Who We Are

Monday rolled around quicker than I was ready for. I couldn't help but be on the look out for Ronnie as Gwen and I headed to school. I had yet to tell my younger sister anything that happened. I didn't plan on telling her about the kiss, but she'd soon learn that I was going to go out with Ronnie and I knew she wouldn't be exactly thrilled.

Riley and Ronnie Radke stumbled out of their house when Gwen and I were down the street from our houses. I glanced over my shoulder and caught Ronnie's gaze, seeing the cutesy smile that he put on his lips.

I looked away and tried to keep the smile off my lips. Gwen and I walked to school with the Radkes right behind us the whole time. When we got in the building Riley and Gwen detoured to their own classes and Ronnie ended up right beside me, looking down to me with a smile as we headed to Chemistry. We weren't technically walking together, just next to each other in the sea of kids, but Ronnie's sepia eyes met my own Carolina blue ones.

Ronnie let me walk through the door first and he walked behind me as I moved to my seat. He passed me with one last lingering glance before he moved to his own seat. I dropped my gaze when Vanna and Monica came into the room before the final bell rang and looked at me with harsh eyes.

"Alright, guys. Take a seat so we can get started."

The day passed quickly as I sat nervously through all my classes.

"What's wrong with you?" Emily questioned at our lunch table. She bit into her sandwich gingerly and looked between Dean and I as we shared a small smile. She set her sandwich back down in it's container and folded her arms on the table. "For real, you two," she murmured, "What's going on? I don't like being left in the dark."

I shook my head in reply to Dean's quiet sentence. Then I looked to Emily. "Nothing," I told her reassuringly, "Nothing is going on right now. Why?"

She looked between the two of us suspiciously. "Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not," I replied.

Emily gave me a harsh look as her eyes moved to look over my shoulder. I followed her gaze and became surprised when Ronnie was standing behind me, his lip trapped between his teeth and his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Hey," he greeted when I looked at him.

"Oh, hey," I replied, turning in my chair so I could look at him easier.

He licked his lips and looked at Emily for moment. "Wanna go somewhere with me?" he questioned, nodding towards the exit of the cafeteria.

I nodded my head and started to stand up from the table. "I'll see you two later," I told Emily and Dean as I grabbed my bag from the floor.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked frantically, "You haven't even gotten lunch, yet!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'll grab something on my way out."

"Out where?" Emily asked, leaning towards me as I stood next to Ronnie.

"I'll be in gym, Emily," I replied exasperated, shaking my head at her.

Ronnie smiled at me and lead me out to the same courtyard as before. He was walking so close that our shoulders bumped. As we moved through the cafeteria I tried not to pay attention to the kids who couldn't help but stare at us. They'd seen the whole thing. They'd seen Ronnie come over and whisk me away.

"So when can we hang out?" Ronnie questioned as the two of us sat on the ground in the forgotten courtyard.

I leaned my elbow on my knee and smiled at him. "My dad gets off early Thursday and Friday," I told him, "Dean said I could tell my dad that I'm with him. You can pick the day."

Ronnie grinned at me. "What's your curfew?" he asked.

I chuckled and shook my head. "It depends on where I am. If Dad knew I would be with you, I wouldn't even have a curfew because he'd never allow it."

"What about with Dean?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Probably nine on Thursday."

"And Friday?" Ronnie inquired.

"The same time," I told him.

Ronnie frowned. "What if you were to tell your dad that you were sleeping at Dean's?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why would I have to say that?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

Ronnie shook his head quickly. "I'll drop you at Dean's after, but the show doesn't calm down until after eleven."

"Show?"

Ronnie nodded. "I'm taking you to a show," he told me, "Downtown there's a little bar where different bands play."

"Don't you have to be 21 to get into a bar?" I questioned, giving him a pointed look.

Ronnie grinned. "Usually," he replied, "But Friday night is an all ages show."

I tried to ask more questions about the "show" but he wouldn't tell me anything. Instead, he made plans to pick me up from Dean's house around seven so that we could head out there.

I gave him Dean's address and asked, "How are you picking me up? You don't have a license."

He shifted and pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. "Just because I don't have a car doesn't mean I don't have a license, Kat." He pulled out a card from his wallet and held it up for me to see.

I nodded my head playfully and crossed my arms. "One problem," I said, watching as he grew confused. "You don't have a car."

Ronnie and I sat outside until the bell rang, each of us surprised that time had passed that quickly. The two of us headed to gym together and we ended up seeing Max in the hallway along the way.

Ronnie told me that he'd see me in class before he detoured off to his group of friends who were all standing around near the lockers as Max flirted with a dark haired girl who looked slightly less than amused.

I hurried to gym class and changed in the locker room quickly so that I could be out of there before Emily came in and asked me a hundred questions that I didn't want to answer. I changed into my gym attire and sauntered out to the actual gym.

Max and Ronnie came in late, while I was in the process of being grilled by Emily. I smiled at Ronnie as he leaned against the wall with Max. The two of them where talking about something that looked important, but Ronnie's gaze didn't waver from me.

Emily sighed in frustration when she realized I wasn't paying any attention to her. She reached out and shoved my shoulder. "Come on, Kat," she sneered, "Why are you drooling all over him now? Before this year started you would've been extremely happy if he dropped off the face of the Earth!"

I looked away from Ronnie and to her. "Before this year started I thought you cared about other people and not just what other people thought of you," I said in reply, not angrily but with an honest voice.

Emily stopped and looked at me. "What?"

"You're shallow," I told her, glancing back at Ronnie. "You don't care about anyone."

"Where is all this coming from?" she asked, her gaze searching mine.

"I don't know," I said with a sigh, "But I'm just tired of you looking down at me, Emily."

"I don't," she replied quickly.

"Seems like it," I replied. Before she could reply I said, "I'm going to go see what Ronnie wants, Em. I'll see you later, okay?" Then I started across the gym towards Ronnie who was motioning for me with a smile on his face. "What do you want?" I asked when I got to him.

"Just wanted to make sure you weren't going to be slaughtered because of me," he replied, smacking Max as the natural blonde laughed and made a snarky comment.

"I can handle myself," I told him with a shrug. I glanced around at the curious eyes that were on us.

Ronnie just watched me as I did so. He reached out and grabbed my wrist to get my attention. When I looked back to him, he said, "Don't worry about them."

"I'm not," I said, although the look on his face told me that he knew I was lying.

Max grinned crookedly and reached out to push my arm playfully. "Want me to give them something to stare at?" Max questioned. He tried to walk past me so that he could confront the people's wandering gazes.

I reached out and grabbed his arm. "Max, stop," I demanded quickly, "It's fine. It doesn't bother me."

"That much," Ronnie added, shoving his best friend back into the spot where he'd been standing.

I looked up to Ronnie and shrugged. "That much," I agreed.

Eventually I was called back to class by my teacher. He gave me an odd look when he realized where I'd run off to. I rejoined Emily in the center of the gym as we stood around, waiting for a basketball to be thrown our way.

Emily didn't ask me any more questions after that. Instead, we talked about small things like her brother's new girlfriend and what her mom was having made for dinner that night.

I went home after school with Gwen, Ronnie and Riley no where in sight as we walked through the neighborhood. I made dinner for them as usual and put the young ones to bed. When my father came home I heated up the leftovers and sat at the table with him, doing my homework while he ate.

This night was different than usual, though. Tonight I told my dad that I would be spending Friday night at Dean's house. It wasn't a complete lie but I still managed to leave out the part about going downtown Las Vegas with a boy who had a pretty lengthy track record.

"Is that okay?" I asked, "If I sleep at Dean's."

Dad looked up to me over his plate. "I guess so," he said, "But I'll need to talk to one of Dean's parents before I give you a firm answer."

I frowned. "Dad," I sighed, "I'm not a little girl. Dean's parents don't have to talk to you every time he sleeps over."

Dad shoveled another bite into his mouth. "What, do I embarrass you?" he asked once he'd swallowed.

I nodded once. "Yeah," I said, "It would."

My dad backed down then. I knew he wasn't expecting me to be so direct with him. It had never bothered me before when he wanted to talk to one of my friends' parents. And honestly, it still didn't. I just didn't need Dean's dad mentioning that I would be showing up after eleven and climbing out of the car that belonged to a boy who no doubt would be looking as disorderly as ever.

"Thanks, Dad," I said with a smile as I grabbed his plate and took it to the sink. "I'm going to bed now, alright? It's been a long day."

Dad stood up from the table and wrapped his arms around me. He pressed his lips against my head. "You're such a good kid, Katerina."

I nodded and hugged him back. I knew if he found out my plans he'd retract that statement as quickly as possible. I stopped biting my lip and said, "I love you, Dad. I'll see you tomorrow."