*~*~* Cate *~*~*
There’s something to be said about my mom’s theory of kick ass shoes. For some inexplicable reason, I had felt a million times more confident yesterday in the heels, so this morning when it came to choosing an outfit, I automatically went for something that would be set off with a pair of shoes that would boost my height as well as my confidence.
I chose an electric blue chiffon, pleated skirt worn with a white tank top casually tucked in to the waist band. My hair had been braided into a messy fishtail style that hung over my left shoulder with a few strands loose to frame my face. I kept my accessories to a minimum because the black block heels from my mom’s collection would be enough of a statement.
Naturally, my new found sense of fashion shocked a lot of people, and I could hear my name following me down the hallways the whole morning. Of course, I had seen Georgie and Adam- although not together- and I’d tried not to let myself look too satisfied as they dropped their gazes and turned beet red as they avoided me. That said, I had to smile to myself as I walked to my locker this morning. Who would have thought that me, Cate Westbrook, would finally learn to stand up for myself?
Had I finally found my real self?
I’m not sure about finding myself, but I had found a great group of friends in Colton Spiller, Landon Harries, Zachary Adkins and surprisingly, Dean Brewer. They had worked out that at least one of them was in each of my classes, and so I had a bodyguard at my side the whole morning. Landon was the worst of the guys, though. I think he was still feeling guilty about the whole dodgeball thing from all those weeks ago and was going above and beyond what all the others were doing. When Adam tried to pass me in the hallway, Landon stepped in front of Adam and engaged him in a stand-off that caught everyone’s attention. The hallway went quiet and all eyes were on the guys and me. I laughed off the stares, grabbed Landon’s arm and linked mine through his as I led us towards out class. Oh, I also smirked at Adam as we walked by.
Now we were hanging out in Mrs. Allen’s art studio- or rather the boys were. I was busy in my dark room, developing the stills I had taken at TJ’s soccer game yesterday. Capshaw had lost their game but none of the team seemed bummed. Coach Yeeles yelled, but it had been clear as soon as the team stepped onto the field that their hearts weren’t in the game. Not that that stopped me getting some brilliant photographs.
“Hey, Red, you in here?” Liam Lexton’s voice called from outside the door.
I got up and made it to the outer area of my dark room before opening the door and stepping outside. TJ and the guys were all staring at Liam like he was a gazelle that had wandered into the lions’ den, and I knew that they were thinking of reasons to jump at him. I rolled my eyes at TJ and then smiled at Liam.
“Hello, Liam,” I say politely. “What are you doing here?”
He held out a folded up piece of paper to me. “Take a look,” he said excitedly. “I wanted you to be the first person to know.”
“You got an A plus on the project?” My voice came out a little more shocked than Liam deserved. Of course he was going to get an A plus- he’d worked so hard. “That’s brilliant, Liam. Seriously, I’m so happy for you.”
Liam blushed. “Thanks, but this was mostly down to you, Red,” he said softly. “You kept me focused and wouldn’t let me throw in the towel, so I owe you. But,” he says bashfully. “I have another favor I need to ask you.”
“You can ask,” I say carefully with the slightest hint of humor in my voice. “I can’t promise that I’ll say yes, though.”
TJ snorted behind Liam and I had to tip toe above Liam’s head to dart a scornful look on him. He held his hands up in defeat and mumbled something to Colton. I cleared my throat and asked him if he had anything he wanted to share, but TJ shrugged his shoulders, winked at me disarmingly and gave me one of his melting smiles.
Damn it. I hated it when he got all charming like this.
“I’m on the Year Book staff,” Liam began, ignoring the fact that TJ was pulling funny faces behind his back. “Since Amber Menotti disappeared off the face of the Earth before Christmas, we’re a photographer short. Would you be interested?”
I blink up at him. “Me?” Liam nods in confirmation. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Liam. I’m not that good.”
Before I knew what was happening, Liam had my hand in his grasp and was pulling me towards my dark room while shouting something over his shoulder at TJ. Considering TJ didn’t storm the room, I guessed that Liam was reassuring him about his intentions.
Liam led me into my personal space and pointed around the room. There were tens, if not hundreds, of photographs either pegged up, or tacked up or pinned up on the walls. Liam waved his hands of my creations but I still didn’t get what he was trying to tell me- these photos were primitive in style and lacked any sort of artistry. They were the product of an amateur photographer who only indulged as a hobby. As much as I would love to make a career out of my hobby, I had to be realistic, and that’s how I knew my work wasn’t up to the standard that it should be.
“You don’t see what I do, do you?” Liam asked with a laugher in his voice. It wasn’t a malicious laugh, it was a disbelieving one and it made me smile at the compliment that was hidden under his words. “Cate, these are amazing. You’re really talented and you don’t even know it. Please consider joining us on the Year Book committee. It’ll be fun.”
I shrug nonchalantly. “Do I have to give you an answer now?”
“Nor right now, no,” Liam grinned at the possibility that I might agree. “Sometime before Friday would be good, though.” Liam paused and looked at some of the photographs that were scattered on one of the counters. He fingered through them and frowned. “You have a lot of pictures of TJ.”
I blushed and stepped forward to look at the set of prints Liam was talking about. “Yeah, they were for my physics project,” I explain.
“I guess,” Liam said normally. “I mean, his is a Physics genius. I know he’s a sport jock and everything, but the guy has smarts. AP Physics and AP Calculus AB in the same year? I wouldn’t mind having his brain for a day.”
I shook my head at Liam’s words. “TJ?” I say his name slowly. “TJ does AP Physics and Calc AB?”
“Wants to be an engineer,” Liam says without looking up at me. “You didn’t know?”
I shake my head. “Not a clue.”
“So, you’ll think about the Year Book thing, right?” Liam asks as he heads for the door. I nod at him and a smile breaks out across his lips. “You are a saint, Red.”
I laugh. “You know I haven’t agreed yet.”
“Exactly,” Liam beams. “Yet. That means you will, if only because you miss hanging out with me now that our project is over.” He laughs when I roll my eyes at him and move to shove him out of the room. Just before I open the door, Liam gives my outfit an appraisal. “You look good, Cate. I like this new you or old you, or… well, I like you anyway, so the outfit isn’t really all that important, I just meant-”
“I get it,” I say just in time to save him from digging himself a bigger hole. “Thank you, Liam. I like this version of me too.”
When I open the door, I see TJ and his friends scuttle back into their chairs, and start talking over each other with unintelligible ramblings that was clearly a poor way of covering up the fact that Liam and I had caught them conspiring about something.
Liam waved them goodbye, and I couldn’t help but notice how quick the guys were to say goodbye to him too. I went to hover over the group like a teacher in elementary school about to give the kids a huge telling off. With my arms crossed over my chest, I gave them a determined look.
“I’m not sure what’s going on here,” I wave my hand over their heads just to show that I included them all in this telling off. “But whatever it is, knock it off. If it has anything to do with Georgie, cut it out right now. I won’t have you all getting into trouble because of her. That’s what she wants, and I will not stand by and watch you get dragged down to her level. Got it?”
Like all the good little boys they were, one by one they all agreed, until it was just TJ and Greyson left. They looked at each other and silently communicated something, before they both turned to look up at me.
“Got it,” Greyson sighed heavily.
I turned to TJ and raised an eyebrow at him. Eventually he said, “Fine.” I narrowed my eyes on him until he conceded a little more. “Ok, ok. I promise I won’t do anything to Georgie. Happy?”
“Ecstatic,” I smile, turning on my fabulous heels and heading back into my happy place.
*~*~* TJ *~*~*
Cate’s in killer heels again. And I am not complaining a single iota. In fact, keep the heels coming. They make her legs look longer than usual and she has a wiggle in her hips as she walks and it’s both mesmerizing and seductive, and oh so sexy to see.
Yeah… heels are the way to go for Cate. From a less selfish point of view, they seem to be giving her more confidence, which can’t be a bad thing, right? I’ve known guys to say that they get turned on by girls that have an abundance of confidence, but I never really understood what they found so attractive about that until yesterday. No I got it. Now I liked it.
What I didn’t like, though, were the looks that other people gave Cate. With her skirt coming to a rest just inches above her knees, Cate’s legs were on show for the whole school to see, and boy, did they like to look at them. I’d counted seventy-eight boys that were now going to be on my Watch List. If they dared to even look at Cate with that lustful desire again… heads on spikes it’ll be.
And that was a nice way to go, in my opinion. I could do a lot worse, and I had spent the morning day dreaming about doing every single one of them. I couldn’t even concentrate in math class and that was saying something, because I actually found math easy. Today, it could well have been ancient Greek.
When the lunch bell rang, I found Cate instantly. She was headed into the cafeteria with Landon and Brewer, and I could see a sophomore kid eyeing her up. I shot him a glare and he recoiled in horror when he saw the scowl I wore. Too right, the kid should have looked scared. He was what, fifteen, maybe sixteen? He shouldn’t be checking out seventeen year olds. Especially if that seventeen year old girl is my girl.
Death by decapitation for the sophomore kid.
When I finally caught up with Cate and the guys, I told them to grab their lunches to go, something that Cate announced she was planning on doing anyway. She’s been photographing yesterday’s soccer game and needed to develop the frames, so was having a working lunch in Amanda’s art studio. This, of course, was music to my ears. Cate sat in a dark room for the whole of lunch period? Maybe there is a God, after all.
My happiness was short lived, however, when Liam Lexton walked in and went straight for Cate’s dark room. I watched him like a hawk as he knocked on the door and called for Cate. Needless to say, I didn’t like him being here. When Liam and Cate were doing that damned Physics project, I hated every second that she had spent with him, and now he was back for more.
Cate opened the door to the dark room and I watched as her eyes squinted, adjusting to the light outside her blackened room. She looked so cute when she crinkled her nose like that, and the way her mouth moved when she spoke had me entranced. That was until Liam said that he needed a favor.
I stared to throw imaginary daggers into his back, and I’m pretty sure Cate caught on to my thoughts when she looked at me and scowled. I tried to play it cool, but Liam’s presence had me on edge, even more so when he dragged Cate into the dark room.
“Don’t worry, TJ,” Liam had shouted at me as he led Cate away from the studio. “She’s all yours. She doesn’t even like me in that way.”
I wanted to rush inside and rip his throat out, but Spiller’s arm shot out and pulled me back to sit. I spun to glare at him, only to see that I was the one on the receiving end of a stern look. All the guys, including Grey, shook their heads at me and insisted that I remain with them.
“Time to put our heads together,” Brewer said enthusiastically. I had to wonder if Brewer had a brain. “What’s the situation with Georgie and Adam Dayton?”
I’m not sure why, but every pair of eyes settled on me. I shrugged. “I thought you were the one with a plan, Brewer.”
“I had a plan,” he admitted, but then frowned. “Except I’m not willing to risk jail time just for a little payback.”
Sounded about right when it came to Dean Brewer. He didn’t mind getting everyone else into trouble, but when it came to himself, his self-preservation kicked in and suddenly the plan didn’t seem all that good anymore.
“Are you going to break up with her?” Zachary asked Grey. It had been the question we’d all wanted to ask but no one had been brave enough to put it so bluntly. “I know we all agreed to let him have until Friday, but I can’t do that. You need to finish with her, Grey.”
Grey nods. “I will.” Then a wide grin spread across his lips. “On Valentine’s Day.”
Ok, so I know Grey wants revenge and all for Georgie being a total bitch, but isn’t breaking up with her on Valentine’s Day a step too far? I know I talk about wanting to hurt all the guys that look at Cate the wrong way, but I don’t think I could break up with someone on Valentine’s.
Actually, this is Georgie we’re talking about… I could bend my moral compass for a day.
“Really?” Spiller raised his eyebrow, as if he didn’t believe Grey’s words. “I know that what she did was sucky and that she’s a horrible person, but… you did like her, Grey. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
My best friend thought about the question, his eyebrows furrowing in contemplation. Then he said, “No.”
Harsh, much? But it was most certainly deserved. Bravo, Greyson Parker.
“How are you going to break up with her?” Brewer asked as he took another bite of his lunch.
“Dramatically,” Grey smirked. “She’s been begging me to do something ‘big’ for our first Valentine’s. I think breaking up should fit the bill perfectly.”
“If that’s what you want,” Landon said, uncertainty still lacing his words. Then he turned to me and grinned. “And Adam? I might not be into humiliating girls on the most romantic day of the year, but please tell me that we get to take that son of a bitch down.”
I laugh. “Did you have any ideas?”
To my surprise, Spiller, Zachary, Landon and Brewer had all plotted a way to take Adam to task over his treatment of Cate. Grey and I leaned forward over the table to hear each of their ideas, and I had to laugh at some of them. They were truly priceless. I couldn’t decide which I liked the best, so I told them that they could all go ahead with their plans. With all three takedowns in play, I didn’t need to do much, other than sit back and watch as Adam Dayton was about to be humiliated.
It’s what he deserved.
Suddenly the door to the dark room opened and Cate and Liam stepped out. We all fell back into our chairs and started to talk loudly, not one of us making any sense and just sprouting random stuff to make it seem like we were just six normal guys hanging out. I think we failed if the fact that Cate glowered at us was any indication.
“I’m not sure what’s going on here,” Cate waved her hand in our general direction.
She wore a strict look on her face and I couldn’t help but lick my lips at the sound of her stern voice mixed with her new found confidence. Yeah, this girl was as hot as Hell. And Hell is on fire… By powers of deduction, Cate was on fire. I couldn’t help but smirk at that thought. Fiery Cate was my favorite Cate.
Suddenly she was speaking again, and this time she sounded firmer than before. “But whatever it is, knock it off. If it has anything to do with Georgie, cut it out right now. I won’t have you all getting into trouble because of her. That’s what she wants, and I will not stand by and watch you get dragged down to her level. Got it?”
Spiller, Zachary, Landon and Brewer all promised Cate that they wouldn’t stoop to Georgie’s level to get even with her. It wasn’t a lie, per se. They were going to stoop to some low levels, but not in the pursuit of hatching revenge on Georgie. And Cate didn’t mention anything about Adam in her lecture, so the guys were in the clear.
“Got it,” Grey said with a heavy sigh. I looked over at him and saw that he had his fingers crossed in front of him. He relaxed his hands and moved them subtly into signs that said, What? She asked if I got it. She didn’t make me promise.
Again, Cate really should be more specific with what she’s asking.
Then her eyes found mine. “Fine,” I said eventually. Cate probably didn’t believe me, which would explain the narrow eyed look she gives me. “Ok, ok. I promise I won’t do anything to Georgie. Happy?”
“Ecstatic,” Cate said breezily.
I watched as she spun on her hells, her hips swishing as she walked back into the dark room. When the door shut, I let out a heavy breath and leaned back into my chair. I glanced up at the guys and shrugged my shoulder.
“Your girlfriend really needs to be more specific,” Spiller smirked, speaking my thoughts aloud. “So, when do we get started?”
Before I could answer, Brewer chimed in. “Well, I don’t know about you guys, but my plan is in motion,” he announced as he hit the send button on his cell and waved the screen in our faces. “No one gets to mess with my friends and get away with it.”
Hmm… maybe it’s because of that fierce loyalty that we keep Dean Brewer around. Well, it couldn’t be because of any other reason, could it?
*~*~*
OK! Ignore the last update... I'm back online! And here's the real update!
So what do you think the guy's have planned?
And do you think Grey should break up with Georgie on Valentine's? Comment.
Sarah, xx
23:49 (unedited!) Posting quickly while I'm connected!