The School Guidance Counsellor

Chapter Six

Kitty turned around. It was the man she had seen at the parking lot, the one she needed to pry her eyes away from, who looked to be about ten years or so older than she was. He was staring at her with a slight smile and hands in his pockets. Dressed in a dark grey top, his chest bulged against his clothes and his tall length struck the final blow. Her legs trembled and lips parted as they beheld each other for some time, gazes searing into each other.

"How do you know my name?" Kitty asked him.

"Think the whole faculty knows who you are," he said. "Kitty Hale."

"And who are you?" Kitty said as her heart thudded in her ears. Why did she feel such a rush simply from standing?

"Gunner Kelly."

"Are you the janitor?"

He laughed. "Janitors usually have an office?"

She looked around her. There was a large fish tank at one corner, and a wide chocolate brown couch in the middle of the room, as well as two chairs towards the side that faced each other but were placed adjacent to the other. Behind him was a generous desk with several papers lying on top of it. He was definitely not a janitor. He stepped towards her and she instinctively backed away as heat tore through her body, causing him to stop advancing towards her in reflex. He smiled kindly and extended a hand out towards her.

"I'm the school guidance counsellor."

She grasped his hand. It was rough and it covered her hand entirely. She looked down at it to see angry veins snaking around the back of his hand up to his powerful arm. Though she wanted to hold onto him longer to feel his touch on her, he let her hand go.

"I thought Mr. Moriyama was the school guidance counsellor." Kitty remembered him, he was an old and gentle man.

"Moriyama's retired."

"Oh," she said as she wiped her clammy hand against her skirt. She felt the cold wind from the air conditioner touch the gap between her thighs as the heat lit her back up.

"Why are you here, Kitty?"

She forced herself back to earth. "Oh, I mean - " she said as her cheeks flushed. "I don't know."

"Looked like you were running from something."

She breathed consciously. "It's just Becky. If you've heard from the faculty, you know that she's been harassing me."

"Little bitch, isn't she?" Gunner said and Kitty gasped. "Don't tell anyone I said that, if you don't mind."

Kitty's lips spread into a smile. Finally, someone who was actually on her side. "Don't worry, I won't say anything," she said. "And yes, she's a fucking bitch. I hate her."

"Why?"

"She looks down on everyone who isn't her and she thinks the world belongs to her. I'm having a hard time after my dad was arrested for messing with a minor and my mother isn't exactly empathetic. And I know my boyfriend is always there for me, but he is such a prude and is so irretrievably boring that I want to gouge my eyes out whenever he is near. Nothing seems to be going right in my life, and I hate every fucking second. All I want is to find someone who really gets me, someone who makes me feel excited to be alive," she said without stopping and inhaled deeply afterwards. "God, I really needed to get that out. I feel so, so, so much better!"

He huffed once. "Glad I could help."

"Thank you."

"Good that you're here anyway," he continued. "I was planning to find you."

"For?"

"Book some sessions with me, Kitty," he said to her with a warm voice. "I'd love to see you."

She smiled and breathed in, breathed out deeply. Her nose was picking up a distinct smell that was rolling off his muscled body. A smell of gasoline and smoke mixed together, making for holy incense that she wanted to offer up to Heaven. She felt his scent invade her insides and for the first time, she imagined his hands on every sore surface of her skin, coaxing the tension from her body.

"Kitty?"

"Gunner," she said. "I'm sorry, but I don't need your services."

❃❃❃

"I'll have the salmon as always," Barry told the waitress. "And she'll have the risotto."

"But I want to eat the pizza," Kitty protested. The waitress gave her a look of dismissal before looking over at Barry for confirmation. When you had your last name attached to most of the businesses in town, it was a natural consequence for the people inside to sway to your wishes.

"She'll have the risotto," Barry repeated to the waitress, who nodded and left them. Kitty frowned at him and he smiled at her. "You look better when you smile."

"Well you put the frown on my face. I wanted the pizza."

"I have a good reason why I chose the risotto for you," he said. "I have some great and interesting news. Do you want to hear it?"

She was absolutely positive that nothing that came out of his mouth could be interesting. "What is it?"

"I've decided, Kitty," he said to her. "That we're going to get married very soon. And for you to have a long life with me, you have to make sure that your physical health is as perfect as it can be. And that means no pizza."

The dread struck her hard. "Married? I'm not even 18 yet." She always hated that she was underage, but now, she very much wanted to be underage, thank you very much.

"I am setting the date for when you turn 21. When you are fully an adult and ready to make your own decisions."

And there he was making decisions for her!

"I don't know, Barry," she said. She wanted to tell him that she would rather drown herself in boiling acid than marry him.

"Do you remember all that we've gone through together down the years?"

She did. And it was the only reason why she was still with him. While she was always making reckless decisions that upended her life, Barry was the one constant fixture in her life that made her calm, that kept her grounded to life. Her friends often dated bad boys that made them cry because they broke their hearts, but she knew that it would never be a problem when she had Barry. He was a good man, even though sometimes he did shitty things. Besides, who didn't do shitty things every now and then?

"I remember," she said. "Every single thing." She really kind of did.

"Well then, what's holding you back?"

"I don't know," she repeated. "Don't you want to live a little before tying yourself down with marriage?"

"Marriage is not a burden, Kitty," Barry said. "It's freedom."

Umm, what?

"Or have you always wanted to try dating other men?" Barry continued, asking.

"No," she said. "Of course not. I can't imagine myself with anyone else. You're everything to me."

"Likewise."

"I'm just not sure - "

"It's already settled, Kitty," he said. "I've already discussed this with my family. They're fine with your shortcomings."

"My shortcomings?"

"After we're married, we'll work on them. You'll have an active role in church, and you'll attend all the courses we want to put you through. We'll give you a safe career in ministry, and you'll be taken care of for the rest of your life. I will make sure you're comfortable."

"But I haven't even heard a proposal from you."

"Oh," he blinked. "I'm sorry. Kitty, will you marry me?"

It didn't sound like she had much choice.

She sighed. "You already know the answer," she told him.