Rebel With A Cause (16 page)

She felt the bed dip slightly as Carter climbed on. They were sleeping on the crappy airbed as planned, but tomorrow they would get started on making this house a proper home.

As per his highness’ request, she had made a list of everything that needed fixing, replacing or updating. Unfortunately, there was quite a lot on that list.

Carter had fallen asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and she willed herself to sleep a short while after. When she woke, she could smell pancakes.

She walked out into the kitchen, where Carter was leaning against the counter, eating what looked like a bacon and egg breakfast muffin.

“I think I’m going to go and see my mum today,” she announced, not looking him in the eye.

He swallowed. “Why?”

She shrugged. “Mum started out as an interior designer, she has contacts. If I asked her nicely, she could pull some strings to get this house finished in about a week.”

Carter studied Kaitlyn. She was evading his eyes, and he didn’t like it. He meant what he said about being friends with her.

“Ok,” he said easily. He knew if he pushed the matter further she’d close up on him more than she already had. “Do you want my car? I have to go and pick yours up from T-Man’s, as well as the rest of your stuff.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she said quietly. “I can go and get it.”

He took another bite of his muffin and watched as she began to eat the pancakes he’d bought for her earlier this morning.

“I don’t mind, Katie,” he said casually, swallowing another bite of his muffin. “You go and see your family, and I’ll
go and grab your stuff.”

Kaitlyn knew why he was insisting that he would be the one go and get her stuff back. It was like Deangelo was right there with them, silently mocking them. It made Katie wonder where she and Carter would be if De hadn’t attacked her.

She still couldn’t believe that De had attacked her.

She sucked in a breath. “Ok, you go. I’
m just gonna get dressed. I can’t stay in your baggy t-shirts all day.”

Carter looked her up and down. “I like it.”

She looked up at him and saw the amused smirk on his face. She grabbed the empty paper bag on the counter, scrunched it up into a ball, and threw it at his head. He pretended to duck and it hit him on the side of the head. He laughed.

“Just go,” he said, still laughing, “
before
I change my mind and make
you
walk.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, I’m leaving.”

She walked back into the bedroom and changed into the only clothes she had at the moment, her dirty track pants and singlet combo.

“Yuck,” she said, walking back out into the lounge to grab the keys. “I feel so disgusting. When are we getting the hot water turned on?
And a washing machine?”

Carter was amused. Everything Kaitlyn did
amused
him. She was so cute when she was angry. And upset.
And happy.

She was beautiful.

He shook his head
. “Not yet. I’ve gotta go and get your stuff, then find us a hotel for the week.
We’re going to strip this place.”

She nodded and walked out. She jumped into Carter’s car and drove in the direction of her old home. She wondered what life would be like if she had never met Carter. She’d still be at home, preparing for university, babysitting Jordy and getting good grades. She had no idea if her parents would still be together though.

She missed the old days. She missed being the good girl. She was that girl at heart, but she wasn’t so innocent or naïve anymore. The past few weeks were proof of that. She was hardening up, when she didn’t want to.

God, get a grip
, she thought bitterly. A few weeks ago she was the most sought after girl in the racing circuit. She was adored.

Not anymore. Things seemed to have gone downhill since Bekah came into the picture. She was Carter’s only living relative, and her return must have had an impact on him.

She blamed this all on Bekah. If Bekah hadn’t come into the picture, Deangelo wouldn’t have attacked her. She’d still be Carter’s main girl, and Marcus’ bit on the side.

By the time she arrived at her old house, she’d managed to calm down a bit. She knew it wasn’t Bekah’s fault De did that to her, but blaming them both felt good.

“Mum?” she called, letting herself in. “Mum? You home?”

No answer. She shut the door behind her and locked it again, before dumping her keys into the bowl on the small table next to the door. She kicked off her grimy shoes and jogged up the stairs to her old bedroom. It was exactly as she’d left it;
messy, and with school books and stuffed animals all over the desk and bed. She opened her old wardrobe, glad to see that she still had
some
clothes here, even if they weren’t exactly her style.

She picked out an old striped maxi dress and some clean underwear. She grabbed a facecloth from one of her dresser drawers and wandered to the upstairs bathroom. She switched on the shower, glad that no one was home, and glad that she could have a hot shower with no one getting suspicious.

When she was done, she switched the shower off and changed into the dress. She quickly blow-dried her hair and dumped her washing in the laundry hamper.

She went back into her room and switched on her radio.

“Icicles drip from his eyes…” she sang along quietly.

The song was a symbol of the way she felt. It was an old song, but one of her favourites. It summed up how she’d been feeling for a while.

She
tidied up her school books and
packed them in her school bag
. She was planning on taking them with her when she left to go back to Carter’s house.

She was just about to clear her old bed of stuffed toys when the door sprang open.

She looked up fearfully, feeling nothing but relief when she saw it was her mother.

“Mum!” she cried. “Don’t
do
that! You scared me.”

Her mother looked at her like she couldn’t believe that she was real.

“Mum?” she asked. “Are you ok?”

Her mother swallowed. “Are you real?”

She laughed. “Yeah, Mum. I’m real.
I came to see you…”

Before she could finish what she was about to say, her mum came over and hugged her fiercely.

“Oh Katie,” she cried, “
thank god you’re ok.”

She rolled her eyes. “Relax, Mum
. I’m fine. I actually came to see you for a reason. I need your help.”

Her mother pulled back.
“Anything.
What do you need?”

She took a deep breath. “Well, you see, Carter bought a house and it needs fixing up…”

Her mother frowned. “And you want me to pay for it?”

She shook her head eagerly. “No, no way. Carter has money from when his parents died, he can pay.”

Her mother’s expression of disapproval
was replaced by one of concern.
“Oh dear, that poor boy.”

She rolled her eyes again. “Mum,
it’s
ok, forget it. Listen, he just needs
–
we
just need – some help getting it fixed up.”

“So, you’re
living
with him now?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I am. He’s a good friend
, and he really cares. I know it’s not th
e same as living with you and Jordy, but things were just too tense at home, so I needed to get out.”

Her mother sighed. “I guess. It was the same with me. When I was pregnant with you, my mother tried to get me to have an abortion. And with no dad, things were tough. So I moved in with
your father’s best mate.”

“Uncle Rick?”

Her mother smiled. “Back then he was known as Dick.”

Both women burst out laughing. Kaitlyn’s Uncle Rick was a bit of an idiot, so it didn’t surprise her that he was nicknamed Dick when he was younger.

“Is Jordy here?” she asked hopefully. She missed her little brother.

“Yeah, he’s downstairs
watching TV. Come say hi?”

She nodded. “Sure.”

She followed her mother down the stairs and into the front living room.

“Hey, Jordy baby,” she said casually.

Her little brother dropped
his bowl of apple slices on the cream carpet and looked around.

“I’m not a baby!” he screamed grumpily.

Her mother chuckled. “He had a bad day at school. He got sent to time out.”

Kaitlyn grinned at her brother. “
It was the mean teacher, wasn’t it?”

He looked at her and frowned. “Go away.”

She laughed and looked at her mother. Her mother shrugged. “He’s been temperamental lately. I think it’s since your dad left that he started playing up.”

Katie looked at Jordy sadly.
“Do you miss dad, J?”

His face crumpled. “Daddy left me. He doesn’t want me!”

He burst into tears and Kaitlyn couldn’t help feeling guilty. She s
cooped her baby brother up in her arms and tickled him.

“Stop it!” he screamed, kicking wildly. “Katie, stop it!”

She laughed and put him down. She had almost forgotten what it was like to be part of a real family. She missed this. As
much as she loved Carter – and she did, despite his weird sense of right and wrong – he was no replacement for the love of her family.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” her mother asked her, sitting down on one of the sofas. Kaitlyn sat down on the other.

“Well,” she began, “like I said before, Carter has bought a house, and it needs a
serious
makeover.”

Her mother nodded. “I can do that. Or would you rather do it?”

“The thing is
,
Carter bought the house when I was still with him. He meant for it to be
our
home, so I’ve been working on it,
but we need the grunt work to get it done.”

Her mother pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Well, I can certainly provide that, but if you want it done fast, you won’t be able to live there.”

Kaitlyn nodded. “I know. Carter’s organising a hotel room for us in the meantime.”

“Don’t you want to live here?”

The question caught Kaitlyn by surprise.
Live back home?
That was just…too weird. She’
d moved out because of her parents. Moving back in would be like one step forward and two steps back. It just wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted to move forward.

But at the moment, she just felt trapped.

She shook her head. “No thanks, Mum. No offence, but I moved out for a reason. Moving back in would just feel wrong.”

Her mother nodded. “It’s ok, I get it. I know I felt that way when I was your age, but when I was your age, I was pregnant with you.”

Kaitlyn looked away. She watched Jordy laughing at the cartoon on TV. She was subconsciously thinking
about what it would be like to have a family, a
life
, with Carter. He had problems with his past, and she knew that, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t be a good father or husband.

She shook her head. She better stop thinking dumb ideas like that. Carter was a liar and a cheat, and he wasn’t likely to change. She needed to get away from her family before she chickened out and moved back home. She had to keep reminding herself that she couldn’t go back, she could only go forward.

“Mum,” she said suddenly, “I gotta go. But text
me
later and we can talk about the renovations.”

Her mother bit her lip. “Oh, but can’t you stay for dinner? You can invite Carter over, too, if you want.”

She stood up and shook her head. “Na, we’re gonna go find a hotel and crash there for a while.”

She couldn’t tell her mother that Carter had a race tonight, and she was planning on following. She knew Carter didn’t want here there, and to be honest, she didn’t really want to run into De, but she had to show that he couldn’t intimidate her. She had to be strong.

It was part of the stubborn streak she’d developed recently, like her hare-brained idea to become a straight A student. Seriously, what was she thinking? She
wasn’t going back to school, she wasn’t even sure that they’d accept her back in. She
needed to figure out a way to get an education, as well as keep tabs on her life. She could feel it spiralling out of her control, and she hated that.

Deangelo
Carboni
had ruined her life. She wanted to strangle him.

Kaitlyn walked over to the front door and grabbed her keys out of the bowl.

“Bye Mum, bye Jordy!” she called. She waved at her little brother before leaving her old house. She heard his cries and felt guilty, before realising that she wasn’t his mother, and had to leave.