TOWITOWA, Part 13: Trying to Make Amends


The following day found a determined Chastity Donner approaching Kat in the hallway. "Look Verona, I'm determined to get Cameron to go to the Prom with me."

"Yeah, well prom's are expensive, Donner. So I'll need a lot more money than you are paying me."

"Don't jazz me, I know all about it. Look, here's three hundred. If you don't succeed, I'm getting that money back, plus interest."

Kat counted the money, a plan formulating in her head. "Not a problem," she said.

* * *

Patrick tore down a prom flyer from the lamppost in the courtyard. "Who in the hell would want to actually go to this bastion of commercial excess?" he asked scornfully as he ripped it in half.

"Well, since we don't have dates, I suppose we won't be there," Michael replied sadly.

"You sound like you want to go!" Patrick exclaimed.

"Okay okay, we won't go. It's not like I have a tux or anything."

Patrick grunted and seethed, "You're looking at this the wrong way. We're making a statement."

Not impressed, Michael said, "Oh goody. Another statement from Mr. Political. Something new and different for you."

* * *

Cameron held up his bow and arrow, attempting to aim directly onto the middle of the target set up 50 feet away.

"Hey sweetie," he heard a soft voice drawl behind him.

Keeping his aim straight, Cameron said, "Hello, Chastity."

"So I wanted to talk to you about Prom," Chastity said, coming up beside him.

Glad for once that his mother was so strict, Cameron said, "You know the rules, Chastity. If Patrick doesn't go, I can't go."

"But your brother IS going."

Shocked, Cameron lowered the bow and accidentally let the arrow fly across the field. He didn't notice when it hit Mr. Chapin's right buttcheek and stuck, quivering slightly from its velocity.

"What did you say?" Cameron asked, disbelieving. "Since when?"

Chastity smiled provocatively. "Let's just say I'm working on it." She moved away, not seeing Joey standing nearby, a taut expression of disappointment on his face.

* * *

For a week Patrick had managed to avoid Kat, deliberately keeping his eyes averted during their English class, not going to any of his hangouts with Michael. He was still feeling rejected by her and it bothered him that he was still upset about it.

He deliberately had kept most of the details from Michael, mainly because he was trying to sort out his emotions from that night at the party. Patrick had gone to the party as a favor to Cameron, only to get angry when he saw Chastity Donner blatantly making moves on his brother.

On top of that, he had been upset with himself for feeling such pleasure at the sight of Kat on his front doorstep before the party, and was trying to escape the small amount of attraction he felt for her. Thus, Jose Cuervo became a friend that night, only to desert him and become his worst enemy by way of his stomach.

Patrick grimaced as he recalled getting sick all over Kat's shoes. It was actually a wonder that she wasn't mad at him for ruining a perfectly good pair of Doc Marten boots.

Patrick wandered through the bookstore in an effort to find something other than Kat to occupy his mind. When he saw Kat coming down the aisle towards him he quickly grabbed a book from the shelf without bothering to see what it was.

Scowling, he turned his back to her and covered his face with the book in the hopes that she would continue walking by.

"Hey there, Patrick. I've lost my copy of 'The Feminine Mystique'. Know where I find a new one?"

"What are you doing here?" Patrick asked rudely, pretending to be interested in the book he held upside down.

"I heard there was a poetry reading today," she responded pleasantly.

Flustered by her close proximity, Patrick sputtered, "You're so..."

"Engaging?"

Patrick stared mutely.

"Wholesome?" she continued.

"Unwelcome," Patrick finally suggested, slamming his paperback shut.

Kat laughed. "Someone still has his boxers in a twist." She went to move past him.

Patrick blocked her from leaving. "Don't think for one moment you had any affect whatsoever on my boxers."

"So what DID I have an effect on?" she asked cheekily, grinning up at him.

"You mean other than my upchuck reflex?" he replied without hesitation, still tightly gripping the book in front of himself.

Kat grabbed the book from him then handed it back to him, saying wryly, "You've got a lot to learn, Stratford. You might want to go ahead and buy that."

As she walked away, Patrick looked down at the book he had mindlessly pulled from the shelf moments ago. It was 'The Feminine Mystique'.