Right in Front of You

06. The Cafe

One week later, and Kathy was still alive. Not only that, but things were starting to look up again. Her punishment had ended early, she'd scored the highest on her latest chemistry test, her studying was going well, and Donnie had apologized profusely for being a total dimwit for the past weeks.

On the night of their anniversary, he'd shown up at her house with a huge bouquet of yellow roses. Kathy thought her mother would faint with delight. It was obvious once she gave Kathy a hundred dollar bill to spend on their special night out.

It was lovely to hang out with Donnie without Pete and Jackson around. He took her to a nice restaurant, then to the nearest club for dancing. It was a little awkward since Donnie wasn't exactly the dancing type, but he knew she liked it, so she swung her hips and threw her hands in the air and allowed herself to have fun.

But her favorite part had to be when he parked about half a mile from her house and walked her home, her arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"I hope you had fun," he whispered.

"I did! Thanks so much, Donnie. It was wonderful. You were wonderful."

"I still am," he said with a grin. "And I will continue to be."

"I really want that. I finally feel like we're us again."

He stiffened at her words, but his steps didn't falter. "Yeah. Us. I'm sorry about all the time I've spent away from you. It's nothing personal." They stopped in front of her house. "I just... Well. You're lovely, and safe. Like my home. But sometimes I just need to go for a walk, you know?"

She didn't know, but she guessed she could be overbearing at times. But if he kept acting like this, she felt she could unwind as well.

"I just want us to be like this forever."

He gave her a smile, then leaned over and kissed her goodnight with such passion that he swept her off her feet.

"Goodnight, sugar. I love you."

"I love you, too," she whispered.

And just like that, he went home. They'd managed to have a wonderful date and a wonderful kiss without her virginity being mentioned.

After their date, it only got better. Donnie started hanging out with her even at school, without the constant shadows of Pete and Jackson. Kathy had no idea where they were and what they did when they weren't glued to Donnie's heel, but she was glad for a break from them.

Even now, as she picked the yellow rose tied to the handle of her locker, Kathy couldn't help but grin. She and Donnie had been a bit rocky for a while, but it now seemed they were back to reading each other's thoughts.

Cecily Howard's laugh drew her attention from the rose. Another good thing about her week was that Cecily had ignored her completely. Which was the only type of attention Kathy wanted from the likes of her.

She now bounced down the hallway, Kyle by her side, her hoard of admirers behind her. Kathy raised her eyebrows and turned back to her locker.

It had been shocking to find out that Kyle was actually a senior, just like her, and went to the same school. It made the fact that she hadn't noticed him around even more surprising. But she usually stuck to her small circle and refused to look beyond it.

Even if he was basically there every day, it was still rare to see him and Cecily together. And even when they were, they surprisingly weren't one of those annoying couples who forced PDA down everyone's throats. The most she'd seen was Kyle's hand on the small of Cecily's back as he led her through the crowd.