The Nothings

Kate (Chapter Eight)

       Kate never called Julius although he called for her a few more times, and he even came over once for a small party Harper threw that was really only to get her sister and Julius in the same room together. Kate and Julius ended up having awkward sex in the basement while Harper and her friends chilled upstairs, but it had been as equally unsatisfying as the first two times. He wanted to see her again, but Kate ended things. She knew she was just a hook up, and she found out from Harper he was dating someone new a week after the basement incident which made her think she'd made the right call. 

    Kate wasn't surprised or hurt by the news at least. Well, not too hurt anyway. They hadn't really been 'dating' anyway; just having awkward sex on the couch in a basement that smelled like mildew. Not exactly the romance of her life, Kate thought, although she went over the scene in the basement in her head all the time. Her lingering feelings for Julius were less about him though, and more about the fact she hadn't really dated anyone since she was seventeen so he was one of her few experiences.

  She kept up with the anxiety group so that was enough stress in her life. That Tabitha girl didn't show up for a few weeks, and Kate was kind of disappointed as Tabitha was really the only one there besides Elizabeth and Anita who seemed tolerable. River was nice, but he rarely talked. Ellis and Joan never stopped talking, and Tammy told boring stories about her kids all the time. Richard continued to freak her out although he was nice, but he sweated so much and always seemed to be looking at Kate out of the corner of his eye. Kate didn't know if he was creeping on her, or if he was just nervous. Either way she wished he would stop.  

  Kate wasn't scared of Ellis any more as he was clearly just covering up his issues with his obnoxious behavior, and he was trying to get a reaction. Kate never gave him the satisfaction, and she mostly ignored him. He talked a lot about his ex-girlfriend, and Kate and Joan would make fun of him. He seemed to enjoy this, and he calmed down. It made him far more tolerable to be around. 

  Christmas was coming up, and Anita wore a different Christmas sweater to every meeting. She made all of them, and one even had lights that worked. Richard thought it was amazing, and he said he looked forward to seeing what she came up with every week. He was so appreciative that she even made him a sweater which he put over his t-shirt and wore proudly during their last meeting until the new year. 

  Kate hated Christmas, and she refused to celebrate at home. Her Dad didn't get them gifts anymore anyway, and he relied on his wife to get all the presents and do everything Christmas related. So their Mom wouldn't feel bad; Kate and Harper would chip in on a gift for her. She loved the holidays and decorated their every room of their house. 

The group talked about what they were going to do for Christmas, and no one had any real plans except Tammy who was going to Florida. Anita's ex-husband had her kids this year so she wasn't going to be able to celebrate until January. She was clearly depressed about it, but she was going to spend Christmas helping out at the soup kitchen at her church. 

Kate liked the idea of helping other people on Christmas instead of sitting around at her awkward family dinner, and she found herself asking Anita about it although she usually didn't talk much during the sessions.

  "Oh, we'd love some more help," Anita said excitedly; her eyes lit up. "We're always desperate for volunteers on Christmas day. It's hard finding people willing to give up their holiday. I admit in previous years even I've skipped out."

"I'd love to help too," Tabitha spoke up, and Kate was surprised. She'd talked about a nephew who loved Christmas, and who she enjoyed buying gifts for. Didn't she want to spend the evening with him?