Chapter 6
Song: Fools in Love by Inara George
Kate slowly woke up and groaned. It had been two weeks since she met James. Her mom had come home, but she had had to leave again recently, so Kate was perpetually on her guard. She slowly got out of bed and stretched. Today was her least favorite day of the year: School yearbook picture day. She made a quick decision; today would be a day to relax and catch up on homework. She quickly pulled on a pair of comfortable pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a sweatshirt and climbed out the window. A quick walk in the woods would clear her mind.
'Okay,' she thought. 'So a quick walk turned into a two hour walk.' She approached the edge of the woods slowly. 'No big deal. Not like I had anything else to do.' All thought disappeared from her mind as she saw a shadow move around the corner of her house. The person came farther and farther out from the house, as if they were trying to see into her room. Thankful she had left her lamp on because it made it look like someone was in there; she quickly snuck up behind the person until she was about five feet away. She then ran forward as the person turned. She suddenly realized who it was but it was too late to stop. Kate slammed into James and they both fell to the ground hard. She expected him to wince or groan but he didn't; he just grinned.
"Well Freckles, I figured this would happen sooner or later, but I never figured it'd be you," he grinned widely as her blush deepened.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, you southern pervert," she replied as she stood up, brushed herself off, and offered him a hand up. He took it and she pulled him up with an ease that surprised him. He wondered what else he didn't know about her. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I could ask you the same question. I've been waitin' in my truck for an hour and I was startin' to get worried." James watched as she climbed up the terrace, and then carefully followed her.
"It's yearbook picture day," Kate replied. "And unlike most girls, I don't want to have a photographic record of the worst years of my life." She climbed into her room and reached back to give James a hand in. He held onto it for a moment longer than necessary while he got his bearings. She pulled away, her face creased with uneasiness, as she listened intently. Relaxing after a minute of silence, she flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes. "I was going to use today to catch up on my homework and on my sleep but I woke up and had to get out of this house, so I went for a walk and lost track of time." She watched James examining her room with interest, but froze when she distantly heard the phone ring. A voice spoke for a moment, then the phone was slammed down, and footsteps came thundering up the stairs. "Quick, get in the closet," she whispered, jumping up and grabbing his arm.
"Kate–" James began as he was pulled toward the small, dark room.
"There's no time. Don't worry, he won't hurt me," she added, seeing the worried look in his eyes. "But if he saw that you were here…" That convinced him. He pulled the door almost shut; leaving just a crack so he could make sure Wayne didn't try anything.
The door to Kate's room burst open, revealing an obviously drunk Wayne. This normally wouldn't have fazed Kate in the slightest, but today there was something else. Today there was one difference, and that one difference terrified Kate beyond all reason.
Today, Wayne had a gun.
The gun was the first thing James noticed and it took all his self control to keep from jumping out of the closet and throttling Wayne. The only thing that kept him still was Kate's warning.
"Got a call from your school earlier!" Wayne shouted. "Why aren't ya there? No one wants you here, especially me. You know that!"
Kate yelled defensively, "Yeah, yeah, I know that. Can't you just get out of here?"
And eerie smiled played on Wayne's lips as he moved his hand to his back pocket. "Not today, Katie-girl."
Kate watched as he drew out a gun and pointed it directly at her. Her eyes widened in fear and her breathing hitched. "Wayne…" she spoke with fear etched in her voice, "What are you doing with that gun?"
Wayne didn't answer as he slowly advanced towards Kate.
James was out of the closet within a matter of seconds, lunging at Wayne. They both wrestled for the gun. James was successful at getting it out of Wayne's grasp momentarily, but Wayne punched him in the face instantly, knocking him down. He grabbed the gun and hit the butt of it on the back of James' head. He was out cold instantly.
Wayne advanced on Kate. "Who is that, you little witch!"
"He's no one!" she shouted.
Wayne drew out his gun again and pointed it at her once more. "You're really gonna get it now."
Kate simply stood there in fear, not able to move. Tears filled her eyes as he moved towards her. She took a step backwards.
Then he started to hit her. Hard. She tried to fight back, but he was too strong. She wouldn't be winning that night. After several minutes, Wayne stopped beating her, and she let out a sigh of relief. But she tensed again seconds later when she felt him put the gun to her head.
"James," a voice called out distantly. "James, come on, wake up, we have to get out of here. He's gone, but he'll be back soon. Please James, you have to get up." He could hear the urgency and fear in Kate's voice, and he saw shapes swimming at the edges of his vision. He blinked, and his vision slowly began to clear, leaving a relieved face in place of the darkness. Glancing around, he winced. His head throbbed where Wayne had hit him with the gun.
"Where is he?" James asked darkly, his fury returning as his head cleared.
"He's downstairs, but he'll be back soon," Kate replied, not looking at him.
James sat up. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Kate nodded quickly.
"He didn't do anything to you?" James asked.
"No," Kate answered, a little too quickly. "He just beat me up a little bit. No big deal."
James nodded, looking a little relieved. "Glad you're okay. I thought he was gonna—" his voice broke off.
"Yeah," Kate replied softly. "Me too."
James looked at her as she pulled him up. She had bruises shaped like fingers up and down her arms. Her left eye was swelling rapidly and she had a red handprint on the right side of her face. Her eyes were swollen from crying.
Without warning, Kate grabbed him and hugged him tight, breathing in the smell of oil and grease that perpetually hung around all his clothes, just glad that they were both alive to tell the tale. He glanced down at her in surprise as she released him.
"Come on," she said softly. "We have to be out of here before he gets his strength back." She gathered up a few things and headed out the window, James following behind her. She climbed down quickly and waited as James went slowly to avoid making his head hurt any worse. 'How could I have gotten him involved in all this?' she asked herself. 'He deserves better than to be beat up by some jerk who thinks the whole world should bow down to him. I'll get revenge on Wayne for what he did to me and James. He'll regret the day he stepped foot into our lives.' These thoughts soothed Kate. She followed James to his truck and they drove to his house for lunch. They talked for a better part of the afternoon and soon Michael came over.
"Hey there, where have you two been?" He asked as soon as he came in the door. He had met Kate a week before.
"We decided we don't like yearbook pictures," James replied blandly. Michael saw the looks on James and Kate's face and decided to drop it at that. He knew what Kate's family was like and, having a similar situation at home, he understood the need to just escape them once in a while.
Michael joined in their conversation and they talked into the evening. James threw together some sandwiches from the random assortment of ingredients in his fridge, causing Kate to remark about his eating habits.
"Freckles, I could shock you with my amazing abilities," James replied, his trademark grin coming into play. Michael choked and James whacked him hard on the back. "There's no need for that Mike, I don't think she believed me anyway."
Kate rolled her eyes. "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised." She began to gather up her things as they finished.
"What're you doin'?" James asked suspiciously.
"Getting my stuff. My mom should be home by now." Kate refused to look at either of them as they stared at her in disbelief. "She can keep Wayne in line."
"Where was your mom?" Michael asked, cutting James off and shooting him a look that told him to leave it because he couldn't afford to get involved.
"She had to go to Arkansas a couple of days ago to arrange a funeral for my Great Uncle Austin. He was this really annoying old man that nobody in my family liked. My mom looked after him until we moved here because he took care of her after her parents died when she was thirteen. The funeral was this morning and her flight back here landed about two hours ago so Wayne will be…otherwise occupied." Kate scowled at this latest thought.
"What about the gun?" James demanded before Michael could stop him. "Even her charms can't stop him from using that."
"Don't worry about the gun. It's not dangerous. It never was." Kate turned so the two wouldn't be able to see her fury and tears.
"How do you figure? Did you-" James began
"Just drop it okay?" Kate asked as she turned around.
"Okay," he replied, seeing the pain in her eyes. "So, when're you getting' your ride?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Actually, I meant to ask you about that. I've almost got the money to buy it, but I was wondering if I could keep it over here. Wayne considers everything in the house his and I don't want him anywhere near it." 'Or me, ever again' she added silently.
James grinned as she finished her request and looked up at him with those puppy dog eyes. "'Course, Freckles. And tell you what; I'll ever fix the transmission you told me was fried."
"Really!" she squealed, her mood suddenly lifting.
"You bet." James was suddenly caught in a whirlwind of curls as Kate threw herself at him in a gigantic hug. His hands flew up to return it, and he breathed in the sweet scent of her chestnut brown hair.
"Thanks," she said softly as she released him. She grabbed her stuff and headed out the front door towards his truck. "Bye Michael."
Michael had been standing silently throughout this whole exchange, and his eyes widened when he saw James' reaction to Kate's hug. Now he raised his hand in a silent goodbye as he watched his friend closely.
"That's the second time today she's done that," James said quietly. His mind was in an uproar as the million different views that were normally totally different all screamed the same realization at him.
Michael studied his friend. "Don't do it, man," he said after a minute.
"Do what?" James asked quizzically.
"James, don't fall for the cute, wide-eyed sophomore with problems at home. That's the last thing you can afford to get involved in."
James was silent for a moment. "Too late," he replied finally and followed Kate out the door.
