Everlasting Bond (19 page)

“Hmm, maybe.”

“And maybe he’ll need a date for the dance.”

Katrina couldn’t help but laugh at Stacy’s awkward attempt to vogue like a model. Stacy’s coordination or lack there of was part of the reason she had never made the cheerleading squad, but it always made Katrina laugh. Since Cole had arrived, everything had gotten chaotic and this moment reminded her exactly how much she had m
issed her off-the-wall friend.

“I almost forgot to ask. My mom was in an accident last night and since Jake is sick, would it be okay if I came to your house with you after school for a little bit?”

“Oh no! Is your mom okay?”

“She’s going to be. It was
nothing serious, just a fender-bender. But to be safe, Cole’s dad’s keeping an eye on her.”

“Re
ally?” Stacy made a goofy face.

“Shut up,” Katrina laughed.

“Hey if your mom wants to get her groove on with the hot doctor, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Eww. Stop it!”

“Oh, come on Kat. Your mom’s a beautiful living woman, with needs and urges like anyone else.”

“That’s not something I’d like to picture.” Katrina shuddered at the thought.
There were some things about her mother she didn’t want visuals of and that was one of them.

“Oh, don’t pretend at her age you wouldn’t feel the same.”

“Whatever. So, can I come over?”

“Of course you can,” Stacy giggled. “We’ll catch up on that juicy gossip you promised me.”

“Sounds fair enough.”

“Crap, there’s the bell.”

Both girls ran as fast as their legs could carry them up the school steps. With little effort, Stacy passed Katrina and made her way inside, disappearing around the corner. Even as kids Stacy was the better runner. Katrina didn’t mind. Truthfully she hated to run; she felt it was a form of corporal punishment.

In the seventh grade, during one of those physical fitness tests, Katrina was forced to run a mile in under twelve minutes. Not one keen on running, Katrina opted to walk it instead. Stacy had been the one to convince her otherwise. She stayed by Katrina’s side the whole time, cheering her on. Katrina hated “Coach” Stacy, she was rather bossy and annoying, but “Friend” Stacy was the best. Distracted by images of Stacy shouting at her, Katrina rounded the corner when
something caught her off guard.

“Ouch!” Katrina shouted, dropping her backpack and falling back to the floor. At first, Katrina wasn’t sure what she hit. All she knew was it felt like she ran head-first into a wall, only to be knocked on her butt.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” asked a male voice.

“No.”

Looking up to identify the owner of the serene voice, Katrina saw two chocolate brown puppy dog eyes staring back at her.

“Here, let me help you.”

Feeling the stranger grab her gently by the arm and lift, Katrina made her way to her feet. The stranger’s hands felt warm and soft against her fragile arms. Warmth of nerves scorched through her insides, as he held her up.

“Thanks.”

“I’m Donovan Stevenson.” He grinned revealing perfectly porcelain teeth glistening back at her. His russet colored tresses were messily tousled around his shoulders, as stray pieces dangled around his deep dimples.

“Ms. Stevenson’s nephew?”

“I am.”

“Katrina D—” Suddenly, Katrina had the air knocked out of her.
Her chest began to burn as if it was on fire from within.

“You all rig
ht?”

Katrina took a deep breath before finally answering. “I’
m fine. I’m Katrina Davenport.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Katrina Davenport. Oh, here, let me get that for you,” he offered, bending down to pick up her backpack.

“Thank you, again.” Katrina heard an overly-loud giggle come out of her mouth.

“Anytime.” Donovan’s child-like brown eyes stared back at her. “I should probably get to class.”

“Uh-huh,” was the only thing she could utter.

Katrina just stood facing him in uncomfortable silence. She couldn’t bring herself to leave. She wasn’t sure why, but her body felt intrigued and curious by the scho
ol’s newest addition.

“What’s going on out here?” an older, female voice interrupted.

“Hi, Aunt Stella,” Donovan greeted, without taking his eyes off of Katrina.

“Donovan, where are you supposed to be?”

“English, I think.”

“And Miss Davenport, what are you doing loitering in our halls? You should have be
en in my class 10 minutes ago.”

“Sorry, Ms. Stevenson.” She finally found her brain. “I was on my way to class when—”

“When I ran into her,” Donovan finished for her.

“I see,” Ms. Stevenson sighed in disapproval. “Both of you please get going to your classes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Katrina said.

“I’ll see you around, Katrina Davenport.”

“See you.”

Katrina smiled, as she turned and headed towards Ms. Stevenson. Making her late entrance into the classroom, Katrina's blood rushed to her face in embarrassment. The entire class was staring at her. Looking straight ahead, trying to avoid the many probing eyes, Katrina found Stacy’s inquisitive face staring at her from the back of the room. Then her heart sank, as she caught sight of Cole’s vacant chair behind hers. It was another reminder that he was gone and that her nightmare was indeed true. She quickly took her seat and readied herself for the day ahead in hopes it would be the distraction she needed from everything.

School seemed to move at an awkward but steady pace for Katrina most of the day. Most teachers understood about her wrist. She didn’t have to do much. Just listen to the lectures. This left her plenty of time to ponder over her family troubles along with the otherworldly ones as well. Thankfully for her, lunch came sooner than she was expecting. On her way to her locker she could see Stacy in deep conversation, with whom she couldn’t tell. All she saw was the back of their head.

“Kat!” Stacy’s loud voice echoed through the halls. With her thunderous voice, it always made it easier to find her in crowd that was for sure. Katrina maneuvered herself among the many bodies and made her way over to Stacy and
the person she was talking to.

“What’s up?”

“I’d like you to meet Donovan Stevenson.”

“Hello again, Katrina,” Donovan smiled and made Katrina lose her step.

“You two know each other?” Stacy looked at both of them.

“We sort of ran into each oth
er earlier,” Donovan explained.

“Nice to see you again.” Katrina pressed her lips together into a small smile. 

“Sorry about my aunt, she’s not a morning person. But don’t worry, her bark is much worse than her bite,” he winked.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Katrina said, flashing him a friendly smile. “How do you two know each other?”

“We have fourth period French together,” Stacy explained.

“Oh,” Katrina said.

“Shall we?” Donovan gestured towards the lunchroom area.

“Enchante,” Stacy giggled, leading the way.

“After you.” Donovan smiled, his chocolate eyes glistening back at Katrina.

“Thanks.”

The three of them sauntered into the cafeteria like old friends. Students were staring as they sat at their usual table. They were looking at Donovan as if he were a shiny new toy they were jealous they couldn’t play with. Stacy enjoyed all of the attention she was getting from it. Katrina on the other hand felt the opposite. She hated having everyone's eyes focused on them.

Instead of letting the unwanted attention bother her, Katrina focused on the empty seat next to her. It felt weird to be sitting at the table without her brother. They had never really been apart and seeing his empty seat only saddened her more. She felt a big part of her was missing.

Lunch was also uncomfortable for her to get through. With Stacy ogling at Donovan the majority of the time, it left Katrina feeling like a third wheel. She had hoped to be able to tell Stacy everything that had happened last night, but it looked like that would have to wait. So much for them being able to spend some “girl time” together.

The jocks at the other table began to make noise. Katrina looked at them, but saw no sign of Brody. Even though she hadn’t heard any rumors about their incident, it was always in the back of her mind. It had been awhile since he had been at school and for him that was odd. Wondering if and when he would be returning, another thought crossed her mind. His absence gave her a little break from any other problems. She counted herself lucky for that much.

“Earth to Kat,” Stacy’s whimsical voice chimed in, waving her hands in front of Katrina’s face.

“Oh, sorry. Was just daydreaming I guess.”

“Are you worried about your mom?

“A little.”

“I’m sure she’s going to be fine.”

“What happened?” Donovan asked, joining the conversation.

“Her mom was in a car accident last night.”

“Was she hurt?”

“She’s going to be fine,” Stacy explained. “Dr Aldrich’s taking her to his place till she gets better.” She gave Katrina a knowing smile.

“She was driving home from work last night and some kind of animal ran in front of her car. She swerved to avoid it I guess and hit a tree head-on,” Katrina attempted to explain as best she could, mostly for her own purpose.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Donovan said.

“I have an idea,” Stacy said.

“What’s that?” Katrina tilted her head in Stacy’s direction.

“Why don’t you come stay with me until your mom gets better? You’re coming over after
school anyways, so just stay.”

“Thanks Stace, but I don’t
think so.”

“Why not?”

“I’m sure my mom wants me to take care of the house stuff for her, while she’s away.”

“Fine. Then we’ll stay at your place.” Stacy raised an eyebrow and Katrina stared at her, out of excuses. “What’s a matter? Not up for company?”

“No, it’s not that. I just have a lot on my mind and I might not be much fun to be around.”

“Don’t be silly. I can help you take care of the house and this way you won’t be
alone. It’ll be fun. Girl time!”

“All right, sounds good.”

“That’s settled then.”

“Sure thing.”

“Good. So moving on,” Stacy turned and batted her eyes at Donovan. “Donovan here was telling me earlier about his school in L.A.”

“Yeah, it’s rather crowded, very different from this place. I must admit I do like things much better here.” Donovan shot a playful look at both girls.

Feeling the blood rush to her cheeks in embarrassment, Katrina lowered her head. She pretended to pick up something out of her bag to distract herself. Donovan’s comment made her feel awkward. The less she made eye contact with him the better.

“Ouch!”

“Is something wrong, Kat?”

“No, I’m fine. Just poked my finger that’s all.”

Katrina forced an uneasy smile, as she tried to remain calm. The same burning sensation that tore through her chest earlier was back. Had it been just the two of them, Katrina wouldn’t have a problem telling Stacy about it. With Donovan’s company, she felt it was a conversation best saved for later.

She focused on Stacy and tried to take her mind off the pain. Watching her best friend be her obnoxious giggly self helped to calm her nerves a bit. Stacy’s over-the-top performance was rather comical. Katrina knew her well enough to know she was attempting her best to be flirtatious.

“So, what’s there to do in this place for fun?” Donovan asked.

“Not much.” Katrina’s sarcastic comment flew out of her mouth before she had time to think. Instead of trying to apologize, she bowed her head and let Stacy explain. The smoldering fire she felt wasn’t getting any better and she was finding it hard to c
oncentrate.

“What she means is there’s not as much to do, like in a big city such as
L.A.” Stacy cut in.

Everything around Katrina started to echo and her vision felt like a narrow tunnel of darkness. Feeling the sweat trickle down her body, Katrina’s head started to spin. The pain was beginning to suck the air out of her. Just when she thought she would pass out, she heard Stacy’s voice bring her to.

“Kat, hey Kat!”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t look so good.”

“I’m just a little nauseated, but I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? Because you look pale.” Donovan gave her a worried look.

“Uh-huh. It was a long night, just a little sleepy that’s all. What were you guys talking about?”

“I was about to tell Donovan all of the lovely options our town has to offer.”

“Right. And I was waiting in intrigue for your response,” Donovan said, smiling at Stacy.

“There’s the old Cineplex Theater, or there are places to go stargazing and watch the sun come up. And in a couple weeks the school’s having our annual Fall Festival.” Stacy couldn’t contain her excitement.