Who doesn’t love Sunday mornings? You get to sleep in for longer, lounge around the house in your pajamas all day, and you don’t even have to wash your hair or put on a full face of make-up. Yeah, Sunday mornings are the…
Worst.
“Get up!” I hear Libby order me from where I hid under my comforter. “Catherine, wake up.”
“Go away,” I groan.
“Can’t,” my sister sing-songs before jumping on top of me and pulling my comforter away from my face. “Vivian is here, and she’s brought something for you. Oh, by something, I actually mean someone. Tall, blonde hair, blue eyes, body to die for. If I were your age…”
I raise my eyebrow at her, but then her words register with me. TJ’s here? In my house? At ten thirty on a Sunday morning? I’m still in bed, I’m in my pajamas, and my hair is disgusting. This cannot be happening.
“So, are you getting up now?” Libby smirks at me. I groan again and pull the comforter back up to cover me. “Ok. I’ll just send the boy up here, then.”
“No!” I shout and promptly get out of bed. “I’m up.”
“Oh, good,” Libby laughs as she claps her hand. “By the way, Cate. The boy is hot. Are you two dating?”
I level a look on my sister that tells her that she should know me better than that. She smiles and shrugs her shoulders before slipping out the door, shouting back at me that I have half an hour to make myself look presentable, or she definitely will send TJ up here. I’d like to see her try, because if my dad ever caught me in my room with a guy, I think he’d ground me for life just seconds before the cops turn up to arrest him for murder.
I brush out my long hair and tie it up in a messy knot, before brushing on a thin layer of mascara. I change out of my sleepwear and pull on a pair of comfortable boyfriend jeans and throw on the first clean t-shirt I could find. Looking at myself in the mirror, I thought that maybe I should make more of an effort, but then I remember that this is just TJ. He’s seen me looking worse than this- he was there when I was spaced out and concussed with blood caked on my cheek and my face swollen. Surely how I looked now was an improvement on that.
I walked down stair and paused at the second to last step. I could hear Mom, Libby and Vivian talking over each other but the only words I understood were rose, white, no, yellow, definitely not, red, possible. I noticed that Dads voice was missing from the conversation, and I’d yet to hear TJ speak, so I had to wonder where they were. Then the obligatory panic rose in me as I realized that maybe, somewhere in this house, my dad and TJ were together and they were talking about me.
I made my way to the family room and bode Mom and Vivian a good morning. When I asked where TJ was, all three women at the couch looked up at me and smiled, before mom pointed back down the hallway to the TV room.
“When I was a kid I collected jars of penny coins,” I heard TJ say to my father as I rounded the corner and saw them both sitting in opposite armchairs. When TJ noticed me in the doorway, he smiled and waved me in. “Your dad was just telling me about your childhood teddy collection.”
“Yeah?” I say a little too sharply before turning to look at Dad. “Well, that’ll be the last thing he ever says if he doesn’t stop ratting out all my secrets to you.”
Dad laughs and motions me over to him. “Come on, Kiddo,” he says as I perch on the arm of his chair, and let myself drop against his side. “You know I love you, Pie.”
“Pie?” TJ quirks his eyebrow at me questioningly.
“Short for Sweetie Pie,” I explain with a roll of my eye. “Very rarely does anyone in this family actually call me by me real name.”
“Ditto,” TJ smiles. A noise echoes around the house as the ladies in the other room laugh about something, and TJ winces. “My mom can be a little overbearing,” he explains before he looks up at me. “I hope you don’t mind me tagging along today. We said yesterday that we were going to hang out but we never actually made plans, so I took the initiative.”
“It’s fine, son,” Dad chimes in before I had the chance to say anything. I’d never heard my dad call anyone ‘son’ before, not even David or Sawyer and they had been a part of my life for years. TJ had only been my friend for a week, and already Dad was inviting him to be a part of our family. “Are you kids going to hang out in Cate’s room?”
What world have I woken up in? It’s certainly not the real one, because it’d be a cold day in Hell before Dad let me wander off upstairs with a boy unsupervised. And why was he encouraging it anyway? Whenever Adam came over when we were together, Dad wouldn’t even leave us in the same room together. Actually, maybe that’s the difference- TJ and I are just friends and he’s not a threat to my status as Dad’s favorite daughter.
I nod in response to Dad’s question and usher TJ from the TV room back down towards the hallway and to the stairs. Mom and Libby must have heard because as we were halfway up the stairs, they both called me back down. I groan as I push myself past TJ, our chest brushing as I climbed down the steps. Vivian smiled at her son who had followed me to the family room, and then grinned at me.
“Ah, there you are,” Mom said, looking up at me from over the rim of her glasses. “We’re hosting an engagement party for Libby and David on Saturday night. Before you even think about making up excuses, yes, you do have to be there. I’ve asked Nathaniel to accompany you, unless you already have a date.”
There were so many things wrong with what my mom just said that I’m not even sure where to start. Scratch that, I do know where to start. Party. I don’t even need to ask whose genius idea that was because it had Mom written all over it. She loved playing hostess and would find any excuse to have a party. Then there was the fact that I had to attend. Ok, so I’m the bride’s sister and it would look suspect if I wasn’t there, but I’m not the party kind of girl, especially if it’s one of Mom’s parties. There were always hundreds of guests that I was expected to mingle with, and for a girl with Social Anxiety Disorder, it was a beyond overwhelming for me.
Attending Mom’s parties also threw in the question of dates. It was ok for my Libby and Anna because they were in relationships and always had a Plus One, but it never worked out like that for me. Which is why, ever since I was old enough to attend these soirees, my cousin Nathaniel has been my date. Don’t get me wrong, I like Nathaniel, but it was always such a hassle having to explain to strangers that we were not dating on the account of him being my cousin.
And, of course, there was that other thing with Nathaniel…
“Can Georgie come to the party?” I ask hopefully. Libby nods, but it wasn’t until my mother agreed that I knew my best friend could come. I sigh. “In that case, it’s best not to invite Nathaniel.”
So, here’s the thing about my cousin. He’s a whore.
I think I’m allowed to say that. Who cares if I’m allowed to or not, I’m going to say it anyway because it is a fact. Nathaniel Westbrook is the biggest man whore around and I’m pretty sure before he graduated high school last year he had slept with every girl at Capshaw- except me, of course because that would be wrong- but his list of conquests did include Georgie.
She hadn’t given in to him easily, unlike the other girls at school. She had more standards than that, not that it stopped Nathaniel in his pursuit of her. He went all out to ‘prove’ his ‘love’ for her, and although I had tried to tell her not to fall for him, she did.
It didn’t end well.
“In that case,” Mom used my words against me. “You best find another date.”
*~*~*
Who the Hell is Nathaniel and why doesn’t Cate want him around Georgie?
“I can be Cate’s date,” I offer as all the women turn to look at me.
Mom looks surprised by my offer and I can’t really blame her. I hated stiff parties and always declined to attend hers, but here I was offering to be Cate’s date. I just shrugged off Mom’s questioning stare and turn to face a very confused looking Cate.
“What?” I say defensively. “You need a date and I’m free on Saturday.”
“Fine,” Cate says after a beat before grabbing my hand and pulling me from the family room. I waved the women goodbye and laughed at how agitated Cate was. “I could find another date, you know.”
I nod. “I’m sure you could, but now you don’t need to.”
Cate’s room was completely different to how I imagined it to look like. I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. It looked a little girly and didn’t match the personality Cate seemed to exude.
The wall behind her bed was painted black and was filled from floor to ceiling with photographs. Two walls were covered with Parisian wallpaper in a soft cream and pink color scheme, and on the bathroom and closet door, there was an Eiffel tower wall sticker and one with a fashion silhouette.
There was a double bed against the photo wall with French print sheets in a tangled mess at the foot of the bed. I watch as Cate rushes to make the bed and hide the book that was on her night stand. I didn’t matter because I had already seen that she was reading Harry Potter. Or re-reading, if the cracked spine was any indication.
She placed the book on one of the shelves of her bookcase. The bookcase was nestled in the corner by her desk, but not all the shelves housed books. Every other shelf held trinkets and photo frames that were important to Cate. Her Paris obsession continued with candles that had a Paris paper transfer on the outside, but I noticed that the wicks had never been lit.
I moved closer to see the pictures that were tacked up on Cate’s photo wall and started to scan through them. There were tens showing Georgie as the model, and a few showing her family. I stopped when I saw one showing Cate and Adam smiling towards the camera as Adam had his arm wrapped round Cate. I frowned when I saw how happy Cate looked. That asshole got her to smile like that and then went and broke her heart.
“I keep meaning to take that one down,” Cate said quietly as she came to stand next to me.
“Then why don’t you?” I ask as I take the corner of the photograph between my fingers and pull it from the wall. I hold it out to her. “See, it wasn’t that hard, was it?”
Cate stared at me openmouthed and wide eyed.
“He hurt you, Cate,” I remind her when it looks like she’s going to bring almighty Hell down on me. “The girl in this picture isn’t the same girl that’s standing in front of me right now, and he did that. He hurt you.”
“He didn’t hurt me,” Cate whispers as she moves to sit on the bed. She throws herself backwards to lie down. “Adam messed me up, yeah, but he didn’t destroy me like you seem to think he did. He made me stronger.”
I lie down next to her and stare at her ceiling, seeing even more pictures tacked on the ceiling. Unlike the ones on the wall, the ones above her bed were snapshots of the night sky. There were millions of shiny stars looking down on us and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Why stars?” I ask, pointing up at photos.
“Because there’s something spectacular about stars,” she smiles up at the pictures. “They’re always there. The same ones as yesterday, as last week, as last year. They’re the same ones that were there before we were born, and they’ll still be there long after we’re gone, and that’s pretty spectacular.”
We lie in a comfortable silence, just staring at the stars above us. I’ve never been in a girl’s room before, apart from Genevieve’s but that’s different, and I suddenly felt self-conscious of the fact that Cate and I were lying just inches apart on her bed. All of a sudden, the silence wasn’t comfortable anymore.
It was excruciating.
“So, what are we going to do?” I ask, as I sit upright. I point to the TV that’s in the room and then look at Cate. “Wanna watch a movie?”
She shrugs. “I don’t think you’d like my kind of movies.”
She pointed to the cabinet under the TV and I went over, crouching down to open the door and look at the DVDs she had. The Exorcist, Nightmare on Elm Street, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Silence of the Lambs, Scream, Insidious…
“You like this stuff?” I couldn’t hide the amazement in my voice. Who knew Cate could like horror so much. “You continue to surprise me, Miss Westbrook.”
Eventually, I found a non-horror movie at the back of the cabinet. That said, I still didn’t have Cate down as a Dredd fan. Wasn’t that type of movie usually too brutal for girls? I handed the DVD to Cate and watched as she set it in the player and turned the TV on.
“Oh, wait,” Cate said just as the film was about to start. She pauses the movie and sprints to the door. I follow her down to the kitchen where I see her raiding the cabinets and talking out different kinds of snack. “Chips, gummy bears, chocolate… what else? What do you like?”
“Uh,” I mumble as I look at the feast Cate’s gathered. “I can’t eat any of that stuff. It’s soccer season and my body has to be a temple, so I’m good with water.”
Cate laughs. “Water for you,” she says, handing me a cold bottle from the refrigerator. “Soda for me.”
We retraced our steps to Cate’s room and both sat on the bed with the snacks laid out in front of us. I sat against the headboard of the bed with my legs stretched out, while Cate tucked herself under the comforter and propped herself up on a stack of fluffy pillows. Once she was comfortable, she hit the play button and the movie started.
I hadn’t seen Dredd before, and we were less than half an hour in when I flinched for the first time. In my defense, watching as three bodies splatter against a concrete ground having been thrown from the highest floor in a tower block was pretty brutal. Cate laughed when I winced and turned away from the screen.
After that slightly emasculating moment, I hunkered down in the bed with my head sharing a corner of Cate’s pillow tower. I watched the movie quietly and closed my eyes whenever a bloody scene comes on. Every now and then I stole a glance down at Cate and saw that she was far too in to the movie. She popped one chip after the other into her mouth and smiled at the action.
“I thought you didn’t eat processed foods,” I say as she opened the bag of gummy bears.
“I don’t,” she says through a mouthful of colored treats. “Georgie got me into this movie-snacking habit a few years ago and I can’t shake it. It’s my only downfall. Apart from eating my weight in Ben and Jerry’s.”
I laugh, and then jump when the sound of gunfire echoes around the room.
“You’re not in to this are you?” She asks when I turn my head towards hers.
I could feel her breath against my cheek, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that there was less than an inch between her lips and mine. I look down at her pert lips and become fixated on them. I wonder what it would be like to kiss Cate.
As soon as that idea springs to mind, I blink and pull away from her. “It’s not exactly what I would choose to watch,” I answer Cate finally. “But I’ll be brave and persevere.”
It was another hour before the movie ended, and when Cate held up Drag Me To Hell as our next movie option, I knew it was time to bail. I pulled on my sneakers and made up my side of the bed, while helping Cate gather the snacks and return them to the kitchen.
My mom was packing up her portfolio when I went to tell her that I was leaving, and she said that she would give me a ride to Dad’s place. I told her it wasn’t necessary and that I could walk home, but she was insistent.
“I’ll see you soon, Elizabeth,” Mom said to Cate’s sister. “Jennifer, I’ll be in touch regarding the party on Saturday night. Oh, and don’t forget that we have a dress fitting for Annabelle and Catherine on Tuesday. Is that ok for you, Catherine?”
Mom looked to Cate who just nodded in response.
I frowned. “You’re name is Catherine?”
“Yeah,” Cate nodded enthusiastically as she ushered me towards the front door. “It’s ok that you didn’t know that. No one calls me Catherine anymore.”
I shake my head in disbelief. Cate was short for Catherine. Well, that just made things ten times more complicated.
*~*~*
So, what do you think is gonna happen next?
Sarah, xx