The Ingenue

Chapter 1

Kate stood frozen at her locker. Gabe, her crush, was actually headed in her direction less than five... maybe seven feet away.
A familiar feeling came over her body. Her throat became dry, and her palms wet. "Please, God, not now!" She silently begged towards her feet. Her lungs began to sting as she heard a loud ringing in her ears. She glanced up quickly to assess his distance. He met her eyes and smiled and she realized her face was flaming hot.
"Oh shit." She grimaced to herself as the space closed between them. Quickly, she slammed the locker door shut, turned away from him to dart, and immediately collided with an immobile object
     The books in her hands slammed upward into her face. A sensation of something warm mixed with surging pain instantly shot to her nose. A familiar voice cried out, "Damn it, Kate! What the hell are you doing!"
When her head stopped spinning and she could catch her breath, she realized she was sitting directly across from her best friend Leah in the middle of the hallway.
     Leah's face looked dumbfounded and then troubled as she scrambled on her knees towards Kate and mumbled, "Shit Kate, I thought you heard me say your name. I'm sorry. Damn your nose is bleeding." On the floor next to them lay the contents of Kate's now empty purse.
     Kate's eyes scurried the crowd for Gabe. Did he see what happened? How embarrassing. Then again, he didn't even know she existed. Gabe was striking, popular, athletic, and retro. Gabe dressed modish.
     Kate was quiet, studious, awkward, clumsy.  Kate was blessed to have hand me downs or thrift store finds. Kate and Leah were the last ones chosen in PE sports.
Coast clear, no Gabe. "Thank you, God," she muttered under her breath as she let out a sigh.
     Kate took a deep breath in but was instantly suffocated by a large white maxi pad being shoved in her face.
      "Here!" Leah said. "This will stop the bleeding!"
Kate instantly flung her head away from her friend's assault.
Instantaneous laughter and chuckles erupted from the very small crowd that had stopped to observe the wreckage
     Embarrassment triggered a full panic attack. Leah instantly saw her error.
"Oh man, Kate, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
     Kate dropped her head down and pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to hide her face and willing herself to breathe.
     A hand gently but firmly touched her shoulder and shook it. A voice she had heard a thousand times in her daydreams spoke:
     "Hey, Kate?"
Wake up stupid, she thought. Now is not the time to summons Prince Charming.
     "Kate. Hey, it's okay. Here."
She looked up to find Gabe standing directly behind her left shoulder, extending his arm out to her with a box of Kleenex.
     Had he left to go find them for her? If so, why?
    She took them from him cautiously and pulled out a handful of them, holding them to her nose and pinching it as she leaned forward again to hide her face and stop the blood flow.
     The crowd had already dispersed to class by now, and she realized it was just her, Leah, and Gabe in the middle of the hallway.
     "I guess we will need to go to the nurse for us to get back to class," Leah said.
     "Go on ahead. I need a few more minutes if you're okay. I'm sorry, Leah." Kate said through muffled breathing.
     "It's ok, Kat. I only got knocked on my ass. You got a pad shoved in your face. I think we're pretty even."
     Kate glanced up at Leah and chuckled while Leah returned a sinister grin. They had always been this way. Thick as thieves since kindergarten.
     "It's fine. Kate said. "Paybacks are a bitch Leah". she smirked back.
The girls simultaneously realized they weren't alone. Gabe was still standing there.
     Kate's cheeks returned to a pink flush and she sat frozen in place. She managed to shake her head NO hoping Leah would understand her body language.
     "Please don't leave me here with him," she begged with her eyes.
     Leah didn't seem to be on her radar. She glanced back nonchalantly at Kate, gathered up her things, and sprinted quickly away to the nurse's office. She threw up her hand in a quick wave behind her back as she walked away.
     "Let me help you to the nurse," Gabe said.
     Kate didn't know why she suddenly felt this surge at but her teenage angst mixed with the past year and drooling over Gabe made his invitation insulting.
    "I'm fine. I busted my nose, not my legs." Kate shot back.
     Gabe's dark chocolate eyes looked down at her playfully but concerned.
     "Come on. Don't be stubborn or stupid. I saw that hit. I play football. You could fall or pass out. Just let me walk you. I promise after that, I'll leave you alone, okay?"
   "Did you just call me stupid? You don't even know me! But I'm pretty sure I know you or of you. I certainly know that jocks are not qualified to tell people how smart they are or aren't." Kate said with a scowl.
His eyes turned cold and steely, but his hand did not move.
     "Okay, kitten, either I walk with you or I can carry you. Your choice." Gabe said through a mischievous grin
Still, something she said hurt him, and she knew it, but she didn't exactly know why.
    "Fine, but only because I need to get to class, and obviously you're not going to let me go alone," Kate said through gritted teeth.
    In her heart, though, she didn't want him to "leave her alone," but she was more afraid of being in his arms than anything.
    She reached for his hand as their eyes met again, but this time, he held her gaze as he helped her to her feet.
    "My name is Katharine Rowell," Kate said. "My friends call me Kate or Kat. You can call me Katharine. " She stated with a formal tone.
     "I know who you are. I see you every Sunday at the cemetery." Gabe said. "I mow the lawn at the church next door."
     "Oh," she whispered quietly as she turned away to gather her things. This was a subject she didn't want to talk about. Not to him. Not to Leah. Not to anyone ever.
     "Okay. Let's go." She said, trying to change the subject and get far away from these walls that seemed to be closing in as she stood up.
As she walked past him, he grabbed her wrist softly.
     "Hold on, kitten," Gabe spoke softly but with enough authority to make her stop.
     A feeling of panic and excitement ran through her body. Gabe was everything she wanted but also all the things she had been warned about. Her mind said "Danger" while her body said, "Enjoy the ride."
    "Katharine. My name is Katharine. I'm not a kitten. I'm not a little toy." she responded.
     He pulled her back towards him softly, but with a sexy growl in his voice, he said, "I'm going to have to call you kitten because you're feisty and soft. Maybe you're not a toy, but then again, I have never had one either. " Gabe spoke close to her so she was able to see his piercing eyes. Her skin felt hot again, and she opened her mouth to speak, but he continued.
     "Sitting here watching you the last ten minutes makes me want to play with you, though. I had no idea there was so much fire under that quiet girl, but can you tell me what the hell I did to make you mad at me?" Gabe smiled a bright sexy grin.
     Kate's mouth dropped open, and air escaped her lungs. She tried to breathe but couldn't. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she felt the room spin. Her legs buckled as she felt Gabe's arm around her waist. His body was pressed up against hers, and she could feel him harden beneath his jeans and her light skirt. Her chest started to burn as her body went tingly. The sky around her turned black as Gabe's face faded away.