Katie's Life
Chapter 4: Uncomfortable times two
Rating: T
Summery: When Katie Knight doesn't get picked for the girls' ice hockey team, what else could she do but try out for the guys' team, right? But living a double life is a little harder than Katie thought, especially since her alter-ego is a guy. Throw a little romance into the mix and you might just have the perfect combination for Katie's Life…
Authoress: MidnightRoseWriter
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Big Time Rush or Big Time Rush itself. No profit is made by this story; it is merely for personal gain. It's called a DISclaimer, right? If I owned Big Time Rush, it would be called a claimer.
Note: Yay, I'm on time this time! I really appreciate all the feedback for this story, I can't thank you guys enough!
Okay, so I'm sorry if I got some of the medical stuff wrong in this chapter, pretty sure it's all correct, though. There is a bit of Jatie moments in here, so all you Jatie fans out there… enjoy the next chapter in Katie's Life!
"Oh my gosh," I gasped, my night was not over yet.
Over his stomach there was a huge bruise. It stretched from one side of his ribs across his stomach to the other side, almost ending on his back. It was black and blue, the two colours that your skin should not be.
"That bad, huh?" he asked.
"Worse," I said, looking at the wound critically.
"Does it hurt to breathe? Do you feel like you have a broken rib?" I questioned him.
"Nope," he replied, a smile on his face even at a time like this, "no broken ribs. See, it's not that bad." But it was. Even without any broken ribs, he still had a massive bruise that would take weeks to heal.
"You are so lucky," I murmured.
"Doesn't feel like it," he said.
"Okay, so I'm going to give you something for the pain," I said as I handed him a bottle of medicine, "Take one every eight hours, and rub this over the bruise." I gave him a tube with salve in.
"Okay, thanks Katie," he thanked me. He was trying to get up, and then I saw that he used his left hand, when it would make more sense to use his right hand since there isn't enough room on the left side.
"Stop right there," I stopped him. He hesitated, as if he knew that he was in trouble.
"What's wrong with your shoulder?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing, I um… I kind of… hit… it… on the um… door?" he finished with a question.
"Yeah, right," I answered sarcastically, "now, let me see." He knew he couldn't argue with me, he had tried and tried again, but failed each time. He did take his time to come and sit though.
"Come here," I said, for he was sitting as far from me as he could, "I won't bite."
"I'm more afraid of the bark," he mumbled, forcing a laugh from me.
I lifted up his shirt, but I had to take it off completely to see the damage. I gasped again. Another huge bruise covered his shoulder, not as dark as the first, but still pretty bad.
"James!" I scolded him, "How can you not tell me about this?"
"It's not that big of a deal," he mumbled, looking embarrassed.
I noticed this and said quietly, "It's nothing to be ashamed of, James."
"None of the others were as bad beat up as me, even you look fine," he sighed, then realized what he said and quickly backpedaled, "I mean, you fight great, so that's why you didn't get hurt."
I chuckled, "Come on, the only reason that I look fine is because you were in front of me the whole time." That seemed to brighten him a bit.
"Now let's get this salve on," I took the same tube that I gave him to use on his stomach and squirted a bit out.
"This might sting a bit," I warned and started to rub the cream onto his shoulder. I didn't noticed earlier, but now I kind of see the reason why James always says that he looks so good or whatever. I tried not to think about it, it would send my face flaming, but he worked out. I could feel his muscles relaxing under my fingers.
Oh, eww! Now I sound like a perv! He's my brother's best friend for crying out loud!
"You should consider becoming a Massage Therapist," I heard James say. I laughed with him.
"Thanks," I said, "but I think that I will definitely kill the second person to walk in my door and tell me what to do. And think of all the fat people!" I wrinkled my nose; I do not enjoy massaging fat people, thank you very much.
"Guess you're right," he chuckled, "but I will pay you to do private home-calls. How much do you charge?"
"Oh, I'm expensive," I said, I had finished with his shoulder, "now, lie on your back."
"Katie, I can do this myself," he started to protest, but I cut him off.
"No, you can't, did you not see your shoulder?"
"Right," he gave in, another victory for me! How many points now? I can't even remember, and besides, who's counting?
I bit my lip; this was going to be a bit harder than I thought. I squeezed some salve from the tube and started to rub it into the bruise on his stomach. This is very awkward.
"So, um…" he tried to make conversation, "what did Brock do to you yesterday?"
"Oh," I laughed, "he tried to touch me, so I punched him." I was laughing at the memory. He laughed with me; at least the awkward is over now. It was very late; all the medical aid has made me tired. Don't even get me started on the tryouts.
"Okay, all done," I said, "and you come to me the minute it starts to get sore again, got it?" I mock-glared.
He sighed, "Got it,"
"Good, now let's go see the boys," I said while walking out.
We found the rest of the guys sitting in the living room, watching a movie. They turned when they saw me and James. Then Kendall turned white, and then red then purple, Carlos was trying to hold in his laughter – looking as if he could burst – and Logan was simply staring with his mouth open. What was with their reactions? I do not know. I turned to ask James and I saw what the problem was…
He forgot to put his shirt back on. Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore, and Carlos and I erupted in laughter at the exact same moment.
"What's so funny?" James asked, completely oblivious, this made Carlos and I laugh even harder.
"Dude," Kendall started, "do you mind telling me why you're not wearing a shirt when you were behind a closed door with my sister?" James looked down sheepishly. But I decided to come to his rescue.
"Kendall," I said to get his attention, "do you not see that bruise there? How am I supposed to treat it without seeing what I'm doing? I don't have x-ray vision." he looked from me to James, back to me again. James nodded as if to say that I am indeed, telling the truth.
"Okay," he said, not sounding too convinced, but looking as if he would let it slide for now.
"Now, if you don't mind, I am going to bed," I said while I walked to my room.
"Goodnight," I said and was greeted with four mumbled, "'Night,"s.
I went through the motions of getting ready for bed almost robotically; I was so used to them by now. It was only when I slid between the covers that I realized that my plan, was a go. I was officially Jake, center for the Hollywood under 16 boys ice hockey team.
"Hey, Logan," I greeted him. It was the morning just before my first ever hockey practice.
"Hi Katie," he replied, "Slept well?"
"Uh, uh," I nodded; I had a very important question for him. Camille reminded me yesterday that the boys shower after hockey practice. In the rink there is just a kind of a tiled wall with shower heads. Everyone showers together, and even if I was a boy I still wouldn't shower there.
"I have a homework question," I continued, "it's about, well, bathrooms."
When I said this his eyebrows raised, but he didn't say anything. I can tell that he didn't want an awkward conversation with me, and if I was him, I also wouldn't want an awkward talk with my friend's sister.
"Well, it's for biology," I said, ignoring his raised eyebrows, "is there a kind of illness that could keep you away from showering in the open, like without a door or something, without actually being sick?" wow, that sounds pretty weird if you don't know what I'm planning.
"Um, that's an interesting question, Katie," he frowned, "well, I suppose you could have a phobia of people if people are with you in the shower or you could be allergic to something there, but other than that, nothing that you can fake."
He smiled at me, how did he know that I wanted to fake something?
"How did you know I wanted to fake something?" I asked mouth agape, voicing my thoughts.
"It's not that hard to figure out Katie," he laughed, "first of all, you don't have something to write the answers in," okay, so it was a spur of the moment thing, "Second, it's definitely not in the handbook for the tenth grade."
"How do you know what's in the handbook for the tenth grade?" I asked back, my hands on my hips.
"I helped you study once and I read the thing through to make sure that you knew everything," he replied with a smirk. Oh yeah, maybe I should have remembered that and came up with a better way of finding out.
I must have stood with a guilty expression on my face because he laughed.
"Don't worry, Katie," he said in-between chuckles, "I won't tell anyone."
I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thanks Logan," I said and turned to go to my room when I heard him say something behind me.
"What did you say?" I asked, worried that he might have figured it out.
"Just that you could pretend to have forgotten your clothes if you don't want to shower in an open space," he replied with a shrug, "But it is kind of weird, I thought that only the showers in the men's room works that way." He looked thoughtful.
"Um," I played for time, "Nope!" I said lightly and hurried to my room before I let something else slip. I hope that he wouldn't get suspicious.
But, I know Logan and he's not the one to butt into other people's business. The same I cannot say for Carlos, so I have to mark him on the steer clear list.
Now, I am ready for my first practice! I can't wait!
"…and now, I have separated the ones that know from the ones that think." The Coach finished his speech.
This is my first hockey practice. I asked Jo for advice on what to wear, and she got me some really cool clothes, it didn't stand out at all. I am so ready for this; our first game is in three weeks.
I stood, proud and tall, and listened to what the coach said. I ignored Brock's glares and grinned at Tony's smiles. We had really become close. I could definitely use a friend here.
"Now, pair up and we start with passes," he yelled and we did. I ended up facing Mike, a friendly guy with black hair that he wore spiked up. He gave me a friendly smile before turning to the coach for instructions.
After the two hour practice, we had to discuss practice times. After that, we went to change out of our sweaty clothes.
I really hoped that they will buy my story about forgetting my clothes.
I looked worriedly at the bathroom door.
"Jake," Tony shook me out of my worrying trance, "dude, are you coming?"
"Yeah, yeah, definitely… I just…" I trailed off, "You know what? I can't come with you guys," I made up an excuse, "I have to go home to shower, I… um… forgot… uhh… my clothes." Wow that sounded lame.
"That's okay dude," Tony said, "I have extras that you can borrow." Arg, why did Tony have to be so nice?
"Um, I don't think they will fit me, and I have to get to my… sister…" I was just saying things, just talking, not knowing what I was saying, "She needs me to… help her… with… boy advice…" what am I saying?
"Okay," Tony smiled, whew! He wasn't suspicious.
"See you later," I said to Tony. That was way too close. I have to come up with an excuse to not shower there. I can't forget my clothes every time. Maybe I can say that I have the opposite of claustrophobia… if that even exists.
I waited until there was no one near to see me and quickly slipped into the girls' room. They had showers there too and I plan to use them every practice. I can't go home all sweaty and tired on a regular basis, the guys and Mom will really get suspicious.
I finished my relaxing shower and walked out, completely confident that my plan was fool proof.
"Hey," a man yelled at me, he worked here, I saw the logo on his shirt, "Can I talk to you for just a second?"
"Um, sure," I said, I was sure that I wasn't in trouble.
He led me to his office. It was a boring standard office, kind of like him. The slightly overweight man in his forties went to sit behind his desk. He mentioned for me to sit in the chair that faced him on the other side of the desk.
He cleared his throat and asked the one question that I hadn't thought about.
"Can I see proof of payment please?"