I woke up at 5:45 the next morning. My entire body was practically begging for me to stay in bed but I forced myself to get up, ignoring the small irritating voice in my head that was persuading me to go back to sleep. I slipped on my black leggings, a simple black tee shirt that was a bit too big for me and my usual white converse. I grabbed my school bag and slowly snuck out of the house since I did not inform my brothers about my plan.
It was 6:30 am when I was throwing pebbles at Austin’s window. It took a while before he finally pushed his curtain to the side and opened his window. He rubbed his eyes groggily with one hand while running the other hand through his bed hair. Subconsciously, my eyes were focused on his shirtless abdomen. When I realized where my eyes were glued, I averted my gaze knowing my cheeks were turning red.
“When you said early I didn’t know you meant before 7:00 early!” he whispered loudly through his open window.
“Hurry up!” I whispered back.” I’m cold!”
“Give me 5 minutes.” He grumbled and then closed his window.
Five minutes later he came outside wearing all black. He threw me his grey sweatshirt and ordered me to put it on. I inhaled deeply, taking in his scent as I threw on the sweatshirt. His scent made me grin. He handed me yogurt granola bar and we began walking to school.
“First you keep me up until 3:00 am and then you come waking me up before 7:00 am! Do you not love me anymore?” he complained dramatically.
I giggled. “Sorry I’m over you.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Who could be more handsome, smart and talented as I am?”
“I don’t know but when I find him I’m sure he won’t spoil me with pineapples.” I smirked.
He blushed in embarrassment and narrowed his stunning brown eyes at me. “Touche loser, touche”
When we arrived at the school the doors were open. The boys' basketball had morning practice so there were a bunch of tall guys in their red and black jerseys arriving right now. Luckily, there were no staff at the foyer and no one on the team was questioning why we arrived to school before 8:00 am.
The basketball boys headed to the gymnasium which was on the other end of the school, from there the locker hallway was. The halls were quiet except for the distant voices and roars of laughter of the basketball team. Even though they were on the other side of the school, they were still loud.
Austin followed me to my locker. I twisted my combination on my lock and pulled the door open. Two notes floated onto the ground. Before I could bend down and pick them up, Austin was already reading them. His tired, deadpan expression turned angry. I knew they were more nasty notes.
“What do they say now?” I sighed, pulling off his sweatshirt and replacing it with the one I left in my locker yesterday.
He shook his head. “You don’t want to know.”
He began ripping them into shreds and threw them into the nearest recycling bin. I was curious to know what they say but I knew if I read it I would probably cry again.
“So what’s the plan?” Austin asked.
My plan was for Austin and me to stake out in the stairwell that was directly across from my locker. No one ever uses these stairs because they lead to the far exit that no one uses. Beside the stairwell was the art supply room that no one goes in until third period. I planned to set up my camera in there so I could also capture the suspect on tape.
“Wow nice plan.” Austin grinned. “Brad has a tripod in his locker. We could use it for your camera.”
“Sure.” I agreed.
He nodded and jogged down the hall to Brad’s locker. A few moments after, we began setting up Brad’s tripod and my camera behind the small window of the door. I positioned the camera so it was facing my locker and zoomed in a bit so we would have a better look on the suspect. Austin pressed record and turned off the lights. We closed the door behind us and sat against the wall in the stairway. And we waited.
“This waiting is making me sleepy.” Austin complained after about thirty minutes into our stake out.
I slammed a hand over his mouth, hearing a bunch of footsteps tapping down the hall.
“Shut up.” I whispered.
He glared at me as I slowly removed my hand from his mouth. I sprung to my feet and carefully walked to the edge of the stairway. I began to feel nervous as I waited to see who was making their way to my locker. The footfalls gradually became louder. Anxiety swirled in the pit of my stomach causing this weird sensation. Austin was leaning against me, looking over my shoulder. Finally, a group of six females came to view.
I watched as each blonde and brunette shoved a piece of paper into the slip of my locker. Each girl had their hair tied into a high ponytail and wore a mini dress with black flats. They all giggled when each one of their notes were in my locker. I had a clear view of all their faces but I could not recognize any one of them. I turned my head to see an angry Austin.
“That bitch.” He mumbled and stormed towards them. “Olivia!”
“Austin wait!” I said but he was already confronting them. I quickly joined him and those girls.
“Oh, hi Austin” she smiled and batted her eye lashes flirtatiously. “Since when did you come to school early?”
“Since I found out someone’s been sending rude notes to my girlfriend.” Austin spat. “Now why are you doing this?”
She played innocent. “Why are you accusing me?”
“Don’t feed me your lies I have no time for this. I fully saw you and the rest of your bitches put something in Kat’s locker!”
“Austin, calm down.” I said, tugging his arm. “We caught them, it’s okay now.”
“No it’s not.” He said, staring at Olivia intently. His eyes held so much anger and hatred. But why?
“Yes, it’s not.” She narrowed her eyes at me. She took a big step forward so she was right in front of me. We were so close I could smell her minty breath and fruity perfume. “You little bitch stole my boyfriend from me. We-“
“There was no ‘we’ Olivia.” Austin interjected. “You were never my girlfriend.”
“But that doesn’t mean you wanted me to be.” She countered back. Austin shut up and averted his gaze to his shoes.
She focused her eyes back on me. “We were never officially a couple but we did go out on dates and shared quite a few kisses. I remember writing a summer bucket list with Austin and we spent the entire summer completing it. What we shared was amazing and precious but he ended it all when school started again.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know about Austin’s summer romance with this girl I didn’t even know existed until today.
“Olivia leave her out of this.” Austin stepped forward and lightly pushed me so he was between Olivia and me. “Okay, so we had something going on and maybe at one point I did want to make you my girlfriend. But that sadly things change and good things come to an end. Olivia, Kat isn’t the reason why I broke it off okay? We were just reckless teenagers who thought we were in love.”
“Yes we were!” she yelled and stomped her left foot like a three year old, about to throw a tantrum. Tears brimmed in her baby blue eyes. “We had sex!”
Her last words caught me off guard. Sex, really? It didn’t really surprise me. Olivia looked like a cheerleader and with Austin’s past of dating almost every girl he laid eyes on, I wouldn’t be surprise if they had sex. But that was the past.
“We never had sex Olivia. We ALMOST had sex.” he said venomously, emphasising on ‘almost’. “You convinced me to drink. You got me drunk. You wanted to take advantage of me. To my luck, Brad had no idea where the washroom was so he was able to save me before we could’ve done anything.”
“Okay, I think I’m just going to leave now.” I said quickly, not want to hear anything else. I began walking away when I felt a strong warm hand grab my hand.
“Wait for me babe.” My heart skipped a beat when he called me babe. He glanced back at Olivia. “Expect a meeting with Mr. Rawry in the near future.”
I slowly walked to the art supply room and disassembled the tripod and carefully placed my camera in the front pocket of my bag. The art supply room was spacious but cozy. There were shelves that took up the entire wall that were filled with very art supply you could think of. There was a closet in the corner with all colors of paints and clay. It was only 8:00 which meant I had an hour to kill before homeroom. Feeling exhausted I sat in the corner of the room, against the doors of the closet, with my knees tucked under my chin and my head leaning against the closet door.
I heard Austin’s footfalls approach me. He sat beside and wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side like he always does. I looked up at him. His eyes seemed like they were struggling to stay open; like they were feeling too heavy. He looked as exhausted as I felt. He sent me a small smile. I smiled back. I snuggled closer into his side and rested my head on his shoulder.
“I’m sorry about that.” He said, his voice sounding all raspy. “You’re not upset about what she said, are you?”
“I don’t think so.” I answered honestly. “I feel awkward and shocked but I don’t think I’m upset.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why not?” he questioned. “Most girls would be upset knowing about the past of their boyfriend’s love life.”
“Well we’ve only been together for almost a month and before we were forced to do the duet we were practically arch enemies.” I answered honestly.
“Oh.” He removed the arm that was wrapped around me. Even though I was wearing a sweater I felt cold without his touch. “Are you saying you think this is just a phase? That we’re not going to last?”
“I didn’t say that.” I said.
“It was implied.” He snapped. “I can’t believe you think this is just a phase.”
“Do you really want me to be upset over something that happened in your past?” I asked through gritted teeth. “Do you want me to make a big deal over something that happened almost one year ago and have us arguing?”
“Well if you haven’t noticed we’re already arguing Kat!” he yelled exasperatedly. He jumped to his feet and slung his black bag over his should. He mumbled a good bye and slammed the door on his way out.
My eyes were focused on the door, stupidly hoping that Austin would come back. I sat alone in the dark as I waited for the bell, with all my unsaid words consuming me.
…..
“Kale’s been worrying all morning.” Evan notified me in homeroom. We had a supply that had no clue on how to speak French and Madame Shea didn’t leave any instruction or work so we basically had a free period.
“Why?” I asked as I doodled on all over my notebook. Suddenly a sharp pain was felt on my arm. I let out a hiss of pain and glared at Evan who had just slapped me.
“Are you really asking me that?” he gave me the are-you-kidding look.
“Okay, sorry.” I put my hands up in surrender stance so he wouldn’t slap my arm again.
I explained about the mean notes I received and how I wanted to catch who was sending them. I told him how I snuck out to go to school early, despite getting only 2 and a half hours of sleep, to see who the suspect is a get it on recording. I also told him about Olivia, her argument with Austin and my argument with Austin.
“So what are you going to do with Olivia? And Austin?” Evan asked.
“Well I kind of promised Austin that I would tell Mr. Rawry about if I find out who sent me those notes so I guess I’m stopping by his office after homeroom.” A sigh escaped my lips. “As for Austin, I’m going to talk to him after school and try to clear this whole thing with him.”
The bell rang which meant it was time to see Mr.Rawry. I grabbed my bag and waved goodbye to Evan. The hallways were now swarming with lots of students, quickly scurrying to their second period class in the five minute time period. I quickly slipped into the main office and asked one of the secretaries if I could see Mr. Rawry.
“Uhm, you have second period right now.” The chubby brunette pointed out. “Please take a seat and I will inform Mr. Rawry. Katrina West, am I right?”
I sat in one of the black fabric chairs which were directly placed right in front of her desk. “Yes Ma’am”
She stood up from her desk and walked over to the corner room with the half open door. She knocked three times before a masculine voice granted her entrance. There was only one other secretary in the office with me who was typing away on her computer and making phone calls to parents whose child is absent. A few moments later, the brunette sauntered out of the room and Mr. Rawry waves me in.
“Hello Katrina.” He smiles warmly and offers me a miniature chocolate bar from his candy bowl. I grab a coffee crisp. “It’s been a while since you’ve came to my office. I’m hoping everything is well with your duet?”
I nodded and sit down in the chair in front of his desk. “My duet with Austin is turning out well. I hope you’ll be at the summer serenade to hear us.”
“I definitely wouldn’t miss it.” He took a sip of coffee from his mug. “So what brings you here? You know you should be in second period at this moment.”
I fidgeted with my fingers and lowered my head. Anxiety and fear swirled in the pit of my stomach. Mr. Rawry noticed my change in mood and became concern. Instead of asking me if I’m okay, he offers me another mini chocolate bar. I quickly took a kit kat.
“Katrina, is there something going on?” the old man asks, leaning forward.
“Uhm yeah kinda…” I answer quietly. “I’ve been getting these really notes and they aren’t so nice. They’re actually really mean.”
“Do you have any clue who it could be?” he asked, pulling a pen and a piece of paper from his drawer.
“It’s this girl Olivia.” I explained to him the notes I received yesterday and what happened this morning, leaving out the part where Austin and I argued and not really talking right now. He listened intently and jotted down notes and small pieces of information. I gave him the evidence (the video and the physical copies of the notes).
“Thank you for telling me.” Mr. Rawry said, finishing up his last note. “I will call down Olivia after lunch and talk to her. Everyone in this school know I do not take bullying lightly so she will be suspended for two days.”
I wanted to protest knowing she will come after me when she finds out she’s suspended but I kept my mouth shut and repeatedly told myself that it’s her punishment; she deserves it. BY the time I was escorted from his office it was lunch time.
………..
As I predicted, Austin didn’t show up to chemistry class. He was probably still mad about this morning. I planned on stopping by his house after dinner. When I walked through the front door, I threw off my sweater and rushed into the kitchen. I was starving. I found Logan sitting at the kitchen table, working on his laptop.
“Hey Kat.” Logan greeted, looking away from his laptop. “How was school?”
“It was alright.” I answered, snatching a fresh baked cookie from the counter.
“Are you sure?” he closed him laptop shut. “Because I got a call from your principal telling me that the hateful notes you’ve has been getting has been dealt with you will no longer get them.”
“Oh. That.” I said sheepishly. “Well it wasn’t a big deal and it’s solved so…”
I tried to make a run for it before my older brother bombarded me with millions of questions. I was literally one step away from being interrogated but Logan ordered me to come back. I rolled my eyes and went over to my brother. He told me to sit and to listen to him. I slowly slid in the chair in front of Logan.
“I don’t care that your situation has been solved. Why did you not tell me about this? How long had it been happening? Is that why you snuck out this morning? Kat answer me!”
“I can’t answer you if you’re going to shoot me with a million questions at once.” I said.
Logan took a deep breath through is nose and released it through his mouth. “Why did you not tell me about it Kat?”
“It’s kinda hard to tell you something when you’re never even home.” I clasped a hand over my mouth, realizing when just slipped out of my mouth. I did mean what I said but I didn’t want Logan to find out. He would think I don’t appreciate his hard work and call me a child.
“I-ignore what I said.” I requested quickly. “That’s not what I meant. The reason I didn’t tell you was because Kale and I got into an argument about it and I didn’t want to argue with you too so I just kept it to myself.”
“Is that how you feel Kat?” Logan asked ignoring everything I just said. “Do you feel that you can’t talk to me because I’m never home? Answer honestly.”
I nodded quickly and lowered my head. Logan didn’t say anything in return. I expected him to get mad at me, call me a child. Maybe even remind me that without him working so much Kale and I would still be in the foster care. I was ready to hear it all but instead I heard the sound of shuffling feet and out of nowhere, two muscular arms are wrapped around me. I lifted my head and returned the gesture, burying my head into my older brother’s chest. I don’t remember the last time we hugged like this. But it made me feel safe.
“I am so sorry not being home enough.” He whispered in my ear. “I’m going to fix this. I promise, I will.”
I pushed him away immediately, looking at him with wide eyes. “Don’t quit! You can do anything to fix this just don’t quit.”
He burst out laughing. “You’re crazy Kat. If I quit I stop doing what I love, I don’t get money and you and Kale might be taken away from me again. I promise you I will fix this somehow but I guarantee you, I am not quitting.”
“Okay.” I beamed. “Well I have to go do something before dinner so I guess I’ll see you later.”
He nodded. “Be careful. Be home before 6:30 and don’t get pregnant.”
I narrowed his eyes at him and grabbed my phone before heading out the door. It was just about 5:00. The sun was still shining brightly but the clouds were a pink color which meant it was almost sunset. I sauntered over to Austin’s house. I had butterflies in my stomach and it wasn’t the good kind. It was the ones I get when I’m extremely nervous.
I had this foreboding feeling in my stomach, particularly between Austin and I. I hope he really isn’t angry over what I said because I used the wrong words and we were both exhausted, only facing the day with 3 hours of sleep. I really wanted to make things right because I know we can last. We are not a phase. We are infinite.
Or so I thought.
I was just about to knock on the door when it flew open. It was Austin.
“Hey I was just about to come over.” He said quietly, keeping his eyes on the ground. “We need to talk.”
“Uhm okay…” The foreboding feeling in my stomach intensified.
“Kat,” he let out a breath and closed his eyes. “We can’t be together if you don’t think we’re going to last.”
No, no, no! This can’t be happening. I felt my eyes moisten but I refused to let them spill. Me and my stupid big mouth that used the wrong words. I stared at him with an emotionless expression.
“What are you trying to say?” I asked but I knew exactly what he was trying to say.
“I’m breaking up with you.” He said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
He bid his goodbye and went back into his house, closing the door in front of my face. My heart broke into a million pieces right there. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I wanted scream and yell him how much I love him. I wanted to tell him that what I said this morning wasn’t what I meant. There was so much I was prepared to say to him.
But they were all left unsaid.
A/N: pls don't kill all kaustin/austrina lovers!!
ok so this was the most dramatic chapter I've ever written. honestly I was supposed to update two days ago but there was too much drama in here for me to handle and continue writing. and if you know me, I can't deal with so much drama lol.
as you know I didn't plan out The Duet because I just randomly decided to write it but I have planned out the last few chapters and I can officially say, there are going to be three chapters left before this story comes to an end. they're probably going to be a bit longer now that I've added some last minute drama but I promise you, you will be satisfied with the ending (hopefully)
I hope y'all had a great start to 2015. I wish you guys nothing but the best for this year *sends virtual hugs*
btw, thanks for helping me reach my goal of getting this story to 10K reads and 600 votes (; ilysm
until next time, don't forget to comment anything you'd like down below and to vote vote vote!
-Melissa