(To Tiffythetitan: I see jealousy in more than just Katie's future…. And at the risk of giving some of the plot away, Cook's relationship with Effy won't really affect anyone but Cook, Effy, and Freddie.)

A/N: Sorry, I haven't posted in such a long time but honestly, I had intense writer's block for months and when I finally got it back, I lost my beta at the time, then began working on a new story for a different site and then eventually, I just lost interest in the story altogether.

I'm also sorry that I only have one chapter for you guys this time but since I am having my new beta, Luvtheheaven's fixing my past chapters and am trying to rediscover where I was heading with this story I will only be giving you guy's one chapter for awhile. But I did try to make it long enough for you to feel like you're getting the feel of reading two chapters for the price of one.

P.S. I was originally going to introduce my second original character in this chapter but I decided to scrap him; Destiny will cause enough trouble for the gang all on her own. Plus, There is a poll on my profile that you can try out if you want to at the end of this chapter.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Who are you? (Katie's POV)

6:14 AM

Katie had woke up this morning with a strange sense of detachment; it was like she couldn't quite find herself. She got up and did her daily routine—the same routine she'd been going through ever since her parents' divorce. First, she had to slap James and daddy awake. Then, because Emily always woke up early (and she did so with the intent to steal all the hot water), Katie would always yell at her sister to get out of the shower. Finally, she got her turn in the bathroom. She took her shower (she always took showers in the mornings, although she also took baths at night), and then she dried and styled her hair (she usually would curl it nowadays). After that, she picked out her outfit (she always wore her most flamboyant outfits on Mondays to help brighten the somber and grumpy moods of her friends), and finally she applied her makeup (her choice of makeup always was dependent on the choice of clothing). However, today, she had done all these things without her usual exuberance; her movements had been almost robotic, choppy, seemingly out of place; with the end result being less than perfect. She couldn't bring herself to care about being perfect today; it was like she just didn't care anymore. Almost as if she had given up. This pissed her off. She wasn't one to get depressed nor was she one to just give up and let herself go but regardless, it was like she couldn't find the usual pride she had about her appearance this morning.

After Katie had gotten ready, she went down to the kitchen to begin making Dad and James their lunches. Her Dad was easier to please since he'd pretty much eat anything that she might put inside his lunch box; she decided today this was going to be a simple PB&J sandwich, a baggie of baby carrots, two granola bars (one mixed berry flavored and the other honey and oats), and two small water bottles, but James' lunch was a little harder to decide on. Katie knew she couldn't get him to eat PB&J since he was allergic to the peanut butter and she couldn't make him any other sandwiches since he hated almost all deli meat; she also knew that she'd get in trouble if she didn't do something to make sure he didn't starve in school. So, she ended up deciding to give him four quid so that he could go and buy lunch today. Katie didn't bother with Emily's or her own lunch; Katie didn't eat lunch (although if she did, she'd never be okay with buying it at school; Roundview's idea of lunch was like a prison's idea of feeding its inmates: the food was stale, tasteless, and cold) and Emily's nervous stomach wouldn't let her eat with an important game impending.

Once she had finished making Dad's lunch, Emily came down the stairs in her team's sport jersey, carrying her big sports duffel; she gave Katie a brief and curt "hello" which Katie returned with her own curt and brief greeting; neither was in the mood for polite small talk (or any kind of conversation for that matter). Only a few seconds later, their dad came crashing down the stairs in a hurry (he was always in a hurry in the mornings). He ran toward the front door to put on his work shoes and jacket and then raced back to the kitchen to hurriedly grab his lunch box.

"Have a nice day at school, girls," Robert Fitch said in a rush of fumbled words before he kissed both Katie and Emily on their cheeks, and with a brief 'I love you.' to each of them, he ran out the door and was on his way to work.

A few moments later, James also rushed down the stairs; in just as much a hurry as their father had been, but instead to catch his school bus. Katie fumbled around in her pockets before handing James' his lunch money and his book bag; he said his rushed goodbyes (minus the kiss and words of love) and walked out the door to catch up to his perverted little friends that always waited for him outside during school weeks.

After James left, Emily and Katie waited in an easy but gloomy silence for Effy to come pick them up for Emily and Effy's early morning pre-game practice; some of that time waiting had been spent watching daytime TV, the rest of it trading answers and equations back and forth for their coursework. The twins still hadn't said much to each other by the time Effy had shown up in their driveway and Katie had locked the door behind her on the way out, but Katie didn't mind. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts, which were dwelling on this past weekend's news about her mother's engagement to Naomi's dad (and on having to see JJ).

Despite the joys that Family Game Night had provided (the Bristol Rovers had lost 4-1 and Danny had broken his left leg at some point during the game), their lunch date with their mother had still been painfully (and depressingly) seared into her every sense of being. Katie couldn't escape to her usual places (I.E. the mall) to ease the pain, not with questionable doom over what it all meant to her sister's sanity (maybe even a little of her own mixed in) looming inside Katie's conscious. It seems our mother still knows how to plunge the knife in and twist it, Katie thought bitterly. It's like she's still trying to make everybody miserable. Katie guessed her mother wouldn't be herself if she wasn't trying to ruin everybody's life.

"Move," Emily huffed, dropping her sports duffel hard on the bottom floor of Effy's backseat with a loud bang that caused Katie to be snapped back to earth. "Your feet are in my way."

Katie narrowed her eyes. "What's up your ass?" she asked angrily. Emily had been ping-ponging between dismally silent and giving everybody attitude ever since that dinner with their mother. Katie really didn't mind or blame Emily for her hostile and oppressive mood switches, since Katie herself had been in a state of unwelcomed and erratic mood swings since Sunday as well. But unlike Emily, she was making it a point not take it out on anybody but herself.

Emily rolled her eyes in irritation. "Nothing. Just move over so I can put this bag on the floor and we can go."

"Fine," Katie hissed and moved her feet over to the right. Emily pushed her duffel bag all the way into the car, leaving little room for Katie to put her feet down. Figures, Katie thought with her own eye roll. Emily wasn't a bitch that often but when she was…

Emily slammed the car door behind her and made her way to the passenger-side door. "Where's Pandora?" Emily asked Effy once she got in. "Is she not coming?"

"She's getting a ride from Thomas," Effy answered, briefly checking her appearance in her rear-view mirror before turning her head to look at the duffel in the backseat. "I still don't understand why you don't just put that shit in your gym locker."

"Because I don't trust anybody not to steal my shit," Emily explained, buckling her seatbelt.

"Yeah, but at least you wouldn't have to haul that equipment around all day," Effy said as she started the engine and drove out of the driveway.

"Let's, just agree to disagree, hmm?"

"Whatever," Effy mumbled, flipping her off before letting the subject drop. Katie didn't blame her. It was too damn early in the morning to get bitched out by a snarly Redhead.

It wasn't until five minutes into the drive to school that Effy asked, "How was your weekend?"

Emily only grunted in response to Effy's question before retreating back into her tense silence she had been in the whole ride. In an effort to be politer, Katie tried for a more articulate and courteous answer but she couldn't find any words, and in the end, she only grunted too. It was the only answer that seemed to fit how disastrous their weekend had been.

"How was your weekend, Effy?" Katie asked after a while, feeling sorry for Effy. It must not be easy having to share a car with doom (Emily) and gloom (Katie) on a Monday morning, especially on the day of one of the most important games of the year.

"I got a boyfriend," Effy said lightly, focusing on the road. Katie scoffed. There was no way; hell would freeze over before Effy fucking Stonem took a boyfriend and even then, Effy still would show indifference to the idea of monogamy. The idea of having a relationship longer than a month even made Katie cringe a little.

"Who?" Emily asked sharply, surprised. Emily must have been thinking the same thing as her sister.

"Cook," Effy said, ignoring Katie's raised eyebrow and Emily's glare. Here it begins, Katie thought, plopping her head lightly on the backseat head-rest. It's going to be a long day.

It was going to be a long year.

9:27 AM

"All right, you fuckers! Listen up!" Kieran shouted as he stomped into the room, knocking Katie out of her daze. She had been staring at JJ ever since a bubbly, blonde haired girl had sat down next to him. They seemed to be in deep, meaningful conversation the whole time before class started and it really bothered her. They were sitting way too close to each other for strangers. She didn't know why it all bothered her, especially since she had decided long ago that she was totally over JJ. She didn't care that he had practically humiliated her that night at the party; it wasn't like he was spitting out lies that night; she had been on a mission to sleep with him and she had succeed. She'd moved on, JJ was a boy and she needed a man; so, then, why did the thought of JJ being with any other woman practically make her sick to her stomach?

Katie decided to chuck it up to being possessive because she had taken his virginity. She refused to believe she was jealous for any other reason; she absolutely, utterly refused, to believe it was anything else and before Katie could give in to her desire to prove she was totally over JJ (or pull the bimbo's hair out), Kieran's 'lovely' voice had distracted her. "I am required by law and this shitty-ass school to give you second years this project so you can be able to be eligible to graduate." Kieran walked over to his worn-down desk and slammed his briefcase loudly on the surface.

"In other words, I don't want to hear any of you groan or make up bullshit excuses on why you can't do the project because if you do, I'll have a mind to fail you all!" Kieran smirked wickedly, knowing that was the last thing anybody wanted, being stuck at Roundview for another year; that was a fate worse than death.

Katie couldn't help the feeling of wanting to bang her head repeatedly on the table. It was way too early in the morning for Kieran's 'splendid' personality; she needed his cynical and rough demeanor like she needed a fucking bullet in the head.

"What's the project?" someone asked, trying to be a good student but Katie didn't see the point. It wasn't like anyone actually cared enough to pay attention to the details of the project. Kieran seemed to agree since he rolled his eyes at the question. "I have no fucking clue but think of it as twenty questions but instead you'll be judged by your partner, who will only pick ten of your answers to do a report on about who he or she thinks you really are and I, for one, am giddy with excitement to find out how deep you smart asses really are," Kieran said with gruff sarcasm. "Any more questions?"

Nobody spoke, not with the kind of mood Kieran was in. Katie thanked God; she really couldn't stand Kieran or the sound of his voice. It almost made her wish she hadn't dropped Hair and Beauty, those fucks might be annoying but at least they weren't completely useless, incompetent assholes.

"Partners will go as such…" Kieran ruffled through tons of greasy, stain-ridden, and mismatched papers inside his brief case, placing the 'sorted' ones on his equally dirty and disordered desk, before finally pulling out a sheet of wriggled college-ruled paper that looked like it had seen better days (days before Kieran had gotten his dirty ass hands on it). He cleared his throat and began reading off a list that was printed on a piece of paper in sloppy hand-writing. "Naomi Campbell, you'll be partnered with Elizabeth Stonem." Oh, No. Katie thought, raising her perfectly manicured eyebrow a little. Who in their right mind would partner Effy and Naomi up, unless they wanted a bloodbath? Then again, come to think of it, Kieran wasn't in his right mind.

Naomi and Effy's hatred of each other wasn't a secret between the student bodies of Roundview; it wasn't even a secret between the teachers (That kind of tension couldn't be hidden), which was why all of the teachers that had Effy and Naomi in the same class keep the two as far apart as they possibly could. They would never ever partner them to together on a project as important as this one.

So in simpler terms, this pairing was a terrible, incredibly terrible idea. Cook must have thought so too. "Hey! Kieran! I was wondering if you could possibly partner me and Effy up instead," Cook's voice sounded like he was concerned for his girlfriend's well-being. Who would have known that Cook could care about someone besides himself?

"No, Mr. Cook," Kieran scoffed. "This project isn't an excuse for a late night booty call."

"Could have fooled me," Katie mumbled, gruffly, paying more attention than necessary to her nails. Emily scoffed a little before she went back to doodling in her notebook.

Effy just glared at the two of them; she didn't find this funny. She looked angry at having to work on this project with Naomi but, hey, it wasn't Katie's problem. She wasn't the one who had to deal with her. Thank God!

"Oh and by the way, Mr. Cook, you'll be paired with Emily Fitch." Kieran smirked. Emily groaned while Cook smiled.

Cook leaned over his table and whispered in Effy's ear, "Looks like me and you both get lezzies, Babes." Effy smirked. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Katherine Fitch, you are with Fredrick McClair." What? Katie thought, turning her head to the table behind her. Freddie had the same look on his face that she was sure she had herself. Why him? Katie had to resist the urge to roll her eyes for what felt like the millionth time today. This was just another way God had decided to take a dig at her… but this one just hit way too close to home.

"Great," Freddie said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Looking forward to it," Katie replied with the same amount of gruff.

Kieran rolled his eyes at the two of them, dismissing them. "And Jonah Jones, You'll be with the new transfer student, Destiny Levitt." Who's Destiny Levitt? Katie thought briefly before remembering the smiley ass blonde who had sat next to JJ. Katie couldn't help the small nudge of jealously that hit her as she thought of JJ working on the project with Little Miss Daisy.

And to prove her point, the Destiny chick actually giggled a few minutes later. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you a lot sooner, Jonah," She said, her tone slightly flirtatious. He smiled a little too broadly at that for Katie's taste.

Jonah? Jonah! Since when did he like to be called Jonah? Katie thought, losing her grip on her anger… and jealously. She might as well admit it, her jealousy was a little more than just possessiveness over the fact Katie had been the one to take something precious from him. No, she was jealous because—son of a bitch!—she still liked him. Wow, God was really sticking it to her today, wasn't he?

I guess I won't be the only woman JJ's ever slept with after this project is over, Katie thought bitterly. Not if the lust-filled look this Destiny girl was giving him was any indication. Yep, Katie was screwed… and it was her own damn fault. Just like everything else in her life.

Katie dropped her head lightly on the table. Yes, this definitely was going to be a long day (Year).