The Choice (a Painful Past)

8

     Kat asked about her outfit a few times, while she tried to find the right clothes to go with her ridiculously overpriced shoes. 

"It's just the Lot, Kat," Sherri sighed, as she stroked a container of lip gloss across my bottom lip. "You don't need all of that. And don't you dare say that you're trying to impress Mitch, because he doesn't care about all of that. He likes you in school and you don't wear things like that. Well, much." 

"That's not the point," Katherine replied. "I need to look amazing, okay? Is it wrong for me to want to look good for a guy that I like?" 

I could read between the lines of her reply, instantly. She wanted to make Derek jealous. Even though, she had broken up with him, she still had to hurt him. That made me feel sick to my stomach, when I pictured his heartbroken face. 

"Why are you girls getting all fixed up?" Kat's mom had appeared out of nowhere again, standing at the bedroom door. "MOM!" Kat yelled. My mouth fell slack, with the expectation that her mom was definitely about to make us leave, or pop her in the face, or something. But she did nothing.

 She stood there and gave her daughter a hard look, before glancing at us. "Don't raise your voice to me, Katherine. You know better," she replied, softly. Kat rolled her eyes. "Then knock. I have a right to my privacy. I'm sixteen." 

"Seeing as how, you are living under my roof, eating my food, wearing the clothes that I bought, and using my electricity, you only have a right to what I say you have a right too. If you want to be treated more grown up, then you should act like it. NO!" Her mom held up her hand, stopping Kat from saying whatever it was she was about to say. "You may want to rethink your words, if you want your friends over here tonight. Understood?" 

Kat was fuming. I could see it in the hardness of her eyes and the flat line that her thin lips made. "Yes ma'am," she replied, in a stony voice. "Good. Now, you girls have fun with your little makeovers. I'm going to heat up my dinner and lie down with my show. Don't make too much noise," she replied. She gave Kat one more warning look, then closed her bedroom door. 

After we heard her footsteps walk away, Kat let out a low, hard groan. "UUGHH, she is such a bitch!" she exclaimed. Sherri and I didn't say anything, because we both agreed that Kat was actually the one being a bitch. Yeah, her mom could've knocked, but still. I don't know. Maybe we had just been raised differently. 

"She'll probably take her meds tonight. If she does, then she'll pass out early. That means, I can call Mitch and ask him to come earlier. I need to get out of this fucking house," she spat out. "What about Mandy and Tyler?" Sherri asked. 

Kat's little brother and sister would definitely rat us out, if they found out about it. "They aren't here this weekend. Tyler is with Dad, and Mandy is spending the night with one of her friends for the weekend. Steve won't be home for another few days. He's on a truck run," she informed us.

 Steve was her step-dad. I think she still resented her mom for divorcing her dad and falling in love with someone else, but Mrs. Haire seemed happy. She had kept her ex's name but hyphenated it with her new husband's name. So, she was actually Mrs. Haire-Bartley but we still just called her Mrs. Haire. 

While we waited to see if she would go to sleep early, Katherine put Gilmore Girls on Netflix, while we finished getting ready. "Come on, Callie, just let me curl your hair!" Kat tried again to wrap my hair around the end of her wand. "NO!" I yelled, then backed out of her grasp. "I'm already doing too much with the shirt and the makeup, Kat. I'm NOT curling my hair, just to go to the Lot! Back off!" "UGH, whatever, you're so annoying," she replied, before turning back towards the mirror to make sure that she hadn't mussed her own hair or makeup. 

"You look beautiful, Katherine," I sighed, watching her wipe a nonexistent streak of mascara from under her eye. She smacked her lips together, then shot me a smile. "Thanks. You do too, although you would look even more beautiful if you would let me curl your haaaiirr." I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Not on your life," I responded. "You suck," she replied. 

The earlier argument had been forgotten, leaving us to laugh and joke freely with one another. We just hung out for the next few hours, until Kat finally went to check on her mom. It felt like less than 60 seconds before Kat was darting back into her room, slinging the door closed behind her. 

"She's out! I'm texting Mitch!" We didn't have to wait long, before Kat's phone was alerting her to his reply. "YES!" she squealed, throwing her fist in the air. "Shhh! Your mom is still here, ya know?" Sherri exclaimed, with her eyes shooting to Kat's door. Kat dismissed her with a wave of her hand. "She took her sleeping pills. She'll be out until tomorrow morning. Mitch said he's gotta finish getting ready, then he'll be on his way. Should be here around 11 or so. I wish he didn't live so far out from me." She flung herself back on top of her bed and groaned loudly. "This is going to feel like foreveeerr." 

"You're going to wrinkle your dress," I said, unable to resist. I didn't really care about stuff like that, but I knew she did. "Oh shit, you're right," she replied, sitting up. Sherri and made sure that our hair was brushed and that we looked presentable, while Kat made sure that she looked like she was going out to a club. I shook my head, as I watched her pull her off the shoulder dress down in the front, so that she could show off the magic of her push-up bra. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the bedroom window, and we all screamed. I took a deep breath and opened the window, so that Mitch could stick his head inside. His face was so close to mine, that I could smell his Nautica cologne. I took a breath, before I backed away, blushing.

 "Hey," he said, shooting a gorgeous smile at me, before looking around the room. His eyes found Kat and got an infatuated look in them.