Chapter Seven
Blast From The Past: Seven
(Kat)
This is fun. I didn't exactly imagine spending my first morning back at Aj's house. I have to get this over with, so.........
"Well?" Hey, you already know I'm blunt.
"Well, what?" Guys can be so stupid.
"You said you wanted to talk."
"Yeah, I know." At least we've established that.
"So talk!" Do I have to spell it out for him?
AJ just leaned back in his chair. "Kat, what happened?"
"To...."
"US!"
I rolled my eyes. "I moved, AJ."
"Well, I know THAT."
"Good. At least we're on the same page now."
"You don't get it, Kat, do you?" Obviously I don't. So, I let him finish. "You never called, you never wrote..."
"Long distance, you never mailed me a letter either."
"How was I supposed to know your address?"
Beats me. I know why I never contacted him. He was a really great guy. Chances are, he'd meet some girl out there on the road and forget all about me. But who says he has to know I thought that?
"Please, Kat. Just tell me." Ok, I'm a sap. But when I looked into those brown eyes, I melted. Well, not melted. More like softened up a bit.
"Well, if you really wanna know, I'll tell you. I was afraid that you wouldn't want to hear from me."
"Why?"
"Your career was taking off. You were traveling, probably meeting all kinds of girls. I figured that you would either forget all about me, or that you wouldn't want to hear from me. So I was just like, why bother?"
"I would have written back. How could I just forget about you?"
"You say that now, but I really don't think you would have."
"I would have. And what's with that career crap? I was 16 years old."
"I don't live under a rock, AJ. I know all about the Backstreet Boys. Besides, you can't lie to me. Your nose always twitches."
He instinctly reached up to touch his nose. I giggled.
"Oh, so you DO smile."
"Yeah. I'm actually a funny person."
"Well, I was hoping you hadn't changed THAT much."
"Huh?"
"Never mind." Just then, Brian bounded into the room.
"Hi," he greeted me. "Do I know you?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Probably not anymore.." Geez. He doesn't hold back, does he? By then, my hair was bothering me, so I pulled it back with the hair binder that was around my wrist.
Now, this is sad. As soon as I had my hair back, Brian knew who I was. I'm not....nah, never mind.
"Hey, you're that chick AJ used to date!" Lovely way of putting it. As much as I ADORE being called *chick*, I just wasn't in the mood.
"I HOPE you didn't just call me a chick," I said dryly.
"Uh oh, Rok's in trouble!" AJ muttered.
"Oh...uh...umm, yeah, I'm really sorry!" Yeah, that's better.
"I DO have a name, you know. Kat."
"Yeah, I know. I'm Brian. What happened to you, anyway?"
"I moved to Philly."
Brian's eyes lit up. Have you ever had a cheese steak? Now, THOSE are good."
"Actually, I haven't."
"So, are you two still together, or what?"
AJ and I just looked at each other. Is Brian off his rocker?
"I mean, if you just moved, then you never OFFICIALLY broke up, right?"
"Riiiiight......," AJ said, narrowing his eyes. He looked about as suspicious as I was.
"So, if you wanna get technical, you two are still together." Why, oh why, did I ever come to FLorida? You know, there's a lot to be said for cold winters. And Penn State DOES have a really nice campus.
"Brian?"
"Yeah, Boner?"
"You can leave the room anytime, you know."
"I can take a hint. I'll just go somewhere and watch TV."
"Good. You do that." As soon as he was gone, AJ turned back to me. "Sooo..."
As I looked into his brown eyes, all my old feelings for him came flooding back. I couldn't fall for him twice. This was NOT allowed to happen.
"Look, AJ. I know this is really weird and all, but--"
"But what?"
"I don't know. I was hoping you would say something. But there's really nothing to say, is there?"
"Kat, listen to me for a second. I'm still trying to figure this out. Why do you think that I would forget about you? You're way too special to ever forget about." NO! Run, Kat! Run, while there's still time!
"AJ, stop."
"What? What did I do?"
"Nothing. And I want to keep it that way. I gotta go. I'll see ya whenever." I left AJ's house and walked next door. I knew this whole trip was a mistake. I can't fall for AJ again. It's just not allowed to happen.
"Why not?" Nick asked me as he came outside and saw me sitting on my front stoop.
"Sorry, I didn't realize that I was talking out loud."
"It's ok. I was just going back to AJ's house, anyway. But would you mind telling me why, anyway? And what makes you so sure that you're falling for him again? You just got back into town." Oh, Nickolas. So young, yet so naive.
"You wouldn't get it. I don't even understand it."
"Oh? And why don't you understand it?"
"Like you said, I've only been back a day. And there's NO WAY I'm staying here a whole summer. I thought I could handle it, but I can't."
"What can't you handle?" Erin asked as she came outside. Why is everyone coming outside when I DON'T want them to?
"My life down here. Maybe my mom was right. Maybe I DID leave too much down here to patch up. Maybe I should just go back home. I don't need to move down here and mess everything up. I think that I'm gonna just go back tomorrow on a plane, and you can just stay for as long as you like, Erin."
"Don't do this, Kat," Nick begged. "You and AJ need each other." No, we don't. We're not allowed to need each other.
"Correction. We USED to need each other. People change, Nick. AJ and I were kids. We've just....grown up. I would love to try and patch things up, to see if there's still something there, even though there isn't. But we can't. That's impossible, now," I said as I wiped a single tear from my eye. God, I HATE crying.
Chapter Eight
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