Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series)

by Michelle Maness

  “Probably the weekend we spent at the lake with my grandparents the summer before my grandfather died. It was the last time we were really all together,” Katherine smiled.

  “What are you doing after graduation?”

  “College. You?”

  “Don’t know yet.”

  “You should go to college. You have a very quick mind.”

  “I’m not college material,” Adam argued with a shake of his head.

  “Adam, you are very smart. I study with you almost every night; remember? So don’t tell me you aren’t college material.”

  “I’m not. Besides what would I go for?”

  “Learn to mix music.”

  “That’s an idea. But still…” he shrugged.

  Katherine sighed and studied him a moment. “Who shut you out when you wanted to be included, Adam?”

  Adam startled as he turned to look at Kaitlyn. How could she know that?

  “Why would you ask that?” he demanded.

  “Because you try hiding behind a mask of indifference but I see you, Adam. I know better. I also know how smart you are; do you?”

  Adam could only stare at her a moment before he looked away. He didn’t like that she could see into him so easily.

  “Are you afraid of failing?” she asked softly.

  Adam wanted to lash out at her, intended to until he turned and read the sincerity in her eyes. He swallowed hard; he was pretty sure no one had ever believed in him before.

  “It’s easy for you Kaitlyn; it isn’t as easy for everyone,” he finally offered and saw the disappointment in her eyes; it made him feel as though he had already failed before he had even tried.

  “Are you going to the prom?” she changed the subject.

  “I have never been to a school dance in my life,” he mumbled.

  “So that’s a no then?”

  “I haven’t decided.”

  “Adam, it’s only three weeks away.”

  “I know.”

  “Why wouldn’t you go?”

  “Why would I? So I can say I did?”

  “That’s right, you and all the other non-conformists are all going to skip so that you can be different together,” she said to the air.

  Adam was laughing. “You are incorrigible.”

  “I know,” her green eyes were sparkling.

  “Who are you going with?” he asked her.

  “No one. I was asked but I didn’t know any of them well enough to go and relax and I want to be able to relax and enjoy the night,” she shrugged.

  “So let’s go together,” he proposed; she smiled.

  “Are you serious?”

  “I am,” he nodded.

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  “Great. Mom’s gonna freak,” he was grinning.

  “Why’s that?”

  “She’s been after me to go but I said I wasn’t going to.”

  “Oh, so you weren’t going.”

  “I didn’t have a date and I can’t really think of any one at school I’d want to take anyway. You’re the only person, well girl, I’ve really gotten to know and I figured you had a date.”

  “I would tell you to make friends but school’s out in a few weeks.”

  “I don’t need a lot of friends,” his eyes darkened.

  “So why are you friends with me?” she asked him.

  “You’re persistent.”

  “You could have blown me off, others have.”

  “I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

  “Oh so you felt sorry for me?” Katherine’s eyes were twinkling.

  “No,” he smiled, “truth is you intrigue me.”

  “That is the first time in my life any one has called me intriguing,” she laughed.

  “Why did you set out to befriend me?”

  “I’m not sure exactly. I know you looked like you could use one.”

  “Mercy mission?”

  “No,” she shook her head. “Like I said, you looked like you could use a friend and…I was drawn to you.”

  Adam looked at her in surprise.

  “We’re very different.”

  “Is that a bad thing?” she asked him.

  “No, I don’t guess it is. You don’t care what people think do you, Kaitlyn? I want to not care but I let it bother me. You don’t care.”

  Katherine laughed and shook her head.

  “I do care, Adam, we all care at some level.”

  “Whose opinion matters to you, Kaitlyn?”

  “My parents, my friends; yours, your opinion matters to me,” she admitted as she held his gaze.

  Adam was humbled by her interest. “I think you are pretty special,” he assured her before he kissed her again.

  Three

  Katherine paced her mother’s classroom and watched the clock mournfully. Her car battery had died and it would be that evening before her father could replace it. That had left her with two options: ride with her mom or take the bus. Given that she despised the bus she had opted to ride with her mom and arrive at school at an indecent hour. Now it was too early for the first bus to have even run and she felt ready to crawl out of her skin.

  “You are pacing like a caged animal,” her mother accused.

  “Sorry,” Katherine turned to her mom.

  “Here, make yourself useful and put one of these on every desk,” her mother handed her a stack of papers.

  “So it’s time for poetry notebooks again, huh?” Katherine noted as she placed papers on the desk of her mom’s sophomore students.

  “Yes it is,” her mother was writing on the dry erase board.

  Katherine placed the last paper on the last desk and moved to the window. She watched the first few students straggle in. She was going to have to wait for her mother to finish up this afternoon too, she realized with a sigh. Her mother was on late bus duty today; wasn’t that just her luck?

  “I’m going to walk around,” Katherine kissed her mom’s cheek.

  “See you this afternoon,” her mom smiled in return.

  Katherine discovered that Mrs. White had arrived and went ahead and got what she would need for first period and placed it in on her desk. She then meandered back into the hallway and kept her eyes peeled for one of her friends. She smiled when she saw Adam enter.

  “Finally! someone to talk to,” she smiled as she approached.

  “I thought for sure I would beat you,” he joked; his eyes were shadowed.

  “My car battery is dead and I had to ride with Mom. Are you okay?” she frowned and studied him.

  “Fine,” he assured her as he opened his locker.

  “You sure? You look troubled?” she was frowning.

  “I had a fight with Mom; I’ll be fine,” he offered; she nodded. “So you are stranded, huh?”

  “Yes and mom has bus duty this evening,” she sighed.

  “So let me give you a ride home,” he offered.

  “Thank you!” she threw her arms around him and hugged him.

  “Welcome,” he was smiling.

  “Kattie, there you are,” Tessa came hurrying up to her. “I finally found my perfect prom dress!”

  “Congratulations,” Katherine smiled.

  “You’ll have to see it this weekend,” Tessa invited. “And by the way, I really am sorry I bailed on you on the whole stag thing.”

  “I have a date,” Katherine admitted.

  “Good! Who are you going with?” Tessa smiled at her.

  “With me,” Adam closed his locker and took Katherine’s hand.

  “And I thought you were just friends,” Tessa teased. “I’ve got to go; I’m supposed to be in Mrs. Grays’s class early. See you two at lunch.”

  “Bye,” Katherine called after her friend. She and Adam made their way into their first period class and took their seats before Katherine turned to talk to Adam. She was laughing at something he said when Nathan approached.

  “Hey, Kattie,” Nathan shifted on his feet.

  “Hello, Nat
han,” her smile faded.

  “I, uh, look, I know things are different between us but I always kind of thought we’d go to prom together. Can’t we? For old times’ sake.”

  Katherine sighed as she studied him. She shook her head, “I have a date, Nathan.”

  “Right, I guess I figured you would,” he admitted. “I was a jerk, Kattie, I’ve realized that.”

  “Thank you for admitting it, Nathan. I do appreciate that.”

  “We can’t just throw three years away,” he informed her.

  “I believe you already did, Nathan. I’ve moved on; I’m interested in someone else. I wish you the best but I have no interest in revisiting our relationship. Best of luck, Nathan,” she decided to be blunt.

  “Right,” he glanced between her and Adam, his gaze lingering on Adam a moment before he moved on.

  “I wish he’d quit making me do that,” Katherine sighed and turned to Adam; she found him with a curl wrapped around his finger. “What is with you and my hair?” she demanded as she tugged it free from his gasp and tugged it over the opposite shoulder.

  “I told you: it’s like silk,” he leaned closer and inhaled, “and I like the way you smell.”

  Katherine bit back a smile and leaned closer, “Adam, behave,” she admonished.

  “Takes all the fun out of it,” his eyes twinkled; she laughed and turned toward the front as the bell rang. She pretended not to notice when he wrapped a curl around his finger and began playing with it again.

  The day passed quickly, lunch coming and going, and an afternoon assembly offering a break from the usual routine. Katherine entered the gym and immediately spotted Tessa, Stephanie, and Mandy clustered together at the top of one set of bleachers on the upper level of the gym. She climbed to the top and greeted them before sitting down beside them. Melissa, Brandon, Mark, Mallory, and Jack joined them a moment later and Katherine started scanning the crowd for Adam.

  She was about to give up when she finally spotted him coming through the doors, a tall guy behind him seemed to be arguing with him. Behind the tall guy was a cluster of other students all dressed as intentional misfits. Katherine noted that Angela was among them and was offering him a pleading smile.

  Adam shook his head, turned to enter the gym and scanned the crowded room. Mark stood, waved his arms, and whistled. Adam spotted them then and climbed the bleachers to make his way to where they all sat.

  “Here, I guess you’ll want to sit by Kattie,” Mark moved to the bleacher in front of them.

  “Thanks, man; I appreciate that,” Adam smiled at Mark.

  “What was all that about?” Katherine nodded in the direction he had just come from.

  “Jessie wanted me to skip with him and some others and seemed a little angry when I refused. Jessie and his bunch seem to think it’s some great honor for them to invite me into their sacred little group,” Adam shared with her.

  “You would have missed all the fun of the annual don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t have sex assembly, Adam; you can’t miss this very important assembly,” she joked.

  “They even have a band this year,” Tessa eyes were lit with amusement.

  “See, there was no way I could miss this,” Adam smiled. “Besides I promised this cute girl a ride home.”

  “She might have gotten a little put out if you had just disappeared,” Katherine suggested.

  “Yeah, I thought she might,” he smiled at her as he laced his fingers through hers.

  Katherine smiled at him and then scanned the gym; she noted her mother watching them from the opposite side of the room. She waved in greeting and then turned to answer a question Stephanie asked her. They spent most of the assembly whispering back and forth or passing notes; teachers occasionally attempted to glare at the students they caught not paying attention. As the group began to wind down, Katherine glanced at her watch. If they could keep them going for about another fifteen minutes they wouldn’t even have to go to their final classes of the day but would be released to gather their things and leave. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who had made this realization. When the floor was opened to questions several students were quick to volunteer, asking mostly silly, redundant questions.

  “Tell me these kids aren’t for real,” Adam leaned over to Katherine.

  “In another…” she glanced at her watch, “ten minutes we will be free to go. If we’re released now we have to go to final period first and then turn around and back track,” she explained.

  “Now I get it,” he nodded.

  A few minutes later the final bell rang and everyone began to gather their things.

  “Now, students, what did we learn today?” Mark asked as he stood.

  “Don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t have sex; got it,” Katherine gave him two thumbs up and then grabbed her things.

  “Very good,” Mark patted her head.

  “It’s funny, I wasn’t even thinking about sex and now I am,” Stephanie joked.

  “Want to come to my house and study?” Mark offered; Stephanie popped his arm. “Ow! What was that for?”

  Stephanie glared at him in answer.

  “I know, they act like they think we are constantly weighing the pros and cons when in truth I don’t think about it all that often,” Katherine rolled her eyes.

  “You mean you don’t go around daily looking for the opportunity?” Tessa added. “Clearly they believe we all do. I’m with you, Steph; now I am thinking about it. Were any of you before this whole assembly started?”

  Katherine rolled her eyes when all of the guys smirked. “It’s their fault; they are the reason we have to sit through these stupid assemblies,” Katherine announced.

  “I was,” Mandy shrugged. “But then I just came out of health class and guess what was on today’s agenda?”

  “We’ll lump Mandy with the guys,” Stephanie laughed. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Bye,” Katherine waved before she started down the bleachers herself.

  “Does your mom know I’m taking you home?” Adam asked her.

  “I dropped by and told her earlier,” Katherine nodded as they made their way through the crush of students and down the stairs to the lobby floor.

  “Do you need anything from your locker?” Katherine asked Adam.

  “No, you?”

  “Nope, guess we can go.”

  “Call me later,” Tess called over the crowd.

  “Will do,” Katherine waved.

  She and Adam made their way through the parking lot and to Adam’s car. As soon as he cranked the car; music blared from the speakers.

  “Sorry,” he laughed and turned the music down.

  “I like this song,” she started singing along.

  “And to think you had never heard of them a few weeks ago,” he teased. “Hey I need to grab my work uniform. I have to go in later tonight; you mind?”

  “No problem,” she assured him.

  “Thanks. I should warn you that I don’t live in the nicest neighborhood or home,” he shared.

  “What? Well, that’s that then, you’ll have to take me straight home!” she said with an air of superiority.

  Adam smiled over at her and chuckled. “I like you, Kaitlyn.”

  “I like you too,” she returned.

  Katherine could tell that Adam was trying not to be self-conscious about his home as he turned into the trailer park and parked in front of a faded brown and white single wide.

  “This won’t take but a moment. I would suggest you wait here but I am convinced that my neighbor is some kind of pervert; the man creeps me out,” Adam shared.

  “Not a problem,” she assured him and followed him inside. The trailer was small but well kept. To her right was a door into a bed room. The living room and kitchen were separated by a counter and a small space below a window opposite the kitchen held a compact table and three chairs.

  Katherine followed him down a hallway and Adam opened the dryer to remove his work uniform.
r />   “This your room?” she peered into a small space.

  “Yes,” he responded.

  Katherine stepped inside and turned on the light.

  “Adam?”

  “Yes?”

  “This is just wrong,” she informed him.

  “What?” he stepped to the door.

  “It’s clean,” she said it like an accusation. “Guys do not keep their rooms clean.”

  “You do if it’s as small as mine,” he smiled at her.

  “Right,” she looked around at the various posters: Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots; the walls were plastered with them. “You don’t like music do you?” she teased.

  “You know I do.”

  “No posters of half-naked women?” she arched a brow.

  “My mom takes exception,” he shrugged. “How many guys’ rooms have you been in?”

  “A few,” she smiled, “mostly my cousins’” she admitted.

  “I was starting to wonder about you,” he teased. “Given the reason Nathan dumped you I would have been surprised otherwise.”

  “I’ve been in his room, door open and our parents down the hall and it was clean but then he knew we were coming,” Katherine shared as she looked through his CDs.

  “I take it your families are friends?” Adam watched her nod as she picked up a couple of photos off his dresser.

  “Yes, we’ve known them for years,” she admitted.

  “It must make your break up awkward,” he mused.

  “It does,” she agreed. “Our parents were our biggest supporters.”

  “Do your parents know why you broke up?” Adam asked her.

  “Mom does, which means Dad probably does too,” she shared.

  “Is your curiosity satisfied?” Adam queried.

  Katherine smiled at him. “I guess I am being nosey aren’t I?”

  “I don’t mind,” he assured her.

  “Even if I go through your things,” she teased and opened a drawer part way; she quickly closed it. “We should go,” she turned for the door.

  Adam was laughing now and snagged her to pull her into his arms.

  “That was funny,” he told her.

  “No, it wasn’t!” she argued.

  “No, really it was, I have never seen anybody as red as you are right now,” he informed her.