Katie pushed her long blonde hair out of her eyes and blinked hard. She leaned against the hallway as she walked to the kitchen, searching desperately for caffeine. She had spent the night at Jade and Nique's house, deciding to spend some time with her half sister. Nique was seated at the kitchen table, staring at the newspaper, when she looked up and saw her daughter. "Why do you look like ass?" she asked, watching as Katie opened a can of Pepsi and practically dumped the whole thing into her mouth.
"Because it's eight o'clock in the morning. What's your excuse?" She asked, smiling.
"Cute."
Katie grumbled and threw the empty can into the sink full of dishes. "Were you guys planning on actually cleaning anytime soon? Or were you just going to wait until it got completely disgusting, and then move?"
"I haven't figured that out completely yet." Nique yawned and took a sip of her coffee. "So what are you planning on doing today? You flaming ball of sunshine..."
Katie plucked an apple from the small bowl of fruit on the kitchen table and bit into it. She made a face as she chewed it up. "Why do people insist on decorating their house with fruit? It tastes like crap when it's warm. That's what the fridge is for."
Nique. "It's wax."
"FREAKIN A!" Katie spit the bite of apple into her hand, rolled it up into a ball, and patted it down into the bitten apple, filling in the hole. "There. Almost new." She set it back into the basket with the other fruit, hole side down.
She was about to tell Nique her plans when her sister, Jade, walked into the kitchen. "You people are too loud in the morning." She turned and frowned at Katie. "Why do you look like ass?"
Katie smiled and motioned to the bowl. "Want some fruit?"
Jade shook her head and frowned into the kitchen sink. "Uhm, Nique, there's stuff growing in here."
"You know, I'm not the only person in this house with arms and legs that work." She muttered, sounding like a mom.
Before Katie was suckered into doing the dishes, she jumped up and grabbed her winter coat from the back of one of the kitchen table chairs. She threw it over her shoulders and yawned again.
Nique made a face. "What is it with you and your clothes lately? Last year your wardrobe consisted of... pink. Where'd all those go?"
Katie smiled. "I'm wearing a pink shirt!" She said, referring to her pale pink t-shirt which was covered by a black tie and black arm warmers. She also wore a knee-length black skirt with a pair of tattered jeans underneathe. Her black winter coat came down to her ankles which were covered by shiny black boots.
"You look like you threw on every piece of clothing you could find in the hamper."
"I like this outfit." Katie shook her head. "Anyway. I'm going over to Taylor and Zac's house. Unlike us, his mom is normal and likes to clean their house. She's getting an early start on spring cleaning or something."
"Is Carter going to be helping?" Jade was convinced that Katie liked Taylor. She wasn't aware of her feelings for Zac. "Actually I'm not sure. Apparently there were a few accidents last year with spring cleaning. And Zac's mom has been a little mad at Carter ever since she did Zac's laundry and blew up the machine."
"Nice family." Nique rolled her eyes.
"Ok well, I'm out." Katie headed toward the back door but stopped first and turned around. "Do you guys... wanna help?" She offered, hoping maybe an afternoon together would help Jade and Nique to get along.
Nique made a face. "I would rather experience death by explosive asparagus."
Jade smiled and shook her head. "I have to meet Todd a little later on. But thank you for offering."
Katie nodded and gave her a quick smile before heading out the door. She ran round the side of the house and crossed the street, headed towards the large yellow duplex that her friends lived in. She looked down at a strange object in the street and jumped over it, looking back, confused. She shook her head.
She remembered Taylor mentioning to her that she should just come right in because they would probably either be eating breakfast or doing something else. She pushed open the door to find Zac sitting on the couch with Carter next to him, holding a bowl of soggy cereal, staring at the tv. "Hey Zac, there's a turtle in the street."
"Oooh! Mr. Nemo Delicatessen... Haven't seen him for a while."
"Is he ok out there?"
Zac shrugged. "Should be. He survived Isaac throwing him off the balcony once."
Katie noticed that neither Zac or Carter had actually looked up at her. She tilted her head to the side and made a face at the tv. "Uhm... what's that?" She asked, referring to the strange cartoon on the screen.
"I have no freakin idea." Zac jumped up from the couch and gave her a big hug. She smiled and looked over his shoulder at Carter. She still hadn't moved. "Is Carter alive?"
Zac turned around and laughed. "She's not a morning person. She hasn't blinked in about 10 minutes."
"Is she helping today?"
"Helping? Oh. No she has classes all day. But don't mention it to her." He whispered. "If you mention class or college or anything of that nature she'll flip out and start screaming about how smart people are insane to get up and have to sit in a classroom before noon."
Katie nodded. "Oh. Ok. So where are we starting first? Carter mentioned something about how you guys have to paint the balcony and porch every year. Is your mom on crack?"
Zac shook his head and made a "shh" noise with his finger pressed to his lips. He took her arm and pulled her into the kitchen.
"Ok, Zac. Katie confused. Why are you being all Zac Bond and commando something or other."
"Whoa. You've been spending too much time talking to Carter." He laughed and then sighed. "Ok you're going to hate me or think I'm incredibly stupid or something."
"Explain."
He sighed again. "Alright. Well, my parents are at work. Taylor and Isaac sleep until about ten or eleven. And Carter is leaving for class in like five minutes. Then later on I promised her I'd go to the movies with her to see 'The Ring' since she's paranoid that it will scare the hell out of her and scar her for life."
"Still not making any sense."
"It's the only couple of minutes I had to actually be with you. Even if it's just a couple minutes and all I can do is just stand back and admire how beautiful you are."
Katie blushed and covered her eyes with her hands.
"Ok, you won't disappear if you cover your eyes."
"I know." She laughed. "You're just way too sweet and I'm not used to it and I almost don't know what to say!"
"Just don't say I'm a weirdo or anything."
"You're not." She smiled and gave him a hug, placing her head on his shoulder. She was just about to give him a small kiss when Carter's voice echoed from behing her.
"Whoa. Way too early to witness nookie in the kitchen."
Zac blushed and gave Katie a quick, "maybe later", smile. "So what time do you have to leave?"
"Nice way of trying to get rid of me." Carter laughed. "I have to leave now. Uhm, yeah. You two be good while I'm gone. I'll be back around 2ish."
"Okie dokie." Zac glanced at the clock. It was way too early to be up. Even if it was just to see Katie. "Hey be careful on the way out. Don't run over Mr. Nemo Delicatessen."
"Right." Carter, with a completely confused look on her face that usually lasted until at least noon, grabbed her keys and left.
"So let me get this straight." Katie mumbled, pulling Zac's arm to get his attention.
"Yeah?"
"You got me up at 8 in the friggin ass morning, JUST to look at me and give me a hug?"
Zac bit his bottom lip. "Well no..."
"Eh?"
Zac smiled. "I kind of wanted to kiss you too."
"Oh. Well I don't know. It's still pretty early. I might need a few hours beauty sleep first. Jade and Nique both said I look like ass and..." Before she could finish, Zac pulled her over to him and kissed her lightly on the lips.
When they parted, Katie looked dazed and Zac looked completely serious. "Jade and Nique are insane."
"Huh?"
"Because you look beautiful." He smiled and Katie blushed.
"Oh. Right... well you too."
Zac laughed and went to kiss her again. But before he got the chance he heard Isaac's bare feet, dragging down the stairs. "Damn the boy for getting up early!"