Chapter 2
The next morning as Kat and Bianca sat in the kitchen were having their breakfast, they failed to notice that Walter was nowhere to be seen.
"Fuck," said Bianca after glancing at her cell-phone. "Joey called me two times."
"When? I never heard your phone ring," Kat asked.
"Last night, apparently. I forgot it in my room, so neither of us would've heard it. Do you think this means he cares about me?" Bianca asked enthusiastically.
Kat couldn't help but smile at her sister's eagerness. She knew Bianca wanted someone to tell her that everything would be all right, but that was something Kat couldn't do. She was a bitter realist to the end.
"In the very least, it means he wants to talk to you, and you should. The sooner you know what he has to say, the sooner you'll know what to do," Kat advised.
"I hate that you're always right, you know that? Next time he calls, I'll answer it and hear him out. By the way, I think I heard someone cell last night. Was it Patrick?" Bianca had that goofy expression on her face that made Kat want to slap it, but she had been in as good a mood as could be expected until that moment.
"Of course..." Kat and Bianca heard their father steps. Panic set in, but Kat widened her eyes and boldly lied, "...it was Mandella. She wanted to know which short story we had to read for English."
"Oh right," answered Bianca, smiling conspiratorially at her sister. She turned casually to Walter and said with her best smile, "Good morning, daddy".
"Good morning, Bianca. Your ride will be here any minute, so please, be ready. And Bianca, your Driver's Ed starts this afternoon." Obeying her father, she quickly ran upstairs to finish getting ready for the day.
Bianca had just finished brushing her teeth when she heard the door bell.
"Bianca, get downstairs. Your ride is here," Walter announced.
Bianca finished up and treaded down the stairs, pausing to grab her bag off the counter, but just before she turned towards the front door, she heard Kat say,"You must be kidding me."
Glancing at their open front door, Bianca saw the far too big smile of Ms. Tharp, their guidance counsellor and Walter's new girlfriend.
"Good morning, girls. Are you ready?" Her voice was still a little too gratingly sweet for Bianca's tastes, but Darlene did get along great with her father even if she hated to admit it. Darlene kissed Walter quickly before saying, "Don't worry, honey. I'll keep an eye on them."
"Thanks, honey."
Kat and Bianca stepping past their father, they followed Darlene Tharp to her car. Bianca took Kat by the arm, whispering in her sister's ear, "And I thought you were the one that supposed to be grounded. There's no way I can sit next to her again. Last time I tried it was too weird."
"Everything is weird for you. I still don't think she's so bad."
"Be my guest." Bianca gestured dramatically, but Kat just rolled her eyes at her immature sister.
Ms. Tharp or Darlene? It was hard for Bianca to tell the difference right now. At home with her father, she was Darlene, the woman her father was dating, but now, they were heading to school where she was supposed to be Miss Tharp. Despite possibly having a few screws loose, the woman was actually nice. She even let Kat handle the radio. Of course, her sister chose the news or political opinion stations that Bianca loathed. Who knows it might be the day where they finally announced that Jong-Long- Ku or whatever his name was let North Korea free. Bianca didn't pay attention to the chat between her sister and Darlene since it was about politics, so she started to let her mind wander about all the possibilities of what Joey wanted to tell her.
Immediately, she started fantasizing about the good endings like: "Baby, the show has a script, and I had to kiss her. It didn't mean anything, I swear." Bianca had heard that all the drama that happened on reality TV wasn't actually real. Her thoughts shifted focus with the next possible explanation. "It was only a moment of weakness. It's all because I miss you so much." Bianca was sure she would be tempted to believe this one, but she would only let it slide for a while. Then, she would end up being frustrated with herself for believing such a stupid lie. By this time, she had moved to darker thoughts. "Bianca, look I'm sorry, but I don't love you. I could never be with a virgin. You will find someone perfect for you, a virgin like you, too." Bianca was beyond angry. Stupid Joey. When she got to the school, she couldn't stop herself from slamming the car door in frustration. That's what you get when you imagine the face of your stupid boyfriend on car windows.
"Don't mind her, Darlene. She is kind of a drama queen," Kat explained as she saw her sister leaving.
"I know, but I like her because she is so sweet. I don't think it's easy for her to see her father with another woman, but I admire you for your bravery. If I had been through what you went through yesterday, I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to force myself to come to school today, and even if I did, I would be hiding my face all day," Ms. Tharp commented, squeezing Kat's arm reassuringly.
"I've never really cared too much for what people think about me or in general. Besides, I know who's going to pay for this one." Kat's voice was filled with an unmistakable hint of vengeance.
"Just don't do anything illegal, or I won't be able to rein your dad in. He was near homicidal yesterday," She advised, but Kat just squirmed at the thought of Ms. Tharp knowing about her love life.
"You know about it, huh?"
"Your father called me last night. He was very upset. I tried to calm him down, but I couldn't. I told him that it was normal for teenagers to want to experience sex, and knowing how independent you are, it was something to be expected. Besides, I think Patrick is kind of cute. Of course, I didn't say that to your father. He would have broken up with me in an instant. Kat, the same thing I told Bianca goes for, so if you need someone to talk to, I'm right here." Darlene smiled warmly at the eldest Stratford daughter, holding her arms open for hug.
Kat looked at her strangely a moment before answering, "Thanks, Darlene. Sorry, Ms. Tharp." Kindly, she stepped towards her father's new girlfriend, accepting the hug.
Saying a quick goodbye, Ms. Tharp departed to the Counsellors' Office. Hesitantly, Kat entered the school and immediately felt hundreds of pairs of hate-filled eyes falling on her. It defined a new meaning of uncomfortable, so without thinking, she nearly ran all the way up to the school roof. She desperately needed a hug from the man-boy. She smiled at the thought of her father accidentally picking out a nickname that described Patrick the best. She wasn't disappointed. He was waiting there in the exact same spot as last time, waiting for her.
"Please, don't jump," Kat said, unable to keep from smiling.
"Are you ok?" Patrick asked too preoccupied to even respond to Kat's joke. He hurried off his position on the ledge to be in front of her.
"Well, I can't drive. I'm not allowed out of the house. I'm forbidden from talking to you, but I just really need a hug." Kat hated herself for it, but she could feel the tears falling from her eyes.
"Come here."
Patrick pulled her tight to his chest in one of his best hugs, and she felt surprisingly calmer immediately. Kat was shocked about how much better Patrick made her feel. Reluctantly, they broke apart.
"It's just so horrible. I don't know why but I get this feeling that my dad is planning something worse." She sighed in exasperation.
"Worse? Like the convent?" Patrick asked, half amused but with a twinge of concern.
"Yeah, this is almost pathetic. We went from The Taming of the Shrew to being Romeo and Juliet in like a month." Against their will, they couldn't help but laugh at the truth of the statement.
"That's actually a good one, Kat. I only have one question: Who tamed who?" His eyebrows sloped up seriously, challenging her humour once more.
"I tamed you, of course. Last time we were here, not only were you willing to commit suicide, but you said one of the cruelest things anyone had ever told me." She said smiling in that insufferable way of hers.
"Ok, I'll give you credit for that one, but what about me? Don't I earn your forgiveness every time I screw things up? You almost gave me a compliment during the dance your sister dragged you to, remember? Besides it's only fair since I kind of love you." He smiled and hugged her again.
"You kind of love me? What kind of sentence is that?" Kat said, trying to sound angry but falling miserably at it.
Patrick noticed and said, "The kind of sentence you know you like."
"I kind of love you too," she admitted with a smile.
Gently, he bent his head down to kiss her. It was an innocent kind of kiss at first, but like it normally happened when these two were involved, it turned passionate without hesitation. Then... well kind of desperate. When they broke apart, they stayed quiet for a while. They both knew that even if they wanted to keep things normal, there situation was far from it. They knew that instead of being able to mess around like normal teenagers, they needed to be thinking about how to convince Walter that Patrick was at least responsible if not trustworthy.
"Patrick, what are we going to do? I shouldn't be seen with you, and there's no way I will be able to survive school without you. Everyone hates me now, but the worst part is that I deserve everything."
"Kat, stop right there. About the video, we both know someone set you up and we both know the only person who would is Blank. Let me keep an eye on him, and I swear by the end of the day, he will be asking James Bond for help. Second, do you remember during the fire I told you that you weren't all needy..." His classic Verona smirk was returning much to Kat's disgust and pleasure.
"Patrick, please don't make me remember the things I hate about you," she scolded, reminding him who tamed whom.
"Just hear me out, please." Kat remained silent, giving Patrick his cue to continue. "Well after you left I thought about what I really wanted to tell you, and the thing, Kat, is this: You are not like other girls, because you are self confident. That's what I wanted to say, and now I'm going to shut up before I say something wrong. Again."
Kat kissed him since he actually deserved it. He was undoubtedly starting to get better with words. When they heard the bell rang, Kat descended into her new personal hell first. Seconds later, Patrick followed, closing the door to the roof behind him. They were so happy that they didn't even realize someone had being spying on them.
Kat's day went achingly slow. Apart from Mandella, Cameron, Dawn and Bianca, no one really actually talked to her. Patrick smiled at her every time their paths managed to cross, albeit on purpose, and sometimes, their hands managed to touch when they passed close enough to each other. She even started to understand Bianca. Maybe, it was better to be brainless and have a simple and quiet school life.
Meanwhile, Bianca wasn't having a too great of a day either. She was no longer a cheerleader, and now everyone was making fun of her because of the Joey disaster. With Chastity gone for good, Michelle suddenly claimed the available position of queen bee. Bianca appreciate Kat's I-don't-give-a-damn attitude. If she didn't care about popularity, she wouldn't be so depressed. She should have been content to be a very happy member of the show choir. Besides, if she was being honest with herself, she liked singing more, definitely more than she liked bitchy cheerleaders. To make it worse, Joey had called her again during lunch. Bianca hadn't been able to gather the courage to answer her phone. She pretended to be angry, but in truth, she was actually scared.
When the bell finally rang, Kat practically sprinted up to the roof again. She needed to see Patrick before leaving, even if it was only for a second. She needed good memories to play in her head so that she wouldn't care about her father not talking to her. Indifference was the worst punishment anyone could receive from a member of the Stratford family.
She arrived at the top of the landing, and when she opened the door, she heard Patrick's steps instantly.
"Let's make it quick," He said, and he kissed her softly, unable to wait for her response.
"As much as I like and need that, we need a plan," Kat said as they broke apart, but they remained with their arms clasped around each other. "We can see each other before class, and I can always say I have work to do for the yearbook," She suggested optimistically.
The door suddenly opened, and a very violent-looking Mr. Stratford, followed closely by Ms. Darlene Tharp, emerged.
"Now, you're definitely grounded for life, young lady."
A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I hope you like this one too. I promise I will change the dash from chapter 1. I'm a spanish speaker, so I was actually thinking in Spanish.