Table for 6

Part 19- Kathy

C19- Kathy

That was a close call. Sure I was sweating and overheating like there was no tomorrow, but I'd do anything to keep my scars a secret. Gym class had never been more stressful.

I decided to tell Catarina my situation again. How could I not? I mean, she had been helping me through this in so many different ways. If she had stopped meeting me for track practices in the mornings, or just stopped being my friend, life would be a whole lot harder than it already is.

Even though she remembered nothing that had happened, she pretty much reacted the same way as to when I told her in the first place. She agreed to stick by me again.

"So Kathy," Kataniss began, interrupting my thoughts. "What does your graduation dress look like?" She asked.

We were at our assigned seats for first lunch. I thought it was a bit unfair since we always sit with the same people. But hey, at least I sat with some of my friends.

"Oh, sorry I'm keeping it a surprise." I replied with a smile. She laughed a bit.

"Nice. So Ryan, what's your graduation dress look like?" She asked Ryan, smirking. Oh Kataniss, you're too subtle. Note the sarcasm.

"Ha, ha. Hilarious." He answered with a fake smile and an eye-roll. Macy, Catarina, and I thought it was pretty funny, so we laughed.

"I could see you in pink. Definitely your colour." Kataniss added. And to her delight, Ryan gave her an amused smile.

I saw Kataniss duck her head a little to try and hide her blush. I also noticed she wasn't eating anything for lunch.

Her flirting attempt didn't go unnoticed. Macy gave Kataniss a look. This isn't going to turn out well. Macy looked away from her when Ryan said something to distract her from saying anything to Kataniss. Not that he knew what just happened since he was diagnosed with cluelessness.

"Hey, Kataniss, want a few chips? They're salt and vinegar." I offered to her politely.

"Oh, uh, no thanks."

"But you don't even have a lunch." I debated.

"It's alright Kath, I'm not too hungry." She said shyly.

I'm completely aware of her disorder and it doesn't change the way I see my friend at all. I only found out about it when Catarina accidentally let it slip her mouth at the beginning of the school year. The secret I thought she was talking about back then was the whole Kataniss likes Ryan thing.

But the thing that shocked me most about hearing Kataniss' situation was that she'd never even told me herself. And she still hasn't... I thought we became better friends than that.

"Fine then." I muttered. She told Catarina, but not me. I was just trying to get her to eat something. I want to help, she's one of my friends for crying out loud.

"Guys, has anyone seen Aisha?" Catarina asked out of the blue. Probably trying to get some attention off of Kataniss. I guess she just trusted her more than me. That kind of hurt.

Then our table shared their answers and it turns out that no one had seen Aisha since gym class.

"I'll go look for her. I'm finished lunch anyway. See you guys in second block." I said before I left the classroom.

None of the other girls had seen Aisha in the change rooms after gym either. It was like she had been taken or disappeared even. I was a bit worried since lunch was almost over so I volunteered to search for her out of my good will.

"I didn't see you show up for practice this morning." I heard a voice growl in the next hallway.

"Uh, I-I," Another voice stuttered. "Y-you didn't tell me I was s-supposed to show up t-today."

"Don't be stupid Aisha!" The voice boomed at whom I now know to be Aisha.

"I'm sorry Dad! Please don't hurt me, I really didn't mean to." She begged quickly.

"You know I hate it when you talk fast! Slow down for God's sake. Don't you know that I'm trying to help you with your future here?! I'm getting you into shape so you'll be ready to train harder later! I need more dedication. Come on Aisha!" I stuck my head round the corner just in time to see Mr.Chambers boot Aisha in the shin.

This is... Woah.

She cried out in pain but let no tears fall. She must've been used to this. I felt so bad doing nothing, but what could I do to help her?

"Just show up at the usual time tomorrow or else. Remember I'm doing this for your own good, sweetie. Now run along, get to class." He said a little softer this time. Then I watched Mr.Chambers storm off down the hallway into his home room.

"Yeah, for my own good." Aisha mumbled under her breath, letting out a humorless laugh. I had to say something.

I stepped out of my hiding spot to see a shocked and speechless looking Aisha. "Um, hi." I greeted.

"Hey Kathy, w-what are you doing here?" She said in a shaky voice. She must've noticed my expression because she let out a sigh. "How much did you hear?"

"It's not about what I heard, it's about what I saw. Are you okay? I can help you, somehow."

"No, I'm not okay at all Kathy, thanks for your concern! This is none of your business so stay out of it, please. Just forget this ever happened okay? You can't help me, only one person has tried and Cat- I mean, they left me." Her words were really sharp and her voice just defined pain.

"Aisha, I can-"

"No you can't! You can't help. I'll see you in class." She huffed and shoved past me.

I stood there shocked with the tears that I never knew left my eyes streaming down my face. I just wanted to help. Why don't people see that? I can understand. Somehow. But nobody's given me the chance.

No matter how hard I try, I'm never going to let what happened with Aisha go. I wanted to talk to someone about it. I needed to. I wanted it off my chest. But who?

Definitely not Aisha, for obvious reasons.

Catarina has helped me enough and I don't want to unload every problem I have onto her. She's got enough on her plate.

Ryan isn't so bad, but who's to say he would keep anything to himself? He's close with alot of people, Adam, Macy, the list goes on.

Kataniss hasn't got the courage to trust me, so why should I trust her?

So that left one person.