Broken

Chapter Eight

Certifiably crazy.

That’s what she is, there’s no doubt in my mind now. I thought she had demons, but that stunt she just pulled tells me that there’s more to the story behind her behavior change. She’s not being rebellious like her parents try to make everyone think. Katherine Winston has something serious in her past that has thoroughly broken her. I knew she had secrets and something happened. But for her to want to die, right there on the side of the highway just shows me that its more than just something.

I pull into the parking lot of our first stop, the art gallery. I’ve watched her draw for years, each and every night she’s alone in her room, she’s drawing in her notebooks. The ones she keeps under her mattress. I don’t know what she draws, but I know she loves it. It’s one of the only times she truly smiles.

“Why are we here?” She asks, her brows furrowed at me like I’ve done something wrong.

“I thought you’d enjoy this.” I shrug, trying to play it off like I didn’t totally plan out an entire day weeks ago, just in case she let me in. I’ve had this day planned for so long, well minus the highway incident.

“Why would you think that?” She unbuckles looking up at the building.

“Come on.” I say with a smile as I climb out of the car. Her roses sit in the back seat. They’ll likely die without water, but I’ll just cut new ones out of the garden. I told her it was my garden, but it’s totally my moms. I just have a few plants in there, specifically for Katherine. Her favorite flower before she went all Edgar Allen Poe on me was a calla lily, which I have growing in the greenhouse. Once she started dressing differently I had my mother hunt down the black roses and plant them for me. She did, and they bloomed beautifully their first year. Hopefully they continue to grow and flourish.

Rounding the front of the car I take Katherine’s hand and lock the car. “I love this place.” She whispers as we walk through the front door. “There’s a painting being showcased here that I’m dying to see, the last time I came, it was off the floor for cleaning.” She suddenly comes to life, her entire body filled with joy.

We walk through the art museum, slowly as I let her look at everything. I don’t know anything about any of this, but I know she does. That this is where she flourishes, like a flower in the garden on the verge of death, only to come to life with a little tender care.

Each time she moves to a new painting, I stay two steps to her right, watching her as she looks at them. Her face is lit up as she concentrates on each piece. “I love the brush strokes on this one, its heavy handed, full of anger, yet beautifully done. There’s a pureness to it.” I know exactly what she means, because she just basically described herself. “There it is.” She takes my hand and leads me down the hall until we reach the painting she wants to see.

I study the painting with her, there’s two people in the forefront, one seems to be holding something in his hand as he leads a woman. There are people in the background, water, and trees. I don’t know fuck all about this painting. But she lets out a sigh. “It’s so beautiful. Look at how he’s leading her away.”

“Tell me about the painting.” I say stepping up behind her, resting my head on the top of hers as my arms wrap around her waist.

“Orpheus’ wife was bitten by a snake, he comes to retrieve her, leading her away from the Underworld. The story has a tragic ending though. Orpheus loses Eurydice forever when he turns to look at her before reaching the world of the living.”

“So he tried to bring her back to life?”

“Yes, but because he looked at her, he lost her forever.”

“Why couldn’t he look at her?”

“It was the land of the dead, where their spirits lingered. He was told to lead her to the trees and she’d be freed, but he couldn’t without looking at her and she was lost.”

“That’s terribly tragic.” I reply, pulling her tighter against me. “Why is this painting so important to you?”

“It’s a beautiful story, and an even more beautiful painting.”

“What’s the painting called?”

“Orpheus leading Eurydice from the Underworld, by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. It was painted in eighteen sixty-one.” She sways in my arms as she continues to stare at the painting.

I couldn’t imagine having someone you love so deeply to be lost to you. To go get her from the Underworld, only to lose her right before you get her back.

Unsure how much time has passed, I look down at my watch to see that if we don’t leave in the next thirty minutes, we’ll miss our reservation. “Are you about ready? We have somewhere else to go.”

“Just a little while longer.” She hums, still staring at the painting.

“Okay.” I kiss the side of her head and let her have her time.

The restaurant leads us to our table. I picked somewhere specific for our early dinner. We spent all morning and most of the early afternoon at the art museum. So we’ll have our dinner and head back. I know she still plans to go to the party tonight, so I want to make sure we have food in our system before she talks me into drinking again.

“This place is too fancy for what I’m wearing.” She looks down at her clothes.

“You look perfect.” I squeeze her hand as we reach the back corner, where I requested for us to sit. I pull her chair out, letting her sit first. Like the gentleman I am.

I take the seat across from her, which is the only seat available. What a dumb thing to think, luckily I didn’t say it out loud.

“Welcome, my name is Darius. What can I get you to start with?” He says with a smile.

“I’ll have a Dr. Pepper with no ice please.” Katherine orders.

“Make that two.” I repeat. The three of us have always drank Dr. Pepper without ice. Even on hot days, no ice for us, it dilutes the drink. I only drink ice with tea and water.

“Excellent, I’ll be back in a moment.” He says with a nod, then leaves us at the table.

“I’m getting a steak with a loaded potato, what about you.” I say, never even picking up the menu. My dad brought us here not too long ago, and I already know exactly what I’ll get.

“I’m thinking this grilled chicken breast on a bed of rice sounds amazing, with asparagus and mac and cheese.” She shuts her menu and looks over at me. The candle between us lights her face up perfectly. It’s a little haunting, but in a beautiful way.

We order our food after Darius brings our drink and I don’t even know what to talk about. I want to ask her about what she said. But this doesn’t seem like the place to do that. “What are your plans for the summer?” I ask instead, like a fucking tool.

“I plan on traveling, getting out of here, away from the stigma that’s following me.” She adjusts the forks in front of her, her pale skin is lit by the light and I want to reach out and touch her silky smooth cheek. I want to feel her touch again. “What about you?”

“I’m just going to hang out until I leave for Yale.” Well, that makes me sound pathetic as fuck.

“No traveling?” She lifts a brow at me. “Figured you’d be traveling with George. He’s doing the Winston USA tour my father has mapped out, things he should see before settling into college.”

“They offered, but I didn’t want to spend my summer rushing from one place to another.” I tuck my hands between my knees, rubbing my sweaty palms together.

“My parents said that because I didn’t get into a college I couldn’t go with him. Not that two months on the road with George sounds like fun. I love him, but I need out of his shadow and following him around the country just seems lame.” She picks her drink up, taking a sip.

“Where are you traveling to?”

“I haven’t decided. I was just going to buy a bus pass to anywhere and just kind of go until my feet landed somewhere I could call home.”

“So you don’t plan on coming back?” I ask, extremely curious now. “When do you plan on leaving?” I was hoping I’d have the summer with her, enough time to convince her to come with me to Connecticut.

“After graduation, I want to leave as soon as possible.” Fuck, of course she does.

“So you haven’t bought the ticket yet?” My knee starts bouncing, eagerly awaiting her answer.

“No, I kept chickening out, then I couldn’t decide where I wanted to go. I thought about going out West, not to the coast but out that way.”

“We’ll be at opposite sides of the country.”

“That was the plan, to be as far away from you and George as possible. I even thought about going up to Alaska.”

My heart thumps against my chest, the anger in me starting as I process what she said, “That was the plan, to be as far away from you.”

“Why?”

“Before the last few days, when exactly have you and George been team Katherine? George is so consumed with going to Yale that he refused to come help me when Knox drugged me. You spent years making me hate myself, making my mother hate me.”

“I think she already hated you, I’m not sure I’m to blame for that.” I admit.

“I’m aware, but you didn’t make things any easier.” She says with a little heat on her words.

“Here we go.” Darius says, sitting her plate in front of her, and mine right in front of me. “Wanna cut that open and check it.” He asks.

I cut into the steak, looking at the reddish pink center. “Perfect. Thanks.”

“Anything else?” He asks softly.

“No. Thank you.” Katherine answers.

“Enjoy.” Darius leaves as she cuts into her food and starts eating. We eat the entire meal in silence. Not a word escapes us as we devour our meal, which feels weird to me.

Katherine uses her napkin, wiping her mouth as she finishes. “That was delicious.” Is all she says.

“It was.” I reply, feeling like I’ve fucked this all up. How do people date like this? It’s awkward and I’ve said the wrong things.

I’m handed the bill, and I pay with my card. After leaving a tip and signing the check, we stand up from the table. I reach to take Katherine’s hand, half expecting her to not take it. To my surprise she laces her fingers into mine. The corner of my lips pull up in a half smile as we walk through to the exit.

We’re back at my house and she’s actually in my room. Thank fuck I cleaned it a couple days ago or there would have totally been boxers all over the floor. “Okay, you said I could pick out your clothes for tonight.” She taps her fingers on my closet door. “Are they in here?” Her fingers dance down until they wrap around the knob. I nod, and she whips the door open revealing my walk in closet. She wanders in and I hear her giggle. “There’s a lot of pink in here, West.”

“Yes, there is.” I reply, dropping to my bed.

“Ohh! Do you have scissors?”

“You’re not cutting my clothes.” I reply.

“Hush, you promised I could dress you.”

“Whatever you want Kitty.” I tuck my hand under my head and look up at my white ceiling as she fumbles through my closet. I listen to her talking to herself as she looks at my clothes.

When she goes quiet, I lift my head to see what shes doing. Well, much to my surprise, shes standing in the closet doorway with clothes, pink ones. I figured she dig until she found my black T-shirts near the back.

“I thought about putting you in black.”

“Why arent you?” I ask. Propping myself up on my elbows.

“Because its not you. You wear pastel pink. So heres a pair of jeans I found, the knees are ripped out.” She takes them off the hanger and tossed me the black pair of jeans. “and a pink T-shirt that says ‘Yes this is your girlfriends shirt’ it made me laugh.”

I catch the clothes and stand up, putting them on the bed so I can change. “Are you wearing that?” I ask her, hoping shes not, considering the best thing shes wearing barely covers her ass, and if were drinking tonight, I dont want anyone to get the wrong idea.

“Nope. After youre dressed, were going to my house and youre picking out my clothes.” She says taking a seat on the chair in the corner. She claps her hands, “Within reason, so hurry up.”

I change my clothes quickly and she hands me a pair of black Doc Martens that I had in the back of my closet. “Come on, pretty boy.”

I let out a sigh as I put the shoes on. “Anything else my dear?”

“Yes.” She looks up and moves towards me. She pulls a few strands out of my bun next to the side braids that fall into my face. “Perfect. Lets go.” She takes my hand and leads me down the hall and stairs into my foyer. Where my mother just so happens to be standing.

“Hello Katherine. Westley, where are you headed?” She asks, her hair is straight and her clothes are ironed. My mother always looks like shes about to go to lunch with the girls, even if she doesnt have any plans. She wears a string of pearls my father bought her years ago, before I was born.

“Were going to a party.” I tell her.

“A party? Does that seem smart?” She lifts an eyebrow in disappointment.

“Youve spent the last four years telling me to go out and make more friends, I graduate in a week and Ive finally decided to take your advice.”

“Be safe Westley. Especially with this one.” She nods towards Katherine.

“Awe, Mrs. Doubtfire is worried about her kids.” Katherine pokes fun at my mom, which is kinda hot.

“See the way she disrespected me, you really shouldnt be hanging out with her.”

“Bye Mother.” I take Katherines hand and we walk around her exiting the house together.

“Im sorry, West, I hate when people assume shit.”

“Well, you are taking me to a party where we know there will be drugs and alcohol. Maybe I should listen to her.” I say jokingly as she leads me to her house.

I find myself in her bedroom again, only this time, Im in her closet. Theres a particular outfit she wore once, that Ive been dying to see her in again. If only I could just find it. I flip through her hanging clothes until I see the shirt. Its completely see through, yet its still black. I snatch it off the hanger and start looking for something to go under it. I pull a drawer open and find her underwear and bras. I spit a matching black set and take them out. Then I move into the next drawer, finding the little tube top that she wore with it.

Next is the shorts, theres one specifically that I like, it looks like a pleated skirt in the front with tight as fuck shorts in the back. I find it in seconds and move on to looking at her shoes.

The boots are all stacked nicely in the shoe shelves on the back wall. I take the heeled spiked books that go halfway up her calf and step out of the closet.

“This.” I say laying it all out on the bed.

“A pink undershirt?” She asks. “Matching outfits is a couples thing.” She almost looks disgusted at the idea of being a couple.

“Not matching. I just loved this outfit on you when you wore it to the BBQ at the beginning of spring.” I reply, “Besides, would it be so bad to be my girlfriend?” I question, now curious about why she said it like that.

“Id be a terrible girlfriend.” She replies, stripping her shirts off.

I drop the subject and just sit on the edge of her bed, watching her get naked. She steps into the underwear, and clasps the bra on. When shes fully dressed, I lean back admiring the outfit. “Beautiful,” I tell her. Her cheeks turn pink as she bends over to buckle the last one on her boots. She takes a seat next to me and puts her hand on my knee, letting out a sigh.

“Thank you.” She whispers, barely even audible.

“For what?” I ask, not sure why she’s thanking me. We did just have a whole ass date day, but I’m almost certain it’s been the worst date of all history.

“For today, for last weekend.” She offers me a half smile, not bothering to actually look at me. I reach over, grabbing her chin softly and turn her to face me. There’s tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry for earlier,” she says quietly, trying to pull away.

“For the highway stunt?” I cock an eyebrow. She just nods, not really saying anything about it. “That was the most terrifying thing I have ever been through.”

“Then you haven’t lived, Westley. Life should terrify you, you should be frightened of whats to come.”

“No, you have it wrong Kitty. Life should excite you, bring you the feeling of curiosity of what’s to come.” I let my thumb pass over her lips until I reach the lip ring. I play with it as I watch her face. Her blue eyes have darkened to an unnatural color. Or at least unnatural for her. She’s usually got icy blue eyes, one that looks right through a person even when all they want is for her to look at them. I’ve waited years for her to see me, to understand that even though I’ve fucked up time and time again, bullying her in ways I shouldn’t have. I am irrevocably in love with her.

She shakes her head, knocking my hand away as she takes a deep breath in, flipping that emotional switch back off. When she wipes away the unfallen tears, she blinks at me and pops up off the bed, “Let’s go party. I can show you the world.” She wiggles her eyebrows at me, holding a hand out.

Cautiously I take her hand and she leads me down through her house and we walk together hand in hand down the street to the party. It’s the same house I ran to last weekend, in my pink socks and white slides, bare chested, and in basketball shorts.

Taking in a deep breath I watch her, she just opens the door, high fiving people as she walks through. This crowd is filled with the popular kids, the jocks, the cheerleaders, the punks who have made my life a hell since fourth grade. When they all realized that I was smarter than them. To say that I’m uncomfortable is an understatement. I watch the crowd part like the Red Sea as she moves through, “Maximillion!” She shouts as she approaches the couch in the back corner.

“Kitty Kat!” Max jumps up off the couch and embraces her, she doesn’t let go of my hand, when he steps back he looks at me and then down at our hands, “Whatchu got here?” He asks her.

“My date for the night.”

“Knox is here.” He replies, looking around the room.

“Fuck him dude, he fucked me over one too many times.”

“He’s not going to take this lightly, Kitty. Be careful.”

“I’m ready for him this time.” Katherine replies, whipping a knife out of her boot. When the hell did she put that there.

“I’m more worried about your arm candy, not sure Westley here can fight back.”

“Ask him how he got his black eye.” I reply to him, rolling my eyes as my attention flitters through the room trying to spot Knox. When my eyes land in the doorway to what looks like the kitchen, I see him standing there. “I’m gonna get us some drinks.” I tell Katherine, kissing her on the temple. She nods and moves with Max to the couch as they talk. They’ve been friends since eighth grade, and even though he’s friends with Knox, he doesn’t seem to like him very much.

Making my way into the kitchen, I push past the crowd surrounding Knox and grab two empty red cups, dumping some ice into them, then just as I watched her last time, I put some Jack Daniels in and then top it off with Coke. All of which I crack open myself. I’m not risking her getting drugged.

When I turn around to take the drinks back to her, Knox’s smug face is right in front of mine. He’s still rocking two black eyes, the one I gave him, and the darker parts from Katherine’s knee to his nose. “Why are you with my girl?” He asks.

“I’m not.” I reply, not actually lying.

“I just watched you with her.”

“Oh, you mean Katherine, yeah, she’s not your girl.” I shoulder past him and make my way back out to her. When I reach her, I hand her the cup and take a drink out of mine. Now, I am by no means a fighter, and the first time I ever actually hit someone aside from my trainer was Knox, that night. So, it could get ugly as fuck. I’ve trained, but never fought outside of gloves and training gear. My hand hurt for days after, and I’ve never been hit in the face with a bare fist. So I’m really hoping that Knox keeps to himself, but the exchange in the kitchen tells me that there’s a chance he won’t stay put.

“Thanks.” Katherine says with a smile as she takes the cup.

The music is slightly quieter in this corner, which I’m assuming is the reason why Max sits here. “Sit.” Max says, shooing the other person off the couch. So I take the seat, “So, West, you’re headed to Yale with George.”

“Yup.” I reply, taking another sip of my drink.

“And you’re here with Kat.”

“Yup.” I say again, is this how it’s going to be tonight?

“Why now? You treated her like shit for years.” There it is.

“Why not?” I ask, “She is beautiful, amazing, and talented.”

“Oh, I know. But, just because you live next door and are best friends with her brother doesn’t mean you know her, or what she’s been through.”

Katherine kicks him. “What do you know about her past?” I ask, scooting up to the edge of the seat, putting my elbows on my knees.

“I know that Knox is a control freak with anger issues, I know that he likes to take what he wants, and Kitty here was on the receiving end of most of that.”

“Max!” She growls at him.

“What have you done to help her?” I ask, “I mean, as her bestie, you should have stepped up and helped, I didn’t know there were issues with her and Knox until last weekend when I found her drugged out of her mind and him attempting to rape her.” My tone is sharp and I’m doing my best to keep my temper down. I don’t really have anger issues, but for some reason when it comes to her, I feel like I could take on the world.

“This is a party, let’s not talk about all the dark things in the world.” Katherine pushes up off the couch, holding a hand out for me, “Let’s dance.”

“I’m going to need more than a couple of sips to get on that dance floor again. The last time you left me standing here alone.” I down the rest of my drink, and when I take her hand and stand up, I’m shoved back down, Katherine is shoved to the side barely missing the shelf and Max is quick to catch her before she hits her head on the table.

“Stay down.” Knox stands over me, and when I know Katherine is fine, I turn to look at him, feeling enraged.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” I ask, not staying down. I get to my feet and the music cuts off as the crowd backs away.

“No fighting in the house Knox, mom will kill me if we break shit, you know the rules.”

“It’s fine Max, this pretty boy hits like a girl.” Knox laughs, the crowd following suit.

“Yeah, and a girl gave you those.” I point to his eyes. “Did the witty Kitty hurt your ego?” I mock him, and I see his fist coming from a mile away giving me time to duck out of the way. “What the matter, Knox? You don’t like a fair fight? Gotta use a little pill to help you get what you want?”

Now, again, I’ve never really fought outside of training, and Knox is the teenage reigning boxing champion. Which means this could get ugly, quickly. But, there’s no way I’m going to just let him get away with this behavior. My heart is beating so hard in my chest as everyone creates a circle around us. “Fuck him up!” someone shouts from somewhere. Damn savages, they just want to see a fight.

“I said not to fight in the house!” Max jumps into the circle. “Knox, you’re fucking wasted, either go to bed or get the fuck out!”

“Katherine, get your guy and take him into the kitchen.”

“Yeah Kitty, put a leash on your dog.” Knox sneers, and I see red. My fist connects with his jaw, the recoil vibrating up into my shoulder. I lay another fist into his side, between his ribs and hips, just as I was taught. Dipping under his arm, I get behind him, wrapping an arm around his neck and pull him backwards. Boxing champ or not, I will not sit around and do nothing. Not after that.

My grip tightens, and I feel two different people trying to pull us apart. “Let go.” I hear Katherine, her soothing voice pulling me back to reality. I’m not even sure what happened, I wrapped him up and then suddenly everyone is screaming. “Westley, he got the message.”

“You’re gonna kill him!” Max shouts.

I release Knox, watching him crumple to the floor, grabbing at his throat, coughing. “Fuck, sorry.” I reply.

“It’s fine, sometimes I want to do that too, but I don’t let my intrusive thoughts win.” Max replies, helping his friend up. “Knox, get the fuck upstairs and don’t come back down.” He shoves his friend to the stairs and when Knox disappears without a word, he turns and claps twice. “Party on!” He shouts, dropping a palm to my shoulder as he leads me into the kitchen. The music kicks back on and the adrenaline starts to settle.

“Drink this.” Katherine hands me a cup and I down it immediately.

“Water?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“No.” I reach for the Jack and fuck the coke. I flick the lid off and drink straight from the bottle. The burn is unreal, but as it slides down my throat, I feel the calm. When I finish, I shudder. “That was gross.” I reply, lifting it to my mouth to do it again.

“You might wanna take it easy on that.” Max says, leaning against the counter. I hold the bottle in my hand after finishing another drink.

Letting out a deep sigh, I turn to face Katherine. She is just frowning at me. “What’s the face for?” I ask.

“The face that I was born with?” She shrugs, “Not sure, this is just how it looks.”

“You look upset.”

“Definitely not upset.”

“Then why are you frowning?”

“Because I’m horny now, your dumb ass turned me on fighting Knox and we’re here to have fun, not to have sex.”

“There’s no reason why you can’t do both, use my room. I’ll change the sheets later.” He laughs, leaving us behind in the kitchen.

“You heard the man!” I wrap an arm around her waist, lifting her off the ground to carry her out of the kitchen feeling like I’m on cloud nine right now. She’s laughing as we make it up the stairs, “Which one’s his room?” I ask, stopping at the top of the stairs.

“That one.” She wrestles out of grasp, “Come on.” She takes my hand and leads the way. She does that a lot, leading me to places I’ve never been before. It’s been the best two fucking days ever, having her with me, having her be mine. I’ve got to find a way to make her stay for the summer.