The Secret Life of Katherine James

Chapter IV

"Hell-----o? Earth to Katherine. Katherine...," I hear Sampsen sigh, "Kitty! Come back to planet human okay? What's wrong with you?" I heard him ask.

When my eyes came back into focus I saw Sampsen about a foot from my face, gazing into my eyes like he was worried I'd totally lost my mind. I looked up a little, just beyond his head and the band boys, Elijah, the piano man, Timothy, the guitar player, David the point of focus for my memories and solid triple threat of bass guitar, drums, and singer, and Brooklyn, the angel voice of Shines Like Fire, were all staring at me from their places in the garage, gaping like I had three heads. My guess was that Sampsen, seeing my conversation with David, which ended in what he called my zombie look, probably panicked and stopped the show to make sure I was okay.

"Hey Sampsen. Wanna, like, give me room to breath maybe?" I said leaning away from him.

"Oh well my bad." He sounded not at all sorry, but sarcastic."My best friend turns into a temporary zombie, utterly unresponsive and still, not even flinching at the sound of her dearest friend's voice, for a solid 30 seconds, I might add, then upon returning from her lifeless state, gets mad at me for examining the lifelessness in her eyes, trying to see if she's still human while being stared through like a ghost. So sorry for "invading your personal space" like my bad."

I can't help but laugh. Sampsen and I have been friends since before the second grade. I've always had a bad habit of zooming off into the past and zoning everything else out for however long my memories last. He was oblivious to it at first but, I guess I get this really creepy look on my face and, for some reason, it really bothers him. I asked him about it a thousand times and he always played it off as a kid, making some half hearted joke. But when I zoned out for about five minutes straight, thinking of him actually, I was staring straight at him, or through him as he always said, and kind of started to smile. Long story short he got really freaked out, took my picture as proof of how creepy it was, then ran to get my parents. They were used to it, took one look at me, told him to wait a while, said I'd be fine, and then walked away.

After about three more minutes, he finally just hugged me really tight and I came back out of the memory. I was totally oblivious at first, but when I hugged him back, I realized he was crying and begging me stop. We were 13, but he was crying his eyes out. Needless to say I was very worried. He wouldn't talk about it at first but, I asked him about it that night, why he was so creeped out by it, and that's when he showed me the picture.

I looked like a glass doll, looking unblinkingly back at myself from the phone screen, head turned slightly to the side, a small smile playing on my lips. It was horrifying, even I could see that. I can't imagine how frightening it would appear to Sampsen in real life.

I glanced at him, feeling terrible about the whole situation. His eyes were glued to the carpet of the upstairs living room, his strong fingers pulling the fuzzies out. "It reminds me of the way my mom gets when my dad started to beat her before they split." He finally spoke, the tone of his voice and the word tugged at my heart. "She literally shut off part of her brain leaving her body limp and lifeless. Seeing you like that makes me see you in her place, and honestly..., I can't handle it. When you look like that," He said gesturing to the phone, "I always worry that something really bad is gonna happen to you." He paused, "It scares me Kit. Plus it's just a flat out creepy look. I mean look at that." His eyes traveled to the phone yet again.

Ever since then, I had always tried to keep my thoughts in the present, at least around him. I look at him now, standing in front of me, arms crossed, trying to look pissed but just managing to look worried.

"I'm sorry Sampsen, I just got really lost in thought. I didn't think you would notice, since, when I zoned, you were drumming with the band." My gaze traveled to the rest of the boys yet again, some striking up a conversation. David was still peering at me, eyes glued in a harsh, yet loving way. Like one best friend mad at the other.