Chapter Fourteen#Planning in the Rain#
"What are you two doing here?"
Catherine sobbed and Sara laughed in relief at the sight of Grissom standing in the doorway looking completely confused.
"We got locked in at the end of school." Sara explained as they started to stand up. "How'd you know we were in here?"
Grissom was still frowning. "The door was locked and someone had pushed a desk in front of it. May I ask who?"
The two girls exchanged glances. Catherine sighed. "Eddie Willows, Rick Stetler."
Grissom's frown deepened. "Why?"
"Because I broke up with Eddie because he cheated on me." Catherine explained miserably.
Grissom surveyed the two girls he swore couldn't get along at all standing close to each other, after being locked in a bathroom.
"How did you know we were here?" Catherine asked.
"Well you were screaming." Grissom shrugged.
"Can we go, please?" Sara begged.
"I can give the pair of you a lift home. Come to the office, I'll call your parents first, I'm sure they're very worried."
Both of them glanced at the ground and Grissom noticed but he didn't say anything. They reached the office and Grissom flicked through the school records. He started to dial Catherine's number but she stopped him.
"Um, Grissom... I often go out without telling my mom she won't be that worried. Call Sara's parents first. Please?"
Sara looked at her gratefully and Grissom narrowed his eyes. "Okay..." he dialled the phone. "Hello, is this Mrs. Sidle? My name is Gil Grissom...yes, your daughter's teacher... yes, yes; she's fine, she's right here now... Some boys trapped her in the school with another girl...no, it's not her fault at all. No, no, don't worry I can drive her home. Yes, I'm sure. It was a teenage boys' prank on a different girl, she had nothing to do with it...yes we called as soon as we could. Sara was very worried...yes you can talk to her." He held out the phone and Sara hesitantly took the phone.
"Hello?"
"Oh my god, Sara what on earth happened, I was so worried! Where was your cell phone?"
"I'm sorry mom. And I'm okay."
"Where was your cell phone?"
"Dad has it, remember?"
"Yes, oh I remember. Just, don't do that again, baby I was scared!"
"Mom, I'm really sorry."
Laura Sidle sighed. "Okay, okay. It wasn't your fault. I'll see you soon."
"Bye mom."
The phone hung up and Sara passed the phone back to Grissom who called Catherine's mom.
"Hello is this Ms. Flynn? This is Dr. Gil Grissom, I teach Catherine...yes, she's here with me now. I just wanted to let you know that she's been stuck in school for the past few hours by a school boys' prank gone wrong. I will be dropping her home now. Okay. Yes. You're very welcome. Goodbye." He put the phone back on the hook and turned back to the girls. "Let's go."
They headed out to the staff car park through the heavy rain and Grissom unlocked the car. "Get in the back; I have boxes in the front."
The two girls nodded and slid in the back of the car. Grissom looked back at them.
"Jesus, didn't either of you bring a coat to school?"
"It was sunny this morning." Catherine defended, after glancing at Sara. The younger girl was soaking and shivering.
Grissom rolled his eyes and started the car. The three drove in silence for a while before Sara frowned.
"Why were you in that part of school anyway?"
Grissom glanced in the mirror. "I lost something."
"Another tarantula?" Catherine asked.
"No. And technically I didn't lose it. Mr Taylor was doing an experiment in class today with mice. One escaped. I offered to look for it because he needed to go to a meeting in Vegas. Then I realised that having a desk pushed against a bathroom door wasn't exactly normal. So, I checked it out."
"Thank you." Sara smiled slightly.
"It's not a problem." Grissom smiled back. He pulled up outside Sara's house.
"Thank you Grissom." She smiled, sliding out of the back. "Bye Catherine."
She waved at the front door before slipping in. Just before Grissom drove away her mother appeared at the door. She waved gratefully to Grissom who waved back and drove off.
CSIVCSIVCSIV
Morgan sat on the swing, swaying slightly in the sheltered park watching the pouring rain. Greg smiled at her from the roundabout and Ryan rolled his eyes, standing up off the slide.
"Okay, lovebirds. I'm outta your way."
"Oh, don't go!" Morgan pouted. "Please?"
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Why not?"
"Because I'll miss you."
"You'll have Greg." Ryan shrugged.
"Stay, Ryan." Greg nodded. "I need someone to push me on the roundabout."
Morgan rolled her eyes. "But you're my favourite."
"Hey!" Greg frowned.
Morgan shrugged, winking at Greg. "I'm joking. But honestly, Ryan, stay."
He shrugged. "You two want some alone time, I get it its fine."
"Ryan, stay. Honest."
Ryan half-grinned and sat on the swing next to Morgan. "What are we doing?"
She shrugged. "Hanging out. Besides, I need your help."
"With what?" he frowned.
"I don't know what to dress up as for the party. And I can't ask Greg."
"Why not?" the cousins chimed, Greg whining and Ryan curious.
"Because every time I've asked, he's told me I should go as a stripper." Morgan explained.
"Burlesque dancer." Greg corrected with a cheeky grin. Morgan scowled at him, sticking out her tongue.
"Why are you asking me?" Ryan asked with interest.
"Because, bar Tali you're the best artist among all of us, what with the OCD and all and you have good ideas."
"Okay..." Ryan rubbed his jaw. "Okay, how about you go as..." suddenly his face lit up. "I know." He bent down and whispered in her ear, and Morgan's eyes lit up.
"That is perfect." She grinned.
"What, what?" Greg stood up shakily. "What's perfect?"
"Never mind." Morgan grinned. "You'll find out eventually."
Greg crossed his arms and flopped back onto the roundabout.
"I hate you."
"You love me." Morgan corrected.
"Well, yeah, that too." Greg shrugged.
"Sorry Greg, but that look has sworn me to secrecy."
"Oh, I guess. Gang up on me, sure, sure." Greg grumbled.
Morgan smiled. "Trust me, you'll love it."
Greg looked at his two friends. "Okay. So what should I go as?"
"A daisy." Morgan sang.
Ryan thought for a moment. "I got it!"
He bent down and whispered something in Greg's ear. Greg's eyes lit up. "You're a genius!"
"Well, I try." Ryan said modestly.
"What? What did he say?"
"Oh no. If I don't get to know what you're going as, there is no way you're knowing mine."
Morgan stuck out her tongue. "Fine. On one condition."
Greg considered. "What?"
"That Ryan thinks of something for everyone and he's the only one who knows what everyone is going as."
Greg considered that for a moment. "Him and Tali."
"Deal."
"Do, uh...do Tali and I get a say in this?" Ryan frowned, with his mouth curling up at the corners.
Greg and Morgan looked at each other. "No."
"Oh, I see." Ryan rolled his eyes. "I'll call Tali then."
"Good plan." Morgan nodded.
Ryan rolled his eyes.
"Get everyone to meet here now." Greg suggested. "Half the fun of parties is the planning. And I mean, only the eight of us in A11 are sleeping over, but there are a couple more people coming and it would be awesome if we all had different costumes."
"Okay." Morgan nodded.
"Sounds good." Ryan nodded.
Within half an hour the small park was crowded as almost everyone Greg had invited to the party. Nick was still at football practice because there was a big game the next week and the coach wanted to win badly. Sara didn't answer her phone so they assumed that she'd just let her battery die again. Greg claimed that several people weren't able to make it, but still the tiny playground was packed with thirty or so teenagers.
"A couple more people Greg?" Ryan asked quietly.
Greg shrugged. "Okay, hi guys. Thanks for coming in the rain. Basically Morgan and I had an idea about my party, because it is Halloween and everyone's gotta dress up, to make it super cool, I've given Ryan and Tali the job of assigning people costumes." Greg announced.
"Oh really?" Tali asked, crossing her arms with an amused smile.
"Really." Greg nodded.
"Okay." She nodded. "Sounds fun."
Ryan walked up to Greg almost nervously. "Greg, I don't even know some of these people."
Greg shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Go with your instinct." Ryan rolled his eyes. "Any questions?"
"Yep." A tall, dark haired boy near the back crossed his arms. "What if we disagree?"
Ryan glanced at Greg who shrugged. "It's debatable."
The other boy shrugged with a grin. "Cool."
"Ryan, can I speak with you for a minute?" Tali asked. The teens dispersed around the playground. Ryan and Tali spoke softly to each other for a while. After that they started moving around, giving people various different costume ideas as the sun went down.
When they reached the boy who had asked what would happen if they disagreed, he grinned widely. "Ryan Wolfe. Haven't seen you since Lisa's wedding!"
Tali looked at Ryan and he looked over at Greg.
The boy chuckled happily, which contrasted with the dark clothes, hair and eyes. "I'm Jamie Hojem."
Ryan's eyes lit up, and Tali looked back and forth between the two boys. "Oh, I remember!"
Jamie nodded, and Tali frowned. "What do you remember?"
Ryan took a deep breath. "Okay, stay with me on this. Greg's mom, Elisa, had two sisters and a brother."
"Her brother, John Hojem, is my dad." Jamie nodded.
"And their cousin Anna is my mom." Ryan explained.
"Ah, I see." Tali nodded.
"Yeah, Greg's invited a few cousins." Jamie nodded. "He has two big parties every year, where he invites friends and some cousins. Halloween and his birthday. Halloween parties were given an age limit after he sent a ten year old into hysterics. 13 and above. It was great when Greg moved to Vegas, 'cause I was actually able to go. My sister Lily is irritated. She's 12."
"How old are you?" Tali asked.
"Eighteen. So, what have you got for me?"
Tali and Ryan looked at each other thoughtfully. "Well, we've used all the obvious ones already on less obvious people."
Tali nodded, biting her lip.
Jamie grinned. "That's okay. I've gone as vampires and stuff like that loads of times. Whatever you think."
Tali grinned. "How about you go as an assassin?"
Jamie looked thoughtful for a moment, and Ryan nodded.
"How would I do that?" Jamie asked with interest.
"I may have a few ideas..." Tali smiled.
"Oh, really?" Jamie asked, grinning.
Ryan glanced from face to face.
Tali shrugged. "I have met a few."
Jamie's eyes bulged "Are you kidding?"
"I used to live in Israel, my father...well he knew a few."
"Wow..." Jamie grinned. "In that case, would you like to come shopping with me this weekend, help me pick up an outfit?"
Ryan rolled his eyes as Tali smiled and nodded. "Sure, I'd love to."
"Great. Saturday, eleven o'clock?"
Tali smiled. "Eleven o'clock."
He nodded and started to back up, before stopping. "Hey, can I have your number, to arrange a place to meet, y'know?"
She smiled. "Sure." He brought out his phone, and Tali took it from him gently, entering her number and handing him back the phone.
"See you later." Jamie winked, and disappeared into the rain.
Ryan walked closer to Tali. "So, you and my cousin?"
Tali slapped his arm. "I just gave him my number."
"What happened?" Greg asked with interest, walking over with Morgan and Warrick.
"Tali was flirting with Jamie Hojem. She said," Ryan raised the pitch of his voice, "I just gave him my number."
"Okay, it would be a little weird, you dating my cousin but you'd make a cute couple." Greg grinned.
" Hey, hey, it's not like we're dating he asked for my number so I could help him with his costume."
"Excuses, excuses." Warrick grinned.
"Okay, okay. He is really hot." Tali grinned.
Morgan nodded. "I have to agree with you there."
Greg frowned. "Hey... That's my cousin you're talking about."
"So?"
Greg rolled his eyes. "Never mind. I'll just sit back and watch my girlfriend lust over my cousin. It's fine."
Morgan rolled her own eyes. "Oh, poor little baby."
Greg sighed. Morgan grinned and kissed him quickly on the cheek.
Tali's phone rang, and everyone stared at her. She smiled as she saw the caller ID. "Hi Sara. You were what?" Tali half shouted. Everyone stared at her. "And you didn't murder each other? You want to what?" Tali stared incredulously at Warrick. "Okay...okay..." she passed the phone to Warrick. "Sara wants to talk to you."
"Why?" Warrick frowned, taking the phone. Tali just shrugged. "Hello? What for? Are you taking the piss, Sara? You what? Oh my god... okay. See you tomorrow. Bye."
Warrick passed the phone back to Tali.
"What was that about?" Greg frowned.
"Sara called to apologise." Warrick asked in shock. "She said she just spent five hours in the school bathroom with Catherine Flynn after Eddie Willows and Rick Stetler locked them in and she was rescued by Grissom. She said she was sorry for what she said and that I was right about Catherine."
"Wow..." Morgan frowned. "Is she okay?"
"She sounded a little shaken but she said she's okay." Tali smiled.
"This has been one hell of a day." Ryan sighed. "But altogether, not really a bad one."
CSIVCSIVCSIV
Grissom started to talk as he drove into Catherine's street. "Catherine, I want you to tell me exactly what happened. I need to talk to Willows and Stetler. How and why did it happen?"
Catherine sighed. "It started yesterday with the fight. Don caught Eddie cheating on me. They got into it. Today I was...upset. I went into the bathroom at the end of school, washed my face. Sara came into the room. She tried to leave...the door was locked. I shouted to let us out. Argued with Eddie and Rick from behind the door. We couldn't get out. Eventually we gave up shouting, Sara did some of her work, I did mine. It got dark, the rain turned into a storm. We started talking. Then you showed up."
The car rolled to a halt. "Here we are."
"Thank you, Grissom."
"You're welcome. See you tomorrow."
Catherine nodded and raced to the house. "I'm home mom."
"Okay." Her mom called.
Catherine rolled her eyes at her mother's lack of interest and shut herself in her room. She plugged in her iPod headphones and turned on her laptop. She logged into facebook and almost immediately got a message from Jess.
Where the hell were you? :-(
Catherine sighed and tapped back a reply. Sorry, was in the girls toilet with Sara Sidle
Hahaha. Where were you really? I was at McDonalds for ages. :(
I was in the girls toilet with Sara Sidle
Wait, really?
Yep.
Why?
Eddie and Rick locked us in. Was there for hours before Grissom showed up looking for a mouse and bust us out.
Really? Didn't you and Sara kill each other?
Nope. She's actually really nice.
Who the hell is this?
Catherine
Lol I mean really, who is this?
Catherine!
Really?
Yes, stop saying really.
So who is the love of your life?
Catherine laughed at Jess' choice of clarification. Ben and Jerry's Cookie Dough Ice Cream.
Okay. I believe you.
Thanks
Stetler just texted me. Told me he saw you sleeping with Don at Kate's party. The one I missed coz I was sick.
And you believed him?
I told him to kiss my ass.
What did he say?
Gladly.
What?
I told him to go to hell. Then I threatened to set Ziva on him.
Lol. She doesn't need much more of a reason though. She HATES his ass.
I know right? Oops, gotta go. See ya Cath.
See ya.
Catherin sighed and something hit her window other than the pounding rain.
She crawled over her bed and stuck her finger up at Eddie. "Piss off, Willows."
"Hey, Catherine. So when were you gonna tell me about my baby?"