Chapter2
Kate
“No, not today,” Kate’s mother said firmly from the other line. “But Mother!” Kate pleaded. “No!” her mother answered. “Please? This is my first friend!” Kate whispered, hesitating. “Oh….Well…Okay, but be careful. Have fun!” Kate’s mother said finally. “Thank-you sooooooo much, Mom!” Kate cried. “Okay, okay,” her mother laughed. Kate smiled happily and hung up, handing back Natalie’s phone. Kate could hardly wait until the last bell. Until she remembered the sticky note the girl behind her slid to her. ‘I rule Weston D.R High.’ Kate shivered. She shook her head, trying to shake of the haunting feeling and hurried to her next class. “So, are you Natalie’s new friend?” Natalie watched as her father bombed Kate with questions. Kate looked uncomfortable, so she jumped in. “She’s my BEST friend,” she blurted quickly. Natalie knew that that was a lie, but she just HAD to save Kate from eternal embarrassment. Kate stood there, speechless. But, thankfully, Nat’s father just smiled. Nat ushered her dad to the car. It only took five minutes to get to their house (by car). Stepping out of the car, Nat solemnly opened the door. Kate gasped. Natalie’s house was HUGE! It wasn’t a house, it was a MANSION!! “Oh my!!” Kate exclaimed. “It’s huge! What kind of job does your dad do?!” Kate gasped and blushed. “I am sooo sorry!” She exclaimed. “No problem, my dad’s job is to sell houses,” Natalie explained. “And my mother is a librarian,” she added. “Come, on, let’s go up,” she said, beckoning her. “Um . . . just one thing,” Kate hesitatated, as they got to the second floor. “Are you really my BEST friend?” Kate asked. Natalie hesitated. “No, but maybe I will be over time,” she finally said. “But we ARE friends,” Natalie added. Kate smiled and nodded ever-so-slightly. Natalie led the way to her bedroom. It was completely purple. “Cool,” Kate breathed. Natalie blushed scarlet, but to cover it up, she got right into business. “I asked you to come over because ... you might be in trouble.” Natalie said. “I used to be Jessica’s best friend,” she started. “Wait, so the girl stalking me is called Jessica?” Kate interrupted. Natalie nodded. Kate slid to the floor. “Well, she sneaked me a sticky note that said; I rule Weston D.R High.” “Okay, so let me explain,” Natalie said calmly. “I used to be Jessica’s best friend,” she repeated. “We used to do EVERYTHING together. Until that same two summers ago. For the first time, we went to different summer camps, and when we came back last year, Jessica joined the popular group, that didn’t include me. She bullies and breaks rules now. Jessica wasn’t the kind, generous, sensitive girl anymore. So basically, she isn’t good anymore. She became the ‘Queen’ of Weston D.R High. Jessica became the prettiest, yet meanest girl in the school, and amazingly, Mr. McDonald never found out, though it’s probably the fact that Jessica had threatened them if they did, so they mostly showed up with pathetic excuses. She even had these so-called ‘friends’, but they’re probably just scared of her,” Natalie continued angrily. “But then I found friends, REAL friends, not just clones who follow you because they’re scared of you, friends like Grace, Athena, Veena, Lavender, and so on. I wasn’t as popular as Jessica, but whatever. I had friends, REAL ones. And now you’re one too.” Natalie finished. Kate knew how it felt to be betrayed; her own sister was like that. Kate and Natalie sat through several minutes of silence. “Thanks for inviting me here and letting me be your friend,” Kate said, finally breaking the silence. Nat blushed. “No problem.” Kate checked her watch. “Oh!! It’s already 5:30!” She squealed. “Sorry! My father would have driven you, but he went out tonight!” Nat exclaimed. “That’s okay.” Kate waved good-bye as she left. Natalie knew a lot, she thought. Kate hurried to the bus station and fumbled for a ticket. After she boarded the bus, she checked her watch again. It was 6:05. “Oh, no,” Kate groaned. She knew that her mother would yell at her for being late and accuse her of being irresponsible. Kate sighed and sat down. Her mother would be furious.