Aaron and Kat (Wattys 2017)

Chapter 6

AARON Saturday January 30th

I'm hanging around at Michael's house, which is huge and even has a heated pool and hot tub. Even though it's January, half the hockey team is in their underwear and doing cannon balls. It's David's birthday today and we put together a surprise party for him.

'Dude, this is the best.' David claps me on the back, almost pushing me in the pool.

'You're welcome man.' I grin at him. It was Isaac's idea to throw this bash (Michael offered up his house) after my ideas of a night of video games were all shot down, but because David loves video games almost as much as he loves hockey, I had convinced them we should set up a gaming station in the living room. Which is where David and I have spent the last half hour, only stopping to see what the commotion outside was all about (it turned out to be the pool).

People are pouring in, it seems as if half the school was invited to this thing.

I catch a glimpse of Stacy and automatically look around for Kat and Marie but it doesn't seem like they are here. Instead, Stacy is busy talking to Sheila and some other girls of whom I'm pretty sure they are on the volleyball team.

'Stacy is here.' I tell David, pointing my cup in the direction of Stacy and her friends.

'Damn, what do I do?' He says, slightly panicked.

I shrug. 'I don't know, you can talk to her?'

David shakes his head. 'Maybe later.' He says. 'The timing is quite right yet, I can't just interrupt her conversation. That's rude.'

'Pussy.' I grin at him and quickly jump out of the way before he can push me into the pool.

KAT Saturday January 30th

'So, what are we watching tonight?' Marie asks me. She's sprawled on my bed, painting her nails in different colours. I'm sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed, with my laptop in front of me. In the past week, Stacy and I have apologized to each other and we have mostly been back to our normal routines, apart from the fact that Stacy has been spending more time with the volleyball team and Sheila in particular. She was also supposed to come to the sleepover but she cancelled last minute because her mother had seen her last calculus pop quiz grade and had not been too happy about it. Marie has seen Carter a few more times and even ditched school again yesterday afternoon but at least Stacy hasn't 'mommed' her about it (Marie's words, not mine).

'I'm feeling rom-com.' I say, refining Netflix's search options. 'How about When in Rome?'

'We've already seen that one like a million times.' Marie protests. 'Next.'

'Miss Congeniality.' I try.

'No Sandra Bullock.'

'Why not? What did Sandra do to you?' I ask her.

'Nothing. I just don't want to see Miss Congeniality.'

'Drama queen.' I grin. 'How about What to Expect when You're Expecting?'

'Is that the one with the babies?' Marie asks.

'Yes.'

'Did I cry the last time we saw it?'

'I'm pretty sure you did.'

'Well, then we're not watching it. I don't want to cry.'

'Then we can rule out about every movie.' I protest. 'You even cry when the love interests meet for the first time.'