Impossible? I Think Not: A Tratie story

Chapter 13

Um......hi?
*Waits for furious shouts and screams and probably some tears to die down while dodging various objects*
Um.....at least I'm not dead...?

I'M SO SORRY!! IT'S BEEN OVER A YEAR AND I'M HORRIBLE AND I WILL ADMIT THAT!!!!!!

I know I was gone forever....again, but even longer that time. I was going through some tough shit as some of you guys know if you read the chapter of my A/N. I also lost a lot of inspiration to write, for a multitude of reasons.

I haven't really written anything that wasn't for school since the last update, so I'll be rusty, but I'd like to give this book another try. I made it a little longer than the old ones. Hope this is okay.

Katie wanted to bang her head into a wall.

She truly and honestly did.

"How could it get any worse, right?" she mocked her own word from earlier that morning, angrily plucking the strawberry from its vine. "I'm such an idiot."

Once realizing what she did, she quickly ducked her view back down, eyes scanning the fruit in her hand, making sure she hadn't damaged it in her anger.

She sighed, shoulders slumping as she replayed her day, basking in the last rays of the sun and her self-pity.

***

After the heart-heavy cancellation from her father- what could be so important to cancel anyways?- she headed back towards the dining area, only to find breakfast was over. Thankfully, Miranda had grabbed her a muffin and a banana beforehand, having seen Katie head towards the Big House.

"You look upset, is everything okay?" Miranda asked, brows furrowed as she gently placed the food in Katie's hands, lingering to make sure Katie wouldn't drop it. She had a distracted, almost blank look in her eyes that concerned Miranda.

Katie almost missed her words, but to a deep breath, a bit shaky, and responded with a quiet, "I'm fine, just some... I'm fine."

The younger sibling gave her cabin leader a worried look, but took her answer without further questions. She gave her a reassuring hand on the shoulder as she walked away- away to find a certain curly-haired so of Hermes to see if this was somehow his fault...again.

Katie wasn't sure how long she stood there after Miranda left. She knew some others might think she was overreacting to her father cancelling one outing, but she couldn't help it. These meetings with her dad were one of the most important events in her life... and one of the only constant ones.

Her dad had never cancelled. Not when he had the flu the week before. Not when there was a snowstorm that cancelled most of the flights to New York. Not even when he had a big interview to get promoted that couldn't be rescheduled. Not even then.

So what could be so important?!

She hadn't even realized her feet had moved her to stand by the fields, shaded from the sun by the tree she was standing under. She dropped down, curling her legs to the side and leaning back against the trunk of the tree. Her fingers absentmindedly picked at the blueberry muffing, but she couldn't bring herself to eat it. Her appetite was gone.

"Hey Katie-Kat. What's got you down in the dumps?"

She was shocked out of her thoughts, her muffin tumbling down onto the grass as Travis's voice reached her ears, quite a bit closer than she expected,

Katie looked up to see his smiling face just a few feet away from her. She stared at him with a blank expression not quite fully caught up into the moment. Travis's smile faltered a bit, a flash of concern appearing in his eyes for a second. It was gone as soon as it came though, and he was smiling once again as he plopped himself next to Katie, picking up her abandoned muffin.

"Miranda came and chewed me out, asking if I had done anything to make you all gloomy and distracted. Of course, I told her I could never cause you sadness- isn't that right Kit-Kat. But I'd figured I'd come and check on what had you all gloomy-like," he rattled on, flashing her a brilliant smile before brushing off any visible dirt from her brown and taking a big bite.

Katie debated whether she should tell him, she really did. But of course she wouldn't. Just seeing him now brought back all of the feelings from her dream that had pushed aside by the unfortunate news. And now she was unusually stiff next to Travis, scooting over the slightest bit when she realized their legs were toughing when before she would have simply pretended she didn't notice while a small part of her relished in the contact.

"Nothing's wrong, just some... plans got cancelled," She finally told him, sighing as she chose her words carefully, hoping to put them in a way that Travis wouldn't want any further information.

Travis nodded, swallowing another bite of her muffin- of course now  it looked appetizing- and smiled once more. "Sorry to hear that. Sounds like you could use a distraction though."

She really could. But she had to keep up her sassy façade or it just wouldn't be right, would it? "I'm not sure I'd trust any of your 'distractions,' Stoll," she chuckled, shaking her head a bit as she peeled open the previously forgotten banana.

"Ah, but this one you've already signed up for," Travis quipped back, elbowing her lightly in the arm with a grin.

"If I agreed to anything while I was sleeping, it doesn't count! We went over this after the last time you tried this!" she defended, narrowing her eyes playfully before a small smile crept onto her lips.

"Hey! You agreed to take over the dish duty Conner and I had fair and square!" he laughed, shaking his head.

"I was sleeping!" Katie exclaimed, slapping the back of his head and giggling when dramatically threw himself to he ground.

She shook her head once more, breaking off a piece of the banana and eating it. She tried to wipe the somewhat dopey grin off her face but just couldn't.

"So, what is it I have supposedly agreed to this time?" she asked with a sarcastic smile, breaking off another piece of the banana.

"Well, I finally Lizzie's coming back tonight and it's time for the real show to start," Travis said, leaning back on his arms with an innocent grin.

Katie almost forgot how to breathe.

Lizzie.

Lizzie was coming back. And tonight Katie would have to try to make her jealous so that Travis could win over her heart once again.

"Oh..." Katie didn't really know what to say. But she had to say it quick and get out of there before she either began crying or began smacking herself. "That's great."

She couldn't quite look him in the eyes as she quickly stood up, looking around as subtly as she could for an escape. She caught sight of Lou Ellen headed towards the strawberry fields- probably looking for her.

"I forgot! I have to go meet with Lou Ellen! Can't wait for tonight though, a real show, see you later."

She rushed the last of her words, hurriedly making her way towards her friend.

She spent the rest of the day in her cabin.

She had run up to Lou Ellen and opened her mouth to say something-anything- but didn't manage a word before she choked and a tear dripped down her face. Lou Ellen freaked out, not quite knowing what was wrong, but followed as Katie tugged her into the Demeter Cabin.

As much as she hated to admit it, she cried to Lou Ellen, and later Nyssa and Miranda who joined her pity party, and admitted her feelings. (Lou Ellen exclaimed a happy "Told you so." before Nyssa smacked her arm.)

The girls came and went, bringing her lunch before leaving her alone to go pick strawberries as she requested. Which brought her to where she was now. She heard the call for dinner after reliving her embarrassing, miserable day and debated not even going before she decided she had worried her friends enough with her unstable state that day.

Standing up, she headed towards dinner, forgetting one small detail.

Lizzie's return.