Who We Are

"I really don't want to go to this," I muttered as Emily dragged me out of her house, "We never go to basket ball games."

She rolled her eyes and pulled me towards the car where her mother sat in the driver's seat, looking impatient and not at all pleased with either of us. "It's nice to try new things," she encouraged, shoving me down the front steps, "Plus, Sal is going to be there. He's on the team, you know," she gloated, thinking about her most recent crush.

"You know he's dating that Amber girl," I retorted as we climbed into the backseat.

Emily glared at me and then turned to buckle her seat belt. "The last I heard he'd broken up with her in order to find someone new," she grumbled, unhappy that I was bashing her dream already.

I rolled my eyes in a dramatic fashion. "They break up every other week, Em, they're probably already back together by now. Heck, she's probably already at the game, cheering him on already."

Emily's mother glanced back at us in the rear-view mirror. "Don't get too discouraged, Emily," she instructed, "If he and his girlfriend are that touchy, then maybe there's hope that he's looking for somebody new. His current girlfriend is probably just a security blanket."

Emily smiled and nodded. "Yeah, thanks Mom. I know that he likes me. He talks to me almost every day and basically walks me to third hour."

"His class is at the end of our hall," I muttered, pretending I didn't see the look her mother gave me through the mirror.

"So what," Emily complained, "Stop being such a Debbie-Downer. There's hope, yet!"

We pulled up into the crowded parking lot and Mrs. Henderson pulled right in front of the athletic entrance, offering us a smile as we climbed out.

Emily called goodbye to her mom and I shoved my hands in the pockets of my jacket. "Is Dean coming, too?" I questioned, watching as her mom's black car drove off, leaving us standing on the side walk.

A frown set itself on Emily's lips. "I thought we could just have a girl's night out tonight," she suggested, glancing up to me.

"Is Sal considered a girl now?" I questioned, letting her lead me to the doors that kids and fans were shuffling through.

She sighed. "Don't be like that. He's on the field, he's not even going to be able to talk with me at all."

"It's a court," I corrected, "And you'll figure out a way to get his attention. Even if that means ripping him away from his girlfriend when she's giving him a victory kiss."

"See!" she cheered, "That means we still have the hold game to sit through together!"

I shook my head at her as we made it into the athletic hallway and then sauntered into the gym, looking for a good place to sit on our team's side so that Emily had a better chance of talking to Sal. We climbed up into the third row and sat down in the middle, among a group of boys who were wearing their school colors proudly, unlike Emily and I who managed to not dress up at all. Well, except for the fact that Ronnie's hoodie was keeping me warm, I wasn't wearing anything special at all. Or at least anything that anyone else would recognize as special.

Basket ball and sports weren't really my thing and they obviously weren't Emily's either. The whole first half of the game her eyes were trained on the boy in the number 32 jersey. Then, she groaned and looked down to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked from my spot, trying to peak between two of the guys who were standing in front of us.

She plopped down next to me with a crestfallen expression on her face.

"Is Amber here?" I asked, standing up quickly so I could see for myself.

Emily grabbed onto the edge of my hoodie and tried to tug me back down. "Sit down!" she demanded, pulling relentlessly on the end of the black pullover.

"What're you doing?" I demanded, smacking her hand away, "Knock it off! What's going on?" I looked back down at her with my brows furrowed.

"Nothing," she said softly, still tugging on me. The crowd roared as a boy from our team sent a ball through the hoop.

I stood back up and she stood up quickly, looking quickly to her left before staring back at the game. I glanced in the same direction as her and forgot that she didn't want me to see who had walked in the doors. "Ronnie's here," I said softly, shoving my hands into the pockets of his hoodie, "Why do you think he came to the game?" I asked Emily, watching as she looked at me with a dim expression.

"Why do you think?" she asked hostilely, "He's here because you're here."

I shook my head, ignoring her attitude. "He's not even coming over here," I explained, "He and Max are just hanging out by the doors."

"Seriously, Katerina?" she asked, looking at me with dull eyes.

I frowned. "Seriously, what?" I questioned, "Why're you looking at me like that?"

She shook her head and looked back at the game, talking to me without looking at me. "I don't know what you see in him," she muttered, "You're gorgeous enough to have any guy in the school, and out of school, and you pick Ronnie Radke. It just doesn't make any sense."

"First of all," I retorted, "If I'm so gorgeous than why hasn't anyone else shown interest in me before? And secondly, you have no idea what he's like." I crossed my arms over my chest and let my eyes find Ronnie and Max on the other side of the court.

I looked away on instinct as I saw Ronnie's dark eyes staring right back at me. He was leaning against the colored wall with his arms folded over his chest and his eyes trained on me, a small smirk on his lips. When I looked back to him, he lifted one arm and motioned for me to go to him.

I shook my head subtly and nodded my head to Emily, who stood to my left.

Ronnie lifted his shoulders and then dropped them. 'Come on', he mouthed, motioning again for me to climb down the bleachers and go over to him.

"Don't you dare leave me," Emily demanded, seeing what I was seeing, too.

"It'll only be for a minute," I defended, fiddling with the zipper on Ronnie's jackets. "I promise I'll be right back."

"No." She shook her head. "You're not seriously leaving me here by myself," she scoffed, "This is a girls' night out and you're going to spend time with him instead of me!" She almost stomped her foot on the bleachers but caught herself and instead rolled her eyes, looking away unhappily.

"Emily, I'm not leaving you," I promised, "I'm just going to go see what he wants." I rubbed my fingers over my forearm. "I'll be right back."

She was obviously fed up as she shook her head. "Fine," she grumbled, "Just go. I won't feel bad if you don't come back either. I get it, your boyfriend is more important."

"Stop being so dramatic," I chuckled, "And he's not my boyfriend."

"He wants to be!" she called after me as I slipped past the group of guys who sat on the third row with us. A few of them, all from our school, glanced between us as I waved her off. I knew at least a few sets of eyes were watching me as I hopped down the wide stairs in the direction of Ronnie and Max, who were more out of place than I'd ever seen them be.

"What are you doing here?" I called as I rounded the edge of the basketball court towards the grinning boys.

Max smiled his crooked smile and jumped forward to wrap his arms around my shoulders. "We came to see you, beautiful," he charmed, pulling me closer to his best friend, "We heard you were going to be here and thought we'd stop by and check out the amazing places and people who are so honored to be blessed with seeing your beautiful face."

I laughed and shook my head at the eccentric boy. "Shut up, Maxwell," I demanded, shoving him away from me playfully, "You two showing up here is killing Emily."

Max glanced back to the bleacher and then shrugged. "Who cares?" he questioned.

I rolled my eyes. "Really, what are you two doing slumming at school after hours?" I asked again, this time directing my question to the dark-haired boy who still leaned against the wall.

"We thought we'd catch you while you had some time to spare," he offered, pushing himself off the brick wall and stepping closer to me. "What do you say? Wanna get out of here for a little while?"

"My dad's picking me up," I said, hating that I had to decline, "He's had me basically on lock-down since he found out about you. Wouldn't even let me out of the house until he saw that it really was Emily's mom in our driveway."

Max and Ronnie rolled their eyes in unison.

"That man sure has changed," Max muttered.

My throat tightened and all I could do was nod. I cleared my throat and swallowed, trying to find my words. "Well, you watch the love of your life die and be exactly the same, happy person you were before."

"Yeah, I guess," he allotted, "But he has you and your sisters now."

I shrugged my shoulders, my eyes trained on the silent Ronnie in front of me. He knew what it felt like to lose someone you loved, even more so since his mother hadn't even loved him back and mine had.

"I wish I could go with you guys," I admitted awkwardly.

"Don't worry about it. We'll find another time," Ronnie promised, shrugging, "Plus, I see you at school everyday."

Max grunted. "And apparently out of school too."

I chuckled. "That was a one time thing," I told him, "It's not going to happen again. I promise."

Ronnie grinned. "Don't be so sure, Kat." His smile dropped without him noticing as he looked over my shoulder, his eyes trained on something that I couldn't see from my angle. I glanced at Max, too, and then looked over my shoulder quickly, expecting to see Emily coming down the bleachers. I was very surprised when a group of guys were charging at us, looking directly at the boys in front of me.

"Ronnie, what's going-"

He cut me off without a word. He and Max brushed past me and stood in front of me as the four other guys approached.

"Radke, you're in big trouble," one of the guys growled, "Brett isn't very happy that you blew him off the other night."

Ronnie shrugged his shoulders. "Brett isn't my problem anymore, Evan. I asked him to stay away from my brother and when he didn't, I took matters into my own hands. Meeting up with him doesn't appeal me anymore."

"Well that's not really up to you," another boy spat, "If you're too much of a wimp to fight him again then maybe you shouldn't have started all of this."

"We didn't start anything," Max retorted, "If you and your friends wouldn't have jumped Riley we wouldn't have had to step in, asshole."

"The little shit can handle himself," the first stated, "If he can't then he needs to stay out of other people's business. He can't be calling on his big brother and friends to fight his battles for him."

"To hell he can't," Max shouted, "That's called family. Not that you would know that, seeing as yours is dead."

I winced at Max's harsh criticism and folded my arms over my chest, looking at the boy in front of Max and Ronnie with a heightened interest. I'd seen them around school; another group of boys who thought they were better than everyone else, but I'd never been anywhere near involved in a spat between two entirely different groups of hot heads.

Another boy, who'd been entirely silent until now, met my gaze and smiled a wolfish grin.

Ronnie noticed and let out a muted growl. "Don't even think about it, Aiden," he warned, "You stay away from her."

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "Relax Radke, swooping in on other people's girls isn't really my thing." He smiled again and then contradicted himself. "But, I might make an exception for Katerina Silverstein."

I hadn't ever talked to Aiden before in my life. I stepped up so that I was standing between Max and Ronnie, instead of behind them, and shook my head at the boy. "Just so you know," I told him, "I'm not really interested in boys who spend their free time prancing around beating up fifteen year old boys."

Aiden smirked and lifted his shoulders. "That might be more offensive if you actually knew what you were talking about, Katerina."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm really not interested in anything that has anything to do with you or any of your friends."

He was about to reply but Ronnie stopped him by shaking his head at the high schooler. "Stop talking to her," he snapped, grabbing my fingers with his own.

I couldn't help but smile at Ronnie's protectiveness before I smirked at Aiden, who was obviously surprised by it too. Ronnie told them that he was done one more time and then asked them to leave him and his brother alone, for good. There was an air of finality in his voice that caused goosebumps to arise on my arms. I seriously doubted that very many people every challenged Ronnie when he sounded like that. "And you can tell Freedman that if he ever lays another hand on my brother I'll kill him," he said in all seriousness, his tone surprising me. "I'm not playing your stupid fucking games. Don't touch my family again or you'll have me to deal with."

The other boys nodded, seeming to believe him. Although it would've been very hard not to. "We'll let him know," the last boy, Skyler, replied as all of them turned to go. I watched them until they climbed back up onto the bleachers and sat down, already smiling and shoving each other. Their quick mood change reminded me that they really were only high school boys. They didn't really care if they ever saw Riley Radke again, they were only keeping it up for appearances and for the sake of their own reputations.

"What was that all about?" I asked as Ronnie and Max turned back around, facing away from the bleachers.

Ronnie shook his head. "Just someone messing with my brother," he muttered, "It's over with now."

I frowned and shoved my free hand into the pocket of the jacket I was wearing. The small act seemed to make Ronnie notice that it was his hoodie on my frame. "Is Riley okay?" I questioned, honestly worried about what could've happened between the last time I saw him and now.

Ronnie nodded, a small smile on his lips, as he pulled me away from the edge of the court seeing as the teams were running to the basket closest to us. "Yeah, he's fine," he assured me, "This was awhile back. That boy just seems to get himself into trouble every where he goes."

I smiled, almost proudly. "Well, it's a good thing that he's such a good big brother to stick up for him," I complimented, pressing the pads of my fingers into the back of his hand as I tightened my grip.

He shook his head. "He hates when I fight his battles for him," he admitted, "I guess being Ronnie Radke's little brother isn't the easiest occupation."

"He'll appreciate you someday," I consoled, feeling him squeeze my fingers for just a moment.

Max grinned and shook his head. "I'm sure that's what your dad is saying to himself every time he ruins another aspect of your life," he joked, although he meant what he was saying.

I agreed, "I'm sure I probably will be thanking him someday."

Ronnie smiled. "For everything but keeping you away from us."

I was aware that our hands were still connected as I answered, "That's yet to be proven."

"I'm sure," Ronnie agreed sarcastically.

"I have to go," I told him, pulling my fingers from his, "I have to get back to Emily and her girl's night."

Ronnie shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. "Okay, I guess I'll see you later."

I nodded. "We're neighbors," I reminded him, "You see me all the time."

He nodded too, a playful smile on his full lips. "Of course, how could I forget?"

I chuckled and shrugged my shoulders, already stepping away from him. "I have no idea. It's been the highlight of your life since we were mere children."

"That's right," he called after me, "I didn't mind seeing you walk to school everyday either, Kat!"

I grinned and shook my head at him. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't mind it when you decided that sleeping was more important."

Ronnie licked his hips. "I always saw you," he murmured, "Never slept too late when I knew you'd be out. You were the only reason I ever wasted my time coming to this place."

I stopped walking and looked at him. There was about fifteen feet and a large group of kids between us now, although none of them were paying any attention to any of us. Many of them had learned not to eavesdrop onto Ronnie's conversations, even if they were right next to him.

"That makes you sound like my stalker," I confessed.

He shrugged his shoulders again with that small, crooked smile on his lips. "It worked, didn't it?" he questioned, "You're standing here having a conversation with me... and I assume that you intend to do it again in the future."

"Goodbye, Ronnie," I stated defiantly, turning away from him for the final time, new thoughts already coming to mind. I hadn't realized how long ago Ronnie had noticed me or that he was ever interested in me. I'd just assumed that his liking in me had been a random, spur of the moment decision. I didn't know this had been a long time thing; that he woke up in the mornings and went to school just so that he could see me, even though we never spoke a word.

I was at the bottom of the bleachers when I turned around and headed back towards the spot where Ronnie and Max had been just moments ago. They weren't there now, but I knew that they must've slipped back out of the school, so I pushed through the double doors. They were walking down the hall towards the entrance of the school that would let them out on the side closest to our street.

"Ronnie!" I called down the hall, catching attention from some of the late-comers and early-leavers.

But the boy I was calling turned around with a frown on his face. "Katerina, what's wrong?" he asked, grabbing my arms as I ran to him.

I shook my head. "Nothing," I breathed, "I just wanted to ask you if what you said is true." I touched his forearms as he held onto mine, looking down into my face with concern on his.

"Kat, what're you talking about?" he questioned, his expression changing from nervousness to relief, "I thought something was wrong with you."

I shook my head. "Nothing's wrong," I promised, "I just needed to make sure that you weren't joking around about, uh, what you said in there."

Ronnie glanced at Max, and the hyper boy seemed to get the hint because he lifted his hands in surrender and walked off with a smirk on his lips, heading down the hall towards the entrance they were going to before I came after them.

When Max was far enough down the hall, Ronnie turned back to me and slipped his fingers between mine. "Kat, this is going to sound really stupid," he told me, "But yeah, I promise what I said was true." He pulled my fingers close to his chest and held my hand in his.

"Really?" I asked softly, blushing as I looked away from his dark eyes, nervous about the answers that he was giving me.

Ronnie laughed at the blush on my cheeks and nodded. "You were the first girl I ever knew," he told me, "When we were little I thought you were the prettiest girl I'd ever seen."

I licked my lips and then sucked my bottom one between my teeth to keep an embarrassed smile off my face. "I never realized," I explained, "Boys are different than girls when they're that little. I only ever thought about my baby sisters and my toys. Then when we got older I never saw you anymore, except when we rode the bus together."

"In middle school I heard you liked me." He smirked. "Is that true?"

"Well, uh-," I stuttered softly, trying to figure out how to get around answering that without actually lying to him.

He chuckled, his eyes staring into mine. "I guess I know the answer now."

"You didn't know I existed in middle school," I replied, thinking about the young boy I saw everyday of my life. Him and his friends as they ran around the school, causing trouble every where they went.

Ronnie pressed his lips together as the corners of his mouth turned up. "Well, about that," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair, "The school made a point of keeping Max and I out of the same classes and it just so happened that he was the one that got to be in your class."

I narrowed my eyes, waiting for the rest of his story. "Yeah, so," I muttered, "All Max ever did in that class was cause trouble."

Ronnie shook his head. "In eight grade he kind of kept an eye on you for me," he told me, smiling as he watched my confused expression change to surprise and then go right back to confusion. "I mean, you became really... that year and I, kind of noticed you for the first time since we were kids."

"So you had Max watch me for you?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. "You thought that was a better idea than just talking to me?"

Ronnie smiled, shoving off his straight teeth, and shrugged his shoulders. "I was thirteen, Kat, cut me some slack."

A group of rowdy teenagers came spilling out of the gymnasium doors, paying no attention to Ronnie and I as they hurried out of the building towards the parking lot. I took a step back from Ronnie and bit my lip, pressing my top teeth into the sensitive skin.

"I should get back to Emily," I sighed, "She's probably never going to forgive me for leaving her in there this long."

Ronnie ignored that fact. "You sure you don't want to come with me and Max?" he questioned, "My dad's not home. Max and I were just going to watch TV or something tonight."

I smiled. "As thrilling as that sounds, my dad is home. So there's no way I could."

"I'm sure I could get you in the house without him seeing," he said, "Just tell him you're sleeping over at Emily's or something, so he won't come pick you up." He glanced at the double doors of the gym. "The game is almost over."

"What time is it?" I asked quickly, looking to the doors that my dad would be coming through soon, "You have to leave." I pushed on his shoulders and tried to turn him away from me, "My dad will be here soon and he'll shoot us both if he sees us any where near each other."

Ronnie didn't allow me to push him very far. "He's not seriously coming in, is he?" he questioned, "Isn't being outside bad enough?"

I shoved him by his stomach. "Go," I directed, "I'll talk to you at school."

Ronnie rolled his dark eyes. "Alright, alright. Max!" he called down the hall.

The boy came back down the hall with a smirk on his lips. "Did you have a nice chat?" he questioned, laughing loudly as he stepped away from Ronnie, who tried to punch his best friend.

"Lets get out of here," Ronnie said to Max, "Kat's dad is actually coming in here to get her soon and I'd rather live another day."

Max joked, "You're not going to survive much longer once he figures out that you've been sneaking around to see her."

"Shut the fuck up," Ronnie demanded, shoving Max away. They left out of the glass doors, neither of them looking back at me as I hurried into the gym to find Emily.

"Where have you been?" she asked in a fury, "I thought you'd ran off and left me here all alone!"

I grabbed her arm as she tottered down the stairs of the bleachers. "My dad is picking me up," I reminded her as her feet hit solid ground, "I couldn't just leave without him sending out a search party."

She kept her fingers wrapped around my wrist as we stood on the sidelines, her eyes trained on Sal, who stood in a huddle with his team, cheering over their victory. "Do you think he'll want to talk to me?" she questioned nervously, looking at me with widened eyes.

I shrugged and put a smile on my face. "I don't see why not, Em," I encouraged, if his girlfriend never showed up then I don't see why he wouldn't be interested in talking to you."

Emily rolled her eyes and reminded me that she was now his ex-girlfriend. "Here he comes," she whispered, tightening her grasp on my arm as he smiled at her. "Hi Sal."

"Hey Emily, thanks for coming out tonight," he replied, "You too, Katerina," he added to me, a charming smile plastered on his face.

Emily had a large smile on her face. "I actually wanted to come to see you," she said, not at all shy about the words she was saying to the boy in the white and red uniform.

Sal crossed his arms over his chest. "Really?" he asked, "How come?"

Before the conversation could continue, I patted Emily's shoulder and stole her attention from the boy in front of her. "I've got to go," I said with a smile, "My dad is probably here already."

"Oh, okay." Emily nodded. "I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Bye, Katerina," Salvadore said, "Thanks again for coming to see me play." He smiled a perfect smile and then ended it by pressing his lips together.

"Bye," I said again before I pushed through the crowds of teenagers who were gathered along the court, talking with their friends now that the game was over. In the hall where Ronnie and I had just been, there were even more kids waiting inside for their parents to get away from the rain that was falling from the dark sky outside.

I waited inside the door until my dad came traipsing through the rain, looking around for me too. "Dad!" I called as I made my way towards him.

"You ready to go, Kat?" he asked when I got close enough.

"Yeah. Lets get out of here."

I followed my dad through the rain and climbed into his cruiser once he hastily unlocked the door for me. I slammed the door shut and buckled my seat belt. My dad did the same and started the car. "Did you and Emily have fun?" he asked as he maneuvered out of the parking lot.

"Yeah, you know basketball's not really my thing, but Emily has a crush on one of the guys, so it was fun watching her be nervous every time he got the ball."

"Emily likes a basketball player?" he questioned, "I didn't think she was that kind of girl."

I shrugged my shoulders. "She is when he's really attractive."

My dad smiled softly, disinterestedly. "Well, tell her to be careful," he advised.

I rolled my eyes as we pulled into our driveway. "He's just a boy, Dad," I retorted, "I doubt she needs to be careful about liking a boy." We climbed out of the car and I knew I'd spoken the wrong words when my father's eyes hardened at the sight of Max and Ronnie clambering down the road, laughing loudly as they passed our house, caring nothing of the rain that soaked through their clothes.

My dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me to the front door quickly, almost seeing the look I gave to Ronnie when he cut through the left side of our yard, knowing that it would bother my dad.

The raven-haired boy lifted his shoulders and then dropped them with a smirk on his lips. He didn't care that every inch he came closer to me, the farther my father shoved me in the other direction. He figured if he could run fast enough, he could catch up to me before I was locked away.

My dad unlocked and threw the front door open, pushing me through the doorway and out of the rain. He stepped through after me and slipped his jacket off his arms. I stepped on the backs of my shoes and slid out of them, grinning when my name was called and a blonde child rocketed down the stairs.

"Katerina!"

I grinned and lifted my youngest sister into my arms. "Gianna," I cooed, "What're you doing awake?"

"No school tomorrow!" she cheered wrapping her arms around my neck.

I nodded. "I know. What're you going to do all day?"

She shrugged her narrow shoulders. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, Sweetheart," I replied, stepping up the stairs with her, "What do you say we have a movie day after Daddy leaves for work?"

Gianna nodded quickly, a smile lighting up her face. My other sisters stood in the doorways of their rooms, looking at Gianna and I. Gigi asked, "Can Lissy, Octavia, and Gwen come, too?"

I pretended to think about it. "Well... I don't know..."

My younger sisters yelled at me and the two youngest ones raced into the bedroom that I shared with Gwen. The five of us sat around and listened to each other tell of their week. The door was shut and our father was sleeping. We sat together and spilled our secrets, even mine, and by the end of the night Gianna, Lisette, and Octavia had promised not to tell daddy about Ronnie coming to our movie day tomorrow. I knew he would even though I hadn't asked him yet.