Ugly
Disclaimer: I don't own Thirteen Ghosts any more than I did in the previous chapter. Please refer to the previous chapter's disclaimer.
Chapter 2: Life is Good
Arthur Kriticose had lived a very modest lifestyle up until then. He decided not to change it that much, opting for a decent house, simply furnished, with one bathroom, two bedrooms, and one guest bedroom. Kathy and Bobby had to share the largest of the rooms, while Arthur and Dennis took the remaining two. Kathy and Bobby were enrolled in a public school nearby, Bobby still in elementary, and Kathy in the first semester of her senior year.
Dennis stayed on as a replacement-nanny and friend of the family. At first, Dennis had laughed to himself at the thought: "Dennis, the Psychic Nanny"? It sounded like one of those idiotic sitcoms that only lasts half a season before getting cancelled. But what wasn't funny was what Arthur was offering for his services. Not only was the man paying him, he was allowing him to stay in his house, eat his food, things even Cyrus never put on the table. And with the friendships he was building with his new family, he'd probably never feel lonely again. Life was good.
That was exactly what was on Dennis's mind as he finished preparing the kids' lunches. He handed them to Bobby and Kathy, Bobby pausing to look inside the brown paper bag, "Ewww! Peanut butter and jelly again!" Dennis scratched the back of his head thinking of how to answer Bobby, "Oh, Give him a break!" Kathy retorted, adding with a sarcastic tone, "It's all he knows how to make!" Dennis gasped, replying with, "I'll have you know I can make a lot of things...I just refuse to make them for little brats like you." He grinned and stuck out his tongue. Kathy returned the sentiment.
Dennis laughed, "Get to the car; I'll be there in a sec."
They had joked around like this practically every day since Dennis had moved in. Kathy wouldn't trade it for the world, though that particular phrase sounded really lame to her. In the time it took to get to know him, she had realized Dennis was a really cool guy. He drove them to school each day, since her dad thought she wasn't ready to drive. It was also Dennis who gave her and Bobby the thought to join extracurricular activities. Bobby joined an independent kids' soccer team. Dennis drove him to every practice and watched every one of his games, even when the rest of the family couldn't.
He did the same with Kathy and her drama club practices. Aside from that, he'd even join her and her friends for coffee or a scary movie from time to time, especially early on, when Arthur didn't know her friends well enough to trust her with them. Kathy didn't enjoy the movies as much as she did the company though. Once you've lived through the real thing, anything that wasn't real was just comical, and several elbows and chuckles from Dennis showed that he shared the same thoughts.
"Bye dad!" The two kids shouted in unison as they passed their father and headed for Dennis's car. "Bye Kaffy, bye Bawby!" Arthur mumbled back through the slice of toast that was hanging from in between his teeth as he slipped his suit jacket on. Turning to Dennis, he gave him another gratified look, like every day since Dennis started working for him. Dennis sighed, pulling the slice of toast out of Arthur's mouth "If you're gonna give me that 'Thank You' speech again, at least don't do it with your breakfast hanging out of your mouth." Arthur laughed, "Sorry, but you're probably the greatest thing we had in this family since before Jean died." Dennis had sort of an Awww shucks! look on his face, "Well, I should be thanking you; for this job, and the roof over my head, a new family, practically– " Arthur chuckled, "You know, you're right. In fact, from now on, I expect heartfelt thank-yous every morning, and furthermore– " Dennis put his hands up, "Alright, alright! Geez! I give up!" The two men shared a laugh as Dennis handed Arthur his lunch. "Peanut butter and jelly again Dennis?" Arthur questioned, "Dammit! Not you too, Arthur!" Dennis snapped jokingly, "Fine, I'll go buy some cold cuts tomorrow. Just write down what you guys want." Suddenly Dennis's car horn beeped three times, followed by Kathy leaning on it, thenshouting "Come on, Dennis!", Arthur smiled, shaking his head, "Better hurry up. Something tells me the kids are getting restless." Dennis nodded and grabbed his keys, heading for the car.
Kathy sat in the front passenger side, while Bobby took the back. Dennis sat down and closed the door, buckling himself in. "Seatbelts?" Bobby laughed, bouncing in his seat, "Give me a break!" Dennis sighed and reached for Kathy's shoulder. Touching it, he started trembling before wrenching his hand from her, looking back at Bobby, "What?" Bobby questioned. Dennis whimpered, "I just saw us in a car crash. You get squished to a pulp because you don't wear a seatbelt! Oh God! It's horrible!" Kathy giggled, as Dennis added the icing to the cake, "And what's worse is your dad decides to give all your action figures to Kathy and me!" Bobby straightened up in his seat, "That can't be true! Dad wouldn't do that!" Kathy smiled at Dennis, then turned to Bobby, "No, it's true! I saw it too! I'm so scared! Please don't die, Bobby!" Dennis grinned, looking at Bobby, "So I guess that the only thing to do is buckle up." Bobby quickly buckled his seatbelt, nodding, and Dennis backed out of the driveway, headed for Bobby's school.
Bobby got dropped off without a hitch, and as Dennis headed for the high school, Kathy decided to speak up, "So Dennis...do you have a girlfriend?" Dennis was shocked at the question, "Do I look like the type that attracts people!" Kathy wasn't startled at all by the outburst, "Hmmm, that doesn't answer my question..." Dennis was still a little nervous with the question, but decided to be blunt, "No, But isn't it obvious that I'm not exactly a girl magnet?" Kathy was being cute, like when she wanted something from her father, "Well have you ever dated before?" Dennis sputtered, "Well sure, but nothing serious. All the serious dates I had ended with me in a hospital bed. You know that up til about a month ago, any time I touched anyone I went into seizures. Try having a serious relationship where you can't even touch the person." Kathy nodded.
Dennis picked up his head at the next road sign, "So, what about you?" Kathy pulled her gaze from the rear view mirror, "What do you mean?" Dennis scratched his chin, "Boyfriends, dating, you know; the same." Kathy sighed, "Well, lets see; I'm a decent looking girl, independent thinking, don't drink, don't do drugs, don't party on weeknights, I do my homework, get good grades, haveclean cutfriends, I dress respectfully, I'm a virgin, and even though I'm eighteen, I refuse to have sex until I find the consenting man of my dreams. If you find a guy who's into that, let me know." Dennis smiled, "Virginity is a good quality to have. It's probably my best quality, aside from the whole psychic thing." Kathy gasped at those words, though Dennis was shocked she didn't already know from what he'd said earlier, "Oh, come on! How can you think I'd have been able to go all the way after what I said? Don't you remember; each serious date I had landed me in a hospital.I thought you'd payed better attention than that!" Kathy apologized as they reached the high school. "One more thing," Kathy said to Dennis, "I'm staying after for drama club practice. Come by and watch, then meet me at the bleachers afterwards. I wanna ask you about something." Dennis agreed, not thinking much of it, "Sure thing." Kathy smiled, "Okay, love you! Bye!" She leaned over and pecked Dennis on the cheek. There was an awkward pause, Kathy realizing what she just did, and that she couldn't take it back, Dennis staring at her confusedly. Somehow she managed to get some semblance of a sentence to come from her mouth, "I uh, that, my mom..." Dennis nodded just before Kathy closed the door and trotted off to the school entrance. Shaking it all off his mind, Dennis headed back home to rest until he had to pick Bobby up from school. Afterwards he'd head for Kathy's drama club practice, and then Kathy would converse with him on the bleachers for a while. Nothing out of the ordinary. That is, as long as the conversation wasn't like the one they'd just had in the car. What did she have to ask him that she hadn't already? And the kiss? Dennis was finding itexponentially harder to concentrate on resting.
To Be Continued
There you go! I said budding romance, well I guess it blooms more in the next chapter. And if you look real hard, you'll see the first sign of Kathy's possession by The Angry Princess. You get extra bonus points if you find it! Let me know in your review when you've found it, and I'll try to reward you with a spoiler or something. Please Review. Chapter 3 is on it's way, so keep up the support!