Katie

Chapter 9

An hour later, Katie drove home from the lawyer's office, in a daze. She still couldn't wrap her head around everything she had just learned.

Apparently, Katie had a brother. A half-brother, to be exact. And craziest part? This half-brother was none other than Shawn Baker, which obviously explained what he was doing there when she arrived. How did this happen?? Katie silently screamed. Unfortunately, she already knew the answer to that question.

According to the video her dad made before he died, he had an affair with another woman while he was married to Katie's mom. She became pregnant about nine months before his wife became pregnant with Katie. What she didn't know was if or when her own mom had discovered this secret of his. He claimed to have broken things off with Shawn's mom as soon as he found out his wife was pregnant with Katie.

Katie felt sick to her stomach. She wondered how her own dad could have done something like this? To not only have an affair outside of his marriage, but then to turn his back on his own son? Katie began to wonder if she had ever really known the man at all. They had really been close at one time, before her mother left, but over the years he had slowly pulled away from her and spent less and less time with her. Maybe he had felt guilty giving all his time and affection to one child, when he knew he had a son out there who he had turned his back on. But once her mom left, why not try to get in contact with his son? Get to know him, try to be a part of his life? It was all just so confusing to Katie.

Katie walked into her bedroom and kicked her shoes off. She was at a total loss as of what to do. There was much more to the Will but she couldn't think about that right now. Her head was pounding and she really felt sick to her stomach. Groaning, she threw herself down on her bed and buried her head under her pillow.

After spending the entire night tossing and turning, Katie finally pulled herself out of bed. She groggily made her way to the bathroom and stood in front of her mirror above the sink. Looking at her reflection Katie whispered, "It wasn't a dream. Oh how I wish it had been a dream." She quickly splashed water on her face and then pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail, not really caring how she looked today. I mean.....in the scheme of things, did it really matter? Her life was already so screwed up.

She returned to her room, threw on the closest pair of jeans she could find, pulled on a cotton tee and headed out. Today was Friday. 'Why couldn't it be Saturday,' she thought. Then she wouldn't have to face Shawn at school. She had no idea what to say or how to act around him.

Nerves lit up, Katie slowly made her way down the hall at school, heading towards her locker.

"Babe! Wait up," hollered Ben.

Glancing behind her, Katie saw Ben making his way through the crowded hall towards her. She slowed down so he could catch up.

"Where did you rush off to after school yesterday? I looked for you." Ben pouted.

"I told you, I had that appointment with Mr. Davenport." Katie responded.

Ben looked back at her blankly.

Sighing, Katie explained, "Mr. Davenport, Dad's lawyer....." Katie waited for the light to click on in Ben's head. Trying to stifle her frustration, Katie continued, "For the reading of Dad's Will."

"Oh!! That's right. Cool." Ben finally replied.

Katie tried not to roll her eyes. She waited. "Well?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well what?" Ben asked, looking confused.

Katie folded her arms in front of her chest. She tilted her head. "You're not going to ask how it went?"

"Oh! Sorry. How'd it go, Babe? Did he leave all his millions to you?" He smirked, with a sly wink.

Katie abruptly turned and started to stalk off.

"Whoa! Hold up! I was just kidding, Katie!" Ben yelled after her. When she didn't stop or slow down, he just muttered something under his breath and turned to walk off in the opposite direction.

Katie continued stalking angrily to her locker. She couldn't believe how thoughtless and insensitive he could be sometimes. Not only did he completely forget that she had went for the reading of her father's Will yesterday, but when she reminded him of it, he played it off as a joke. He really knew how to hurt her.

Fuming, Katie quickly searched her locker for the items she needed for her morning classes. Throwing the necessary items into her book bag, Katie slammed her locker door shut, turned, and came face to face with Shawn.

Taken by surprise, Katie took a small step back, swallowing as she looked into Shawn's eyes. With a start, she realized why his brown eyes had always been so unsettling to her. They were her father's eyes. Katie swallowed hard and averted her eyes from his.

"Katie," Shawn cleared his throat. "I think we need to talk."

Katie kept her eyes averted, looking anywhere but at him. She swallowed hard, opened her mouth to speak, and then shut it quickly without making a sound. Her stomach started to roll, making her feel nauseous.

"Katie...?" She heard concern in his voice.

Swallowing again, Katie placed a hand over her mouth and took off running. She slammed into the nearest bathroom and barreled into an empty stall. Falling to her knees, Katie proceeded to be sick. She hurled until nothing more would come out. Slowly getting to her feet, she shakily made her way to one of the many sinks. Thankfully no one seemed to be in here with her. Rinsing her mouth out with water several times, Katie then splashed water on her face. Looking up at her reflection in the mirror Katie whispered to herself, "What am I going to do!?"

After drying her face off the best she could with a paper towel, Katie tossed it into the trash and walked out of the bathroom. Looking up, she locked eyes with Shawn.

"Hey," he said softly. He straightened up from the wall he was leaning against and walked over to her. He held out his hand toward her.

Katie glanced down at it questioningly. As he opened his fist, she noticed a mint sitting in the middle of his palm. Katie swallowed a lump in her throat and looked back up at him. "A mint?" she questioned.

The corner of his mouth tipped up into a slight smile before he replied, "Thought you might could use one."

Katie was startled to hear herself chuckle. "Thanks." She took the offered mint and popped it in her mouth, relieved to get rid of the horrible taste that had been left as a result of her trip to the bathroom.

They both stood there, ackwardly, both unsure of what to say to the other.

"So..." They both said at the same time.

Looking at each other, they both smiled.

"This is really weird, isn't it?" Shawn asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"You could say that again." Katie said. "Um...how long have you known?" She asked hesitantly.

"I had just found out, right before I saw you in Mr. Davenport's waiting room. Believe me, it was just as big of a shock to me as it probably was to you," he reassured her. Running his hand through his hair, Shawn glanced around them and then said, "Look, we really need to talk soon about everything that was said in that video. Do you think we could meet after school or something?"

"Yeah...that will be fine. Um, I guess you could come by my...uh, my house after school, if that works for you...?" Katie looked up at him uncertainly.

"Sure, I have to drop Logan off at home first but I can be there around, say 4:30?" Shawn asked.

"Ok." Katie started to walk off.

"Oh, and Katie?"

She turned back to him, "Yeah?"

"Can we keep this just between us for now? At least until we get everything settled and all the details worked out?"

Katie stared at him for a moment. "Yeah," she agreed, thinking of Ben's reaction when he found out, "that would probably be for the best." She gave him a small smile and continued on her way.