KATE'S NIGHTMARE/REALITY

RATING: Language warning

A/N: Thanks for the swell reviews; I didn't expect such a good response to the first chapter. Just to clarify, this will definitely be a TATE. Quick note – on the CBS site it says Kate's in her late 20's, so I just figured it would be her 10-year reunion. I thought she was older, but hey, I'm not going to argue with the man!

The dotted lines represent when she goes into flashback mode. Ah, the power of flashback!

Kate collapsed on her bed, exhausted. She set her alarm to 6:30 and drifted slowly to sleep.

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"Katie, wake-up! Katie!"

Caitlin 'Katie' Todd awoke to the harsh Florida sunlight. Her mother was standing over her, gently shaking her.

"I don't want to got to school today," Kate said sleepily. She gave a weak cough "I think I've got the flu."

"You're either the sickest girl in the world or you don't want to go to school today." Kate'smother sat on the edge of her bed "What is it today – drama or gym?"

Katie buried her head under her covers.

"Gym," she mumbled.

"Sweetheart, you're good at gym!" her mother exclaimed.

"All the other kids laugh at me," she mumbled. Katie removed the covers from her head, "cause I'm fat."

"Kate you're not fat!" her mother cried "Look at how much weight you've lost! You can do anything if you put you're mind to it."

"I guess," Katie grumbled.

"You can take the car today," her mother offered.

Kate sat up smiling.

"Really? Awesome!"

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A/N: Still flashback

As Katie hopped out of the car, she was greeted by her best friend, Jo, a tall awkward girl who quoted Shakespeare. A lot.

"Alas, how go thou, Caitlin, my kinsman for life?" Jo said dramatically, dropping her books.

Kate bent down to pick them up.

"As good as I can be. For gym day."

"Crap!" Jo cried, "At least you're okay at it. I'm so going to fail this semester."

The bell rang and the girls went to they're lockers and grabbed some books.

"See you at lunch," Jo said, hurrying away and dropping her books again.

Kate entered her homeroom and took a seat at the back. She opened up her book and stared at the half finished sketch in front of her. It was of Travis Van Zant, the richest and cutest guy at school. He was the biggest player – having dated the entire cheerleading squad and squads from other districts.

Of course, he didn't talk to her.

She knew why. She just wasn't pretty. Sure, she would get her braces off soon and her skin was bound to clear up. But high school guys don't care about that; all they see is the acne and run in the opposite direction. All she wanted was for someone to notice her.

Travis was fooling around with his friends, throwing screwed up pieces of paper at a girl across the room. Katie stared at him, imagining him throwing them at her, flirting with her, kissing her by her locker. Guys like that didn't go for Caitlin Todd and to be honest, his chauvinistic antics ticked her off. But he was so incredibly charming and when he looked at her, it felt like he was looking into her soul and it was so easy to forget his faults.

The morning dragged on until the bell rang for lunch. Katie walked through the cafeteria to a table up the back. Jo was already there, with her friends Hayley, Derek and Matt.

"Hey Katie!" Hayley cried. Hayley was the captain of the science club, but sat with them because the other science geeks feared her.

Derek, the school mascot, moved his bag so she could sit down.

"Ugh, I hate poetry!" Katie exclaimed as she sat down.

"Why?" Matt, the resident trekkie asked.

"How do I love thee, let me count the ways,"

Katie turned around. The face of Eugene Sandler, the biggest geek in school was inches away from hers.

"For that exact reason," Kate answered, ignoring Eugene.

"How about it, Caitlin," Eugene said seductively.

The bell rang.

"How about not," Katie answered. Katie, Jo and Hayley left the cafeteria and headed towards the girls locker room.

"Hi Katie!" Called Cindy, Mindy and Lindy, the three most popular girls at school.

"Hey guys," Kate answered, warily. She didn't mind it when they ignored her, it was when they were nice to her, and then she got worried. Katie looked at her friends and they shrugged.

"Bye Katie!" The three cheerleaders giggled as they left the gym.

Katie waited five minutes, pretending to search through her locker, until everyone else had left. She hated getting changed in front of people.

She quickly pulled on her gym clothes and walked in the gym. The room went silent and a few people started snickering. Katie looked around nervously.

"Miss Todd, the rules clearly state that adjustments are not to be made to the gym uniform." The sport teacher said sternly to her.

Katie looked around quickly. The snickering had erupted into an uproar of laughter, with Cindy, Mindy and Lindy laughing the loudest. She looked behind her and saw a curly pink tail attached to the back of her shorts and the work 'pig' sprawled across the front of the shirt. Katie felt tears welling up in her eyes and ran for the locker room. She started getting changed and shoving stuff into her backpack.

"Katie! Oh my god, are you alright?" Jo asked, putting a comforting arm around her.

Katie shrugged it off.

"Do I have some sort of sticker on me saying 'I have no feelings'? I've never done a fucking thing to them, but they treat me like I'm nothing! She could feel tears streaming down her cheeks. "No one wants to be treated like crap! They, they make me feel so worthless!"

The door swung open to reveal the cruel, smirking faces of Cindy, Mindy and Lindy.

"Wow, Katie, you suree give Miss Piggy a run for her money!"

Kate turned away and ran. She could hear people calling out to her, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get out of there. Out of that nightmare that was her reality.

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Kate awoke with a start, struggling to breathe. Painful memories flooded back to her. For the first time in her life, she didn't feel the same humiliation and sadness that overwhelmed her. She felt anger.

Things became clear. Kate knew what she had to do.

A/N: Okay, important thing, if you're wondering about the introduction of so many characters, they will reappear in the later chapters. Particularly Travis. So these early chapters are just the foundations for the later reunion chapters. I'm currently working on chapter 3, so enjoy and review.