The officer propped his feet up on his desk as he flipped through the pictures. He looked at each one carefully.
"Well?" Judy asked.
He stared at them for a few more moments. "Well...I think we'll run a fingerprint on these just to see what comes up, but other than that, I'm not sure at this point." He leaned over towards the door of his office.
"Hey Mark?" He called.
Another officer poked his head into the office. "Yeah?"
"Can you run a quick fingerprint check on these?"
Another man entered the office and put the pictures into a plastic bag. "What are we looking for?"
"Anything else on there besides mine and hers." He said.
"OKie dokie. Back in a few." Mark said, leaving the office.
"So what should we do?" Judy asked.
"Well....with teenagers, especially girls, it's hard to say. It's most likely just an over obsessive classmate. There's not really much we can do." He said calmly.
"But I'm scared. What if I'm attacked?" Katie asked. That's what she wanted to know personally.
"If you keep youself in highly populated areas, lock all your doors at night, and only travel with a few friends and in the daylight, nothing should happen. We'll put a tracker on your phone for a few days, but I can't promise anything." He said.
"Okay." Katie said quietly, nodding.
"It's hard, because we can't tell if this person is really serious or not."
"I see." Judy said. "What else would you need to catch this person?"
"Oh, lots. Evidence. Fingerprints. An assult, a rape, a weapon." The officer said. He glanced at their panicked faces. "But...I'm guessing we dont' have anything really serious here."
"Oh." Judy said. There was a knock at the door.
"There's nothing on here, Stan. I double checked, but there's nothing on these but yours and hers." He said.
The officer nodded and took the photos. "Thanks mark."
"No prob."
He offered them a sympathetic smile. "Like I said, not much we can do."
"Not much they can do?"
"That's what they said." Katie replied with a shrug.
"Huh." Zac said, frowning.
"Yeah. I feel safe." She said, wrapping her sweater tighter around her shoulders.
"Nah, you're fine. Long as you're here." Zac said, putting his arm around her shoulders. Katie gave him a sideways glance, and they laughed.
"I'm serious, we won't let anything happen to you." Zac said, rubbing her arm where his hand was.
"I know." Katie said, leaning against his side on the old couch. It was Thursday night, and the two of them were in the Hanson basement, watching HBO.
"Really though; you've been really good about this. All this." He said. "It's gotta be freaky." He admitted.
"Yeah." She said. "And I'm freaked out even now. I'm glad I said something."
"I told you it would feel better."
"True. Just getting it off my shoulders feels better in itself."
"Yeah, I know the feeling." He said.
She looked over at him for a moment. He sensed her eyes, and turned to look at her. "What?" he asked, laughing.
"Nothing...You...everything." She said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked with a chuckle.
"You've been good about this too." She said, reaching her hand up to touch his hand, which was still hanging on her shoulder. She smiled at him again, and then she looked forward again, still holding onto his hand.
Zac couldn't resist. He leaned over, moving a few curly tendrils of hair out off of her cheek, then kissed her quickly on the cheek. Katie smiled and glanced at him sideways.
"What was that for?" She asked with a grin."
"You." He said, grinning at her.
Katie laughed. "YOu crack me up."
"I know." He said. They both laughed at his stupidness and their nervousness.
Zac shifted his weight a little on the couch, so that he was facing her a little more. Katie kept her eyes focused on the television in front of her, not sure what to think. Zac was leaning towards her, and he had to stop every few seconds and they would both laugh nervously. He finally reached her, and Katie felt a shiver go down her spine as Zac nuzzled her ear with his nose.
They both laughed again, and then Zac reached over to put his fingers on her chin and turn her head towards him. Katie studied his face; they hadn't been that close in months. They both smiled and leaned in. Katie just felt the tip of Zac's bottom lip on hers before they heard the basement door slam and jumped apart. Seconds later, Taylor came thumping down the basement stairs.
They quickly moved apart on the couch, pretending to be watching TV. Taylor flopped down in the armchair across from them, grinning.
"What?" Zac asked, annoyed.
"Aw, I know what you two were doin'." Taylor said, grinning.
Katie and Zac just turned thier flushed faces away from one another and stared down at the couch. Taylor just laughed.
"Don't you have somwhere to be?" Zac asked through clenched teeth.
"Nope." Taylor said smugly.
"With Morgan?"
"Where I came from, actually. And Katie, I need to drive you home." Taylor said.
"Okay." She said. She really didn't want to leave yet.
"We'll be up in a minute." Zac said when Taylor didn't move.
Taylor got up slowly from the armchair, keeping his twinkling eyes on the two blushing teenagers.
Once Taylor was gone, they slowly got up.
"Sorry bout that." Zac said.
"That's okay." Katie said. "I really should be going." She said, heading towards the stairs.
"I'll go too." he said.
"Oh." Katie said, smiling at him.
"I don't have anything I need to do now." He said.
"Okay." She said, and they walked up to the top of the steps.
"Wait." He said, pulling the basement door closed.
"What?" She asked, turning arounnd.
"We never got our kiss." he said.
"Oh really?" She challenged.
"Really." He said. "It's like, a rule or something."
"A rule? This one's new on me." She said.
"Yeah...well, if you're alone in the basement with a pretty girl, you have to kiss her."
"Really?"
"Really." He said, leaning closer.
Katie leaned back until she was against the coats that were hung at the top of the stairs. Meanwhile, Zac was getting closer and closer. Katie smiled at his weak attempt to kiss her, but she had to go along with it.
Zac stopped inches from her face, and she could hear his quickened breathing. "I've been wanting to kiss you for so long." He said.
"Oh?"
"Yeah." He said. "How about you?" He asked with a smile. "Do you...wanna kiss me?"
"Maybe." She said slyly.
"Is that a yes or a no?" He challenged.
"It's a maybe." She said, grinning.
"Well I need to know." He said.
"Oh." She said.
"So.....?" He said, smiling.
"So.....?" She said back, starting to blush.
Suddenly the door flung open and they both saw Taylor standing in the doorway. "Well are you going to do it or not? If you're not going to, don't, but if you are, quit dancing around it and do it!" Taylor said.
Zac and Katie looked at one another and laughed.
"I guess he's right." Katie said.
"Yeah." Zac said. They looked at Taylor expectantly. His hopefull look fell.
"You mean I don't get to see it?" he asked.
Zac grinned and slammed the door shut in his big brother's face. "Now where were we?" He asked.
"Right about here." Katie said quickly, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Ooooh....I like 'here'." He said.
"What about here?" She mumbled, right before pressing her lips against his. Zac was in shock for a few moments, then realized what was happening.
We're kissing...we're kissing....oh my god...
Zac automatically wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her up against him. Katie felt the butterflies in her stomach instantly float away as her lips melted into his.
This feels so good...nothing's changed...this still feels like the first time....
Meanwhile, Zac was just as elated. He had his eyes closed, and was focusing on nothing but her lips and his.
Ooooh...how I have missed this. My goodness..I'd forgotten how soft those lips are...
Outside the door, Taylor had given up trying to hear what they were saying. He grinned to himself as he went to go wait in the car. He had a feeling there wasn't any conversation anymore. That was far away in the past.