A little bit of Kate. Enjoy.

-

-

"Ewww!" Kate Sanders whined. "I am not touching that disgusting thing!"

Gordo, as her lab partner, rolled his eyes. "Kate," he said. "It's just a baby piglet. In a way, it's a lot less disgusting than the octopus we had to dissect in eighth grade."

"I didn't touch that, either!" Kate insisted, horrified to think that somebody could even imagine her doing such a thing.

"How did you get out of it?" Gordo wondered, positioning the piglet in the lab tray.

"I had Tudgeman do it for me."

Gordo rolled his eyes again. "Tudgeman…"

"And you're going to take care of this…this piglet thingy for me now, aren't you, Gordo sweetie?"

Gordo frowned as he positioned the knife. "It's David, remember? And why should I, Kate? Why should I let you keep sliding by? I mean, what's in it for me?"

Generally, Gordo would have let this slide. Kate was fully convinced in her own mind that she could wrap any man around her little finger, and while she could in fact do that with most guys, Gordo was not one of them. However, through many years of dealing with Kate, he had learned that it was a lot less painful to simply let her have her way than to resist her insistent attempts to tie him in knots.

But now he felt different. Ever since he had leaned that Nicole would be moving away to Minnesota, he found himself overwhelmed by the impression that the world was not a fair place. Gordo was mad as hell and wasn't going to take it any more! He found himself being surly and rude to his parents, his teachers, even his friends.

Even Nicole. They had so little time left together, yet rather than enjoying it, he could not help but dig the knife in, almost as if accusing her of purposely leaving him, of wanting to go. Most days now, he had her in tears, or almost in tears, and he hated himself for it, but he didn't know how to stop.

And as if this wasn't bad enough, they were still struggling together with the question of whether or not they should sleep together, at least one time before she had to leave. The bright blue package was burning a hole in his wallet. Sometimes he almost imagined he could smell the smoke.

Sometimes, Gordo would find himself making Nicole cry with his sharp words, then he would instantly feel sorry, take her in his arms, and comfort her, and kiss her, and before long he would find his hands traveling up under her blouse, and feel himself rise to the occasion, thinking about that bright blue package, wondering if now at last he was going to get the chance to open it up.

They would get so close, and Nicole, tears still in her eyes, seemed so willing, but somehow…somehow….something always happened, a parent would walk by, or one of them would say a certain word that would cause reason to kick in, and the moment would be gone. And then Nicole would cry some more, and Gordo would stand up and run his hands through his hair, cursing himself, hating his life.

As far as he could figure, he was in a lose-lose situation.

And being in this situation, he certainly didn't need to be dealing with any of Kate's crap. He looked at her pointedly and repeated, in that surly tone that clung all too easily to his voice these days, "Really, Kate. What's in it for me?"

Kate pulled herself up, not used to being challenged. After all, wasn't the pleasure of her company reward enough? Perhaps she should offer to allow him to take her out on a date. But then…ugh! No. This was Gordo. She'd known him too long and too well. She wasn't going to put herself through that, not even if he agreed to dissect an elephant for her.

But suddenly she had an idea. "You know Alexa Kennsington?"

Gordo eyed her suspiciously as he made the first cut. "Yeah. What about her?"

"Well, for some reason that I totally cannot understand, she thinks you're cute. And she's even willing to risk her reputation by going out with a dweeb like you. I could arrange it."

"Kate," Gordo said instantly, dryly. "I have no interest in going out with Alexa Kennsington."

"Why not?" Kate exclaimed. "What are you, gay? Every guy wants to go out with Alexa."

"In case you haven't noticed, Kate, I've been in a committed relationship with Nicole Hessler for the last year."

"Sure," Kate allowed, peeking into the lab tray and grimacing. "But now she's leaving. You need to jump right back in, Gordo. You need a girl like Alexa."

Gordo snorted derisively. "A girl like Alexa would tear me to shreds, wipe her hands and move on to the next victim. No thanks. What I need right now is to be left alone."

"Suit yourself," Kate said with a shrug. "But the offer stands."

Gordo slit open the piglet's stomach, more forcefully than he needed to, and formaldehyde oozed onto his latex gloves. Kate glanced at him briefly, then admired her perfect manicure.

"You know," Kate added thoughtfully, "I understand that Lizzie and Brad have been having some trouble lately."

The knife slipped, and Gordo cursed. "Crap! I've slit the intestines!"

Kate grimaced. "You really should be more careful, Gordo."

"What would you know about Lizzie?" Gordo demanded uneasily. "You don't move in the same circles as Lizzie and---and---"

But Gordo could not remember his name. All of Lizzie's boyfriends blended together in his mind. Ever since they'd entered high school, she seemed to be dating the same guy. They were all tall and blonde and incredible good looking, and they all had trendy names that began with "Br." First there had been Brett, then Brandon, or was it Brendon? Then Bryan, and who was it now? Britt? Or Brad? Gordo could not keep up.

"And besides!" he spit out suddenly, giving Kate the evil eye. "What makes you think I give a shit who Lizzie dates anyway?"

"Oh, you give a shit, Gordo," Kate said, nodding. "You're still carrying a torch."

"I am not!" Gordo shot back, now more aggravated than he had a right to be.

Kate pulled herself up on her chair and huffed. "Are you doubting my powers of observation? Gordo! I may not know much when it comes to Biology and Chemistry as subjects in school, but when you're talking about the interactions between the sexes, I see all and I know all. Nothing escapes my knowledge."

Kate eyed Gordo, and for a moment her attitude seemed to soften. "Hey," she said quietly. "I know you're not interested in Alexa, but I thought I'd ask for her anyway. The poor, misguided girl. But Lizzie….oh, yeah, Lizzie. That's a different story altogether."

"Shut up, Kate," Gordo spit back vehemently.

"And by the way, all these pretty boys she's been going out with---"

"Kate…" he warned.

"And not only that, but when I look at you, Gordo, I can see that as much as you love Nicole, every now and then your eye still wanders to---"

"Shut up, Kate!" came flying from his mouth, a bit too loudly.

Everyone else in the class stopped what they were doing and looked at Gordo. Embarrassed, he sunk his head that much closer to the pig's now totally mutilated intestines.

"Oh my!" Kate said airily. "Hit a sensitive spot, have I?"

"Look," Gordo said. "You've made your point, you've got your deal. Just sit there looking pretty and keep your mouth shut, okay? I got this covered. No need for you to snap on the gloves. I wouldn't want you to break a nail or anything."

Kate grinned triumphantly, sarcastically. "Thanks, Gordo. You really are such a sweetheart, you know that?"