June 25th, 1994
If there's one thing I can't stand it's feeling rejected. Ontop of that I felt both miserable and confused. I tried to assure myself that I'd get through it all and never look back, but it was hard. Still, knowing I had a few friends left gave me just a little bit of hope, even if I was surprised they wanted to be my friends at all.
O
Two days later, Kate found herself sitting in her room as usual, however this time she wasn't alone. Sitting opposite her, visiting for a second time was Shannon, who this time had taken to wearing a short white miniskirt and pink halter top. Her long blonde hair was down and curled for a change, and Kate got the feeling that after this short visit she'd be going out with friends. The idea made Kate very jealous, but she fought hard to hide it.
"What a bitch," Shannon was saying, sounding extremely disgruntled, "I just hate her. She treats me like shit most of the time, and there's nothing I can do about it. Sometimes I just want to scream at her."
"Well, I feel the same with my mom too, sometimes.." Kate said, though she couldn't help but feel amused at seeing Shannon like this.
Shannon's head jerked up and she frowned. "Sabrina is not my mom. She's.. my stepmom."
This startling revelation made Kate feel slightly uneasy. "Really?" was all she could say to this.
"Yeah," Shannon sighed, and to Kate's relief she didn't sound angry, "My dad met her at some wedding party about ten years ago, and for some reason he decided to marry her about twenty seconds later." The other girl sighed and ran a hand through her hair, "I was only about eight years old at the time. It was okay, I guess, but as I got older.. I don't know, I just felt really uneasy around her. It was like she didn't want me around most of the time."
Kate nodded slowly, "I'd feel the same if it were me."
"Thing is, if my dad hadn't met her in the first place then I'd never have met Boone," she smiled slightly, "He's my brother, or stepbrother to be precise. Anyway, he's lovely, always there for me."
Kate smiled along with her. Sometimes she yearned for a brother or sister, who she could look up to. Shannon crossed her legs and sighed. She clearly disliked Sabrina. Nevertheless, the fact that Shannon was also having to deal with living with someone who wasn't actually her mother made Kate feel a lot better about her own situation. It made her feel a lot better to know that she wasn't alone.
"So is Boone older than you?" Kate asked, though she guessed that he was from the way Shannon was talking of him. Sure enough, the other girl nodded.
"Yeah, he's about to start his second year of college," Shannon explained, starting to fidget slightly, "But to be honest I think he's considering dropping out. He rarely even goes in nowadays."
There was a momentary silence, but it was also a comfortable one. Kate no longer felt awkward with Shannon being there. "Shannon?" she spoke up after a moment.
"Hmm?"
"Are you gonna go to college?"
Shannon considered. "Maybe, but I just have no idea what I would do there. I don't know what the hell I want to do anyway."
Kate silently agreed with her. Though she quite liked the idea of getting away from High school and finally being able to do things her own way, she just didn't know what she'd do there. She didn't consider herself talented at anything other than being a nuisance to everyone around her.
"So.. heard anything from Jack lately?"
The question caught Kate completely off guard and she flinched. "Uh, yeah, he called just before you got here."
"So he's coming round here, then?"
Kate nodded, "Uhuh."
Shannon grinned mischeviously at her. "I sense that someone has a little crush on Jack.. have you told him yet?"
Kate tried to dismiss this, "Are you crazy? He's in college and I'm in high school. I highly doubt it would work out."
"Oh yeah, trying to be a doctor isn't he?" Shannon enquired, and when Kate nodded she laughed, "I thought about becoming a doctor once, but then I remembered that the sight of blood makes me want to puke every one of my guts up all at once."
Kate, while trying not to imagine this, smiled sourly at her. "Very nice," she said cynically, though she couldn't help laughing. She really hated to admit it, but Shannon really did make her laugh.
"Well then," Shannon said as she rose slowly from the bean bag chair, "I have to get going. I'm meeting Shawn and some of the other guys at the park in half an hour and we're heading into town." She glanced down at Kate, "Hey, you should really come with me sometime, I mean, when you've gotten over.. you know."
"Thanks," Kate replied gratefully, and she truly was grateful that Shannon would think to invite her. "Maybe I will."
Shannon's smile faded. "Well, I'll see you later. Maybe I'll call you later on, that is if I'm not completely wasted." She laughed weakly.
"Sure," Kate responded, "See you later."
With that Shannon quietly left. Kate listened sadly to the sounds of her three inch heels going down the staircase. Once they'd subsided, she flopped back on the bed, and closed her eyes.
O
Jack was ten minutes late, but that didn't bother Kate too much. She was just happy that he was finally there, since he hadn't visited in a couple of days. Kate wondered whether she should ask where he'd been over the last couple of days, then decided against it. It would only agitate him, she figured.
"So.." he started, sitting down where Shannon had been sitting before, "How're you doing?"
Kate thought about telling him the truth, that she was feeling completely miserable, then decided to lie to him. "To tell the truth, I'm feeling a lot better," she said with a false smile, "How about you? Where've you been over the last two days?"
The words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Kate waited anxiously for a response, or for him to completely flip, but to her surprise Jack merely laughed. "Well, uh, I was staying at a friends place since I had to get away from.." he tensed slightly, and Kate wondered what was wrong. "So uh, yeah, that's where I was."
Kate could see that it was a tough subject for him, so she decided not to pursue it any further. "Jack, can we go for a walk?" she blurted out after a pause.
Jack shrugged, "Well, it depends whether you're.."
"I know," Kate sighed, "but I've been sitting here for the last four days and frankly I could do with some fresh air. So, please?"
Jack considered then gave her a sheepish grin, "All right, but not for too long, okay? Don't want your mom going nuts at me for letting you stay out too long."
"Yeah, whatever," Kate muttered, though she managed a small smile at him.
Kate had thought that getting some fresh hair would have made her feel better, but it only made her feel worse. She shuddered, and then felt Jack put an arm around her. Though she knew it was only to keep her warm, she welcomed it nonetheless.
"So, don't you get a little scared, what with your mom and Wayne leaving you alone in the house?" Jack asked as they walked down the street.
Kate shrugged, "Not really. Makes me feel better, actually, since she keeps fretting about me and Wayne is just a pain in the ass."
Jack chuckled at this and surprisingly enough Kate found herself chuckling along with him. "So.. have the police been 'round here yet?" Jack asked.
Kate shook her head, "No, and I don't want them to."
"Kate.."
"Jack, I've already told you," Kate snapped, "I don't know who it was. I've already told you that I never saw their face."
"And they didn't say anything to you?"
"Not a word."
Jack didn't look convinced. "You can't just let someone get away with something like this, Kate. If it was my girlfriend who some guy.."
He broke off, and looked at Kate, who was too stunned to say anything. Jack had a girlfriend? Well, that was new.
"You never told me you were seeing somebody," she pointed out, and Jack blushed.
"Yeah, it only just started a few days ago," Jack told her, "But uh, anyway.."
"Well, I'm happy for you," Kate lied, "Well uh, I guess we'd better go back now. It's kinda' chilly out here anyway."
"Okay," Jack replied, then as if on cue his cell phone began to ring. "Hang on a sec," he said to Kate, then turned away to answer it. "Hello? Uh yeah, I know I said.. look, just give me an hour, all right? Well I never said.. okay, fine. Yeah, I get it. Okay, bye."
He turned back to Kate, and she knew what was coming. "That was my Dad," Jack explained, "I need to get going pretty sharpish or he'll be even more pissed off than he is already."
Kate smiled, "Okay, just walk me home, all right?"
Nothing was said during the walk back to Kate's place. Though she was disappointed that Jack was now seeing someone, she was still glad he had come over to see her. As soon as they reached the front door, Jack informed Kate that he would have to leave.
"I'll call you, okay?" he said with a broad smile, and after they'd said their goodbyes, he began brisk walking down the street. Kate stared sadly after him, then thought angrily of his girlfriend, whoever the hell she was.
"Fuck her," she mumbled, then laughed despite herself. "Oh gee, you're really going crazy now, aren't you, Kate?"