That afternoon after school, Adam and Katherine settled into her basement and hurried to finish their other home work so they could focus on their drama project. They ran through their lines several times both with and without their scripts before Katherine worked up the nerve to address the stage kiss they were supposed to be blocking.
Mrs. Curtis had caused an uproar among her students the week before when she demonstrated how this was done with one of the English teachers. Katherine had been amused to see her teacher actually blushing by the time the students were through with her. Now that she was in the hot seat it wasn’t so amusing.
“Okay, so Mrs. Curtis said you turn me upstage and then we lay our cheeks against each other, right?” Katherine felt silly for being so nervous over what wasn’t even a real kiss; her nerves, however, would not abate.
“Right,” Adam nodded and stepped closer.
Katherine took a steadying breath only to inhale deeply of his cologne and soap, warmth flooded her. A moment later she was laughing.
“Can I just tell you how awkward this feels?” she asked him.
“You don’t like getting close to me?” his grin was teasing.
Katherine was sure she was blushing; she did like it, a little too well.
“It isn’t that, it just feels…odd. I don’t go around laying my cheeks against other people while pressing up against them,” she shrugged. She could only hope he didn’t see how deeply being close to him affected her.
“Let’s try this again,” he tugged her closer by the waist.
A moment later, Katherine was laughing again.
“What is so funny?” Julia came down the stairs, a basket of laundry on her hip.
“We’re trying to block a stage kiss,” Katherine admitted.
“Oh,” her mother looked momentarily startled. She recovered and set aside her laundry. “Let me see.”
“Mom! It feels awkward already,” Katherine protested.
“You have to do this is in class tomorrow?” Julia asked her.
“Yes,” Katherine crinkled her nose.
“So let me see the whole act you’re doing,” her mother seated herself.
“Okay,” Katherine sighed.
They started from the top and went through the entire act for her mother.
“Not too bad, you two work well together but the stage kiss is awkward. My drama teacher had us kiss each other right beside the mouth, heads tilted so that it looked more real; you could try that,” her mother suggested.
“Mom and Dad met while auditioning for a play in college and landed the leads opposite each other,” Katherine shared with Adam.
“That’s cool,” Adam smiled at Julia.
“How did you handle the stage kiss?” Katherine asked her mom.
Julia lit up.
“Mom! You really kissed him didn’t you?” Katherine was laughing now.
“We were dating by then,” she reminded her daughter.
“Mrs. Curtis gave us that option but she said it had to be by mutual agreement or she would fail the offending party for the entire semester,” Katherine shared.
“I didn’t need to hear that,” her mother stood and continued into the laundry room.
Katherine was still laughing when her mother hurried back up the stairs.
“Okay, so we need to figure this out,” Katherine tried to calm her nerves as Adam stepped closer.
She slid her arms around his neck and resisted the urge to lick her lips; they weren’t really kissing, this was all for class, she reminded herself. He tilted her chin up and studied her a moment before he pressed his lips lightly against hers. Katherine’s eyes slid closed. When he pulled away she opened her eyes to find him studying her again. He kissed her again, his mouth now demanding and Katherine felt herself yield, her arms tightening around him as he tugged her closer by the waist. She had let Nathan kiss her a time or two; it had never felt anything like this. When Adam urged her mouth open she hesitated; this was the point where she usually pulled back. She had never let a guy French kiss her before. Katherine allowed him in and felt fire leap into her veins. She made a small sound in the back of her throat as she went lax against him and allowed him to lead her.
She was surprised to find her breathing uneven and her hands shaking when he pulled back and stared down at her with his eyes dark and probing.
“Should I apologize?” he asked her.
Katherine swallowed hard and pressed her lips together as she shook her head. “No. I think that’s a little more than Mrs. Curtis is looking for however,” she managed to smile on the last part and watched him smile.
“Yeah, I guess I got a little carried away,” he admitted. “So let’s block this stage kiss.”
“No,” she shook her head again. “I think the first time you kissed me was perfect and felt a lot more natural that staging a fake kiss and is more appropriate than what followed,” she was smiling more easily now, her nerves feeling more settled.
“You’re probably right but I enjoyed what followed. I’ll try not to get caught up in the taste and feel of you this time,” his eyes twinkled.
Katherine felt her insides scramble all over again and laughed nervously.
“I think we’d give Mrs. Curtis a heart attack,” she joked.
“Probably,” Adam conceded. “From the top?”
“From the top,” Katherine nodded.
They ran through their lines and, prepared, Katherine kissed him lightly and stepped away. Given the way his eyes twinkled she was guessing had she not he would have repeated his earlier actions.
“I think that works,” Katherine assured him.
“Dinner!” her mom called.
“Are you staying? You know you are welcome to,” she invited.
“Yeah, I think I will,” Adam shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Great,” Katherine turned to climb the stairs and could only hope that the kisses they had shared did not show on her face.
They entered the kitchen to find Julia setting the table.
“Where’s Daddy?” Katherine asked as she grabbed the glasses, already filled with ice, and added them to the table.
“He was running late but said for us to go ahead and eat,” Julia related. “Did you two get things sorted out?”
“We did,” Katherine busied herself with grabbing a bowl of potatoes.
“Good,” her mother’s gaze lingered on her for a moment longer.
After dinner, Adam left for home and Katherine went to her room; she put on her head phones and grabbed her journal.
“Katherine!” her mother’s voice finally penetrated her music.
“Sorry, Mom,” Katherine pulled her earphones off and looked up expectantly.
“What are you listening to?” Julia demanded of her daughter.
“A disc Adam loaned me. Did you need something?”
Julia studied her daughter a moment.
“What is it, Mom?” she asked.
“What did you two work out on the stage kiss?” her mother asked her.
“We agreed to a real but very simple kiss,” Katherine admitted. “Everything else felt awkward and stilted.”
“I see,” her mother nodded.
“Nothing…” Katherine searched for an appropriate word.
“I understand what you are saying,” Julia sighed.
“Mom, it’s little more than a peck,” Katherine tried to reassure her mom.
“You’re awfully comfortable with the idea, Katherine; were you and Nathan even in the habit of kissing? I mean you dated him for three years…”
“Nathan and I did kiss; nothing sordid but we did kiss,” Katherine admitted. She and her mother had always spoken plainly with each other and she saw no reason to change that now.
“Oh,” her mother nodded.
“Mom,” Katherine sighed.
“I know; I know,” her mother held her hands up.
“I didn’t have to tell you,” Katherine pointed out.
“No, you didn’t. The thing that worries me, Kattie, is that Adam is not as…sheltered as you are or as Nathan was for that matter.”
“No, he isn’t,” Katherine acknowledged.
“I can tell you like him.”
“I do.”
“He isn’t your usual type,” Julia frowned.
“You mean he isn’t Nathan? Nathan was my only real boyfriend, Mom; I don’t think that qualifies as a type.”
“What happened to you two, Kattie?” her mother queried.
Katherine had resented Nathan’s actions but had not wanted to make things awkward between their families; they were all friends.
Katherine sighed and sat up. “He started pressuring me to sleep with him.”
“He what?” her mother’s eyes went wide. “I had no idea. I knew the whole school on two separate sides of the country seemed like a pretty flimsy excuse but,” she shrugged. “I can’t help wondering why he’s going all the way out there to begin with. He always said he wanted to go to UT.”
“He came back from his visit with his cousin in California different,” Katherine shared. “I wonder what happened while he was there. I think….I think he cheated on me. I think he slept with someone while he was out there.” Katherine finally told her mom what she had been thinking for a long time.
“Kattie,” her mother’s face filled with pain. “Are you okay?” Julia moved to sit on the edge of the bed and Katherine shut her journal and set it to the side.
“I am. It hurt but…we were kind of already having problems, Mom. I wish I had ended it sooner so we could have ended it as friends. I…you won’t want to hear this but had I loved him I might have considered it. The fact that I was adamantly opposed…but like I said, I was already feeling stifled before he ever left for California.”
“Then why were you still together?” Julia pushed a stray curl back off her daughter’s face.
“Because we had been together so long and every said how perfect we were for each other, you and dad, his parents, and all of our friends at church. It felt like I was letting everyone down somehow if I ended it.”
“Don’t ever stay with someone because of someone else’s expectations, Kattie. Love is why you build a relationship.”
“Yeah, I know that,” Katherine shifted her legs into a crossed legged position. “I knew you were disappointed when we broke up and I wanted to explain but I didn’t want to make things awkward between you and your best friend.”
“I wish you had just talked with me, sweetheart. I want you to always feel as though you can talk to me, even when you know we aren’t going to see eye to eye.”
“I know,” Katherine smiled at her mom.
“I am still going to worry about you and Adam but you are a rather level headed young lady over all or always have been; I’m going to hope that holds in the face of your new romantic interest,” her mother shook her head. “Good Lord, you’ll be headed off to college in a matter of months; then what will I do?”
“I love you, Mom,” Katherine smiled at her mother.
“You turned him down, right? Nathan; you turned him down?”
“That’s why he dumped me,” she shrugged.
“Good,” her mother nodded. “Oh you growing up is so scary!” her mother turned to leave. Katherine smiled and shook her head at her mom before turning back to her journal.
***
Katherine took another drink of her milkshake and watched as an ambulance raced up the road bordering the park. She and Adam had come to the park to enjoy the beautiful Saturday afternoon together and they were now seated on top of a picnic table with their feet on the bench. Their performance in drama had gone well, though they were the only ones to forego the stage kiss. Word had gotten to Katherine’s friends and she had been teased mercilessly all week.
“Do you know who your dad is?” Katherine asked. Adam had told her in the car that his dad had never been around, but hadn’t said whether or not he knew him. His mother had not known until she was already carrying Adam that his father was married with a legitimate child on the way.
“Yeah. Depending on where we were living, when money got tight enough Mom would drive or call to beg him for money, always when he was at work of course.”
“Why didn’t she ever marry?”
“Never met the right person I guess,” Adam shrugged, “or maybe she never felt worthy.”
“That’s sad,” Katherine’s eyes were filled with empathy. “So you never had a dad?”
“Not really. I’ve survived it,” he assured her. “Besides, there was one man I kind of looked to like a father.”
“Who was he? Tell me more about him,” she invited.
“Uncle Jack, that’s what Mom said I should call him. He was our neighbor in the tenement where we lived in Detroit, real slum of a place. Anyway, he was disabled, bum back from a Vietnam injury, and he watched me the summer we were there. I wasn’t too thrilled; I didn’t think I needed to be watched.”
“He wasn’t a bad guy really he just liked beer and women. He watched me that summer, showed me how to use a hammer and nails, and how to put a coat of paint on a wall. Gave me my first taste of beer. Mom still doesn’t know about that.”
“He gave you beer?” Kaitlyn looked properly shocked.
He smiled and nodded.
“Yeah, he and his dad apparently bonded that way and he decided to take me under his wing. Mom was waitressing and seldom home, in some ways I guess he was good for me. There was a lot that a boy my age could get into in a city like that. I think he loved my mom even though he never said so. Scared to I guess, any time he acted too nice she got skittish. He stayed the night a few times and then Mom decided to up and move again. I think she was starting to care for him.”
“Ever hear from him?”
“No, last I heard he married.”
“So where else have you lived?”
“Boston, I was about seven when we lived there and the elderly lady next door was the one who watched me. She was like a grandma to me. She baked me cakes and cookies and told me bedtime stories when Mom worked the night shift at the twenty-four diner. She died of lung cancer just before we moved. She’d been a smoker all her life and coughed all the time. That’s why I’ve never touched a cigarette; I remember that cough,” he shared thoughtfully.
“I’m sorry she died. It sounds like she was a nice person.”
“She was, you kind of remind me of her,” he shared.
“I remind you of your adopted grandmother?” she asked on a laugh.
“You’re kind, deep down and sincere like she was and your eyes are the same color as hers were. Her name was Kaitlyn.”
“Gee, how flattering, I remind you of an old lady,” she was still smiling.
“Of her kindness and eye color,” he elaborated again.
Katherine leaned against him and smiled at him. A moment later he was kissing her. He hadn’t kissed her since that night in her basement and she had started to think it had been a fluke. Katherine shifted closer and leaned into the kiss. He pulled back and she opened her eyes to find him watching her.
“Why are you staring at me like that?” she demanded.
“Waiting to see if I am going to be slapped,” he admitted.
“Did I last time?” she smiled in return.
“No, but I at least kind of had an excuse last time,” he grinned back.
“An excuse?” she couldn’t hide her amusement.
“You are so far out of my league it isn’t funny, Kaitlyn,” he reached to brush her hair back from her face.
“That’s that most stupid thing I’ve ever heard you say,” she shook her head.
“It’s true,” he maintained as he let his fingers trail along her jawline. He kissed her again, deeply before he released her and reached for his milk shake.
“Where else have you lived?” Katherine decided to steer them back to a safer topic. She liked kissing him a little too well for her comfort.
Adam claime
d her hand before he continued. “Let’s see... we lived on Long Island before moving to Boston. That was where Mom was living when she met my dad. Stayed there until I ended up in class with dad’s legitimate son; she decided it was time to move then. That’s when we landed in Boston; from Boston we moved to Newark, New Jersey. We lived there a couple of years until I was ten. Then Philadelphia for a year. Then Detroit where Uncle Jack was. Then came Reno, great place to raise a kid right? We lived there a couple of years; then moved to California, then Pittsburgh, now here.”
“How on earth did you end up in Jackson, Tennessee?” she demanded.
“Mom met this lady in her classes to learn medical transcription that was from here and she said the lady went on and on about what a great place this was. Mom came down for a couple of days; landed a job and announces that we’re moving. She said this was a great place to raise a kid. I didn’t point out I wasn’t exactly a kid anymore,” he explained.
“Jackson must seem small after all those big cities,” Katherine noted.
“I think Mom was ready for a slower pace,” he shrugged. “Mom always avoided the south until now so I was a little surprised when she picked here. I don’t know; here lately I never know what to expect from her,” he shared.
“Why’s that?” Katherine asked of him as she admired the way his eyes and hair matched almost perfectly.
“She used to drink a lot on the weekends but here lately it’s any time she isn’t at work,” he admitted.
“Your mom drinks?” she asked in concern.
“Yeah. I’m fine, Kaitlyn, quit worrying, I can see it in your eyes,” he told her.
Katherine tried to sweep aside the tightness in her chest. It hurt her to think of Adam not having a proper dad or mom.
“What’s your favorite childhood memory? I know you have to have one,” she asked him and watched him smile.
“When we first moved to Detroit it was winter and school was just letting out for Christmas break. We weren’t even unpacked yet but it snowed heavily and mom played hooky from work. We spent the day in the courtyard building snowmen and playing. That’s when we met Uncle Jack. He saw us, stepped out of his apartment, and stood at the railing to watch us. I remember thinking I was too old to be seen with my mom, but that day it didn’t matter. I didn’t care; I had my mom all to myself. What’s yours?”
Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) Page 3