Anasatsia98 - Thank you! One of my pet hates is insta love so I always make a concious effort to avoid it and add more depth into the relationships in anything that I write. I just want them to kiss and live happily ever after already! Unfortunatley fate isn't that kind...but I can promise that a kiss will happen. The scene has been written into my story plan for a while now ;) I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Chelocean22 - Thank you :D Charlie is so entertaining to write!
optymalna - I glad you like it!
Chapter eighteen -We need to talk
The drive back to school was rather subdued, the two teens sat silently in the backseat and Dr Hager was by no means eager to engage them in small talk. It was approaching half past nine when the black station wagon pulled up by Welton's large front doors. The eerie post-curfew quiet lay over the grounds like a thick blanket, interrupted only by the crunch of their footsteps on the gravel until Dr Hager stopped them in the entrance hall, "Mr Nolan will see you briefly in his office. Afterwards you are to go straight to bed. Understood?"
"Yes, sir" they nodded.
"Very well" Dr Hager dismissed them curtly and left them by the dim lamp lit staircase as he disappeared in the direction of the teacher's lounge.
"Why does your grandfather want to see me?" Knox climbed the stairs.
Kathleen followed, "most likely because he wants to play matchmaker" she admitted reluctantly, sneaking a glance in his direction.
"He what?"
"By inviting you...I gave him the wrong impression. Although, before that he was convinced that I was interested in Todd."
"Isn't Todd ga-" he started but Kat shushed him before he could finish.
"Remember the heart attack Hager had when he saw Neil reading Capote?"
"But Neil and Todd are so...obvious about their feelings."
"I know" she smiled, "but all we can do is wait."
"Neil's been so helpful with Chris and I want to help him back" Knox whined.
"And you will" Kat laughed, straightening her gloves.
They came to a halt outside of the headmaster's door. Knox pushed Kathleen's arms down when she tried to fix her hair and knocked before she could protest.
"You look fine" he mouthed, ignoring her glare as he opened the door.
"Ah" Mr Nolan nodded at the two students as they entered his office, "you both look very smart. Now, take a seat, I will not keep you long."
"Thank you, sir" Knox said, following the headmaster's command, followed by a less enthusiastic Kathleen.
"I see that you enjoyed your evening" he observed, satisfied by the murmurs of agreement, "How was the food?"
"Very good, sir"
"Mrs Noel is an excellent cook."
"I must invite them to our annual Christmas party. How many guests did they have?"
"Just us, sir" Knox replied.
"An intimate evening. The perfect opportunity-"
"We met Nancy's cousin Christine, the Noel's daughter" interjected Kathleen urgently, "very nice, Knox is rather charmed by her" she continued, wincing internally while she dropped her friend into the firing line.
"Is that so?" Mr Nolan asked shifting his attention to Knox whose face was heating up.
"Oh-err-yes, Sir. I mean, she is very nice."
"I see. Well, it is getting late and the two of you have lessons tomorrow morning, goodnight."
"Goodnight" they echoed back, relieved to be dismissed so quickly.
Once they were back in the corridor with the office door firmly closed behind them, Kat turned to Knox "I'm so sorry, I couldn't think of any other way to stop him before he got fixated."
He let out a long breath, "it's fine. Just give a guy some warning next time."
"Sorry" she apologised again, "but you do still like her, right?"
"Like her?" Knox repeated, "after tonight I'm almost certain that I'm in love with her."
"How do you know?"
"I don't know how to explain it" he shrugged as they neared Kathleen's dorm, "I just can't let go of her, everything reminds me of her and my heart stops every time she looks at me" he grinned, "and talking to her is so easy." He laughed, "it's sappy. I know, but Chris owns my heart and I don't ever want to stop the feeling."
"That is sweetest thing I have ever heard" Kat smiled softly, "tell her that. When the time is right, tell her that and I promise you that she will never forget it."
"I hope she doesn't forget me" he sighed.
"She recognised you the moment she saw you, Knox! After tonight, there is no way that she ever could."
"You really think so?"
"I'm sure of it. And tomorrow when I ring Nancy, I'll ask her for Chris' opinion of you" Kathleen reassured him, "there will no doubt after that."
"Thank you" he beamed, pulling her into a quick hug "you are truly my fairy godmother."
"As your fairy godmother, I will do whatever I can to make your wish come true" she laughed, "especially after meeting Chet. I take back what I said about him possibly being a decent guy."
Knox shook his head, "I don't understand what she sees in him."
They walked in amiable silence until they came to a halt outside Kat's door, she was just about to go in when she turned back, "hey, Knox?" she asked quietly, "why did Chet bring up Meeks?"
The boy leaned against the wall, his jaw clenched, "they didn't get along" he said slowly, "more precisely Chet and his buddies didn't get along with Meeks, who as you can imagine just wanted to be left alone with his friends and his schoolwork. Which they liked to make fun of him for."
"Oh" she bit her lip, "but they've stopped now?"
He nodded, "anything said now is nothing different to how they treat the rest of us, don't worry about it."
"Okay, now go and dream about Chris" she smiled.
"Good night, Kat" he responded rolling his eyes before heading back to his own dorm room. Where he did dream of Chris, even if he wouldn't admit it.
xxxx
As promised, Keating's lesson the next morning was another soccer game. The students shivered in their sports kits which failed to protect them from the biting autumn wind. To Kathleen's relief they were split into teams of six for the game. Keating explained that two teams would compete on the pitch, and the winners would be the first to score five goals. However, after the ball has been passed the new player in possession of it, can only continue if they give a satisfactory answer to his question, if not the ball will go the opposite team.
"Less chance of embarrassment today" she whispered to Todd who grinned back.
Keating gave each of them a number between 1 and 4 and the class split into teams. Kat watched in amusement as he deliberately missed Todd out of the first sequence in order to put him in team two with Neil. Soon it was her turn and she found herself in team four alongside Meeks, Fraser, Sam, Russel and Francis.
"Alright, team one and team two on the pitch first. Move it lads!" hollered Keating, blowing his whistle to hurry them along.
The remaining two teams sat under the trees to watch the chaos unfold. Sure enough, the game was a disaster with boys who were so eager to win that they forget to stop and were forced to forfeit the ball to the opposing team. Abuse was thrown and Cameron was getting stressed. Cheating meant that Pitts was elbowed in the stomach and three boys were sent off the pitch, including Charlie for almost causing a fight with a boy who tripped Todd up.
"Hey, have you thought about what I said?" Fraser moved to sit on her left, much to the surprise of Meeks who was on her right and Knox who was in team three and sat on the other side of Meeks.
"I have" she replied shortly, keeping her eyes on the game.
"And? Are you going to say anything?"
"Only if necessary."
"What kind of bullshit is that?" he snapped.
"Hey, don't talk to her like that" retorted Knox.
Fraser rolled his eyes and ignored him, focusing his attention back on Kathleen, "are you ratting me out to my Father and Nolan or not? I need to prepare if you are."
"Kat? What is he talking about?" asked Meeks cautiously, glaring at the unwelcome classmate.
"Nolan is having dinner with Fraser's father, a board member" she explained, "and both of us have to go."
"When you were talking about matchmaking last night, it wasn't just Todd and I that Nolan's been thinking about" interjected Knox, "is it?"
"You're a smart one" muttered Fraser.
"I'm not going to sit there and sing your praises but I won't be blunt unless I feel the need to" Kat said, ignoring the snide remark "so, as long as you are pleasant through the visit. You have nothing to worry about."
"I guess that's fair" he shrugged.
"More than fair, you're lucky she's a reasonable person" Knox huffed. Meeks nodded in agreement as the whistle blew to signal the end of the game.
"I think it would be best if you left before the others get here" he advised Fraser, looking pointedly the players leaving the pitch. Without another word, Fraser got up and moved to sit with his own friends.
"Team one are the winners!" called Keating over the loud cheering, "team two swap with team three."
Knox was soon replaced by Neil and Todd who collapsed on the ground, red-faced and out of breath.
"why was Fraser here?" asked Todd once he got his breath back, "is he talking about dinner again?"
"You knew?" Meeks pushed his glasses up his nose, "judging by the look Charlie is giving him. He clearly didn't." The three teens looked in direction that Meeks was pointing at and saw Knox speaking to Charlie and Pitts in the middle of the pitch, all three of them were frowning.
"Oh, God" Kathleen groaned.
"Sorry" mumbled Todd, "we didn't tell him about the dress either."
"He's going to feel really left out" muttered Neil, "this is not good."
"I only told Knox about the match-making last night" Kat bit her lip, "Cameron, Meeks and Pitts weren't told anything!"
"But we're not your best friends" Meeks pointed out, "we should be the last to know."
"Please don't argue again" Todd said quietly, "it's awful when you fight."
"I really don't want to, but I've messed up."
Neil was about the say something but was he cut off by Keating's whistle.
"Team three wins, now team one sit and team four get out here!" he shouted.
Neil, Todd, Meeks and Kat went over to the pitch. The game lasted for fifteen minutes and Neil managed to score a goal. Even Kathleen was able to pass the ball twice, much to her delight. She had almost forgotten the dark cloud which hung over her head but as the class trudged back towards the school covered from head to toe in mud, it became clear that her guardian angel was off duty today. First, she almost slipped over, the second indication was when she was stuck walking with Cameron, who knew nothing of her dilemma and proceeded to talk her ear off about how she could improve in trig. She thought the final straw was the moment that it began to rain.
But truly, it was the momeent that Charlie walked straight past her, acknowledging her only long enough to utter the words that nobody wants to hear, "we need to talk."