Chapter Four
I looked out the window of our car, which had rain pouring down it and sighed. It was such a depressing sight. I looked to my left and saw an even more depressing sight.
"Are we almost there?" Kate complained, "I'm starting to get a cramp in my leg."
I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. It was the next day, and Beth and my Dad had dragged me and Kate along to the movies for a 'fun-filled day of family enjoyment'. I'd just glared at Dad and told him we weren't a family, I'd only known Beth a night. Dad just scolded me and told me to grow up.
"Here we are," Beth said as we pulled into the Megaplex Theatre Carpark.
We walked into a large lobby with a huge glass dome in the centre of the roof. The walls were painted a dark, royal blue with gold stars. It looked really elegant for a movie theatre.
"Wow, this is a really nice place." I exclaimed, looking around.
"As if you haven't been here before," Kate smirked.
I looked at her in disgust, "I usually go to the Hillridge Town Cinema."
"Of course you do. I mean, this IS a first class place. What was I thinking? Of course you haven't been here!" Then Kate took a quick, bored look at her nails and walked over to the ticket booth.
"How about you guys go and get popcorn and drink? We'll get the tickets." Dad suggested as he pulled out a fifty dollar bill and gave it to me.
My eyes lit up, "Oh, yeah, sure!"
Me and Kate stood in the line for the Candy bar in silence. "This is so lame," Kate said under her breath, and turned her back on me.
"Well it's not like I want to be here either Kate, so stop being a pain, would you?"
Kate turned back to me and rolled her eyes, "Whatever." She paused, "Man, if anyone saw me here with you it would so totally ruin my rep."
"I thought that the party would have already done that," I replied.
"Well when I explained, they all saw that I obviously had no choice in the matter, and that I shouldn't have to suffer because you have such a low rank of the social ladder."
I sighed deeply and ignored her. "Yo, Lizz-ay! Kate! What's happenin'?" Came a shout from across the room.
We both turned to see Ethan walking towards us. "This is so NOT happening," Kate said in a worried voice.
"Uh...um, h-hi, Ethan!" I said with a big smile.
Kate looked at me with raised eyebrows and smirked, "Hey Ethan."
"Hey ladies. I totally can't believe you guys are actually hanging out together!"
I was about to reply, when Kate cut me off, "Tell me about it! I mean, it's so..."
"Cool!" Ethan finished her sentence.
"Cool?" I asked in confusion.
"Yeah, I mean, who would have thought you guys would be friends?"
"Well, actually-"Kate started to explain but Ethan cut in.
"I've always thought it would be totally bizza if you guys were tight. But it's cool."
"Yeah, well, we ARE in year nine now," Kate said after a moment of thought, putting on a fake smile, "I think it's time to forget differences, huh Lizzie?"
"Um... yeah, yeah, totally..." I answered.
"Well I gotta scoot, see you guys later." Ethan nodded us each goodbyes and then left.
"Bizza?" Kate asked in confusion.
I looked at Ethan, who was on the other side of the lobby, "I think he meant bizarre."
"Well, whatever." She looked relieved, "I'm glad THAT'S over!"
"What was with that?" I asked. Kate was actually being NICE to me in front of Ethan. Well pretending to. It kinda sucks that Ethan probably couldn't see through an ice cube, let alone Kate Sanders.
"Did you see his reaction?" Kate asked with excitement, "He totally fell for it. If he thinks we're becoming friends, maybe he'll start liking me again. He said last time I was too conceited. Can you believe that? I bet he doesn't even know what that means. Anyway, if I'm friends with you, I CAN'T be, can I?"
"You know," I said, giving Kate a weird look, "You can make the smallest statement the most insulting thing someone's ever heard."
"Yeah, it's like a gift," She said, sounding as if she was only half listening.
"Next!" The lady called, and Kate walked up to counter, making sure that I was walking behind her.
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That night, me, Kate, Beth and Dad sat around a table in 'The Villa', some expensive fancy restaurant just out of Hillridge.
"Okay, so what type of decorations are you girls thinking of having?" Beth asked.
"Umm..." I hadn't really thought about it, but it was clear Kate had.
"Well, I was thinking, how about we have those coloured globes across the roof, with those little white fairy lights? That would look totally cool. With maybe purple or blue and white ones down the walls."
"That sounds cool," Dad said. I don't think he was actually thinking about it. It sounded as though he was just saying something to be in the conversation.
"And how about the music?"
"I have some really good new CDs," I suggested.
Kate sighed and rolled her eyes, which she seemed to be doing a lot that day, "I was thinking more along the lines of a DJ. This is a fifteenth after all, not a little baby party."
"Okay," I agreed, "A DJ sounds alright."
After forty-five minutes of listening to Kate's ideas I was starting to get frustrated. Every time I suggested something, she would say some comment like "This is a MATURE party!" or "I am so not having THAT at one of my parties!". I felt like a total idiot. It was obvious it was starting to get on Beth and Dad's nerves too though. Eventually Beth told Kate to stop being so self-centred and that it was a shared party, meaning shared say in everything.
"Well it's not like I wanted this stupid shared party," Kate muttered.
"Do you want a party at all?" Beth asked, trying not to get angry.
Kate went red, "Yes."
"Right," Beth replied, "Then stop the complaining."
Kate crossed her arms, looked away and didn't speak until we got back to our house, where we all sat around drinking coffees and eating chocolate biscuits.
"Look at the time, Mum," Kate said, "It's past midnight. I'm really tired, can we go home now?"
"You can stay here the night if you want," Dad suggested to Beth. Gulp.
"No, it's okay-" Kate started.
"That sounds great, Sam! Thanks for the offer!" Beth gave him a peck on the lips, and me and Kate exchanged looks of disgust.
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I looked over at the clock on my bedside table and sighed. 1AM. Kate was lying on a mattress next to my bed with her eyes closed, but I could tell she wasn't asleep.
I couldn't fall to sleep and eventually got so bored I started flicking tiny pink plastic beads from my bedside table at Kate. She finally opened her eyes when she realised I wasn't gonna stop for a while.
"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed.
"Amusing myself." I replied, and gave her a big, fake smile. Then I flicked another bead at her. It hit her lip and I couldn't help but laugh.
"You're so immature," She said, throwing the beads back at me.
"So you've been telling me all night." I replied.
"With good reason."
I sighed and looked around my room. I'd never found it so hard to get to sleep. "So does it usually take you so long to get to sleep?" I asked.
"When I have annoying blondes talking to me and flicking little pink things at me? Yeah, it does."
"And when you don't?" I asked.
"Only when I have things on my mind." She replied.
I nodded, slowly, "So what was on your mind before some annoying blonde started talking to you and flicking little pink things at you?"
"Take one guess." Kate sighed.
"Oh, right. Parent stuff, right?"
"Right," Kate sat up now and ran her fingers through her long blonde hair. It amazed me that she could still look absolutely perfect so early in the morning, after lying in bed for ages, "I don't get it. She talks about him non-stop. All she wants to do is see him. All she thinks about... is him. I've never seen her act like this. She's always so happy."
Then it dawned on me. "Maybe they're in love." I said, with a big gulp. This couldn't be happening. They hardly even know each other, right?
"No, she can't be." Kate whined, "She just can't."
"What's wrong with wanting your Mum to be happy?" I knew it was a touchy subject straight away when Kate's eyes started watering.
"Why can't she be happy with Dad?"
I gave her a sympathetic look, "I know, I feel the same way with my Mum."
"Goodnight Lizzie." Kate said, and lay down again, this time facing the other way. So she obviously didn't want to talk about it.
Getting to sleep was even harder than earlier, because on top of everything going through my head, I had no choice but to listen to Kate crying very quietly under her quilt.