Intermission 15: Katherine Brown (2).

She can’t concentrate at all on her last class. It’s impossible, so she doesn’t even try. It’s only the first day of school, after all. She’ll be able to catch up in no time. Thinking about what happened at lunch hour is WAY more important.

She has a date.

She has an honest-to-god date with her crush!

Sadly, having to think about all the other stuff he said doesn’t let her feel as giddy as she’d like. He got together with the school nurse during his trip to Japan, AND he’s been secretly dating Ms. Campbell and Ms. Owens. Not only that, but he admitted that he’ll probably try to date even more girls in the near or distant future.

Honestly, that last one wasn’t much of surprise. The BIG surprise was the he’s dating two teachers. Of course, he begged her to keep it a secret. It’s obvious that he would, as that would pretty much get him expelled and the teachers fired, not to mention a serious hit to their reputation.

David, the guy that has haunted her dreams for weeks is currently dating 6 different women. And even if they get together, she won’t be the last. What does she think about this?

…

Only that she wishes she hadn’t gotten mad at him for something stupid the first time they met. Maybe they would’ve become fast friends, and they would’ve started dating far sooner. It’s all her fault, but there’s still time to fix things.

Being honest, there are two things that bother her about the amount of women he’s dating/will date:

1) She can get along with Sophia, Megan and Emily, but what about Ms. Campbell, Ms. Owens and Ms. Fujiwara? What about any others that come after? She likes her teachers, but… they’re very strict. Ms. Owens more so than Ms. Campbell, and she doesn’t really know Ms. Fujiwara. Will she be able to get along with them and not screw up somehow? What if she says something insensitive or push her boundaries without knowing? Will they convince David to dump her?

The thought frightens her.

2) This one is far more selfish, but… how much time will David have for her? Will whatever time she gets only get shorter as he dates more women? Are those fair questions? If they start dating, how much will Katherine be able to see him? She can’t help but feel like she’d want him all to herself, like a spoiled child not wanting to share her favorite toy.

…

That’s a terrible comparison, she realizes, but not entirely inaccurate. Katherine is aware she can be spoiled at times. Quite often, really. Maybe even a lot.

…

Urgh. Her stomach’s starting to hurt. She’d almost want to excuse herself and go to the nurse’s office, but that would mean meeting Ms. Fujiwara, and that would probably make the pain worse.

She knows she should only focus on her date for now. She’s thinking WAY too far ahead. But… she’s worried. Not only because this is the first time she has a date, but because she genuinely likes Sophia, Megan, Emily and David as friends. She doesn’t want to screw up and lose them.

These worries make David’s supposed secret of something called The Affection Multiplier fairly irrelevant. She likes these people. They’re truly starting to form a real friendship. Even if the thing turns out to be real, so what? Does that erase all the times David put up with her and helped her with her essays? The times they went out shopping, studying and hanging out? Even if there’s something that’s making her “like him faster”, that doesn’t make their interactions meaningless. Far from it. They mean a lot to her.

…

David’s not the type to ruthlessly throw her aside if she screws something up. She knows this already. He forgave Those Three, for god’s sake! He’s pretty much a saint already. And the others? Sophia said once that everyone agreed that she deserved a chance with David. That means they trust her. Well, she should just answer that trust as best she can.

The bell rings, and she wastes no time in standing up and leaving the classroom. She has to go home and prepare for her date. Sure, it might be on Friday, but she will need a whole week to mentally prepare.