Finding Lost Loves

Chapter Sixteen
Katie's POV

When I woke up I didn't know where I was so, naturally, I freaked out and swung my arms out, trying to get free from my blankets and figure out where I was. To my shock, my fists connected with something…or someone.

"Ow! What's wrong with you, freak?! You can't go around punching sleeping people," Gracie screamed, shooting up to glare at me.

"Where are we?" I asked, breathlessly, looking around the unfamiliar room to see Allie in the other bed. "And where are Emma and Linnie?"

Gracie looked at me like I was crazy. "We're at Shay's house, remember? They're in the other guest room. And, no, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. I've only got a splitting headache now, thanks to you," Gracie said sarcastically as she got out of bed. "I'm going to go find a bathroom take a shower and change clothes. Think you can handle not beating people up in that time?"

"Well, I don't know. I just have these violent tendencies. I can't stop myself!" I wailed, flopping face down onto the bed, dramatically.

Allie looked up and glared out both of us, sleepily. "Could you two be any louder?"

"YES!" me and Gracie screamed together.

Allie sighed and buried her face in the pillow so her words were muffled but we could still hear them "Oh Allie, you're so lucky to have so many sisters your age. It must be like a giant sleepover," she mimicked pretty much everyone we've met. They think it's cool, and I have to say it is, but there are also times where I just want to kill them all.

Gracie disappeared to go find her shower, while I went through my suitcase to look for some clothes. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before setting off to find Dad and Shay. Dad's always awake early, so there's no way he's not up at almost noon. I walked to the next door, opening it and peeking inside to see Linnie and Emma's unmade beds. Hmm, I wonder where they went? I continued my journey to see what looked like an office with a ton of school papers. What the…Oh, now I remember. Shay's a math teacher.

Finally, at the end of the hall, there was a door, but it was locked. Why would presumably Shay's door be locked? Eww, nasty! Run away! Run away! I shot down the stairs and ran into the living room where I found Linnie and Emma watching TV. Emma took one look at my face and said, "That's what I was thinking. I kind of figured they were going to do that though. Thank god, I didn't hear anything last night."

Linnie shuddered. "It was your idea to find out who Shay was, and this is what come of it? This is why I don't do nice things for people."

I snorted and sat down next to them to watch TV. Next, Allie came down the stairs, looking disgusted. "You'll never believe what Dad and Shay did last night?"

"I bet we would," I said, laughing. "Just sit down and try to pretend you aren't going to be traumatized forever.."
Ten minutes later, Gracie shot down the stairs. "Eww! You know what happened last night!"

"A) Dad and Shay slept. B) Shay and Dad played board games. C) Shay and Dad had loud sex. Any guesses?" Emma said, never taking her eyes off the TV and somehow keeping a straight face.

All of the rest of us burst out laughing. "That's so nasty. Let's never speak of this again," I suggested.

I scooted over so Gracie could sit next to me on the armchair and we went back to the TV. I don't really know how long we were watching it before I heard someone moving around upstairs. I made a little bit of a face, but didn't say anything even when I heard Dad and Shay come down stairs. Hey," Dad said cheerfully…A little too cheerfully.

"Hey, we said, none of us looking at each other, probably because we knew we would burst out laughing if we did.

"Did you sleep good?" Shay asked. "I'll put the other bed together this morning so no one has to share." I couldn't help but notice that Shay was limping a little bit. Double eww.

"Okay," we said.

"Have you eaten yet?" Dad asked. Jeez, how many questions are they going to ask. They're just asking for us to embarrass them.

"No. Did you have a good night?" Allie asked. That did it. We all burst into laughter.

Dad and Shay both turned brick red. "I don't know what you're talking about," Dad said. "…You didn't hear anything, did you?"

"No, thank goodness. We went to figure out where everyone was and, well, we're not stupid," I pointed out. "Let's never talk about this again. We'll stay the hell away from your guys' room."

Shay snorted. "You do that. I'm going to make lunch."

He started to limp toward the kitchen, before Emma stopped him. "Shay, just sit down. I'll go make lunch…and find you an aspirin." She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room, muttering.

Shay looked after her, bewildered. "And I thought I was being sneaky about it," he murmured at Dad.

Emma came back a minute late with a glass of water and an aspirin, handing it to Shay. "Get this, or make Dad get it, before we see you next time," she warned. "We don't need to know that you two have sex lives," she said, and with a delicate shiver, she turned and left.

"I'll go help her make lunch," Dad and I said at the exact same moment. I gave Dad a weird look for saying what I was saying and followed him into the kitchen. Linnie was already getting turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, and bread out.

We walked over and started to help, before I said something I'd been worried about since we left. "Maybe I'm just over exaggerating since I can't remember when we had to leave Shay before, but do you really think Mom will just let us go?" I asked. "It doesn't seem like her. She likes having your money and us doing the chores too much."

Dad looked at me, seriously. "Honestly, I don't know. I thought it would be a lot more difficult . I think we've got a long fight coming, but you never have to worry. I'll keep you safe."

I nodded and looked over at Emma, who was, for some reason grinning. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing you need to know about," she said, sounding smug. "What are we going to do about school? I like where we go to school, but we live too far away now," she said, sounding sad.

Dad must have known what she was really sad about. "We'll make sure to invite, um…What's her name, over a lot, but you'll have to change schools. We'll take you back tomorrow for your last day. You'll have to get up at like four in the morning though."

"That's fine," Emma said, but she still sounded a little sad that she wasn't going to see Mallory as much. "I've got a lot to tell Mallory about. So much has happened."

With that decided, we all took the food back into the living room and for once had a nice family day.