Chapter Three
We arrived at my dad's house the next day. I had kept in touch with my friend Liz, and she told all my old friends that I was coming home. Surprisingly, they all still knew who I was, and they were there at my dad's house, holding a huge 'WELCOME HOME KAT' banner.
"You guys!" I shouted as I jumped out of the car. "Oh, I'm gonna cry! Well, maybe not." We all hugged, and eventually ended up one big pile on the lawn. I was laughing so hard. It was great, seeing all my olds friends again, and introducing them to Erin. Suddenly, I realized something was missing. I walked into the house and found Mike playing Nintendo with his friend Aaron.
"Mike, hello? Remember me? Your big sis?"
"Katrina?" Mike ran over and gave me a hug. "Me and dad missed you soo much!"
"Speaking of dad, where is he?"
"He was so ticked off because he had to go away on business. He told me to tell you that he's very disappointed and his boss is a butt-monkey."
I laughed, imagining dad saying that. "Ok. Hey, Aaron."
"Huh?" He was engrossed in his gameboy.
"Remember me?"
Aaron shrugged. "Kinda. If you wanna talk to Nick, he's in the kitchen."
"Nick's here?" I asked, astonished.
"Yup. He was dropping me off when your dad left and he offered to stay until you got here." His eyes lit up. "Nick! Kat's here so you can leave now!"
Nick walked in, holding a sandwich. "Kat's here? I didn't see her."
"That's cuz you're too busy watching your food," I laughed. "Gimme a hug, you loser."
"Kat, you look so...not different," Nick said after we parted.
"Gee, thanks," I said as I fixed my ponytail.
"I didn't mean it in a BAD way. You just look like the same person, only older."
"Meaning..."
"Well, you're still short, your hair's the same, your features are the same...speaking of your hair, I don't think I've EVER seen it down."
"And you're NEVER GONNA see it down. But, you look a LOT different. Definitely not the skinny 14-year old I used to know."
"That's cuz he's 20 now," Aaron piped up.
I rolled my eyes. Kids. "Come on, Nick. We're going to the kitchen."
"All right."
Once we were seated at the kitchen table, I asked the all-important question. "So, how's AJ?"
Nick raised his eyebrows. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"Well, why can't you just tell me?"
"Cuz I don't wanna. He still lives next door, you know. Just go over and talk to him. It's not that hard."
"Nick, come on. First of all, why is he still living with his mom? Second, wouldn't he be kinda, you know, not happy to talk to me?"
"e doesn't live with his mom. She moved to another part of town. And how do you know he wouldn't wanna talk to you?"
I just gave him a look.
"Ok, so maybe he wouldn't. Come to think of it, he sounded kind of funny on the phone last night."
"You didn't tell him that I'm home..."
Nick nodded. "Yeah," he said sheepishly. Just then, the phone rang...
Chapter 4
Chapter Index
Our Stories