I'm so sorry about the lack of an update last week, my internet was playing up. The outline and all of my notes are on FF so I couldn't write without them and I couldn't stay connected long enough to do anything. I spent the time fixing the grammatical errors in the early chapters so don't be alarmed if you get update notifications for them today.
After the whole Wi-Fi palaver it's been harder to get back into my writing schedule. So here is a lovely, long chapter and my sincerest apologies.
X
"We are never half so interesting when we have learned that language is given us to enable us to conceal our thoughts."
~L.M Montgomery, Anne of the Island
Chapter twenty-seven - Truth and omission
Tomorrow came too soon for Kathleen's liking.
Despite the warm, bright midday sun which shone through her window, and having eleven hours of sleep; she didn't want to get up. Last night's events were seared into her memory forever and she didn't know how to explain them to the boys, let alone how to face Knox. With a groan, she threw back her covers to hastily shower and dress. Resolving to take some time for herself, she grabbed 'Anne of the Island' from her bookshelf and a skipped downstairs. Avoiding the main routes in favour of lesser used corridors which led to the kitchen.
"Oh, Robert!" She flounced into the busy room, armed with charming smile, "is there any chance of brunch? I slept in after an outing last night and I don't quite feel up to lunch. Please?"
The good-natured chef threw back his head and laughed, with a finger to his lips he slid a bowl of fruit salad and a pastry over the shining, stainless steel counter towards the grateful girl.
"You're the best" she beamed, leaving the students favourite, soft-hearted chef to his work. Kat left quickly, hoping to avoid Pitts, who regularly begged for food at all hours of the day, but was especially guilty on weekends. With that in mind, she took her smuggled delights to the third floor, and settled down in the hidden alcove behind an old grandfather clock. Which was nestled between two science classrooms. It had been her sacred spot since she stumbled upon it during a game of hide and seek as a child. The faded red cushions, candles and scuff marks which lined the floor were a testament to her fondness for the secret hideaway. With a contented sigh, Kathleen settled down to eat and spent the rest of the afternoon reading by candlelight.
XXXX
Once the old clock had chimed for six, o'clock, Kathleen emerged from her shadowy den in search of dinner and company. Literary comfort was nice, but she felt it was time to re-enter the real world. With that in mind, she clutched the book to her chest and walked down to dinner, slipping into her usual seat with an aura of positivity.
"You don't seem hungover at all" observed Meeks, "when you didn't come down by lunch, we thought you were in the same state as Knox."
"Just better at hiding it" winked Neil.
"No, I was mildly tipsy at most" she smiled, "I was tired this morning. I slept in until lunch and decided to beg Robert for food. I spent the day recovering from last night's ordeal."
"I take it the party wasn't so good?" questioned Cameron.
"It started out okay but it soon descended into chaos."
"And what happened to Knox? He's been in bed all day, we couldn't get a coherent word from him" asked Pitts with a mouthful.
Kat cringed at the sight of the mushy food in his mouth but chose not so to chastise him. Instead, she replied "I would love to know. I hardly saw him to be honest. We arrived together but soon separated, and the next time I caught a glimpse of him, his date had vanished. A while later, when things had begun to get a little out of hand there were chants for a fight. I thought nothing of it until the antler hat guy started yelling about someone 'feeling up Chet's girl,' that's when we went to see who it was. Chet had Knox pinned to the ground and his face was bloody, he wouldn't stop and Chris was screaming at him to leave Knox alone." She shook her head, "Thomas and I broke them up and he restrained Chet until he had calmed down."
"But he didn't touch Chris, did he?" Clarified Neil, much to the others outrage.
"A kiss on the forehead from what I heard. She was asleep next to him at the time."
"I'll kill him" scowled Charlie, "who does he think he is? One punch or even a threat would have done, he didn't have to beat him bloody like that."
"You won't go anywhere near him" Kat pointed her fork at him before turning to look each of the others in the eyes, "and that goes for all of you as well."
"We can't let him get away with it!" Burst out Meeks.
"Report it to a teacher, his parents or go to the police" suggested Cameron. Nobody spoke, but their expressions of disbelief were enough to shut him down. "Or don't" he muttered.
"I suppose we could count on Ginny to give him hell for it. She seems decent" commented Neil.
"You know Ginny?" Kat asked, startled by the knowledge.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you! She plays Hermia in the play."
"How on earth did you both neglect to tell me this? Wait, Charlie. Did you meet her on Friday? Todd said you went to watch the rehearsal."
"Briefly" he shrugged, "she's nice enough but she went on about your date a fair bit. Are you sure she's not after him for herself?"
"Honestly, I hardly saw her and I alone was with Thomas most of the night. You should have spoken longer, you have the same sense of humour; I think."
"I thought you were staying with Knox?"
"Yeah" agreed Neil pushing his glass aside so that he could lean into the conversation, "how did you lose him so quickly?"
"Dancing" she answered. "He refused to join in, preferring to mope around waiting for Chris. Once he saw her with her boyfriend, he wandered off. Nancy and Johnny had disappeared outside to the pool, so I was left with Thomas."
"You don't sound pleased..." Analysed Meeks.
"He was great at first" she pushed her food around her plate, keeping her eyes down.
"Did something happen?" Probed Todd quietly.
"Nothing awful, just...It's silly really."
"Just what?" Neil paused mid-bite looking concerned.
"He let me win every game of table tennis, pretending to be terrible at it. He let me believe it until one of his teammates made a comment" she caught Charlie's eye. "It sounds stupid, but it ruined what had a fun night. Well, in hindsight, it was the first pitfall. But I digress" She breathed. "When I refused to win another match to force him to play fairly, he told me to be 'a good sport' because apparently, it's not the done thing to beat a lady at table tennis."
"Wait a minute" snickered Charlie, "he actually thought that he would get somewhere with that."
"He kept calling it 'gentlemanly behaviour' " she pouted, "I must have looked so stupid and he had the nerve to say it was cute!"
The boys howled with laughter at her indignation as she recounted the tale with an equal mixture of bashfulness and outrage.
"You won't find the next bit funny" Kat warned over the merriment.
"Why not?" Questioned Meeks as the laughter came to a halt.
"Because once he pulled Chet away from Knox, he said goodbye and followed him out. Leaving me to drag Knox to the bathroom and clean him up, alone."
"But Knox is at least three inches taller than you, not to mention bigger and heavier."
"I realised that" she replied drily.
"Let me get this straight. This guy spends all night with you, tries to impress you, and then ditches you for his jerk of a friend who beat up yours?" Frowned Charlie.
"Basically."
"And that's when your dress got ruined with Knox's blood and puke" confirmed Neil.
Kat nodded, the face she pulled told them all that they wanted to know about her feelings on the subject.
"That jerk!" Declared Pitts. The others murmured in agreement.
"Thomas isn't all bad" Kat sighed, "but I think it's safe to say that Nancy had the best date since I know nothing about Ginny's. Once I found them, Nancy helped me get Knox out of the house and Johnny put him in the car, drove us back and made Knox conscious enough to face Hager. It took a lot of coffee, vile drinks and an ice bath. But he went above and beyond with no complaints."
"Thank God" muttered Neil, "I thought the Noel's just had poor taste in guys. Perhaps there's hope after all."
"Perhaps" nodded Kat. "Enough about me. How was the meeting?"
Pitts perked up, "There were-"
"There was nothing special" interrupted Neil, "we should head up to the common room. Keating said he would look in tonight to help us with our assignment."
"We-we should go" Todd agreed.
Confusion crossed the faces of the rest of the boys but one by one it dawned on them that they were not to talk about the unusual guests that Charlie had brought along to the meeting. Even if Meek's had to elbow the realisation into Pitt's ribs. Much to their relief, Kathleen simply nodded and rose from her seat, ready to leave the dining hall. Order restored by omission.
XXXX
"Ah, if it isn't my favourite students!" Called Mr Keating, poking his round the door. "Keep that quiet for me lads, lady. It won't do for me to be accused of favouritism."
"In imagination, she sailed over storied seas that wash the distant shining shores of "faëry lands forlorn," where lost Atlantis and Elysium lie, with the evening star for pilot, to the land of Heart's Desire. And she was richer in those dreams than in realities; for things seen pass away, but the things that are unseen are eternal." Kathleen closed her book at the sound of their English teacher's voice. She tried to sit up properly but Charlie's legs pinned her own down, as he had flopped down on the opposite end of the couch earlier, and thrown his legs over hers to form a cross shape, which allowed her feet to rest on the couch and his on the footstool. She had offered to switch places so that they could sit with personal space, but he had given her a worryingly mischievous grin and said that he was fine where he was. She had just rolled her eyes and gone back to her book.
"No worries, Sir. As you can recall, we're good with secrets" teased the boy next to her.
"I can't be sure of what exactly you're alluding to, Mr Dalton" winked Keating "I am a member of staff, after all. Which brings me to your essays."
"Thank you, Sir" Cameron held up the paper he had been working on. " I'm having trouble with the multiple interpretations. I can't see any other reasonable line of thought behind the lines."
Keating scanned his essay "top notch work as always, Mr Cameron. However, I encourage you to be more abstract. Think outside of the box and the interpretations will flow from your pen. Perhaps you could consider Shakespeare's definition of love in the context of the poem and how it differs from another perspective..."
"I can't believe that I'm doing better than Cameron" whispered Charlie, "clearly I've been hanging around with English nerds too much. I would never have thought of all this nonsense about the ship being a symbol for the heart before this year. You and Neil have finally done it, you've corrupted me."
"Some would say it was the other way around" she mused, "Neil and I are saints in the eyes of the faculty."
"Exactly, the faculty. The mark of a true corruptor is the concealment, the angelic pretence. I'm honest."
"Honest is one word for it" she teased.
"I'm offended" he gaped mockingly.
"Offended by dear, Miss Murray?" Mr Keating turned to face the pair, "are you sure you didn't deserve it?"
"This is bullying. I deserve an A for this, Sir."
"I look forward to seeing your creativity with words channelled into your work, Mr Dalton. Now, Kat. I haven't seen you since class on Friday, you social butterfly. Are there any questions on your mind about the essay? Or are you all set to hand it in on Monday?"
"I'm all set, thank you Sir."
"Very good. I look forward to reading it" Keating smiled warmly at the two students. "Mr Perry, I must ask how the play is progressing. But for the rest of you, off to bed. I want you bright-eyed and ready to finish those tomorrow. Up you go" he herded them out as he spoke to Neil.
"Todd!" Called Kathleen, catching up with the boy who stood by the corner waiting for his roommate. "You never got the chance to fill me in about the meeting."
"Kat?" Asked Meeks hurriedly, "I was going to look in on Knox before bed. I know it's just past curfew but do you want to risk coming along?"
"We already have detention next week" sulked Charlie, "don't earn yourself another one."
"He's right, Meeks" she said apologetically, "I'm sure Knox will be at breakfast tomorrow. I'll see him then."
XXXX
Kathleen was right. Knox was at breakfast on Sunday morning and he was almost fully functioning again, the last hurdle to normalcy was the embarrassment.
"No, I don't know what I was thinking" he groaned for the third time, "it's a hazy memory and obviously, I wasn't thinking straight."
"Obviously, you still aren't if you don't regret it" said Cameron.
"Why?"
"Because you got the stuffing beaten out of you" deadpanned Charlie.
"It was worth it" Knox stated firmly, reaching up to touch his right cheekbone which was still a little sore from the incident, "my lips touched her skin, only for a moment, but they did."
"Insanity" Kat muttered into her cornflakes.
"What about your date?" Asked Neil, "what did she think about it?"
"She suggested it."
"What!?" Kat almost choked on her cereal. "Jennifer told you to kiss a sleeping girl?"
"Not in those words, she told me to go after Chris, ask her to dance. She also told me not to waste time with girls I'm not interested in, that it will be easy to outdo Chet. I guess that my intoxicated mind took her advice." He shrugged.
Cameron narrowed his eyes, "you do realise how wrong that is, don't you?"
Knox began to protest but Charlie cut him off, "break it up boys. It's only nine o'clock."
"Speaking of Jennifer, where did she go?" Kat asked, " One minute you were together and the next she was gone!"
"Turns out she didn't want a date either. As soon as she figured out I'm in love with Chris she gave me some advice and joined her friends" he beamed, "I couldn't have planned it better. She's on my side!"
"Wow. That was lucky" Kat assented before poking his arm, "are you sure that you're alright now?"
"Fine" he waved her off, "just embarrassed. I'm so sorry about the err-yeah."
"Thanks. Just promise to never do it again."
"Not that I'm ungrateful or anything, but you would make a terrible nurse with that attitude."
"I wholeheartedly agree. I couldn't think worse career for me, except maybe a mathematics teacher. Which would be worse? The gory or the boring?"
"Be thankful that your parents aren't set on medical school" complained Neil, "enough career talk. I propose, that in the spirit of avoiding the noble profession of medicine, you all help me rehearse today. Opening night is a now mere a month away!"
"In the spirit of avoiding medicine" toasted Charlie, holding up his glass of juice.
"In the spirit of avoiding medicine" repeated the group, raising their own juice or mugs of coffee with a cheer.
XXXX
Kathleen had never felt a silence more painful than this one. Nolan knew about her detentions, Hager wouldn't have hesitated to tell him the details but this brought a whole new level to the phrase suffering in silence. More than her usual Sunday evening visits.
"I knew this friendship was trouble. The Dalton boy has dragged many model students down with him through the years, but I thought you were more sensible than this. Playing in the mud, of all things, Kathleen Cordelia Murray; you're seventeen years old! Your parents may not have allowed a debutante ball but you are still a lady and must act like one" Nolan looked down at his granddaughter, "what were you doing?"
"I wanted to sit outside, by the lake. We were caught unaware by the storm."
"That is all?"
"Yes, Grandfather."
"You are forgiven; however, it is not to happen again. Understood?"
She nodded contritely, not daring to voice her doubt about the reality of the situation. She couldn't honestly promise not to get caught in the rain again. It wasn't reasonable. Then again, Nolan wasn't reasonable.
"Now, I did not invite you here to chastise. I invited you here to give you something" Gale Nolan swiftly opened the draw in the right-hand side of his desk and lifted out a small, black, velvet box. "This belonged to your Mother. An eighteenth birthday present" he explained, snapping open the lid to reveal a glimmering diamond pendent, "she left it behind, so I now I am returning it to you as an early birthday gift since you will have left by then."
Kat stared at the shimmering jewel. Captivated by its beauty under the soft glow of the lamp light.
"Nothing would make me happier than its appearance at dinner next Sunday" he passed her the precious gift. "I pushed the date back to allow you to attend the Danburry party this week."
"I'm sorry, I don't understand" she reluctantly shut the box.
"We have guests and will be dining in my quarters. You are to arrive at exactly six o'clock with-"
Her mouth dropped open, "Fraser said-"
"Yes. He will be accompanied by his parents. Do not interrupt me. You are to arrive in your best dress and he will arrange the details with his parents. You may be required to accompany him to my quarters."
Kat inhaled sharply, closed her mouth and tried to regain her composure. With everything that had happened since their conversation, she had completely forgotten about it. "Y-yes" she stammered "of, course."
"Then we have concluded our business. Good night, Kathleen."
"Goodnight."