That night, Katie was in her room, sitting at her computer, something she hardly ever did. She had a report due for her english class on Monday, and she had been putting it off long enough. She was quickly growing bored with it though, and she let her eyes wander. There was a small bullitin board beside the screen with a bunch of pictures tacked up on it.
The picture that caught her eyes was the one in the center. It was a picture taken the day before Zac's 15th birthday party. They had been hanging out at Zac's house and were raking leaves with Zac's family in his backyard. They decided that the leaves were more fun to play in than to rake, and had been playing when Diana decided it was a photo op. Zac was sitting in a huge pile of leaves with Katie pulled up to him, leaning with her back against his chest. He had his arms around her, and she was wearing one of his sweatshirts. They were both smiling broadly, and it was evident that they were happy to be together. Unlike now...She thought bitterly.
She looked closely at it. She gasped when she saw that Zac was wearing the same sweatshirt that he had lent to her today. She looked over to her bed, where she had laid it earlier when she had gotten home. She walked over to where it was and picked it up. Katie sat down on her bed and then emptied out the contents in the pockets. It was mostly filled with pieces of paper and candy. She saw a stick of gum and without thinking, popped it in her mouth. She lifted the piece of material up to face and smelled it. It smelled like candy, Zac's room, sweat, and soap. It smelled like Zac.
The next night, Sunday, Judy decided to go to the evening church service. Katie knew she should go since she hadn't gone to church since she and Zac broke up, and that was mainly because she knew he would be there. She decided to go, and she quickly showered and threw on some nice clothes and went downstairs.
"Ready?" Judy asked.
"Yeah." Katie said.
"Wait for me." Morgan said.
"You're going?" Judy asked.
"Sure." Morgan replied. Katie smiled at her. She had asked her earlier to go and keep her company.
"Okay." Judy said. She turned to Krista. "Now Kristen and Ben have already eaten and everything. We'll be back in a couple hours. Think you'll be okay?'
"I'll be fine." Krista said. This was her first time babysitting by herself.
"Okay." Judy said. Judy, Katie, Morgan, Sandra, Melissa and Madison all piled into the suburban and were off to church. They arrived at the church a few minutes before the service started and the church was pretty full. To Katie's horror, The Hansons were there. Every single one of them. She groaned and tried to hide behind Morgan as they sat in the row in front of them.
Katie could feel Zac's eyes on her as she sat down in the pew almost directly in front of him.
"Hi Katie!" Avery said happily.
Katie smiled at the little girl. They had always gotten along especially well. "Hi Avie." She said.
Avery turned to Zac. "Why doesn't Katie ever come over any more?" She asked.
Katie froze. She was glad she had her back facing him, for he would have died if he could have seen all the color drain from her face. She looked over to see that Judy was chatting away with Walker and Diana, and none of the kids were paying attention....except for Sandra.
Before Zac could even open his mouth, Sandra spoke up. "They broke up." She said.
"Oh." Avery said with a frown. "Is that why she never comes to see me anymore?"
"Yes." Sandra answered for Zac again.
"Are they still friends?" Avery asked. Katie knew it was very obvious that she was ignoring the entire conversation, but she couldn't help it.
"No." Sandra said. "They dont' like each other anymore."
"Why?" Avery asked.
Butt out, Sandra...I swear to god I am going to kick your butt when we get home...butt out NOW! Her mind screamed at her.
"Becasuse they got mad at each other and Katie over-reacted." Sandra said matter of factly. She knew she was pushing her sister's buttons and she also knew that she would be paying for it later, but the looks on her sisters' and Zac's faces was too funny.
"What does that mean?" Avery asked.
Katie couldn't take it anymore. She whirled around to face Sandra and Zac. "That's not true!" She said.
"Yes it is." Sandra said.
"Butt out!" Katie hissed. A few people were starting to stare.
"But it's true." Sandra said.
"Shut up." Katie said.
"What's the matter?" Avery asked Katie.
"Nothing." Katie said.
"She's got an attitude problem." Sandra said.
"Shut up." Katie warned again.
"Well you just dumped Zac for no reason, so I'd say that's a slight problem." Sandra shot back.
"I did not!"
"That's what he thinks!" Sandra said.
Katie looked over at Zac, who had a look of shock and panic on his face. Was it true? Did he think that? Katie looked from person to person before turning around for her seat and waiting for the service to begin. She couldn't believe it. She felt like a fool.