Hometown Girls: Beginnings (Hometown Girls Series Book 1) (5 page)

After Marissa Lou left, Katie sat on her porch in complete shock. She was froze by Marissa Lou’s words and couldn’t process what had just happened, but as soon as reality set in, she jumped in her car and left her house. She sped through the county with her mind running ten times faster than her little car. Marissa Lou gave her permission to figure out what was going on between her and Daniel. He had been on her mind for weeks; a nonstop replay of his eyes. How they lit up when he smiled, which he did often and it was always genuine. He made her heart pound whenever he was near. She never felt like that for another person before even though she had been working hard to fight her feelings. He was dating her best friend and Marissa Lou loved him. There would never be a doubt about that. Marissa Lou was beautiful and she was the type that guys noticed. Katie couldn’t compete with that.

This is crazy. He’ll never go for it,
Katie thought to herself.

Although something definitely seemed to have shifted between her and Daniel. It was evident every time they were together, which made it hurt every time Katie had to see them together all the time. She had actually begun to resent Marissa Lou in the past couple weeks, causing her to put distance between the couple and herself, which hurt all the same because she missed them both. Things could never go back to the way they were. It was too hard.

She parked her car in her usual spot in the bank parking lot and briskly walked to the Dairy Freeze with her head down, avoiding eye contact with anyone, fearing they’d be able to see what she was thinking. She knew he was working tonight, and though she hated to talk to him when he was busy, she had to get it out before she chickened out.

When she entered the building she spotted him right away at the counter, helping a customer. She looked down at herself, realizing for the first time that she’d never changed out of her cotton shorts and t-shirt. She wished she’d have thought to put something more appropriate on. It was too late. She was there and there was no turning back. She smoothed down her wild hair, it was the least she could do, and took a deep breath to calm her nerves before slowly walking to the back of the line to wait her turn.

Daniel didn’t seem to notice Katie until the couple in front of her finished their order and moved to the side to wait for their food.

His head jerked then he smiled when he looked back up to see her standing in front of him. “Hey you, what are you doing here? Isn’t it your day off?”

Katie smiled nervously. “Yeah, but umm, can we talk?”

“Sure what’s up?”

She looked around the restaurant before turning back to him. “No, umm, not here. Can you take a break or something?”

His eyes narrowed as he stared at her curiously. “Is everything alright, Katie?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure. I think so. I don’t know. I just need to talk to you.”

“Okay, give me a minute.”

“‘Kay,” she said.

When he left, she leaned over the counter, rested her elbows on the surface and plunged her hands through her hair. She still had time to chicken out, and a part of her wanted to, but that was a very little part. Every fiber of her being knew this was exactly what she had to do. Even if he didn’t feel the same way and loved Marissa Lou like everyone thought, at least it would ease her sanity of the unknown and everything could get back to normal.

“Katie?” Daniel asked, standing behind her with his hand resting on her shoulder. She didn’t know what startled her more; his voice or his touch. She was so caught up in her anxiety that she never heard him walk up to her.

She stood up straight and turned around to face him. “Are you good to talk now?”

“Yep, I’m all yours. So what’s up?”

God how she wished that were true. She looked around the open space for somewhere they could talk privately, but there was none. “Come with me.” She slid over the top of the counter and waited for him on the other side.

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

“What?”

He shook his head and slid over the counter too. “We could have just used the door.”

“Whatever. My way was quicker. Come on,” she said grabbing his hand and leading him past the counter, through the cook prep area and into the storage room where she went to cry when she first started working there. Without a word he dutifully followed. When she was satisfied that they were alone, she turned around to face him and grabbed his other hand and squeezed them tight, as if she needed to keep him from running away. She never touched his hands before and it surprised her how gentle they were, despite the slight calluses, probably formed from catching footballs daily.

“Do you like me?” she blurted out, feeling as if she were a child in elementary school.

“Of course. I think you’re a great friend. I’m just sorry it took me so long to figure that out.”

“Thank you, but no,” she said shaking her head back and forth. “Not like that.”

He looked at her with the most baffled look in his eyes, pondering the question. “Why are you asking me that? Katie, what’s going on?”

“Please, I need to know. Do you like me?”

He wiggled one of his hands free from hers and placed it on top of his head. “I don’t understand. You know I have a girlfriend. You and Marissa Lou are friends.”

“I know. God this is crazy,” she said releasing his other hand and paced through the small space. She stopped walking and stared down at her feet. “Marissa Lou isn’t just a friend. She is my best friend. I would never try to hurt her.”

“Then why are you asking me this?”

She slowly turned around to face him, her shoulders slumped, feeling very little. “Because I like you. These past couple of weeks have been so hard. I tried to keep it to myself. I swear I did, but it was too much.” She sadly shook her head. “She told me I’d have to convince you. I didn’t want to believe that it would be so difficult. I guess I was wrong.”

“Who said that?” he asked closing the distance between them and grasping her arms lightly.

“Marissa Lou. She told me to tell you that she had given us her blessing.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she repeated her friend’s words. “She said she loved us both very much, more than anything else in the world, but we needed this chance to figure out what we could have together. She warned me though,” she chuckled and shook her head back and forth. “She said not to hurt you because you are special and didn’t deserve that. She said she would be waiting for her chance to come back around once all this nonsense was over. She said what you and her have is real and not some meaningless curiosity like what is going on between us.” She looked up at him sadly, tears drenching her face. “Is it just curiosity? I must be crazy, because I don’t feel like it is.”

“I don’t really know what to say. I love Marissa Lou, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel something for you. Something I didn’t expect and something I’ve been trying to fight as well. It’s just so much to process right now. I feel like I need to talk to Marissa Lou.”

She broke eye contact with him and nodded her head sadly feeling utterly defeated. “I understand.”

He gently lifted her chin, but she felt too embarrassed to look at him. “Look at me.”

She shook her head sadly, refusing to look up.

“Should we test that theory?” he said softly.

That did the trick because as soon as the words registered in her mind her wet eyes shot to his. “What are you saying?”

“Oh hell. I’ve never been one for words. Actions speak louder,” he said and without another word he put his lips to hers.

They felt exactly, if not better, than she imagined every time she watched him talk or smile. His full lips were perfectly soft, warm and moist. Kissing him made her knees weak. It was a good thing he slipped a hand around her back and pressed her against him, because she would have surely melted in a big pile of goo on the floor. By the time he pulled away she was breathless and lightheaded.

She put her hands over her mouth to hide her wide smile and blushing cheeks. “I can’t believe we just did that,” she said through her hands, her eyes wide as she stared at him.

He couldn’t see her smile to know if she was happy or upset. “Was it alright?”

“Alright? Oh my god, it was perfect.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and quickly kissed him again. This time fast and hungry, and unlike she’d ever been kissed before, with a need that had been building for weeks.

By testing the water and kissing, they came up with a new problem. Not only were they now deceiving Marissa Lou, but they realized as soon as their lips touched that their feelings were mutually surprisingly strong, and deeply intense. In hindsight, maybe they’d look back and wonder if they should have handled it differently, but at that moment nothing else mattered. It was just the two of them.

Katie didn’t see Daniel on Sunday, the day after she professed her feelings for him even though he was scheduled to work. So when Monday came around, she was feeling less than confident. Saturday evening, after the blissful kiss, Katie was on cloud nine and she couldn’t stop smiling, but by the time Sunday afternoon came around when he didn’t show up for his shift, her mind began racing with doubts. Not doubts about herself, but doubts that he had changed his mind. Now she had to face both him and Marissa Lou at school. The thought was paralyzing and almost enough to make her never want to leave her room again. But she knew she had to, especially if she was going to get into college and leave that small town and the people she wanted to hide from.

When she entered the school building, she pulled her baseball hat down, trying to shadow her face. She then proceeded to walk through the hallway with her head bent. When she got to the senior hallway she hugged the wall and peeked from under the brim of the hat, looking up and down the hallway. When she saw that the coast was clear she hurried to her locker, opened it and retrieved books for her first four classes before lunch time as quickly as she could. It bummed her out when the school year first started that she didn’t have any classes with Marissa Lou that year, but now she was thankful. It didn’t help her in the hallways or during lunch though. She’d just have to get creative. Daniel on the other hand had almost every class with her. Avoiding him would be impossible.

She stopped at her first period class and poked her head in the doorway and scanned the room. When she was satisfied that Daniel wasn’t there yet, she hurried in and sat in the back row of desks close to the window. She slouched down and turned her head to look out the window at the scenery outside, hoping to not be noticed.

“Hey you, there you are.”

Katie gasped and froze at the sound of Daniel’s voice coming from beside her. She ignored him and continued to look out the window, hoping he’d get the hint that he was speaking to the wrong person and go away.

“Hey, is everything alright?” he asked concerned, and put a hand on her arm.

His touch made her heart elate and ache all at once. He knew it was her so there was no point trying to hide anymore. She turned to face him, but didn’t make eye contact. “Hey,” she said sadly.

He sat down in the desk beside her, leaned in close to her, and whispered, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing,” she said shaking her head.

“Okay, so why are you hiding out in the corner looking all sad and ignoring me?”

“I’m not.”

“Bull!”

“Fine!” she said taking off her hat and tossing it on top of the desk, messy dark waves cascaded down her back as she did. She smoothed down her now wild hair then looked him in the eyes. “I’m just a little hurt and I feel really silly today. Thus I’m hiding.”

“Hurt? Hiding? I don’t get it.”

Her anger subsided for the most part when she saw the confused look on his face.
Was I wrong?
she thought.

She turned away from him and began picking at the chipped corner on the desk surface. “I haven’t heard from you since the other night. I figured you changed your mind or something. I mean, it’s okay if you did, I’d understand, but I just wish I knew,” she said in a small voice.

He sat up straight and stared at her. “Hey, look at me,” he said to her, and she did. “I haven’t. I swear. I’m sorry we haven’t talked. I’ve been really busy lately and I was trying to process everything that happened.”

“I understand.” His words stung.

He said he didn’t change his mind, but he had to spend the weekend processing it. Obviously he didn’t feel the same way she felt about him. She felt her eyes beginning to burn from tears, so she quickly looked away, refusing to let him see her cry. Not again and not over her hurt feelings toward him. It’s just not the way she was.

“Besides that, didn’t you hear what happened?” he asked hoping to break the awkward silence between them.

Without looking at him she shook her head ‘no’.

“Marissa Lou got into an accident over the weekend.”

That got her attention. She jerked her head toward him, her heart fluttered in her chest with fear that something bad had happened to Marissa Lou. “Oh my god! Is she okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Thank god, what happened?”

He sat up straight and ran a hand through his hair then down his face. “After you and I talked, I went to her house. I had to know what was going on. I needed to hear it from her that we were over. When I got there, she was really sad and quiet at first, then she got loud and angry. She began screaming at me. Saying stuff about how I betrayed her and she didn’t want to be with me anymore.”

“Wow, what did you say?” Katie asked, her throat going dry. She knew he was leaving thing out, probably things about her.

“What could I say? I was stunned, but mostly I knew she was right. I have feelings for you and I have for a little while.”

Despite the somewhat sad story, she couldn’t help but to smile.

“But my lack of words only made her madder. She grabbed her keys and stormed out of the house. I didn’t even know what had happened until I heard her tires squeal out of the driveway. I hurried out of the house just in time to watch her tail lights disappear in the dark. Without thinking, I jumped in my car as well and caught up with her, but when she saw me she sped up. It was insane! I didn’t know what else to do but follow her. Neither of us saw the deer until it was only a few inches from her car.”

“Oh no,” Katie said covering her mouth with her hands. “She didn’t hit it, did she?”

“Nah, but when she swerved to avoid it, her car lost control and went head first into a ditch.”

She dropped her hands and stared at him. “Are you sure she’s okay?”

“Yeah, I took her to the hospital to be sure. She only got a bump on the head. Her car got it the worst, but it still runs, so I guess it all turned out better than it could have.”

She nodded her head in understanding. “Sounds like you had an interesting weekend.”

“Interesting is an understatement.” He grew quiet. “I really am sorry that I left you hanging this weekend. After what happened on Saturday I felt like I owed it to her to hang out with her on Sunday to make sure she was okay.”

“I’m sure she appreciated that,” Katie whispered.

But Daniel only laughed. “Hell, who knows. She didn’t say one word to me the whole time. We just sat there, silently watching TV.” After a long silence he finally spoke again. “Do you regret it?”

Her expression softened and she slowly shook her head. “Not at all.”

“Neither do I,” he whispered and reached across the aisle to grab her hand.

She looked at it surprised for a moment before looking at him again. He smiled weakly and the tears that were previously threatening to fall instantly dried up. She had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions these past couple of days while not knowing if he changed his mind about her, but right here, right now, she had no doubt that he wanted to be with her. She took a deep breath to push out any lingering emotions and smiled back at him. The next test would be seeing Marissa Lou again. For now she was happy to bask in her blissed out feelings and deal with Marissa Lou when it came.

He held onto her hand across the aisle throughout the rest of the class, only letting go briefly when the teacher walked by. When the bell rung they walked out of the room together, still hand in hand, and walked slowly to their next class. Everyone stared and whispers could be heard as they publically announced their union with the innocent jester. It all happened so quickly, and Katie was quite certain that no one knew about the break up between Daniel and Marissa Lou, thus making their display into a naughty scandal, but she didn’t care. By the time they got to their next class they still had a few minutes to kill so they lingered outside the door. In the nook between the wall and a row of lockers, Daniel turned her around to face him and softly brushed his hand over her flushed cheek, both too caught up with their growing feelings to notice anything else around them.

They were so caught up in the moment that they never even heard the gasps as Marissa Lou strolled through the hallway, or how the air seemed to have sucked out of the building all at once when she spotted them. It was Katie who noticed her first and when she did she shook her hand free from Daniel’s and quickly looked away, but not before spotting the nasty bruising on the side of Marissa Lou’s forehead from the accident. It was obvious she tried to cover it up with make-up, but Katie was her friend and had been for a really long time. She could spot any change in her, no matter how subtle.

“Oh my god,” Katie whispered in Daniel’s chest.

“What is it?” Daniel asked, his smile turning into concern. When Katie didn’t answer he turned around and saw what happened. Marissa Lou.