Wow its great,please do some more soon :)
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Wow its great,please do some more soon :)
more!
March 3rd, 2004....
It was Alfie's 40th birthday, and he wasn't best pleased about it. Kat had been organising a surprise party as she had found out. She felt that Alfie should get a party; in Kat's mind, birthdays always went with parties. She wanted to make him happy (and have a bit of fun at the same time, naturally).
"Where's the cake?" she hissed to Ian, who was messing about trying to fix a banner to the wall.
"Over there!" he replied. "I told you about three hundred ti-"
"What's all this?"
Kat turned and saw Alfie. He didn't look happy.
"Um... surprise?" she said uncertainly.
"What have you done all this for?!"
"I found out it was your birthday," Kat said, trying to take his hand. "Come on, you've got some presents to open-"
"I don't want any presents!"
"I'll have them, then," Kat said jokily. "No, look at this cake, it's-"
"No!" Alfie said angrily. "I don't want any of this, alright? I hate birthdays."
He stormed out, leaving Kat, Ian and the rest of the room staring after him.
Ian cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, I'll clear this awa-"
"No, leave it," Kat muttered, and ran after her husband.
"Alfie!" She caught up with him and looked at his face, confused. "I don't understand, why -"
He looked away, as though he couldn't meet her eyes. "I told you, I don't like birthdays."
"Is it because you're 40?" she asked gently.
"I'm not 40!" he exclaimed. "I'm not..." he trailed off unhappily.
Kat took his hand in hers. "There's nothing wrong with being forty-"
"That's right, keep saying it, then!" Alfie said sarcastically.
"Oh, stop moaning!" she said, suddenly annoyed. "There's worse things going on in the world than you getting one year older!"
Alfie sighed, looking glum. "I just feel really... old..."
"You're not," Kat said sternly.
"I'm 6 years older than you..."
"So?"
"So..." Alfie frowned. "I can't help it. I just don't like getting older. I hate being old."
Kat rolled her eyes. "How about you tell that to your grandma, see how she feels about it?"
"When I was a kid," Alfie said, "The night before my tenth birthday, I was lying awake in bed and I could hear my mum and dad talking. They were saying 'he's growing up now, isn't he?' and all that stuff. And I just remember feeling really... sad... I didn't want to grow up. I just wanted things to stay the same forever."
"But they can't," Kat said gently.
"I know. Doesn't stop people wanting them to."
"Look," Kat said, pulling him down to sit on the stairs next to her. "I don't care how old you are. It's just a number, Alfie."
He still looked miserable. She carried on. "Remember what you said to me in that church, when you rescued me from that idiot?"
Alfie smiled slightly. "Yeah."
"How we'd be an old couple sitting on a bench at the seaside, sharing some fish and chips? Well..." she looked into his eyes. "That's what we'll be like. We can get all old and wrinkly together, can't we?"
He grinned. "Yeah, I could manage that."
"And in all this fuss about getting older," Kat carried on, her voice becoming seductive, "You forgot the best thing about birthdays."
Alfie's forehead wrinkled. "The cake?"
Kat paused. "Well, that as well. But the... traditional thing?"
Alfie's face lit up. "Really?"
"Yep."
"Yay!"
Kat rolled her eyes. "Right, how about we get back to that party?"
"I think we should. Yeah." Alfie jumped up. Kat laughed and they returned to the party.
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sorry about the random flashbacks :rolleyes: they're gonna be from all over Kat's life now, I've gone a bit crazy :D
more!
Great :D more soon please
more soon!
Later on, Alfie had cheered up a lot. They were behind the bar now, and people kept bringing him presents and cards. He had propped them up on a shelf behind the bar happily.
"I hear it's your birthday," someone said. Kat turned around and saw Andy. She sighed.
"Yeah, it is," Alfie said.
"Forty, eh?" Andy said, raising his eyebrows slightly. Kat wanted to throttle him.
"Yes," she said loudly.
"Oh," Andy drawled, sounding bored. "Well, I got you something."
"You did?" Alfie said, surprised.
"Yeah," Andy replied. He was smiling, and Kat didn't like that smile much. He handed Alfie a little toy model of a car that Kat recognized as a mini version of his own.
"Thought you might like this," Andy said. "Well, I knew how Kat liked the big version, you see..." He turned away, that sardonic expression still on his face.
Alfie took the toy car, looking surprised but pleased. "Er... thanks."
Kat frowned. "Er, not at all."
Andy stopped. "I'm sorry?"
"I was, like, the queen of innuendo when you were still in short trousers," Kat said, annoyed. "And I don't like what you were insinuating just then."
"I wasn't insinuating anything," Andy said innocently, but a nasty smile played at the corners of his mouth.
"Well, you were dead wrong, anyway." Kat said. "And you're a crap driver."
Andy frowned. "Was that another metaphor?"
"Meta-what?"
"Never mind," Andy said superiorly.
"Shurrup," Kat said. "Well, men with big flashy cars, I'm always worried they're compensating for something."
She grinned innocently at him. "And of course, most of them are."
Alfie blinked. "Kat...?"
Kat smiled at her husband. "What? We're just having a discussion about cars."
Andy shook his head and wandered off. Kat got closer to Alfie and hugged him happily. "Happy birthday gorgeous."
great more soon !
Back in 1983... (~warning, parts following on may be disturbing~)
Kat was feeling alone. Alone and miserable. Dad had just had a go at her for getting into a fight at school. It hadn't even been her fault. That b*tch Kelsey had brought it on herself. They had just had PE, and were in the showers. Most of the girls didn't care about the communal showers, but Kat hated them. she hated anyone seeing her body. She wouldn't quite work out the reason why for twenty or so years. She was wearing a swimming costume, and all the other girls thought she was odd. Last time they had called her a prude. She didn't even know what that meant.
So Kat had been getting showered as quickly as possible so she could get changed and leave, when she had heard Kelsey's voice saying her name. She turned and saw Kelsey standing under the silvery cascade of water, talking to her friends. They were gossiping about Kat. Kat felt her throat tighten. She heard her name again, and laughter, soft and sticky as melting soap. Her anger broke.
"Why don't you just take a picture?" She said suddenly. Her heart was beating like a drum.
They turned and looked at her. Kelsey was smirking. "What did you say? Didn't quite catch that."
Kat stepped out of the shower, a terrible dark emotion welling up inside threatening to choke her.
"Nice bruise," Kelsey said casually. "Birthday present?"
Kat's blood turned to ice and she glanced at herself. Near the top of her right arm was a dark, hand-shaped bruise, damning evidence of... something. She tried to cover it up, suddenly feeling ashamed, feeling horrorstruck.
"Still Daddy's little girl, then?" Kelsey said, a nasty smile on her lips. Kat hated her. She hated her for standing there like that, with no bruises, perfectly formed, unconcerned by her nakedness. Suddenly all the hate she had been building up for the last year or so rushed out and turned Kat's hand into a fist, and she had hit Kelsey, hit her so hard she had gone flying back against the wall, blood dripping from her split lip. Kelsey's friends had gasped, looking at Kat; one of them had said "you little freak!" (she would remember that, and the blood from Kelsey's lip, twenty-two years later). Kelsey had started screaming, and the PE teacher had rushed in. Miss Green had led Kelsey out wrapped in a towel, sobbing, and the ends of the towel had dragged along the wet floor. More than anything else, Kat remembered Miss Green's look, how she had looked in disgust at Kat.
But it was over now; Kat had been excluded for a week, she had been shouted and screamed at by her Dad, and now she was lying in bed gazing at the moon outside, thinking... thinking...
She heard a noise on the landing, but ignored it. A star had just come out in the night sky, over there. She wondered which one would be the one from Peter Pan. What was it? Second from the right, and straight on til morning?
Someone was on the other side of her bedroom door. She listened for a minute. They were breathing loudly. That was silly. Everyone knew, if you wanted to sneak about at night, you had to breathe really quietly and tiptoe like a mouse...
Kat turned her gaze back to the moon. She wondered if there really was a man up there. It was impossible, of course, but it was a nice thing to believe. That there was someone up there, looking after you. She pulled the covers over her chin a bit more. She wondered if she'd ever meet the man in the moon. No, that was silly. She was too sleepy to think. She sighed and shut her eyes, ready to drift off.
She didn't know that those few minutes would be the ones she'd remember forever. She didn't know that those, and the night, would stay in her mind forever like a bloody handprint.
wicked carry on!
Excellent, please do more.
Really good..Please do more!
excellent! please do more
Great :D more soon please
Her bedroom door opened suddenly and yellow light spilled in from the landing. Kat glanced towards it and saw the outline of someone standing there holding onto the doorknob.
"Dad?" she said uncertainly.
That moment, when she had thought it was her father standing there, would stay burnt in her mind for all time, although she didn't know it just then. It was what caused her to get that weird, nervous feeling whenever Dad entered her bedroom, even when she was 35.
But then her eyes got used to the dark and she realised it was him. Her body seemed to tighten and she froze. What did he want? He was drunk, whatever it was. He was hanging onto the door as though he might fall. What was he going to do to her? She swung her legs off the bed, wanting to get out, but he moved towards her. He was practically swaying - how much had he been drinking exactly? And what had it done to him? She felt a sudden flash of real fear, cold and numbing. Alcohol did things to him. It stopped him being her uncle, that man who she loved and who had helped her with her homework and pushed her on the swings and comforted her when she was hurt.... it turned him into someone she didn't know, someone who did things to her she didn't understand, someone she was scared of. And the worst thing of all was the realisation that these two people were one and the same.
He tried to grab her arm but it was the same place she had the bruise, and she yelped in pain and twisted away. But he was too strong, and he caught her and pushed her against the wall. He was close to her, uncomfortably close, and she could smell stale booze on his breath and foul sweat. His hand was going somewhere it shouldn't and she was struggling but he wouldn't stop. She was crying and she didn't even realise until her face was wet and her mouth tasted of salt. He shoved her onto the bed - it was still warm from earlier, but had lost all of it's comfort. He was doing something but she didn't know what and then he was on top of her and he was trying to kiss her, his mouth was all wet and blubbery and yuck and she was crying and trying to twist her head away. He pinned her down and he was trying to force her legs apart and all of a sudden she understood, it seemed she understood everything, and she had never felt so desperate and panicked as she had in that moment. She never would again.
And then there was a terrible pain and she was crying and whimpering like a rabbit caught in a trap. It was awful and she was dying inside. She twisted her head to the left, face wet with tears and snot and his spit, and saw the moon. It was floating there, a huge white circle, not moving, mocking her as she lay there weeping in pain. She could see the face in the moon, its eternal grin, and hated it. It was supposed to look after her, it was supposed to... She was biting her lip so hard there was blood on her mouth, trying not to cry out, and her hands had clenched themselves into fists and her fingernails were digging into her palms painfully. She didn't even notice.
She watched the moon smiling down at her and suddenly her hate for it transferred onto her mother. Mum hadn't believed her, she had hit her upside the head as a punishment for telling the truth. Mum had promised her that the man in the moon would never let anyone hurt her. She had lied. Her mother had lied to her. Why would she do that? She doesn't love me, Kat thought. She doesn't care. Well, serves her right for not believing me.
Kat squeezed her eyes shut so she wouldn't have to see any more, but she couldn't shut her ears and the sounds her uncle was making couldn't be escaped. The only thing she could do was pretend it wasn't happening. She needed something else to think about or she would go crazy. Nine times two is eighteen, she thought desperately. Nine times three is twenty-seven. Nine times four is... is... Times four by ten and takeaway four. Thirty-six. Nine times five is forty. Is it? No. She couldn't think straight. She was breathing hard and her lungs were whistling like a kettle when she breathed. The panic was making her throat go all tight and close up. It hurt less now, but she could hear his breathing and feel that thing that was hurting her. She wanted to die.
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more soon, sorry for depressing you all on a Sunday evening :(
wow this is so good! masap!!
Dont worry- you havent depressed me!
I keep realising that it's actually Kat I'm talking about here :crying: It's weird
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Kat lay in bed, trembling. Harry had left her bedroom a few minutes ago without a word, but he had thrown her a glance that said something she didn't want to understand. She hadn't moved since he had climbed off her bed, and now she was lying there on her back. She was afraid to move. There was a horrible hollow ache down there, where he had done that thing to her. She seemed to hurt all over. She had some idea of what it had been - Kelsey and the other popular girls talked about it in hushed voices, giggling like loons, while smoking and trying to look cool and grownup. Kat wanted to be neither of those things. She wanted to be a little girl, going to the park and playing on the swings, and eat ice creams and believe in silly, childish things like the Tooth Fairy and so on. But apparently she couldn't do those things anymore.
She had a terrible thought suddenly. What had just happened, what Kelsey's gang whispered about, had really happened. From what she had heard on TV and from her mother's magazines, once that happened you weren't a kid anymore. Kat stared up at the ceiling in horror. She wasn't a kid now? Was that true? So now she must logically be a grown-up. No, she didn't want to be a grown-up... Grown-ups did stupid things. They smoked and hit people and got drunk and got put in prison.
What if he told her mum? What if Harry told Mum what she had done? He might tell her what had happened. Kat gasped, scared again suddenly. Mum would throw her out, she would hit her again. She would be mad at Kat because Kat had done something that had caused Harry to do something bad, and Kat had ruined the family. Kat's thirteen-year-old logic worked this way. If she had been older, she might have realised. But she was thirteen.
Kat had never felt like this before. She felt soiled and dirty and disgusting. She wanted a shower. She could smell his sweat and booze on her, in her bed, everywhere. She felt contaminated. Suddenly she jumped up out of bed and ran to the bathroom, where she threw up for so long she felt empty and drained afterwards. There was that sour taste of bile in her mouth but she didn't rinse it out. She tried to use the toilet but it hurt to do that. She didn't know why. Down there was painful. She glanced at herself and saw ugly red marks on her thighs where he had shoved them apart. She stared at them, and then started to cry. Wracking sobs shook her and tears fell onto her lap. But she tried to be quiet. She didn't want to wake anyone up.
Awwwwww,great writing but its so sad! I love the flashbacks,more soon please :D
2005
Kat woke up with a cry, torn out of sleep by her nightmare. She had been dreaming about what had happened on that night when Harry had came into her room. She was shivering, although it wasn't cold. she registered that her cheeks were wet and realised she'd been crying - in her sleep? Was that even possible?
The room was pitch black save for a thin sliver of light coming through the curtains. It was silent. Kat could only just hear Mo's quiet breathing if she listened hard. Freddie made a snuffling noise.
Kat rolled over onto her side and pulled the covers over her. She realised she'd been doing that thing with her hands again subconsciously while she slept - there were bright red fingernail marks in her palms. Damn. That hadn't happened for years. She felt oddly disappointed in herself, as though she'd wet the bed or something. She had thought she'd trained herself to block those memories out. She had built up a wall between them and the rest of her mind. But who can decide what they dream?
When she had been with Alfie, if ever she had a nightmare, he would be there to hug her and comfort her when she woke up. He'd stop her being frightened. But now she was in bed by herself in the ebony night and there was no-one to tell her things were okay, that everything would be alright. She was scared. But she'd never, ever admit that to anyone. Except Alfie.
She wanted him back. She really did. Especially at times like this. And it was torture seeing Mo's baby. That was an entirely different thing, but still... On that night she had split up with Alfie, before Billy had grabbed the mic and said those damning words, Alfie had asked... he had asked... it hurt to even think about it. It was all she had ever wanted, but now she couldn't have it. If that stupid secret hadn't come out just then, they would have gone home later and got started on trying to make a baby. It wasn't fair. Right now, Kat thought, I could have been lying in Alfie's arms wondering if I'd got pregnant or not. All she had ever wanted was a baby... not just any baby, either. Alfie's baby. Now she'd never have it, or anyone else's for that matter. She didn't want any other man's baby. Just Alfie's. You're going round in circles, you idiot, she told herself.
But it was over now and she had made her choice. Her sister was more important than her husband. If she had made that choice, why couldn't she feel more happy about it?
---------
I've got that lyric "but who can decide what they dream" in my head now, and I don't know where I've got it from. :hmm: Help?
awwwwwww more soon!
Fab please do more soon :)
Back in 1983
Kat stayed awake all night, lying on top of the covers. She couldn't bear to get underneath them, and she was terrified that something might happen if she closed her eyes. Eventually morning came and a few hours after dawn broke, people started moving around the house. Kat felt an increasing sense of dread. Still she lay there, not moving.
Half an hour later, she heard her mum's voice shouting up the stairs. "Kat? Are you getting up today or what?"
Kat swallowed. Her mouth felt dry. She forced herself to call back. "Yeah, just a minute."
She sat up in bed and, as if operating on autopilot, found a hairbrush and started brushing her hair. Lynne, Bel and Little Mo were all going to school. She wasn't; she was excluded for a week. Kat realised what this meant: she would be at home all week, at home with him...
She forced herself to keep moving. What should she wear? She pulled her nightie off over her head and looked at it as if seeing it for the first time. It was babyish; cotton with stars embroidered on it. She noticed a few drops of red stuff on it and threw it to the floor. Her heart was beating fast again. She looked at the bruises on the tops of her legs and grabbed some clothes out of a drawer, shoving them on hurriedly. She wanted to cover herself up. She put on jeans and a long-sleeved top; nothing like she'd usually wear. She braced herself and tiptoed downstairs, her heart thudding. She wanted to throw up again.
When she got downstairs she went into the kitchen and got a box of cereal out of the cupboard, just like normal. Her hands were trembling. Harry wasn't up yet. That was good. Maybe she could avoid him.
Her mum and dad were sitting at the kitchen table. Dad was reading the paper before he went to work and Mum was sipping coffee. Kat wanted to cry as soon as she looked at them.
"Finally," Mum said. "Thought I'd have to come and drag you out of bed."
Kat flinched at the words. Last night was burnt across her mind like a brand and every few seconds she kept reliving it. She wondered if it would ever stop. She sat down at the table and winced. It hurt to sit down. Her mum looked at her oddly.
"Don't you be getting a face on today, Kat, I'm not in the mood," Mum said moodily. "I've got a right headache."
"I'm not," Kat mumbled. Her voice came out as a squeak.
Suddenly there were footsteps on the stairs and Kat froze, a spoonful of cereal wobbling halfway to her mouth. Harry entered the kitchen, yawning. Kat couldn't move.
"My head," he moaned, holding it.
Her mum grinned. "Tell me about it. Next time we have one of your parties, we're staying teetotal, agreed?"
"Agreed," Harry said. He sat down at the table near Kat. He was ignoring her otherwise.
"Not off to school, then?" he said to Kat. She shook her head numbly. How could he talk to her like this, as though nothing had happened?
"She needs teaching a lesson," Dad said sternly. "That she can't just do as she pleases. She has to face the consequences. Right Kat?"
A single thought ran through Kat's mind: I got taught a lesson, alright - and that was it. She ran to the sink and threw up.
"Not in the sink!" Her mum cried, disgusted.
"Sorry," Kat said shakily, when she had wiped her mouth. "I - I think I'm coming down with something."
Her mum tutted. "Well, you'll be at home anyway. I can't stay to look after you though, I've got an interview and then work til four."
Why do you hate me so much? Kat thought, but banished the thought from her mind. She knew why. Because she, Kat, had told "stories" about family, and that was unforgivable. This is madness.
"I'm not doing anything all day," Harry offered. "I could stay."
Kat's blood ran cold. "No! No, I can manage, I'll -"
"That'd be great," Mum interrupted. "Thanks, Harry."
"No problem." he glanced sideways at Kat, and her insides seemed to shrivel.
And this is my punishment, is it Mum? To spend time with the man I told you had been doing bad stuff to me? Kat couldn't stop herself thinking. Well, she would survive. The worst had already happened, she supposed. What could happen? Well, he could do it again... she shivered, feeling cold suddenly.
Her hands hurt. She opened them out and saw cuts in the shape of fingernails, deep in her palm. There were flakes of dried blood stuck to them. She didn't even remember doing that.
Great, please do more asap.
Just started reading this, it brill well done
more more more... more more more... post more soon...
A few months later
Kat was crouching behind the wheelie bins at school, breathing hard, her raven hair hanging over her face. She could hear her pursuers. They were quite close now. Kelsey, her gang of vicious little female hoodlums, and three or four lads who had come along 'for a laugh'. Twenty-two years later, they would be called chavs, but for now there was no name for them.
"She went round here," one of the lads said. "Oi. Kel. She came this way."
There were footsteps, and Kat tried to squeeze herself between two wheelie bins to hide. She bit her lip, gripping a plastic part of the bin like a drowning man would clutch a rope.
"What you doing, you little scrubber?" a voice said. Kat looked up and saw Kelsey. She felt sick - she had been feeling ill a lot lately. Kelsey hated her because Kat had hit her. Kat might not have been so scared if it was just Kelsey there, but there were seven or eight of them. A gang. Oh, God.
"Hiding by the bins," someone else said. " I 'spose you're used to rubbish though, ain't ya?"
Kat crouched down further, trying to curl herself up so they wouldn't be able to get to her.
"Get up," Kelsey said, sneering.
Kat didn't move.
"I said get up! Are you f*cking deaf or what?" Kelsey started towards her, but Kat shoved with her heels and pulled herself backwards, away from her.
One of the boys joined Kelsey and looked at Kat, his upper lip curling into a smirk. "Come on, get up. We ain't gonna hurt ya - promise."
Kat looked around wildly, looking for help. There was no-one about apart from these lot. She was done for. She stood up slowly and came out from behind the bins. Might as well. Better now than later.
The boy grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. She didn't even resist. "Well then," he said, breathing in her ear. His breath smelled of stale cigarette smoke.
"Hit me then," kat said. She couldn't be bothered anymore.
"Don't hit girls," the boy grunted.
"No, you don't, do you," Kat replied. "Very noble of you."
"Shut up," he said, angrily. "Don't mess us about. You're gonna get it."
"I'm not scared of you lot. You're like Robin Hood and his Merry Men."
His grip on her arm tightened and she cried out in pain.
--------
more soon gotta go
"What makes you think you can say stuff like that to my man?" Kelsey said, moving closer. She had an ugly look in her eyes.
"Your man? He's what, thirteen?"
Kelsey sneered. "And you'd know better, would you?"
Kat didn't say a word. It occured to her suddenly that these girls, who played silly boyfriend-and-girlfriend games, pretending they were grown up, actually knew nothing about what adults did.
"So what do you want?" she said bravely. "I wouldn't think eight against one is fair, is it?"
"Shut your trap," one of the other girls said. Her name was Mandy and she was constantly chewing gum. She was in Year 10, but for some reason not the leader of the gang.
"Make me," Kat said quickly. It was out of her mouth before she could stop it and she cursed herself.
"Alright then," said Mandy coldly. Without even hesitating she smacked Kat across the face. Kat's head was thrown sideways and her cheek stung.
"Gonna shut it now?" Mandy asked, putting her face close to Kat's ear intimidatingly.
Kat didn't move her head, but looked Mandy in the eye. "You fight like a girl."
"What the f... well spotted, darling," the older girl replied sarcastically.
Kat's hand flew up in a fist - the blow glanced off Mandy's face and she fell back, clutching her nose. Kat saw a thin trickle of blood running from between her fingers.
The other girls gasped. The boy behind Kat grabbed both her wrists and jerked them back painfully so she couldn't move them. Kelsey stared at her wounded friend and her eyes narrowed.
"You're gonna pay for that!" she said to Kat.
Kat was breathing heavily. She struggled, but the boy wouldn't let her go. She brought her heel up and raked it down his shin, hard. He yelped and twisted backwards. Immediately she pulled loose and tried to run. She got a few yards but one of the other boys stuck his foot out and she tripped. She fell and slid painfully along the playground floor, scraping the skin off her knees and elbows. Someone yanked her upwards and struck her across the face. She shut her eyes and someone else - one of the girls, definitely - got her cheek with their fingernails. She felt a flare of pain and thought it might be bleeding. Then someone was rubbing a handful of gravel across her face and she was crying and a boy kicked her, once, twice, and -
"What are you doing! Get off her!"
She opened her eyes blearily and saw a boy trying to push the others away from her. Two against eight, Kat thought. I like those odds. She pushed her way upright while they were distracted. Rubbing the dirt off her face, she looked at the newcomer and realised he was in her maths group. Todd, or something. A quiet one.
"Leave her alone!" the boy shouted, fists clenched. "Eight of you against one girl, that isn't fair!"
"Cram it, foureyes," Mandy retorted.
"That's original," Todd said sarcastically, not even looking at her. "Did you hit her? Darren?" He looked angry.
The boy Todd had called Darren looked sulky. He was the one who had been rubbing gravel into her face. "What's it to you?"
Todd looked at Kat and she met his eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, listen to the knight in shining armour," Mandy said, sneering. "You don't get knights with glasses though do you?"
"Mandy Aldman?" Todd said, looking at her. "Don't you go out with Jason Hardy?"
"How the hell do you know that?" Mandy said nastily.
"He's my brother." Todd said levelly. "And I don't think he likes bullies much."
Mandy's smirk disappeared. "So?" She looked unsettled.
"So, unless you want me to tell him what an evil little b*tch you are, you and the Seven Dwarves can hotfoot it on out of here." Todd cocked his head, staring at her. "P*ss off."
Mandy looked disgruntled. She looked at Kelsey, who seemed to have stopped being leader for now, and they trudged off. The rest of the gang followed them, using the hard-man walk (which made them look like teenage gorillas).
Kat and Todd were left alone by the bins. They looked each other up and down.
The boy had sandy brown hair and glasses. He was taller than Kat but looked slim and a bit delicate, for a boy. Kat had seen him around school before but never spoken to him. He was one of those people who looked quiet until they actually spoke. She felt a curious liking for him.
"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her warily. He didn't seem used to talking to girls.
"I'm fine," Kat said. She knew he was looking at her, but didn't mind. She wondered what he was thinking. Normally, if a boy was looking at her, she got a horrible sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. But this was different. She didn't know why.
"Your face is a bit of a mess," he said, and then stopped. "Oh I didn't mean-"
"S'alright," Kat said. They lapsed into silence for a moment. She glanced around the playground. "Do you know what time it is?"
He glanced at his right wrist, but it was bare. He looked flustered and glanced at his left wrist, where his watch was. "Five past. Break's been over for ten minutes."
Kat smiled, amused by him. She decided that she liked this boy. He was friendly and safe. She felt her face going a bit pink and was embarrassed. He was the first boy she'd ever thought about like this...
"Your name's Todd, isn't it?" she asked.
He nodded. "I don't know yours."
She recognised the question and smiled. "Kat."
"Oh. Well, hi, Kat," he said, grinning and holding out his hand. She was confused for a moment but then realised and shook his hand, smiling in surprise. She was genuinely happy, despite the pain from earlier.
"Do you want to go and sit by the pond?" she ventured. He nodded and they wandered over to the low brick wall around the pond. There had used to be fish in there, but the kids had thrown stones at them and the poor things had died. Kat felt sorry for them. She looked at her reflection in the water, and was surprised. Her hair was a tangled mess and her face was dirty, with bits of gravel and muck stuck to it and some nasty scratches. She wiped her face, wincing as she touched the scratches.
"You're right, I'm a mess," she said glumly.
"No, you're pretty," Todd said, and then looked embarrassed. Kat was caught off guard. No-one had ever called her pretty before. She let her hands fall into her lap and looked at Todd more fully.
"Am I?" she asked earnestly.
"Yeah," he replied. "You've got nice eyes." He turned pink. "Sorry."
Kat grinned. "Thank you for getting rid of them lot, by the way."
"That's okay," Todd said. "I hate those kind of people. They drive me crazy."
"Me too."
When Kat got home that night, her mum took one look at her and gasped. Her dad was sitting at the kitchen table and he looked horrified to see the scratches on his daughter's face.
"Who did this to you?" he asked, staring at her.
Kat mumbled something and tried traipsing off upstairs, but her mum wouldn't let her.
"What happened?" Mum asked angrily.
Kat sighed. "Nothing."
"That one looks a bit deep," Mum said resignedly. "I'd better take you to the doctor's, see if it needs stitches."
Dad looked incredulous. "Aren't you going to ask her who did it?"
Mum glanced at him. "It's obvious she's not going to say anything. I'm not wasting my breath on her a minute longer."
She grabbed Kat's elbow and led her to the door.
"What? We can't go now," Kat cried.
"We can. It's open til six now, didn't you know?"
"Mum-"
"Shut up." her mum said calmly. "I've had enough of you. Get in the car."
Kat climbed into the car and her mum drove them to the doctors surgery, not speaking to her the whole way.
Once they got into the doctor's room, the doctor took one look at Kat and asked her mum if she'd wait outside.
"What?" Mum said, annoyed.
"Please, Mrs Slater... I'd like to talk to Kat alone."
"You're wasting your time. I just want to know if the scratches -"
"No, they don't need stitches," the doctor said. He sounded tired. Once her mum had gone, he motioned for Kat to sit down. She did. The seat was nice and comfy.
"So," he said, looking at her over the rim of his glasses, "Been in the wars, have we?"
Kat nodded. The doctor smiled grimly. "I see. Kids at school?"
"Yes," Kat said.
The doctor tutted. "Well, I hope you gave them some back."
Kat was surprised. Doctors weren't supposed to be... oh, forget it. What did she care?
"You were in a while ago, weren't you? A broken arm?"
Kat nodded, swallowing. That had happened when Harry had thrown her against the wall too hard.
"Well," the doctor said, sighing, "I don't like to say this, but I'm worried about you."
Kat froze. "W - why?"
The doctor looked at her compassionately. "Would you roll your sleeves up for me please?"
Kat's mouth went dry. She rolled them up slowly. The doctor looked at the healed up cuts and nodded once, looking a bit sad for some reason. "Is there anything you'd like to talk about? Everything you say here is confidential."
Kat shook her head numbly. There was plenty. But she wasn't about to tell. Not now, not ever.
"Well..." the doctor frowned, as if thinking, arguing with himself. "I... Kat, I really am worried about how you -" he cleared his throat, and changed tack. "How are things at home?"
"Fine," Kat said shortly. She wanted to leave.
"And are you all right medically? Healthy?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Kat said mechanically.
"Regular?"
Kat frowned. "What?"
"Your cycle, is it regular?"
Kat wondered what the hell he was talking about, and then it hit her. "Oh.. well, kind of. Not really."
She didn't like talking about things like this, but he carried on. "What do you mean, not really?"
Kat looked down at her knees. "I only ever had one. Ages ago."
His eyes narrowed. "How long ago?"
"Um... about five months or something. Maybe six. I don't remember." Kat looked at him, confused. "Why do you want to know-"
"Kat," he sighed, looking as uncomfortable as she felt, "Have you ever slept with anyone?"
Kat's entire body froze and her voice came out as a squeak. "No."
The doctor looked at her sadly. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting your father, Kat. Can I ask you again?" he said gently.
Kat looked up, horrified. "Oh no, not my Dad, he'd never-"
He looked at her with that same sad, compassionate expression. Her lower lip started trembling. "No," she cried. "No, I haven't, I'm not a sl*t, I haven't-"
She started to cry for real.
this is brilliant do more asap
Brilliant, please do more asap.
This is excellent,please do more soon.
please do more!
The doctor looked at her gravely. "Six months, did you say?"
"About that long, yeah," Kat said, sniffling. Anything to get them off that other subject.
He took something off the side. "Can you do something for me? I just want you to do this."
At first she thought he had gotten mad at her and was going to give her an injection or something, but he passed her some oddkind of little container. "What is it?" she asked, wiping her eyes.
"There's a toilet just down the corridor," he said, motioning with his arm. "Just go in there and-"
Kat glanced at the thing in her hand. "You want me to... go to the loo in this?!"
The doctor kind of smiled. "If you will, please."
"But - why?" Kat asked, completely bemused. "And what if my mum sees me?"
"She's gone outside to cool off," The doctor said, glancing out of his window. He started doing something else, preoccupied, and seemed surprised that Kat was still there when he looked up. "Is there a problem?"
"I don't want to," Kat said uncertainly. She didn't know what any of this meant, but she knew it couldn't be good. Maybe she was ill. Maybe she'd got a disease and he wouldn't tell her. She stood there, numb with fright. "Am I dying?" she blurted out.
He glanced at her, surprised. "What? Where did you get that idea from?"
"I..." Kat trailed off.
"Kat," the doctor said, putting his papers aside. "You're not dying. I promise you that. Just go to the toilet, will you?"
Kat frowned and grabbed the doorhandle. For some reason, she felt more and more afraid with every step she took. She found the toilets and went inside.
A few minutes later, she re-entered the doctor's office, carrying the tiny container gingerly. For God's sake don't spill it, she thought, and choked back an obscene burst of laughter. The doctor nodded at her as she came in and opened a door which joined on to his room. He put his head round the adjoining door for a moment and mumbled something in a low voice to a nurse who was sitting in the next room. Kat had a sudden terrible feeling they were talking about her, and her heart sunk like a stone. The doctor took Kat's container and passed it to the nurse, who glanced at Kat and her eyes widened. The nurse said "a few minutes," to the doctor, who nodded. It was all very mysterious.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or what?" Kat asked. Her nerves were getting the better of her.
"In a few minutes," he replied. He started twiddling his thumbs and looking round the office. He noticed Kat's expression and sighed. "Toffee?" he asked, producing a bowl filled with sweets suddenly. Kat nearly laughed, but her knees felt weak. She accepted a toffee and chewed it nervously.
A few minutes later, the nurse from the next room leant round the door and muttered something in the doctor's ear. The doctor's face fell and he looked grave, but it was as though something he already thought he knew had been confirmed. He turned back to Kat with a sorrowful expression.
"Sit down," he said. Kat did so, quickly. She didn't like the look on his face.
"Now, Kat..." he cleared his throat, and Kat was even more confused. If she didn't know better, she would have thought the doctor was upset, nervous even... but that was silly. Grown-ups didn't get upset or scared, least of all doctors.
"You know that question I asked you earlier," he said gently. Kat looked away, not wanting to meet his gaze. "You didn't want to tell the truth, and I can understand that. It doesn't matter."
"I was telling the truth!" Kat said hotly.
The doctor sighed. "There's something important you need to know. It'll be a bit of a shock."
Kat frowned. "What?"
Now it was his turn to look away. He started shuffling through some papers on his desk. Kat suddenly began to hate him.
"Well..." he began. "You're not really ready for this at all, are you?" He gave her a pitying glance. "But... here goes. There's no escaping the fact that you weren't telling the truth when I asked you if you'd ever slept with anyone, but that's irrelevant really. What's done is done, I'm not about to ask you his name or anything like that."
Kat sat there, frozen to her seat.
"The long and short of it is..." he sighed again, looking uncomfortable. "You're pregnant."
Brill please do more asap :)
Great :) more soon please
brill~loving all the flashbacks e.t.c! more asap! (please! :) )
this is brill. please do more soon.
more more more... please post more soon...