"Would you rather eat mustard or ketchup for the rest of your life?"

"Mustard is gross, ketchup is love. My turn. Would you rather be burned alive or be buried alive?"

Cat's face scrunches up, her lips tightly pursing and her palms pressing together as she raises a brow in concern. "That's a bit … disturbing, don't you think?"

"I don't know," I answer with a lazy shrug of my shoulders, and lean farther into the plushy softness of the throw pillow that Cat had brought along for our trip to the park. At first, seeing the fuzzy, lime green thing wasn't exactly appealing, but now that I don't have to feel rough tree bark on my back, I think it's the smartest thing she's ever done. "It's the only thing I can think of."

While swirling her hand around in a bag of potato chips (courtesy of me), Cat tilts her head. "Try something else."

It's a breezy Wednesday afternoon, exactly two days after my little confrontation with Beck and his 'cousin', and much to my relief, I haven't seen either of them since that day. The rumors haven't gotten any better, though. Now it's spreading that I've been sending Nicole death threats and plan to blow up her house.

If it wasn't for Cat, that rumor might just be fact.

Surprisingly, she's been keeping me sane. (Shocker, right? Because, I mean, this is Cat Valentine we're talking about.)But, seriously, it seems to me like she's doing a better job of keeping me grounded than I ever thought she would.

She even suggested that, in an attempt to get away from all the drama, we just spend the evening after school at the park. So far, it's helping a little. And I only say a little, because as much as I would like to completely ignore the fact that my ex-boyfriend is probably smooching it up with skanky Nicole, I can't. It's still there, buzzing around in the back of my skull.

I easily think of my next question.

"Well, would you rather cheat on someone you love or have someone you love cheat on you?"

"Try something else." Cat repeats.

"I don't think I want to play anymore." My eyes turned skywards, I watch as the bright ball of orange flame that is the sun flicker behind a row of leafy trees. Behind us, a child shrieks in excitement. "Can we just go home?"

Cat shakes her head, red hair flying. "So you can wallow in self-pity? I don't think so."

"I wasn't going to wallow. I was just going to put Jar of Hearts on replay, and eat ice cream in my pajamas in the dark."

Cat's lips purse tightly, annoyed, but the look in her eyes says otherwise. "Very funny. My turn to ask you a question."

I lean back on the pillow and begin to pick away at my almost non-existent cuticles. "Shoot."

"If I kissed you right now, would you stay or run away?"

All my life, I've gotten high A's in English. It's not that I'm bragging or anything, but that's the way it's always been with me. It's always been my best subject, but I'm apparently not a wizard when it comes to foreshadowing.

"I don't know, I'd probably stay. Mostly because I don't have anything better to do right now-"

That's when it happened.

That's when Cat leans in, closes the small space between us with her flower scented perfume and rich chocolate orbs and flowing ruby red hair, and she kisses me. Like, not a little peck on the cheek, or even a brush dangerously close to the corner of my mouth.

She kisses me, full and proud on the lips.

It takes about three seconds for my brain to comprehend, to fully grasp the fact that holy shit, Cat Valentine is kissing me. She's kissing me! But even then, my limbs don't respond to the action. I sit there, limp as a noodle, and my chest feels like it's about to cave in on itself.

When she pulls away, there's a tingling sensation going on in the back of my skull, and my lips feel numb. She settles nonchalantly back in her spot on the grass, hands clasped in her lap, one side of her mouth tugged up in a grin.

And I probably look like a deer caught in headlights.

"Cat?"

"Yes?"

"You just kissed me."

"I know." Her eyes get a little bigger, her smile a little brighter, and she nods once as if to silently say 'No, shit, Sherlock'.

"But, why did you … Cat, you can't just …," I swallow, take a breath, calm my nerves, if that is even possible since my insides are humming. "Cat, you can't just … kiss me."

"You said you would stay."

"I didn't think you were actually going to kiss me."

"But when I did it in the car, you didn't say 'no' then."

"But that was on the cheek."

"Does it really make much of a difference?"

"Yes, Cat, it does." My brain is throbbing, my palms are sweating. Somewhere in the distance, behind the trees, the jingle to an ice cream truck can be heard, and like animals, the children around us flock to it. "We're friends. Friends don't … they don't kiss other friends."

In the moment that the words escape my mouth, Cat's face changes. And not for the better. Her eyes flick downwards, losing their sparkle, and she sucks her bottom lip in between her teeth. For a minute, I think I've broken her.

Using her fingers to pick at a clump of weeds in the Earth nearby, she mutters, "I just wanted to make you feel better."

And here we are again. We're back in the same position where Cat will do something completely harmless and innocent, and I'll make her feel like shit about it. Then when she's upset, I feel like shit and I always end up being the one saying sorry. It's a vicious cycle that I'm desperate to break.

"Look, I'm sorry." I say. "I'm not saying that what you did was wrong … you just kind of … caught me off guard, you know?"

Cat's eyes narrow, but she nods anyway. Then, in the calmest voice I've ever heard her speak in, she says, "Do you like me, Jade?"

I don't hesitate. "Yeah."

It's not a lie. I do like her. I like the way (even though I refuse to admit it) she's happy and bubbly and just a big ball of sunshine about 80 percent of the time. I like how she's always the underdog when it comes to talent and proves everyone wrong. I like the way she thinks all of life's questions can be answered through an old sitcom.

"Good, I like you too. Do you like kissing me?"

This question is a little harder. But it's a lot easier to answer if I constantly think of the way my insides felt when she kissed me.

"Y-yes."

"Good, I like kissing you too. So, if we like each other and we like kissing each other, why can't we just be together?" Cat picks a bright yellow dandelion and holds it out to me, an uneasy smile on her face. "More than friends?"

I must admit, her logic was accurate. I mean, I'm not homophobic or anything, so I don't really see anything wrong with the idea of she and I being … together. I don't see anything wrong with any two people of the same gender liking one another.

My problem is that I've just never been with anyone of the same sex. I've never even been through that phase where I was tempted to 'experiment'. Of course, I've thought about it numerous times, but I've never made any of those fantasies come true.

I guess this is fate's way of saying, 'Hey, try something new!'

And who am I to deny destiny?

I inhale the biggest breath my lungs will allow before I say, "I mean, I guess we could try the whole 'girlfriend and girlfriend' thing out, but I don't know if-"

"Yay!" Cat's arms are around me in an instant, and I'm drowning in a sea of red hair. "Yay, this is so good. I promise I will be the bestest girlfriend ever and I'll even buy you flowers and candy and anything you want, Jade. I promise."

"Okay," I laugh, silently flattered. "Okay, but slow down, Sunshine. We just became official like twenty seconds ago."

"Sorry," Cat blushes and releases me, tucking strands of hair behind her ear. "I guess I got a little too excited. This may sound really corny, but I've been waiting for this to happen for like … forever."

My stomach drops. "You have?"

Cat shrugs sheepishly. "Yeah, ever since Freshman year. But, it doesn't matter anymore. You're my girlfriend now and that's all I care about."

Then that's when she adds, "And, now that you're with me, this means you're not going back to Beck, right?"

Shit. I completely forgot about him.

But almost as quickly as I remember him, I brush it away. That's right. I forgot him. He is no longer relevant. Once again, Cat's logic is correct. Beck is my past, and Cat is my future. And to be quite honest, my future is looking pretty bright.

"Nope." I assure her, and I shift over to my left a little so Cat can curl up on the pillow beside me. "Beck is history."

"That's good. Well, not good, but I mean like-"

Cat doesn't get to finish, because my back pocket starts vibrating, and her purse starts making an obnoxious chirping sound before it starts wailing out the lyrics to some pop song.

Don't forget! Party at my house, Saturday night around 7! Bring food! – Tori

Both our messages are from Tori, and after reading it, Cat looks up at me hopefully. "We're still going to Tori's thing, right?"

Ha. As if seeing all of them there (including Beck and possibly his whore) is going to scare me?

"Yeah, the perfect place to show of my new … girlfriend." I try out the word, see the way it feels on my tongue, taste the way it feels in my mouth. And, not so surprisingly, it feels nice.

"How do you think everyone will react?" Cat's voice is hushed, and her fingers are warm when they slide in between the spaces of mine.

"I don't know, and quite frankly, I don't care. If they don't like it, they can kiss my ass. Just me and you, Sunshine."

"Just me and you." Cat echoes, and we watch with our fingers intertwined as the sun sets on the horizon.

Hey, what's happenin'?

Yayyyy! They are finally together! :)) (Please exuse me, I had a little too much sugar today)

Question: What do YOU think will happen at Tori's little get together? (I'm only saying this because I'm not really good at planning ahead and need some ideas. Just kidding.)

Songs of the hour include:

Paramore's whole freaking album – Brand New Eyes

Plus some songs from Riot!