For the next hour, they sat there, talking now and then and sometimes just sitting in silence. They didnt say anything really important or share any more secrets, they just talked.
Finally, Kate yawned and Tully stood up. "I better book. "
They got up and walked down to the road. At the mailboxes, Kate stopped. "Well. Bye. "
"Bye. " Tully stood there a moment, feeling awkward. She wanted to hug Kate, maybe even cling to her and tell her how much this night had been helped by her, but she didnt dare. Shed learned a thing or two about vulnerability from her mother, and she felt too fragile now to risk humiliation. Turning, she headed down to her house. Once inside, she went straight to the shower. There, with the hot water beating down on her, she thought about what had happened to her tonight—what shed let happen because she wanted to be cool—and she cried. When she was done and the tears had turned into a hard little knot in her throat, she took the memory of this night and boxed it up. She shelved it in the back alongside memories of the times Cloud had abandoned her and immediately began working on forgetting it was there.
CHAPTER FIVE
Kate lay awake long after Tully had left. Finally, she threw back the covers and got out of bed.
Downstairs, she found what she needed: a small statue of the Virgin Mary, a votive candle in a red glass holder, a book of matches, and her grandmothers old rosary beads. Taking everything back up to her room, she created an altar on top of her dresser, and lit the candle.
"Heavenly Father," she prayed, head bowed and hands clasped, "please watch out for Tully Hart and help her through this hard time. Also, please heal her mothers cancer. I know You can help them. Amen. " She said a few Hail Marys, and then went back to bed.
But all night she tossed and turned, dreaming about the encounter with Tully, wondering what would happen in the morning. Should she talk to Tully today at school, smile at her? Or was she expected to pretend it had never happened? There were rules to popularity, secret codes written in invisible ink that only girls like Tully could read. All Kate knew was that she didnt want to make a mistake and embarrass herself. She knew that sometimes the popular girls were "secret friends" with nerds; like, they smiled and said hi when they werent in school or when their parents were friends. Maybe that was how it would be with her and Tully.
Finally, she quit trying to sleep and got up. Putting on her robe, she went downstairs. In the living room, her dad looked up from the newspaper and smiled. "Top of the mornin to you, Katie Scarlett. Come give your old man a hug. "
She plopped into his lap, rested her cheek against the rough wool of his shirt.
He tucked a strand of hair around her ear. She could see how tired he looked; he was working so hard, doing double shifts at Boeing so they could afford their yearly family camping trip. "Hows school going?"
It was the same question he always asked. Once, a long time ago, shed actually answered, said, "Not so good, Dad," and then waited for his advice or comfort or something, but no such words had come. Hed heard what he wanted to hear, not what shed said. Her mom had said it was because he worked so many hours at the plant.
Kate could have been upset by his distraction, but somehow it had made her love him even more. He never yelled at her or told her to pay attention or reminded her that she was responsible for her own happiness. Those were her mothers words; her dad just quietly went on loving her no matter what.
"Great," she answered, smiling to reinforce the lie.
"How could it not be?" he said, kissing her temple. "Youre the prettiest girl in town, eh? And your mum named you after one of the great literary heroines of all time. "
"Yeah, Scarlett OHara and I have a ton in common. "
"Youll see," he said, chuckling. "Theres a fair bit of life still ahead of you, missy. "
She looked at him. "Do you think Ill be pretty when I grow up?"
"Ah, Katie," he said. "Youre a rare beauty already. "
She took those words and tucked them in her pocket like worry stones; every now and again as she got ready for school she felt them, turned them around in her fingers.
By the time she was dressed and ready to go, the house was empty. The Mularkey family bus had left the station.
She was so nervous she arrived at the bus stop early. Every minute that passed seemed to last an eternity, but there was still no sign of Tully when the school bus drove up and came to a shuddering stop.
Kate dropped her chin and took a seat in the first row.
All through morning classes, she looked for Tully, but didnt see her. At lunch she hurried past the crowd of popular kids, who were busy cutting to the front of the food line whenever they felt like it, and sat down at one of the long tables at the very end of the cafeteria. On the other side of the room, kids were laughing and talking and shoving each other; these tables in social Siberia were sadly quiet, though. Kate, like the others seated around her, rarely looked up.
It was a survival skill the unpopular kids learned early: junior high was like the jungles of Vietnam; it was best to crouch low and keep quiet. So intent was she on her lunch that when someone came up to her and said, "Hey," she practically jumped out of her seat.
Tully.
Even on this cool May day, she wore a cut-to-there miniskirt, white go-go boots, shiny black panty hose, and a tube top. Several peace-symbol necklaces bounced against her cleavage. Her hair glinted with copper streaks in the light. A huge macramé-knot purse hung against her thigh. "Have you told anyone about last night?"
"No. Of course not. "
"So, were friends, right?"