Chapter Ten
We’re picking up our cap and gowns today. It’s the only day I’m coming back here. I can’t see Knox, I’m afraid I’ll actually kill him for what he did to her. So together, hand in hand, I lead Katherine through the halls, we’ve already emptied our lockers and collected our yearbooks. Neither one of us wanted to meet everyone in the gym to do the signings. We don’t have enough people we care about to actually go to it.
We get to the table that says Cap and Gown on the front, “Name.” Nurse Fitzpatrick, says.
“You know our names.” I reply.
“Yes, but formality requires me to ask and have you sign the sheet saying you got them.
“Katherine Winston.” Kat responds before I do. Nurse Fitzpatrick shuffles through the packages and pulls one out. “Sign here.” She points to the paper on the table and Kat does. She’s handed the package and then the nurse turns her attention to me.
“Westley.” She cocks a brow at me.
I roll my eyes. “Westley Sherman.” I let out a sigh as she searches for my package. I sign the paper and she hands it over.
“Good luck on Saturday!” She shouts as Katherine and I leave the school. There is literally no reason for us to stick around. Her brother showed up this morning to get his things and wanted me to go with him, but I was a little busy eating his sister out when he called. She spent the night at my house last night since my parents were gone to some baseball charity thing in Chicago.
I’ve convinced her to spend the week with me while my parents are gone. She has to go home for dinner, but I just show up unannounced like I used to and join them. I don’t want her out of my sight until the time comes for us to part.
“Where to now?” She asks as we climb into the car.
“I’m a little hungry.” I reply, starting the engine. She laughs, “Burgers?” I ask.
“Sounds divine.” She buckles in and leans back into the seat. I place my hand on her thigh and we drive off, leaving the wretched school behind.
When I pull into the parking lot of the only burger joint between the school and our houses, I see George’s car. “What’s he doing here?” I ask, nodding to his car.
“I’m not sure, but we don’t have to eat here if you’re not ready to tell your bestie that your fucking his sister.” She laughs.
“Fuck him, he’s known how I felt about you for years. He used to catch me staring at you.” I cut the engine and climb out, walking over to her side. When I open the door, her long legs come out first, the knee length leather boots only make her even more attractive.
She takes my hand and we walk in together. “Two?” The little hostess asks, grabbing the burger menus. I just nod and follow her to the table, right behind George. When he sees us his eyes go wide, but my curiosity is piqued. Because in the booth with him, is none other than Nicole fucking Breshears.
I take my seat, staring straight at my best friend, while the two girls are sitting back to back. Katherine looks at me with wide eyes, mouthing words, “What the fuck?” She points at her chest, really pointing at Nicole.
I shake my head and shrug, not knowing what’s going on either. “What can I getcha?” A blonde sophomore from the school pops up next to the table.
“Two Dr. Peppers with no ice, and I’m ready to order my food too.”
“Same.” Kat replies quickly.
“Okay.” She gets her little notebook out with her pen, “What’ll it be?”
“I’ll have the Royal Burger, egg, over easy, with bacon and no onion. Cajun season on the fries.” I tell her.
“I’ll have the double melt with extra sauce on the side, and sea salt fries.”
“Do you want the sauce on the burger and on the side?” She asks.
“Yes please.” Katherine hands the menu to the girl as do I and she walks off to put our order in.
I lean on the table to look at Katherine, avoiding eye contact with George. “This is awkward, right?”
“A little. But, he’ll have to get over it.” She smiles, pulling her bottom lip through her teeth. God damn, she’s so fucking beautiful it actually hurts my heart to imagine not being able to see her everyday. I really need to talk to her about staying with me, at least for the summer. Then I can try to make her understand whatever it is that we have together, that it’s too important to let go of just because I’m moving to Yale. We could find a place off campus, away from George.
When I look up to see George again, he’s gone, but then there’s a body slamming into me, scooting me further into the booth. “Hey sis. West.” He’s staring at his sister, not even bothering to look at me. “Whatchu two doing here?” He sucks on his teeth, making an annoyed sound.
“Eating.” Katherine replies snarky with a cheeky smile.
“Together?” He quips back.
“Yes, together. It’s a crazy thought huh? Two hungry humans mildly conversing over a feeding. Don’t worry Georgie, I’ll tell you about it when you’re older.”
“Fuck off, Kat,” he gruff’s eyeing Katherine, before turning his glare to me.
“Nicole in the bathroom getting rid of all the food she just ate? I hope she brought a toothbrush, stomach acid really ruins a first kiss, don’t you think?” Katherine quips, looking over her shoulder towards the bathroom.On cue, Nicole exits the bathroom popping a piece of gum into her mouth. “Orbit isn’t going to help, that dirty mouth cannot be cleaned by a small piece of whale blubber.” I cover my mouth, doing my best to not laugh. I swear these two used to be each other’s best friend and I felt like the third wheel most of the time.
I can almost see the smoke coming out of Nicole’s ears as Katherine continues. “Bonus points to you,” She points to her brother. “Guaranteed her gag reflex doesn’t work anymore.” Katherine winks, she fucking winks just as the soda gets placed on the table.
I lose it, laughing loudly, I cannot contain myself, this girl is on fucking fire. I’ve seen her do this from afar, but to be front and center to watching her lay into someone like that is poetry.
Nicole scoffs, and grabs George’s hand, “Lets get out of here.”
“Yeah baby bro, you don’t want to keep the queen waiting.” Katherine gasps, putting her hands against her face like she’s surprised.
“Mother and Father will hear about this.” George stands up, “And I expected more from you, friend.” He flashes his teeth at me when he says friend, as if he could insult me. We watch as they leave together.
“When the fuck did that happen?” Katherine asks.
“I have no clue. Last I knew he couldn’t stand her. Neither of us could. She made our lives hell for so long.”
“I’m aware. When I was on the debate team, her and I were put up against each other. The debate was, should the school system enforce a uniform system. She was totally against it, but her reasons were shallow. She complained about not being able to wear her expensive shoes and having to wear polyester.” She laughs, the smile reaching her whole face. A completely different girl from a few short days ago when she cried and told me everything that’s happened to her on Max’s bathroom floor. We ended up spending the night at his house, in his bed and fucked three more times before finally passing out.
“You had to argue why they were a good idea?” I ask, looking at her outfit, it didn’t make sense for her to want that.
“Yeah, this was before my wardrobe upgrade.” She picks something off her shoulder. “I argued that bullying based around what people wore would be reduced.”
“Who won the argument?”
“She totally did, it was a popularity contest. I was the smart kids twin sister, what did I know about fashion?” She rolls her eyes and looks away. “Oh food.” She starts doing a little wiggle in her seat as the food approaches.
After we eat, I pull into my driveway only to see Georgie and his parents standing on my front porch. I get out with a smile, “Sorry Mr. and Mrs. Winston, my parents are gone until graduation.” I tell them, getting out of the car.
“Thanks for food and a ride.” Katherine says, shutting my car door. Then she just walks over to her house as if that’s all this was. I’m not sure if it’s because her parents are standing here or if she just doesn’t want them to know about us. “What can I do for you?”
“Is that all that was, food and a ride?” Mrs. Winston asks.
“That’s what she said isn’t it.” I say, pulling the house key up on my key ring.
“George said you guys have been spending more time together.” Mrs. Winston says, clearing her throat. “You shouldn’t waste your time with her, she’ll drag you down and you have a bright future ahead of you.”
I bite my tongue as I put the key in the lock. How could a mother say that about her own child, like I get my mother saying something, Im her child. But for Mrs. Winston to be more worried about my future than her own daughters speaks volumes on her character.
“I don’t mean to be rude Mrs. Winston, but it is absolutely none of your concern who I’m spending my time with, your daughter is an amazing person.” I open my front door, not bothering to turn around. When I’m in the house I shut the door and lock it behind my back. Fucking savage.
There’s a knock. “Can we talk?” I hear George ask.
“Not if your parents are still there.” I reply.
“They’ve left.” He replies back.
I peek through the peephole to see it’s just him. I unlock the door and open it, “You’ve got five minutes.” I say, kicking my shoes off.
He shuts the door and follows me to the kitchen. “Why her, of all the girls you could have.”
“What girls George? Before this year, the only person who never made fun of me was Katherine and you, and sorry, but I don’t swing that way.” I wiggle my brows at him as I pull a soda from the fridge.
“I know you’ve liked her for a while, but why now?”
“Because we leave for Yale in a couple months, then the window is gone, she’ll have her own life who the fuck knows where and I’ll be elbows deep in college bullshit.” I take a drink and set the red can down. “Why were you with Nicole fucking Breshears?” I ask back, “She was the ringleader of bullies.”
“She asked me to eat, I figured why not, we’re about to graduate and I’d never see her again. Turns out she wanted something I wasn’t willing to help with.”
“George, didn’t you know where to put it?” I clear my throat trying not to laugh.
“As if you would know where it goes either. You’re just as much of a virgin as I am.” He quips so matter of factly.
“I’m not a virgin, George. We haven’t spoken much in the last couple months. What the fuck would you know about me these days.” There’s a reason I’ve pulled back from him. Yes, I’m in love with his sister, but theres a part of me that likes George, in more than just as a friend kind of way. It was the three of us for so long, the bond grew, and when Katherine went her own way, pulling away from both of us. We only had each other, he was my everything and when he found out he was accepted into Yale, I was put on the back burner.
“Since when?” George cocks his head to the side.
“Since your sister.” I say with as much venom on my tongue as I can muster.
“You fucking pig, you and her lost your virginity to each other, are you kidding me?” He asks. I just laugh, because no, George, that is not how that happened.
“Why are you here? You stopped talking to me when Yale came into the picture. You pushed me to the side.”
“We’re going to Yale together, you should be at my side, getting ready. Not fucking my sister.”
I close the gap between us, his blue eyes staring right into me, searing a hole in my chest. He seems disgusted with me. “Why not?” I snarl.
“Because of bro code.” He says with a straight face.
“Fucking bro code, you’re throwing that at me right now?” I hear footsteps coming down my stairs, Katherine mustve snuck in the way I showed her to avoid the front door. Fuck.
“Yes, I told you that you could look at my sister, but you swore you’d never touch her.” He shoves me in the chest. What is it with these fucking Winston siblings shoving me in the chest?
“I never promised to not touch her. I wanted something, and I fucking went after it. I wanted to know her, truly know her. She’s fucking amazing, George. You guys push her out because of how she’s dressing. If you knew anything about her, you’d know that she’s hiding. She’s fucking marvelous, smart mouthed, and a god damned good lover. Now get the fuck out of my house.” I throw a hand up pointing to my front door.
“This isn’t over, Westley.” George says as he turns to see his sister standing there, looking worried. “Worthless piece of trash.” He practically spits at her.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cause problems.” Katherine bites her lip and disappears around the corner.
“That’s right, fucking run, that’s what you’re good at.” George yells. “Maybe they’ll actually arrest you and throw away the fucking key!”
My heart drops and my fists clench. I’ve been pissed, the time I rescued her from Knox amongst the top three, but the way George is talking to her just spikes me through the fucking roof. I take three long strides to catch him, shoving him against the wall. His back hits hard, my hand gripping his throat. “I swear to every fucking thing the world believes in, I will end your fucking life George. She’s been through enough.”
“Threatening me now, Westley, she must have a good snatch.” Grinding my teeth I do my best to not punch his lights out right here.
“Just fucking leave. And stay out of our business.” I throw him towards the door, leaving him there so I can hunt down my beautiful dark soul beauty.
Twenty minutes. Thats how long it took me to search my house for her. I went to my bedroom first, looking through it and then over to her room. The light was off, so I knew she didn’t go home. So I looked, and looked.
“Katherine!” I find her sitting in the basement, a mirror leaning against the wall as she stares into it. There’s something that happens when she looks into a mirror and I’m not sure it’s healthy.
“I’m sorry.” She says, and then doesn’t stop saying it. Rocking back and forth as she tucks her knees under her chin. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” She just keeps saying it, rocking, and squeezing her legs. There are droplets of blood around her finger nails, where she’s dug in so hard that it’s broken the skin.
“No. Kitty. You have nothing to be sorry about.” I hush her, wrapping my arms around her as I sit behind her. Holding her while I feel so fucking hopeless. I’m not sure I can help her, she needs professionals. She acts like nothing is wrong, then things like this happen. She needs to tell someone else what happened. What he did to her, otherwise she’ll never heal.
My heart breaks as she continues to repeat how sorry she is. “I told you.” She adds. Rocking against my chest.
“Told me what, Kitty?”
“That I’m not worth loving. Even my family says so.” There’s no fucking way I’m letting her think that. I stand up pulling her with me until she’s looking up at me. “Just leave me alone, West. It’ll only get harder from here.” She shoves past me, but I stop her, grabbing her wrist. My face twisted in horror as I see the half moons cut into her legs, the scratches down her neck and the smeared blood on her cheeks.
“Katherine.” I speak softly, choking back my own tears. “Why did you hurt yourself?” I ask, running my fingers down her neck.
“To make sure it was real, that he really said that.” She starts nodding her head, and her fingers start digging into her forehead, “He did. I told you. Worthless. I’m worthless.”
She’s been through so fucking much that I’m not sure where to start. Do I hold her until all the pieces fuse back together? Do I fuck her until she forgets? I’m at a fucking loss.
“Worthless.” She starts rocking again, and when she looks up at me, her icy blue eyes are filled with tears, and this time they’re falling down her cheeks.
This is where it happens, everyone says there’s a point in your life that makes you realize what your purpose is. She’s my whole purpose in life, to heal her, to help her. To make her find herself again.