As soon as she heard the doorbell, Katie threw the door open.
"Hey." She said, opening the second door to let Zac in.
"Hey. My da
d just dropped me off." He said. They gave each other quick hug.
"Okay. Lemme get Morgan." She said. Morgan was taking the two of them to the Walgreens a few blocks away to get their pictures developed from before the dance, just to make sure. She raced up the steps into the living room, where Morgan was watching TV.
"You ready?" She asked.
"yeah." Katie said, zipping up her sweatshirt. The two girls quickly walked down to the entry way, where Zac was standing, his hands shoved in his pockets.
"We're ready." Katie said. They went out to the driveway, the ice crunching beneath their feet. Zac and Katie climbed in the back, and settled themselves in Morgan's small car.
"Thanks for taking us." Zac said.
"No problem." Morgan said. "Katie explained.
"Oh." Zac said.
Katie looked out the window at the sun, which was just barely peeking up over the horizon. It was almost dark out, and it was only five thirty.
"I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to tell someone." She said.
"Yeah, well you need to tell Judy." Morgan said, looking at her in the rear view mirror.
"I know. I will." Katie said.
"When you're ready." Zac said, looking over at her. Katie smiled weakly. Zac reached over and took her hand, and she didnt' protest. He gave it a gentle squeeze, and she squeezed back.
They finally arrived at the drug store, and Morgan dropped them off, promising to be back in an hour. She could sense they didn't want her waiting around. They went in the store and dropped the film off, making sure it was one hour.
"It'll be about forty five minutes." The girl behind the counter said.
"Oh, okay." Katie said. She walked over to the bench Zac was sitting on. He had already bought an icy and was sipping it as he watched her walk back over. She sat down beside him, pulling her sweatshirt tighter around her.
"It's not gonna take as long as we thought; only forty five minutes." She said.
"Oh, cool." Zac said.
"Yeah." she said, brushing a curl away from her face. Zac offered her the icy, and she accepted, taking a long swig.
"That's good." SHe said, handing it back to him.
"Yup. Cherry." he said, grinning at her. She smiled, then it faded.
"What?" He asked.
"Zac, I'm scared." She said.
Zac sighed. "Then tell somebody. Judy would know what to do."
Katie looked at him skeptically. "Right."
"Well, she might have an idea." Zac said, crunching the ice with his straw.
"I guess." Katie said. They were quiet for a few minutes, both of them thinking about what the pictures might show.
Katie mindlessly fumbled with her bracelet. "Hey, look." She said, pulling up her sleeve. "Your bracelet."
Zac looked at the bracelet and grinned. "Yeah. The one I gave you."
"Yeah." She said, examining it. "It's pretty; I like it."
"Cool. I thought you would when I picked it out."
"Yeah." She said. "So, when's your dad picking you up?" She asked.
"Whenever I call him." He said. "Why?"
"Oh, I don't know. You could come over for a while and hang out or something after we get back."
"Okay." He said. "Cool." He smiled to himself. He liked the idea of 'hanging out' at Katie's house again.
They continued chatting about mindless things for awhile; Zac talking about school, and Katie trying to keep her mind off everything else.
"Miss, your pictures are ready." The girl said to Katie.
Katie jumped up and quickly paid for her pictures. She took them and Zac rushed over as she ripped them open. They looked through them, scanning each one carefully.
"Oh my god, I was right. They were from my corsage." She said.
"Wait a second..." Zac said. He looked closely.
"It's true." She said. "Look at the long ribbon. It doesn't look like that now." Katie said.
"You're right." Zac said flatly, looking at a few of the pictures. He flipped through them, and sure enough, she was right.
"They're good pictures." He said. She looked at a few of them with him. "Yeah, they are."
There were pictures of the two of them standing in front of the fireplace at Katie's house together, and they both looked happy. That was something neither of them had been for awhile.
"We look happy." Zac said, resting his chin on her shoulder while he stood behind her.
"Well we were; it was fun." She said, still flipping through them.
"Yeah." He said. She finished looking at the pictures, then put them back in the envelope.
"Ready?"
"Yeah." She said. "Let's go."