Katie

Chapter 8

Sniffing and trying to hold back her tears, Katie made her way to her car. Not looking where she was going, she bumped into a solid chest. Hands reached up to grab her arms to steady her.

"Oof!" Katie looked up into Ben's eyes. She swallowed hard and tried to smile, not wanting Ben to see how upset she was. "I'm sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going!"

"Where were you?" Ben asked sternly.

Katie looked at him with confusion in her eyes. "What? I was just...." she stopped when he interrupted her with a shake.

"I've been looking for you everywhere!" Ben glared, tightening his grip on her arms.

Katie swallowed nervously, "I heard a fight going on and went to go check it out. No big deal, Ben."

Ben narrowed his eyes at her, "The one between Logan and Blaine?"

"Uh, yeah. Were you there?" Katie asked.

"Of course I was, half the school was there, Katie! The problem is, the so-called fight ended half an hour ago. So where were you?" he demanded.

"Oh! I sort of got caught up in listening to Logan and Shawn argue afterwards," Katie said sheepishly.

Ben's face started to turn red. "You've been with those losers this whole time!?" He tightened his grip on her arms even more, making Katie wince.

"Ow Ben, you're hurting me!" Katie whined. "It was nothing, I just didn't realize the rest of the crowd had left already. It wasn't intentional."

Ben slowly loosened his hold on her. "From now on, stay away from those two!" he growled. "Do you know what it would look like if my girlfriend was caught hanging out with losers like them? It would look bad! I would look bad." He snarled.

Katie's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" she asked incredulously.

Ben put his hand on the back of her neck and roughly pulled her towards him. "I'm very serious Katie." He forced his lips on hers and kissed her roughly. Katie tried to pull back but he just held her to him that much tighter. Tears started to seep from the corners of her eyes as she gave in. When Ben finally released her he said, "Remember, you're my girl. Stay away from Shawn and Logan!" With that he turned and walked away, leaving her standing there feeling more lost and alone than she had in awhile.

Katie ran to her car and with shaking hands, unlocked the door and hurriedly climbed in. Placing the keys in the ignition, Katie paused. Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she laid her head on the steering wheel and cried as if her heart was breaking. And she honestly felt as if it might be.

After what felt like hours but was probably more like just a few minutes, Katie slowly straightened up, wiping the tears from her cheeks and eyes. Taking a deep breath she started the car up and slowly drove home.

The rest of the week passed in a blur. Ben apologized for acting so jealous and preceded to act as if nothing had happened, Logan successfully ignored her, and every time she happened to pass Shawn in the halls he would give her a sympathetic look and keep walking. Katie hated the sympathetic glances the most. She'd had enough of those ever since her dad had died to last her a lifetime. In reality though, she had been getting those kinds of looks ever since her mom had left, years ago and then when her dad started traveling more and more. She thought she would be used to those kind of looks by now but I guess some things you never quite get used to.

And to top it off, she was falling behind in her school work. At first she had tried to catch up but after awhile she just sort of stopped caring as much. When had life gotten so complicated, she wondered. She had planned on heading straight home every night this week to try and catch up but it seemed like something always came up. One night Sarah and the girls begged her to go shopping with them, and she did. Spent more than she should've too but she had been feeling sorry for herself after the run in with Logan and Shawn, followed by the incident with Ben. So she figured she was entitled to a pick-me-up shopping trip with friends. Then the next two nights Ben had insisted on hanging out. After their last fight, Katie didn't want to rock the boat so she had agreed. Their relationship was already rocky enough lately without adding to it. His temper had been flaring up a lot more lately and she just wanted to keep peace between them. He was also getting a little more aggressive in their alone time and it was starting to make Katie nervous. She knew she wasn't ready to take the big step but she didn't know how long Ben would be willing to wait. She used to think he would wait forever because he loved her, but now she wasn't so certain anymore. The question for her now was, how far was she willing to go to keep him? The thought of losing him scared her....he had been the one constant in her life for the last three years. So much had changed recently, she didn't think she could survive another big change.

Frustrated, Katie shook her head, trying to clear all the negative thoughts out. 'This is why I'm falling so far behind in school. I can't focus and concentrate anymore.' she sighed. Looking up she saw that the last bell of the day would ring in just a few minutes. Katie started to gather up all her things and throw them in her book bag. She had an appointment with her Dad's lawyer right after school for the reading of his Will. Should have happened sooner but Mr. Davenport had been tied up with other matters and a few things he had to get cleared away before the Will could be read and implemented. It was all confusing to Katie so she hadn't questioned the delays, but she was anxious to get this done and over with. One last loose end to tie up so she could try to start healing and move forward with her life.

She had let Ben know earlier in the day of her plans so as soon as the bell rang Katie rushed out of the classroom, headed straight for her car and drove to the lawyers office.

Nervously Katie walked in and signed her name at the receptionists desk. The receptionist smiled and told her to take a seat, Mr. Davenport would be with her shortly.

Sighing, Katie grabbed a magazine and began to idly flip though it, glancing through page after page of celebrities and their crazy, glamorous lives. Twenty minutes later, Katie heard a door down the hall open and then voices.

Glancing up, she saw Mr. Davenport standing in the doorway to his office, talking in low tones to a dark haired man who's back was facing her. As he turned to head her way down the hall, Katie gasped when she recognized him.

'What in the world is Shawn doing here?' she thought to herself. She knew her dad only hired the best and their was no way someone like Shawn could afford his services.

Shawn noticed her and paused, looking unsure of what to do or say. Mr. Davenport placed a hand on his shoulder and whispered something she couldn't hear in Shawn's ear. She saw Shawn slowly nod his head, not taking his eyes off of hers.

Squirming uncomfortably under his intense stare, Katie looked away. Shawn walked past her, pausing only briefing beside her for a brief second as if he wanted to say something to her, before changing his mind and opening the glass doors to head outside. Katie released the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and looked over at the lawyer.

Mr. Davenport gave her a small, reassuring smile and gestured for her to follow him back to his office. Katie laid the magazine aside and slowly stood up, for some reason feeling extremely nervous about this meeting, after having seen Shawn.

Mr. Davenport closed the door behind her as she walked in and gently told her to take a seat.

Instead of immediately heading to sit behind his massive, mahogany desk, as she assumed he would, Mr. Davenport headed to a flat screen hanging on the wall to her left.

Clearing his throat nervously, Mr. Davenport stated, "Well, Ms. Bowman. As you are fully aware of, we are here for the reading of your father's Will. Your father decided he wanted to do this himself and not have me read everything to you. Thought it would be more personal that way." He smiled as he explained. Grabbing a remote, he turned the tv on. "I will just let you watch the video and if you have any questions I will be happy to answer them after you've had time to digest everything."

Turning off the overhead light, he started the video and quietly left the room.

Half an hour later, Katie sat where she was, completely stunned. What had just happened? Her head was spinning with everything her father had said in the video. 'This cannot be real,' Katie thought. Why would her father wait until after his death to reveal all of this to her? Why turn her world upside down even more than it already was with his death? She was having trouble wrapping her head around everything he had said.

Hearing a soft knock on the door, Katie quietly answered, "Come in."

Peeking his head around the door to confirm that the video was over, Mr. Davenport stepped in. Turning off the screen, he quickly sat down behind his desk and stapled his fingers together in from of him. He looked at her and politely asked, "Any questions?"

Katie just stared at him, dumbfounded. Unsure of what to say, all Katie could think to ask was, "Is this a joke!?"

Her eyes pleaded with the lawyer, begging him to start laughing and say 'Yes, Katie, your dad thought it would be great to play a prank on you in his death.' Then grab up some papers and say, 'Now this is his REAL Will.' with a wink.

But unfortunately, that did not happen. Instead, Mr. Davenport looked over at her with sympathy in his eyes.

"No Katie, I'm afraid this is very real. You, my dear, have a brother." He said quietly.