Kate Not So Great

New username, who's this? We've officially left the era of an absurdly long username in favor of something a little shorter ;)
          
          Anyway...
          
          Chapter 28 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All is out! I apologize, Cam is an actual caveman.
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all

Chapter 27 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All is out! Javi once again proves that he is the best of friends. 
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          ****
          
          “I’ll let you ruminate on that one, buddy.” [Javi] patted my arm, a firm but caring gesture. “Now get some rest and go be with your girl. Don’t let her wake up to an empty bed.”
          
          My eyes traveled from the now-empty mug in front of me to the man who had supplied me with it in the first place. “You just fed me coffee.”
          
          “What, you think I’m a fucking psychopath? I gave you decaf. God knows what your brain would do on caffeine at three in the morning. You’d probably be halfway to Reinert’s house by now to ask if you could walk his dog.”

Chapter 26 parts 1 and 2 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All are out! Cam is hot and Norah is on a mission.
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          ****
          
          I leaned my head against Cameron’s arm. Not for my own comfort, but just to have another point of contact between us that told him I was there for him. He liked when I did that. It made him feel needed. He was the one who needed comfort the most, and I gave that to him by reminding him that he wasn’t alone.
          
          He responded with a gentle kiss to the top of my head, the impact of which spread all the way down to my toes in a trickle of golden warmth.
          
          We watched the sun slowly sink together, eating ice cream and never not touching each other. Cameron was sweet, as always, which made me feel guilty every time he licked that damn ice cream.
          
          Was it wrong of me to be jealous of a frozen dessert?

Chapter 25 parts 1 and 2 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All are out! This was the last chapter of the first draft to go up before I restarted everything, and I am so excited to finally reach this point and to continue telling this story all the way to the end <3
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          ****
          
          The sky had changed while we were inside. The black, starless night had given way to a horizon that burned yellow and orange. Early sunrise light broke through dense, blue clouds. It wasn’t blinding yet, simply the promise of another day. New, bright, with Norah by my side, her hand warm beneath mine.
          
          She was quiet as we walked, but her head resting against my shoulder said everything. That, even though she knew all the parts of me that I hid from everyone else, she was sticking around.
          
          We stopped at the car, Javi and Hao already in the front seats. I looked down at her, my eyes heavy with the weight of sleep. She returned my gaze, exhaustion also tugging at her eyelids, but her lips still curled into a small, knowing grin. She knew my secrets, every last one of them, and yet she still looked at me like I could give her the world.
          
          She made me believe I could.

Chapter 24 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All is out! Iykyk, and I am so sorry.
          
          Just a quick note for those who read the previous version of this book, chapter 24 is pretty much exactly the same, so for any repeat readers, I totally won't blame you if you decide to skip this one. Same for new readers, if the content warnings seem like too much, there is no shame in skipping. I love you all, thank you for sticking around while I retell this story <3
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          
          ****
          
          I could have imagined an entire lifetime in those next few seconds. Peter, Taylor, and I would probably have to spend a day in the hospital. Maybe two. But we would make it out. We would visit each other’s rooms, figure out how to pop wheelies in wheelchairs, and generally wreak havoc on the nursing staff. My mom would yell at me for being so disrespectful, but I wouldn’t care, because I would be with the people I loved most. We would live to see another day together. And another. And another. We could go on to play at whatever universities we wanted to, even if Taylor wanted to go somewhere else. Hell, I would even entertain the idea of going to Mizzou and give up Saint Helena entirely if it meant being with Peter. 
          
          We’d go pro together, end up on rival teams in the Majors, and we’d put on a show every time we played each other. We would stand up at each other’s weddings. Have families. Share a lakehouse and go on vacations together. Introduce our kids to the best sport on the planet and let them fall in love with the game and each other. We’d joke about the horrors of being in-laws, but deep down, it would be what we’d been dreaming of our entire lives. To be a legitimate family.
          
          We would celebrate our careers together when we retire. Golf every Tuesday morning because that's what you do when you're old and gray. Just us in tacky polo shirts, driving around golf carts all day. Peter, Taylor, Cameron. One, two, three.

Surprise! Chapters 22 AND 23 (parts 1 and 2) of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All are up! We are around the halfway point now, so it's time to start playing my favorite game, something I like to call "how much can I torture Cam in the amount of time we have left?".  
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          ****
          
          In other news, thank you to @newlywrittenbooks for featuring an excerpt of the Chicken Little Nuggets!
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/1589159164-share-your-story-quotes-2-quote-58
          
          AND the first few lines of The Womanhood Theory were shared on the @chicklit account today, too! Words cannot express how happy it makes me when my girls get a moment to shine <3
          
          I hope everyone's writing marathon month is going well, and wishing everyone an amazing weekend. Happy Friday!

Hey, I'm looking for judges for my awards and I'd be super grateful if you could sign up!

Chapter 20 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All is up! Foreshadowing? What foreshadowing?
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          ****
          
          That night, we packed into my old, rusted pickup truck, which I had named after my childhood hero. There was no way to describe the truck’s interior other than saggy. The three-seater bench sank in the middle. The fabric ceiling was torn in places and dipped in others, making the space seem more cramped than it actually was. The air conditioner only blew hot air, so I had one hand on the steering wheel while the other struggled to roll down my window with the sticky crank on the side of the door.
          
          “This was not a smart purchase,” Peter said, earning him another one of my eyerolls. We had only been together for a few hours, and I’d already lost track of how many I’d aimed at him. “Is this thing even street-legal?”
          
          I grimaced against the handle, which got stuck more frequently than it should have.
          
          “Don’t speak about Derek Jeter like that,” I said.
          
          “It’s a death trap.”
          
          “It is not,” I snapped. “Taylor’s survived this long. Haven’t you, buddy?”
          
          “Leave me out of this.”

Chapter 19 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All is up! Cam panics, as per usual, and our favorite pitcher/catcher couple makes an appearance for pizza. 
          
          There may or may not be an additional chapter later this weekend or early next week, depending on how long it takes me to edit it! 
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          ****
          
          There was no question in my mind anymore about what I wanted. I was done fighting the need to be with Norah beyond what I had restricted us to. After seeing Taylor’s mom just a few hours ago, I was reminded too much that everything I loved could be taken from me in an instant. I couldn’t let someone so incredibly alive slip away from me again.
          
          There were still rules, boundaries I couldn’t cross, like making sure we kept this a secret to protect both of us. I wasn’t saying “to hell” with them. I was still in control, but Coach’s praise had led me to do unthinkable things. I was on track to doing what I’d always wanted to do, and getting closer to Norah in the last month hadn’t derailed a single step in my plan.
          
          I already had my career in the palm of my hands. Maybe, just maybe, I could have Norah, too.

Chapter 16 of How the Chicken Little Nuggets Won It All is up in 2 parts! These silly kids reunite in the most unexpected place, and they don't know it yet, but they are just getting started ;)
          
          https://www.wattpad.com/story/387773429-how-the-chicken-little-nuggets-won-it-all
          
          ****
          
          Sober Norah may have wanted the same things as Drunk Norah, but she at least had an inkling of self-control.
          
          I showed him my smile. Not too big and stalker-y, but not small, either. Just the right amount to tell him, Hey, I acknowledge you. You haven’t scared me away. I’m here.
          
          Perfect. Self-control. Drunk Norah and her lack of impulse control were nowhere to be found, and she wasn’t coming out again for a long time. Sober Norah was in charge, and frankly, she wasn’t doing half bad.
          
          Then, the unexpected happened. Pigs must have learned to fly, or the cows came home, or whatever it was that country folks said to express the impossible, because Cameron smiled. At me. Not the big, toothy smile he had as a kid in the photographs on his wall, but a small one, like he couldn’t help himself.
          
          I didn’t think Cameron even knew how to smile.