“That guy is in love with you, Kat.”
“But I’m in love with you, Kai,” the words fall from my tongue before I even think about what I am saying.
“Don’t say that, Katie. You
have no idea what hearing that does to me.” He takes my hand and places it over his crotch.
“I do now,” I tease him, feeling relieved that he didn’t bail because of what I just said.
“Seriously, Kat, I have loved you since sixth grade. I thought if I told you, that you would freak out and never talk to me again. I didn’t think you would understand how strong my feelings are for you. Raven has always known that I wanted you. I hope to tell you everything soon, but for now you have to trust me when I say I can’t tell you just yet.”
“I will try to understand if you promise to be honest with me. Don’t play games with me, Kai.”
“I promise, now kiss me because we have about five more minutes before we have to get out of here. Mr. Pike will be coming to get ready for his next class soon.”
~**~
We make it through the rest of the day without fighting anymore. After school, we pick Khloe-bug up from daycare and take her to the Dairy Bar for a junior cone. She begs Kai to take her to the park to play. It is warm enough for her to be out as long as she wears her jacket.
Her jacket is adorable. There is a picture of a raccoon’s tail on the back with the words here comes trouble and the hood has raccoon ears.
I unbuckle her from her seat and she wraps her arms around my neck, wanting me to carry her so I do. “Khloe loves Katie,” she squeals in my ear, getting her cone in my hair.
Kai takes her to swing while I go across the street to the Dairy Bar to use the bathroom to get the ice cream out of my hair.
When I come out of the bathroom, Penny and Aaron are waiting in line to order. I try to ignore them, but Penny has to open her mouth and call me a whore. I march straight over to the two of them and Penny looks scared of me. Good. She should be, because I am sick of her crap.
“You can say that all you want but that doesn’t make it true, Penny. Yes, I had sex with Aaron before he was ever your boyfriend. But that doesn’t give you the right to harass me for it. He was there too. He chose to have sex with me. Do you call him a whore too?” I tap my foot waiting for her to say something.
Tears well up in her eyes. She looks at Aaron as my words sink in that he is just as guilty as I am, even though it was before they were ever a couple. I should have told her a long time ago, but I can’t change the fact that I didn’t.
“Come on, Aaron, I’ve lost my appetite.” She grabs him by the collar of his shirt and storms off.
By the time I get back to Kai and Khloe, he has to rush to get us home, so he can get to work on time.
I walk Kai to the door while Khloe watches cartoons in the family room. “If I don’t see you tonight, I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says giving, me a quick kiss.
I still have questions and doubts where Raven is concerned, but I am trying not to let it get in the way of our being happy for now.
Khloe and I do girly stuff, painting each other’s nails and making bracelets. The bracelet she made for me says best on it, so I made her one that says friend. We sing and dance, acting goofy until dinnertime. I miss Kai, so I call in a pizza for Khloe and me and request that he delivers it.
Since Khloe loves to play kitchen so much, I rummage through the pantry and find what we will need to make homemade sugar cookies. Mrs. Jennings taught me how, and now I can teach Khloe.
Watching her try to crack an egg is so stinking cute. She says, “Like dis?” She is smiling, so proud of the job she is doing.
“Yeah, like that,” I tell her. We end up making a huge mess with the flour. We both have it in our hair.
Khloe is sitting at the counter, eagerly waiting for her baked goods. She is so excited for everyone to try one of her cookies. She did most of the work. I handled the cleanup and the oven. As I am getting the cookies from the oven, Kai comes in with our pizza.
“Kai, Khloe made cookies. All by myself!” She is shouting at him.
He sits the pizza box on the counter. “Wow, Khloe-bug, that is awesome. They smell so good. I can’t wait to eat them all.”
“No, Kai, you share cookies.” She gives him this big speech about sharing. So cute. He comes over and gives me a quick peck on the lips. Khloe screams, “No kiss Katie, Kai, you not frog today.”
He just laughs and takes a cookie on his way out.
Khloe and I stuff ourselves with pizza and cookies while we watch The Little Mermaid until her stomach settles so I can get her in the tub and ready for bed. By the end of the movie, she is asleep beside me on the couch.