Damn the Day I Met You

My phone woke me up early in the morning. Too early. I just grabbed it and pressed end, assuming whoever was calling could call back later. And they did, five minutes late.

“Katie Juliette Richards-DiGerlando!” I hear my mother scream.

I sigh, “What did I do this time?”

“I don’t want to believe it, I can’t. But the media seems to think you’ve cheated on Zach.”

“WHAT?!!” I shoot up in bed, knocking over the side lamp in the midst of it all.

“There’s a picture of you holding a kid and some guy behind you.”
Since when is it a crime to hug people? Before I can respond to her my door crashes open. “What’s going on?” Zach asks, standing there ready to protect me. A little laugh escapes my lips and he stares at me, confused.

“Katie?” My mom asks, reminding me that I still had her on the phone.

“Mom, I didn’t cheat on Zach. I’ll explain when I call back but just know that for now. Talk to you soon.” I press end and toss the phone aside, staring up at the guy still standing in my now broken doorway.

“Kati-”

“Don’t say anything about that Zach. I just want to know why you felt the need to break my door.”

“I heard you scream and then a crash.”

“And so you decide that breaking down my door is the most efficient way to help me.”

“Uh-yes?”

I roll my eyes, not wanting to waste too much time on this topic with him. “Thank you, I think. But I am okay and you can leave.”

To my dismay he doesn’t make a move towards the door. “Did your mom have bad news or something?”

“You really can’t just leave, huh?” I ask sarcastically. There were some awkward situations I just didn’t want to deal with. This being one of them. “We didn’t publicly break up so now I’m being accused of cheating on you with Tristan.” I explain, expecting some version of, “sorry, I’ll fix this,” in reply. Instead I get a very urgent; I screwed up, “shit.”

And as he was freaking out, now pacing my room, my thoughts drift to how this happened. Why didn’t we make a public announcement? I definitely knew I should have, it’s part of my life. So why didn’t I? There is also, of course, Tristan. We aren’t even really together and I’ve already dragged him into the big mess I call my life.

“Zack, out right now.” This time he doesn’t put up a fight and just leaves, closing what’s left of the door behind him. I grab a bag and stuff it with the essentials before heading out to my car. I wasn’t exactly trained in what to do during something like this, but I certainly knew the process to take. One that wasn’t always the easiest.

I call Tristan and am surprised when he actually answers on the first ring, “Tristan, sorry to-”

“Katie? It’s like 3 am. What’s wrong?”

Even in times like these he’s able to make me smile. “I need you to grab a bag and fill it with necessities for you and your sister. I’ll be at your house in about ten minutes to pick you up and I promise to explain everything then.”

I was prepared for him to put up a fight. Zach would have in a case like this, along with most other guys. But Tristan isn’t like any of them and ends the call with an “okay.” No comments, no questions, just an acceptance that something is going on.

I then call my parents, knowing that they would be waiting by the phone for me. “Explain,” my mom says the instant she picks up the phone.

“Zach and I broke up a while ago. I caught him cheating right in front of me and I dumped him.”

Luckily it was my mom I was talking to, and if anyone understood cheating it was her. “Who’s the boy?”

“Tristan. And before you jump to a conclusion, that’s his little sister Lucy.” I decide to talk Tristan up a bit since the first time my parent’s see him isn’t in the brightest of moments. “He’s really sweet mom. I know you’ll love him when you meet him. And he is just a friend right now. Just this weekend he told me that he wants to wait for me to fully heal before asking to get to the next level of our relationship. He understands me not wanting to be together this close to me leaving and is still spending time with because he’d rather be my friend than nothing at all. But with that said he also believes that you two have an amazing love story and he would kill for a love like the one you share.”

My mom was a sucker for romance so I knew this would ease her up some on the whole situation. My dad though, was a whole other story. “He did, huh?” my dad asks, not believing me for a minute.

“Yes. Tristan even says that you guys are the prime example for ‘if it’s meant to be, it’ll find its way.’”

“Aw, isn’t that just the cutest thing ever Adam?” My mother gushes, making him grumble.

“Stop wooing your mom, Katie. You’re still in trouble.”

“He took me to Rosie’s Vineyard this weekend. And sat through all of Star Wars with me.” I try winning over my dad, knowing that it would fail.”

“Big trouble. Now, I want you to get to-”

“My grandmother’s house. You’ll be here in a few hours. Don’t go to school for the next couple days and stay away from the media. Plan a public announcement about the incident and the truth for later this week. I know dad, I’ve got this handled. I’m on my way to pick up Tristan and his sister and then we’ll head to the house.”

“No. they’re not part of the plan.”

“They are my friends I will protect them as much as I protect myself. Now I have to leave so I’ll see you soon.”

“Katie! You don’t understand what this is going to do. What you’ve done.”

“What I’ve done? Sorry for getting cheated on and taking care of me before bothering with the media. I didn’t know that was a crime. I’ll talk to you when you get here in the morning. Bye.”
I didn’t let my dad say anything else and hung up the phone. Unlike my mom, he became very hard to work with in situations like these. It was his way, no highway. He was usually a fun-loving guy, but times like these he changed and isn’t a pleasant person to work with, so I usually stay away from working with him.

I pull up to Tristan’s house and he was there, ready to go when I knock. Lucy was asleep in his arms so he put her in the backseat while I grabbed their bag.

“What’s up?” He asks once we’re both seated and ready to go.

“First off I’m sorry about the time.”

“Katie, it’s okay. Whatever it is must be important or you wouldn’t have called.”

I nod, thankful that he wasn’t mad at me. I didn’t need that extra stress. “We’re all over the media. Someone took a picture yesterday and it’s gotten around the country, and to my parents. Because I didn’t make a public announcement of the break-up, the rumors are that I’m cheating on Zach with you. And this is a really bad rep for my family. So while I clean up this mess, we’ll be staying at my grandmother’s house for safety reasons. And we probably shouldn’t go to school for about a week or until this all becomes old news.” I grip the steering wheel tighter as tears threaten to fall. Everything was finally catching up with me and the idea that I’m seen as some cheating whore started to hurt. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, pull over for a minute.” I nod and pull off to the side. Tristan takes my hand and squeezes it, “None of this is your fault.” He reassures me, “Zach cheated, and Zach screwed up. Not you.”

“But I knew to-" he presses a finger against my lips to shut me up.

“But nothing. You had to take care of yourself, no one else.” He leans forward and presses his lips against my forehead. Something I came to know as a comforting action by him. “Now, just think about how ecstatic Lucy will be when she sees she’s all over the magazines. And staying in a mansion for that matter.”

That actually makes me laugh. The image of Lucy jumping up and seeing the room she’s staying in just brightens up my mood. Funny how something so simple can have such a great affect. “Thank you.”

He smiles and sits back in his seat, “my pleasure. Let’s get to the house; I’m assuming people are waiting for us.” I groan and continue on with the drive to the mansion.

Because this could be seen as an emergency, and my grandmother took paparazzi very seriously, I decide to go in the back way. I will admit I was also showing off just a bit. “Name?” The guard asks at the gate. I answer as the scanner checks my ID. The guard nods and opens up the gate without another word.

“They don’t know you?”

“I don’t know him. Obviously he recognizes my name. But this is the high security area, so even if they think it’s me they have to check. Want to see something totally awesome?” I ask, grinning like a

“Fucking hell! What is that?!!”

I laugh and drive down the ramp, “another security measure. If you continue on the main road it leads to a maze and that way we can get the trespassers easier. Unlike my parents, my grandmother loves to spend money. And she does so on movie-like features such as the ramp.”

“Obviously.” I park the car by the main entrance and turn around to grab the bags. “Will anyone be awake?” Tristan asks as he picks up his sister.

“Only the whole house. Come on, let’s get Lucy to bed and then we’ll figure out where to go from there.” I lead him down the hall to a bedroom right next to mine. Tristan tucks her into the bed and I stand there watching him. Every time I see him interact with his sister I’m just that much more attracted to him. There’s just something about a guy taking care of a kid that is kinda hot.

“Come on, I’ll show you where you can sleep.” I grab Tristan’s hand and pull him into the next room. Though it was definitely modern and changed from the last time I was here, I knew it was still my room. And I guess Tristan did to, “This is your room?” He asks, as if he can tell by the purple walls and books on the shelf that it was mine.

I nod, “I’ll be up all night fixing this whole thing, and I don’t want you down the hall from your sister. So you can crash here. We’ll figure something else for tomorrow.”

He stops walking around the room and heads back into my direction, “I’m not going to let you do everything yourself, Katie.”

“That’s my job though. I’m the cause of this and I have to fix this.”

“Funny, still won’t let you do it by yourself. I’ll either be up all night with you working everything out, or we both get some sleep and deal with it in the morning. Nothing’s going to change between 4 am and 8 am.” I glance over to the big comfy bed and back to Tristan. He chuckles and wraps his arms around me, “looks like the bed wins. Come on.” He leads me over to the mattress and I don’t put up a fight. I was exhausted and needed some sleep before dealing with whole ordeal. And sleep never caused any harm. With that last I snuggle up to Tristan and forget about everything that I will be dealing with in the morning.