As they pulled into the Hanson driveway, Katie felt her stomach plummel to her feet. Zac was in the driveway playing basketball.
"Judy, please-"
"No." Judy said sternly.
"But-"
"Katie, it's been what? A month? A month and a half? Get over it." She said.
Katie slumped back in her seat, thankful that the suburban's windows were tinted. It had only been a month and four days, but Judy had been close. In a month and four days, katie had looked him in the eye twice and talked to him zero times. She hated avoiding him, but she didn't know any other way to do it.
She helped Madison and Ben out of their seats, then picked up Ben as she got out of the suburban. She avoided eye contact with Zac as she got out and followed Judy to the door.
"Hey Zac." Judy said.
"Oh hey." Zac said, holding his basketball. Katie pretended to be interested in their driveway as she shifted Ben's weight on her hip.
Diana then came to the door.
"Judy! Katie! Oh hi guys, come on in." She said. Judy walked in, followed by Madison, Katie and Ben.
"Hi." Madison said cheerily.
"Hi there Madison. Hi ben." She said, smiling at the two children.
"Ben, Mackie is in the TV room, you can go see him if you want." Diana said to Ben.
Ben nodded and ran into the Hanson's TV room to find his friend. Despite the two year age difference, the two little boys were good friends.
"Don't you want to go play, Madison?" Diana asked the little girl.
"No, I'm fine." She said, holding onto Katie's hand.
"Alright." She said. Her eyes fell on Katie and her heart went out to her. She knew that this was an awkward situation for her.
"Hi Katie. How are you?" She asked.
Katie tried to smile and look happy. "I'm fine." She said.
"That's good." Diana said, smiling at her. "Well come on in, Judy, I have something to show you..." Diana led Judy into the kitchen, and Katie and Madison followed.
They had been in the kitchen a few minutes when Zac walked in.
"Oh hi honey." Diana said. Katie tried her best to stay out of his way. She took a seat at the counter and kept her eyes down.
"Hey." He said to everyone in the kitchen. He walked over to the refridgerator and poured himself a glass of juice and then leaned against the counter.
"Isn't it a little cold to be out in just a t-shirt?" Judy asked.
"Nah." Zac said, tucking a stray hair behing his ear. His eyes caught Katie's for a second, and when he saw her looking at them, they darted to the floor. Katie couldn't have felt more out of place if she had tried.
Katie noticed that he was lightly sweating. Well, he looks good. She thought to herself.
"Zac!" Madison squealed. She had been preoccupied with a snack Diana had given her.
"Maddy!" He exclaimed. She ran over to him and he swooped the six year old up into his arms. She squealed in delight as he held her upside down, her blonde curls almost touching the floor.
"Zac, don't drop her." Diana said.
"I won't." He said, setting her back on the floor. Madison giggled, then looked at Katie.
"Katie, let's show Zac the new thing!" She said excitedly. Madison couldn't remember the word for hampster, so she kept calling it 'thing'.
"Yeah, good idea. Go show Zac." Judy said.
"Go get it." Kaite said.
Judy tossed the keys to Katie. "She can't unlock the doors." She said.
"Oh." Katie said. She started to walk to the front door when Madison grabbed her hand. "Wait for Zac." She commanded.
Zac, seeing his chance, followed Katie and Madison out the door. He picked up his zip up sweatshirt that was sitting on the front steps and tucked it under his arm. He had disguarded it after getting too hot while playing basketball.
"Oh." Katie said. She went out to the suburban with Zac and Madison at her heels and unlocked it. She opened the back door and took out the cage. She uncovered it so that he could see.
"Cool." Zac said. Two beady black eyes stared back at him. He poked his finger through the little metal bars, petting the wiry fur.
"It's a hampster, right?" He asked to no one in particular.
"Yup." Madison answered proudly. Zac continued looking at it for a few minues, and Madison climbed in the suburban after loosing intrest.
"What's it's name?" he asked Katie.
She looked at him quickly, then back down at the hampster. "He does't have a name yet." She said quietly.
"I want to name him snowy." Madison proclaimed from the driver's seat, where she was pretending to drive.
Katie frowned. "But he's calico. He's not white." She said.
"So?" Madison argued. "I want to name him snowy."
"Why?" Zac asked.
"Because when it snows it's in the winter and we got him today and it's in the winter." She said as though it had been obvious.
Both Zac and Katie laughed, and actually looked at each other. Katie forgot for a moment the situation they were in and smiled at him. He smiled back, and she looked away quickly.
Zac wasn't sure what that had been about; she had smiled at him and then looked away. Maybe that was good, or maybe not. He didn't know.
"He's cool." He commented to no one in particular.
"Yeah, I liked him." Katie said. Zac looked up at her. She actually talked to him.
He smiled at the little animal. Katie's teeth began to chatter a little, and she rubbed her arms, for it was december and she only had on a long-sleeved t-shirt.
"It's freezing out here." She said. "Let's go in." She said to Madison.
"No, I want to drive some more." She said.
"Ulgh." Katie rolled her eyes.
"Do you want my sweatshirt?" He asked, holding out the zip up sweatshirt he held in his hands.
Katie looked at it, then his hopefull face. "Sure." She said slowly. She took it from him, and he made sure their fingers touched. She unzipped the grey sweatshirt and put it on. Zac watched as she zipped it back up and stuffed her hands in the pockets.
"Didn't you bring a coat today?" Zac asked.
"No, because it was warmer when we left and I was wearing Judy's earlier." She said.
"Oh." Zac said. They were silent again, and the only noise was Madison in the driver's seat pretending to drive. Say something! You're finally talking to her, now say something!His mind screamed at him. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, unsure of what to say.
"Time to go!" Judy said, coming out the door. Both Zac and Katie jumped at the sound of her voice.
"He's a neat little fella, aint' he?" Judy asked, smacking Zac on the shoulder lightly. She nodded at the hampster.
"Yeah, he's cool." Zac said. "Lookout, if you feed that thing too much, he'll grow up to be this big." He made a motion to show how big the hampster would get.
"That's bigger than Sunny." Madison commented about their golden lab, Sunny.
"Yeah, he'll be like, Godzilla, except for, he's a hampster!" Zac exclaimed to Madison.
"Noooo!!!!" She shrieked.
"Okay okay, don't get her all riled up before we have to ride in the car with her." Judy said, pulling Zac away from the car.
Katie climbed in, then stopped, remembering that she still had on his sweatshirt. "Oh, your-"
"It's okay." Zac said, stopping her. "You can give it to me later." He said. "You'll get cold on the way home."
"Oh...okay." Katie said, secretly glad that he would let her borrow it. She climbed back into the suburban and watched through the tinted windows as they pulled away. He stood in the drivway, watching them leave, his hands shoved into his pockets. After awhile, he picked up his basketball and tried to go on with his game.
Katie watched him silently as they pulled away, a sad smile creeping onto her lips. Three words quietly escaped her lips as he faded from view. "I miss you."