Five Years in the Life
A/N: So, I got inspired and I didn't have to go to work today because I hurt my foot so you get a 2-for. Yay! Anyway, here is chapter 2. Enjoy and remember, reviews are love! :)
Chapter 2.
She stared in the mirror, her jeans slung low over her lack of hips and her training bra covering her chest. Training bra. She was the only fifteen year-old girl in her school that didn't need an actual bra yet. Debbie Jackson had double D's. Stupid Debbie Jackson. Kate drew her face closer to the mirror and gritted her teeth, baring her braces. She let out a puff of air and her fringe of bangs blew up. She brought a hand up to pat them back down over her forehead. Then, she pushed them back up inspecting her forehead and brow. There were little bumps on her skin from where the hairspray caused her to get pimples. Her eyebrows were okay, though, and she was the only person she knew who could lift only one at a time. She turned her head from side to side watching as her eyes stayed still. They flickered from green to hazel to brown. Cool. She crinkled her nose and giggled as the freckles on her skin scrunched up. She lifted a purple polished nail up to scratch at a zit on her cheek and turned away from the mirror.
Kate sighed and pulled her teal turtleneck sweater down over her head. Dropping down to her knees, she crawled under the bed to grab the knit hat, which had gotten kicked under there days before and dusted it off before pulling it over her long hair. Turning to her closet, she debated between a pair of her favorite broken in Converse and the chunky heeled boots she and her mother had picked out a couple of weeks before. She stared at the black leather boots for a few minutes. They made her really tall and she felt powerful wearing them but they were so high- a whole two and a half inches. Her ankles hurt when she wore them and she walked weird. Maybe next week, after she practiced with them in her room for a while, she decided as she picked up the trusty sneakers.
"Mom! Dad! I'm going out." She yelled across the apartment as she gathered up her jacket, scarf and gloves. She pulled her wallet out of her purse. She had twenty dollars. Perfect.
"Oh, Katie," Johanna yelled from the office. "Can you take the presents to the drop box when you go? The note says they want them in by the fifteenth and that's tomorrow."
"Mom! What did I tell you?" Kate called back, exasperated. She hated being called Katie. She was far too old for the little-girl nickname.
"Oh, I am so sorry, Katherine, can you please take the presents to the drop box?" Her mother responded to the teenager, the teasing nature evident in her voice.
"Sure, Mom. No problem," Kate said, gathering up the unwrapped gifts from the counter.
"Tell Maddie I say 'hi' and be back by nine, okay? Love you!"
"Yes, Mother. Love you, too." Kate rolled her eyes as she opened the door and made her way into the hall. Parents.
"My mom says hi," Kate told Maddie as the two girls made their way down the sidewalk towards the drop off for the Angel Kids.
"Hi, Mom," Maddie replied with a small grin.
"I'll tell her you said so."
Kate placed the gifts in the box and the two turned towards the coffee house across the street. The smell of roasting beans made Kate smile as she dragged her best friend across the street.
"Kate, you hate coffee. Why do you always insist on coming here?" Maddie asked as she watched Kate hand the cashier some money in exchange for her hot chocolate.
"It smells so good. Plus, the atmosphere is cool," Kate argued as she took in the ambiance of the bohemian style coffee house.
"You are so weird."
Kate just shrugged her shoulders at the comment. The coffee house was cool and it was full of college students. It made her feel older just being in their presence. She couldn't wait to get to college and to be a grown up. Being twenty would be awesome. She was sure of it.
"So, what did you ask Santa for this year?" Maddie nudged her shoulder teasingly as they made their way back to the street.
"Boobs." Kate shot back, straight faced.
Maddie barked out a laugh, throwing back her head. "Are you serious?"
"Yup. Wrote him a letter and everything. 'Dear Santa, I have been a very good girl this year. All I would like for Christmas are some really nice breasts.' I considered going to see the Santa at Rockefeller Center as reassurance but decided it would be a bad idea. Sitting on some man's lap asking for boobs would just be creepy."
Maddie had stopped to lean against a building and was bent over in a fit of laughter and Kate rolled her eyes at the other girl. "Come on Mads. Comicadia has a new comic I want."
Maddie sucked in a deep breath and shook her head as she followed Kate down the street. Her friend was so weird. There weren't even any cute boys at comic book stores.
Kate browsed through the bins until she found the book she was looking for and paused to look around for a minute before heading to the cash register. A rack in the center of the store caught her attention and she wandered over to it.
"Hey, Jimmy?" She called to her friend behind the counter. "Why do you have a novel in here?"
"Oh, he used to shop in here all the time so when he got his first novel published we agreed to carry a few copies. You know, for the holiday season," Jimmy Collins replied as he wandered over to stand by Kate's side.
Kate reached out and ran her fingers over the cover A Rose for Ever After.
"Richard Castle," she murmured, seemingly mesmerized by the book.
She flipped the book open to the back cover. Sixteen dollars. She had just enough money if she put back the comic. Her eyes flickered down to the author profile and picture. He was cute, too. She blushed as she closed the hardback, looked down at the Sin City book in her hand then back at the novel again. Swiftly she placed the comic back in its bin and plucked the novel off of the rack.
"I'll take it."
"I can't believe you just spent the rest of your money on a book. We were going to go to the movies," Maddie whined as the pair made their way down the sidewalk once more.
"Sorry Mads. I have to get home anyway. I promised Mom I'd be back by dinner." Kate shrugged as the lie rolled smoothly off of her tongue and she bit her lip.
"Whatever. I'll see you later." Maddie huffed as she leaned over to give her friend a hug before continuing on across the crosswalk with a wave.
Kate turned the corner and made her way back to the coffee house. She still had a couple of dollars and the book was calling to her.
Kate thanked the barista as she accepted her second cup of the day and made her way to an overstuffed chair as she sniffed the contents of the cup. Vanilla latte. She raised the cup to her lips and took a small sip. The bitter liquid hit her tongue and she shrugged. It wasn't half bad. Maybe she could get used to coffee stuff after all, at least every once in awhile. She reached down and picked up her Christmas present to herself.
She lifted her legs up and folded them in the chair, flipping the novel open to rest on her lap as she took another sip of the coffee. "Okay, Richard Castle. Let's see what you've got."
A/N: I think A Rose for Ever After was Castle's first book, or at least one of his first ones. I'm sorry if I got that wrong, but the timing seemed to work. If Kate was 15 then Castle was about 21-22. :)