Disclaimer: Nothing.
Author's Notes: Oh, I have had SUCH writers block, this is the THIRD attempt to write this chapter, and the actual good one out of the three. Still, I don't think it's really up to my par. On a more personal note, I am up in Jersey dealing with some family business. I'll have time to write here and there, but I can't promise speedy updates, though I will try and make them long. ANYWAY, I'm think I'll have about 2-3 more chapters, leaving room for a sequel if I so choose to write one. I have about 15 story ideas but I want to come to some closure with this. There will be another party either next chapter or the chapter after, and lots more Dia/Kat interaction. And, dare I suggest it, a little Patrick asking Bianca for help. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed and such, it means so, so much to me. **And to Mshrmit, thank you so, so much for your suggestions, I'm not ignoring them I promise, I do enjoy and think about all your input, it means a lot to me. One of the reasons I kept some things from the filler chapter and placed them in chapter 13 (even though it made for a bit of confusion/awkwardness, was because I wanted the single scene and concentration/focus on Patrick. But, really, thank you.
I hope you all enjoy, keep an open mind and stay positive. Smiles! Happy Readings!
Chemistry was no stranger to them. No one had ever made her body rise several degrees by a simple whisper, a simple touch. Justin wouldn't be able to hold a flame next to Patrick. Not even a spark.
She knew that this chemical reaction was not one sided. It was in the way he held her, the way he talked to her, the way his tongue darted across his lips right as he leaned into her. It was definitely there. Both sides.
Chemistry was, hands down, not their problem.
Now, as she took a shower, crashed across her bed, listened to her sister scream up the stairs and into her curtain closed room, slept, got ready for school, and now drove to school, she thought up of several things that were, in fact, their problem.
Numero uno was of course her lack of faith in the male species. Then you had his whole play list of blonde, brunette, and redhead trailer trash bumpkins. Let's not forget the fact that every time, every single bloody damn time, they tried to talk it ended in a fight. And, when all was said and done, when hands and lips had returned to their rightful owners, neither of them could tell you what they were fighting about. Silent treatments and accusations of mental illnesses rang familiar bells, but she chose to ignore those chimes.
Maybe it was because she didn't want to deal with all of this. And, it had nothing to do with Patrick. It had everything to do with how she let herself get too comfortable and all hell broke loose. Everything and everyone eventually left her, so, why put yourself out there to get hurt? It wasn't like Patrick was some expert. He fudged it up almost as often as she did.
And, to make it even more fun, they were both self preserved, stubborn, morons. So, you know, that helped out a lot when they were in the middle of fighting about who was in the right and who was in the wrong.
She held in a sigh, briefly closing her eyes as they stopped at a red light. Images from the night before were embedded on her eyelids, causing her to see that lusty, lazy look upon his face. The look that made her whole insides want to erupt with lava as the heat slowly crept across her veins.
Oh, how misery loved her.
"When did you get home last night?" She was shaken from her thoughts, her eyes darting over to her blonde passenger.
"I don't know, while you and dad were belting out arguments."
"He's just so unhinged." Bianca rolled her eyes and twisted the cap of her lip gloss.
"You just thank some higher power that he didn't ground you. I know that it would kill you if you can't be with your new boy toy." Kat smirked, causing her sister to glare at her.
"And what about you, Kitty Kat, what happened with your knight on his shiny bike?"
"I went to his house, got to meet Dia, his cousin, and then had dinner with him, her, and his mom." A half hearted shrug followed her description.
"His cousin?" Bianca paled slightly. "I guess that's a big apology on my part."
"It's not a big deal. We ended up fighting anyway." A sigh escaped her lips as the blonde eyebrows began to tug together. "He didn't call me or text me. That's just good manners."
"So? You ignored him after the dance."
"He ditched me!" Kat pulled into the parking lot, finding a decent parking spot for once. "I should have gotten on bended knee and forgiven him?"
"He was wrongly accused of doing drugs and was hauled off by the police. It's not like he skipped out from the bathroom and then ran like hell."
Kat looked at her sister. "There was still reason to ignore him."
"Which, I'm sure, being as how you two are basically of sound mind, he had his own set of reasons."
"You're defending him? I listened to you berate him and the whore for the whole weekend."
"Yes." She nodded her head, her perfect locks bouncing. "But now it's Tuesday and I think you're over reacting."
"You think I should be stalking him!"
"And if you had been, this would have all been taken care of."
Silence filtered over the car.
"Get out."
"Oh," Bianca rolled her eyes and swung the passenger door open. "Admit it." Kat gave her a slightly confused look along with her pissed of features. "You want him to want you."
With a wink and a giggle, Bianca was already rushing up towards the school.
Kat watched her sister's retreating back, let out a muffled groan/scream, and then allowed her head to drop onto the steering wheel; causing several students in the area to jump as the horn echoed from the hood.
---
The quad was bright, loud, and crowded, just like any normal day. Kat was laying in the grass, her eyes closed and her hands tucked underneath her head. Mandella was sitting next to here, watching her with a raised eyebrow.
"So, if it was just his cousin, and you two were on the brink of doing it, why did you avoid him in homeroom and third period?"
"We were not on the brink of doing it, Mandella." She heard her friend's overly loud scoff. "Shut up."
"I just want to know why you're avoiding him."
"I am not avoiding him." Kat's eyes remained closed. "I'm just thinking some stuff over."
"Like what?" The Goth girl rolled her eyes and nudged Kat. "I seriously don't like this whole development, but even I know that the two of you have so much built up tension, it's uncomfortable for other people."
"That's just it, Mandella," brown eyes opened, looking at her friend. "Patrick and I don't talk. We beat around the bush so much that nothing gets said and nothing gets done." Her eyes closed once again and she shifted her hips into the grass. "It's all about kissing and touching and thoughts that are not meant to be thought."
"So, go talk to him without any of the touching or kissing or thoughts." Mandella looked over the quad, spotting the raven haired boy. He sat at a table far off into the corner, his eyes staring at them in vague interest.
"It's easier said then done."
"Well then, I guess you're not the strong minded, empowered woman that you make yourself out to be." Kat's eyes darted open, staring at Mandella with a wild expression.
---
He had chosen his table very carefully. It had to be hidden just slightly, but still give him the advantage point to see her. He was about ninety-seven percent sure she had not spotted him. Even though, he figured, Mandella had.
With a furrowed brow, he watched as Kat jumped from her laying position on the grass to an annoyed sitting position to better glare at her Gothic friend. It was hard to keep from smirking and chuckling. The girl was a real, live, spitfire.
"Well, I'm taking time to get over Bianca." Patrick's smirk fell from his face, his neck moving slowly to stare up at the gangly tower of teenage angst standing on the opposite side of the table.
"That's very special." His tone was overly dry, his eye brow raising high as Cameron sighed deeply and sat down at his table. Intense eyes looked around, this was obviously a joke. "Did we become, like, best friends? And I just simply wasn't aware of it."
The taller boy ignored Patrick, his chin falling into his palm. "I told her I needed space."
"I thought I told you to man up?" This, too, went ignored.
"Our relationship is very fragile, I need to come to terms with things." He noticed that Cameron's eyes were off towards the middle of the quad, right around the cheerleader's table. "Bianca wants me to be her doting friend, the one she can always run too. But if I keep playing that role, I'll never get anything out of it. Maybe if I give her space, make her miss me, she'll realize how important I am and how much she likes me. And I'll be able to get over all those left over feelings."
"So, basically," Patrick placed his hand out. "You want her to miss you and realize how valuable a person you are to her life, while you get over her and realize how invaluable she is in yours?" He nodded, looking back over to Kat who looked three seconds from beating up her only confidant. "Makes perfect sense to me."
Cameron looked away from the blonde and shifted to look at Patrick. His glaze followed the rebel's eyes, only to land on a certain brunette who seemed to be silently arguing with her scary friend (who, it had to be said, was barely paying attention to the brunette's quiet ranting).
"Why should I listen to you anyway?" Patrick turned his head, giving Cameron a very loud look. "You can't even get your own girlfriend to like you back."
There was a very long pause, in which Patrick was looking at Cameron, factoring in distance and wind variables.
"Cameron, are you just not afraid of me?"
"No, I am." The boy hung his head in shame, his hand covering his eyes. "I'm just saying."
They sat in silence, both looking over to Kat who was now pouting, glaring, and had folded her arms. Much like a two year old.
"Why are you so hooked on her?" Patrick turned to look at Cameron, watching as the boys eyes hovered over Kat and Mandella with feign interest. "Before she came along it was whatever flavor of the week. Right?"
"Something like that." He cleared his throat, looking over to Kat.
There was just something about her that drew him in. She wasn't anything like the girls he normally let hang around him. She was smart and intellectual and conscious. Politically, academically, socially, the girl was passionate about, everything. She cared about other things besides what she was going to wear for the day and how she was going to do her hair. She didn't carry around a tiny little purse or a designer wallet. She didn't mind getting dirty and she was damn sexy when she was getting greasy.
Oh, and the chemistry between them was off the charts. Lust ran through his entire being every time a sarcastic drawl left her lips or her eyes sparkled with unspoken laughter.
He wanted to throw himself under the train and take her down with him.
Not that it was just about sex. There was a lot more to it. But, well, hey, he was seventeen and it was partly about sex.
"So, why her?"
"Because," he watched as she stood up. He could see the anger radiating off her body. "She's the only girl I know who can look that pissed off, and possibly be a little lethal, and still be the brightest thing to cross my path."
Before Cameron could say anything Kat stomped to the table, slamming her hand onto the table.
"You, me, chemistry lab, now." She glared at him with heated irises, and then picked her hand off the table and made her way, almost violently, back into the school.
Patrick watched her for several minutes before looking over to Cameron and grabbing his stuff.
"Well," he smirked and shot off a salute to the brown haired boy. "See you later."
Cameron lamely lifted his arm and saluted the rebel back.
---
"Well, as you all know, in two weeks it will be Halloween." Bianca looked away from her sister's entrance into the school and Patrick's lag behind her. She turned to take in Chastity who was smiling widely above the table. "Which means that it will be my annual Masquerade Party. So, who knows what the squad should dress up as?" Megan raised her hand and started opening her mouth, Chastity held up a finger and shook her head. "No, not you. Not after that Charlie Brown cast idea."
Dawn leaned in close to Bianca. "That was almost three years ago."
"How about we go as the Marie Antoinette cast?" Bianca said, not thinking. God only knew where she had even gotten the idea from. She had a feeling it had something to do with Kat.
Chastity stared at her, the table in hushed silence. An 'Mm-Mmm' noise slipped from her pouty lips, her eyes looking up to the blue sky in a thought.
"So, I would be like, the Queen of England?" Bianca stared at her.
"Yeah, sort of, something like that."
"So I could be the queen, and you guys would be my servants?"
"I think, what Bianca means," Tess stated, looking over to the blonde. "Is that you would be the Queen, of France, and we would be the Princesses and members of the court. We could even do a royal theme for the party!"
Chastity looked down at Tess and then over to Bianca and Dawn, who were both smiling widely. "I think I like it. A royal theme? That might have to be thought on but I think we can work it out. Perfect!" Chastity gave the table a smile and threw her arm in the air. "Go team!"
Tess jumped up to follow Chastity who began to walk away from the table.
"A royal theme, huh?" Megan leaned forward. "That's going to be fun."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Did she actually think we would actually be her servants? Is she on crack?"
Bianca sighed, looked up and prepared herself to say something. She stopped as she saw Joey walking out from the cafeteria. He spotted her right away, his smile broadening and his hand motioning her to come over to him.
"I, um, I think it's a good idea. I support it. Excuse me." Bianca jumped up startling both Megan and Dawn.
The blonde rushed past the table, weaving through the various cliques and students that were scattered across the quad. She couldn't help the smile on her face as she made her way in front of Joey.
"Hey five head." He leaned over, kissing the top of her head.
"Joey, not here." Bianca took a step back from him, looking around frantically. Her heart began to beat again as she noticed Chastity was no where in sight and that the cheer squad table was distracted.
"Sorry, I'm sorry." His smile never faltered as he grabbed her hand and walked her over to the side of the school, away from prying eyes. "What's up?"
Bianca shrugged, pushing some hair off his forehead. "We were just discussing Chastity's Masquerade Party."
"And what did you guys decide on."
"A royal theme, possibly." Joey laughed.
"How is that any different then any other year for her?"
"I don't know." Bianca giggled, leaning slightly into Joey as he stood against the wall.
"I saw your sister walking towards the chemistry labs." With Patrick right behind her, Bianca added mentally. She sighed and shrugged, praying that nothing happened physically to the two. She really didn't feel like rushing off to the hospital or the jail house because her sister chose today to kill the delinquent boy. "Go out with me on Friday."
Bianca was shaken from her thoughts, her eyes darting to catch his.
"What?"
"I want to be with you, five head." His arm gestured to the side of them. "I don't care about anyone in this whole school. I want to date you and be with you. Chastity can go and, I don't know," he shrugged. "Be herself."
"Joey, I," Bianca began searching his face. "I don't know."
Instead of looking down, as she thought he would, he was still smiling, his eyes filled with his perpetual happiness.
"Don't worry, I know what your answer will be." He leaned down and captured her lips with his. It lasted for a short time, but the feelings that associated with the kiss busted through Bianca's stomach. "See you later five head. Be good." He winked at her, ruffling her hair.
"I will." A cheesy smile spread across Bianca's face. "Bye."
A squeal erupted from the blonde as she began jumping up and down.
---
The hall was deserted, save for a few random students and a teacher who was standing by the large doors at the end. He knew exactly which lab she had been referring too because it was the oldest lab, one of the few classrooms that was barely ever used.
He stood just outside the door, watching Kat through the little window. Her lips were in a straight line and her eyes were glassed over, staring at nothing. He had a feeling that this was not going to go well, at all. He knew enough about Kat to know that she would not tolerate every argument solved with a steamy make-out session. As he had pointed out, more so to remind himself, she was not like other girls. She was going to argue whatever it was long after it had been pressed into the ground.
She was simply that type of chick.
"Hey." He smirked, sliding into the room and closing the door. He made sure to armor himself with his flirtiest lip position, and smoky glaze. However, as he neared the table she sat at, he slowly began to undo his facial weapons. "And what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Patrick, I can't do this." And, whoa, she was hitting him with the hard stuff first.
Dark eyes stared at her, looking as if they wanted to widen, but remaining at a normal size. A long, harsh sigh escaped his lungs and filtered across the space between them. It was always so god damn hard with her.
"Do what, Kat?" He figured if he played stupid, she would have to think more ineptly about what she was saying as she was saying it. Hopefully she'd come to her senses.
"This, us, whatever we're doing." Her voice was lifeless, just a level short of monotone. "I can't be in a relationship that is purely based on sex."
She really was crazy, he thought as he leaned over the table, getting down to eye level with her.
"Kat, to have a relationship, purely based on sex, we would have to be having sex." He motioned at her and then himself. "We have not had sex yet."
"What if your mother didn't knock on the door?" AH-HA! He knew it, he knew that she did want to have sex with him. Or, well, he knew the chemistry between them kept pulling them in that direction, but at least she was openly admitting to it. Sort of.
"I don't know, what would have happened?" He noticed that his voice was eerily calm. Even though his mind was racing and he felt several different things as he stared at her, he couldn't produce a smirk to play along with his feign ignorance. Somehow, somewhere above him, the weight of the situation was touching him.
"We can't solve every argue with sex. Shit, Patrick!" She moved off the stool, moving to pace between their table and the table behind it. "We fight for no reason. No logical reason at all."
"Because we like each other." Dia had explained the situation. Damn her and her stupid psych classes. "Because when two people who are not good with all the relationship crap try and be together, they tend to fight."
Kat had stopped pacing. Even though his head was down and he couldn't actually see her, he knew exactly what expression was on her face.
"I can't do this."
Another sigh slipped his lips and he looked up. Her face was determined and her arms were crossed. There was something in her eyes that was suggestive of the contrary to her words, but it wasn't enough proof.
"Are we still on this whole ignoring thing? I told you I was so--"
"No, I'm not on that. I'm on the page where I'm tired of fighting and then kissing and then getting so worked up. I'm not one to get work up." He gave her a skeptical look. "Not about boys, Patrick. You're not one of my causes or a charity case. You're no different then another guy out there." Her arms dropped, one of them waving loosely towards the door. She leaned back on her heels, her hand running through her hair as her eyes seemed to move around the room.
"I'm no different?" He stood up, taking two long strides to get in front of her. Using his height to his full advantage, he looked down at her, coaxing her to meet his stare.
"No, you're not." Her voice was so small, he had to strain to hear her. This was obviously a joke.
"Kat," he leaned down, only to find air. His head dropped, his chin hitting his chest. Standing up straight he looked over to the side to see Kat with a poker face that was hardly hers. He couldn't see past anything other then her hard set stare.
"See." She stated lamely. "I can't do this." And without a look, a sound, or even a goodbye, Kat had disappeared from the chemistry lab. Leaving Patrick with a knot in his stomach and a scowl across his face.