To Kiss Kate

22. the truth

Katiya Carpenter's Point of View:

I woke up at 11am on Wednesday. I had spent the last 4 days in bed. I told work I had the flu and had ignored the calls of almost all of my friends. Genny and Hendricks had stopped by, trying to motivate me to spend my last few weeks having fun. But I didn't want to. I didn't want anymore drama, I didn't want anything. I wanted to go to school and start fresh. Forget everything in Hamilton and everything that had happened this summer.

It was crazy to think that in just a few short weeks my life had completely changed, and gone completely full circle at the same time.

Jack hadn't called, texted, or spoken to me or anyone. Nobody had heard from him since the party. I shouldn't have cared, but for some reason it hurt.

I laid, staring at the ceiling when my door opened. I groaned internally before I even looked.

"Katie. What are you doing?" Jason. Now I groaned out loud.

"Go away, Jason. Please leave me alone." I pulled my blankets farther up my neck. He walked closer and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Believe it or not, your dad called me and asked me to come talk to you." I crinkled my eyebrows at him in confusion. "I know right... crazy." He smiled, clearly trying to make me feel better. It didn't work.

"I'm surprised my dad has even noticed." He gave me a pity smile in return.

"I'm getting you up and we're going to lunch. Genny's meeting us at Five at noon." I shook my head in rejection.

"Can't. I have the flu." I shrugged my shoulders and he rolled his eyes.

"Get up and get in the shower." I groaned and rolled over slowly. "Kate." He said again sternly. I hated to admit that it made me laugh a little bit.

"Alright alright. I'm getting up, jeez." He smiled happily. I got the towel off the back of my door and went to the bathroom to shower. It almost felt weird to be showering, going about a normal day. It felt wrong.

It felt wrong without Jack. I felt wrong without him. Empty, which was ridiculous as I had only known him for a few weeks. But being with Jack was the happiest I had ever been. Being with Jack was smiles and warmth. The drama we had caused brought us together in a million ways.

After the shower in which I had deliberately taken longer to keep Jason waiting, I got dressed and met him downstairs. He was smiling, I wasn't. My dad was nowhere to be found. I was grouchy, but I followed Jason to the door where there was a note from my dad.

Axl's.
-Dad

I rolled my eyes at it and peeled it off the door, throwing it in the garbage and following Jason outside to his car. The drive to Five was quiet, but comfortable. We didn't have much to say to each other, but I appreciated Jason in the moment. Even though he knew my distaste for him, he still cared enough to try to help. Without him, I would have never discovered the truth about Jack's family and for that I owed him kindness if nothing else.

We pulled into the cafe where Genny was waiting outside. She smiled at me, not paying much attention to Jason.

"I can't believe Jason got you out of the house." She mocked. I ignored her glances and stayed blank as I replied.

"Crazy the things I'll do for him to leave me alone." I gave him a very faint smile, hoping the joke would be somewhat of a peace offering. He seemed to chuckle and we went inside. I was still miserable, but I appreciated their consideration and tried to be nice for the time being. I listened to their stories of the past few days events and although all I could think about was Jack, hearing stories not including his name made me feel good.