A Grey Summer

Chapter 3

Kate finished unpacking and left the dorm in search for her friends who finished a while before her. The rain had stopped but the ground was still wet and soaked. The trees were filled with drops of water falling off the leaves each time the wind blew. The smell of rain was still fresh lingering in the air.

Kate walked down to the park at the end of the dirt road and sure enough there they were sitting on a the same swinging bench that they always sat on, it was like their 'territory'.

It was as if there was an unspoken rule between the dojo that only the Doragonzu (ドラゴンズ ) gang could sit on that specific bench. After a while people stop sitting there because it had been 'claimed'. They felt like they would be trespassing on gang territory.

After 6 years of training Kate and Grace had finally reached their 1st Junior Black belt, they were the youngest in the Doragonzu (ドラゴンズ ) gang.

Nicole, Tyler and Jewel Brooks, another friend of Kate's were already 2nd Junior Black belt but Meredith Jackson, one of the oldest, tallest and strongest in Doragonzu (ドラゴンズ ) had already gotten her First Dan. She had the  highest belt in the gang.

Jewel Brooks was always wild and energetic but she was also sarcastic at time. The gang would all laugh at the silly and crazy things she did and said.

Meredith Jackson was Nicole's best friend, she always thought logically and was the conversation starter.

******

"Hey guys" Kate said softly to her friends.

"Hey" Nicole replied, Kate did in front of her for friends who took up the space on the bench.

"What are you guys talking about?" She asked curiously.

"We were just talking about the previous Gasshukus" Jewel Brooks replied as she tucked a piece of frizzy blond hair behind her ear.

"Cool" Kate replied thinking back on their memories.

"Hey Kate?" Said Meredith, in the tone she used when she was about to interrogate someone. Kate looked over at Meredith, her long jet black hair tied back into a ponytail.

"What happened in the dorm? Where were you? You just disappear." Meredith interrogated curiously.

"You guys had already chosen the first two bunks so I had to go to a different group." Kate replied flatly with no emotion.

"Sorry... We didn't see you" Nicole replied feeling a bit guilty that they had ignored her.

"Anyways, I'm in the group next to yours" Kate replied breaking the tension that was slowly building up.

"Did Tyler talk to you?" Meredith interrogated again.

"Yeah why?" Kate replied flatly looking a bit confused at the random question.

"No reason...what did he talk to you about?" Meredith carried on.

"Nothing" Kate lied.

'Meredith is acting suspicious, something's up that they aren't telling me! I need to find out what it is before something bad happens!'  Kate thought to herself.

"Why are you interrogating me?!" Kate asked bitterly stepping forward and looking down at Meredith.

"No reason" Meredith lied.

"No there is a reason! Tell me!" Kate was annoyed and the gang knew never to mess with her when she was annoyed or at all for that matter.

"Well...there's a letter" Meredith have in but answered only had of the question.

"What letter!?" Kate spat her words.

Nicole elbowed Meredith's arm and whispered angrily "I didn't want her to know!"

"What did the letter say?!" Kate asked, raising her voice.

"I've got a copy, I can show you" Nicole sighed as she reached for a small folded piece of paper in her jacket pocket, then handed it to Kate, her hands slightly shaking.

As soon as Kate got the letter she immediately read it, anxiety consumed her.

Dear Tyler
Kate's been a bit... off lately, we don't know what happened, but maybe you could find out for us? She hasn't really been speaking to us. Oh and by the way she's had a crush on you for a with but didn't want to say anything, so maybe she will talk to you? But please just talk to her, we're getting worried.
Nicole & Meredith

"So he was just told to talk to me..." Kate muttered after she read the letter.

"No he- he wasn't..." Meredith begged, trying to deny it, she knew they had made a mistake, they ruined things between Tyler and Kate, at least from Kate's perspective.

"Yes! He was!" Kate replied, she was angry and her friends were consumed in fear and guilt.

"We're sorry, we were just trying to help you. There's no reason for you to get mad at us" Nicole added.

Kate couldn't handle it, the emotion, the tension. She escaped walking away. Her legs picked up pace once she saw Tyler and Connor walking towards her in the distance. Kate put her head down in the hopes of not being discovered.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Tyler asked concerned as he grabbed her arm, stopping her from walking away.

"Nothing" she replied bitterly and left, breaking Tyler's grip. Tyler and Connor walked up to the group by the bench in a hurry.

"What happened? What did you guys do?" Tyler asked the group, concerned although he looked a bit annoyed.

"We told her about the letter and she got angry with us because you were basically told to talk to her and that we told you that she likes you." Nicole replied the guilt welling up inside her.
She was getting annoyed with Kate. Kate was being so secretive and moody all the time.

"You did WHAT!?" Tyler said angrily. Jewel and Grace stood up and walked away trying to avoid being noticed, it wasn't their fight and they had no interest in getting involved.

"Why are you acting like this?" Meredith asked worries about what he would say to her.

"Honestly I don't think you two deserve to know why Kate's been feeling this way! You've never taken the time to get to know her; you just use her as input to your conversations. Just another person to laugh at your jokes! If you really cared about her you would ask her yourself!" Tyler spat his words angrily and stormed off, Connor following right behind him.

"No... Tyler wait..." Nicole said softly, she was scared of Tyler now. No one had seen him like that before.

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Thank you for reading, please vote and have a magical beautiful day 🌈

Shanna Tiffin
xoxo