Who We Are

"Is that everything?" Emily asked as she folded her hands in her lap.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah, there isn't too much to tell you," I replied, thinking about all the things I could tell her that I wasn't going to.

Emily ran her fingers through her hair. "Are you going to confront him?" she asked simply, glancing between her brother and I.

"I don't know," I told her, "Probably not."

"Why do you think he kissed you?" Emily questioned lightly.

Nate couldn't help but laugh, causing me to look at him oddly.

"What's funny?" I asked him, folding my arms over my chest.

He shook his head and offered me a secret smile that I couldn't decipher. I just looked at him and waited for him to explain. He grinned and looked me over before he replied. "He kissed you because you're beautiful."

I chuckled and shook my head as Emily spoke.

"Stop joking around, Nate," Emily commanded, "This is serious."

Nate glared at his sister. "I'm being serious, Em, he probably thinks she's attractive and wanted to kiss her to see what it would be like."

Em rolled her eyes at her older brother. "He probably wanted to kiss a girl who didn't have an STD."

"Emily will you just knock it off?" I asked firmly, picturing my neighbor boy as some run down druggy who was crawling with sexually transmitted diseases. "He's not like that," I added as the actual view of him came back into my mind.

Emily sat there quietly, looking at me with harsh eyes. "I thought you hadn't talked to him before."

I rolled my own blue eyes. "Not really, but he's not some sex junkie."

Emily chuckled. "Well the only other option is that he likes you. And Ronnie Radke does not like people, he just sleeps with people. Everyone knows that."

"Yeah, okay," I replied, shaking off her words as confusion set back into my head. "Lets just talk about something else," I continued.

Emily shook her head. "I want to hear how this even happened! How did you even end up in a position for Ronnie Radke to kiss you? The whole school would be talking about it by now!"

"Emily, I don't want to talk about this anymore," I told her, looking away from her and out the window as a car drove past and down the street. I stood up as the vehicle moved out of my sight. "I have to go make dinner," I told the siblings, "Do you want to help?"

Emily laughed at my words and shook her head. "No, but I'll watch." She hopped up and stood next to me.

Nate heaved himself up too and followed Emily who was following me. I walked to my father's room and pushed the door open, grinning at Gianna as she sat on the bed with a large coloring book and a box of crayons. "I'm making dinner," I called to her, catching her attention, "Why don't you come downstairs, now."

Gianna didn't talk back, she just slid off of the bed and joined the line of people who were headed down stairs. I moved over to the other bedroom and pushed the door open. "I'm going to get dinner started," I told Octavia and Gwendolyn, "Why don't you two come help me."

Gwen nodded her head. "Just let me finish helping Octavia with her math."

I nodded too. "Okay, come down to eat when you're done. I'll recruit Lisette and Gigi to help out."

"Alright."

I turned and went downstairs, noticing that Nate and Emily had followed Gianna. Gianna was now sitting on the couch in the living room, watching TV as she blabbed to Nate and Em about her favorite show that came on everyday after school.

"Gi, come help me cook," I called out to the six year old, "You can watch TV later. You too Lissy." I walked into the kitchen and told Lisette to get up and help me, even though she was sitting at the table working on something.

"I have homework, Katerina," Lisette whined, looking up to me.

I stopped and turned to look at her. "Well, I need help," I told her, "We can do your homework after we eat."

"Can't I just do it now?" Lisette asked, pouting.

"Who's going to help me?"

"Someone else," she said, folding her arms over her chest and giving me an annoyed look.

I sighed and shrugged. "Fine then," I told her, "Uncross your arms and take your butt and your homework to your room."

"Fine," she said simply, gathering up all her things before hurrying up the stairs.

I groaned and ran my fingers through my hair. Gianna came running into the kitchen and smiled up at me. "I'll help you," she said, "What are we making?"

I smiled at her lightly. I picked her up and set her on the counter as I got the food out of the fridge and began to get everything ready. I decided just to make spaghetti since it was simple and easy. I got out a pot and started boiling the noodles.

"Don't touch that," I told Gianna, pointing to the steps, "It's hot."

"I'm not," she said, drawing out the word.

Em and Nate made their way into the kitchen and sat at the table, watching as I cooked and interacted with my sister. "Are you two staying for dinner?" I asked as I began to strain the noodles.

Emily looked at the sauce that I poured out of a can and shook her head. "No," she said, "I think I'll go call Mom and Dad and tell them we'll be home for dinner."

"Alright," I replied, watching as she walked back to the living room.

"So..." Nate trailed off.

I looked over my shoulder at him and asked, "What?"

"How was it?" he questioned, a smirk on his lips.

My eyebrows knitted together. "How was what?"

He glanced to Gianna who was watching us intently. Then I knew what he was talking about. "Oh gosh, Nate," I murmured as I turned and plucked Gigi off of the counter. "Why don't you go play and tell the girls that it's almost time for dinner."

Gianna nodded her head and raced off.

"Don't run on the stairs!" I shouted at her, watching as she stopped running and took the steps slowly and one at a time.

I sighed and shook my head. "You're an idiot, Nate."

Nathaniel laughed and shrugged. "It was your first kiss. I just wanted to know how it was."

I shook my head. "It was fast. I pushed him away from me."

"That bad?" Nate asked with a cocky smile.

"I guess so," I replied, trying not to play into his games.

"You're kind of in a bad mood."

"I'm just tired of you and Emily," I answered, not caring that he got a look of hurt on his face.

He ran his fingers over his hair. "Wow," he replied, "Harsh."

I shrugged my shoulders as I pulled colorful bowls out of the cupboard and set them on the table in front of him.

When I tried to pull back, Nate grabbed onto my wrist. "What's wrong?" he questioned, not letting me just push him off of me.

"Nate, just let go."

Nate slid out of his chair and stood in front of me. "Just talk to me," he said as he slipped his arms around my waist, "You're freaking me out."

I stopped moving and looked up to him. "I'm fine," I told him firmly, "I'm just want you and Emily to stop..." I trailed off, trying to find the right word, "Ragging on him," I said after another second.

"Why?" Nate asked, "He's just..."

"Just what?" I asked quickly, "He's what, Nate? A low life? Poor? Just Ronnie?"

Nate looked down at me. "Why do you even care what he is, Katerina. He's not like us."

I shook my head and stepped away from him. "You see where I live," I told him, motioning around the room, "You see how I live, what my life is like, and yet you continue to talk bad about everyone who lives the same way I do."

Nate shook his head as Emily came back into the room, saying something about how their parents were making sushi for dinner. "We're not talking about you, Kat."

I sighed and looked at them both. "You're just talking down about everyone who is like me."

"Kat," Emily said, catching onto our conversation. "What's wrong?"

"I think you guys should go," I told them, "It's time for my sisters to eat dinner."

Nate sighed and shook his head. "Alright, Kat."

"What's going on?" Emily asked as Nate grabbed her arm and tried to pull her from the house.

Nathaniel just shook his head at her. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell you at home."

Emily was still asking questions as Nate pulled the front door open. My eyes widened as Riley Radke stood on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I stepped forward to him, standing in between him and the Henderson siblings.

Riley looked up at Nate and Emily and stuttered, "I - uh," he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Come on in," I said as I pushed the door open wider and pulled him in by a fist full of his shirt. "Where's your brother?" I questioned, looking down the street for the other boy who was usually following behind.

Riley shrugged and said, "He decided to stay at Max's."

I knew the reason why. "Okay, why don't you go wash up for dinner."

I met Nate's gaze and Riley headed up the stairs. "I'll see you tomorrow," I told him, them.

"Yeah," he said, "Tomorrow."