Disclaimer: I do not own 10 Things I Hate About You or any of the characters, settings, etc.

A/N: This felt like it took forever to write! I hope the next few chapters come a little more easily. Tell me if it feels OOC, please, because I'm not really sure.

Chapter 3-Happy Now?

After talking with Cameron, Patrick resumed his post, leaning against Kat's locker with his arms folded squarely over his chest. He glanced around the hallway to make sure he hadn't missed Kat coming out of the bathroom. He knew she always stopped at her locker before first period. So when he didn't see her, he knew he just had to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

After several long minutes, the final bell rang and the hallways were empty. And he still hadn't met up with Kat. Furrowing his brow, he wondered if she had passed by unnoticed. But that would mean she skipped coming to her locker. Which might mean she was avoiding him. Just as he started fighting off paranoia, the girl's room door swung slowly open, and Kat came shuffling out, head down. She nearly ran into him before she noticed he was there.

"Patrick!" she said, surprised. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I'm never in class...shouldn't you be in class?"

She shrugged in what she hoped was a nonchalant way. "I was...running late this morning."

Patrick narrowed his eyes. "That's weird. Usually beautiful, intelligent girls are very good liars," he said. "What's up, Kat?"

She looked up at him, and he realized she was holding back tears. He instinctively pulled her into a hug. She buried her face in his jacket, and he rested his chin on the top of her head. They stayed that way for a minute. Finally, Kat spoke. Her words were muffled because she was still buried in Patrick's shoulder. He pulled her away and she repeated herself. "I'm not supposed to care what people think."

Patrick smiled. "I know. Who cares what they think? Seriously. They're idiots, as you so nicely explained in your election video." She looked at him like he was not helping, so he sighed, "It'll get better. It's only Monday. I promise it'll get better." In his head, Patrick was calculating how fast Cameron could spread a rumor and when that might start affecting people's treatment of Kat. He figured it wouldn't take more than a day for things to start getting better. Until then..."You want to sneak out of here at lunch?" he asked. He expected her to say no; especially with how much trouble she was in with her dad, he knew Kat wouldn't want to break the rules. So he was genuinely shocked (but glad) when she agreed.

"I'll meet you by your bike at 12," she said.

"Kat, wait up!" Blank jogged up to Kat as she was leaving first period.

She turned on her heels at his voice. Glaring at him, she crossed her arms and tilted her head. "What do you want?" she spat.

"Kat, can we please talk? I've felt terribly all week."

"It's called a conscience. I guess you're not used to having one."

"I swear I had nothing to do with replacing your campaign video. I wanted to win, but not this way. Tabitha was the one-but I'm sure you've already figured out that she was the one who switched the tapes. I had no idea she was going to do it, though, I promise you that. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Kat repeated her Buddhist mantra in her head and took a couple of deep breaths. Finally, she sighed, "It's fine, Blank. Really. As Buddha says, 'Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.' I just want to move on with my life and forget this whole fiasco."

"Well, that shouldn't be hard," he smiled. They were standing on one of the balconies overlooking the quad. Blank tilted his head towards the students below, and Kat followed his gaze to where Patrick was standing. "With motorcycle-man terrorizing anyone who looks at you wrong, I'm sure people will stop harassing you pretty quickly."

Kat snapped her head back to look at Blank. "What are you talking about? Patrick isn't terrorizing anyone."

"That's not the word around here." Blank leaned in close to Kat. "I hear he broke Cameron James' leg because he suspected him of switching your tapes."

Kat shook her head. "That's not possible. Patrick and I talked about it last week. He knows it was Tabitha. Besides, he wouldn't beat anyone up."

"He tried beating me up! How is that so different?"

Kat faltered. "He...he didn't like you taking me on a date. That was different."

"He was defending his property, the same as he's doing now." Blank put a hand on Kat's shoulder. "Not that I'm saying you don't deserve to be defended. But if it were me, I would defend you as a gentleman. Not an owner."

Kat's face was turning red, first from embarrassment, then from anger. Not only was she angry at what Blank was suggesting, she was indignant that what started as an apology ended with Blank trying to wedge himself between her and Patrick. She shrugged her shoulder so that his hand was no longer resting on it. "You'd better hope those rumors aren't true," she said icily. "Because if Patrick's beating people up for me, I'm sicking him on you next."

Kat wasn't able to find Cameron until after third period. Finally, she spotted him coming out of his algebra class. She pulled him to the side. "Cameron!" she said, with a huge grin on her face. She was forcing herself to be happy so she wouldn't kill someone. "How's the leg? What the heck happened, anyway?"

"Um...that's...that's a little unclear at this point," he answered, looking at her strangely. Her chipper attitude was unnerving him.

Kat's smile faded. "Alright, listen," she said plainly. "I can't do that fake nice crap. Why are people saying that Patrick beat you up?"

Cameron feigned ignorance. "Wha...What? That's crazy. You're crazy! No one's saying that."

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. "I heard from Charlie that he broke your leg in three places! I heard from some girl in the bathroom that you had to go in for surgery!"

Cameron put his hand up, "See, that's just crazy. It's a hairline fracture, and nothing more."

"Tell me where the rumor started."

With a threatening look from Kat, Cameron finally told the truth, and it came out so fast she could hardly understand him. "Patrick told me to start a rumor so that people would stop bugging you, and then Bianca turned that into him breaking my leg, and then it all sort of...snowballed from there..." his voice faded out as he waited for Kat to scream, or smack him, or both. To his surprise, she did neither.

"Thank you for telling me. Now if you'll excuse me...I have to meet someone for lunch," she said, "Someone who is so dead," she added under her breath.