Pick-me-up
Page 11
Chapter 10: Waiting For A Call
Day two of no cell phone. Katelyn was going nuts. She wondered if Tim had called; she worried that he’d take her silence as lack of interest. Besides the Tim problem, she had no way of keeping up with her other friends. After Emily’s rejection in the bathroom, she suddenly wanted to check with her chat friends and see if they were still talking to her. She had to do some damage control. Katelyn lost plenty of friends in the past. Some were not allowed to hang out with her anymore after her dad was arrested and spent time in jail. Others just seemed to fall away over some spat or had grown too materialistic. They worried more about make up and calories than real life. So, she panicked at the thought of losing the few people who still talked to her.
The cell phone was still at school. Gorman just grinned when she asked for it at the end of the day. “We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” he said. She couldn’t believe how much of a pushover her mom was being. Her mom wouldn’t dare try to keep the phone from her. She let Gorman do her dirty work. If only Gorman knew the things her mom had said about him. She was sure his teeth would break if he tried to grin his way through her curses.
When Katelyn reached home after walking the two miles again, her mom was at work. She worked as a second shift assistant manager at a convenience store in nearby Ames. The title meant little more than that she had to do twice as much as other employees. But, her mom qualified for health insurance and that covered the kids, too.
Brianna was home when Katelyn walked in. Brianna still rode the bus, another reason Katelyn did not. Brianna had the TV blaring and was eating a gigantic bowl of cereal on the couch.
“Turn it down,” Katelyn yelled.
“Make me,” Brianna sneered, almost loosing half of her mouthful in the process.
“You are so gross,” Katelyn threw her bag on the living room floor. Gorman supervised her exit from the building, including deciding on two assignments that had to be completed when she walked in the next morning. If Gorman didn’t have possession of her phone, she would have told him off again.
Katelyn brightened momentarily. The computer was on and right in front of her. Brianna, however, was going to be a problem—a total nark. Katelyn’s punishment included no computer for the month, too.
“You’re late. You’re supposed to get Kayla and Jacob at Grandma’s by four,” Brianna nagged from the couch. Katelyn’s mom had to leave at 2 p.m. each day for work, so she’d drop them off at her grandma’s, two blocks over, until her dad could pick them up on his way home from work. Lately, however, in her dad’s absences, it had become Katelyn’s job.
Katelyn plopped down on the couch and closed her eyes. She changed her tone, “Brianna? Would you please go get them today?”
Her response was what she expected. “What’s in it for me?”
“Please?” Katelyn looked at Brianna, trying to remember a time when she could stand her little sister.
Brianna chewed another spoonful of cereal and looked away from the television. “Dishes,” she offered.
Katelyn dragged herself off the couch and looked into the kitchen to survey the amount of work. The dishwasher needed to be unloaded, the sink was full of lunch and baby dishes, but it wasn’t that bad. Her dad hadn’t been around today, so there were no pans from his omelets or late night snacks to clean up. “Fine. Take the stroller for Jacob.”
Within a minute after Brianna walked out, Katelyn had her web page up, logging in. Her page had a few notifications and she quickly went to a friend request pending her approval. Yes! Katelyn rejoiced. He found me. She quickly approved Tim and linked to his site. A heavy metal band icon served as Tim’s profile picture, and there were no other photos of him. She breezed through his friend list, noting the heavy ratio of female versus male friends. She recognized only a few of the girls, some from her grade, but mostly upperclassmen. Most of his contacts were from Des Moines, his last hometown. Is one of them his exgirlfriend? She wondered.
She noted the time and gauged another five or ten minutes before Brianna returned with the kids. She quickly wrote a cheerful note on Tim’s Wall. Let those other girls know there is a new girl in his life, she thought. Then, she wrote a more detailed email briefly explaining why she hadn’t called.
A chat box popped up. It was Olivia from school. Katelyn didn’t consider Olivia a close friend, but she was friendly to everyone. Olivia also seemed to know everyone’s business. And, that’s what her chat message was trying to get from her. “Hey, how r u? Why r u in Gorman’s office?” Katelyn decided to tread lightly.
“Hey, thought I’d spend some time in the zoo and feed the monkeys.”
“Lol, hope u don’t get bit.”
“I’ll have him doing tricks by Fri.”
“That long? Ouch. Seriously, did u really steal stuff from PE lockers?”
“WTF?” Katelyn’s mouth still hung open in disbelief as she typed.
“IDK. I heard it at lunch? Money and iPods missing.”
“No way! Just a fight with Gorman.”
“ good to hear.”
Katelyn overcame her shock and suspicion crept in. She swallowed the urge to outright ask the source of the rumor. Katelyn threw out some bait. “Tell your hotty boyfriend he’ll have to buy u another iPod.”
“Not mine. Maci said hers was taken.”
Ah, Maci, Katelyn understood, even though she couldn’t prove it yet. Maci was the type to capitalize on Katelyn’s misfortune. Although she was offended, Katelyn felt better having confirmed Maci as an enemy. She’d no longer play along and be nice to Maci for the sake of offending Emily. This meant war, and Katelyn knew how to be tough.
The dog’s barking made Katelyn look up. Out the window, Katelyn saw Kayla running up the short driveway and Brianna chasing after her with the umbrella stroller. Little Jacob bobbed around in his seat.
“Gotta go.” Katelyn quickly typed and shut the Internet window. She ran down the hall to appear as if she was coming from the bathroom when the kids came bursting in.
“Kate'n!” Kayla enveloped her legs with a hug. The innocent, love-filled action instantly warmed Katelyn’s heart. She put Maci from her mind and decided to plan her revenge later. She scooped up the girl. “Wanna play with me?”
Katelyn thought about the cleaning and work around the house and dismissed it. “Sure, kiddo. Let’s go outside.” Then, she walked over to where Brianna was giving up on pulling her nephew from the stroller straps. “Actually, let’s take Jacob to the park.”
“Yeah!” Kayla screamed and bounced on Katelyn’s hip.
Brianna quit her attempt to care for Jacob and left him in the stroller. “You’re not supposed to go anywhere,” Brianna nagged while grabbing the last of the Oreos from the package on the counter. “You’re grounded.”
Katelyn resisted the urge to tell her to shut up. She took a deep breath and looked at her sister without any ill intent. “Wanna go, Brianna?”
Brianna rolled her eyes, stuffed an Oreo into her mouth and walked toward the living room. “I’m telling,” she managed to mumble through her chocolate mess.
“Aren’t you always,” Katelyn replied, but refused to be bothered. Instead, she grabbed the end of Kayla’s nose and gave it a little tug. Kayla giggled and smiled a smile that would burst off the little face if it weren’t held down by the same dimples Katelyn knew so well.