Kate's POV
After the school bell rang, signaling to all of the students that school was indeed over, I made my way out of the building and over to my car where I waited for the group. They came out eventually in their own patterns. Meaning that they only came out little by little. Shaky being the first given how his last class of the day was woodshop and it was right near the exit of the school. He came over to me and greeted me as usual.
"Hey" he said, leaning against the back of the car with me.
"Hey Shaky" I said. I looked over to him to meet his eyes but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking down at his phone. He texted for a few seconds and then sent a message. He then slid his phone in his pocket and looked at me, his hands together as if he was praying.
"So, may I ask a favor?" he asked. I laughed.
"Of course, what's up?" I asked.
"Alright, so Rick and I are gonna go pick up some things for Angel, and then I think Humphrey and Lilly are gonna hang out for a bit. So would you mind spending some time with Angel so that she isn't with us while we go birthday shopping?" Shaky asked, making me laugh again.
"Is that the favor? Spending time with my sister in law? You don't have to ask that, Shaky, I love spending time with Angel" I said. Shaky sighed in relief.
"Good, so when they come out do you want to take her to do something? We kinda didn't want her to know that we were doing this" Shaky told me.
"Sure thing" I smiled.
"Thanks," Shaky said, turning to his left again. I turned to face the school as he did and sure enough, here came Rick and Angel, walking alongside each other. As for Lilly and Humphrey, I'm sure they were somewhere.
"We'll only be a few hours Angel, I promise" Rick said as I heard his voice. I guess he had already started his little plan.
"That's fine, but where am I gonna go? I don't exactly have a car" Angel said.
"Hey guys. What are you two up to?" I asked, playing dumb.
"Oh, me and Shaky are gonna hang out a bit, we were probably gonna go watch scream again" Rick said. Angel shrugged.
"I just don't see why you would want to see the same movie twice so soon," Angel replied. Before Rick could say something in return, I did.
"Well, want to do something with me?" I asked. Angel looked over to me and her eyes lit up slightly.
"Sure, I'm always down to spend some time with you. What did you have in mind?" she asked. I looked over at Rick and giggled, back up to the side of my car.
"Why don't we just see where the road takes us?" I asked. Angel didn't ask any questions. She just said her quick goodbyes to the two guys and then hopped in my car, only after I unlocked it of course. Once inside and buckled up I turned the car on and drove out of the parking lot. I was really happy that Shaky had asked me to do this for him, I had been wanting to have some alone time with Angel for awhile now, I guess now was a better time than ever. As I made my way down the street, I looked at the clock to see that the time read three forty-seven. I looked back at the road and then asked Angel. "Hungry?" I turned to see her reaction and then glanced back at the clock, and then back at the road again. "Been about three hours since lunch, and I know you don't like the food at school," I added. Angel laughed.
"I don't think there's a single person on this planet that likes school food," she replied. I nodded.
"Name any place you wanna go. It'll be my treat" I said.
"Yeah but, you paid last time" Angel protested. I simply shrugged.
"Your birthday is right around the corner. Just let your family take care of you" I said. Again I glanced to see her reaction, and she now wore a warm smile on her face.
"Thanks Kate," Angel said.
"Of course," I replied. "So, any ideas?" I asked.
"Eh. I feel like I could settle for just about anything right now. Plus I don't know how much you want to spend" Angel explained. I felt bad for thinking about what I would want, it was her call. I guess I could give her a few ideas.
"Well, I think a diner would be pretty good. There's a few in the area" I said. Angel seemed to ponder the options for a second before landing on one.
"How about Stewart's?" she said.
"If that's what you want. I could always go for them" I said.
"Well, I choose Stewart's," Angel said, and it was a good thing that she said it when she did. Ten more seconds and I would have missed the turn. As I made my way onto the highway Angel spoke up again. "So normally my parents, Rick and I go out to dinner every time there's a birthday. We told them our plans and they wanted to make it happen on my birthday so they told me and Rick that we could go the day before" Angel started.
"Tomorrow?" I asked.
"Yeah, so we'll go to dinner tomorrow and then we can do our thing the next day. Sound okay?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, that all sounds fine," I said.
"I also wanted to ask you. I plan on asking Shaky tonight since we were gonna hang out but Rick and him just had to go see scream again. So after they're done I was gonna go over to his place and ask if he wanted to go to the dinner tomorrow-" Angel began.
"Yeah Ange, I'll drop you off" I said. Angel laughed lightly.
"Thanks, but that's not what I was gonna ask," Angel said. My ears perked up.
"Oh?" I said.
"It's not much, I just wanted to see if you wanted to come too," Angel replied. Really? She wanted to ask me of all people? But…
"Really? I'm just your brother's girlfriend. Why would you want me to go?" I asked. Obviously we were more than just that, but I was still touched that she would go out of her way to ask me if I could join what would most certainly be a close family thing.
"Oh Kate, you are so much more than that" Angel said. Oddly confirming what I just thought.
"But why me? Why not Lilly?" I asked.
"Well it's not like there's a limit, but I wanted you more because I feel like I can always talk with Lilly. And I do care for her a lot, and she is family now. But I don't know, I guess I just really want you to be there" Angel explained. It wasn't really a good explanation but I was still touched. I smiled.
"Yeah, I promise I'll be there," I said. Angel seemed happy about my response.
When we got to the restaurant I parked and then we both made our way over to the building. Once inside we were told the typical sit wherever you want and a server will be right with you. We chose a booth next to the window and then sat across from each other.
"So, do you feel any different now that you're about to be sixteen?" I asked. Angel shrugged,
"Well like I said, I don't see what the big thing is about turning sixteen. It's not like you're an adult yet or anything. But I guess it's cool. One year closer to graduating… Speaking of which, I'm sure you're just ecstatic to graduate, any plans on what you're doing after? Anything to do with Rick?" Angel asked. I smiled as I remembered our conversation a few nights ago.
"Yeah. yeah actually. We were just talking about that the other night" I answered. Angel went to ask what my plans were but we were interrupted by our server. She greeted us, did her job and so on. We put our drink orders in which of course was two root beers. And then she was off.
"Ugh, how lucky do you think we are?" Angel asked as she watched the server walk off. I turned to look in her direction and then looked back at her.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean… am I the only one that feels like we eat out way too much? So far we've all gotten lucky. Rick and Shaky are the only ones that make sense because Shaky's always working at the auto shop and then Rick is always doing something in the backyard. Building or some shit" Angel explained. I shrugged.
"Well I don't think Rick has been doing much stuff like that since we started dating. I mean you guys did play airsoft alot" I said.
"Yeah, but that doesn't warrant being skinny. I think we're getting off really lucky. I mean, don't you think this is gonna catch up to us eventually?" Angel asked. I thought about it for a moment. She was kind of right.
"Well, before I felt down all the time salads and stuff like that were my thing. And then once I became depressed I Started to eat heavily. I guess my excuse now is that I don't really think about it… I do see it catching up with me though" I explained.
"Yeah. I'm the same way. I actually used to only eat salads until Lilly told me to live a little. I gotta get my shit together though" Angel said, making me snicker lightly. "You know, Rick never ate healthy," Angel added, catching me off guard.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah. in case you haven't noticed, he's a really picky eater. The healthiest thing he'll eat is fruits. You know things like apples, bananas, stuff like that" Angel said.
"Yeah, I think I saw him eat an apple or two," I said.
"From the fruit bowl downstairs right?" Angel asked, talking about her own house.
"Yeah, mostly in the morning," I added with a smile.
"Yeah. he sticks to apples mostly though because he gets acid reflux if he doesn't eat anything. Apparently he heard something from a cashier one time that apples are really good for soaking up all the acid in your body. I guess it works" Angel said. Well I didn't know that. I sighed as I thought of the possibility of me gaining weight.
"You know if you want, you and me can hit the gym. I can get a membership and I believe they allow guests. Would you want to go?" I asked.
"Of course. Always good to stay in shape. but hey, once my birthday passes, it's back to healthy eating" Angel replied.
"You and me both" I said, just in time as our drinks came out. Funny enough we both ended up ordering something simple. Angel a burger and myself a hot dog. Just because I ate unhealthy doesn't mean that I ate a lot. Once the server was gone Angel spoke again.
"No offense Kate, but you were upset for a while before Rick came along. Did you eat like that the whole time? I remember I would come over to hang out with Lilly and you would just be locked in your room" Angel explained.
"Oh I'm not offended by that. You know the funny thing is, I normally don't even eat when I'm really upset. I did still eat though from time to time, it's just whenever I did it was something really bad for me. But if it's something really bad, then I just won't even think about food. The thought of it makes me sick when I'm upset" I explained,
"Yeah. Rick's like that too. When our grandma died he didn't leave his room for three days. When he finally did it was only to throw up. I don't know exactly how that works but that's what happened. I finally convinced him to eat something and take a shower after that" Angel said.
"What did he eat?" I asked. Wired question I know, but I was curious.
"Well since I was like twelve I barely knew how to work a toaster oven so I just made him a bowl of cereal" Angel answered. I giggled lightly at her exaggeration but my smile faded almost instantly as what she had told me started to dawn on me.
"I know they were close. It must have been rough for you too" I said. Angel went on her phone and began doing something as she answered me.
"Oh yeah, it was rough on all of us. It wasn't anything compared to Rick though. I think the thing that hit me most was when he was locked in his room, I would pass the door to go downstairs and hear him crying on the other side. It was loud or anything but it was mostly sobs. I just felt so bad for him, and then whenever me or my parents tried to talk to him he would never answer the door. To this day I don't even know if he heard us there" Angel explained, making me feel a wave of sadness. That didn't even compare though to what Angel then showed me on her phone. It was a picture of Rick sitting on his grandma's lap when he was a pup. Couldn't have been over ten. They both looked so happy to be with each other. I could feel the happiness in the picture as I studied it. I then thought back to my grandparents. I should really spend more time with them.
"What about you? Were you two close?" I asked. Angel put her phone back in her pocket and then answered the question.
"Yeah, but nowhere near those two. From the moment my mom gave him to her to hold, she was in love. Spoiled him half to death. But he never let it go to his head. He just… they…" Angel began but couldn't find the words.
"I know Angel, they were important to each other" I said sympathetically. Angel sighed.
"He blamed himself for leaving her before she died," Angel said.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, don't tell him I told you this okay?" Angel asked. I made a motion of me zipping my lips, and then locking them. Angel nodded before continuing. "So the night that she was in bed, her voice was really low, and she could barely talk. We were all around the bed saying our goodbyes and then we debated on whether or not we should stay the night. Rick figured that she would be there the next day because of how much shit she had gone through in the past and made it out okay. Her last words were to him" Angel explained.
"What were they?" I asked.
"Just… goodnight" Angel answered before continuing. "So he thought that she would be there the next day and that he still had time. So he went and got some food for the night and then drove home. The next morning… Before he could go over there mom had told him that she had passed… he just… he was so mad at himself for not being with her those last few moments. Like he chose some fucking Wendy's over her. I told him that that wasn't it and that he wasn't wrong but… to this day I still couldn't convince him that. He still hates himself for it, every time it comes up he just… he gets really upset, not with who he's talking with but himself. He told me he beats himself up every single day for it, and that nothing will change his mind, nothing… he really wishes he could take it back…" Angel explained. I thought about everything that Angel had just told me and honestly, I couldn't think of a response.
"Hopefully one day, he'll forgive himself" I said.
"Do you think he was in the wrong?" Angel asked.
"Given what you've told me… no, not at all, especially if he was going to see her there next day" I said.
"From what I understand he sees it as though he chose his bed and food over her. I remember everyone in the group asking me about him. Yeah they said they were sorry to me but I wasn't the one locked away so guess who they were more concerned about" Angel explained.
"You weren't jealous were you?" I asked. I felt rude asking that question but someone like Angel wouldn't mind. Turns out I was right.
"Of course not, I just felt like people overlooked me is all. She was my grandmother too" Angel answered.
"I guess they just knew of their relationship," I said. Angel sighed.
"Yeah, I guess… poor Rick, I mean he wasn't the only one there that night. We all left. We tried convincing him that she wouldn't have wanted him to stay with her, that she wanted him to go out and live, or that even if we didn't stay and that we're all pretty much guilty of the same thing. But he really took it hard, and still does to this day. I can not emphasize that enough" Angel explained.
"Is it really that bad?" I asked. Angel nodded.
"He would vent to me about it, and then this was around the time that you got your first boyfriend so that only added to it, I'd say for about four months he was a complete train wreck. I never saw someone come back from such dark times before" Angel explained. Again I felt bad for putting him through what I did, but how was I supposed to know? I'm sure it wasn't their intention to make me feel this way, it was simply an unintended side effect.
"I'm glad he's doing better now," I said. Angel smiled at me, making me return the smile. Just after that our drinks finally came, and my God were they good. The ice cold root beer tasted perfectly in the cold, wet mug that was given to us. Me and Angel took a sip before continuing our conversation.
"So… back to what we were originally talking about. Any plans after high school?" Angel asked.
"Oh yeah, me and Rick plan on getting an apartment and going to college together. Maybe get a career in film making. RIck said he might also look into law enforcement, he's not really sure" I explained.
"Oh yeah? He never told me anything about that. How about that, two cops in the family" Angel muttered.
"I thought you were into homicide. You know I really want to know, do you think you could stomach that? I mean people do some messed up things" I said. Angel laughed.
"Uh yeah. Call me weird but I've always found stuff like that fascinating, and I always like a nice mystery to solve. So why not make a career out of it. Angel the homicide detective. Ican see my little card around my neck now" Angel said, making us both laugh,
"Do what you dream of, Angel. We'll all be here to support you" I said.
"Right back at ya" Angel replied, holding her mug up. I laughed and then clinked it with her before taking another swig of the cold soda that had a cool burn as it went down my throat. It felt so good, not only that but the company of my sister in law was fun as always. He had a great time through and through. After we were done I asked her if she wanted to do anything else and she said that she had put me through enough. Poor girl was too kind for her own good. I drove her to Shaky's house and when I pulled up I saw nobody was there.
"Are you sure you want me to drop you off? Doesn't look like anyone's home" I said.
"Eh, I know where they hide the spare key. I'll message Shaky and he'll be home in no time" Angel explained as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you until they get here?" I asked. Angel laughed as she stepped out of the car.
"I'll be fine Kate I promise. See you later?" she asked as she looked at me through the door.
"Of course. And I'll see you at the dinner, okay?" I said.
"Sounds good. I love you" Angel told me, catching me off guard a bit. There was a second or two where I stared at her in disbelief until I snapped out of it and replied appropriately.
"Love you too, I'll see ya" I said.
"See ya" Angel said as she shut my door. I then waited and watched as she walked up the steps to the trailer and looked under a flower pot next to the door. I then watched her pick something up and step inside the place. Not the best hiding spot but whatever floats their boat. Honestly I was still stuck on the fact that Angel said that she loved me, I guess she really did care for me alot. Kind of like I was an older sister to her. Maybe that's how she saw me. Either way I was touched. I guess she still saw Lilly as her best friend. Yeah she loved Lilly but daybed it was the way that she saw her that made things different. I'm sure she wanted Lilly at that dinner too but didn't ask for a few reasons. The first being probably that she didn't want to be a bother which was bullshit because of how sweet she was, and I'm sure Lilly would love to go. The second being that maybe Lilly had plans with Humphrey already, or that she would see her the next day. I guess it goes back to being a bother though. I shook my head and sighed as I pulled off. Now what was I gonna do? Well I guess since Rick was by himself or going to be, maybe he wouldn't mind a little meet up. I guess I was one text message away from the answer I needed.