Never Fall For You

-Kat-

I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never been in a fight before. Ever. Sure, I’ve had my fair share of arguments with people - Who hasn’t? But an all out, balled up fists to the face, and sharp kicks to the gut? Not my style. I couldn’t even tell you if I was winning, or if Claire was winning either. All I knew is that her slapping me in the face, mixed with the fact that I firmly believed that she shouldn’t have been let in to begin with, really set me off. And it was all happening so quickly, that I couldn’t tell you if I was the one making all the guttural grunting noises, if she was. By the time that someone pulled me off of her - I quickly found out that it was both Jason and Phee - I was sweating, worn out, sobbing uncontrollably. And she was already started show bruises on her perfect little face. I would have smiled at that fact, had I not been crying so hard.

“Get off of me!” I yelled, kicking and flailing around, as Jason and Phee tried their best to keep their hold on me.

“Kat” Phee said, her voice soothing. “Kat, calm down. She’s not worth it.”

“She shouldn’t even be here!”

“I know.” We were sitting on the floor now, and I calmed down enough to realize that people were staring. Phee was holding me close to her, shushing me softly, and all I could do in that moment was sob.

“You need to leave. Now.”

I looked up, recognizing the voice immediately. Aaron’s mother. She was shaking, her face wet from the tears that had previously been falling from her blue eyes. I had given in to the idea that she had been talking to me, and started to get up, when she put a hand on my shoulder.

“Not you, Kat” she said, her voice wavering. “I saw her slap you.” She narrowed her eyes at Claire, who was trying desperately to fix her smeared makeup, and her messy hair. She looked up at Mrs. Wilde, confused.

“She started it!” Claire yelled, pointing to me, but I was too shaken up at this point to even argue. “I just came here to pay my respects, and she-”

“Enough!” Mrs. Wilde yelled. Then, she stepped close to Claire, lowering her voice. “I want you out of here right now. I never liked you. The day Aaron brought you into my house I knew immediately that you were just a selfish, mean-hearted little girl. But I didn’t say anything. Because he was my son. And now he’s gone. Because of you. Leave. I never want to see you ever again.”

Claire’s eyes were huge at this point, and her jaw had dropped, making her look even more idiotic, as she stood there, staring at Mrs. Wilde in bewilderment. I felt goose bumps slowly start covering my body as I soaked up this moment. It was one of the happiest moments in my life.

“But I-” she started.

“Either you can leave now, or I can have security escort you out” Mrs. Wilde said. “Your choice.”

Claire was seething, and began mumbling something incoherently under her breath as she gave in, and began walking towards the door. When she was gone, Mrs. Wilde looked down at me, her face stern, and I swallowed the lump in my throat.

“Katherine, you know I don’t condone fighting” she said, her voice hard and unwavering. Then, slowly, a small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth, just as a tear slid down her cheek. “But I’m glad someone finally punched the shit out of that girl.”

Then, without another word, she pulled me into a tight hug, and we cried loudly into each other’s shoulders.

The rest of the funeral went on without anymore drama. By the end of it, a large purple bruise had started to form on my cheek where Claire had managed to get in a few punches. It was sore to the touch, and it was a little swollen, but nothing that I couldn’t handle.

“Movie night at Hunter’s house?” Phee asked, as we all headed back towards the parking lot. “He’s ordering Japanese food for everyone.”

I smiled. “Sure” I said. “But can I go home and change first?”

She nodded, grinning. “Of course” she answered. We stood in silence for a long moment, before she pulled me into a tight hug. “Good job kicking Claire’s ass, little tiger” she murmured into my ear, and I chuckled.

“It’s been a long time coming” I answered. Then we pulled away, and said goodbye.

“You ready to go?” Jason asked, once I reached his car.

I let out a loud sigh, and nodded. My head was beginning to hurt from all the crying, and I was ready to go do something that would take my mind off of it. He opened his car door for me, and I slid in, then waited silently as he walked around to his side, and got in.

We drove in silence, as we made our way back to my house. I kept catching Jason glancing at me, every once in a while, but he never said anything, so I didn’t either. When we finally pulled into my driveway, he turned the car off, and looked at me.

I smiled. “Thanks for driving me” I said, placing with one of the lace details on my dress. “And sorry for, um… earlier.”

He smiled, and shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day where Katherine Lawrence, the bookworm, got into a fight” he said, scratching his head. “The scary part is, you were actually kicking ass.”

I chuckled, and looked away.

We sat in silence for a long moment, before I finally reached for the door handle.

“Well, I’ll, uh… See you at Hunter’s?” I asked, turning back to look at Jason.

He merely nodded, and I smiled.

But, as I opened the door to leave, he suddenly called out, “Hey, Kat?”

“Yeah?” I asked, turning back towards him.

And suddenly, he was inches away from my face, closing the gap between us quickly. And just as suddenly, his lips were on my lips. They were soft, and warm, and the kiss sent a tingle down my spine. Then, he pulled away, and stared at me, searching for my reaction.

“I, uh, I have to go” I said, quickly, stepping out of the car.

“Kat, wait!” he called. “I didn’t… I-”

“Um, I’ll see you later, Jason.”

And, just like that, I disappeared into my house, pressing my back against the large wooden door. I ran my hands through my hair, confused. I mean, you can’t fall in love with someone that you’ve hated your whole life… Can you?