Freak of Nature

Chapter Twenty-Seven

“Are you sure this looks okay?” Kaitlyn asked, staring at herself in front of a mirror in the clothing shop. 

From the chair in the waiting area, Lucas grinned. “You look great.” 

“I wish I knew what I liked.” She was wearing jeans and a black sweater. The neck felt like it was choking her. Lucas said it was called a ‘turtle neck,’ which made sense. Flicking through her internal encyclopedia, she saw a plethora of turtles and their necks, but she was a person and not a turtle. 

“I don’t like the sweater,” she said finally. 

Lucas laughed. “See, you already know what you like. Or don’t like, anyway. One minute. Let me grab a couple more. Don’t move.”

Lucas returned with three sweaters. “Do you like any of these?”

“This one.” Kaitlyn reached for the charcoal v-neck, then moved to tug off her sweater.

Lucas grabbed her hand, speaking quietly. “Not here, Kate. You need to go in the dressing room.”

“Oh, right. Sorry, I forgot. All the time being observed by the cameras.” Kaitlyn dropped her head and went back into the dressing room. She was so used to everything being recorded; it was going to take some time for her to adjust to the idea of privacy. Moments later, she came out with the sweater and jeans in her hands. “These will work. I guess I’ll never be able to wear a dress again. At least not in public.”

Lucas frowned, and glanced around for eavesdroppers before he said, “We could always change the coating to look like skin.”

“No. I like the reminder of knowing exactly what I am.”

“You’re unique.”

Kate smiled. “I guess that’s one way to put it.” 

“Do you want to keep shopping or finish later?”

“Later. I just wanted something to wear for our date. Shopping doesn’t seem as fun as Quess makes it sound.”

“I’m not much of a fan of shopping, myself.” He kissed her gently, his thumbs brushing her jawline. “You can change in the bathroom, and then we’ll go on our first official date.”

Lucas pulled into a bowling alley. “Heads up. I used to be on the bowling team. I figure I might actually have a chance of beating you at something for once.” He gave her a crooked grin that made her heart skip a beat. 

“I guess we’ll see,” she said smugly as she shut her car door and walked around to take his hand. “My visual-spatial awareness is quite excellent.”

Competitiveness was ingrained in her, even before she had died. She’d been captain of the swim team for two years. She broke the tri-county meet record her junior year. Kaitlyn realized it was the first time she’d remembered that since her memories were unlocked, and it brought her a pang of sadness. Her parents had been at that meet. They’d been so proud of her.

Lucas glanced over at her and stopped, tugging her around to face him. “What’s wrong?” 

Kaitlyn smiled sadly. “I was thinking about my parents.”

He didn’t say anything, but he wrapped his strong arms around her and held her tight for several moments.

When she was ready, they walked into the dimly lit building hand in hand. They were assailed by the smell of fried food and stale beer, and Kaitlyn stepped back as a tipsy brunette in high heels bumped into her. The girl balanced her clear plastic cup of beer and waved at Kate before she wandered off. “Sorry!”