nodded her head, tugging her jacket closer to her. "Yeah."
"I've got the tickets right here." He pulled them out of his coat pocket and put an arm around her shoulders to steer them in the right direction.
The duo handed in their tickets and walked into the room, immediately they were greeted with loud music and flashing lights, much like one would at a club.
"You want to get a drink?" Worm asked, stepping closer to her to be heard over the music.
She nodded her head, not bothering to talk over the music and followed Worm over to the table. He picked up two red cups and filled them up with the punch on the table before turning towards Kate to hand her one. He pointed over to the stairs and Kate started to make her way over to them, stopping at the base of them and following Worm to the second story away from the loud music.
The music down stairs could be heard upstairs though not as loud and making it easier to actually talk to one another, and it seemed they weren't the only people looking for a place to talk from the students seated on the couch.
Worm took a seat against the window sill, leaning against it as he turned his attention to the woman in front of him. "How have you been?" He honestly asked, not seeing her at the basketball practises as much. "You seem pretty busy lately."
"I've been helping at the family store and there's drama class."
"It runs the same time basketball practise does." Worm replied, surprising the woman.
"How do you know that?" She had never actually spoken about drama with him.
"Coach, may or may not have spoken to me about not distracting your grades." He answered, though he knew that Coach was warning him about more than just his daughter's grades. In saying that, Worm wasn't quite sure what he wanted to happen between the two of them. Yes, he'd asked her to the dance because it meant spending more time with her, but he didn't really do relationships.
"Well that sounds like Dad." Kate slouched against the wall, wondering what else her father was going to do or say to concerning her education and wellbeing.
Worm shrugged his shoulders. "I can sort of understand where he is coming from, if I had a daughter like you, you'd be lucky to leave the damn house." He joked, trying to ease the sudden tense moment between them.
She smiled at him shyly at his comment, she tried not to think about what Worm should be like with children, with their kids. She turned her thought to something safety. "Could you do me a favour?"
"A favour?" Worm questioned, angling his body to her as they leaned against the wall. "Ain't you the one to owe me?" Remembering back to his win last week while the team was running. He hadn't collection his favour yet, he was holding onto and waiting for the right time to use it.
"Well... I..." She stumbled, trying to think of a way around it.
"What do you want?" He asked with a lightness in his voice though he couldn't stop his eyes from flickering to her lips.
"Would you come see the theatre play?" She quickly said before going on to explain her reason. "It would be nice to have some support from the crowd."
"I'm sure I can make it, you have a date?" His words made her body relax again against the wall.
"We're still deciding on the finer details." She explained.
"What's your role?" He questioned, liking the way her eyes lit up at the subject of the play.
"Laertes, Hamlet." She rolled her eyes at the characters but she had to admit that it was growing on her.
"Shakespeare right?" Worm asked, having watched her nose scrunch up at the name which he admittedly found kind of cute.
"Yeah." She was surprised to know that he knew the characters.
"I do happen to listen in class, occasionally." He teased.
"Well it's good to know you're not all about basketball." She teased back, waiting for him to respond in which he merely stared at her, making Kate feel nervous. "What?' She asked uncertainly.
"Can I finally claim that favour?" He quietly asked.
"Yes." Kate said hesitantly looking at him with concern. He had all week to ask for the favour and he was asking for it at the dance of all places. It wasn't until she realised that he was slowly getting closer to her, that she knew his intentions.
He was merely watching her, looking for any sign of not wanting the next action. When he finally saw the realisation of his intentions, he was glad to see that instead of pulling away and carrying on with a new conversation, Kate was actually leaning towards him. Finding his answer in her eyes, he closed the distance further and finally let their lips touch.
He realised that he liked the feel of her soft lips against his own, the taste of her against his tongue and the small moan that escaped her throat had him hooked. He titled his head to the side, trying to get a different angle, and moved his hands to support the woman in them, one to the side of her neck and another on her waist.
X:X:X:X:X:X
Kate sat on the bottom end of Damien's mattress, his gym bag was beside her as he started packing. "So this is a tournament?"
"Yeah." Damien answered, grabbing some clothes from his wardrobe. "Surprised Worm didn't tell you more about it at the dance."
"Ahh... no." She said, her cheeks feeling warm as she remembered how they spent their night together. Her lips tingling just thinking about their actions, though thankfully Worm went slow with her and didn't have wandering hands.
"It's against Bay Hill." Damien continued talking, not having noticed the reaction of his sister as his mind was focusing on the upcoming game.
"Should be a good game." She'd seen Bay Hill play a couple of times, they seem to handle themselves with ease. "So the teams taking the bus up?"
"Yeah, should only be a couple of days away." He put his pants in the bag and took a seat on the mattress, the gym bag between the siblings. "You know Dad, he'll probably have us home ASAP."
Kate let out a small laugh, thinking about her father herding the team and leaned against the wall of bed. "Yeah probably."
"Damien! You ready?" Their father's voice sounded from downstairs.
"Guess that means it's time to leave." Damien grabbed his gym bag from the bed. The pair got to their feet and walked into the hallway near the stairs. "Stay out of trouble." He quickly gave his sister a hug and started down the stairs to their father.
"Good luck!" She called as the two men opened the door and left the house for the bus trip to Bay Hill.
When Kate finally got to school that morning, her mother having dropped her off, she headed straight to her locker to be greeted by Rebecca. "So the boys have gone to a tournament?" Her red head friend questioned.
"Yeah." Kate said unsure, wondering how her friend found out so quickly though in this community it shouldn't have really surprised her.
"Everyone's talking about it!" Rebecca followed Kate down the hallway. "Oh, we have maths together because Mr Broome called in sick."
"Your room?" Kate questioned, already knowing the answer but wanting to double check.
"Right you are." Rebecca replied, going into her home room beside them as Kate continued to her own.
She took a seat in her home room, quietly waiting for the teacher to read through the school's news and updates before getting to the class roll. It barely lasted twenty minutes before she was getting out of her seat again and meeting Rebecca in the hallway to follow her to their classroom – least this would make the morning double maths pleasant with Rebecca by her side.
The day had drawn on slowly, Kate wasn't sure if it because she couldn't concentrated knowing Richmond would be playing Bay Hill in the afternoon or her thoughts were focused on their point guard player. With the classes having come to an end, she made her way to the drama room to practice Hamlet.
In the drama room, Michael and Luke stood in the platform stage and acted out their scene to reflect their character. "So much for this sir, now shall you see the other. You do remember-" Michael's voice drifted through her thoughts and she knew that paying attention would be in her best interests as Laertes lines would be in the next scene. Her thought strayed to Richmond basketball team, she wondered what they were doing – had they gotten to Bay Hill yet? Was her father making them run laps before the game? Or letting the men enjoy themselves?
It wasn't until later that evening that she found out what was happening with the team. She sat in the lounge with her mother eating Chinese, the radio on in front of them as they listened to the game between Bay Hill and Richmond. Listening to the radio didn't beat the feeling of actually seeing the game but it was better than nothing. Either way, it didn't chance the happiness she felt for Richmond team when the radio announced that the team had won the game.
Kate had gone to bed feeling proud of the team after seeing them at the beginning of the semester, they had really come a long way and she believed that they could go further. With that positive thought of the team, Kate brushed her teeth and went to bed hoping that it would help time pass and she'd be able to grill Damien about the game.
A loud sound from down stairs caused Kate to awaken from her bed, she glanced at the clock to find that it was two in the morning. She wondered what the noise could have been the result of, her answer coming when she heard her brother's bedroom door opening. She didn't understand what was happening – weren't they meant to be spending the night at Bay Hill? Curiosity getting the best of her, Kate tugged on a hoodie to keep the cold air from her skin and went to Damien's room.
She quietly knocked on the door, not wanting to disturb her parents and walked into the bedroom to find her brother sitting on the edge of his bed, gym back dropped on the floor and head between his hands. "Damien?" She quietly questioned.
"We stuffed up." Was his muttered response, not looking up at his sister. The words suddenly rushed from his mouth, later after that conversation he wanted to blame the alcohol that allowed him to slip up. "We won the game, went back to the motel and snuck pasted Dad to go to this party that we were was invited too." Kate come to sit beside her brother, trying to give him some comfort over the stress he was dealing with. "It was great, the house was like a mansion and winning the game meant there was no shortage of alcohol and girls. I was in the pool with two woman when Dad found us, you should have seen his face. His never looked at me like that, and Worm coming out with that woman wrapped around him, it just seem to fuel Dad."
Kate removed her hand from her brother's arm, feeling like he had burned her at his words. "Worm was with another woman?" She asked quietly, having an idea what the answer would be.
"Shit, Kate." Damien looked up at her, realising what he'd just said about Worm. "It was nothing, you know Worm, and he plays around." His words weren't coming out right. When he went to comfort Kate, it made her moved from the mattress to stand in front of him with arms crossed over her chest.
"Just answer the question Damien." Her tone sounding hard as his words did nothing to help Worm's situation.
"Yeah but-" Kate didn't let Damien finished his sentence and left the bedroom to confine in her own.
She didn't bother taking off her hoodie, she curled into bed and tried to calm the thoughts swirling within her. She was unsuccessfully when she closed to her eyes, seeing Worm with another woman. Worm hadn't asked her to be his girlfriend so maybe she didn't hold any right to be angry at him for that reason, they weren't classed as an item but the thought that their time together didn't mean the same to her as it did to him, hurt her.
