Katarina and Drake

This is a story about a girl named Katarina who has found safety in her best freind, Drake. Drake however, wants to really be with her. Katarina has turned him down before but she beings to see how much Drake really does mean to her.

 

“Shut up, shut UP,” Katarina shouts as she runs out of the school. “I hate him,” she thinks to herself as she storms away, “Who the f**k does he think he is treating me like this! It’s so not fair. I hate him!” She was, of course, talking about her stupid brother Jason. Jason was in the ninth grade, one year younger than Katarina herself. In the past, Katarina and Jason were inseparable. They used to talk to each other about everything and go everywhere together, but now Jason was being impossible. He was trying to prove to everyone just how ‘cool’ he is by dying his hair black and being mean to her. Katarina tries not to show how much he is hurting her and responds to his rude comments about her plain looks and appearance, quiet attitude and low grades with either a shrug, or a shouting match. That lunch, was a shouting match.

The high school Katarina attends with her brother is Elmvale District High School or EDHS for short. It is a small school, in a small town, in the middle of no where. The actual school is shaped like a more rectangular letter ‘P’. All of the classes are along the one and only hallway that winds itself around the entire school. At the end of the ‘P’ is where the schools gym can be found, although it is more commonly known as the ‘shrinkatoriam’. Katarina walks laps around the rectangular school at lunches every day with her best friend, Drake, so that’s what she was doing on Thursday when she was telling Drake about her brother. Drake already knew that Jason had really been bugging her lately, and he knew she was not the only one feeling the results of Jason’s changed personality. Jason had been avoiding the friends he’d always had and treating them like they were nothing for a while now. Katarina was just about finished explaining how upset she was when the subject of their conversation appeared around the corner.

Jason, laughing loudly and bringing attention to himself, did not notice his sister at first, but she noticed him. The center of the spotlight was where Jason was most comfortable, and while he had it, he never really saw anyone else. Once he saw his sister however a wide, nasty grin spread across his face, a warning of the poison about to spill from his mouth. “Hey! Hey Katarina,” he shouted down the hallway, “What’s going on you little b***h? What are you even wearing? You shouldn’t even bother showing your face here, no one even likes you.” By that time he was right in front of her, but his voice had not quieted a bit. Everyone around them was very quiet and although they were trying not to stare, it was clear they were all listening. Jason turned to his friends with that sloppy cruel smirk on his face, obviously proud of himself, so he didn’t see when Katarina began pulling her hand back, but he felt it when her palm connected with the left side of his face like the deadly strike of a snake. He turned back to her with his hand rubbing his face that now lacked the smirk, but still retaining all the cruelty. He began to yell at her, but she covered her ears and ran out of the school yelling, “Shut up. Shut UP!”

Katarina got to the end of the hallway and roughly pushed open the double doors. She turned left and rounded the corner leading away from the school and heard footsteps close behind her. Assuming that it’s Jason, she spins around to yell at him, but before she gets the chance to she realizes it is Drake come to make sure she is okay. The bell rings shrill and loud like always and Katarina tells Drake to go to class. He does not respond but simply continues to walk with her. She was skipping art class, and he knew that she would never do that unless there was something more than just her annoying brother on her mind. They walk together in silence leaving the school behind them. It is December and although there is no snow on the ground, it is still very cold outside. Katarina makes the decision that they will head to the local laundry mat.

The laundry mat is warm, and not a lot of people go there, making it the perfect destination for them. They arrive and the familiar smell of old laundry detergent greets them, along with the warmth of recently used dryers. Katarina goes ahead of Drake and finds a dryer that still has the warmth of the last load in and packages herself inside of it. It is dark and warm inside of the dryer. Strangely comforting and almost familiar to her, the dryer is like a mother’s womb. Drake moves so he is standing outside of her dryer and gathers her hands in his, trying to warm them. All he has ever wanted for her since they first met has been for her to be happy. He had thought that he could be the one to make her happy but she has turned him down several times already. When he took her cold hands in his, he was surprised then when she did not pull them away.

Inside the dryer, unbeknownst to Drake, Katarina was silently crying. She had such a hard time adjusting to change and the change of Jason’s attitude was shocking and painful for her but that was not all that was changing. When she feels Drake take her hands, she feels so safe and wonderful, and this scares her. Drake is all she has and she knows she won’t be able to survive if she loses him. Fear of losing him of course being the reason she keeps turning him down. Their relationship is so wonderful already and she doesn’t want to break that. As the dryer cools and Katarina calms down and warms up, she pulls her hands from Drakes and crawls out from within the dryer. She had stopped crying several minutes ago and her eyes betray no sign of her tears. She looks up at Drake’s face, and longs for him to hold her. She reaches out and hugs him, but it doesn’t last nearly as long as she wants it to. She wants to hold on to him forever as her best friend and she doesn’t want to give him any false hopes.

That night neither Katarina nor Drake sleep much. They both sit cross legged on their beds, writing everything that happened, trying to figure out what it all meant. The next morning they look at each other and see the dark rings under each others eyes and immediately ask simultaneously, “Are you okay?” They smile slightly and both shake their heads and their smiles grow. For the rest of the morning, they spend all of their energy trying to convince the other to tell them what is bothering them with no avail on either side.

Finally near the end of lunch Drake asks Katarina to go for a walk with him outside. She agrees and they leave the school through the same set of double doors as yesterday’s lunch. Instead of turning left however leading away from the school, they turn right with Drake leading this time. As soon as they have turned the corner of the school and the double doors are no longer in view Drake takes Katarina’s arm and stops her. He says to her, “You. Here,” and he points to a spot on the ground next to the walls of the school. He is smiling so she agrees. He looks her in the eyes as he always does and for once she meets his gaze. Before the way that he always looked into her eyes frightened her, but things are different now. The rain begins but as it is not as cold as yesterday neither of them pay any notice until later.

“Tell me what’s bothering you,” Drake practically demands of Katarina. Quickly she replies with a simple, “You first.” He tries to convince her to tell him but she continues to say no. She can not look away from his eyes and her eyes are urging him on even with her voice always answering him in a negative. He slowly moves towards her and keeps asking her to tell him what is bothering her. Katarina’s back is up against the wall but he keeps moving closer. In her heart, Katarina wants this but she doesn’t want to say yes just yet. Drake doesn’t wait for her permission. He leans in and kisses her long and deep. His lips are so warm and so soft it surprises Katarina, but she doesn’t hesitate to kiss him back. They stand there kissing, absorbed in the moment with the rain pouring down around them. They might have been standing there for a minute, an hour or maybe an entire lifetime but for them, time ceased to matter or even exist.

They break apart but continue to hold each other. Everything they feel is so new and so perfect. Katarina whispers, “What now?” to which Drake replies, “Go out with me.” She smiles and gives a tiny laugh. She nods her head, and says okay. They hold hands, smile; looking into each others eyes and wait for the bell to ring.