Happy Place - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 4

Kath stood up a little straighter, pushing her phone into her pocket as DJ came closer and this time, it was his head that was hanging.

"Hey..." He mumbled.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"It's just a rare bad day." He admitted and Kath slowly nodded her head, not wanting to push him and ask him anything more than that, even though she was desperate to know what was happening with him. It made her think back to the day before and when they were walking down the stairs together, how slow he was and how he slipped - she couldn't help but be concerned for him.

"We can go into the school through the Gym? There's a ramp there, so we can avoid the stairs." She suggested and DJ hesitated before nodding his head.

"We'll catch up with you later," JC said, DJ saying a quick goodbye to his brother and best friend before they went into the school together up the stairs and DJ walked with Kath towards the side entrance in the Gym - the only other ramp was for the cafeteria, but that was too far a walk for DJ on his crutches.

"I'm sorry that I'm gonna be extra slow today," DJ said and Kath shook her head.

"Stop apologizing." She said simply, opening the door for him once they got to the top of the ramp and she closed it behind them once they were both fully inside the empty Gym.

"You know what I was thinking last night?" DJ said after a moment and Kath looked over at him. They were walking incredibly slowly because of DJ using his crutches to help with every step, Kath ready to catch him if he stumbled or slipped like he did the previous day - he wanted to thank her already, but he held himself back from doing so. He hated the looks he got as they came through the locker rooms and into the hallway where all the other students were and as he looked at Kath for the briefest of moments, he could almost see her retreating back into herself when they were around other students.

"What?" She inquired.

"I recognize your voice from somewhere... I've definitely heard your voice before." He said and Kath bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from smiling too big.

"You come up with any theories?"

"You said yesterday you wanna perform, so... maybe something to do with that. It'll come to me, I'm sure it will." He assured her and Kath smiled, nodding her head.

"Good luck with that." She said as the two of them got to their lockers. It didn't surprise either of them that Mister White assigned DJ the locker across the hallway from hers and he got out his books, looking over to her to see that she had picked up a piece of paper from the grate in her locker - someone had obviously stuffed a note there and it was as if he could see the weight of depression slam down onto her shoulders as she read what it said. She was quick to crumple up the note when she saw DJ making his way over to her, though, slamming her locker shut and throwing the balled up paper into the nearby trashcan.

"Everything okay?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Yeah, just peachy... come on, we'll be late for homeroom." She breathed, fixing her backpack over her shoulder before starting to head towards their homeroom class together.

"I know we're not exactly friends, but you can tell me anything... I want us to be friends." He said, his voice a little strained from the effort he was putting into just walking and Kath bit her lip, nodding her head.

"It's fine, I promise - I'm used to it." She said, lowering her head down as they kept walking but she gasped as DJ yelped, falling straight to the ground with a loud clatter but it soon became clear that DJ hadn't fallen because he'd lost his balance. Kath recognized the group of students huddled together and laughing, smirking at her but she ignored them and was quick to grab onto DJ's arm. "Are you okay?!" She demanded to know, DJ wincing with pain as he pulled his arms out of the crutches.

"Someone tripped me." He choked out, his eyes tightly shut because of the shooting pains but he was thankful for Kath helping him to stand, giving him his crutches back and supporting him until he had his balance back.

"Yeah, but are you alright?" She asked again and DJ nodded his head, leaning onto his crutches a little more as the shooting pains started to slowly fade away.

"I'll be fine in a minute... who tripped me?" DJ asked quietly, looking around - if someone had accidentally tripped him, he'd have expected them to stick around to apologize but the nearby laughter told him that it was no accident that he'd tripped over somebody's foot.

"Jason," Kath mumbled, DJ instantly being reminded of the day before when Arisse admitted that she'd helped Kath somehow with a boy called Jason who was captain of the football team.

"Kath-" DJ started, but she was quick to cut him off, tugging on his arm gently.

"Come on, we'll be late for homeroom." She breathed, the two of them silently walking towards their homeroom class.