The Pastor's Daughter

Three: Unacceptable

Already halfway down the hall, Kennedy turned with an exaggerated sigh. "Fine, but make it quick." She said flatly, walking back towards the new girl. She watched as the girl bit her lip, as if she was deciding whether or not to ask. "Well?" The annoyance in Kennedy's voice was clear, "I have a class to get to."

"Right," Katalaine said nervously as she played with her curly auburn ponytail, "Are there no, you know," She gestured to the rainbow colored sign up sheet, allowing that movement to fill in the gaps of her question, "in this school?"

Kennedy's smile faded for a brief moment, but as always it was back in a flash. "In this school? No. In this town? No. Let me give you the statistics. There are roughly one thousand and seven hundred people in this town. One thousand and four hundred of them go to our church and the majority of the others attend one of this town's many smaller ones. At our church, my father teaches from the Bible, and in the bible it says that that," She gestured to the paper, "is a sin. It's not acceptable and certainly not accepted here." Her voice lowered, wavering slightly at the last few words.

Those same words were the ones that secretly taunted her every day of her existence. She glanced at Katalaine, only to find the girl's brown eyes already on her. Their eyes met, and for a small fraction of time, Kennedy let her guard down.

Clearing her throat, she quickly broke away from the eye contact and adjusted her long-sleeved cardigan, "No, there are none." She repeated.

"Okay." Was all Katalaine could say, turning her head away from Dee. She reached up and covered the paper again before stepping away from the board.

After a minute of awkward silence, Kennedy cleared her throat again and spoke, "Have a good day, I'll see you around I guess. Your next class is down the hall to the left." She quickly walked away before the girl could say more, lifting her chin as she went. Whatever weakness or vulnerability she had just shown was gone now. She was back to being perfect.

Throughout her next class, Kennedy was unable to think straight. The face that Katalaine had made when she told her about the discriminatory town they lived in was unforgettable. It made her ashamed of her father; ashamed of her upbringing and the beliefs that were forced upon her, but there was nothing she could do about it. Trying to make a change would result in being cast out of every place she had ever known and was accepted in.

~><~

Kennedy's words echoed in Katalaine's head all afternoon. It wasn't the words themselves that had bothered her, but the way she had said them. Dee's sudden change of emotion when she spoke made Kat think that she didn't agree with the words coming from her own mouth. It was as if they had been pasted into her thoughts by someone else. A harsh bell brought Kat back into reality, and within seconds the classroom was empty and the hall was full.

Papers flew around as everyone made a mad dash to their locker, desperate to escape the brick walls of Meadowbrook High. As Kat stood in the classroom doorway taking in the scene that was unfolding in front of her, she wondered if this is what it was like to live in an ant colony. Cramped halls, lots of people and, of course, a queen.

It was as if the world revolved around Kennedy. Katalaine noticed how people would walk around her, hold the doors for her and avoid her at all costs. She was royalty here, as close to perfection as a human being could be. Or at least that's what they all said. Kat knew there was more to her than a pretty face and kind words, and it was her newly developed goal to figure out exactly what she was hiding underneath that good girl reputation.

She stayed clear of the crowd, her eyes jumping from Kennedy to the hall in front of her. She had a strange urge to approach Dee, and it was as if her legs guided themselves towards her. With only a few feet between them, Kat opened her mouth to speak. She didn't even get the chance to say hello before someone spoke up from behind her.