Ugly, a Thirteen Ghosts fanfic by Sweetboxer
Sweetboxer: Enjoy this, or so help me God I'll make your life so unenjoyable, you'll find this enjoyable by comparison!
Thank yous:
Rune-Spirit: Thank you for adding the extra professional touches that make this a worthwhile chapter, and for helping me with the plot details. I honestly can't thank you enough! I can't wait to help you with your next chapter in Amor Prima Facie
Nemanja: Thanks for reading and reviewing as much as possible at the moment.
PR1: I just got turned on to the idea of Dennis and Kathy myself! Cute pair. As for updates, as soon as I run my final chapters by my beta, they will all be up, unless I get more ideas from reviewers...HA! Don't worry! It's gonna be really, really soon, ok?
Disclaimer: (Hasn't changed since the first chapter) All that I write here, I own, except for the stuff that is not mine...
Chapter 4: The Morning After
Dennis awoke early the next morning, Thank God Arthur left after them, dropping Bobby off at his friend's house for a sleepover before heading to work. Dennis tried to remember the prom. Though foggy, the memories were there: The flirting, the kiss, the talk of fantasies, followed by...
"Fuck." Dennis whispered, feeling a migraine coming on. It had happened all right. Swallowing an unhealthy dose of worry, Dennis realized that Bobby needed to be picked up soon.
'Aw hell' Dennis thought to himself, 'He won't hate me if I give him another 30 minutes.' He headed to the living room and switched the TV on. It was the local news. The voices blared as Dennis settled himself on the couch.
Thanks Riley! And in our ongoing high school drug watch story, We bring you an event that happened last night at Eastside High School. As most students were celebrating their prom, they were crushed to find that the authorities were closing it down early. The reason? One of the chaperones discovered a diluted form of date rape drug mixed in with the students' punch. The main suspect, whom the police have yet to name, confessed that he'd planned to drug only one of the female students. The said female poured the contents of her glass back into the punch bowl. The charges pressed have not been identified at this date and time. Back to you!
'Oh shit' Dennis thought, remembering just how much punch he and Kathy drank. He felt relieved suddenly, since he might not be held responsible because of the drugging… but what about Kathy? What if she felt violated now that she was clear headed? Dennis couldn't very well expect Kathy to have been in a coherent state of mindat that point in timeAnd there's no reason she wouldn't be scared enough to charge him with rape. Dennis hoped against hopes that she wasn't headed in that direction. He didn't want to think of losing the trust of the family.
For Kathy's sake, he decided to apologize, and then explain how it happened. Then they would agree to keep silent about their prom night experience until the polar ice caps melt. He checked Kathy's bedroom, but it looked like she had already woken up, her bed vacant and slightly disturbed. He checked the bathroom next, knocking on the door three times and listening before opening the door, He smiled involuntarily as he looked inside. Kathy was staring into the mirror, brushing her hair over and over.
"Kathy, can I talk to you about something?" Dennis asked without receiving an answer. She just kept brushing and brushing. A close look at her hairbrush revealed that it was pulling hairs off of her head.. It looked like she'd been brushing her hair for over an hour.
"Whoa Kathy! Give your scalp a rest, will you!" Dennis chuckled, reaching for the hand holding the brush.
As soon as his hand had latched on to hers, Kathy whipped around, shoving him away, "Don't fucking touch me!" She screamed, taking Dennis aback.
'Okay,' Dennis thought to himself, 'She feels violated all right.' Dennis needed to think up a really good apology.
Kathy shook her head roughly, dazed, "Whoa! Sorry, I'm uh, feeling weird lately."
Dennis nodded "Yeah, me too." shrugging, he continued, "and that's why I want to end anything we started last night before someone gets hurt or your dad finds out about what we did. And If I violated you, I'm sorry, I mean, I took your virginity, and that's irreplaceable." Kathy looked confused, so Dennis continued, "Someone drugged the punch, and that's why we did it. So, it's not really like we're breaking up, really. Y'know, cuz we weren't really together in the first place…"
From the minute Dana heard him spill out that tired old drug excuse, her hands were clenched into fists. She felt the only emotion that was able to bubble over her self-pity, and that was her hate. She shifted her hips to the side, looking pissed off.
"Drugs? Really? Well, it's nice to know that you'd only touch me if you were FUCKING STONED! You really are heartless, you rat-assed bastard!"
He looked confused, "What are you talking about?" He grabbed Dana by the shoulders. She smiled wickedly, grabbing his hands and sliding them up and around her throat.
"Go ahead! You know you want to. Just a little squeeze and pop and it'll all be over! Do it! I'm not afraid anymore, Jason!"
Dennis was confused, pulling his hands away, "Who's the hell is Jason!"
Dana laughed with an almost insane quality, "Jesus Christ! You're so shit-faced you can't even remember who the fuck you are." She laughed for a good 6 seconds before her attitude shifted almost instantly from playful mockery to raging bitch, "Get out… GET OUT!"
Whimpering, Kathy felt the floor coming up to her face all at once. Then there was only black
Arthur was on his way home when his cell phone rang. Picking up the phone, he pressed the TALK button, placing the phone next to his ear, "Hello?"
"Yeah Arthur, it's me Dennis." He sounded serious.
"What is it?" Arthur responded.
"Well, you know the prom last night?"
"...Yes?" Arthur anticipated something in Dennis's nervous tone.
"I'm sorry, but some bastard drugged the punch last night."
At first Arthur thought, "Poison" but what Dennis said next was far worse in Arthur's opinion.
" Kathy started getting all... flirty... and she... kissed me." On the other end of the line, Dennis was scared to death of what Arthur might be thinking.
His conscience in the back of his head nagging him, "I told her, wanted her to stop (No you didn't)."
Arthur tried to stay calm, determined to act like "the cool dad". After all, Kathy was of consenting age, so all he could do was try to lock her in a tower or accept her as a sexual being; a big girl. Go with the flow, pops. His stomach was uneasy at the thought.
He tried not to sound too outraged, "Okay Dennis, did anything else happen!"
Dennis replied quickly, "I can't remember…(Liar). Anyway, Kathy is a little delusional right now, and she was screaming at me and calling me by some other guy's name. I'm gonna pick up Bobby and take Kathy to the hospital. I'm sure she's gonna be just fine, but just to be safe I think they should have a look at her. I'll pay the bills, so don't worry about it."
Arthur didn't have to fake being impressed by Dennis's responsibility. Maybe it was the cool dad talking, but Arthur thought at that moment that maybe irresponsible, immature Kathy needed a responsible, older man, like Dennis to be truly 'complete'. Arthur shook off the thought briskly. Best not to go there.
"Just call me if anything else happens. Later"
"Okay, bye."
Kathy came to in the car. She was strapped tightly in the front passenger seat. Yawning, she turned to Dennis, who was driving.
"Where are we going?"
Dennis muttered a reply, "The hospital, our punch was drugged last night, and I want us to get checked for any side effects." Dennis stared at the road, serious and concerned.
Kathy frowned, "Does dad know?"
Dennis knew what she meant, "Yeah, but I don't think he's angry, just worried." Dennis hoped what he said was true. Kathy sighed.
Whispering in a voice that didn't fit the emotion of the dark words she said, "One way or another, you always land me in the hospital. And one way or another, I always end up limping back to you..."
Dennis picked up his head, "Eh? Why would you say that? Is it a poem or something?"
Kathy shrugged, "I don't know, something just told me to say it." She ran her fingers through her hair, allowing her sleeve to fall further down her arm and reveal a small cut on her forearm, by her wrist. Dennis saw it, and immediately started questioning Kathy, quietly, so as not to startle Bobby.
"What's that cut from, Kathy?"
Kathy was surprised that she didn't notice the band-aid come off earlier. She decided not to tell Dennis everything. He probably thought she was a slut already so why should she give him a reason to believe she's some sort of masochist. So she'd gotten a rush from the cut, It wasn't intentional, she just felt... different afterwards.
She opened her mouth finally and spoke, "I was shaving my legs in the tub and I tested the razor on the hairs on my arm.."
"Ewwww! You shave your arms?" Bobby cringed at the thought. Dennis shushed him, allowing Kathy to continue.
"So, I ended up cutting myself by accident. It's just a big scratch, really." Dennis was still concerned remembering what Kathy had been like in the bathroom, Screaming at him like he'd done her physical harm.
Leaning over, he whispered, "Kathy, if anyone's hurting you, you can tell me..."
Kathy just giggled, "What gave you THAT idea? You're reading way too deep into this. Really, I'm fine." Smiling, Dennis parked the car.
"Just be careful. You could die if you get cut in the wrong place. Now just stay calm and answer all their questions. They're not gonna arrest us for accidentally drinking spiked punch." Kathy nodded.
The doctors put them both through a few tests, and they passed each one. The prescription for Kathy was simply decent rest and fluid intake. Arthur arrived taking the kids in his car, Dennis understood he had to talk to Kathy alone and get her side of the story. Dennis actually enjoyed the thought of driving back alone after the all the human interaction he'd been through that day. Buckling up, he closed his eyes and imagined that kiss again. It was his first real kiss, and it tasted like nothing he'd ever tasted before, but how did he know they didn't all taste the same?
He shook his head, trying to avoid lusting over the unattainable. He looked over to the empty seat where Kathy had sat on the way to the hospital. There was a little piece of paper, a coupon for the 1 hour photo store. Reaching into the glove box, he pulled out the disposable camera Kathy had used to take their prom pictures, not to mention Dennis's little underwear picture, that he would soon claim and burn all copies of. It was still around 4:30 in the afternoon, so he could still get the copies before the place closed for the night. Smiling now that he'd found a distraction, Dennis headed for the 1-hour photo.
To Be Continued...
There you go people! Review! I need your support! Please review! PLEASE!
Much more DennisxKathy to follow!
Be patient you little ronance luvverz!