Bitten (Once Bitten, Twice Shy #1)(5)
Deciding that she didn’t have time to blow dry the dark mass atop her head, she grabbed another towel and dried the wavy hair as best she could before reentering her bedroom and quickly throwing on a fresh outfit – a pair of black skinny jeans and a simple white t-shirt. She snatched up her blue and green plaid jacket from atop her desk and her book bag from where it lay abandoned on the floor before exiting and rapidly descending the stairs.
Following the smell of burnt toast into the kitchen, Katherine immediately spotted her father near the toaster, cursing as he attempted to remove the blackened bread from the small machine’s still hot slots.
Benjamin Mayes, Katherine supposed, was a handsome man for his age. His head was still full of brown, though graying, hair, and his dark eyes were easily capable of charming anyone – even the meanest of old spinsters – in Middletown.
Elaine was seated at the kitchen’s island, chuckling at her husband’s antics as he attempted to free his burnt toast with a fork. They both turned their attention to their daughter as she entered.
“Good morning,” Katherine greeted before making a beeline for the cold cereal. She had had enough of her parents’ concerned lectures this past weekend to last a lifetime and hoped to escape the house that morning before being subjected to yet another one.
“How’s your ankle feeling?” her dad asked as she sat across the island from her mother, placing the bowl of corn flakes she held in her hands on top of the dark wood.
“Okay,” she answered. “It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
She tried to ignore the pointed glances her parents gave each other. “That’s good news,” Elaine finally offered. After a brief pause she added, “Does this mean you still plan on trying out for cheerleading?”
Katherine tensed slightly at the question. Sometimes it felt like her parents were always pushing her to join the same extra-curricular activities, like cheerleading, that her older sister Samantha had been a part of when she was still in high school. Katherine didn’t mind some of them and actually enjoyed the book club she was a member of and the track team that she would be joining again in the spring.
Cheerleading, however, she despised.
It mostly had to do with the fact that some of the other cheerleaders, like Mallory Flanders for instance, seemed to enjoy making her life miserable. It didn’t stop her from trying out every year though. She knew that her parents would be let down if she didn’t. “That’s the plan,” Katherine answered her mother.
“That’s great,” Elaine encouraged with an enthused smiled. “I’m sure you’ll make the squad. You always do.”
Katherine didn’t bother to point out that everyone who tried out always did make the squad. With a town as dinky as Middletown, coaches couldn’t exactly afford to be picky.
Benjamin, unlike Elaine, wore a concerned frown at his daughter’s answer. “Are you sure you’re up to that? That ankle of yours is still healing and I don’t want you injuring yourself any more than you already have.”
Katherine clenched her teeth, a little irritated at those implications. “Right. Because it’s always been my lifelong dream to become the chew toy of a rabid wolf,” she bit out testily before standing up and dumping out her half eaten bowl of cereal into the kitchen sink. “I have to get to school.”
Benjamin cringed slightly at his daughter’s harsh tone. “That’s not what I meant,” he immediately began to explain, but Katherine had already been told enough times by her parents how reckless her actions had been on Friday night and was in no mood to hear more on the subject. Sometimes if felt like they just wanted another perfect Samantha clone and it made her feel like such a disappointment. She knew they didn’t do it intentionally, but it still hurt.
She hurriedly exited the kitchen and shoved her feet into the new pair of sneakers her parents had bought for her. After all, one of her old pair had been lost to that wolf.
Ugh.
It seemed that no matter the topic, her thoughts always strayed back to that wild animal.
Berating herself, Katherine threw her book bag over one shoulder and headed for the attached garage where her car – a beat up Chevy that used to be Samantha’s – sat waiting.
Moments later, she was reversing out of the driveway and heading towards the high school located less than a mile away. The trip only took a few short minutes before she was carefully parking her vehicle in the student lot.
The high school in Middletown – creatively named Middletown High and home of the “fierce” cougars – was perhaps the biggest building in the entire town.
Which wasn’t saying much.
The brick structure was a mere three stories high and, combined with the teacher and student parking lots, took up a little over half of the small block it was located on. It was only the second week of the new school year, but to Katherine, it felt like school had already been in session for months.
She entered the school from the south side doors, the ones nearest the student parking lot, and swiftly made her way to the junior hallway where her locker was located. She was relieved to see teenagers still mulling around, indicating she had made it on time. She was even more glad to see Abby waiting for her by her locker.
“Hey, Abby.”
Startled by Katherine’s greeting, the redhead nearly dropped the bedazzled cell phone she had been furiously texting away on. “Kit!” Abby exclaimed excitedly, automatically causing Katherine to cringe at the nickname. “You’re not going to believe this!”