Always Believe

Chapter 14-Are You Crying?

"What?! You are only 15, Katana, and you are living under my roof, so you have to obey my rules!"

"No. I hate the fact that you act like a dictator. We don't act like a family at all. The only time we eat together is when we go out to restaurants, and even then, if there are friends there, you spend all your time talking to them and if they have kids, I have to sit at a separate table with them. I only see you at bedtime when you're walking from the kitchen back to your room to go to bed. You haven't told me that you love me since I was nine. I haven't had a hug from you, the one guy who is supposed to love me the most, since I was six. Six, Dad! I cried myself to sleep for a month after you stopped showing that you loved me. Face it Dad. You don't love me, you don't want me, you just want to have Mom and a boy that you can have that will be just like you."

Dad cleared his throat and nodded at the door before walking out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him.

I turned around and groaned as soon as I saw what he had been nodding at.

Justin and Matt stood in the doorway, mouths slightly parted. It was obvious that they had heard my little rant.

I turned away from them as a tear slipped down my cheek. I angrily shoved the sandwiches, chips, drinks and cookies that I had made into the cooler bag that I was going to take them out in.

"Kat." Justin stepped tentatively into the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I said in a barely audible voice. I cleared my throat and tried again. "I'm fine. Just peachy."

"Kat, it's clear that that's not true." Matt said, coming up behind me. "Are you crying?"

I wiped my face with the sleeve of my jacket. "No."

Justin gave a humorless chuckle. "Yes you are."

Matt took the bag from me and swung it over his shoulder. "Come on. We'll talk while we work."

I silently followed the boys outside, not paying attention to where I was walking. I tripped over the threshold of the back door and would have fallen flat on my face if Justin hadn't caught me.

"Thanks." I mumbled, regaining my balance.

He grinned. "No problem."

We got to the tree and Matt started climbing up.

"Are there any supplies that we need to take up with us?" Justin asked.

I nodded. "They're in that shed thingie over there."

"Thingie?" He asked, smirking.

"Yes, thingie, now go get them." I said, giving him a shove and scrambling up the ladder.

When I got to the top, Matt reached down to help me up.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." He said smiling.

Justin came up a minute later hauling a couple small cans of paints and some paintbrushes of varying sizes.

"Okay, Kat. I'm confused. What are these for? The inside of this 'thingie' is already painted." He asked, setting the cans down but holding onto the brushes.

"Designs, silly. I don't want it to be boring!" I said.

"Oh, okay." he plopped onto the floor next to Matt. They were both facing me.

"Alright." Matt said, shutting the trapdoor. "Want to tell us what happened in there?"

I looked down at my hands and nodded, blowing out a large breath of air. "I guess so."

I mentally prepared myself for what I was about to tell them. I had never told anyone before, so I didn't know what the result of telling them was going to be.

"How much did you hear?" I asked.

"Just the last part. We came in when you were accusing him of being a dictator." Justin said.

"Okay. Well, as I said, my parents stopped telling me that they loved me around age nine. I don't know why. It was more my dad than my mom though. They've never abused me or anything like that. They've just stopped showing me love. They concerned themselves with work and ignored me, except for giving me my homework assignments and reminding me to practice my instruments. I just don't know what happened. I don't think I did anything, and if I did I don't know what it is."

"Kat, stop." Justin said softly, pulling one of those black and white bandana things out of his pocket and wiping my face with it. I didn't even realize that I had started crying.

I pushed my hair in front of my face so that they couldn't see me. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize." Matt said. "It's not your fault. Your parents are missing out, big time. Even for the little time I've known you, I think you're amazing. You're very creative, strong, and beautiful. You keep going even when there's no one there to help you."

I blushed, but he couldn't see that, because my hair was in front of my face.

"Come on Kat. Are you okay now?" Justin asked.

I pulled my hair back. "Yes. Thank you for listening."

"No problem. Now, how can we help you paint this place?"

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Okay, to be honest that's not where I was going to take this chapter, but I just started typing and that's what came out! ^.^ Please let me know what you think! And there are going to be some more new characters soon, so be on the lookout for that! :)

Luv u guys! <3

~Mandie