Who We Are

In Algebra I hurried to my seat and dropped my backpack to the floor with a thump. There were only a few kids in the room already and they didn't pay me any mind as I yanked my textbook out of my bag and slapped my notebook down on top of it. That was until Max came sauntering in, a smile on his lips as he called an obnoxious goodbye to his group of rowdy friends.

"Hey Kat," he smirked as he sat down, "What's up?"

I turned to look at him pointedly. "What do you want?"

Max chuckled and let the cocky look slip from his lips, leaving him sitting next to me with honesty on his face. "I don't want anything," he said simply, "I'm just wondering why you're being so mean to Ronnie."

I rolled my eyes and looked away from him automatically. I wasn't being 'mean'. I was merely being practical.

"Come on, Kat," he called as the minute bell rang and kids came scrambling in, "He honestly just wants to talk to you."

I shook my head. "I don't want to talk to him, Max," I said, hating the way his name sounded on my lips, "And I don't want to talk to you, either."

Max pushed his matted hair out of his face. "Well, Ron's not going to accept that as an answer." He pulled out a notebook as the final bell rang. "So I don't know what you want me to tell him."

The teacher stood from her desk and started passing out colored paper. I sighed when I realized it was a large packet. I wrote my name at the top and complied as Mrs. Hanratty demanded we pass up our homework from the night before.

"Ronnie wants you to meet him outside after school. Near that statue by the courtyard," Max murmured as he grabbed the homework papers from the boy who was sitting behind him.

I handed my papers up and shook my head. "You can tell him to forget it," I replied, glaring into Max's eyes, "I'm going home after school."

Max chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I guess he'll just have to figure out where you live and hunt you down. That's going to be difficult."

I groaned mutedly and opened my notebook. "He could just leave me alone," I suggested, not looking at Max as I started copying down the numbers from the board, thankful that Mrs. Hanratty was narrowing down the number of problems we had to complete.

Max laughed at my words and shook his head, his fading hair flying out of his years. "You really don't know Ronnie at all, Katerina. When he wants something, he doesn't stop until it's his."

I looked at him with another glare in my eyes. He wasn't understanding. Or if he was, he was trying hard to pretend he wasn't. I wished he and his best friend weren't so hard-headed, especially when it came to me. "I don't understand why he wants me," I said back to Max, finally throwing him a bone as he tried so hard to get me to agree or open up.

"I guess you're just going to have to talk to him and find out," he replied, a smirk on his lips as he narrowed down my options.

The teacher told Max to stop talking and gave him a harsh look. He rolled his eyes and sunk back in his chair. I copied the notes from the board and forced myself to keep my eyes off of the boy next to me.

"I'll see you all tomorrow. Do your homework!"

I stood up from my chair as the teacher ended the class before the bell rang. I gathered my things and shoved them into my bag, waiting for the final bell so that I could leave.

"So, should I tell Ronnie to meet you at your house at eight?"

"Shut up, Max," I demanded, leaving the room before him after the bell rang shrilly.

I met up with Dean and Emily after I ditched Max. "Hey guys," I greeted as they waited at my locker for me, since it wasn't that far from the main entrance of the school, "What are we doing tonight?"

"Nate's coming home for dinner," Emily said, "So I have to be home for some family thing, but I'm free until then."

Dean winked at me before he said, "Why don't we go to your house, Kat? I'm sure you have to make dinner for your sisters anyways. You said that Gwendolyn hadn't been stepping up to the plate lately."

Emily glared at him because of his suggestion. "How about we go to my house?" she asked, "We can have a rematch on the bowling game. I want redemption."

I shook my head. "Nah," I murmured, "I'd rather go home and check up on Lisette, Octavia, and Gianna. Dad's working late again tonight."

"When isn't he?" Dean questioned, slipping his arm around my shoulders comfortingly, "He's a grade-A work-a-holic."

I chuckled at Dean's diagnosis of my father. "You're right," I agreed, "But he's got five daughters to provide for."

"And yet, you're all very happy little kids," Dean grinned at me.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Where is Gwen?" I asked after another minute. The halls were clearing out as students hurried to catch their buses.

"I don't know," Emily stated, "But I'm going to go. Just remembered that Colette has the night off so she won't be able to pick me up for dinner."

I rolled my eyes, this time not playfully as Emily slipped away. "Why are we friends with her?" I asked morbidly, "She's mean to both of us."

Dean shrugged his shoulders. "She's the brains in this operation."

We looked at each other before he burst out in laughter, neither of us believing a word that had just come out of his mouth. "You're still coming over, right?"

Dean nodded his head and pulled me to him in a tight hug. "I would never desert my Kit-Kat!"

I grinned crookedly and shoved him off of me as Gwendolyn came around the corner of the East hallway. "What took so long?" I called to her.

"Sorry," she said as she grew closer, "Had a test and it took me a little longer than I thought."

I shrugged. "It's fine. You ready to head home now?"

Gwen nodded his head and smiled at Dean as he slipped between us and wrapped his arms around us.

"My girls," he laughed, in a really silly mood, "You Silverstein sisters are just the greatest."

Gwendolyn said, "Of course we are. That's why you hang around us."

We headed down the block, the three of us, towards the little house that had been a haven to Gwen and I for years. The Radkes sat outside of their house as we passed. Ronnie's eyes followed me as I made my way to my own front door. I knew he wouldn't say anything in front of my sister, and for that I was grateful. I didn't need my father finding out about what had happened between us and showing up on the Radkes porch with his taser and his gun.

I didn't meet Ronnie's intense gaze as I knocked on the door and waited for my younger sister's to unlock the door and let me in.

"That's a cute little knock," Dean said with a grin, "I think it's smart how you guys use a secret code knock so that they know it's you."

I glared at him. "We don't mention the words 'secret knock' in public."

He raised his hands up to his chest in defense. "Sorry, sorry."

The door was pulled open and Gianna stood on the other side, looking dolled up she had makeup caked on her face.

"Gianna Hanna Silverstein, what have you done?" I demanded as I pushed into the house, Gwen behind me yelling that 'the kids' got into her makeup.

"Octavia and Lisette gave me a make over," she said happily, completely oblivious to the turmoil that Gwen was in. "Don't I look pretty?" She pushed her lips together and showed off her 'kissy' face as Gwen bounded up the stairs, screaming that Octavia and Lissy were going to be in so much trouble when she found them.

Dean laughed as I boosted Gianna up onto the counter in the kitchen so I could wash it off. "Your life sure is crazy."

I sighed and grabbed a rag from the cupboard. "If only you knew," I told him, a small smile on my lips as I thought about the constant haphazardness that seemed to be centered around the girls in this house.

I wiped most of the makeup off of Gigi's face and set her back on the floor. "Don't play with Gwen's things again, okay?" I asked sternly, crossing my arms.

Gianna nodded. "Okay, it was Lissy's idea!" She turned and raced back to the stairs. She slowed down and walked up them when I shouted out to her. "Gwendolyn!" she screamed loudly when she was at the top, "I know where they are!"

"What a little tattle-tale," I laughed, shaking my head at the six year old.

"She's adorable," Dean claimed, a smile on his lips.

I shrugged and tossed the wet rag into the sink. "Want to go upstairs?"

He nodded and started walking. "Yeah, does Gwen still have that magazine I was reading last time I was here?"

"How am I supposed to know?" I asked with a laugh as he climbed the stairs, "Ask her!"

Dean grinned and shouted, "Gwendolyn! Stop trying to murder your sisters and meet me in your room!"

I smacked his shoulder and shook my head at him, a smile on my lips anyways. The two of us went into my room and listened for the sound of my sister's yelled reply.

"Just look under the bed," I told him, motioning to her bed, "I'm sure you can find something to read."

Dean grabbed the first magazine he could find and tossed himself onto my sister's bed as screams started from across the hall. He looked up to me from over the top of the magazine. "You going to stop that?"

"Nope," I replied with a shrug, "I deserve a break."

Dean grinned. "That you do, Kat. That you do."