A/N: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, guys. I'm out of school now and I have some new story ideas, so I might work on those while I'm working on finishing Problem Girl as well. Thanks so much for your guys' continued patience and encouragement. Your reviews mean the world to me. This chapter continues right where the last one left off. I hope you guys enjoy it :D

She was pretty sure Sara was purposely taking her own sweet time with that bowl of ice cream just to spite her.

No, she was almost positive.

The bowl of mint chocolate chip had arrived at the table almost fifteen minutes ago and had she had only taken about three or four bites. Catherine was no stranger to brain freeze, but this was just plain ridiculous. Either Sara really didn't like her, or she was a person who genuinely enjoyed their ice cream.

After sitting in the ice cream parlor for forty five minutes, Sara's bowl of ice cream was really more like soup now. But she still took her time with it, and Catherine figured that she must be a fantastic actress because she was acting as if she never got ice cream at all.

But Catherine didn't say anything-- she just sat politely and stayed quiet.

Finally when Sara was done with her ice cream, she went up to the counter to pay. She patted the pockets of her jacket first, and then the pockets of her torn jeans for cash. Her face fell when her search came up empty. "Oh... shit."

"No money?" the old man behind the counter asked with a thick southern drawl. Sara just shot him a small smile. "That's okay Sara, I'll let you off this time. You watch that mouth of yours though, got it?"

"Thanks," Sara sighed in obvious relief. "And will do."

Sara walked back over to their table and picked up her textbooks she had brought with her from school, glancing over at Catherine. "Well, I have to go. This was, uh..." she fought for the right word. "Nice."

As Sara was turning to leave Catherine stopped her. "Hey, Sara?"

Sara turned around at that. Catherine actually called her by her honest, God-given name. No one at school did, they called her "Sidle" (she had come to despise her last name for it) and when she was at home she was called varying degrees of "Slut" on the good days. "Yeah?"

Catherine shrugged, suddenly feeling put on the spot. Why did Sara make her feel so nervous? Was it because she knew Sara could easily kick her ass, or was it something else? "Want to go for a walk?"

Sara stared at Catherine for a long moment before her face broke out into a small smile. "Sure."

--

The park was a bountiful sight of green trees, lush grass and colorful flowers. The sky was a blue enigma and the clouds looked like pillows. The smell of Spring was in the air, alive and well, and...

Catherine had to stop stalling for time. Now. She had to.

She was never one for awkward silences, and awkward silences with someone you've only just met was a thousand times worse. She could tell Sara didn't really know what to say anymore than she did. And in truth, she wasn't sure exactly what she was supposed to say; "We've only just met and we know absolutely nothing about each other, but do you want to be friends?" seemed to jump the gun a little.

And the silence wasn't lost on Sara either, who had spent the entire walk thus far staring down at her beat-up sneakers.

Finally Catherine decided to speak. "So... the guy at the ice cream shop. You two seemed pretty friendly."

Judging by the look Sara gave her, Catherine knew that she took what she said the wrong way.

"What, you think I'm some sort of misfit turning tricks for extra cash?" Sara asked, stopping dead in her tracks. "You think I'm so screwed up I'm seeking solace in the first available warm body I find? That I'd rather blow some old guy than face reality?"

Catherine was stunned, simply at a loss for words. Somehow she regained her ability to speak. "What-- I-I don't...y-you, I-don't..." Somewhat.

Sara practically died of laughter right then and there, tears instantly springing to her eyes. "God, I'm sorry, Catherine. That was just too easy."

Catherine's look of confusion quickly turned into one of both anger and amusement. "Hey! Now that was just cruel!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Sara tried to apologize through her giggles. "But I couldn't resist."

Catherine tried her hardest not to smile, crossing her arms over one another. "So what's the real story? He your grandpa or something?"

Sara made a sound that sounded like a scoff, her laughter disappearing. Catherine instantly missed it. "Nah, he's just an old family friend. He used to supply the ice cream and dairy for my parent's B&B before it went out of business."

Catherine nodded as they started walking again. So Sara did have parents who apparently had at one time a successful business. "You guys get a lot of traffic in there?"

"At first," Sara told her. "But then it started to die down. Eventually no one came at all and they had to close it. It was costing too much to maintain the place. It was a piece of shit, really."

Scratch that-- unsuccessful business.

"So where do you guys live now?" Catherine inquired. She was hoping Sara wouldn't get suspicious as to why she was asking so many questions. She didn't really know the answer.

"Some equally shitty place on the other side of town," Sara replied. "You?"

"My mom and I are living in a house down near the bay," Catherine told her.

"Sounds nice." Stuck-up rich folk nice, Sara thought to herself.

As they continued walking the small talk continued until Catherine couldn't stand it anymore. She had been stalling for time until she found the courage to ask the questions she really wanted to ask Sara, but she couldn't do it anymore.

She was contemplating on how to approach the topics when Sara spoke.

"I never should've let that son of a bitch hit me," she laughed ruefully, inspecting her knuckles as she did so. Catherine could tell by their swollen appearance that Sara used them often. "I let my guard down. That was stupid of me."

"Well..." Catherine started. "Maybe you should let your guard down more often."

Sara snorted at that. "So I can get socked in the face some more? No thanks."

"So you can let people in," Catherine clarified.

Sara stared at Catherine for a moment, pondering this. She had her walls up 24/7 and through the years had even thought about installing a moat with man-eating alligators in it. The thought of "letting people in" made her cringe. The last time she had tried to let someone in she had just ended up getting hurt.

At first, she was sure that was what Catherine was trying to get her to do. Now, she wasn't quite sure of anything.

Sara let out a sigh, pacing back and forth in the middle of the dirt path. "I've tried that before, you know. You let people in just long enough for them to learn exactly how to hurt you."

"I wouldn't hurt you," Catherine replied. This made Sara stop in mid-step and glance over at her again. "I mean not intentionally... everyone does stupid things. But I would never purposely do anything to hurt you."

Sara looked at Catherine with a small smile, and for a split second she sensed that she was telling the truth. "You know, with that tone I almost believe you." She started walking again and headed over to a tree stump in the middle of the playground.

"I am telling the truth," Catherine followed her. "You just have to be willing to listen to it. Are you willing to give this a shot?"

"Give what a shot?" Sara asked, sitting down on the stump. "Risk humiliating myself?"

"No, risk gaining a friend," Catherine told her, keeping her cool. Even though they had only spent about two hours together now, Catherine was pretty sure she knew how Sara operated.

Sara just shrugged, trying to avoid the question. Part of her wanted to leap at the suggestion and squeeze Catherine in a giant hug and go to her house for cookies and milk after school every day and for them to help each other with their homework. The other part of her wanted to run for the hills and never look back. She wasn't sure if now qualified as a time to get the hell out of Dodge.

Without asking, Catherine joined Sara on the tree stump and Sara instantly scooted away. Catherine didn't move any closer, respecting her space. "So are you going to tell me?"

"Tell you about what?" Sara mumbled uncomfortably. The close proximity between Catherine and herself was making her heart race and she wasn't quite sure why.

"About what started the fight between you and Bobby," Catherine replied. "You've been avoiding the question ever since I first asked you."

"Why do you want to know?" Sara asked.

"Why won't you say?" Catherine shot back.

"Because it doesn't matter," Sara told her. "It's unimportant."

"If it's unimportant, then why can't you say?"

Sara shot up from her place on the tree stump, getting frustrated. "Because it's not important, goddamn it!"

Catherine could sense Sara's temper was rising now. She wasn't sure if she wanted to test her or not. A part of her was curious as to what would happen if she did. "See, now you're just trying to get me angry so I'll drop it. I'm not going to drop it."

Sara looked over at Catherine, fire in her eyes. "Have you ever stopped to think that maybe I don't want to tell a whiny little bitch like you everything?"

Catherine flinched slightly at Sara's harsh words, but she held strong. "Well this whiny little bitch happens to be class president. I'm going to have to tell the principal about what happened back there, one way or another."

Sara laughed bitterly. She knew she was being cruel and yet she couldn't stop herself. Her heart wanted to pound its way out of her chest and it was taking every ounce of restraint for her not to punch Catherine right in the face. "Go ahead, he already hates me. How'd you get on his good side, offer him a five dollar blow job?"

"...What did you just say to me?" Catherine hissed. She had been able to shake aside Sara's comments until now.

"I said," Sara started, holding her ground, "'How'd you get on his good side, offer him a five dollar blow job'?"

At that moment, Catherine discovered what it felt like to lose control. She went against everything she had ever been taught about self-restraint and lunged at Sara.

She tried to throw a punch but Sara was ready, having already been anticipating the blow. She blocked her punch with her left arm and spun around so that she was behind Catherine. Grabbing the arm she had punched at her with, she spun it behind her back and held her in an effective arm-lock.

"What the hell are you trying to do, get yourself killed?" Sara growled, holding Catherine's flailing arm behind her back.

Catherine realized then just how strong Sara was. Try as she might, she couldn't remove her arm from Sara's vice-like grip. "It sparked a response, didn't it?" she panted.

Sara easily held Catherine's arm behind her back before she felt it again-- her heart pounding. No, it was more of a fluttering. Instantly she released her hold on Catherine who immediately spun around so that she was facing her.

"...Look," Sara started, trying to take deep breaths. "I apologize for the things I said to you, but I don't ever want to see you again. I have to go now."

As she was walking away, she felt hands on her shoulders and before she could turn around Catherine had shoved her back into the nearest tree so that they were facing each other. Without anywhere to go she was forced to maintain eye-contact with Catherine and her heart leapt.

No, Sara thought to herself, staring into Catherine's eyes. Is this... happening because of Catherine? She much rather would have preferred to have a heart attack.

Catherine stared into Sara's eyes to ensure she had her complete attention. She suddenly forgot what had caused such a brazen act of courage on her part. She wanted to devour the look on Sara's face.

"Are you going to tell me what the fight was about?" Catherine asked, keeping Sara's shoulders pinned against the tree.

Sara wanted to say no, she wanted to break free, she wanted to run away. But the look Catherine was giving her saw right through her and she couldn't say no. She was almost afraid to. "He touched me," she whispered. "I don't like being touched."

"You're letting me touch you," Catherine softly replied.

They both stared at each other for a long moment, before Sara felt Catherine's lips against her own and in a matter of moments she was seeing stars.

They ended up making out in the middle of the park until sundown.

TBC