Author's notes: Hey hope my handful of readers are fine and dandy. For the past few months I sure wasn't, but you're not here to read about that so here's the latest edition to my fic. Just for future reference in this story if you had eccentric middle school teachers like mine even go-carts are possible. Finally, John and Kate meet for the first time and I don't think it should be pleasant. Hope you like it.
Summary: All actions must be done, for the odd and exciting outcome. Lorelei understands this, but Christy doesn't. Esperanza means hope in Spanish and maybe that's what Kate needs. Most people end up together by bumping into each other in the street or by going to the same places. Can friendship come from the actions of pets? Kate and John are about to find out.
Pepper and Peppermint by Evolutionary Spider
Chapter 6: Dog Gone It!
"There," came the quiet answer from Paul Ramirez. He gave Kate an expectant look before gathering the next part that he knew had to be placed on the piston. Kate looked confused at the instruction sheets in front of her. She looked over at Paul who was looking at her again, waiting for her next instruction in putting together the engine.
Thanks to a "generous" donation of go-carts and parts from a local junkyard (rumored to be going bankrupt), Mr. Gomez gave his advanced auto shop students a choice, use the go-carts for a very early final with smaller tests afterward or use them for tests and have a different final at the end of the year. Both periods of the advanced classes had decided on the former of the two options.
Mr. Gomez assigned a go-cart to each class and added a bonus to his assignment to be finished by the end of the month. The main objective of the assignment was for his students to build a new working design. He counted on this new challenge to raise the competitive levels of his advanced students, knowing they would finally enjoy working with a real model. Each go-cart would be examined system by system to determine the grade of the students. At the end of the final both go-carts woutld be judged, but the go-cart that was put together the best will gain a free pizza party for that class. Mr. Gomez had broken down each of the systems that needed to be worked on and paired up his students in teams of two. To make sure everyone worked together, both class had been assigned a leader group. The leader groups consisted of two individuals that were in charge of overseeing that the completion of the go-cart be done on time and were assigned the engine operation assignment.
All of his advanced classes consisted of a handful of students that had been in his class since 6th grade. He had paid close attention to each period to discover which two students shone above the others. Since Kate and Paul were his best students for the third period class, he had announced them as the leader group for their class go-cart of an old black 1988 T-Fire model.
She blinked in confusion when she saw Paul take the sheet from the work table and hold it up to read. Kate saw his unusual purple eyes scan over the sheet rapidly. He placed it back on the table and picked up the parts again. Without saying a word, he began to place the pin inside the piston and attach the connecting rod. He reached over to the other side and grabbed a bearing to attach to it. He then placed the whole thing in the crankpin of the crankshaft. He paused his movements when Kate placed her hand over the incomplete piston. He looked up at her again, his eyes showing his confusion. Kate didn't look at him, but slowly moved his hands from the part as she tightened the nuts on the cap with a wrench. She looked over their work on the first piston on the crankshaft and smiled. She had to look up to meet his gaze, her own alight with uneasiness at the way he was looking at her.
Paul Ramirez may have been the most popular boy in school, but he sure didn't act like it sometimes. As the captain of the West Hills Junior League Football Team, a top student in his classes, his personality didn't fit the label he'd been given. He was almost always with his friends, participating in the random acts of mischief, but he never bullied others like his best friend Seth did. He was always surrounded by people in some way or another, but there were times when he wouldn't say anything at all, merely listening and enjoying their company. He looked almost...contemplative, at least that's what Kate thought.
He was a nice guy for the most part and a loyal and dependable person, which explained why so many considered him to be a friend. Nonetheless whenever Kate looked at him, she got the feeling there was something she wasn't seeing. Some part of himself that he was hiding from everyone, something that was hidden behind the amethyst gaze. The very gaze that was looking down at her now.
"What?" she asked her tone belying the nervousness she felt.
"Good job," he answered her. He gave her a genuine smile, before he resumed working on the next piston. Kate felt a blush coming on and turned away to keep working on the cylinder block in front of her. She nearly dropped the screwdriver in her hands when one of the girls in the class, Alice, walked up to talk to her.
"Hey, sorry to startle to you," the dark skinned girl said with a chuckle.
Kate pulled out a rag from the pocket of the mechanics jumper she wore and wiped her hands with it. "It's ok. So what's up? Are you and David done completing the go-cart design?" The third period class had decided that in order to increase their chances of winning the go-cart contest, it would be a good idea to repaint the old and musty colored model. Alice and David had volunteered for the task, since their system would not take long to complete and the two saw it as their chance to let out their artistic impulses.
"Almost, but trust me, it's gonna be killer. We'll win that contest for sure. No way is 5th period going to win. Connor and Fisher might be a tough act to beat, but I think with some of our own creativity we'll have an advantage," the other girl said with a grin.
"Connor and Fisher?" Kate said confused. "You mean John Connor and Lorelei Fisher? What's the big deal about them?"
"Girl, those two are the leader group for 5th period. Both of them are these two car freaks. Fisher's dad is a mechanic for this big car company and Connor's like Mr. Gomez's prodigy, the guy came to this school already knowing how to fix cars. It's really weird."
Kate's eyebrows rose slightly. She knew she'd seen the boy often as she'd walked down certain hallways, but she just never really thought about him that much. He didn't really stand out that much except when he was pulling some stunt with his circle of friends. She gave Alice a confident smile and said, "Doesn't matter, third period is still the best and we're so going to kick their butts."
Alice laughed as she high-fived the other girl, "Girl, now that's the attitude I wanted to see. If you're going to be our leader girl you gotta be tough." She waved to Kate as she walked back to the car lift to keep working on the tire and brake system. Kate turned her attention back to the cylinder block and attached the next piston to the crankshaft. She and Paul continued to work quietly for the rest of the hour, occasionally sneaking glances at each other when the other wasn't looking.
~~~
Christy stared out the window of the language building. Her chin rested on her upturned palm, her gaze looking over at the view she had of the sports and track field. With only 5 minutes left in class she started to tune out Mrs. Bastón's lecture on the correct way to conjugate walk and run in a sentence. Her mind started drifting to her day.
It hadn't started out the best, with that killer biology test or that history presentation or the English essay due by the end of the week. Thank god she'd found solace in math class. Math would probably always be the one thing she could excel in better than most. The proof in her A+ grade from their recent math test. It had made her slightly smug to have gotten a better grade to Lorelei's B- or Matt's C+. It had even gained the attention of one Seth Cutter, who upon seeing her grade had asked for her help in tutoring him tomorrow after school. The question had caught the slight attention of Lorelei, but the other girl had only looked expectantly, wondering as well what she would do. Christy didn't think the girl was looking at her in any negative way, just genuinely curious.
Christy thought back to how she had politely agreed to it, but noticed Lorelei's and even Matt's surprised looks. Something about what she saw on their faces, wouldn't leave her mind. Like they knew something she didn't. Christy shrugged it off, the two acted weird all the time, it shouldn't have surprised her now.
She took her gaze from the window, to skim through the class until it fell on the head of spiky hair above a pair of folded arms, the person fast asleep at his desk. Christy stared at Matt for a few seconds before she heard ring of the school bell. 'Oh joy, now I get to spend quality time with my favorite ice queen,' Christy thought sarcastically.
~~~
"Girls what's all the noise in here?" Mrs. Alders said as she came back into the room. Christy and Lorelei both froze from their positions before they looked up at their annoyed teacher. Mrs. Alders had heard the yelling and noise the two girls had made as she'd approached her classroom. Lorelei only sighed and gave Christy a brief glare before she picked up her things and dropped a sheet of paper on Mrs. Alders's desk. She left the classroom quickly without saying a word.
Christy frowned as well, before she too quickly gathered her things and left her own sheet of paper on the teacher's desk. She was about to walk out of the room, when Mrs. Alders's voice stopped her, "Christy, what happened in here? What was all the raucous?"
Christy gruffly replied, "Brainstorming," before she waved a goodbye to her teacher and took off in the opposite direction of the other girl. Mrs. Alders simply sighed as she sat at her desk and began to read the two papers, hoping they would give her a clue as to what was going on.
~~~
"That movie was so lame!" Andrea yelled out as they walked away from the movie theater.
"Yeah, you could tell when the guy decapitated that one chick, it was so fake," Judy piped in.
"What a waste of $10 bucks," Kate added quietly.
"Oh I don't know, these things you call jujubes are good," Petra said as she happily chewed on the new treat.
The other girls looked at each other before simply laughing. They continued in their commentary of the film, before they stopped walking at the corner of the street. Andrea, Judy and Petra waved and said their goodbyes to Kate as they crossed the street to walk to their respective homes. Kate waved back before turning the corner and continuing on her own trek back home.
Twenty minutes later she reached her neighborhood and her house. She stepped inside the empty house and shut the door behind her. She gave a brief sigh before continuing upstairs to her own room. She dropped her bag on her bed and sat beside it, as she took off her shoes and started to undress. She looked at her wrist watch in surprise not realizing the time, but speeding up nonetheless. She ran out of her room and down the stairs in a pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt. Her feet had donned on her tennis shoes instead of the white sneakers. She ran out the door, locking it behind her and took off in a run down the end of the neighborhood. She slowed down when she saw a familiar white and brown furred bulldog begin to bark happily at her.
"Hey Bella," Kate answered with a smile. She walked up to the old black gate and entered it, just as the dog pounced on her. She fell back on the grass and laughed as the hyperactive dog licked her face. She finally began to get up, Bella thankfully moved aside but still followed Kate as she walked up to the screen door. She tapped on it twice, the sound resonating inside the house. Kate opened it when she heard an acknowledgement from inside. Bella sat outside patiently, while Kate walked in making sure she wiped her feet on the mat.
A delicious aroma greeted her senses, and Kate imagined herself floating to the smell coming from the kitchen. She walked away from the living room and pushed open the revolving door that led to the kitchen. Inside she was greeted with the sight of a familiar young woman with black sunglasses on. The young woman was cooking calmly and Kate could faintly hear her humming. A big golden retriever stood faithfully by the young woman's side and began to walk towards Kate, its tail wagging slightly. Kate bent down to pet the dog's head.
"Pienso que lo calmaste. Antes, te miraba y se puso muy defensivo, pero ahora, te mira diferente y está contento cuando estas aquí." The young woman said with her trademark enigmatic smile. Kate looked at her thoroughly confused.
"I said that I think you calmed him down. Before, he used to look at you and be very defensive, but now, he looks at you differently and he's happy when you're here."
"Oh," Kate said smiling. "He's a good dog, you just need to get past the rough parts to get to the lovable goofball inside."
"That's a good attitude to have towards life, Chiquilla. I imagine it will help you soon," the young woman said amused. Kate slumped her shoulders slightly, "Esperanza, why do you always talk like you can see the future? You always say these weird things to me that I never understand."
"I can see the future, Chiquilla. Everyone can. You just can't yet because you're too young, but you will understand years from now what I mean. I may not always see this world, but I know what is still going on and what will be. Now before you further object about how that's impossible, have a bite." Esperanza gestured to the plate on the counter behind her. Kate saw a plate of some Mexican dish she always mispronounced. Tortillas had been filled with meat and vegetables and rolled into a cylinder shape, leaving both ends open. Kate had tried them before of course, but she wasn't all that hungry right now.
"Esperanza, I went to the movies and I ate a lot already."
"No, you ate a lot of junk food already. You're a growing girl, you need something nutritious. Flautas are good, and home-cooked food will be better for your system. I simply said a bite, have at least one and then go off with Bella for her walk." Esperanza said as she turned off the stove and emptied out the rest of the flautas onto a separate plate. Kate took one of the paper napkins from the holder and placed two of the flautas on it.
"I better go now Esperanza. Thanks for the...f-lau-tas?" she said unsurely. Esperanza gave her a small smile and nodded for her to go. Kate gave one last pet to the golden retriever and walked back to the living room, heading for the hall closet. She found what she was looking for and sprinted out of the house, Bella hot on her heels.
Kate bent down to attach the leash on Bella and held the top in her hands. She put the flautas in her other hand and opened the gate quickly. She almost wasn't able to close it afterwards with Bella's frantic movements. Once it was set, Kate slackened the leash slightly and Bella took off in a small trot, pulling Kate with her.
The walk was familiar to both, the dog having been on the same path and sidewalks until the day her master began to lose her sight and Kate began to give her walks. The dog moved along steadily, looking to and fro at everything around her. Kate nearly dropped her last bite when Bella stopped, but slowed with her. They'd been walking for nearly 10 minutes and Kate looked down to see that Bella was sniffing the air, probably catching a new and exciting scent.
Kate looked around to make sure somebody wasn't around them. There was some people in the park up ahead but she didn't think that's what was causing the canine to stop. In her distraction, Bella began to trot quickly again and the leash slipped from Kate's fingers. With a gasp of surprise Kate took off after Bella, calling out her name and yelling for her to heel.
~~~
"Ugh! Get your dumb fleabag off me!" the girl shrieked out. The German Shepard was licking the girl's face and wagging it's tail about happily. John pulled on Max's leash trying to get him off. He finally just gave up and grabbed the dog off her. He fell dog and all on the grass, and looked up to see a less than happy girl glaring down at him. He told Max to get off and was able to stand up quickly to apologize, but the girl simply huffed and stomped away angrily.
"Wait! He was just being friendly, you don't have to-" John only sighed and shook his head. He glanced down to see his dog give him an innocent look of joy. He smirked and bent down to meet the hound's gaze.
"Why'd you do that boy? That babe was starting to dig me. She thought both of us were cute." The dog barked in response. John nodded as he pet Max's coat, "Yeah your right, that girl needed to chill out. I gotta find a chick who likes crazy guys like me...with scruffy dogs like you." The dog barked again in response and John smiled as he saw the dog's tail move about. He was about to grab Max's leash again, when suddenly he noticed the dog stiffen up and sniff the air. John stood up quickly and looked around, only to realize too late that Max was running through a bush and further into the park. John cursed under his breath and took off after him, yelling commands at him to stop. He nearly stumbled over a large rock when he saw that Max was running head first through the water fountain.
John slowed down in surprise when he noticed a white and brown colored bulldog leapt through a row of bushes, with Kate Brewster hot on its heels. The girl made a flying leap for the leash only to end up eating dirt as the dog leaped right into the fountain next to Max. John's eyes widened, when he realized that she wasn't moving. He squatted down and slowly moved her body to face him. He immediately pushed away a few strands of hair from her face when he saw the small red bruise on her forehead. He looked at the ground, until he noticed a large rock near her hair. 'She must have hit her head on the rock when she fell.' he thought. He saw her elbows and hands were scratched up a bit, but no other visible injuries. In his distraction of checking her body, he failed to notice her eyes fluttering awake.
Kate imagined that if she was in a cartoon she'd be seeing little stars and running dogs above her head, but of course she was in the real world and what she really saw was far from that. She blinked a few times until she was able to focus on the figure above her. When she finally did she recognized it to be John Connor...and that he was touching her...touching her as he lifted her shirt.
Kate panicked and roughly pushed him away as she sat up. John landed on his back with an 'oomph' and groaned as he held his stomach. Kate scurried backwards, but the movement caused her head to start throbbing again and the woozy feeling returned. When her eyes focused again, she saw him sitting up, holding his stomach, an angry expression on his face.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" he said angrily.
"How do you expect me to react when some strange guy is about to lift up my shirt?!" she answered back, a small flush appearing on her face.
At the insinuation John quickly said "I was just looking for bruises on your stomach, not trying to get a peep show!"
"You shouldn't have done that anyway, it's not like you could have helped me if I did have bruises," Kate replied.
"I know more about medicine than you think, so I could have helped you if something was wrong." He rubbed his stomach, which she had kicked in her frenzy to get away from him. "Then again after the way you acted, I can tell the problem is in your head, so I can't help you there," he said smirking.
Kate caught the double meaning and glared at him in response. Her gaze softened a bit though when she realized that between the two, he was the one with stomach bruises. 'I hit him harder than I meant to,' she thought guiltily. Without warning he saw her come closer to him and that now she was giving him a scrutinizing look.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"How bad did I hit you? Can I please see?" she asked calmly. John raised an eyebrow at the strange request and turn her mood had taken. He shook his head and smirked back, "Why should I lift up my shirt if you won't lift up yours?"
Kate rolled her eyes at his remark, but tried another tactic. If he wasn't going to cooperate logically then she could surprise him into submission. She quickly looked around to make sure no one was near this part of the park, before she slowly lifted up her shirt to reveal that her stomach had no bruises. His surprised reaction made her blush and quickly pull down her shirt. She cleared her throat nervously before she spoke, "There, now it's your turn."
He snapped out of his daze and shook his head in refusal. "Oh come on Conner, I showed you my stomach was fine, just humor me so that I know your ok," Kate said firmly.
"I didn't ask to see it Brewster, you showed it voluntarily. Take my word for it, I'm fine," John said, hoping she would just drop it.
"You're lying, I saw you rubbing your stomach a minute ago and your having trouble breathing probably because-"
"your so damn infuriating, that's why." finished John. He stood up quickly, "You want to see my stomach so badly, then look!" In his anger he lifted up his shirt higher than he'd meant to and revealed his morning's bruises. He quickly pulled down his shirt when he heard Kate gasp in surprise.
By now Kate had stood up and was frantically apologizing, "Oh my god. I'm so sorry John, I didn't mean to cause that. I'm really sorry," Kate babbled as she looked at him. John was about to turn away until her question caught him by surprise, "Who gave you the other ones?"
He turned back to look at her seeing that her face was serious now. "What are you talking about?"
"I kicked you pretty badly, but I didn't cause all those marks on your chest. I just want to know who. Did someone beat you up at school?"
"Why the hell do you care? It's none of your business, so just leave me alone!" John yelled back. Something about the look on her face told John that he'd given her the answer.
"I know more about medicine than you think, so I could have helped you if something was wrong," Kate quoted. "Come on, let's go put some ice on those."
Kate waited for his reaction, but saw that he wasn't even looking at her anymore. He looked so utterly mortified that Kate quickly followed his gaze, and what she saw made her expression match his.
There inside the fountain, Max and Bella were going at like a couple of horny hound dogs. The worst part was people had stopped when they'd noticed and made sounds of disgust, shock and laughter. Both teenagers felt their faces flush from embarrassment, and ran to separate their respective pets. The dogs saw them however, and both began to take off again with John and Kate chasing after them.
"Max! Heel! Sit!"
"Bella, stop! Sit! Heel!"
The dogs in question began to slow down and obey the commands, but as John and Kate caught up to them, the two dogs were acting playful again. Kate managed to grab Bella's leash and stop the crazy canine from moving around. John had a harder time trying to control Max, but he finally was able to hold on to the dog's collar long enough to grab the leash.
"Can't control your stupid-looking mutt Connor?"
John stood up to face Kate and from her reaction he knew his ears hadn't lied to him. He slowly turned around to see the bane of his existence, Seth Cutter. John knew where this was going and looked up at the sky in annoyance. Why did god have to torment him every step of the way?
End of Chapter 6
End Notes
Spider's Shout Outs:
(because life's exciting without them)
Ifty, ChEeZiSgOoD420, Bethe, florn, Mara Roberts, SeaFlit, DracosGurl-02, Rogue 14 and all others who have read the fic.
Summary: All actions must be done, for the odd and exciting outcome. Lorelei understands this, but Christy doesn't. Esperanza means hope in Spanish and maybe that's what Kate needs. Most people end up together by bumping into each other in the street or by going to the same places. Can friendship come from the actions of pets? Kate and John are about to find out.
Pepper and Peppermint by Evolutionary Spider
Chapter 6: Dog Gone It!
"There," came the quiet answer from Paul Ramirez. He gave Kate an expectant look before gathering the next part that he knew had to be placed on the piston. Kate looked confused at the instruction sheets in front of her. She looked over at Paul who was looking at her again, waiting for her next instruction in putting together the engine.
Thanks to a "generous" donation of go-carts and parts from a local junkyard (rumored to be going bankrupt), Mr. Gomez gave his advanced auto shop students a choice, use the go-carts for a very early final with smaller tests afterward or use them for tests and have a different final at the end of the year. Both periods of the advanced classes had decided on the former of the two options.
Mr. Gomez assigned a go-cart to each class and added a bonus to his assignment to be finished by the end of the month. The main objective of the assignment was for his students to build a new working design. He counted on this new challenge to raise the competitive levels of his advanced students, knowing they would finally enjoy working with a real model. Each go-cart would be examined system by system to determine the grade of the students. At the end of the final both go-carts woutld be judged, but the go-cart that was put together the best will gain a free pizza party for that class. Mr. Gomez had broken down each of the systems that needed to be worked on and paired up his students in teams of two. To make sure everyone worked together, both class had been assigned a leader group. The leader groups consisted of two individuals that were in charge of overseeing that the completion of the go-cart be done on time and were assigned the engine operation assignment.
All of his advanced classes consisted of a handful of students that had been in his class since 6th grade. He had paid close attention to each period to discover which two students shone above the others. Since Kate and Paul were his best students for the third period class, he had announced them as the leader group for their class go-cart of an old black 1988 T-Fire model.
She blinked in confusion when she saw Paul take the sheet from the work table and hold it up to read. Kate saw his unusual purple eyes scan over the sheet rapidly. He placed it back on the table and picked up the parts again. Without saying a word, he began to place the pin inside the piston and attach the connecting rod. He reached over to the other side and grabbed a bearing to attach to it. He then placed the whole thing in the crankpin of the crankshaft. He paused his movements when Kate placed her hand over the incomplete piston. He looked up at her again, his eyes showing his confusion. Kate didn't look at him, but slowly moved his hands from the part as she tightened the nuts on the cap with a wrench. She looked over their work on the first piston on the crankshaft and smiled. She had to look up to meet his gaze, her own alight with uneasiness at the way he was looking at her.
Paul Ramirez may have been the most popular boy in school, but he sure didn't act like it sometimes. As the captain of the West Hills Junior League Football Team, a top student in his classes, his personality didn't fit the label he'd been given. He was almost always with his friends, participating in the random acts of mischief, but he never bullied others like his best friend Seth did. He was always surrounded by people in some way or another, but there were times when he wouldn't say anything at all, merely listening and enjoying their company. He looked almost...contemplative, at least that's what Kate thought.
He was a nice guy for the most part and a loyal and dependable person, which explained why so many considered him to be a friend. Nonetheless whenever Kate looked at him, she got the feeling there was something she wasn't seeing. Some part of himself that he was hiding from everyone, something that was hidden behind the amethyst gaze. The very gaze that was looking down at her now.
"What?" she asked her tone belying the nervousness she felt.
"Good job," he answered her. He gave her a genuine smile, before he resumed working on the next piston. Kate felt a blush coming on and turned away to keep working on the cylinder block in front of her. She nearly dropped the screwdriver in her hands when one of the girls in the class, Alice, walked up to talk to her.
"Hey, sorry to startle to you," the dark skinned girl said with a chuckle.
Kate pulled out a rag from the pocket of the mechanics jumper she wore and wiped her hands with it. "It's ok. So what's up? Are you and David done completing the go-cart design?" The third period class had decided that in order to increase their chances of winning the go-cart contest, it would be a good idea to repaint the old and musty colored model. Alice and David had volunteered for the task, since their system would not take long to complete and the two saw it as their chance to let out their artistic impulses.
"Almost, but trust me, it's gonna be killer. We'll win that contest for sure. No way is 5th period going to win. Connor and Fisher might be a tough act to beat, but I think with some of our own creativity we'll have an advantage," the other girl said with a grin.
"Connor and Fisher?" Kate said confused. "You mean John Connor and Lorelei Fisher? What's the big deal about them?"
"Girl, those two are the leader group for 5th period. Both of them are these two car freaks. Fisher's dad is a mechanic for this big car company and Connor's like Mr. Gomez's prodigy, the guy came to this school already knowing how to fix cars. It's really weird."
Kate's eyebrows rose slightly. She knew she'd seen the boy often as she'd walked down certain hallways, but she just never really thought about him that much. He didn't really stand out that much except when he was pulling some stunt with his circle of friends. She gave Alice a confident smile and said, "Doesn't matter, third period is still the best and we're so going to kick their butts."
Alice laughed as she high-fived the other girl, "Girl, now that's the attitude I wanted to see. If you're going to be our leader girl you gotta be tough." She waved to Kate as she walked back to the car lift to keep working on the tire and brake system. Kate turned her attention back to the cylinder block and attached the next piston to the crankshaft. She and Paul continued to work quietly for the rest of the hour, occasionally sneaking glances at each other when the other wasn't looking.
~~~
Christy stared out the window of the language building. Her chin rested on her upturned palm, her gaze looking over at the view she had of the sports and track field. With only 5 minutes left in class she started to tune out Mrs. Bastón's lecture on the correct way to conjugate walk and run in a sentence. Her mind started drifting to her day.
It hadn't started out the best, with that killer biology test or that history presentation or the English essay due by the end of the week. Thank god she'd found solace in math class. Math would probably always be the one thing she could excel in better than most. The proof in her A+ grade from their recent math test. It had made her slightly smug to have gotten a better grade to Lorelei's B- or Matt's C+. It had even gained the attention of one Seth Cutter, who upon seeing her grade had asked for her help in tutoring him tomorrow after school. The question had caught the slight attention of Lorelei, but the other girl had only looked expectantly, wondering as well what she would do. Christy didn't think the girl was looking at her in any negative way, just genuinely curious.
Christy thought back to how she had politely agreed to it, but noticed Lorelei's and even Matt's surprised looks. Something about what she saw on their faces, wouldn't leave her mind. Like they knew something she didn't. Christy shrugged it off, the two acted weird all the time, it shouldn't have surprised her now.
She took her gaze from the window, to skim through the class until it fell on the head of spiky hair above a pair of folded arms, the person fast asleep at his desk. Christy stared at Matt for a few seconds before she heard ring of the school bell. 'Oh joy, now I get to spend quality time with my favorite ice queen,' Christy thought sarcastically.
~~~
"Girls what's all the noise in here?" Mrs. Alders said as she came back into the room. Christy and Lorelei both froze from their positions before they looked up at their annoyed teacher. Mrs. Alders had heard the yelling and noise the two girls had made as she'd approached her classroom. Lorelei only sighed and gave Christy a brief glare before she picked up her things and dropped a sheet of paper on Mrs. Alders's desk. She left the classroom quickly without saying a word.
Christy frowned as well, before she too quickly gathered her things and left her own sheet of paper on the teacher's desk. She was about to walk out of the room, when Mrs. Alders's voice stopped her, "Christy, what happened in here? What was all the raucous?"
Christy gruffly replied, "Brainstorming," before she waved a goodbye to her teacher and took off in the opposite direction of the other girl. Mrs. Alders simply sighed as she sat at her desk and began to read the two papers, hoping they would give her a clue as to what was going on.
~~~
"That movie was so lame!" Andrea yelled out as they walked away from the movie theater.
"Yeah, you could tell when the guy decapitated that one chick, it was so fake," Judy piped in.
"What a waste of $10 bucks," Kate added quietly.
"Oh I don't know, these things you call jujubes are good," Petra said as she happily chewed on the new treat.
The other girls looked at each other before simply laughing. They continued in their commentary of the film, before they stopped walking at the corner of the street. Andrea, Judy and Petra waved and said their goodbyes to Kate as they crossed the street to walk to their respective homes. Kate waved back before turning the corner and continuing on her own trek back home.
Twenty minutes later she reached her neighborhood and her house. She stepped inside the empty house and shut the door behind her. She gave a brief sigh before continuing upstairs to her own room. She dropped her bag on her bed and sat beside it, as she took off her shoes and started to undress. She looked at her wrist watch in surprise not realizing the time, but speeding up nonetheless. She ran out of her room and down the stairs in a pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt. Her feet had donned on her tennis shoes instead of the white sneakers. She ran out the door, locking it behind her and took off in a run down the end of the neighborhood. She slowed down when she saw a familiar white and brown furred bulldog begin to bark happily at her.
"Hey Bella," Kate answered with a smile. She walked up to the old black gate and entered it, just as the dog pounced on her. She fell back on the grass and laughed as the hyperactive dog licked her face. She finally began to get up, Bella thankfully moved aside but still followed Kate as she walked up to the screen door. She tapped on it twice, the sound resonating inside the house. Kate opened it when she heard an acknowledgement from inside. Bella sat outside patiently, while Kate walked in making sure she wiped her feet on the mat.
A delicious aroma greeted her senses, and Kate imagined herself floating to the smell coming from the kitchen. She walked away from the living room and pushed open the revolving door that led to the kitchen. Inside she was greeted with the sight of a familiar young woman with black sunglasses on. The young woman was cooking calmly and Kate could faintly hear her humming. A big golden retriever stood faithfully by the young woman's side and began to walk towards Kate, its tail wagging slightly. Kate bent down to pet the dog's head.
"Pienso que lo calmaste. Antes, te miraba y se puso muy defensivo, pero ahora, te mira diferente y está contento cuando estas aquí." The young woman said with her trademark enigmatic smile. Kate looked at her thoroughly confused.
"I said that I think you calmed him down. Before, he used to look at you and be very defensive, but now, he looks at you differently and he's happy when you're here."
"Oh," Kate said smiling. "He's a good dog, you just need to get past the rough parts to get to the lovable goofball inside."
"That's a good attitude to have towards life, Chiquilla. I imagine it will help you soon," the young woman said amused. Kate slumped her shoulders slightly, "Esperanza, why do you always talk like you can see the future? You always say these weird things to me that I never understand."
"I can see the future, Chiquilla. Everyone can. You just can't yet because you're too young, but you will understand years from now what I mean. I may not always see this world, but I know what is still going on and what will be. Now before you further object about how that's impossible, have a bite." Esperanza gestured to the plate on the counter behind her. Kate saw a plate of some Mexican dish she always mispronounced. Tortillas had been filled with meat and vegetables and rolled into a cylinder shape, leaving both ends open. Kate had tried them before of course, but she wasn't all that hungry right now.
"Esperanza, I went to the movies and I ate a lot already."
"No, you ate a lot of junk food already. You're a growing girl, you need something nutritious. Flautas are good, and home-cooked food will be better for your system. I simply said a bite, have at least one and then go off with Bella for her walk." Esperanza said as she turned off the stove and emptied out the rest of the flautas onto a separate plate. Kate took one of the paper napkins from the holder and placed two of the flautas on it.
"I better go now Esperanza. Thanks for the...f-lau-tas?" she said unsurely. Esperanza gave her a small smile and nodded for her to go. Kate gave one last pet to the golden retriever and walked back to the living room, heading for the hall closet. She found what she was looking for and sprinted out of the house, Bella hot on her heels.
Kate bent down to attach the leash on Bella and held the top in her hands. She put the flautas in her other hand and opened the gate quickly. She almost wasn't able to close it afterwards with Bella's frantic movements. Once it was set, Kate slackened the leash slightly and Bella took off in a small trot, pulling Kate with her.
The walk was familiar to both, the dog having been on the same path and sidewalks until the day her master began to lose her sight and Kate began to give her walks. The dog moved along steadily, looking to and fro at everything around her. Kate nearly dropped her last bite when Bella stopped, but slowed with her. They'd been walking for nearly 10 minutes and Kate looked down to see that Bella was sniffing the air, probably catching a new and exciting scent.
Kate looked around to make sure somebody wasn't around them. There was some people in the park up ahead but she didn't think that's what was causing the canine to stop. In her distraction, Bella began to trot quickly again and the leash slipped from Kate's fingers. With a gasp of surprise Kate took off after Bella, calling out her name and yelling for her to heel.
~~~
"Ugh! Get your dumb fleabag off me!" the girl shrieked out. The German Shepard was licking the girl's face and wagging it's tail about happily. John pulled on Max's leash trying to get him off. He finally just gave up and grabbed the dog off her. He fell dog and all on the grass, and looked up to see a less than happy girl glaring down at him. He told Max to get off and was able to stand up quickly to apologize, but the girl simply huffed and stomped away angrily.
"Wait! He was just being friendly, you don't have to-" John only sighed and shook his head. He glanced down to see his dog give him an innocent look of joy. He smirked and bent down to meet the hound's gaze.
"Why'd you do that boy? That babe was starting to dig me. She thought both of us were cute." The dog barked in response. John nodded as he pet Max's coat, "Yeah your right, that girl needed to chill out. I gotta find a chick who likes crazy guys like me...with scruffy dogs like you." The dog barked again in response and John smiled as he saw the dog's tail move about. He was about to grab Max's leash again, when suddenly he noticed the dog stiffen up and sniff the air. John stood up quickly and looked around, only to realize too late that Max was running through a bush and further into the park. John cursed under his breath and took off after him, yelling commands at him to stop. He nearly stumbled over a large rock when he saw that Max was running head first through the water fountain.
John slowed down in surprise when he noticed a white and brown colored bulldog leapt through a row of bushes, with Kate Brewster hot on its heels. The girl made a flying leap for the leash only to end up eating dirt as the dog leaped right into the fountain next to Max. John's eyes widened, when he realized that she wasn't moving. He squatted down and slowly moved her body to face him. He immediately pushed away a few strands of hair from her face when he saw the small red bruise on her forehead. He looked at the ground, until he noticed a large rock near her hair. 'She must have hit her head on the rock when she fell.' he thought. He saw her elbows and hands were scratched up a bit, but no other visible injuries. In his distraction of checking her body, he failed to notice her eyes fluttering awake.
Kate imagined that if she was in a cartoon she'd be seeing little stars and running dogs above her head, but of course she was in the real world and what she really saw was far from that. She blinked a few times until she was able to focus on the figure above her. When she finally did she recognized it to be John Connor...and that he was touching her...touching her as he lifted her shirt.
Kate panicked and roughly pushed him away as she sat up. John landed on his back with an 'oomph' and groaned as he held his stomach. Kate scurried backwards, but the movement caused her head to start throbbing again and the woozy feeling returned. When her eyes focused again, she saw him sitting up, holding his stomach, an angry expression on his face.
"What the hell did you do that for?!" he said angrily.
"How do you expect me to react when some strange guy is about to lift up my shirt?!" she answered back, a small flush appearing on her face.
At the insinuation John quickly said "I was just looking for bruises on your stomach, not trying to get a peep show!"
"You shouldn't have done that anyway, it's not like you could have helped me if I did have bruises," Kate replied.
"I know more about medicine than you think, so I could have helped you if something was wrong." He rubbed his stomach, which she had kicked in her frenzy to get away from him. "Then again after the way you acted, I can tell the problem is in your head, so I can't help you there," he said smirking.
Kate caught the double meaning and glared at him in response. Her gaze softened a bit though when she realized that between the two, he was the one with stomach bruises. 'I hit him harder than I meant to,' she thought guiltily. Without warning he saw her come closer to him and that now she was giving him a scrutinizing look.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"How bad did I hit you? Can I please see?" she asked calmly. John raised an eyebrow at the strange request and turn her mood had taken. He shook his head and smirked back, "Why should I lift up my shirt if you won't lift up yours?"
Kate rolled her eyes at his remark, but tried another tactic. If he wasn't going to cooperate logically then she could surprise him into submission. She quickly looked around to make sure no one was near this part of the park, before she slowly lifted up her shirt to reveal that her stomach had no bruises. His surprised reaction made her blush and quickly pull down her shirt. She cleared her throat nervously before she spoke, "There, now it's your turn."
He snapped out of his daze and shook his head in refusal. "Oh come on Conner, I showed you my stomach was fine, just humor me so that I know your ok," Kate said firmly.
"I didn't ask to see it Brewster, you showed it voluntarily. Take my word for it, I'm fine," John said, hoping she would just drop it.
"You're lying, I saw you rubbing your stomach a minute ago and your having trouble breathing probably because-"
"your so damn infuriating, that's why." finished John. He stood up quickly, "You want to see my stomach so badly, then look!" In his anger he lifted up his shirt higher than he'd meant to and revealed his morning's bruises. He quickly pulled down his shirt when he heard Kate gasp in surprise.
By now Kate had stood up and was frantically apologizing, "Oh my god. I'm so sorry John, I didn't mean to cause that. I'm really sorry," Kate babbled as she looked at him. John was about to turn away until her question caught him by surprise, "Who gave you the other ones?"
He turned back to look at her seeing that her face was serious now. "What are you talking about?"
"I kicked you pretty badly, but I didn't cause all those marks on your chest. I just want to know who. Did someone beat you up at school?"
"Why the hell do you care? It's none of your business, so just leave me alone!" John yelled back. Something about the look on her face told John that he'd given her the answer.
"I know more about medicine than you think, so I could have helped you if something was wrong," Kate quoted. "Come on, let's go put some ice on those."
Kate waited for his reaction, but saw that he wasn't even looking at her anymore. He looked so utterly mortified that Kate quickly followed his gaze, and what she saw made her expression match his.
There inside the fountain, Max and Bella were going at like a couple of horny hound dogs. The worst part was people had stopped when they'd noticed and made sounds of disgust, shock and laughter. Both teenagers felt their faces flush from embarrassment, and ran to separate their respective pets. The dogs saw them however, and both began to take off again with John and Kate chasing after them.
"Max! Heel! Sit!"
"Bella, stop! Sit! Heel!"
The dogs in question began to slow down and obey the commands, but as John and Kate caught up to them, the two dogs were acting playful again. Kate managed to grab Bella's leash and stop the crazy canine from moving around. John had a harder time trying to control Max, but he finally was able to hold on to the dog's collar long enough to grab the leash.
"Can't control your stupid-looking mutt Connor?"
John stood up to face Kate and from her reaction he knew his ears hadn't lied to him. He slowly turned around to see the bane of his existence, Seth Cutter. John knew where this was going and looked up at the sky in annoyance. Why did god have to torment him every step of the way?
End of Chapter 6
End Notes
Spider's Shout Outs:
(because life's exciting without them)
Ifty, ChEeZiSgOoD420, Bethe, florn, Mara Roberts, SeaFlit, DracosGurl-02, Rogue 14 and all others who have read the fic.