Chapter 7

She ran water for a shower, and quickly got fresh clothing from her room across the hall. She closed the door and got in the shower, letting the cool of the water wash over her. She knew, just knew, that she wouldn’t be able to keep this from Socratina, the whole thing. But she wasn’t talking to her, was she? Anyway, she had this day and Sunday to either heal or steele herself against the onslaught. Would she tell her to get even, or just to tell ‘cause that’s what friends were for? She wasn’t sure why she would tell, just that she would because she couldn’t keep a secret of her own, not like this. She’s have to tell somebody, she couldn’t just keep it inside her since she did it for attention and out of jealousy. And, she thought, what was the use of doing something to not be jealous and then not tell anybody to prove it? It was screwed logic and she was screwed, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore.
Katherine felt better as she got out of the shower and slipped into her clothing. Not great, but better. She decided that after breakfast she’d take the bus downtown and see Yoshi, maybe tell him, maybe not. She was wearing an old pair of jeans, T-shirt, and loafers. She’s have to grab a sweater, she thought, to cover her arm. It seemed to her that letter openers made people care about their looks, not to be joking about this or anything.
She eventually had more trouble getting out of the house than she did catching the bus. Some things just are more predictable in life.
“And where do you think you’re going?” asked The Mother.
“Just downtown. Um, Yoshi wanted to see me.”
“Well he didn’t say anything to me about it. Is that who was on the phone this morning? It sounded more like a girl to me...”
“No mom, that was his secretary. Can I please go?”
“All right, but call me if you’re going to stay out past lunch, noon or so.”
“Yes mother.” Katherine said politely as she grabbed her coat and ran to the door.
“Oh and one more thing,” The Mother called as Katherine opened the door, “Tell Yoshi that he’ll have to talk to me next time.”
“Yes mother,” she said again, before The Mother could say anything else.
As she got off the bus to walk to his office, Katherine heard someone calling her name. She spun around looking for a familiar face and she was smacked into by the very person who was calling. It was the guy who she had first seen in the cafeteria. He tried to help her up by grabbing her arm, but it stung as he unintentionally pulled the sleeve up and revealed the scratches. She quickly rolled the sleeve back down and got up on her own. He was very apologetic as he brushed himself and her off.
“I’m so sorry about that!” he said, “You are Katherine, aren’t you?”
“Yes I am. And you must be the school hunk,” she said rather rudely.
“I’m sorry,” he said laughing, “I didn’t mean to make that impression. Where are my manners?” he said, sticking out his hand for her to shake.
“I dunno,” she very quietly grumbled, as she begrudgingly took the hand he offered.
He smiled and said, “I’m Axton, and it is most surely a pleasure to bump into you.” He pulled her hand gently up and kissed it.
This was all too much for Katherine. She sank down on a nearby bench, and while trying to explain that she wasn’t hurt or anything, she broke into new tears. He finally gave up on trying to discern what was wrong and instead just sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. When her tears had mostly subsided, he helped her up by her waist and hugged her gently. She was a head shorter than he was, and she pulled away while he said quietly, “You don’t make a habit of greeting people this way I hope.”
She laughed and he said, ”If you need somebody to talk to, I can get my car and we can go out to lunch. I was on my way to the library but it can wait ‘till later....” he left it hanging.
“Um, well, I guess so. I mean, I barely know you, “she sniffed and wiped her sleeve across her face. “And I was going to talk to somebody else, but....” she also left it hanging.
“Well maybe I could drive you to where you need to be then. If you don’t want lunch I mean,” he said.
“No, I would like lunch, but I only have bus fare and I wouldn’t want to impose...” again she left it hanging as she turned away.
“Let me decide for you then. I’ll take you to this great Italian place I’ve been to. That okay?” he asked.
“Um, sure. I mean, I don’t have to go to my meeting. I do have to call my mom though.”
“Alright, my car is up the block a ways. Want to walk with me, or wait here?” he asked.
“I’ll walk with you,” she replied.
He drove her to an Italian restaurant down by the water where she took one look at the menu and sighed. “You order,” she said.
“What?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
“I said, you order,” she replied with a smile in her voice. “I’m horrible at these things.”
“Well, we have chicken, pasta...” he trailed off, looking expectantly at her.
Katherine didn’t really want to order anyway. It wasn’t like she was starving, but she really wanted to tell him about that morning, he seemed so nice and eager to help. “Oh jeeze, I dunno,” she knew she was stalling, but she had to figure out how to start. “One of my only friends told me to piss off this morning and so I tried to kill myself.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. She would have gone on but the waitress came up.
“We’ll both have the spaghetti with vegetable sauce, salads with-- “and he looked at her gravely, “-- ranch dressing, bread is included?” he raised his eyebrows and the waitress nodded,” and two glasses of water. That okay with you Katherine? You don’t mind getting the same thing as me?” he ended, not missing a beat.
“Uh, yeah,” she stammered, “that’s great.”
“I hope you don’t mind me ordering for you, but I really didn’t want you to have to get off topic,” he said, smiling at her.
“No, I don’t mind at all. Thank you,” she said.
“Well I’m very glad to see that you are imparting all of this to me, but I can’t quite see why. If you need more help than I can give then I’ll gladly help you get it, but it sounds as if you already have someone, is that who you were going to go see?” she nodded and he went on, “But if all you need is an ear, I’ll gladly listen. Is that what you want?” he asked calmly.
She looked at him and smiled. “When I was doing it, I didn’t really think if anyone would care or not. It didn’t matter. Thank you for caring, and yes, that is what I need.”
He grabbed her hand from where it was on the table top and gently held in his. “Was that all you wanted to say, or is that the extent of your life that you’ll share with me?” he smiled as she shook her head yes, “then let’s just talk about simple things like school and the mindless chit-chat that helps us get to know each other. Okay?”
She nodded and he released her hand. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling to hold his hand, but she was afraid that he would read into it, or worse yet, that she would. The lunch came and she called The Mother to tell her that she had met a friend and would be sticking around with them until later but would have a ride home. They talked of school and life and parents and such, and for once Katherine really enjoyed herself. They went to the library and from there he offered to take her to a movie. Again she asked about the cost of it, but he kindly refused to let her go and told her that it wasn’t a problem. They had fun doing that too, and she learned that his parents weren’t exactly poor, so he could afford all of it. She wasn’t even sorry when he dropped her off around five because she knew that she would see him on Monday.
To be continued....
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