Okay, guys. New year = new goals. My new goal happens to be get better at updating my stories every once and awhile because I am soooo bad at it!
That being said, here is the next installment of Just Friends.
Little warning...There is a bit of provocative action later in this chapter. Very slight. All for good fun. I promise!
The way that Kathy's face lit up as soon as she saw the city probably made the entire trip worthwhile. She looked in complete awe even though she's been before. I guess growing up and spending the majority of your life in a small town really made you see things in a different way. I watched her try to call a taxi, and failing, for a minute or two before I took matters into my own hands. Since I was the one who grew up in the city, I knew how they operated. I had a cab pulling up on my first attempt.
"It's because he saw me before…" Kathy muttered as she climbed in. She then smiled at the driver, "Can you please take us to the biggest clothing store around?" He nodded, and we were off.
As soon as we entered, I knew it was going to be a long day of shopping. There were at least four or five different levels to this store, and they were all packed to the brim with clothes. It looked like Hell to me, but the look on Kathy's face made me realize that it was Heaven for her.
I played nice as Kathy went from level to level, showing me ridiculous sweaters and boots, and putting the reasonable items in the cart. I had gotten so used to wearing works jeans and t-shirts that I almost forget sometime people actually looked presentable.
"How do you feel about a tux?" She asked, eyeing that section.
I scoffed, "I'm not the groom, kid. I would go for a suit but not a tux."
And with that, we headed over to where the suits were. Kathy began muttering to herself about what size I could be, but then she started laughing. I looked over to see what was so funny, and I found her pulling out a huge purple pimp suit. She begged, "Can you just please try it on? That's all I ask! Just put it on and let me see it!"
She was crazy. That thing was never going to fit! I guess that was the point though, and I decided to go along with it. We added it to the cart along with a suit that would probably actually fit.
"I don't know, Kat. After seeing how sexy I am in this pimp suit, I might just wear it tomorrow," I began as I exited the dressing room. The legs of the pants were on the floor, and the sleeves fell way past my hands. It was ridiculously big and baggy in all the wrong spots, and I looked like a clown.
Kathy laughed at me for a solid minute and a half before shoving me back into the dressing room, pleading for me to change out of that before she died of laughter. The next suit I tried on was better. It was dark gray and fit like a glove. I would even go as far to say I looked hot.
I walked out of the dressing room and tried to ignore the fact that Kathy's eyes got a little wider. It was probably just because she wasn't used to me all dressed up, not because she was attracted to me or anything. Right? Right.
She took a deep breath, walked in a circle around me and said, "Wow. Looking dapper, Ry. Do you like it?" I nodded, and she did the same, "Good. I like it, too. I'll go find a tie, and you change."
I knew that finding my outfit in less than two hours was too good to be true. That's why I was not surprised when I had to follow Kathy around not only the remainder of this store but also two more to find her a dress. Everyone she tried on looked fine to me because she looked stunning in everything, but she was never satisfied. She had held off on buying me a tie because she wanted to match it with her dress.
The dress that she was making no progress on finding.
We entered the fourth store when she gasped after walking in the door. Her face lit up, and I hoped and prayed that was a good sign. My feet hurt, and I was ready to take a good eight-hour power nap. She hooked her arm with mine and led me away. I noticed the jealous looks that the other men were shooting me right away, and I realized it was because they thought Kathy and I were together. I felt oddly proud, even though they were wrong, just for the fact that they thought I could land a girl like her. I was too busy gloating in myself to get a good look at whatever dress Kathy had pulled from the rack and left to go try on.
Five minutes later, she emerged from the dressing room with a huge smile on her face…But in the clothes she had been wearing all day long. Where was the dress? She told me to go find a dark green tie and basically shoved me towards the men's isle. I did was I was told, and we met back up at the front of the store.
"So let me see the dress!" I said, trying to peek inside the plastic bag she now held in her hands.
She swatted me away, "Oh no. You can see it tomorrow. I never got a 'prom' or whatever you called it, so I need to make my grand entrance and have my date - you - stare at me in awe!"
How did she not know that I would be staring at her in awe regardless of the fact that she was in a pretty dress? I stare at her in awe almost all the time.
I'm so lame.
"It's so weird watching the news on this TV and not seeing Elli's face…" Kathy said once we had settled in our hotel room in the city. The plan was that we would wake up early tomorrow morning and drive down to Mineral Town in time to make the wedding where we would spend the night and then drive back to the ferry dock the day after.
Kathy was already settled into her bed and was flipping through channels while I surveyed the room service menu from my bed.
"How's Owen?" I asked out of the blue.
Kathy groaned out loud, "He is STILL trying to get me to date him. Relentlessly, might I add. Even when I was with Kevin, Owen would be all over me. Don't get me wrong, he's nice and all, but he can't take rejection."
"Why don't you just give him a chance in that case?"
There was a pause, and I looked over to see Kathy seriously considering that question. She spoke up after awhile, "Well at first it was because I was dating Kevin, but now…I think he reminds me too much of Kevin to tell you the truth. Their sense of humor and attitude towards life are too similar for me to deal with."
She didn't stop there, "Which sucks because Owen is the only person who would marry me in town. All the other guys are either taken or too…odd for my taste."
I grabbed at my chest, pretending like I had gotten shot, "Ouch. I'm too odd for your taste. That stings," I said. I wasn't going to lie though; it did sting a little.
"Oh, shush, you. You don't really count. You're my best friend."
Okay. I wasn't going to lie. That one stung a lot. Here I was, spending the majority of my days thinking about Kathy in a romantic way, and she didn't even count me as someone who she wouldn't even date. That was when I knew I had to try and get over Kathy. It wasn't going to work out ever for me, and I was just wasting my time on her.
And I really did have that frame of mind set after that. Up until she walked out from the bathroom the next morning in that dress. She literally took the breath right out of me and made my jaw drop slightly. The dark green color of the dress made her bright green eyes ten times more intense and amazing. The dress was tight and somewhat low-cut, but it had sleeves about 3/4 of the way down her arms to make up for the skin showing on her torso. There was a dip in the back as well, so when I went to lead her out the door later that day, my hand was met by skin.
I let out a deep breath of air, "Wow. Kathy, you look…"
Kathy began to blush and smile nervously which only made my heart start beating faster. I tried to think of a word to describe her but nothing came to mind. She was more than beautiful or gorgeous or anything along those lines. She was radiant.
Before I could get another word out, Kathy was already walking up towards me. She rolled her eyes at me, "Your tie is crooked, Ryan." Straightening it quickly, she patted my chest in an approving way, "You clean up pretty well yourself, big boy," she teased.
It was only an hour drive to Mineral Town, and by the time we showed up, I was panicking. There was no way that anyone was going to buy that I was dating Kathy. She was out of my league to begin with in her normal day clothes, let alone when she's dressed like this and looking like one of the goddesses. I almost brought up that fact once in the car, but at that moment Kathy started singing along to the radio.
Of course she could sing too. Was there anything that this girl couldn't do? And do perfectly?
I parked the rented car on the grass outside of town where everyone else was and quickly jogged to the other side of the vehicle to open Kathy's door for her. She gave me a look to which I just shrugged; I was being a gentleman.
"The church is this way," she said, pointing to the direction where the small crowd was heading. Without skipping a beat, her hand found its way into mine. My stomach dropped, but I kept walking along side of her. I was too afraid to even look down and make eye contact with Kathy in fear that I would internally combust with happiness. I also tried to ignore the fact that I was certain her hand was just the right size to perfectly fit with mine. That would be just too cheesy.
Kathy didn't seem to notice. In fact, it seemed like she wasn't even fazed by the fact that we were holding hands. Then I remembered our conversation last night and how I was just a friend.
Right. Yeah. Of course. That's cool.
"So who is Karen getting married to?" I asked, not wanting to be the only person not in the loop.
Kathy shrugged, "I don't know him personally. The wedding invitation said his name was Jack. I think he moved to Mineral Town a year or so ago to become a farmer."
"And here I am. Been at the island for months and I can't even get a date!" I said causing Kathy to laugh. We ended up being lead to the church by the group we were following. Kathy began to squeal as soon as we walked in and dragged me to a pew to sit beside another girl who was squealing.
"Oh my goddess! Kathy! You're here!" The girl who looked strikingly similar to Elli back on the island cried.
The two girls hugged, and I sat there awkwardly, while Kathy was saying, "Of course! I couldn't miss Karen getting hitched! She's the first!"
Then the-Elli-look-alike gave Kathy a sly smile and said, "But certainly not the last," before she dramatically swept her bangs away with her hand and a ray of light made the ring on her finger gleam.
Cue more squealing.
"Trent proposed?!"
"Finally! I mean we've been dating for years, but nothing! I've been hinting for ages, but as soon as Jack puts a ring on Karen's finger, he gets it!"
And then some more squealing.
I just sat there awkwardly, trying to smile along even though neither was paying attention to me. That's when Kathy spoke up and said, "Well, you never know, I may be joining the wedding party soon too!" That's when she elbowed me in the gut, and the-Elli-look-alike finally realized I was there.
I laughed along goodheartedly, trying to ignore the pain in my stomach, as I replied, "Whoa. Calm down there, killer. We've only been together for three months."
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't even see you over there!" The girl said, leaning over Kathy to offer me her hand, "I'm Elli. I've known Karen and Kathy since we were little."
My face must have given away what I was thinking because Kathy quickly explained, "Yes. Elli and Elli are related. The name runs in the family."
"Right…But I'm Ryan. Nice to meet you, Elli."
She smiled and was about to talk when the wedding progression began to play. The talking in the room stopped, and everyone turned their heads to see the bridesmaids and groomsmen come walking in. Kathy and Elli took turns squealing – quietly this time – whenever a new couple would walk in.
Karen whispered over to Elli, "Wait, why aren't you up there? I just saw your doctor walk in with Popuri…"
"I was the planner of the wedding. She asked me to do both, but that would be too much work. Shhh, here she comes!"
The music then turned to the wedding march, and everyone in the church got up to stand. Kathy leaned up against my back, trying to get a better look. So of course I stood as still as possible to make sure she wouldn't move away. She gasped when Karen walked into the room.
I had to admit: Karen looked incredible. I didn't even know her, but she had everyone in the room holding their breath by how beautiful she looked. She shyly smiled up the aisle to wear the groom, Jack, was waiting with the biggest grin on his face. I was a little confused on why he was wearing his blue baseball cap backwards on his head with a white tuxedo, but I figured it was some super romantic gesture.
Everyone took a seat, and the priest began the ceremony. He spoke about love at first sight and soul mates. There were some tears from the bride and groom and a handful of people in the pews. I figured a few of them were Karen's family, but I was surprised when I saw a tear or two in Kathy's eyes.
Without hesitation, I threw my left arm around her shoulders and brought her body closer to mine. She settled in, looking up and giving me a thankful smile. I didn't do it to be romantic, or even to hit on her. I simply did it to support her in some way.
"Jack, if you want to start the vows," Carter said.
Jack nodded, taking Karen's hands into his. Clearing his throat, he began, "Karen, the moment I met you, I knew that grass seeds were never going to be the same for me. I knew you were the one for me the second I looked into your eyes, and I can't wait to keep on looking into those eyes for the rest of my life. I promise to be the best husband I can be for you. I promise to always bring you Moon Drop flowers instead of Pink Cats – Sorry, Sasha," he said, winking at the woman who I assumed was Karen's mother. He continues, "I promise to always do the cooking, but that's mostly for my benefit. And most importantly, I promise to always be there for you. To pick you up from the bar when you've had a little too much. To always protect you from Won's 'Golden Service Time'. And, lastly, I promise to always love you."
The crowd aww'ed, and Karen wiped away her teary eyes before she began her vows, "You stole my intro about those grass seeds, you jerk. To tell the truth, I didn't know I had fallen in love with you right away. Looking back, I totally did, but I was oblivious until that night that you helped me carry back all those bottles of wine. That night we got absolutely hammered, and you told me how you felt. That was one of the best days of my life, apart from the day we met, and today. Then tonight too, but I'm not supposed to mention that part," she said with a sly smile on her lips.
Everyone laughed, and her father looked highly uncomfortable. Kathy leaned her head on my shoulder at this point, and once again, I was trying my hardest not to move and scare her away.
Karen continued, "In all seriousness, Jack, you're it for me. I have never felt this way about anyone else before, and I can tell by the way you look at me that you haven't either. I can't tell you how excited I am to spend the rest of my life with you. It leaves me breathless. Oh, goddesses, Carter! Can't I just kiss him now?"
This had everyone chuckling again, and I couldn't help but glance down at Kathy to see her smiling in delight up at her friend. Her smile did things to my heart that I could never understand
"Always the traditional couple, folks," Carter said, a slight nagging tone on his voice. He continued, "But yes. Jack, you may now kiss your – very impatient – bride."
Jack didn't even get to blink before Karen grabbed him by the tie and pulled his lips onto hers. The crowd went nuts, and we all stood up to applaud the new married couple. They turned and wave before walking back down the aisle and out the door, following quickly by the bridesmaids and groomsmen.
Elli and Kathy hugged each other, both talking over one another about how happy they were for their friend. Taking my cue from some other male members of the audience who were smooching their beloveds in the bask of all the romanticness, I took a deep breath and draped my arm around Kathy's waist and planted a quick kiss on the top of her head.
While Elli obviously thought nothing of it, Kathy froze in her tracks for a moment before looking up at me. My heart stopped. Did I do something wrong? Was that too far out of line? Was I not supposed to actually do anything nearing that level of dating? I continued to panic in silence until Kathy just smiled sweetly up at me and gave me a wink.
I let out a breath. I was good. I was safe.
I had just kissed Kathy. Sorta. It was good enough for me.
Eventually everyone cleared out from the church and made their way towards The Mineral Town Inn. Kathy locked her arm with mine the entire way, but she was so busy catching up with Elli to notice that I was still glowing from the super quick head kiss.
Not to sound creepy, but I probably will because I always do, but her hair smelled fantastic.
Once we got into the Inn, Elli explained, "I put you guys at my table. Since off our friends are at the wedding party table, we're stuck with my grandma, Stu, Zach, and Won."
While these names meant nothing to me, Kathy nodded – only making a face when "Won" was mentioned. She groaned quietly before mummering over to me, "He's the sleazy seller of Mineral Town. Hits on all the pretty girls."
"Only pretty girls? Don't worry. You're safe then," I muttered back, smiling widely before she smacked me with her purse.
"Be nice, you."
The Inn was decorated nicely; lights were strung up from the upstairs balcony and on all the pillars that supported the building. Tables with white tablecloths were formed around a big circle, which I assumed to be the dance floor. Each table had a white flower centerpiece along with little cards that said each guest's name. We found the table with our names on it and sat down, Kathy scooting her chair closer to mine.
The wedding party was announced and took their seats, and the servers quickly came out and took orders. I let out a low whistle and spoke to Kathy, "This is quite the shindig, huh? Even compared to some of the city weddings I've been to, this is still pretty grand."
Kathy nodded in agreement and replied, "That's Karen for you. Love her to death but she always has to do things in the biggest way possible. My wedding, fingers crossed, is going to be much smaller than this. Just townsfolk and maybe a few outside family members if my groom, fingers crossed, have any."
"I'm sure Owen would love to marry you, Kat," I said, taking a sip of water while giving her a look from the corner of my eye. She just roller her eyes and groaned, muttering words that are not suitable from children under her breath.
Throughout dinner, which was amazing, many different people came up to our table and greeted Kathy. Each time, I just sat and smiled until I got introduced as the "boyfriend", 'boytoy", "boo-thang", and, Kathy's personal favorite, "her honey-bear-boo-boo-kins". No one seemed surprised that a guy like me was dating a girl like Kathy, which made me start to feel pretty good about myself.
I even got a few, "Kathy! He's a looker!" from some of the middle-aged women.
Kathy took my hand in hers again as we all watched Karen and Jack's first dance together as husband and wife. It was a pretty cheesy song, some country boy singing about wanting to make a girl feel wanted, but it was still nice. It was hard to concentrate, though, with Kathy's thumb rubbing back and forth on my hand. I tried my hardest to will my palms not to get sweaty.
A few more songs played through while we finished eating, and more and more people started to make their way onto the dance floor. The classic hit, "Cupid Shuffle", came on and simultaneously Elli, Kathy, and every other 20 year-old something girl screamed. All making their way to the dance floor, I got a quick wink and peck on the cheek before Kathy broke away and joined everyone.
Reminding myself to breath, I looked around to make sure that no one else noticed myself getting red from that simple, little peck. Ellen, Elli's grandmother, was just smiling at me fondly, as if she were remembering something from a long time ago. She said quietly, "She's quite the girl, that one."
I nodded, rubbing the back of my neck nervously, "She sure is."
She didn't stop there, "The way you look at her reminds me of the way my husband used to look at me…It was like I was the only thing he could ever hope to look at again…Too sweet, my boy, too sweet."
My heart lurched. Was it really so obvious how I felt about Kathy? Could everyone see it? If they could, how didn't Kathy know? Or did she know? If she did, why hasn't she called me out on it?
"Stop your worrying. Things will all work out. Just enjoy moments like these," Ellen said cryptically. I was about to ask what she meant by that, but she just pointed back to the dance floor. Following her finger, I found Kathy in the middle of a huge group of girls, laughing in delight as she followed the dance steps. My heart lurched again, but this time it was because of that damn smile of hers.
"C'mon, Ry. You had your vodka or rum or whiskey or whatever man drink it was. It's time to danceeeeeee," Kathy said, pulling on my arm and looking longingly at the dance floor.
"I never knew you were such a dance lover," I laughed, taking the last sip of my drink. The condition was that I would give her one dance for every drink I was allowed. She agreed willingly, but I knew that as soon as I got up to the dance floor, she wasn't going to let me leave that easily.
She dragged me out of my chair and onto the floor as she explained, "Well it's no fun dancing alone in my room, so when I actually get the chance to, I go all out!"
At this point, I had already met the newlyweds, so when we finally joined them on the dance floor, Karen squealed loudly. To Karen, I was Kathy's "hottie with a body" boyfriend. She grabbed Kathy by the arms, and they were twisting back and forth around with each other while Jack and I awkwardly bounced back and forth.
This continued for a few songs; Kathy would get dragged away by a girlfriend, but every time I went to go sit back down, I got the look of death, which caused me to continue dancing in her near vicinity. I was never a great sober dancer. Sure, when I got a few in me I could shimmy with the best of them, but I had a feeling getting drunk around Kathy would not be my best idea. I wouldn't want to accidentally say something that sober me knows I shouldn't.
Finally Kathy broke herself away from her redheaded friend (Ann? I think? Spunky little thing.) and made her way back towards me. I asked if we were done dancing, but she just replied, "Not even close," with a flirty look in her eyes. Just like every time she gives me that infamous look of hers, my mouth went dry in a second-flat. This girl always had me on my toes.
And then, of course, the perfect song for Kathy to tease me with starts to play. Cue cheering from the crowd and the flirty look in Kathy's eyes to only grow flirtier under her eyelashes.
Sir-Mix-A-Lot's Baby Got Back.
Just from my past experience with girls, I know that they love this song for one reason. They can dance however the heck they want and get away with it. I had to come up with a game plan.
I had it. I would just keep up with my awkwardly shuffling and keep my eyes locked on hers. No wandering eyes. No wandering hands. Perfect. Yes. This would be easy. I so had this. I was the man.
Unfortunately, while I was the man, Kathy turned out to be The Woman. While singingly along perfectly with the lyrics she still managed to dance along with it too. I just smiled nervously, shuffling awkwardly, pretending that my heart wasn't pounding out of my chest.
Every body part of Kathy's was born to dance. It was so graceful, and smooth, and, kill me now, sexy. She was just my friend; I kept reminding myself over and over mentally. I had to keep those thoughts buried deep, deep, deeeeep down.
So, of course again, that's when she takes a step closer to me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. She leans in and says to me quietly in my ear, "Ryan, I respect that you're trying to be a gentleman right now, but…you're supposed to be my boyfriend at this moment in time. Look around you. See how the other couples are dancing? How most of them are touching in some way?"
I nodded – more of a quick jerking of my head once.
She let of a breathy laugh – Dammit Kathy, don't do that so close to my ear! – and said, "Then come on. Pretend you like me at least a little bit, boyfriend."
With that Kathy screwed me over completely and left a little kiss on the ear she was just talking into. My eyes went wide as a shiver ran down my spine. I cursed silently to the goddesses. Why me? Why now? How could she do things like that and act like she thought nothing of it?
Oh, and it gets better. Don't worry. I'm guessing you all have heard the part of the song where he goes, "My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun!", right? Well imagine those beats to these evil, evil dance moves.
"My anaconda don't…": chest-to-chest shoulder roll
"want none…": turn around so her back is on my chest"
"unless you got…": hands behind her back and on my waist
"buns, hun.": bending her knees and lowering herself…downwards and then coming back up
My eyes got even wider, and I tasted blood because I was biting my tongue so hard. She just came back up and began laughing at me while she took my arms and moved them around for me. No one else seemed to notice her provocative dance moves except for me. That or they were too wrapped up in their own provocative dances moves to care.
The song ended – finally – and Kathy hugged me, laughing loudly to herself, "Ry…Ryan, oh my goddess. You should have…Oh, I wish you could have seen your face," she managed to get out.
Still slightly in shock, and unsure if I could speak, I just stuck my tongue out at her. She eventually contained her laughter, but by that time the next song had already begun. It was a slow song.
Good. This means she couldn't be unbelievably sexy and tease me this time.
Looking down at her, I made a big production of jumping back a step, bowing, and offering her my hand. This earned me a classic Kathy eye roll, but she played along and curtsied back at me before placing her hand in mine. A bit hesitantly, I placed my other hand on her waist as she positioned hers on my shoulder.
Doing the basic square waltz moves I was taught back in high school, I finally began to calm down. This wasn't nearly as scary as the last song that been. We stayed quiet for a few seconds until I heard Kathy humming along to the lyrics.
"You know this song?" I asked, not recognizing it myself.
She nodded, "Mhmm. Kiss Me Slowly."
I almost had a heart attack at that…until I realized she was telling me the title of the song. Right…
"I'm glad you came with me today, Ryan," she said sincerely. Usually at a comment like that I would make fun of her, but between the slow dancing and the song, I felt a little sweeter than usual.
I replied, "I'm glad I came with you, too. It's been fun. Even all the shopping. I just wish I got the pimp suit…"
"You're a goof."
"Says the goof."
Laughing quietly, Kathy bit her lip slightly as she looked back up at me. Our movements got slower and slower as we looked at one another, her lip still in between her teeth. Usually I would take all of this as a cue to kiss a girl, but I knew that wouldn't end well.
Besides, that's when Kathy dropped my hand from hers. We continued dancing, just with her arms around my shoulders and mine on either side of her waist. It was one of those moments again where nothing had to be said. We were comfortable enough with the silence because we knew we had someone to share it with.
Thanks for sticking with me here, guys! I hope to have the next chapter up pretty soon - I'm thinking in just a day or two because I have a long weekend.
In the mean time, please feel free to leave a review! I love hearing what you all have to say! Thanks!
