The Masters

Chapter 7- Catherine

Chapter 7- Catherine

            Watching him disappear up the stairs and into his huge house, I turned back out into the backyard.  Sure, Turner was adorable, and when he jumped into the hot tub beside me, it made the other girls jealous that I was getting both Turner's and Jeff's attention, however, I didn't want the attention.  I lived my freshman year trying to stay away from the catty girls of Carmendale-Demmings High School and I wanted to keep it that way.  Being in the house when Turner was in the house as well wasn't going to keep me off the radar; it was just going to make people reach the wrong conclusions.  I was already sacrificing myself in being here with Jeff; I didn't need any more attention.  I was stuck at an impasse; I didn't want to go back out and join the rest of the kickback, but staying inside would cause people to jump to their own conclusions.  However, the bottom line was, I needed to save my social status of being a nobody. 

            When I got back outside, I looked around.  The only people who remained were Derrick and his girlfriend sleeping in a secluded canopy bed, the other apprentices, Jeff, and the rejected girls.  Nobody's positions moved, but when I neared the hot tub to rejoin Jeff, I paused.  I was wrong, the crowd in the hot tub thinned and with a closer look I realized the only people left were Jeff and the cheerleader grinding against him. 

            "Disgustingly desperate isn't it?" a cheerleader sneered as she and two others passed by me and joined the rest of the rejected girls and the other apprentices.  "And I already called him."

            They were calling him?  Like a piece of meat? I thought, completely and utterly disgusted.  Jeff was a person, but I couldn't agree more with her.  The lone cheerleader was obviously engaging in some unorthodox activity and it was just gross.  Shivering, I grabbed a cup, filled it with some rum, and trudged up back into the house.  Jeff clearly didn't have any sense of decency anymore and he was going to become the only thing people could talk about at the kickback so I was safe in the house, even with Turner wandering around somewhere else in it. 

            Taking a sip of my drink, I glanced around at the walls of the hallway as I walked through the house.  Framed photos lined them, documenting each of the Platt children’s life from day one.  Either wall was a timeline of two of the kids' life; a timeline that I realized was missing during the party last week.  Walking to the front door, where the photos of the Platts at their youngest began, I took a trip through their life.  Looking from one wall to another, I studied the photos of Turner and his older brothers, who looked identical in their photos from their earlier years, and traveled through their lives.  The four Platt children evolved into their own people, Turner's and his brothers' looks beginning to differ from each other, but each showing characteristics similar to their father.  Sadie was dwarfed by her older brothers' height, but as she grew, she resembled her mother more and more. 

            It was weird to get an inside look into the Platt family life, when from the outside they seemed fake, untouchable, and put together.  They always seemed robotic outside of Turner and his ‘Master duties.’  There were photos of Sadie dancing as a young girl and Turner and Charlie working on old cars.  Most of the photos only contained the Platt children, but once in a while others showed up in them.  Daniel was pictured with his newborn daughter and his wife.  The mayor was pictured in jeans and a t-shirt, a change from his usual suit and tie, with his wife and kids.  They were all happy, but then a picture caught my eye.  It was one of the only ones where the subject wasn't smiling.  Charlie was dressed in his uniform, staring blankly into the camera, and his mouth pressed into a thin line. 

            "Serious isn't it?" a voice said, causing me to jump.  "I told my mom not to put it up here, but she insisted."

            "I'm sorry... I, uh... didn't mean to..." I stumbled, suddenly feeling self-conscious wearing only my bikini.  Why did he have this effect on me?  Crossing my arms over my chest, I turned to look at Turner.