Atlantians

Chapter 6

Katarina sighed and fidgeted with her hair. This was the one day out of the year where she wanted her hair to stay straight and the heat was making it curl. Katarina finally threw her hands up in disgust. "This is not working!"

"Have you thought of braiding it?"

"I've never been able to do braids right."

"I can braid your hair if you want me to."

Katarina turned and looked at Christiana where she was sitting on Katarina's bed. She was trying to hide a smile as she looked up at Katarina. 'She's come a long way' Katarina thought as she made a motion for Christiana to braid her hair. Christiana bounced up from the bed and scooped up the brush from the floor. She stood behind Katarina and began brushing her hair. After a couple of strokes she stopped.

"I need you to sit down. You're a little tall for me."

Katarina laughingly obliged. Christiana began to brush her hair again. Katarina closed her eyes and let herself relax. She always enjoyed getting her hair done by someone else. It always felt good and relaxing. Katarina sat patiently while Christiana divided her hair and began to braid. As she braided Christiana talked about this and that. Anthony came up a lot in the one sided conversation. Katarina smiled as she heard the longing in Christiana's voice.

"Why don't you ask him out?"

"Who?" Christiana asked innocently.

"Anthony."

Christiana's hands paused and she was silent. Finally, her hands started to move again and she answered Katarina in a soft voice. "I'm afraid of chasing him away."

"Christiana," Katarina said in a voice filled with patience. "You'll chase Anthony away by doing nothing. He's interested in you. That's why he has taken to teaching you things. He likes spending time with you, but he doesn't want to come off as a chauvinist pig.

"Are you sure?"

Katarina reached up and placed a hand on her hair to keep it in place and turned around to look at Christiana. Christiana was watching her with wide eyes that were filled with hope. "Yes I'm sure. Anthony is a pain in the ass, but he's a good guy. Let him know how you feel. Okay?"

At Christiana's nod Katarina turned around and waited for her to finish braiding her hair. It took a couple more minutes for Christiana to finish with her hair. Katarina got up and walked over to a basket that held her personal products. She plucked a small hand mirror out of the basket and held it up to look. She patted her hair and moved her head from side to side.

"Do you like it?"

Katarina glanced over at Christiana before she looked in the mirror again. "I've never had my hair French braided before. It's different, but I like it."

"I could teach you now to French braid if you want me to."

Katarina smiled at her as she put the mirror down. "I'd like that. I've never known what to do with my hair. It'd be nice to do something with it besides putting it up in a pony tail."

A footstep outside Katarina's tent drew her gaze to the opening. Anthony stuck his head inside the tent. "The reporter is here."

"Thanks Anthony." Katarina gave her hair one last pat and left the tent.

Anthony fell into step behind her and Christiana. He tugged on her braid playfully. "You should braid your hair more often."

"You like it?" Katarina asked doubtfully.

"Sure I do." Anthony tugged on her braid again. "Too bad you never braided your hair when we were little. It would have made things a lot more interesting."

"And by interesting you mean a lot more fun."

Anthony laughed. "Of course. It was hard enough trying to grab you by the hair when it was loose. This would have made it a lot easier."

Katarina shook her head and slapped her cousin's hand away. "Well, you can thank Christiana for braiding my hair."

Anthony turned and gave Christiana one of his grins that had always gotten him either in trouble or out of trouble during his younger years. "Thank you for taking the time to make her look presentable on TV."

"Hey! I always look nice on TV." Katarina shoved Anthony which made him laugh. He came back and gave her a quick hug before he surprised Christiana with a hug. Christiana blushed, which made Anthony grin and Katarina laugh.