Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Book One
Lisa Marie Arnopp
Lisa
Marie
Arnopp
1
SYNERGY
Katherine Ann squirmed in her mother’s arms after her feeding. She was restless and nothing was
helping to put her down for the night. It was half past eleven and the next day would be long if the baby
didn’t get to sleep. Three-week-olds needed their rest and her mother and aunt needed to begin corrective
She was a beautiful daughter and her mother was elated to finally have a little girl. “What am I
going to do with you?” Her mother teased with a personal underlying angst. “We shouldn’t have run off.
The family must be wondering where we are. Eric most of all, he named you.” The baby grinned her
toothless smile as her mom’s fingers gently circled her wispy tresses.
Eric was the youngest of the twins and since Matt named Brian it was only fair that Eric named
their sister. Especially considering he knew she was a girl before anyone. Even after Ron explained to his
sons that there hadn’t been a daughter born to the Thomas family in countless generations Eric insisted and
wanted to name her Katherine Ann. Katherine after Katharine Hepburn having just seen Bringing Up Baby
and Ann after his favorite grandmother, the same one that had him watching old black and white movies at
Stretching her small torso Kate shuttered from exhaustion but stubbornly stayed awake. “What’s
taking Auntie so long?” No one in the family dillydallied and the list for the market was short; diapers,
Kate fussed but didn’t cry. She curled her little hand around her mother’s index finger. Latent
skills didn’t materialize until the late teens, sometimes early twenties. Of course all parents found glimpses
of things to come in their children and Kate was no different unless you counted that it was more obvious
than usual. Living in close quarters for two trimester and almost one month with her two exceptionally
Having reinforced insights to Kate’s mood made her care easier than her three brothers who had
the same advantage at weakened levels. Sandy and Sara both agreed it was due to the baby empathizing
which compounded with their empathy. And Kate drew people to her like no other newborn. Strangers
were enchanted at first site and eager to assist the sisters with bags, buggy and doors.
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The antithesis to this was that Kate could interpret moods from her surroundings. And her mother
worried that grownup emotions were far too dark, heavy and complex for such a young child to endure.
Mommy and Auntie did their best to halt exchanges that weren’t about love, laughing and warmth.
“Something’s wrong.” Lots of things were wrong. For one, Kate was in Colorado and her
brothers and father were in California and for two, everything else. But something new was wrong. Deep
down in her bones her mother felt a sense of dread so profound and so definite that no amount of blocking
The babies grip tightened a split second before the phone rang.
It was a nurse from the county hospital explaining a fatal collision. “Sandy Graham was
Impossible. She would do anything to change places with her sister. Cradling the baby she
sobbed. “I’m not strong enough for this. She was the strong one.” Her sister once told her how to use
their paranormal talent to control their emotions. But control wasn’t enough – so she shut them off – all
She called California. Of course their father knew – he knew everything. Empaths begot
empaths. As he took charge of arrangements Kate finally drifted off. Well, he didn’t know everything.
“And what do we do now?” She had her answer right in front of her.
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Ann’s Funeral
Kate did her best to keep up with her brothers’ long strides as they walked to the car from their
grandmother’s grave. Each boy was around six feet or taller and Kate was only five seven and her modest
heals didn’t help her balance on the soft grass. She resisted the urge to keep up with them but some innate
little sister inside wouldn’t allow her to take her sweet time.
And it wasn’t a good day to play power games that she would inevitably lose. Eric was upset
about something. Perhaps that they weren’t closer to Ann before she died. Truth was Kate never met her
grandmother.
When she got in the back seat of the car the door closed as if on its own almost nipping Kate’s
ankle. “Hey!”
“Move it or lose it.” Matt chastised from the driver’s seat. He had pulled the door shut on her.
The twins were telekinetic and impatient. Two foibles Kate and Brian felt were a horrible combination.
Eric hit Matt’s shoulder as they drove off. “Be careful with her. She’s our only sister.”
He wouldn’t have pulled that stunt with one of their parents in the car. They had been very hush-
hush about their paranormal skills and only Brian and Kate were privy to the details. Unfortunately it was
usually due to the fact that they were the objects of some prank like a chair being yanked out from under
them. Out of self-protection both of the younger Thomas children grabbed the edge of their seat as they
sat.
Matt and Eric had wanted to go to the funeral and stood with their mother when Ron protested. It
may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Ron was always lenient with them and since they
were months away from their twenty-first birthday, he was even more tolerant of their insubordination than
The whole day had been an upheaval of emotions. First Sara, their strict but mousey mother, had
challenged Ron, their daunting father, about attending the funeral. He was firm set against it since it was a
Catholic ceremony and he was anti-religion. In all her years, Kate had never seen Ron lose a fight until
that morning. If the twins hadn’t taken a position, she wasn’t sure what would have happened. If Ron
remember a word from his eulogy. It wasn’t that she ignored him. Actually she felt such sorrow knowing
he lost the love of his life that the words just sailed in one ear and out the other too insignificant to be
comprehended in the wake of his turmoil. She had never felt a stronger sense of love and loss. Her parents
weren’t that in love even if they had been together for twenty plus years but Gerard was torn with despair at
the death of his wife. Maybe that level of affection took decades to grow.
And if she didn’t sympathize with him enough during the service, she nearly broke down in tears
when he hugged her. What was disturbing was the cause of the tears. It was a deep yearning to know her
grandfather – an undeniable sense of belonging and that coupled with the intellectual knowledge that she
only just met him and may never see him again overwhelmed her suddenly.
Finally, the gawkers at Santa Katrina Cathedral had left her unsettled. An older woman that was
undoubtedly in the same generation as her grandparents and a man that could very well be her son had
stared at Kate as if she were a spectacle until her mother glowered at them. Kate didn’t always appreciate
the overprotection extended from her family but she did that afternoon.
Maybe she could have let the awkwardness of the gawkers pass if Eric hadn’t reacted so strongly.
The twins were instigators for sure and reactions were calculated for optimal results. But Eric had a pure
uncontrolled response. He had tried to stare the man down, as their mother had, but unsuccessfully. Once
in their pew he didn’t look Kate in the eye – everywhere but. She didn’t like it and she knew there was
something unpleasant on his mind, which meant it was also on Matt’s. They weren’t just telekinetic – they
Matt pulled their car into the driveway. Gerard’s home was much warmer than their own and still
quite grand in a nice neighborhood. The reception was well attended growing from the many who were at
the service. The church was packed and some had to stand. To Kate’s surprise there were tons of teens and
young adults. She imagined a small group of retirees before she saw the diverse ensemble.
Gerard walked them to a table that had prepared plates for them and champagne. He rose to his
feet and slowly the gathering hushed. “To Ann. A good woman that I loved very much.” His eyes
watered as he took his full glass in one swallow. “Now eat, drink and be merry as that is what Ann would
Chatter hummed back to life and Gerard sat down with his family. He studied their faces
fastidiously memorizing every detail in case it was another sixteen years before he saw his grandchildren.
It wouldn’t be. Kate wasn’t sure how she could pull that off but it was her private goal.
He refilled his glass and then the twins’. “So where are you two going to school?”
“That’s just down the freeway.” It was only thirty minutes south from Santa Katrina. “You
Sara glared at her father. He had an agenda to breach the rift as well.
The twins smiled at each other but didn’t agree out loud.
“I see you still like to make it as difficult as possible to tell you apart.”
Matt and Eric were dressed alike down to the color of their ties. They were six two with dark
wavy hair, like their mother’s, and deep brown eyes. Only the immediate family could distinguish them
and they relished it. They had been called on switching classes plenty in high school and usually the
teacher was wrong. Matt had even lost a girlfriend over one of their switcheroos but they adamantly denied
it.
“We wanted to see if you could still tell us apart.” Eric practically dared Gerard.
“I’m Eric.” Matt lied. They were masters at subterfuge. If anything they lied better than they told
the truth.
“Dad.” Sara mildly scolded. Whatever caused the breach was unperceivable. The death in the
family put things in perspective. Their mother, although miserably depressed from loss, was equally
He shirked off her reprimand. “And Brian, you couldn’t look more like Ron if you were a
mirror.” He had wavy hair like the twins and was only three inches shorter but he was blond with lighter
brown eyes.
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“He’s a clone for spare parts.” Matt joked. When Brian was in grade school the twins used to tell
him that all the time until their mother demanded that they stop.
Brian had just turned seventeen and he shook his head at his brother. He wasn’t as easily upset as
he was when he was eight. “And what if Eric needs parts? You think he wouldn’t take them from you in
your sleep?”
“No need. We have a triplet in the basement for that.” Eric winked. What a scary thought if there
Gerard’s kind eyes fell on Kate. The ardor enveloped her but there was a subtle worry behind it.
Kate rolled her eyes. Truth was she didn’t have a lot of friends at school and boys hardly ever
talked to her. Occasionally one would try but one of her brothers would scare them off. Matt and Eric
were the worst but they were away at college during the week. Brian wasn’t so bad but did the same and
she guessed it was from instructions from the twins. She didn’t mind – most of the time.
Gerard hadn’t eaten half his plate when he started making the rounds. She wished to spend all her
time with her grandfather but he had to do his hosting duties and Kate was left wanting. A priest, the same
that conducted the Mass, joined him. They were old friends. She knew that but wasn’t sure how. Insights
like that hit her often and she supposed that was what was meant by women’s intuition.
He was a good preacher. During the Mass Kate felt like an outsider never knowing when to stand,
sit or kneel, something most of those in attendance did automatically. It reminded her of the USC game
they had gone to a few years earlier. The crowd had recited and motioned through the cheers without
hesitation as Kate stood helplessly mimicking the fans nearest her always seconds later. As for his homily,
he skipped over much of the religion and spoke frankly about his two friends and how he would miss Ann
Sanchez.
Sara had been drinking more than she had been eating and the waiters kept her ice from getting
dry. She had upgraded from champagne to gin and tonic and was on her third.
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Kate reached over and squeezed her mother’s arm. “I’m glad we came.” Eric rolled his eyes
slightly at her comment but didn’t contradict. He thought it was ridiculous. Kate couldn’t tell if it was the
fact they were at a funeral of someone they never met or that they hadn’t known Ann that annoyed him.
“Me too.” Sara placed her hand over Kate’s. “I was wrong to let things go so long.”
“Speaking of which,” Matt took the opportunity to pry as he often did, “what happened?”
“It’s not important today.” Sara dismissed. Kate noted that the use of today foretold that the truce
“You aren’t going to tell us, are you?” Eric challenged. The twins were more outspoken every
Sara grew stern but said nothing. There was no need. It wasn’t open for further discussion. Their
The man who had been gawking slyly eyed the Thomas clan but he didn’t approach. Since Gerard
had wondered off he had stayed by the bar surveying. Kate kept him in her peripheral vision. When the
bartender dropped a glass that loudly crashed on the counter Kate’s eyes darted up and for a moment she
was eye to eye with the stranger. He smirked and gave her a nod.
Embarrassed, Kate precipitously turned away without getting a better look. She must have seen
Then it started. People approached the table greeting Sara by name to express their condolences.
Many people remembered her although she moved out of town when she married more than two decades
earlier.
The wait staff was busy and when Sara’s glass ran dry again she opted to get her own replacement.
The brothers were talking animatedly unaware that their mother was on a collision course with the man
She couldn’t see her mother’s expression but the man’s face was gentle and apologetic. They
spoke for a while both very unbendable in their stance. It was a guarded conversation. At one point the
man pointed to the table and caught Kate watching. He didn’t flicker his attention. Nonetheless, Sara
followed his gesture but Kate had already repositioned as if she had been involved in the discussion with
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her brothers. It was only a ruse and Kate’s true attention stayed on the bar. Her mother left in a huff and
Her second glance was too cursory. The same sensation of recognition hit and without revelation
from where.
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Familiar Faces
The lady that had first spotted Kate at the church stopped by their table and stood behind a vacant
chair as she introduced herself. “I’m Ellen Graham. I was very close to Ann.” She had a warm face. Her
eyes were light brown as was her hair where the grey hadn’t completely overtaken the original color.
“I remember you. I met you one Christmas long long ago. But that was before you came along.”
Kate clumsily smiled back. The comment made her feel responsible for the separation. And then
something about Ellen’s eyes seemed so familiar but Kate couldn’t place her finger on it. Brian was rigid.
The twins were as relaxed as ever but that wasn’t telling. They could hide anything behind nonchalant
postures when they wanted or needed or no reason at all. Undoubtedly, they were having one of their
telepathic conversations. The only hint was that they weren’t as verbose as usual. And if that was the case,
Rather suddenly Matt and Eric stood up in precise synchronization. “We need to find our mother.
Excuse us.” Eric didn’t mince words. With that understated order Brian and Kate followed.
“She gave me the creeps.” Matt responded and no one argued because they all agreed.
They walked around people watching and avoiding chatter for a while. The whole town seemed to
know each other and generations mixed easily in different clusters. Then Eric swatted Matt’s shoulder and
nudged in the direction of two girls about their age. They exchanged eyebrow gestures. “We need to
“What was that all about?” Kate rhetorically questioned but noticed that some idea had crossed
Brian’s mind.
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“Don’t worry about it.” He lied. Kate could tell when Brian lied. The twins were practically one
entity and spun tales freely and often. Brian and Kate had grown close in part because of the exclusion.
Brian had just turned seventeen and they were a year apart in school and that reinforced their
bond. The twins’ bond was much stronger which Kate figured gave them their telepathy. Where the
telekinesis came from she didn’t know. It started when they were about Brian’s age and they were very
Brian was helpless to their powers although he was picking up early signs of telekinesis. Kate had
stopped them on more than one occasion. It fluctuated sporadically. She had tried to move things mentally
but without success. They didn’t know a name for her ability to thwart theirs and had dubbed it deterrence.
Eric found it particularly irksome or he was more vocal with his irritation.
The twins took drinks from the bar and shared with their newfound friends. They were completely
undisciplined. And why shouldn’t they be? Their parents had a blind eye to any wrongdoing from them,
an eye that found its sight too readily when looking at Kate, who often got blamed or suffered stricter rules
despite culpability.
Eric was hitting on a petite brunette that was a little too old for him. Kate wished she could shoo
her away the way he shooed people from her but she didn’t have the nerve. Matt was happily flirting with
Before long Kate and Brian found their inebriated mother at the table and Brian joined her. Kate
needed to use the restroom. The house was empty in comparison to the backyard. After taking care of
Everything was perfectly cozy. The kitchen was bright, modern and shiny with a counter and
barstools for breakfast or casual meals. Upstairs were three bedrooms, all well decorated and comfortable.
She walked into the master bedroom and saw four pictures on the dresser; one of her grandparents on their
wedding day, another much more recent and two of her mother from what looked liked her early twenties.
Kate picked up the recent photo of her grandparents to get an idea of what her grandmother looked
liked. She regretted that she never met her. Even in her sixties she was beautiful but then her family aged
well. She put down the picture to bypass a waterfall and looked at the young Sara. In one picture her
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mother was wearing a cap and gown. The other she wore jeans and had her hair in a ponytail sitting on the
Sara was still a pretty woman, maybe even more so. Her mother had gorgeous wavy dark brown
hair and eyes. It was much longer in the pictures than the shoulder length she had then. She was only five
Kate gazed into the full-length mirror at her own image. She was already taller than her mother
and her hair and eyes were much softer shades of brown. She was passing out of that awkward early teen
phase, still more like a child than an adult in the face. Her willowy figure was filling in but less curvy than
her mother’s. She mugged a smile for herself and she saw what her brothers must have seen.
She recalled Ellen’s eyes and they were very much like her own. Not just her eyes but her smile
as well. But Kate’s image had stopped smiling. It was pensive. Ellen must be related to them somehow.
Maybe she was Ann’s cousin or sister. She ran her hand along her face. The shape of her face was
unmistakably her mother’s. She was the only child that didn’t inherit their mother’s wavy hair although the
coloring was similar but lighter. It had grown darker over the years and in time Kate was sure it would
catch up but it could never get as dark, unlike the twins that already matched its shade.
Her mind mulled the ideas over and generated more possible deductions, which were really
unanswered questions. The similarity was why Ellen freaked her brothers and why she stared at her. The
only curious thing was that Ellen didn’t mention any relation between them. Maybe she was Gerard’s
sister. That was possible. But that didn’t explain why it wasn’t part of the introduction. The twins didn’t
really give her enough time. Still if she was kin she should have mentioned it. That wasn’t the right
answer. If Ellen were Gerard or Ann’s sister, she would have sat with him or at least a pew behind.
Kate moseyed to the first floor lost in contemplation. The sun lowered over the horizon but the
gathering showed few signs of thinning. The twins still chatted up the girls near the bar. Her mother,
Gerard and Brian were talking off in a corner to an elderly couple. Brian was absolutely bored and Sara
Ready to rescue Brian she moved forward but stopped. Ellen and the man were talking with their
backs to her. She wanted to see his face again to look for resemblances. They were searching for someone.
They were searching for her. That convinced Kate to continue with her exploration of the house. The
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mystery had her intrigued but she wanted a better idea of the resolution before meeting either of them
again.
She went back to the foyer and crossed into the dining room. Like the rest of the house, it was
idyllic. Beyond it was a classic study covered in bookshelves with a large section devoted to physics, math
and philosophy. There was a glass door leading out to the gathering and Kate peered for the usual suspects.
Kate spun around. Two boys around her age stood in the doorway. They were both about six feet.
One was blond with green eyes and the other was a brunette with blue eyes. They were slender, built and
very attractive. The blond still wore his jacket and looked dashing. The brunette was without a jacket and
gave an impression of an outdoorsy type that didn’t usually suit up for events.
They looked at each other and the blond, who wasn’t the one who spoke before said, “I’m Dave
Kate waved feebly. She never met people without family with her and it didn’t dawn on her to
introduce herself.
After a puzzled glance to his cousin Greg prompted, “And you are…”
Kate caught the cue in time to not look like a complete idiot and shook his hand. Greg’s followed.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Kate struggled for words. “I’m surprised by how many kids are here.”
Greg huffed when she said kids. “Mrs. Sanchez was one of the best teachers at school.”
Kate didn’t know that Ann was a teacher and didn’t even consider that she was still working when
she got sick with leukemia. Maybe Gerard mentioned it in his eulogy. She couldn’t remember.
“You didn’t know.” Greg said bewildered. “Do you know anything about her?”
“Not really.”
“You didn’t even see her when she got sick? She was sick for months.”
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Why hadn’t Gerard called her mother sooner? She could have met Ann before she died. Had he
and her mother declined his offer? “I didn’t know anything until my mother told us we were coming for
“That sucks.” Dave was kinder. “You would’ve liked her. We all did.”
She was running out of ideas for chitchat and her personal story was too raw to share with
strangers. Usually her brothers kept conversations going. It was more grueling than she imagined.
“Are you okay?” Greg asked with his first sign of mild concern.
“It’s a little weird being here. Everyone loved her so much and I never met her.” Kate felt like
Greg rolled his baby blues. “Excuse him, he has been studying for the SATs.”
Kate caught on. “I’m more reticent.” She had been studying for the PSATs.
“I was going to get another coke if you want to come with me.” Kate asked sheepishly. Her
brothers weren’t available to scare off the odd couple from church and Dave and Greg would substitute
adequately.
Kate turned to the door leading to the patio and grabbed the knob. Gerard walked up the steps
headed in her direction. Her mother was with him and visibly angry. Kate wasn’t sure if she was allowed
to wonder around the house. She reversed directions and ran into Greg and Dave who were standing right
behind her. “Let’s go this way.” She pointed to the swinging door.
Kate steadied the swinging door as she heard the other door from the study open and her mother’s
agitated voice. The boys were well ahead of her and when she was in the foyer she suggested they go on
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and she would catch up after a powder break. Greg shrugged and walked on. Dave waited a second longer
but left. As soon as they were gone Kate went back to eavesdrop.
“What I don’t understand is why you didn’t call me when you found out she was sick?” Sara was
furious.
“Blame me. I didn’t want you upsetting her. I didn’t want to have to explain if you didn’t come.
The last time she was sick you didn’t come.” Gerard barked back. Kate wasn’t surprised that he could
match Sara’s furor. After all, he was her father and she had to get it from somewhere.
“You hadn’t in the last sixteen years. I’m surprised you came today. I’m surprised Ron let you.”
“Ron doesn’t control me.” Some spark had faded. Fact was, Ron usually called the shots.
“And would you have brought the kids? Would you have brought Katherine Ann?” Gerard
pushed.
“I shouldn’t have brought her today. And I don’t know where she went. And Ellen and Jim are
“They know nothing.” His steps grew dangerously close to the swinging door. He sensed she was
there. She didn’t know how he knew or how she knew that he knew but the feeling was so strong she
jumped back.
Quietly and quickly she crept back to the patio and down into the tent. She automatically went to
get a drink because she was thirsty and forgot that she had an appointment with the two guys from the
library. Dave was glad to see her but Greg seemed indifferent, perhaps a little shocked that she showed up.
“Hi again.” Kate tried to sound cheerier. She got a drink and they sat at a vacant table. The sun
“How do you like Santa Katrina?” Dave tried to break the ice.
“It’s beautiful.” She said as a hand landed on each of her shoulders. It was the twins flanking her
on both sides.
“We were looking for you.” Eric said as he hypercritically inspected her two companions.
“Matt, Eric,” Kate tried to be proper and introduce people. “This is Dave and Grant.”
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“Greg.” He corrected and Kate reddened from her amateur mistake.
“Hi.” Matt said flatly to the boys. “Come on, Mom wants to head home.”
It was a lie. Kate’s mother was in the study with Gerard but she didn’t mind swapping Dave and
Greg for Matt and Eric, who would ensure that the gawkers would stay clear. “Oh.” Kate turned to her
new friends. “Well, it was nice meeting you.” Dave was disappointed. Greg looked disconcerted. She got
“Why were you sitting with those boys?” Matt’s tone was paternal.
Kate hated being patronized. “I can’t go my whole life never speaking to guys.”
“You can.” Eric laughed it off. Kate would be well out of college before her family let her roam
on her own. Even if she had found them, they were flirting with some girls and would have ignored her or
“Where’s Brian?” Matt scanned the crowd for their last brother.
Brian was getting his ear talked off by the priest that had conducted the service. The twins waved
They walked into the house but the boys didn’t think to look beyond the path they had entered
through. “You stay here and don’t talk to strange boys.” Eric instructed Kate and her brothers went in
She drifted into the foyer debating the pros and cons of checking if her mother was still in the
library with Gerard and if she should interrupt assuming the conversation had cooled. A few steps into the
dining room and she could hear that it had grown in intensity. She skulked back to the living room and sat
with her legs and arms crossed on the Victorian couch. People passed by occasionally expressing their
condolences when they recognized her. So many kids loved her grandmother and her shame was renewed
for not being one of them. Or may be she did love her some, post mortem if that were possible.
A family of four walked out the door as a man retreated back into the house calling out over his
shoulder, “I know which purse you had.” It was the man from the bar.
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For the first time Kate could see his face properly and it was even more recognizable than Ellen’s.
He was a little over six feet and had hair and eyes like hers. They stared at each other for a long while.
Then a smirk crossed his face and he gave a small sideways glance at the door. Ellen had planned the
“You were AWOL for much of the reception.” He began without an introduction.
“My brothers are coming back soon.” She wasn’t sure why she told him. She didn’t mean it as a
threat. She just wanted him to jump to the explanation, if he was going to give one. Her stomach lurched
from anticipation.
Again he glanced back to the door as if his mother had made the arrangements for the moment
they shared alone. “I’m guessing we have a few minutes.” And he sat in the chair next to her. Out of a
nervous habit, Kate put her index finger in her mouth and started nibbling. The man reached over, took her
hand and put it in her lap. His touch was familiar somehow. “You shouldn’t bite your nails.”
Again she felt the sensation of a kindred spirit but it was even more overpowering as when her
“Sandy.” He confirmed.
He sat back astounded by her assumptions and his eyes narrowed. “Do you know who Sandy is?”
“This is a longer conversation and your family will back.” He pulled a business card from his
wallet. Kate quickly put the card in her pocket without reading it. She didn’t need the distraction and she
wanted to study his face. “Don’t call unless you want to.” He got up and picked up a purse that had been
left on the coffee table. As he walked out the front door her brothers came in the back with their mother in
tow.
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Matt drove home since Sara was shaky after all her gin and tonic self-medication. Everyone was
silent and Kate had plenty of time to codify things quietly in her head. She ran through the clues from the
Their home was even more grandiose than Gerard’s. The gate to the property was open and Matt
parked the car in the garage. Ron waited in the kitchen for his family’s return. He was clearly in a foul
mood that only soured when Sara stumbled through the door. “You’re drunk!”
“Three sheets to the wind is more like it. Kids, why don’t you go to your rooms?” It was an order
Once in her room, Kate took out the business card she had smuggled into the house. “James
Graham, President Graham Technologies Inc.” she read. Opening a browser screen on
her MacBook she typed in the company’s web site. It was typical for a software operation that specialized
in games and had some educational programs. Kate clicked on the “about the company” link and
read the milestones and general history. She moved the cursor over the “about us” link and then on
James’ bio. There was a picture of the man she met at the funeral that was about ten years outdated.
A loud crack broke Kate’s concentration and her head popped up from her computer towards the
door. It sounded like glass shattered and she heard Ron yelling. He never got physical except for the
occasional breaking of items. She hated when her parents argued. Without a doubt the topic de jour was
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the funeral that Ron didn’t want them to attend. When Kate’s eyes returned to her desk Eric’s reflection sat
“Everything from today. That man you’re reading about, Ellen, grandpa.” It was very easy for
Kate didn’t mind that Eric saw what she was reading since he didn’t get upset. Eric and Matt
didn’t have tempers like their father but they got controlling. Her brothers were more possessive of her
than her mother and they spent a great deal of effort keeping her a save distance from Ron when he lost
control of himself. It wasn’t needed. Ron was as protective of her as the rest but always from a distance.
For all she could tell, the temper flares were merely theatrical affects and over the years they lost their
potency to scare.
“I’ll change.” She went to the walk-in closet and quickly put on jeans and a shirt. She heard
another crash, bigger than before and the house trembled. Maybe Ron threw something through a window.
Now that was a bit scarier than theatrics. “Do you think we should check on them?” She couldn’t imagine
Ron hurting anyone but if he was throwing things, she didn’t want to risk it.
“Mom was doing fine last I heard. It’s only bravado.” Eric had moved from the bed to the desk
and was reading about James. “I wonder if his wife was Sandy. It could be short for Sandra.”
“That crossed my mind as well. Do you know how she fits into this?” She laced up her Keds.
“Later. Matt and Brian are in the garage waiting. We should go now.” He turned off the
computer and the lights. He stopped at the door. The house was still. In a soft whisper he told her to get in
Kate’s heart pumped from the anxiety as she complied. She pulled her covers over her and rolled
on her side just in time to hear her door open. It was their dad. He took a couple of steps into the room.
Convinced that she was asleep he left without a word. Eric was out of the closet and at the door listening to
see if their dad did the same to the other bedrooms. It was unnecessary because if Ron found an empty
room it would not be a quiet discovery. After a few tense minutes Eric motioned for them to move.
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The knob torqued noiselessly by itself and the door swung open. They hurried across the hall to
the twins’ room and again the door magically opened. As it closed she followed Eric to his window. Their
bedroom faced a tree and was an easy climb to ground. The garage was dark and Matt and Brian waited for
them.
The gates were closed and the twins hopped up on the wall and helped Brian and Kate climb over.
They walked two blocks and sat at a picnic table at the local park. It wasn’t the first kids only meeting they
had. Often when their parents argued the twins stole them out of the house for some peace.
“We need to pull our knowledge together.” Matt said. He was the first-born of the twins and
often spoke as the oldest although their authority was evenly matched. The eerie bond between them didn’t
stop them from loving their brother and sister as well. When the occasion called for it, they split their
“We’ll start.” Matt continued. “Dad never liked Mom’s parents. That’s why they hadn’t spoken
for so long. When Mom was pregnant with you, Kate, she disappeared for six months. We didn’t even
know she was expecting – maybe Dad did. He seemed to know she’d come back. And she did with a
It was the first that Kate had heard about it. Immediately she assumed that her parents had been
“You’re holding back.” Eric interrupted. It was rare for the twins to have different opinions on
anything. Matt shot him a dirty look and Eric waved him to go on.
“It was after her return that we didn’t see or even hear mention of our grandparents. We asked
once but Dad said it was their choice and that was that. Mom was never the same in a whole new way.”
He paused as he contemplated his next sentence. “After today, we think it’s because you aren’t really our
sister.”
“Dad has always been distant with you.” It was true. “Until today I thought it was because you’re
a girl but after seeing Ellen and how much you look like her… I mean, didn’t we all notice a
resemblance?” Brian and Eric nodded. “Or more likely you’re our half-sister.”
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“You think Mom had an affair?” Brian asked picking up the general gist of his hypothesis. He
didn’t care for the direction they were going. “With that man at the funeral?”
“Yeah, that guy. They had a heated discussion.” Brian had taken note of the exchange as well.
“And Ellen called her Sandy later. You guys weren’t there. Mom corrected her but it pissed her off.
Maybe that was a fake name she gave him.” He was already presuming there was a tryst with their mother
and James.
“And you’re the first daughter in who knows how many generations.” Matt added.
She was too stunned to speak. Still, she felt him waiting for her to make a contribution. She
couldn’t think straight let alone speak. When she considered Ellen and James’ relation to her she didn’t
factor in it could displace any known relation she already held in belief. There was enough rationale in her
mind to see they were making plausible propositions but they were her brothers and she was more sure of
“We weren’t the only ones who noticed. Ellen and James saw it too. I’m sure of it.” Brian was
the most insightful of the kids and he was never wrong when he picked up clues. “They were looking for
“Where did you go, by the way?” Eric couldn’t take the suspense.
Kate realized he meant Ellen or James and not the two guys she met. “Well, not then. Later,
when you looked for mother and I waited in the living room, James came in. He gave me his business
card.”
“That was how you found the website.” Eric finished for her. “It said he was married to a woman
named Sandra and Sandy could be short for Sandra.” He squinted his eyes toward Matt. “I think Mom has
a sister.”
“I disagree.” Matt stated flatly shaking his head. “We would’ve met her.”
“The results would be the same if they were identical twins like us. And you can’t deny she was
very different both times she was pregnant. I think Brian is our half-brother and Kate is our cousin.”
Brian rolled his eyes. To think he wasn’t Ron’s son was ridiculous – the similarity was uncanny.
It had gotten out of control. “Wait a second. We’re making a lot of assumptions that are pretty far
fetched.” Kate scolded out of emotional frustration. She was starting to shiver from the tension.
“True. Fact is, both times she was pregnant she was different. So much so that both of us,” Eric
pointed at himself and Matt, “thought she wasn’t our mother. We asked her once where mom was and she
“We were babies and women change when they’re pregnant.” Matt retorted.
“Brian, what do you think?” Eric knew, as they all did, that Brian’s intuition was best.
Brian considered it for a long moment. “Well…we don’t know how she was when she was
pregnant with you. That would be helpful information.” He pondered taking up more time despite his
sibling’s anxieties. “It’s conceivable.” He finally confirmed and Eric had a smug look. “The question is
why switch places. If Mom couldn’t have kids of her own, then they may have swapped when you were
“I would like confirmation before I believe that.” It wasn’t Brian’s sixth sense that held back on
that final concession. It was something he couldn’t bring himself to admit. And yet too many things were
“That would mean Ron,” Kate didn’t know what to call him at that point, “didn’t know about
“He may know or may not.” Eric had thought about that before. “They met on vacation and
eloped quickly after that. He probably hadn’t met any of her family until they were married.”
Kate stood up and paced. All the pieces fit. Their theories tied up a lot of the clues nicely. She
wrapped her arms around herself for support. Deductive reasoning aside, she couldn’t bare to accept it.
“Relax Kate, this is all speculation.” Brian tried to allay their worries.
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“Forgive me for being a little disturbed by all this. None of you are saying your dad isn’t who you
think he is.” Kate didn’t mean to bite off Brian’s head but she needed a solution that didn’t involve her
being an outcast.
Eric stood up and flung his arms around her. “It doesn’t matter to me. You’re my Kate whether
It was good to hear. For someone that often said the wrong thing on purpose, Eric could really hit
“We need proof.” Brian got up. “How do we find out for sure without telling any of the adults? I
don’t think we should let them know we suspect anything, especially if we’re wrong.”
Matt flipped his legs over the bench to face them. “Mom would tell us the truth if we asked but I
“I have a right to know who my real father is.” Kate squeaked into Eric’s chest. She needed to
“We’ll find a way.” Eric vowed. “We still have genetic results from Mom and Dad. We can take
“You can?” Kate pushed back as she wiped away a few stray tears.
“We used the facilities at college. It was a science project.” Matt answered. “We have a friend in
“Where is Sandy now?” Brian asked out of the blue. “I mean, if we have an aunt, wouldn’t she
“If she’s alive.” Matt was thinking out loud. “I didn’t see a grave near Grandmother’s but I
“We can go back tomorrow.” Eric offered. “But I know a way we can find out tonight. We need
to get into the lock box in Dad’s office and see Mom’s birth certificate. It’ll say if it was a single birth or
not.”
been experimenting with locks and we can open them now that we understand the mechanism inside.”
“We absolutely cannot get caught.” Kate warned needlessly. It would be an intolerable act.
They hurried back to their house, which was dark and stagnant. They went to the safe box in their
father’s office. The back window was smashed from earlier. Kate looked out to see what Ron threw but
Eric closed his eyes as he concentrated and after a few clicks the door swung open. Inside the
“In that one. That’s where mine was.” Brian had recently got his driver’s license and had needed
Matt pulled out the file and inside were their parents wedding certificate, passports, Baptism
certificates and birth certificates for the whole family. It was weird they had Baptisms. “That’s odd.
There isn’t a certificate for Mom.” Matt shuffled through the papers again.
“Sshh.” Eric held up his hand. There were footsteps coming down the stairs. “You two hide.”
Eric put things back in order as Matt turned off the light. They all went to the kitchen. Brian and
Kate hid in the pantry and heard the fridge open and close.
It would be bad if Ron discovered them out of bed. If he figured out that they opened his safe and
The kitchen light came on and a beam of brightness shined through the space under the door.
“Hi Dad.” They said in unison with complete innocence. Kate never understood how they pulled
“Late night snack? I don’t know where you two put it all.” He joked. He got a glass of water.
“We were too loud.” Ron never got upset with the twins. They were his pride and joy. “It wasn’t
maneuver.
“It’s over and things are back to normal.” Ron’s heavier steps were distinguishable. He walked to
After a couple of minutes the twins opened the pantry and they all snuck back into their rooms.
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Even in her torpid state Kate couldn’t sleep with theories swirling chaotically her mind. She
tossed and turned until four and finally drifted into a restless slumber. In one dream, her mother was
standing next to her look-alike happily chatting about the children. Then Ann was there. Everyone faded
as the scene changed and she stood overlooking the ocean. Next to her was James. There was a thin mist
covering everything except him, who she could see clearly. She was astonished how well her memory was.
He looked exactly as he had at the funeral down to his clothes. He was in good shape and handsome.
“Hello Kate.” James bear hugged her and the connection Kate felt earlier was more powerful still.
“Many.”
“Ask me anything.” His eyes, which were the same as hers, were gentle.
“You aren’t sure?” Maybe he hadn’t considered she could have a twin.
“So Mom did have a twin.” Kate was surprised that her dream was offering up confirmation and
wondered where in her mind it came from. Was it from unconscious deductions, hidden fears or fantasy?
“I’d like to hear your idea first.” He seemed hopeful as he waited for her to respond.
“It isn’t my idea but it seems possible.” She paused to gather courage, “My brothers think you
There was a delicate tuxedo kitten at his feet that Kate hadn’t noticed before. It ran its body along
“That’s Zuzu. She’s a gift from my mother to you.” He bent down and picked up the kitten. She
didn’t like being held. Her fur was medium length and her feet, belly and tip of her nose were white while
“Keep your window opened and leave water and food in your room. She’ll stay away from the
others.” He handed the restless kitten to her and she accepted it. Zuzu’s hair was fluffy and soft. It was
the most real dream she had ever had. The cat squirmed to be free and Kate stooped to put her back on the
ground. Zuzu rubbed along Kate’s legs and put her paws on her knees.
“She’s adorable.” Kate was in love. Zuzu stared into her eyes kneading her claws gently into her
jeans. It was as if the cat was telling her that she would keep watch on her.
“I’m glad you like her. She’s taken to you nicely. Of course mom was always good with
animals.” He had squatted down to be level with Kate and pet Zuzu. “Let me sort things out. See what I
can find on my end. I’m sure there’s more for Gerard to divulge. I’m going to talk to him tomorrow. I
won’t tell you not to research things on your end but I’d rather you didn’t. This may be a witch-hunt and
nothing changes. But there are some secrets for sure. Old secrets are dangerous. People have put a lot to
He glanced down at the cat, humiliated that he couldn’t speak the words himself. “I’m sure you
are. But if you aren’t, it’s opening a potential wound. And more likely, if you are, what to do next.”
“Next?” Kate reverberated. She hadn’t considered the consequences. Of course she would want
to know her father but how much more tension could her home life take? Things would snap, they were
But Kate didn’t get an answer. She was waking up. Her mother sat on her bed gently nudging
Kate rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hand. Her neck was sore from lack of sleep. She
blinked as she adjusted to the daylight and glanced at her clock. It was eight in the morning.
Kate cleaned up and grabbed her jeans from the night before and a fresh shirt. When she came out
of the closet, Zuzu was laying on her bed. Stunned, Kate scratched her ears and Zuzu purred in ecstasy.
How did the same cat from her dream appear in her room? The window was open as it often was. Maybe
the cat had come in the night and worked its way into her dream.
Sara waited at the bottom of the staircase. Everyone else was still asleep after the late night.
Judging by the bags under her eyes, Sara hadn’t slept all night.
“To Santa Katrina.” She had a determination about her. “I’ll explain in the car.”
Her mother was usually a poky driver but sped down the highway like Matt or Eric would. After
several minutes, as they drove through the Valley, Kate decided she couldn’t take the suspense. “Are we
That was the final confirmation Kate needed. She was already convinced that he was her
biological father but after that statement she let herself trust it. All the lies were about to be unearthed.
“Go on.”
“He’s your father.” Sara glanced at her daughter. “You don’t seem shocked but then you would
“Are you my mother?” Kate tried to sound tender but there was no escaping the audacity in the
question.
“Yes, I am your mother. You seem to have all the answers. Do I even need to explain anything?”
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“I don’t have any answers, only questions.”
“I love you.” Kate didn’t know why she said it. Maybe because when Eric told her she was his
Kate no matter what it assuaged her worries about the potential earth shattering truths that awaited.
“So you’re going to tell me everything about you and James and Sandy?”
Sara gave a long sigh. “You have more than just questions. Sandy? I hadn’t heard that name in
“No. Sara’s my twin. I’m Sandy.” She laughed again with a hint of hysterics. “How long I have
There was a twist that none of the kids had guessed. “And where is Sara?”
“She passed away.” Sandy wiped away tears. “God, I miss her. Matt and Eric have it figured out
better than we did. The bond they share as twins is stronger than any other. Even when they fall in love,
the bond won’t be as…” she hunted for a fitting expression, “intrusive. That isn’t a good word for it. You
never know anything else so it doesn’t feel invasive. It feels unified and unbreakable, invincible even.”
Kate let her mother process through her emotions. It was an old secret, as her dream James had
“That was how it was with Sara and I. Unlike your brothers, we were actually very different. And
except for my sister’s bond, I was extremely independent. Sara dated as soon as we were permitted but I
was happy without a steady guy. Not Sara. She had a draw to powerful men in particular. She dated all
the top boys at school and she loved to steal from other girls. She was what you would call a vamp.
Luckily my taste in men was the antithesis of hers or maybe because we were sisters, she never meddled in
“When we started college she insisted we rush a sorority. I didn’t find it my cup of tea but she
joined one and slowly we started down different paths. We were so connected that we knew each other’s
minds and hearts as well as our own and it was like living two lives at once. A year after college, a close
sorority sister of Sara’s was getting married and a group went to Vegas for a bachelorette weekend. That
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was where she met Ron. He was at the electronic convention with his co-worker/girlfriend. Sara worked
her magic and by the end of the week, he was hers. She knew our parents wouldn’t like him. He was too
temperamental, even for her, but she loved him. A month later they were married in Hawaii.”
“Of course, I knew I wouldn’t like him because I experienced it in a vicarious but substantial way
so I conveniently was out of town when they came home. It was the only time she brought him to Santa
Katrina. We didn’t see each other much after that. I moved to Boston and worked there teaching. It was a
lot of fun and being home in Santa Katrina was hard without her. When she could get away she split her
time between California and Massachusetts. Often our parents would time a trip to Boston in sync with
hers and that was how it went for the first couple of years.”
“After that, she told me that Ron wanted a baby. She couldn’t have kids. She had an abortion in
college and it messed her up.” Sandy frowned at Kate. She was mature enough to understand the story but
considering where it was headed, she worried it was too much. “We had traded places so many times and
she had a brainstorm. She begged me to have a baby for her. I was appalled by the idea, she meant for us
to switch places but I couldn’t deny her that. And that was when the twins were born. It was the worst
year of my life.”
Kate tried to hide the revulsion thinking of her mother sleeping with her sister’s husband to have
“Sara was in Boston all the time taking my place but even with that distance we were so closely
bonded. She cramped, bloated and craved right along with me. After they were born, I quickly lost the
weight and we swapped back. Sara was able to nurse. It was about the weirdest thing ever. Ron, still
controlling, was always a doting husband when I was pregnant, which helped. Heirs, male heirs were very
important to his family. Well, you know how your grandparents are on his side.”
It was true. Ron had fallen a good distance from the proverbial tree. He was never cruel or mean,
just removed and only with her. But his parents were draconian. They didn’t care for Kate at all. Her
brothers were very turned off by it and most protective of her when they visited.
“It worked and even being so far from the boys, I felt close because of her. Motherhood made me
miss my mother and she got sick for her first time shortly after the twins were born. I moved back to
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California. It wasn’t as hard at home knowing that Sara had her boys to keep her happy. She loved them
so much.” She cleared away another stray tear with the back of her hand.
“I ran into Jim then. We had dated in high school and he was still so handsome. Somehow he
broke through my barriers, something he couldn’t do before. We didn’t go to the same school and he didn’t
know I had a twin. He melted my hard heart. All of Sara’s dating inured me on men before I even tried for
myself. I never told him I had a twin. Ron would want more sons and that meant Sara would take my
place. We would swap again. And we did. Ron never doubted I was Sara but Jim seemed to tell I wasn’t
myself on some level. He never slept with her – but he was affectionate in the general ways. He wrote it
“And after Brian was born, I lost the weight and we transitioned back to our rightful husbands.
Jim was suddenly insatiable from his time of celibacy and we were very active.” Sandy blushed. “You
Sandy raised her eyebrows. “It didn’t seem so to us. We were so in tune I knew when she was
fooling around. I could block it out but again it was like my other life. I was as honest as was safe with
Jim. He knew I had only been with one other man and that I hadn’t loved him.”
“Sara begged me for another child right away. I told her it was my last and we swapped. And I
got pregnant on cue. I used the rhythm method, which made timing the swaps so that I got pregnant right
away easy. Getting pregnant with you was different than the other times. At first I didn’t think much of it
but then I started to wonder if you were a girl. This worried me because Ron didn’t want daughters. When
I told Sara about my concerns she panicked. She said that Ron’s family never had girls. I know genetically
it can be favored that way but still exceptions happened. She told me that his family was different than
other people. They had skills, telekinetic skills, and that was how they ensured male offspring.”
“Dad’s telekinetic?” Kate blurted out. It made sense. She wondered if her mother suspected the
“Very precise skills except when he’s mad and can’t control it. Things will break when he his
holding back his anger. His parents have awful tempers. He does a good job fighting it. He expects to see
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signs of telekinesis soon in the twins. We have our skills too, telepathy and empathy and we can hinder
others from using theirs. Ron doesn’t know about that. And we have a lot of twins, not really sure why.”
“Telepathy?” Again Kate’s mind leapt to the twins. “Isn’t all this rare?”
“Not as rare as you think and it isn’t unusual to find others like us or with different gifts. But all
the gifts materialize late in development. The twins are actually behind schedule. They may hide it. Ron
“The more he understands something the easier it is for him to manipulate the outcome.”
Eric had said something similar about the mechanics of locks the night before.
Sandy continued. “It may be biological but it’s a physical act and can be controlled. So now I
was worried because I realized at four months that you were Jim’s.”
“I didn’t like the idea of putting chemicals into my body and it’s as reliable as any other form.
Sara was the same way and she only got pregnant once when she was drunk. Trust me, she proved it
worked.”
“Go on.” It sounded ridiculous to Kate but it was too late to correct mistakes.
“Sara and I left both our lives and moved to Colorado, where you were born. Before we could
decide what to do about the boys, a drunk driver killed her and I was alone. I couldn’t leave the boys and if
Ron learned the truth he would take them from me. It’s Sara’s name on their birth certificates. And I
couldn’t go back to Jim and tell him, oh, I was pregnant and the woman he lived with for four months was
really my twin. I did what I thought was best for our children. She had my ID with her at the time and I
It was odd that even though she was their physical mother she referred to them as our children.
“When I came home with a daughter Ron assumed I had cheated on him. He was furious. I saw
his ugly side in person. He was so sweet when I was baby baking. And I think it was the first time he
broke something when he didn’t mean to. It terrified me because he didn’t touch it. His mother was even
angrier. She called me a hussy but Ron threw her out. He said regardless of whom the father was, he
would raise you since you were my daughter. He loves you but he can’t bring himself to be close because
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deep down, he knows you aren’t his. As for us, he called it over when I returned but didn’t want the
embarrassment of a divorce. We are merely parents. We have a friendship but that’s all and it’s strained.”
They were in Santa Katrina city limits and Kate didn’t know how much time was left. “And
now?” Kate pressed. Dream James had brought up the idea of what to do next and Kate didn’t know what
her mother’s plan was as they neared the real James to tell him he had a practically grown daughter.
“I’ll deal with Ron later. It was wrong for me to keep you from Jim. Actually, I think it’s illegal.
A day hasn’t passed that I don’t feel the tremendous guilt. I always knew that but seeing him yesterday.”
She shook her head. “I tried to stare him down in the church. I don’t know what he must have thought
when he saw you kids with me. But even a blind man could see the likeness between you and him. Then I
bumped into him and it was too late to turn around. He called me Sandy and I almost forgot my fraudulent
self. Sixteen years of being Sara I had lost who I really was but seeing him made it all disappear. But I did
regain control and corrected him. He was confused and hurt. I don’t think he believed me. And he was
right.” She paused. “All this needs to be between us until I know what to do about everything.”
“Okay, but the boys suspect something. They think you had an affair and I’m only their half sister
or their cousin.”
“They do?” Sandy wasn’t that shocked. “That may be our story.”
She drove down a windy road that had small strip malls and office buildings and pulled into the
Realignment
Ellen was on the phone at the front desk. Whoever she was speaking to was told their call would
be returned. She clicked some buttons as she motioned them forward. “Can you come here?” She said
“Welcome.” Ellen shot Sandy a cool look and a warm one to Kate.
“What is it?” Jim said as he walked into the reception area. He stopped abruptly at the sight of
They wove through the cubicles and offices to the largest. Every few steps Jim checked they were
still behind him. Sandy and Kate sat in two chairs in front of his desk as he closed the doors and the blinds
to the window looking out into the building. The view from the other windows was gorgeous. It spanned
“It’s good to see you again.” Sandy said. “This is my daughter, Katherine Ann.”
Kate waited for the lecture. She expected Jim to yell. Instead he was quiet and careful as he had
been in her dream. He ran his hand through his hair. “I thought so.” He looked long and hard at Kate and
“You had a twin and traded places.” He guessed. “Some times.” His eyes narrowed as he
“So you’re Sandy.” After he said that he glanced at Kate to see if he spoke out of turn.
He held his hand over his mouth as his brain worked out the math.
Kate’s phone started to vibrate. She pulled it out and read the text messaged from Eric. “Where
are you?”
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“It’s Eric.” She said to her parents.
Kate walked out of the office and into an empty conference room and called Eric. “Hi, I’m with
“We love you too. Wait until I have my say on the matter.” Eric hung up. Funny but Jim was
“They’re worried.” She told her biological parents when she returned.
“If you’re here and telling us everything, what does that mean?” Jim wanted to know what
“I wanted to know what you had to say.” Sandy watched Jim carefully. Kate could see that her
“You haven’t told me everything. I don’t mean the story. What’s the situation?”
“Very to the point. I don’t know what Ron will do. He won’t malign us but his parents may try.
“His mother is wicked. She’ll come after me. Still Kate is safer here.”
“Here? Temporarily?”
Sandy frowned and took her time answering. “Permanently. I think you should take custody. I’ll
sign it over.”
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Kate’s head whipped towards her mother. Did she hear that correctly?
He popped out of his chair and stared out over the ocean. “Shit! Oops. You didn’t hear that.” He
pointed to Kate. “You come in here after sixteen years and tell me I have a daughter and you’re giving me
custody?”
The words were like cold blasts of icy water on Kate. She wanted him to be happy to find her.
“If you don’t want her, I understand. We can go back to how things were. But it can’t be half
“Don’t want her?” He was incredulous. “Of course I want her. I want to know her. I want to
turn back the clock and watch her grow up for myself. But dammit Sandy it isn’t that simple. We would
“A few days at the fastest. Can you stay here? Maybe with Gerard? Are you sure about this?”
“The twins are in college and Brian is a little more than a year away from eighteen. I can leave
Ron and move in with my father. I don’t want to give up custody but Ron can’t keep it. He wouldn’t make
visitation easy for you or me since I’m sure he’ll divorce me. If he wants to see her, he can come here but
Kate’s head was reeling hearing them talk about her like property. Thinking she may not see Ron
much if at all was terrifying. And her brothers, how could she live without them?
Kate didn’t pause. “I want to get to know you.” It wasn’t a choice. It was a need, pure and
simple. A slough covered her that wasn’t her truest self and she needed to molt to be reborn.
“I’ve had plenty of time to think about this over the years.” Sandy interrupted. “What isn’t an
option is keeping things as they are and getting to know Jim. You’ll have to make a tough choice.”
Kate didn’t often get to make decisions. There was no need in a family of six and being the
youngest. And she never made important calls and that was as important as a choice could be. Kate stared
at her mother thinking about the story she heard on her way to meet Jim. And she looked at Jim. There
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was so much she wanted to know about him. So many questions that needed solving. It was her brothers
that made her decision painstaking. “So I stay here and never see my brothers again?”
“They would see you. You couldn’t live with them but they’ll always be your brothers. You
know that.”
The twins were already in college, University of California, Santa Barbara, which was close to
Santa Katrina. Brian would follow in a year. She felt an emptiness grow in her very soul. Ron wouldn’t
forgive her mother and he might disown her. It was a choice between two fathers. She needed to know
Jim. Ron’s actions would be his to choose. “Let’s do this.” It took every fiber of courage to speak.
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After lunch, they met with Jim’s lawyer to start the legal papers and he recommended the quickest
route to get a blood test. Results would take three days and that was the short cut. It was three o’clock
They drove to Gerard’s house and he joined them in the long arduous drive back to San Marino.
Before they turned the engine off the twins and Brian were outside.
“Kate and I are going to stay with your grandfather for a few days.” She answered tersely.
“Why?” Eric didn’t take his eyes off Kate. She was going to be taken from him.
“You’ll find out later.” They entered the house and Ron stood in the hallway.
“Kate, get your things.” Sandy ordered and turned to Ron. “Let’s have this out.”
Her brothers sat around her bedroom as she packed. Zuzu stretched and yawned and followed
“We all have the same mother but I have a different father. I’m only your half-sister. But she
wants to tell you.” She packed some trinkets, the sort of things that didn’t seem like much at the time but
“You aren’t coming back?” Eric said sullenly as she packed a picture he drew before she was
born of the family. It was awful but their mother had framed it and kept it in Kate’s room.
Kate stopped moving and looked at her brother. Tears welled in her eyes. “I don’t know. Not to
Kate shook her head. “I have another father and we need to get acquainted.” She fought back the
urge to cry but it was building. She was running out of audacity.
“This sucks.”
Kate’s hole in her soul ached to think of Ron and the possibility of never seeing him again. “No.
He understood.
“Where did this cat come from?” Brian tried to get Zuzu’s attention.
“She came into my room last night. She’s Zuzu.” The cat peaked up recognizing her name.
“Come here Zuzu.” Hoping up on the bed she allowed Brian to pet her.
Eric sat next to the affectionate cat and played with her tail. “She’s cute.” He said trying to sound
“I’ll take her with me.” Kate had put her laptop into her book bag and picked up her duffle. With
Eric didn’t say a word and held her longest. He was having the hardest time. She was his little
sister since the day he met her. He shared her with Matt and Brian but he always considered her as his and
She wiped away the tears that finally pooled and fell. They marched down stairs in reverse birth
order and the adults waited, their meeting over. Surprisingly there was no yelling or breaking.
“And where did that come from?” Ron glanced oddly at Zuzu.
“Sure thing.” Gerard answered taking the kitten and Kate’s bags out the door.
Then Ron did something unexpected by all. He hugged her. It was a long tight loving embrace.
“I love you. I know I never shared it well but I do. If you ever need me, I’ll be there.”
She sat in the back seat of the car with Zuzu on her lap doing her best to think about nothing rather
than how her all was changing forever. Why did she agree to move to Santa Katrina? Why bade farewell
to everything she had ever known? It was because she had to.
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“He took that well.” Gerard commented as they drove off from the only home she knew. When
Sara first married Ron, he didn’t take to him. But the Ron he just met was a different man, a broken man.
“The truth is healing. And now he understands why I stopped being his loving wife.” Sandy’s
eyes were raw and red. She had been crying as well. “He’s a good man underneath his icy exterior. Sara
did well for herself. His wired wrong – guess he inherited that – but he knows and he does his best to be a
“Ron will tell them everything tonight.” Sara’s eyes darted to Kate who was nodding off from her
“I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t know that Kate wasn’t Ron’s until I met her.” Gerard
felt responsible.
He shook off his guilt as best he could. “I’m glad you did this. It was your mother’s dying wish
“And that you didn’t see Ann before she passed is my fault. What a foolish family we are.” They
Some Errands
Zuzu woke Kate up the next morning pawing softly at her face. She sat up and couldn’t remember
anything after she passed out in the car. There was a food dish and water for Zuzu and a litter box in the
bathroom. Kate recognized the room from the day of the funeral. It was one of the unused bedrooms in
Gerard’s house. She took a relaxing shower and put on some long shorts and a tank top.
Her mother was in the kitchen making breakfast. “You look better.”
“Good.” She prepared a plate of pancakes and bacon and poured a glass of orange juice for Kate.
“It’s always a home for you to come to.” Gerard walked in with the newspaper and sat on the
Sandy fixed two more plates and juices and they were too absorbed in their meal to talk.
“So, what’s on the agenda for today.” Gerard picked up their plates and put them in the sink.
“I called Jim this morning. He wants to spend the day with you.” Sandy pulled Kate’s long hair
“That’ll be nice.” The idea frightened Kate. What if he didn’t like her? Maybe she wouldn’t like
him. He seemed nice enough but she hadn’t spent more than a few hours with him and almost none alone.
Outside of a few school friends, she hadn’t been alone with anyone without family. Jim was family. She
would cope.
On schedule, the doorbell rang and Kate was ready. Jim gave her a hesitant embrace. “We’ll be
back by dinner time. Mother was hoping we could all go out together.”
They walked out the door and Kate got into his silver Escalade.
“We have one errand and then we can do whatever you like.” Jim was excited with a hint of
terror. He wanted her to like him. No, he needed her to love him.
“Anything is fine.” Kate was terrified with a hint of excitement. Her love for him was growing.
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They drove up to the gates of a mansion and down the long and winding drive. “St.
Ignatius Loyola” was inscribed in the plaque on the gate. It was three stories tall and beyond the
parking lot were four pristine tennis courts. There were a handful of cars but it was mostly vacant.
Jim stopped and his joy ebbed. “Would you prefer that? This is one of the best school’s in
California.”
“I hadn’t thought about it.” Kate hadn’t spent one second in the couple of days that her life turned
upside down to think about her education once she moved. The idea of moving out of her home was
daunting enough. Little persnickety details like school were too far down the list to worry about.
“They may not be able to take you so late. But let’s check it out.” He had a spring in his step as
he bounded up the stairs and entered his alma mater. “It hasn’t changed a bit.”
The grand entrance had a wooden staircase wrapping upward to the left. It was like a small castle.
The ceiling had classical arches and the floor was marble. It was straight out of a movie set.
“Oh, we have more computers now.” A priest strolled out of a room that had a sign saying
“Administrative Office.” It was the priest who preformed the Mass for her grandmother’s
funeral. He was in his sixties and a couple of inches shy of six feet. His hair was black with grey temples
and he had a genial face. “And to what do I owe this unprecedented visit?”
“Father Francis.” Jim vigorously shook his hand and pulled Kate close. “This is my daughter
Kate.”
Kate startled at Jim when he introduced her. He was technically accurate but this was the first
time someone other than Sara, well Sandy or Ron had referred to her as a daughter.
Father Francis was just as shocked. “I didn’t know you had a daughter.”
“It’s a crazy story but this is indeed my long lost daughter and she will be moving to Santa
“You mean St. Ignatius’ I’m sure.” He automatically corrected. “She isn’t a freshman and we
have a waiting list but we have made the rare exception for worthy legacies. Let’s talk in my office.” He
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led the way to a room labeled “Head Master” and closed the door behind them. “Would you like some
coffee or water?”
They each took a bottle of water as the priest played at his computer for a minute. “We may be
able to work it out. What year are you and what is your GPA?”
“I’m a junior, sir, and I am not sure of my exact GPA. I get all A’s except for history and
biology.”
“I recall another student of mine that didn’t like memorization subjects as he classified them.” He
“I was baptized.” Kate was trying her best to impress although she wasn’t sure why.
He chortled. “I’m sure you do. But did you go through any other sacraments; Penance, First
Communion, Confirmation?”
Kate didn’t understand the question but Jim did. “I don’t think so. Her mother isn’t religious.”
“Not for admission. It was just my personal curiosity as a family friend.” He wasn’t ashamed.
Kate was catching on to the implication. It wasn’t a polite question. But religions were prone to
prehistoric ideology and were very big on abstinence and marriage. She began to feel that she didn’t
“So I take it you don’t have any religion study grades.” He had meant her religion grade when he
asked earlier. “We have a prerequisite for religion every year here. Will that be a problem?”
priest?
If he wasn’t impressed by her marks, he was then. “Excellent. But you did say you were Sandy’s
“That’s correct.”
“Well, Gerard does teach here and we will never fill Ann’s shoes. Legacies are helpful but we do
not decline an able child of our teachers’. We won’t have any problems.” He opened a file drawer and
pulled out an admission folder. “We’ll need your transcript as soon as you can get a copy. This is for
incoming freshmen but it covers essentials for any new student. Once we have her schedule ready, I’ll
Jim thanked him for the information and they left the building.
“He thinks I was born out of wedlock.” Kate blurted out when they were safely in the car.
“Good thing he doesn’t know the whole story. It is far more bizarre than that.” Jim made a good
“But it isn’t his business. Is it?” Kate inquired. Maybe Jim thought nothing of Father what’s-his-
Kate picked up the folder and started reading. It touted their curriculum and college acceptance
rate. There was a section on sports and she was glad to see that tennis was an option for physical
education. Fridays were always short days and free dress. Kate didn’t understand the free dress term until
she turned the page that had the uniform and dress code. “A uniform?”
“Do they have a dungeon in lieu of detention?” She was only joking.
“JUG. But you won’t have to worry about that. Or do you get into trouble?” Jim had a curious
expression.
“Jug?”
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“JUG.” He repeated. “It stands for justice under God. It usually entails a little physical labor and
“Physical labor? What century do these holies think it is?” Kate grimaced.
“Enough.” He quickly glanced at her disgusted expression. “You don’t have to go here. We’ll
drive by the public school so you can see it. I won’t be offended if you’re more comfortable with that
Again Kate had an option and it was important. “I’ll go wherever you think is best.” She wasn’t
Kate rolled her eyes but he didn’t catch her. “What did he mean when he said religion was a
requirement?”
“They have four years required religion but they won’t expect you to make up the first two.”
“How hard is your religion that you need that many classes?”
He threw his head back in muffled laughter. “You don’t have to be Catholic to go to St. Ignatius’.
And since you’re a junior you have elective options like philosophy or denominations and world religions.”
“Not in depth. But they had a class called World Religions when I was a kid. You don’t like the
idea of Catholic school. It’s the education that makes it worth it. It’s a private institution and there are
“I have mixed feelings about the religion but I like that Gerard teaches there. I don’t know him
either. Is he Catholic?”
“Not very but more in the last years that he started teaching at St. Ignatius’. I was surprised that
“Me too. We found baptism papers in the lock box when we were looking for mother’s birth
certificate.”
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“So you do get into trouble.” He seemed a little pleased as if that was some proof that she was his
daughter.
“It was Eric’s idea and we didn’t get caught so there was no trouble.”
“You were looking for your mother’s birth certificate to see if she was a twin?”
“That’s right.” Kate recalled her peculiar dream from a couple nights back. “We actually kind of
“I remember.”
“It’s a family talent. If we know someone well, we can will ourselves to meet in our dreams. I
wasn’t sure if it would work with you since we had only briefly met but as it turned out, it was easier than
ever.” He hadn’t convinced her. “How do you think you got Zuzu?”
“I figured she happened into my room and I worked her into my dream. You gave her to me? But
“No. And I don’t think you could do that with people but Mom was sure it would work with Zuzu
and she wanted to keep an eye on you in case you were my daughter, which you are, and in case Sandy was
“Another family secret. We get along very well with animals. Mom is exceptionally gifted in that
“It’s not like a people conversation but she can get her wishes across and she can read theirs.
Kate had hit overwhelmed long ago and all the over stimulation numbed her mind. She decided
not to ask any more questions that could add to her perplexing state. “So where to now?” That seemed like
a safe direction.
and bland with a chain-linked fence surrounding the entire property. It looked feeble in comparison. It was
like a prison being compared to a resort. To add to the stark contrast were two tennis courts in disarray.
Jim was glad to hear her say that. “The choice is yours.”
It was so easy for Kate to talk to Jim. She didn’t feel the need to be overly polite. Jim didn’t think
she was impertinent as her grandparents on Ron’s side often did. He was very open to hear her opinions
and was willing to give her room to make her own conclusions.
Kate liked that Jim gave her options. She hated it too. What if she made the wrong choice? What
if she hated it at St. Whoever’s? What if the public school wasn’t any better? San Marino public school
was small and competitive with private schools. She had the best of both worlds there, no religion classes
Jim took her to his house next. It was a two-story tall Spanish style home. Inside was decorated
Southwestern with many colors muted out to more neutral tones. A pleasant sweet aroma wafted in the
hallway. “I told mother that we’d see her later but she couldn’t wait.”
“Consider it pay back for all the years you didn’t listen to me.” Ellen walked in to greet them.
She was wearing an apron around her jeans and she looked like one of those young retirees that spent most
“I have chicken salad for lunch and fresh baked cookies.” Ellen kept her distance. She didn’t
They went into the kitchen that had a dinning set ready with lunch plates. Ellen served them salad
and they dug in. “What have you done so far?” She asked her son and newly found granddaughter.
Jim motioned for Kate to answer. She swallowed some iced tea before speaking. “Jim showed
Ellen was confused by the slanted responses. She turned to Jim for clarification.
“So. Are you? When was the last time you were at Mass outside of Christmas or Easter?”
Kate snickered.
“Remember how he treats me so when you sass him he shouldn’t mind it.” Ellen playfully
scolded.
Jim rolled his eyes. “Come on Kate. Let’s show you the house and you can pick out your room.”
They gave Kate the grand tour of her new home, a new home without Matt, Eric or Brian. It was
much larger than it seemed from the front. The kitchen opened up to a den with a large TV, two couches
and a recliner. Through there was a replete rec room with a pool table, dartboard, upright piano and bar.
Both rooms had double glass doors that opened to the backyard where there was a barbeque and pool
before there was another arm of the house on the far side.
They walked outside. Past the house was a half-acre of yard that had wilderness beyond it before
dropping off the horizon with the Pacific Ocean rolling in the distance. It was in that backyard that her
Kate repeated how lovely it was as they walked into a home office that was more cluttered than
the one he kept at his work. Through the next door was an art room that had some supplies like a potter’s
wheel and some paints. Jim had converted a closet into a dark room that hadn’t been used since digital
cameras had become so available. It was Ellen that liked to play with different crafts but she didn’t have
the space at her home. They walked into a living room that had a view of the front yard. It wasn’t used
much except when his nieces were over and the adults needed some place less rowdy to escape.
Kate felt the numbness grow when she learned she had cousins. Her curiosity wanted more
specifics but she wasn’t ready. She would wait until she subsided to whelmed before excavating for more
details.
They walked upstairs to the second floor. After the rec room, the master bedroom was the next
most manly. It was darker colors and looked preppy rather than Southwestern. There were three other
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bedrooms, one that was completely empty and another almost as large as the master. This was the room
they expected Kate to choose and she did. It was the only of the three that had a walk in closet.
“How do you want to decorate?” Ellen was excited to work on a new home project.
“It’s fine.”
“I want to redo it all.” Ellen added enthusiastically. “Paint, new curtains, new furniture, the
works.” She held her arms out as she envisioned a new look.
“Furniture? This looks fine.” There was a bed and dresser set in light colored wood.
“We’ll put this in the empty room. It won’t go to waste but that bed is too hard and you’ll need a
desk.” Jim wanted Kate to have her own style. It was her home.
“Sure. It’s just a lot to think about. Everything’s happening so fast.” She was exhausted.
“It is.” Jim agreed. He was as new to the idea of having a daughter as she was that he was her
father.
“No.” Ellen said. “It can be hot pink if you like, but please don’t make it hot pink.”
“Not hot pink.” Kate consented. She scanned around at the austere room unable to see the
“How about a soft yellow for the paint. We can do a lot with that and a dark room looks so
bleak.” It was clear from Ellen’s suggestion that Jim had chosen his own décor for his room.
“I like yellow.”
“Let’s get the furniture first? We can work on your room once you move in but you’ll need a
New Furniture
Jim pulled up to a local store called Andrew’s. A man greeted him by name. Andy, the owner,
lived next door. He was very tall about six four and in fair shape, just a little pudgy in the waist. His hair
was blond and he had blue eyes. Jim introduced Kate as his daughter. It didn’t startle her the second time.
Andy must have been curious where a long lost child popped up from but he didn’t question further. He
Andy walked them around the showroom. He had a silly personality that made it easy to like him.
They found a great bedroom set that had a queen bed, nightstand, dresser, sitting chair, full-length
mirror and a desk. It was a thin rustic style where the wood looked uneven. Kate liked it because it felt
comfortable. With a large forest green comforter and matching cushion it looked very masculine on
display but Andy said it would soften up with a pastel or bright color.
The men went to finish business as Kate sat in her new chair. The dark green cushion would be
changed once they had a theme. She had to admit, she enjoyed buying furniture and she treasured her new
property.
“Where are your henchmen?” The blond boy from the funeral stood in the store.
“Excuse me.”
At first her face opened in recognition that he meant the twins but then it hardened as she realized
“It’s mine now.” She answered proudly running her hands along the arms. “We’re getting the
whole set.”
“Really.” Dave glanced up at Jim filling out the paperwork. “Why is Jim buying this for you?”
“Jim is my father.” It was weird for her to say. Kate was going to have to get use to it.
“I just meant that you are kind of old and this is the first I have heard about it.”
“We’re neighbors. I know his sister and her kids and I’ve never heard about you.” Dave had a
gentle countenance but evidently he felt there was more mystery to uncover.
“Well, I was living with my mother but I’m moving in with Jim now.”
“Why now?” He wasn’t rude but the inquiry felt that way.
Kate wasn’t ready to answer so many intimate questions. “Just works out that way.” She stared
“Intrusive question.”
“Yeah.”
“Maybe we can hang out. I can show you around.” He inelegantly wrung his hands over each
other.
“Sure. I mean, I’m not even settled yet but after that.”
“Hey Dave.” Greg came into the display area of her new furniture. “And the lovely Katie.”
“Welcome.” Greg dismissed her and told his cousin, “I’ll have to wait until dad’s finished before
“You won’t have any problems getting money from him today.” Dave nudged his head towards
the register.
“And this is the set he sold.” There was a telling hint in Dave’s voice.
“Really?” He turned to Kate in the chair and then to cash wrap. “Jim is getting this set?”
Kate hadn’t anticipated to hear her name attached to Jim’s surname. Would she change her last
name? She may have to. “You can call me Kate.” She avoided a committed answer.
“It’s comfortable and casual. It looks too boyish with all this green but we’ll chick it up.”
“Chick it up.” Greg liked her expression. “Sure. It’ll work in a girl’s room.”
“I completely agree.” He was beaming and it irked her. “You should tell my dad that. He likes to
know that people like the home made stuff rather than the factory bought.”
Dave was about to answer but Greg hit his shoulder. “Dude, why does Meg have to bring
Stacey?”
Kate followed his line of vision. He was looking in the mirror and she couldn’t see what he meant
at first. She turned to the door and saw two girls looking around the showroom. One was a very cute blond
who could be related to them. The other had shoulder length red hair and was stunning. She lit up when
“You know why. Come on before they come this way. See you around.” Dave waved to Kate.
“Bye.” Greg left behind his cousin and met the girls.
Kate got up to see if Jim was done with business. He was and they talked about baseball.
Apparently Jim thought that Torre would be good for the Dodgers. Andy fretted that once a Yankee always
“What do you think?” Andy challenged Kate predicting her to dodge the question.
“Well, he got us into the post season last year. I think this is his chance at redemption.” Kate may
be light on the minutiae but she was informed enough to know the Dodgers hadn’t seen too many October
earlier.
“I have two more rooms. Bring ‘em on.” Jim motioned with his arms as if welcoming crowds.
“Did you hear the register?” Andy clearly considered himself a funny man. Kate thought so too.
“Why? Did you sell something? What did you sell?” He was mockingly ingenuous.
“I really like the furniture. It’s the best set in your store.” Kate said honestly.
“Not that piece. Greg made that set. It’s his first big sale.”
Greg’s smile couldn’t have been smugger. Kate was perturbed by his arrogance. He had duped
“It’s great. There wasn’t even a close contender.” Jim added unwittingly fueling Kate’s irritation.
“Let’s see when we can deliver the furniture.” The two men walked off to the stock room.
“Oh, do you really like it?” She mimicked his voice. “How much food does your ego need?”
“Nah, that wasn’t why I did that. It was nice to know you were just saying it without knowing. I
mean, if you learned I made it you may have said nice things to be kind.”
“I promise never to be kind to you.” She tried to be fierce but her smirk belied the impression.
“I deserve that.” He held his head down and looked up pouting in an apologetic gesture.
“Stop that, you look preposterous.” It was the sort of maneuver any of her brothers would pull on
“Just trying to warm you up.” He stared at her with his baby blues and smiled on one side.
“Why?”
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“Dave wants me to ask you to come with us to Catalina tomorrow. I told him you probably
couldn’t if you are in the process of moving but, I don’t know, I guess he thinks you’re cute or something.
That was needlessly mean. “Maybe I’m not your type.” Her mind jumped to the red head.
“I see it. I’m making sure you knew it was Dave who was interested. I’ll tell him no.” Greg
walked off.
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Family United
The furniture would arrive the next morning and there was still one more day before they could
get the tests and the papers done. Jim picked up Ellen and they met up with Gerard and Sandy at a local
fish house on the pier. As promised Ellen was on good behavior but she wasn’t happy with Gerard or
Sandy was a little uncomfortable but Gerard ignored it. He was overjoyed that Kate would go to
St. Ignatius. She made a mental note of the name of the school since it would be hers.
The next day Ellen joined them in the morning to get a bed spread and sheets and other things for
her room and bathroom. They had lunch at home and then got her school uniforms.
It was all good fun except for the uniforms. The plaid was hideous but there were worse options
that must have belonged to other schools in the area. At least she could wear any sweater and shoes, as
The day after that the blood work came back confirming that Jim was her genetic father. At the
lawyer’s office Sandy cried. Jim told her they didn’t have to do it that way.
“I have had her for sixteen years. She needs to know her father. I’m doing this for her as well as
It was official. Jim had full custody of Kate. She moved what she had at Gerard’s to Jim’s house
and brought Zuzu. Her bed had arrived and her room looked great. They would paint, redo the curtains
and seat cushions. She didn’t think she would get a minute of sleep but faded off quickly, content in her
new home.
That Saturday, her brothers paid a visit. Kate missed them so much. The kids went off on their
own exploring the pier. It was nice to spend time with them in person and get updates. Ron had apparently
gone into semi-isolation. He was lost in his own home. It didn’t feel the same without her. Sandy slept in
Kate’s room when she was in San Marino. Every visit she brought another load of things for her daughter.
Kate reassured them that Jim was a great guy and she was warming up to Ellen. Ellen was very
likeable except for the un-forgiveness she held against her mother.
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She spotted Greg and Dave but they didn’t approach with her security guards nearby. They were
with a large group of kids that included the blond and red head girls from the store. And the red head
stayed close to Greg at all times. Dave grinned when their eyes met but she looked away, shy and not
At the end of the day, her brothers promised to come back next Saturday.
The first full week at Jim’s was awkward. It wasn’t just missing her family but catching up on
sixteen lost years. He took two weeks off work to spend with her. He would have taken more time but
school would start after Labor Day weekend. They were finding they had a lot in common. It helped to
work on her room. It gave them a project and allowed them time without talking. She slept in a spare
room a couple of days while the paint dried. The bed was too stiff for comfort.
Each day when she woke it took a little less time to remember where she was. Each night, she fell
When the second weekend arrived Kate was excited to hang out with her brothers again. They
arrived early in the best moods they had since everything got chaotic. Even Eric was happier. That time
they came to her new home and she showed them around. They loved the rec room and after Jim offered
twice, the twins accepted his invitation to play pool and darts.
Jim fed them sandwiches for lunch. They were deli perfect since he kept a healthy stock of bread,
cut meats and cheeses. Afterwards they drove out to the beach.
“It’s weird. We have so much in common. I mean, it makes sense but you know, it’s just weird.”
“I can’t wait, we have to tell her.” Brian rocked on the balls of his feet.
“What?”
“Dad kind of snapped out of his funk this week.” Matt’s smile meant the story wouldn’t end with
yelling or breaking.
“I’m so glad. I miss him. Do you think he’ll come and visit?”
She mimed locking her lips and tossed the invisible key over her shoulder.
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“So, we’re all eating dinner a couple of nights ago. No one was talking but you could see
everything was slowly bubbling up on Dad. Every day the pressure building.”
“Yeah. I think he was so calm that night you came back because he was afraid to let his rage go.
And who can blame him this time? I mean, the lies, the hurt, the tearing apart of the family. He hides it
“Anyway, we’re all eating and I’m thinking he’s going to blow and it needs to happen or he’ll
make himself sick.” Eric picked up the story. “So I said, ‘this sucks.’ For a second I thought he was going
Eric ignored him. “Instead he dropped his head. He didn’t cry but he was close.”
“I couldn’t imagine Dad crying.” Kate couldn’t even conjure up the image.
“It was unsettling for sure.” Matt continued. “So we’re all staring at him. I would’ve preferred
him breaking something or yelling. And then he glanced up at us and the anger was gone. I mean it
disappeared. Nothing.”
“No.” Eric confirmed. “Better still. He asked, ‘how would you boys feel about moving to Santa
“He’s thinking of moving here? Would he really do that?” Kate’s hope was too great for the fear
“He called a real estate agent and he told Mom. He’s looking at houses today. Tomorrow we’re
going with him to see what he liked or new options if he didn’t like any.”
“We’ll be in the same city? But why would he do that?” Kate kissed the infamous gift horse in
the mouth.
“He didn’t tell us of course but Brian has a theory.” Matt cued.
“I think,” Brian began, “that he was dwelling on the bad and never considered their motivation for
doing this. And at that moment, trying to hold back his eruption, he understood that like it or not, we’re
“Wow!”
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“Double wow.” Eric exaggerated.
“Mom didn’t believe it at first. They were in his office talking but we were listening. She asked
what about his job and he said he hated his job and he would do consulting from here – build his own
business. He has the money. He told her that other families make things like this work and we would too.
And he said he missed her and one way or another he wanted her in his life. And he missed you too and
hoped you would be in his life. She asked what about Gran. He said he didn’t give a rat’s ass what Gran
had to say about it but that it would be better for us to be close if she tried anything. I didn’t like the way
Kate hugged him and they were in a group hug before long.
“Brian’s going to stay at Gerard’s until we move so he can start school here.” Matt added.
“What?”
“I’m not going to the public school. I’m going to St. Ignatius’. Grandpa teaches there.”
“They aren’t THAT bad.” Kate said. “And at least the boys don’t have to wear plaid. Yuck.” Of
all the people to make things better so fast it was Ron. Kate was elated. “Let’s go find him. I want to see
Dad.” She missed him so much it hurt but she stayed away not knowing how he felt. After their tale of
Ron broke away from his house hunting and met the kids for ice cream. He gave Kate another
huge hug. It seemed easier for him to be affectionate since the truth was out.
Kate told Jim as soon as she came in the door. He was happy for her. “You’re brothers are great.
“They didn’t want to but they did. The pool table won them over. Men are such simple
“We are. Well, if you want to invite them over next Saturday, I usually have a barbeque on long
weekends.”
“Then I’m sure.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “This is your home. If they’re important to
The day of the barbeque Kate helped set things up. She was thrilled when Ron was the first to
arrive. The boys had left only moments later in their car in case they wanted to stay longer.
“I don’t know how I fit in you life anymore.” Ron said eyeing Jim in the backyard. “But I am
“Always. Come on, you’ll like him enough.” She took his hand and led him into the yard to meet
Jim and Ellen. Ellen was surprisingly warm. Kate figured she considered him as a victim of the secret and
related.
“Welcome.” Jim said awkwardly handing a beer to Ron. Both men sized each other up.
After a long pause Ron finally replied. “This will get easier, won’t it?”
They laughed, toasted and drank. “Has to.” Jim agreed. “How difficult is she really?”
Ron adoringly considered Kate. “It could’ve been worse. The twins could have been yours. Do
Jim shook his head. “I’m a novice. They’re above my pay grade.”
Her brothers were the next arrivals and that helped Ron feel at ease not that the beer and Jim
A lot of kids had come with their parents and among them were Dave, Greg and the blond. It
turned out the blond was Dave’s sister and she was pretty cool. Her name was Meg.
Kate’s brothers worked their rounds to keep her from socializing with Dave, Greg or any other
boys. They had done it her whole life. It wasn’t news to her but after living away from them, it showed
more overtly. If anyone was keeping score, Eric was far in the lead with no sign of lagging.
After Eric pulled her away from Dave for the umpteenth time she chastised him, “When are you
“What’s wrong with him?” She looked back at the group of kids Dave joined. They were talking
spiritedly about the upcoming school year. Dave glanced up and waved at her. She blushed.
“He looks interested.” Eric hadn’t missed the wave. He was giving up too much of her to Jim as
it was. A boyfriend would take even more time away. She was his kid sister and no boy would be good
enough for her or worth the time lost that a relationship required.
Would he ever see her as otherwise? Kate rolled her eyes. They walked into the rec room where
Brian and Matt played billiards. Kate sat on stool by the bar as Eric joined them.
“Hi.”
Girls always asked about her brothers. “Yes. Eric, Matt and Brian.” She indicated each in turn.
“I’ve never seen twins so alike.” Meg paused. “And how old is Brian?”
“Oh.” By the grin on Meg Kate assumed that was in the acceptable range.
Brian was winning but Matt suddenly caught up. Kate assumed there might have been some
mental interference to relieve Brian to socialize. Eric took Matt on next and Brian joined her and Meg.
They shook hands. Meg, who was very attractive, flashed a perfect smile at Brian. In a nervous
“No problem.” Kate didn’t want to make a big fuss over spilled soda in front of a girl. She dried
Zuzu was curled up on her bed purring happily as Greg scratched her chin. “Hi Katie. Cute cat.”
“Brian bumped into me.” She went to her closet and got a new blouse. “Um, you really shouldn’t
be up here.”
“I wanted to see the set after you chicked it up.” He shot her a cheeky grin. “You did good.”
“Thanks.” She went to the bathroom to change. She hoped that Greg would take the clue and
leave but he didn’t of course. He was still on her bed when she walked out. “Shall we go back to the
“They aren’t a bother and probably not. But they’ll get mad to find us here alone.” Even if Greg
“Protective.”
“Very. I’m their kid sister.” She hated it at times but loved it too.
“True.”
Kate got tense knowing the question was going to keep coming up. She didn’t have an answer
He sat back down. “I don’t care. I mean, it won’t make me think bad of you or Jim.”
“My mother kind of led two lives.” That was true without going into too much detail.
“I’m sorry.” Kate felt bad for him. It was easier to have compassion when he wasn’t trying to rile
“Yeah, really.”
“That’s why you were so introverted that day. Dave was sure you either hated him or he made
you nervous.” He was emphasizing that Dave was the interested party.
She got it. “No, I’m pretty much always like that.”
“Or are you being kind, because you promised me not to do that.” His smile was brilliant.
“Well, you started it when you extracted praise under false pretenses.” She looked at the furniture
“I assumed you would be kind. At the time I didn’t know how cruel you really were, so you
“How’s it going having a new dad and all?” Greg knew Jim all his life. He didn’t expect a
“Jim is fabulous. And for the rest, we’ll see after Tuesday.”
“Worried about school.” Greg figured that was what she meant by after Tuesday.
“St. Iggy’s?”
“Not in front of the teachers but we all do. They’ll give you JUG if you say it too much. And you
“You go there?”
“Is that a rude question?” She asked. He didn’t seem offended but it seemed personal.
“Not in this town. Almost everyone is and you just start to assume.” He was enjoying her
company when she wasn’t being defensive about every little comment. He decided to test her guarded
nature. “So, what’s the deal with your brothers not letting you talk to Dave. Do you make the call on who
they run off?” Greg had caught on to their trick at the reception. He didn’t like it then and he liked it even
less as it continued.
“Maybe at school. Or is the younger one going to take the day shift?”
“Probably but he isn’t as bad.” Brian either wasn’t as protective or he wasn’t as practiced at it
“Well, I have a little. I mean we’ve had a good ten minutes uninterrupted.”
“They might not bother to scare you off. You wouldn’t make the top ten most wanted list.” Kate
remembered what Eric said about attracted parties and someone with a girlfriend would definitely get some
latitude.
“I don’t know. But Eric said he would let me talk to guys that aren’t interested, so you should be
“Eric, this is Greg.” She introduced sure of his name that time.
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“Brian wondered where you went. He was hoping to play pool with you since he can’t beat either
“I’ll play him.” Greg offered getting up. “He can beat me.”
“Fair.”
Greg left.
“Why was the sap up here?” Eric egregiously said before Greg was out of hearing range.
“Just looking at the furniture. We bought it in his father’s store. He made this set.” Kate didn’t
need Eric making bad impressions on the few people she knew from school before it even started.
“No. I didn’t know at the time and it would have probably changed my mind.”
“Okay.” He motioned for her to come back to the party. She got up and walked past him to lead
the way. “By the way, you aren’t allowed to talk to him either.”
“Eric! He has a girlfriend.” Kate had seen the red head. She didn’t have a chance to compete
with her even if she tried which she couldn’t because she had no experience bantering lightly with boys
Back in the rec room Brian was winning. Greg was chatting him up as they played. They got
along swimmingly.
Eric caught Matt’s eyes and nodded towards Greg giving him a heads up on who was trouble.
“Why don’t you find Meg and get the scoop on what she thinks of Brian?” He wanted to get her
“No.”
She stormed out into the backyard. In one group were Sandy, Ron and Jim talking merrily. It was
a little too surreal but good they got along, socially at least. Gerard and Ellen were in another conversation.
He was smoothing things over. Kate found Meg talking to Dave. It was fun to get intel for her brothers
and she would have to mingle with Dave to do it. Bonus. “Hey.” She said happily.
Kate felt suddenly shy. She managed a casual, “What’s up?” She glanced at Meg hoping she
would start spilling the beans. Kate had never been sent on a fact-finding mission. She wasn’t sure how to
go about accomplishing her goal. Regardless she was keyed up to be a part of it.
“Be right back.” He ran off without a clue that it was a calculated maneuver.
“No. And he doesn’t know a soul in town.” Kate said eagerly glad that Meg jumped to the topic
“Really?” She smiled feeling less vulnerable. “Are you guys going to the public school?”
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“St. Iggy’s. Mr. Sanchez is our grandpa so it was a rare exception.” Kate was delighted to have
an answer for how she got in so easily. Others would ask about it once school started.
“We go there too. Greg and I are juniors and Dave’s a senior.”
“What do you think of Dave?” She was better at fact-finding. It wasn’t covert but it wasn’t too
forward to be offensive.
Kate followed Meg’s finger. Eric had cut Dave off at the pass. She rolled her eyes. “Eric’s the
Greg walked outside and up to Eric and Dave. He put his hand on Dave’s shoulder and steered
him away from Eric and back to where Meg and Kate stood. Kate mouth dropped in admiration. No one
got past Eric when he was at his big brother post. It was going to get ugly.
“I bet I’m on the top ten list now.” Greg had a haughty smirk.
Of course Eric was on his way over. “Kate, didn’t you say you wanted to play a game?” He
jerked his head over his shoulder towards the rec room.
“You told me to talk to Meg.” She reminded Eric as they walked into the poolroom.
“The one from your bedroom is on my last nerve. He has a lot of cheek. He walks up and says,
‘come on, let’s go talk to Katie’ and takes off with the other.” He was in a snit.
Kate giggled. “He’s helping his cousin out. He thinks you’re too protective.” And he’s right.
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“If his thoughts were about me, he could talk to you.”
They played doubles against Matt and Brian. The twins were too good to play as a team. Kate
and Eric won the first game but more from luck than skill.
“So, what did you find out?” Brian asked with hopeful expectation.
“She likes you. She’s glad we’re going to St. Iggy’s.” Kate liked the nickname. It was easier to
“Oh, she’s a Catholic school girl. You’re one lucky kid.” Matt winked at Brian in suggestive
manner.
Matt pointed at the door with his chin. Dave and Greg were entering the house clearly with some
purpose in mind.
They exchanged a wicked grin. Even if they were better than them, they wouldn’t have a chance
“Better yet.” Eric started collecting the balls even though they were in the middle of a game.
“What’s the bet?” Brian asked but his only answer was a dirty look from Eric.
Not surprisingly, the twins won the break. Eric prepared his shot and glanced up at Matt, who
merely smiled. He shot and sunk a solid. It would be a one-man game as Eric starting clearing the table.
They weren’t even being careful about cheating. Eric’s fourth shot boomeranged back before it even hit
the edge and in an unlikely angle of return. He was poised for his fifth when Greg accidentally walked in
the way of Matt’s vision. Eric missed and his eyes darted up to Greg.
“And I thought we wouldn’t even get a chance to play.” Greg pretended to be unaware of how he
helped.
Dave was better than Greg. He sunk two balls before his third mysteriously veered off and missed
“Good game.”
“Fair enough.” Greg said and went outside with his cousin.
“What was the wager?” Brian asked once their challengers were gone.
“They wanted to talk with Kate.” Eric informed him. “And that isn’t an option.”
Kate shook her head and stomped out to mingle with anyone other than her brothers. The men
were talking baseball with her mother. It was a topic she had to be moderately competent in discussing.
The scene wasn’t inviting to Kate and she looked around for other options that wouldn’t alert her brothers.
“But how does their being good make Dave miss an easy shot?”
“I don’t know.” She lied. One of the twins, Eric probably, pushed his ball off course.
Greg didn’t have a right to be bothered by it. It was Kate’s problem and she would have to handle
Meg grinned. “That’s nice to know. Do you want to hear something nice to know back? Greg
lives next door and we live at the next house and there are gates into each of our backyards.”
Kate flushed. It was tempting but she missed seeing her brothers even if they were being jerks. “I
“Yes.” Kate admitted. Dave and Greg were both nice boys.
“You’re persistent.”
sneaking off.
Meg casually led Kate and once they were on the other side of the fence they walked into the den
of next home.
“But how did I miss that shot?” Dave was replaying the game in his head.
“I don’t think you did. What do you think, Katie?” Greg tried to annoy her with his misstated
moniker.
“And how long do we have your company before the brute squad starts the man hunt?”
“I can’t stay. Jim will think I ditched his party.” Kate figured her brothers would be looking for
“Chicken.” They had gotten to Greg. He stared her down with piercing blue eyes. They were
Dave shot him a foul look and then his cell phone rang. “Hi Mom... We just went home for a
second... Sure. We’ll be right there.” He hung up. “Come on, Mom was worried that we left.”
“You said they cheated.” Kate tried to wheedle Greg out of his funk.
“Those balls did not obey the known laws of physics.” He’d seen enough to make a logical guess.
“Why don’t you stand up to them?” He glowered at her. He didn’t like how they treated her or
“They don’t mean any harm.” She wasn’t getting through to him. “They aren’t that bad.”
He huffed. “And how do you think Aunt Wendy noticed we were gone so fast?”
“They probably tipped her off somehow.” She averted his eyes.
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“They are insufferable control freaks.”
“Come back. Please.” Kate pulled at his hand trying to get him out of the couch.
Reluctantly, he stood up standing inches away. She took a step back for some personal space but
he didn’t let go of her hand. Instead he marched back to the gate towing her behind. They crossed into her
yard. Eric stood with his arms crossed waiting for them.
Greg didn’t let go of Kate’s hand even though she tried to yank free. “There was something funny
“We used the same table and balls that you did. We only had our skills and we out skilled you.”
Kate had never seen Eric be so direct. Not when he was protecting her. Greg had passed a line
that hadn’t even been toed before. She subtly tried to get her hand free but he had a firm clasp.
“Greg, it isn’t a big deal. Eric, I’ll be right there.” Kate said to each.
Kate rolled her eyes. She turned to face Greg. “Please.” He released her hand as he glared.
“Thank you.” She said to Greg and then mouthed to Eric, “Happy?” when she got close.
“Abundantly.” Eric took her arm and walked her back to the party. “Why did you go over there?”
“I don’t want them hating me. They’re the only people I know at school.”
“This is so unfair.”
Once at the party, Kate went to talk with Jim and Andy. She thanked him again for the furniture
and said it was really great. There weren’t many people left other than her family and the neighbors from
the block.
Sandy, Gerard and Ron were the next to leave. Her brothers stubbornly stayed until the neighbors
cleared out and then left immediately after. Ellen left last.
“Did you have fun?” Jim asked as Kate helped him clean up.
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“Yeah. I like Andy. He’s a funny guy.”
The guy was way more observant than most adults. “I don’t know.” The twins were very
secretive about their telekinesis and viscerally she didn’t feel at liberty to discuss it. There was a strong
“Ah.” He collected the trash bags to take them to the bins. “So, do you really like baseball?” It
“Yes.”
“Do you want to go to a game tomorrow? Andy has season tickets and the Giants are in town.”
“But you are so good at making the best choices. Now get to bed, we’ll finish in the morning.”
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Kate hadn’t figured on Greg joining them for the game but he did. The drive was excruciating.
Other than a less than friendly hello, Greg was aloof. They sat silently in the backseat while he stewed, still
bitter from the previous night, as their fathers unsuccessfully tried to include them in the conversation.
They were the best seats Kate ever occupied, only three rows up from first base. Their dads went
to get food, sodas and beers. A vacant chair separated the teens as tangible evidence of the ongoing silent
treatment. Finally Greg spoke, “Won’t you get harangued for this?” If he had lightened up it wasn’t by
“I’ll take that as a no.” She bit back through a clenched jaw.
Kate wasn’t. He just brought out her defensive side. “That’s fine coming from you.”
She couldn’t argue with that. She let her brothers run things but it wasn’t like she was beholden.
“What, aren’t you going to hold my hand again? Oh, of course not. No one here to infuriate by it.” It was
infantile but it was the only thing that came to her mind and she wouldn’t allow him the last word.
He turned his piercing blue eyes on her, and just like the night before, they were cold and harsh.
“Move down, I want to sit with Jim.” Andy walked up unaware that he stopped a spat.
Greg rolled his eyes so that only Kate could see but complied.
Jim sat on his other side and Andy on the aisle. Her dad passed down a Dodger Dog and a drink.
freshman.” Jim was determined to get them talking so he would be free to watch the game with Andy.
“That’s really cool.” It would be a shorter game if he snapped out of his bad humor and she didn’t
“It’s a small school.” Greg said humbly. Kate didn’t know if his effort to be civil was for Jim or
“Yeah, but the public school regrets it. They’re state champs and it kills them they can’t beat a
“If you guys beat them, why aren’t you the state champs?”
Greg’s eyes fell on Kate’s and the coldness and severity washed away. “It’s a different league.
We win our division, but it takes years to move up through the levels. We play Santa Katrina because
Dodger games are usually subdued. Angelinos tended to come to the games late and leave early.
They were very laid-back fans except with certain teams and San Francisco was one of them. Jim didn’t
Greg lightened up a bit, too entranced by the game to focus on anything else. He wasn’t as avid as
his dad, maybe because he wasn’t lubricated, but he was emotionally involved with the game. It was
apparent.
The Giants took an early three run lead and that kept the stands engaged. The Dodgers weren’t
improving matters as they filled the bases twice and failed to score.
When the game slowed, as they always do, Kate began to people watch. They grew rowdier as the
game crept on. At the top of the sixth inning further down the field, security escorted a drunkard out of the
stands. He stumbled as the stadium staff ushered him away with as little incident as possible. Half the
crowd was ignoring the game and enjoying the sideshow. Even the big screen had the intoxicated fan on
video. He was at the aisle when he pulled down his pants and flashed his fleshy protest for the camera.
Other spectators egged him on and security pushed him through the tunnel to officially evict him.
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“Katie!” Greg yelled yanking her to him quickly with one hand and whipping his hat off to catch
a pop foul before it struck her seat with the other. She trembled from the excitement of almost being hit as
“Honey, are you all right?” Jim seized her into a protective paternal hug.
Greg took Kate’s place and gave her the chair next to her father. She sat down trying to let the
moment pass. “Thanks.” It didn’t seem adequate but it was all she could manage.
“I have others. Try to watch the game.” He gave her a friendly nudge.
She held the ball tightly in both hands thinking about the momentum that hard spherical would
have if it hit her head. “Thanks.” She repeated for a second time.
He smiled. She had noticed how good-looking he was the first time she met him. Greg was the
kind of guy that you couldn’t help but spot it. His standoffish personality had kept her from admitting it.
But he was so attractive to her then that she couldn’t deny it. His baseball cap and smile accentuated it
splendidly. He acted chivalrous as if it wasn’t a big deal that he just rescued her from certain harm. She
must have been staring because he looked away uncomfortably and then back again.
“What?” He puzzled.
She stared at the ball. “That would’ve really hurt.” It was her understatement of the year.
The inning ended and their fathers went for a last round before they stopped serving beer.
“Great reflexes.”
“It’s what I do.” He leaned away for a moment but returned and spoke softer. “Do you think it
“Maybe ninety.”
Kate remembered the formula for momentum. “And how much does this weigh?” She bobbed a
“Because of you.” She moved her head so that her hair would fall forward again but only one
He pulled it back again and tucked it behind her ear. “I don’t like talking to your hair.”
She lifted her gaze and they were almost touching cheeks.
He gave her a glittering grin. “That wasn’t so hard. I could wear a bag if that will help.”
His eyes dropped to her mouth and she instinctively dropped hers to his. She wasn’t sure why she
did that but she held her breath for a moment before she remembered to exhale.
He ran his hand down her arm to comfort her. “Katie, say something, you’re worrying me.”
Kate opened her mouth but didn’t know what to say. “Thanks.” She graciously echoed for the
third time.
The warmth from his lips imprinted her ruddy cheek. She smiled and sank back suddenly more
aware that he was next to her than she had been through the first part of the game.
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Jim returned with a white Dodger cap for her. Kate didn’t want to wear it but she didn’t see how
to avoid it. Jim would think she didn’t appreciate it or worse yet, know she didn’t want to look goofy in
front of Greg.
“You make it work.” He whispered in her ear. Any pretty girl could improve her looks with a
The game went to the bottom of the ninth. Again the Dodgers loaded the bases. The crowd was
on their feet wishing for a grand slam with all their cheering. With two outs it was a long at bat and went to
full count. The hitter swung to knock it out of the park. He hit three pop fouls in his effort. Each made
Finally the crack of a perfect hit sliced through the air. The ball flew out to right field. Everyone
was motionless as it arced and landed over the fence. The stadium erupted. Greg shouted, “Yes!” and gave
They walked to their car with energy to spare until they sat in slow lines as everyone waited to
depart the horrible parking lot that had only a few bottlenecks as exits. It was half past five before Jim was
Kate placed her cherished ball in the cup holder and Greg picked it up. “You know, you have to
factor in the hardness of the object being hit if you really want to do the math.”
“And I would have hurt the ball? Is that your point?” She cut the joke off at the knees.
“No, you’re like a marshmallow. You’d have stopped the ball, it’d popped out and you would
About fifteen miles from home they stopped at a diner for a real meal. Not that Dodger dogs
aren’t fantastic but they hardly constituted well balanced. Apparently Andy had a crush on a waitress and
they were seated at their usual booth with the kids sandwiched in the middle and the fathers on each side.
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Kate clasped her hands in her lap as she read over the entrees. The others were ready to order.
They knew the menu by heart. It took her a moment to realize it was Greg’s hand that had pulled one of
“No dare. No Eric.” He mumbled while their dads scoped the room for their waitress.
The writing could have been in Chinese script for all she was able to comprehend with her hand
securely in his.
She jerked her hand free and pointed at one of the house burgers on the menu. Kate didn’t want
Jim to see them holding hands and she wasn’t sure how she felt about it herself.
“Good choice.”
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite patrons?” An attractive woman came up. “And what do we have
“Thank you.” Kate pulled back some hair on one side but left enough to have a sheer curtain for
cover.
“Kate, this is Angela.” Jim pushed the rest back wondering where she left her hat.
Angela took their order and brought drinks. Andy was adorably nervous when she was tending to
their table.
“I seem to recall someone vowing at the game that if Dodgers came out from behind they would
“She is.” It was Andy’s turn to blush. “So you approve? You wouldn’t steer me wrong?”
Without being ordered, the waitress brought over a large brownie fresh from the oven covered in
“So Kate, you’re pretty good company for a girl. Don’t you think Greg?” Andy extolled.
It was flattering that he considered her part of the group but she didn’t want him thinking she was
like a boy.
“I was worried a dame would mess it up. We usually bring Greg’s cousin. And when you didn’t
talk much…”
“That’ll pass.” Andy grinned. “Now get out of here and I’ll get the bill.”
They got up to leave Andy to his choir, which had nothing to do with picking up the tab. Jim went
to the restroom while Greg and Kate ambled to the car. Afraid he might reach for her hand, Kate shoved
“I’m sorry.” He said. “I shouldn’t have done that.” He meant holding her hand.
“It’s fine.”
“We aren’t involved.” She rebuffed. He was reading too much into her appreciation of his rescue.
She wasn’t foolish enough to like him for long. He was too difficult and completely off limits since he was
dating someone absolutely gorgeous. If only she had someone she could talk to about Greg. The closest
people in her life were her brothers and none would be able to withhold a bias judgment. If only one had
The car beeped opened as Jim approached. Andy bounced by his side, successful in his
Kate reclined into her new bed thinking the day over. She decided Greg had a Jekyll and Hyde
complex. He did save her from impending pain and there was a side of her that wanted to believe that
Jekyll was the true Greg. In the end, she decided to expect Mr. Hyde. Maybe he was always Hyde. He
only did things that would upset Eric and there was contention between the two of them.
It would have been fun if her brothers went with them. They would love those seats but she was
glad they weren’t. Eric would have been dreadful. If he were there, Greg wouldn’t have been so erratic.
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He wouldn’t have held her hand that was for sure. But then again, he probably wouldn’t have gotten over
his pouting either and that wasn’t fair when it was his father’s tickets.
Their family dynamics had changed some. It was always Brian she was closest too but now Eric
was always there. It was out of a misguided sense of protection but things had shifted.
She finally drifted off thinking about Eric’s possessive nature. In her dreams, she woke up in the
same clothes she wore to the game laying on top of her comforter. The white Dodger cap sat neatly on her
head. Her room had that same mist that her dream with Jim had. It was as if it was the light source and no
shadows formed. Suddenly Eric was at the door. He walked in and sat next to her on the bed.
“I pulled you into my dream.” She wasn’t sure if she could do that but there he was.
“How’s that?”
“Jim can do it. Maybe I can too. We’ll know tomorrow if we both remember this.”
“I don’t know.” Kate was only thinking about Eric and his overbearing nature. That must have
been the key. “Maybe I can only bring one person in at a time.”
Even in her dream, Eric could tell she was holding back. “Why me?”
“It’s that boy, isn’t it? You saw him today and you feel guilty. You should. Stay away.”
“Eric, we can talk about anything and you want to lecture me on boys?”
Was he changing the topic or reading clues? “Jim got it for me at the Dodger game.”
He was reading clues. “You’re right. You know sometimes it’s hard being your sister.”
back. That’s plenty of time to get over it. I don’t like him.”
“I don’t like him either, so we have that in common. And he doesn’t like me.”
“I do. You’re shamefaced about something. That’s why it’s me here. What happened?” She
“He didn’t kiss me.” She added on the mouth in her mind.
Lunch went well. Eric didn’t mention the dream but there wasn’t a need. They remembered it.
As luck would have it, Ron purchased a new home only a block down the road from Jim’s. They
Kate woke up early out of fervent apprehension. It was the first day of school. Ron was the top of
her heroes list, if not for moving the family to her new block then for allowing Brian to attend the Catholic
high school with her. Their father didn’t like them going to a Catholic school. It was because Kate was
going and Gerard taught there that he allowed it for Brian. The fact that St. Iggy’s had decent sport teams
helped significantly. They had one class together, so she would have to suffer through the rest in seclusion.
The barbeque was her only interaction with Meg, her one friend that she could name. Well, there
were Dave and Greg but it was less likely that they would take her under their wings as she adjusted. It
Trepidation crept into her mind. At the Mass for her grandmother, she was an outsider unfamiliar
with the Catholic ways. How different were they from the rest of society? She knew Catholics at her old
high school and they were just like everyone else but that was in a diverse scenario. Would they pray in
classes? Did she have tells on her giving away that she was a non-believer? What makes someone a
Catholic anyway? Maybe she was on a fledgling level. It seemed to mean more than just faith in the Bible.
Would the kids wear crosses and dress more conservative than typical teens?
More than the religion worried her. It was a private school and Kate had gathered enough hints
from her admissions meeting that only the brightest were admitted. On one hand, she hoped the classes
would be more dynamic. It was the other hand that frightened her. Would she be able to keep up with the
brainiacs?
Kate looked herself over in the mirror and hated the austere uniform. At least she would blend in
with the other plaid clad girls. She grabbed her book bag heavy with her new texts and went to eat
breakfast.
Jim prepared eggs and bacon. He glowed with pride when he saw her. “You look so cute.”
Yuck. She didn’t want to look cute, like a kid anyway. “Thanks.”
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It was out of the way for Brian to pick her up from Gerard’s but he did it voluntarily. Neither
wanted to walk on campus alone and it would only be for a couple weeks until he moved into the new
homestead.
Brian pulled onto the property and parked at the student lot that was inconveniently located at the
bottom of the hill. Only a few other students were around since it was early. They had studied the layout
of the school to avoid referencing a map and looking like newbies. Not that it would matter. There were
only a hundred kids in each class and they would stand out as unknowns.
The day started with a full school assembly in the auditorium. The architecture matched but it was
a newer building than the original mansion. Most of the classes were in the main building that the school
acquired when it opened. They walked into the hall not sure if there were special sections for each year.
Dave and Meg found the wayward siblings and invited them to sit together. Brian didn’t mind.
He was smitten. Dave smiled at Kate and chatted. Brian wasn’t as good as the twins, but he wasn’t
unskilled and when they did sit, Kate was on the aisle farthest away from Dave and Brian was conveniently
Meg assured them St. Iggy’s wasn’t strict on where the classes sat with the exception that the
older classes sat in the back half for the smaller kids to see better. Refusing to look for Greg, Kate kept her
eyes straight ahead. Stacey, the red head, looked stunning even in her plaid skirt and sat by Dave. She was
Greg popped up from nowhere and greeted the new students. Kate was sure he would take the
vacant chair by Stacey but he sat with some other boys in the row behind her. They were jocks and the one
closest to him looked like he might play football. Greg kicked at her chair every once in a while. If he
The seats filled up and a loud din from all the happy greetings after a long summer break rose.
Aside from everyone wearing the exact same clothes, it didn’t feel that different from any gathering of
teenagers. Father Francis walked up to the podium and without asking the talking stopped and all eyes
were forward.
“Welcome back. We’re glad to see everyone has returned safely, mostly.” Everyone snickered
and heads turned to a boy with a cast on his leg sitting half way up in an aisle seat opposite to her side.
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“I’ll keep this brief. We welcome our new students and we know that everyone will make them feel at
home here at St. Ignatius’. I’d like to reintroduce Mr. Stewart, who stepped in when Mrs. Sanchez fell ill.
He has agreed to stay on permanently. Please be kind.” There was another obligatory laugh. “If anyone
needs to check their schedules or make changes, please stop by the admin office during your break or free
periods. You’ll also find sign up sheets for any clubs, teams and committees there as well. I know we’re
all excited to see our friends but remember to keep to your schedules.”
They broke to go to their first class. The school didn’t have any bells and you were expected to
arrive on time. Meg had the same first class as Kate and guided her around the school. It was Math IV
The class was on the bottom floor and looked very much like any classroom in any school but
with fewer desks. They were arranged in a u-shape and Meg told Kate they could sit in any seat all year.
Greg sauntered in with another boy and sat along the wall on the other side of the room. He gave
a head nod and continued talking with his friend, the football jock from assembly and kind of a cutie for a
beefcake. He asked Greg something. Greg shook his head and whispered a response. “I don’t.” He
Mr. Stewart walked in exemplifying the typical nerdy teacher. He was in his thirties, wore wire-
rimmed glasses, a cardigan sweater and had an unkempt beard. He was a matter-of-fact teacher. They
went over their goals for the year and then zeroed in on their first quarter. He allowed them one period to
recap the previous year and ten minutes in he passed out a pop quiz to test their retention. The class gave a
Kate didn’t have any trouble with the quiz but it was tough. She was glad her first class was math,
a subject that came naturally. How would she keep up in subjects that she wasn’t ready for?
After thirty minutes the class passed their papers forward and Mr. Stewart read them over
immediately. “You guys are going to have to do better than this. Brad, I know you have heard of the
Pythagorean theorem. Nice work Lindsay. Greg, better, good. And…” he stopped at one quiz, “we have
our first perfect score.” He peaked up and glanced at Kate. “Are you Miss Graham?” She was the only
as Jim’s daughter.
“And she’s polite.” The class giggled. “Nice job. And another perfect from Jeff of course.”
A very neat looking boy gave an unctuous smile a couple of desks down from Meg.
Mr. Stewart let them out after giving more homework than Kate ever had in one night from all her
“Looks like I have some worthy competition, finally.” He was friendly as he sized up his potential
intellectual equal.
“It’s the only thing I do well and I won’t be much competition for long.” Kate said shyly.
“Embrace it. We’ll keep the jocks on their toes.” He ran off in the other direction.
Her next class was English. Meg was in that class as well as Greg and his beefcake friend. “They
always bunch us up. Let me see your schedule.” Meg scanned Kate’s classes. “We’re in every class
“Yeah. I’ll stick with you until you get your feet wet.”
Kate already trusted she would and not just because she wanted to know more about Brian
The English classroom was on the top floor and looked like a huge bedroom with comfortable
chairs, no desks, in place of regular furniture. All the classes were either on the top floor and looked like
that one or on the bottom and looked like the math room with few exceptions. Mostly languages and
religion were in the top levels and the rest in the lower classes. Meg told her they all got tired of running
The middle floor had offices and some of the art classes were off past the kitchen, which wasn’t
used for anything other than cleaning up paint crusted brushes and other supplies. There was a science lab
for biology and chemistry up the hill in the converted garage house.
Kate liked the English teacher, a Miss Carter. She was very young, late twenties, but made up
what she lacked in experience with exuberance. There was an endearing librarian quality about her. She
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would break from her lecture to start reciting some of her favorite lines from their book list. It was
Comedy and they were to read all plays, two of which were repeats for Kate. The second semester would
be Tragedy.
“Hey Meg, Katie.” Greg and his friend walked over at the end of Comedy. His friend was Brad,
“It’s super rare for kids to get in who aren’t freshmen.” Brad’s statement was a veiled question.
“Mr. Sanchez is my grandfather.” Kate admitted wondering if being related to a teacher would put
her in the nerd category of students. After her perfect grade in math, it was a budding pitfall. It couldn’t
He was befuddled but only for a brief second. “You didn’t come from another Catholic school?”
“No.”
“It’s just like history only you’re suppose to learn morals from all the stories.”
Kate withheld her urge to frown. History wasn’t an easy subject for her.
“Yep.”
“AP Physics?”
Kate nodded.
“All right.” They walked down the stairs back to the lower level. “I don’t know if you’re ready
for this. I mean, you couldn’t remember the formula for momentum.” Greg taunted.
“Hide? Why? Is your brother near by?” He turned expecting to see Brian.
“Not that kind of hide. Mr. Hyde. I’ve decided you have a split personality.”
“Nice. Mr. Hyde was the bad one, right?” He smiled and to her agitation, he looked pretty darn
cute. “Did you tell your brother that you went to the game?” Greg had already singled Eric as the lead
reprobate.
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“Let’s not start that.” Kate prepared for another puppet lecture.
His eyes widened in disbelief. “You did not. Or you didn’t tell him I was there.”
“It really isn’t the catastrophe that you make it out to be.”
“And what are the names of your two sides? Jacqueline and Heidi?”
She stuck her tongue at him and he smiled harder. They went to the classroom next to Math IV.
Stacey waved at Greg hoping he would sit next to her but he sat with Kate out of obligation since she didn’t
know anyone.
“You can sit with your girlfriend.” She was grateful but didn’t want to create an antagonistic
relationship with Stacey. It didn’t take a lot of brainpower to see she was the Alpha Female.
“I’m fine.”
Gerard walked in and gleamed at Kate. He gave her a quick nod as he passed her desk. “All right
then. Let’s get started.” He was far more interesting than Mr. Stewart. He didn’t give them a proper quiz
but as he talked he pointed at kids to pitch in the right term on cue. Kate noticed he didn’t point at her,
perhaps giving her a reprieve until she was acclimated. It wouldn’t last.
As soon as class ended Stacey was at Greg’s side. “It’s so lucky we have a class together.” She
“Yeah.”
“Yeah, hi.”
“World History.”
“Come on, Meg will kill me if I don’t bring you.” Greg told Kate.
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He accompanied her to a class that was on the same floor but on the other side of the locker
rooms. Meg saved her a seat and Greg went back to Brad’s side across the room.
“Did he ditch you as soon as you were in class?” Meg asked Kate.
“No.”
“Why?” Kate thought that was the point of having Greg escort her to physics.
“Stacey is crazy about him. I don’t know why she doesn’t give up. I mean, she’s a senior even
though she’s our age. She can have any guy in school but she fawns over Greg for some reason. Well, we
know the reason.” Kate obviously didn’t know what Meg was talking about, so she clarified. “He’s a
jock.”
“Oh. Yeah. Baseball.” Kate mindlessly said. She pegged Stacey as Greg’s girlfriend and he
“And basketball but he isn’t as good at that. Dave is the star there. I think Greg keeps his distance
because they use to date. I mean, he could have any girl he wanted and she is the IT girl here.”
“You’ll catch on.” She paused, “So how do you think Brian’s day is going?”
Kate hid a small grin happy that she was interested and that Brian’s romantic life had some hope.
She wasn’t as dour on her brothers’ friends as they were about hers but she was opinionated and she
approved of Meg. “He’ll be fine. He plays basketball, so he’ll be at the tryouts. He’s really good.”
“Dave won’t like that. He isn’t THAT competitive, not like Greg, but he kind of didn’t like your
Father Francis was a good teacher and stringent. He went over the agenda for the year and then
went right into the various creation myths from different cultures. He began with the Biblical version first
and went on to add there were others. Kate expected him to spin the secular legends to look less plausible
but he didn’t. He referred to them all as myths and said that the Bible had two different versions. A rather
iconoclastic position for a man of the cloth to take. Kate had never thought about that but he was right.
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There was the seven days where man was created last and then the Adam and Eve story where Adam was
She looked forward to lunch where she could catch up with Brian. Lunch with Brian was Meg’s
payoff for babysitting. They got their food and sat at a round table with Brian and Dave. Stacey eventually
joined them. Brian was clearly taken by her beauty. Meg got most of his attention though. Kate was glad.
Stacey had barely paid Kate any mind when they first met at assembly but at lunch she scrutinized
Kate. It was because Greg sat with her at physics, no doubt about it. Kate was a well-practiced wallflower.
If all the protection from her brothers taught her anything it was how to hide in plain sight. Stacey’s
examination felt like being under a high-powered microscope trapped between to platelets of glass. In the
end, Stacey relented confident that Kate wasn’t going to thwart her plans to woo Greg.
At least that was the impression that Kate received. Her intuition had always been good when
reading people. After moving to a new town and having so many new subjects at once, her instinct had
been honed. Her only bad read was Greg. He was a mystery to her. He was Jekyll and Hyde. No. He was
Hyde. Even his act of chivalry in physics was another thrust of his foil at Eric.
Meg pointed out the key students around the tables. She named each of them and gave a mini
biography. Occasionally Stacey would add a glib comment. There was no hope Kate would remember all
the details but it was fascinating to hear. Jeff came by and sat with them for a while. He talked up Kate’s
perfect quiz in math again with the mild boast that it tied his.
Philosophy was the one class she shared with Brian and they walked together comparing notes
from their days. It was on the third floor in the same room as her Comedy class. Greg was there with his
sidekick Brad. Brian spotted them first and sat with Kate in a different part of the room. Greg gave her a
mocking glare. She stuck her tongue at him and then hid behind her hair.
Brian shook his head catching their nonverbal banter. “Stop flirting.”
“I’m not.”
A lady in full nun gear walked in. “Hello, I’m Sister Rene and yes, I know that you call me Sister
Rene Descartes behind my back.” She had a certain eccentric flare about her. The class smiled at her joke.
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“We’ll be discussing the ideology of various philosophers through the centuries intertwined with
various books as we go.” She went over the agenda and book list and then asked, “Can anyone tell me if
the pious is loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?” It was a
The students sat without a hand in the air. Every teacher expected them to be ready on day one to
jump right in at full speed. Kate’s brain still had dust from the summer of disuse. She imagined cogs
inside her head covered with unoccupied webs and an oilcan on a stool by the on switch that was clearly
off.
The nun walked along the perimeters passing students who averted eye contact. “Someone has to
have an opinion. Miss Graham, what do you think?” She stopped in front of Kate.
Kate peeked around for who she was speaking but of course she was Miss Graham. She gulped
thinking she was going to have to get use to it. “Um, well, isn’t that a bit like the chicken or the egg.”
“Explain.” She was interested by her answer. She glided to the front of the room. “Better yet.
Kate mentally flipped the on switch in her mind and saw the cobwebs break apart as the gears
slowly ground their interlocking teeth. She knew the riddle; what came first the chicken or the egg? But it
“Depends.” Greg said without raising his hand. That didn’t bother the teacher at all. “If you’re
an evolutionist or a creationist. If you’re an evolutionist than it depends on how you define an egg. If an
egg is a chicken egg because a chicken laid it, then the chicken came first. And if you think an egg is
“Interesting perspective.” Sister Rene nodded. “And Kate, what if you are a creationist?”
Kate didn’t like being called. She preferred being invisible in class and this nun wasn’t going to
have it. At least when Stacey took her measurements at lunch she didn’t have to speak. Finally the cogs
“Explain.” She held her hand up to the rest of the class waiting. “Please, let her speak Mr.
Andrews.”
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If Father Francis hadn’t gone over the Biblical creation stories before lunch Kate would have been
lost with an answer. When God created Adam, he was a full-grown man, not an embryo. “Well, Adam and
Eve didn’t have belly buttons.” The class broke out in laughter.
“We don’t really know but good point. Clever.” Sister Rene approved of her answer. “You’re
Gerard’s granddaughter?”
That explained why she was picked out of the class. She wanted to test the mettle of the brilliant
Gerard Sanchez’s granddaughter. Brian would be hit up soon after. “Yes, ma’am.” Kate felt destined to
be labeled a geek.
The ma’am caught her attention. “Well, I can see the Gerard in how you think but I am not sure I
see the Jim in you.” She continued on with her lecture selecting new victims as she played her word
games.
“I’m both.”
After that, she went to change for Tennis. She was glad it was the end of the day. It was an all
girls’ class. The school had sixteen tennis courts in total but the four by the teacher’s parking lot, where
Kate and Jim parked when he enrolled her, were the main ones. Coach Evans was a good-looking black
man in his late thirties. He was the head of the athletic program. They didn’t play on the first day since
many students forgot to bring rackets, Kate included. She could tell he was going to help her game and she
loved tennis.
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Moving Day
Each day school got easier as she acclimated and met more people. Meg kept an eye on her and
Kate was very grateful. Brian liked his classes as well even though they had more work to do. He was
never a great student but he thrived in the face of challenge. They also liked how they could discuss things
with the teachers. It was interactive. Kate worried she would hate Philosophy if Sister Rene kept calling
on her but she didn’t. The old nun was growing on her.
Friday was the best. She spent extra time on her outfit since it was free dress day. If that wasn’t
enough to make Fridays better, the fact that all their classes were on abbreviated times and they were out by
Greg politely ignored her except when they went to AP Physics where he diligently stayed by her
side. They were the only two that had the same English class before and it seemed unavoidable.
Brian made the basketball team and was evenly matched with Dave. This wasn’t so bad for Brian
since he was growing more attached to Meg. Dave didn’t mind as much either, perhaps because he wasn’t
one of the twins. They were becoming close friends as Kate and Meg were.
Kate and Brian went to the first football game with Meg and some of her friends. Dave and Greg
went to a Dodger game with Andy and Jim, so they missed it.
Stacey was on the cheerleading squad. She hadn’t been anything but nice to Kate since that first
lunch but Kate kept her distance. She was a senior and she mostly hung out with her grade with the rare
exceptions of Meg and Greg. Kate figured she was so buddy-buddy with Meg to get to Greg. Stacey was
more than friendly with Brian, who was a senior. Many girls were paying him notice, more than at their
old school. They were invited to an after game party but they skipped it.
By the second week, they were already into the swing of their new world. Kate understood what
Jim meant by the private education and smaller classes. It helped in more way than that as cliques were
looser. Jocks hung out with brains for example. And there were more jocks in the advanced classes than in
her old school. Most thankfully, she wasn’t pigeonholed as an egghead or a dunce.
Dave’s interests in Kate had waned. He spent a lot of time with Claire, a senior and a good friend
of Stacey’s. This worked out well to help Brian ease up as they spent most of their time with Dave and
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Meg and their friends. Brian and Dave got along well but Brian kept him from Kate in subtle ways the first
two weeks. It was a direct request from Eric. His refusal to admit it didn’t convince Kate otherwise.
After the third week, things felt like an old habit. Jeff the math whiz had asked her out to a movie
with a group of friends. She had an easy excuse to say no because she was helping her family move. Kate
Santa Barbara was only thirty minutes away and the twins were home to unpack. The truck pulled
up Saturday afternoon and neighbors came out to welcome the new family to the street. The boys were
busy in their rooms arranging their furniture and property to their liking. The twins had adjoining rooms
for the first time rather than sharing and Ron promised them a trip to Andy’s store to get new bedroom sets.
Andy and Greg came by to welcome the Thomas family to the neighborhood. Ron, Sandy and
Kate were sitting on the steps enjoying a break. Greg didn’t look happy but that was expected. Kate was
glad to see it and that was a good auspice. It meant that she was over whatever hero worship she had from
The adults went into the house to get Andy’s professional opinion. Greg sat down on the step
below her. “There goes the neighborhood.” He joked with a little regret. Kate started to get up, knowing
that Eric could catch them at any moment but Greg held her arm. “Katie, don’t.”
“I am.” She turned away from him not wanting to think how appealing he was.
He shrugged. Missing them wasn’t a problem for him and he felt no gladness.
“It doesn’t.” He let that go. “Dad missed you at the game last weekend.”
“Jim needed a boys night out. He isn’t use to having a girl around all the time.”
“He missed you too. All we heard about was you.” He rolled his eyes and then locked onto hers.
Eric caught them he would be more agitated. “Don’t do this. You get all sweet and it really is very
confusing. I would prefer a constant Mr. Hyde rather than the back and forth.”
“What’s so confusing? Sometimes I’m nice, and sometimes I’m not. You pick up on the change
easy enough.” He leaned back on her step with his elbows and grinned.
“What’re we talking about?” Eric sat by Kate’s other side with false enthusiasm.
“Free will.” Greg lied. It was a snide commentary to Eric’s commands that Kate readily obeyed.
Eric smiled wide at the confrontational attitude. “If he’s bothering you…”
“He’s not.” Kate didn’t want Eric picking a fight with one of the most popular kids from her
class. It wouldn’t be anymore of a fair match up than the metaphysical game of billiards.
Hitting Greg wasn’t Eric’s only weapon. “Jeff, is it?” Eric purposely threw out the wrong name.
“No, he’s Greg.” Oh, why did she mention Jeff to Eric? It seemed so innocent at the time.
Greg sat up trying to figure out how Eric heard Jeff’s name.
“Really Kate. How many boys are asking you out?” Eric was enjoying it too much.
Understanding dawned on Greg. “She’s very popular, actually. There’s practically a line.”
Their argument was going too fast for her to keep up. “There isn’t a line.”
“Sure there is; Dave, Brad, now Jeff. You’re the flavor of the month, the hottest new ticket in
“And where are you in the line?” Eric demanded loosing his cool. The line of boys was
something that bothered them both and when his ploy ceased to return the results he sought, it bothered
wasn’t that simple. Greg was perplexing and when the day came to put her foot down on Eric’s controlling
nature, it wasn’t going to be for some guy that Jekylled on her. She stood up. “I’ll see you at school.”
“Guys at school. You met Dave at the barbeque. And there isn’t a line.”
“He isn’t. He’s just some guy that goes to my school and when he isn’t trying to piss you off he
isn’t half bad.” It wasn’t her independence day yet but it was getting nearer. “Eric, I’m almost sixteen.
“Not him.”
“No.” He obstinately shook his head not allowing for contemplation on the matter.
“It’s just a dance. I don’t like Jeff like that but it would fun to go, if he asks.”
“Yes.”
“I know what we were thinking and I know what HE,” he jabbed his thumb to where Greg walked
“I can’t stop it if you do.” The thought irked him. It wasn’t permission rather than admittance
dinner.
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Butting Heads
“Jim, I’m home.” Kate hollered as she closed the front door.
“He’s gone for Chinese food.” Greg sat comfortably on the sofa surfing through the channels
She positioned herself as close to the armrest as she could. There was a good yard between them.
He found the station but it was playing the final inning of a Mets game. The Dodger game would
He went to the bathroom and she picked up the remote. She started flipping the stations and
landed on a Hannah Montana rerun. A mischievous inspiration struck and she hid the remote in the freezer.
When he returned she waited innocently on the sofa. Her only miscalculation was she sat in the center and
he edged right next to her. It was on a commercial so he hadn’t notice that station was changed.
“Can I hold your hand, in case the warden stops by?” He poked at her palm and she jerked it
away.
“No.”
“Said the puppet made of cake. You don’t have to kowtow to their every command.” The
program started and Greg realized it wasn’t the right station for the game. “What’s this?”
“Where’s the remote?” He searched behind a throw pillow and around the undersides of the
cushions.
“My house.”
He leaned across her lap to check the other throw pillow. Turning on his charm he stared at her
with his piercing blue eyes. “I’m sorry. You’re not a puppet. You just act like one sometimes.”
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“That has to be the worst apology in recorded history.” She pouted.
He jabbed her side with his elbow and she stifled a giggle. It gave him a mischievous inspiration.
“Be absolutely honest with me.” He said devilishly. “Are you ticklish?”
He poked her side and she cringed. “Oops. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“Stop it.”
“I’m warning you.” She tried to look furious but she couldn’t while giggling.
He wasn’t buying it. With both hands he tickled her sides. She jumped around trying to find an
escape but his hands were a step ahead. Kate felt like an idiot hoping around and laughing against her will.
“That was easy.” He said continuing his handiwork. She was completely wrapped in his arms.
Kate thrashed in the wrong direction and their heads banged together. “Ouch!”
He ignored his head and let her go. “I’m sorry Katie.”
“Let me see.” He moved her hand. “You shouldn’t have started flirting with me.”
He went to the kitchen and filled a baggie with ice and got the remote. “Here.”
She took the homemade ice pack and put it to her head.
After changing the television to ESPN he checked her again. Leaning in he took her hand’s place
on the ice pack and lifted it. “It doesn’t look too bad.”
she found him attractive after how mean he was being. How could she find Mr. Hyde appealing? Was she
“You were flirting a little.” He examined her forehead again holding the ice pack behind her head
She didn’t know why but she glanced at his mouth. He caught her and she looked away. He bent
down and kissed her forehead, keeping his face dangerously close afterwards. “Better?” He whispered.
“Better.” She uttered. She was paralyzed with fear and couldn’t feel her bump.
His moves were so skilled until then. He was awkward so close to her. Slowly he lowered his
mouth along side hers brushing her rosy cheek with his nose as he traced his way down. And then he softly
kissed her. It felt nice. Their lips were gently pressed together for a moment and then they weren’t. Her
stomach fluttered in nervous enjoyment but her head swam in confusion. When he looked up he couldn’t
Kate was shocked. Why did he kiss her? It was to upset Eric. That was the most obvious reason.
It wasn’t even thirty minutes since Eric had riled him up on the steps to his new house.
Not what she wanted to hear after her first kiss. He was still close and she didn’t know if she was
ready for another. A voice in her head said to get away. Her body stayed put.
His fingers ran along the edges of her hair. He was going to kiss her again despite his spoken
Suddenly the front door opened and Greg popped up and was in the kitchen getting rid of the
evidence.
“Hey Kate.” It was Andy bringing in some beers for the game.
“Hi.” Her voice was a little squeaky. “I’ll be right back.” She needed to get some aspirin but
even more she needed space. For some reason she didn’t understand, she glared at Greg as she passed him
to go to her bathroom. He tossed the baggie unnecessarily hard into the trash and went back to the couch.
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Taking two pills she flopped down on the bed. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.” She told the cat.
“Coming.” She hollered back. Her head spun a little when she sat up – maybe from the bump or
maybe from the kiss. She grabbed some food to take to her room excusing herself to do some homework
not that she got much done with her imagination enjoying the reverie that was only occasionally interrupted
by her dignity or lack thereof. It wasn’t more than an hour later when Meg knocked gently at the open
door.
“About half an hour ago. And you really need to come down. Your brothers,” she pointed at Kate
and then to herself, “and my brother and cousin are playing pool together. Dave even beat one of the twins.
“Matt, probably.” Kate guessed. Eric may be playing nice but he wouldn’t lose a game to either
Dave or Greg.
“Maybe after they get to know each other some they’ll ease up.”
Doubtful. “Eric’s getting better. I told him I wanted to go to the school dance. He didn’t like the
“No one, yet, but I think Jeff will. He asked me out this weekend. It was with a group. We’re
just friends.”
“Do you like him? I mean, I think Dave would probably ask you if you’d like to go with him.”
Kate liked Dave more than Jeff. He wasn’t quite as taken with himself. “Isn’t he dating Claire?”
“Oh.” Kate didn’t know what to make of that information. In reality, she wasn’t thinking about
Dave or Jeff.
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“Do you think Brian will ask me?”
“I will. Geez, how can he still have doubts?” Meg wasn’t obnoxious about it but it was clear she
was taken by Brian. “At least that means I haven’t been too overt.”
Kate giggled, “You could be way more obvious and he would still be skeptical. This is all new to
us. We feel conspicuous at St. Iggy’s. We were invisible at our old school.”
“I won’t believe that.” She got up and stopped at the door. “Are you coming?”
“Coming.” Kate didn’t want to see Greg but Eric was there to keep things proper. She wanted to
talk to Eric. Not to hassle Greg, although that didn’t bother her one bit, but she wanted some good advice
from someone absolutely loyal to her. She would wait until after Greg left. If only she could get him to
leave sooner. Maybe he would go when she showed up. He regretted kissing her.
Eric and Dave were playing a game and he wasn’t helping his shots along. He glanced at her and
she could almost hear his voice in her head, I’m behaving.
Dave lost and Kate walked over to Eric. “Are you warming up to them?”
“I tried to send you a message but I’m still working out the kinks.”
Kate had thought about him out of the blue when she was studying but she didn’t think he was
“Yes. It should be easy with you but I’m still patchy.” Since Kate had told her brothers about the
whole conversation with her mother they started to experiment on their inherited paranormal gifts.
“For sure.” He shot a look at Greg with a puzzled expression. “At least I’m not the only one
behaving.” Greg wasn’t pulling some antics to annoy him and that didn’t add up.
“Yeah.” She’d wait for a better time for that talk. Eric was ready to strike when they were only
chatting on the steps. If he knew Greg made a pass at Kate it would send him over the edge.
“He’s a cheeky bastard.” Eric said giving her a speculative look. He waited for her to refute his
statement. “A cheeky bastard that suddenly doesn’t want to look this way.”
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“You aren’t one of his favorite people.”
“Okay, what’s wrong? You let me insult him, he isn’t looking at you.”
“Did he kiss you?” Eric whispered his jaw locked into place. He stood up taller.
“I see his game. Waits until I’m not around and then he pulls something like that.” He fumed.
“Don’t let him get to you. It wasn’t a big deal.” She didn’t mean to bring it up then in front of
“Well, it was awful. That’s why he isn’t looking at us. He’s afraid of you.”
“I’ll give that audacious imp a reason to fear.” Eric avowed and glared at Greg.
“You’ll do nothing. Be my brother, not his enemy.” Kate dreaded on oncoming scuffle.
Eric shook his head. “And Matt got on my case about reading too much into things.”
“You’ll cream me.” Kate conceded a little disorientated to change topic so quickly.
“Okay.”
That was a dumb mistake. As they played, Matt and Eric had him surrounded telling him to back
Eventually she had to move near him to make shot and he whispered, “That was record timing, tattle.” She
Brian helped Meg shoot by pointing where to aim the cue ball.
“He figured it out.” Kate tried to look like they weren’t having a fight. There was enough
background noise to keep it fairly private. Only the twins watched them.
“Sure. I had it wrong. You aren’t a puppet. You’re the puppet master and they’re your puppet
goons.”
“You weren’t talking to me and then I didn’t defend you, for SOME reason. He’s smart enough to
put the pieces together. What do you care? You did it to upset him. He’s upset. You should be happy.”
It was Kate’s turn again. She walked to the other side of the table to line up her next hit. They
were winning because Dave was just that much better. She bent over to take aim and Eric pointed at a spot
It wasn’t an easy shot but she made it with his help. She lined up the next shot and sunk another
ball. There was one more solid before the eight ball but she didn’t sink it. Dave finished up after Meg
“Want to play a game, Greggie?” Eric asked racking up the balls for the next match.
Meg wondered how things had gone from good to much worse. Kate gave an innocent look.
They hit balls to see who would break and even though Eric’s should have rolled too far, it
suddenly slowed. The despotism proved the treaty was off. Kate didn’t want him playing asinine games to
make things worse. Still it was better than Eric taking a swing at Greg.
Eric prepped to break. He was shocked when he didn’t sink any balls.
She may have. It happened that way sometimes. She shrugged not knowing for sure.
Greg caught it all. He hit a ball in and then two more before Eric could hit again.
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His next hit started to deviate as it veered towards its mark but it wasn’t enough. Stop obstructing
Not knowing what she was doing she walked into the den to watch some of the game with her dad.
“How’s it going?” Jim asked with a bit more than casual concern.
“Fine.” The Dodgers were up and it was the top of the eighth. “Looks like we are going to the
playoffs.”
“After all the years of pain, you’re forgiving him?” Andy couldn’t believe him.
“Jim’s also a Red Sox fan and Torre kept them out of more world series than he cares to
remember.”
“Who will you root for if they ever go up against the Dodgers for the World Series?”
“Kate, didn’t you want me to help you with some homework problem.” Eric asked walking into
the den.
Getting the hint, Kate agreed and they went up to her room.
“What was that about?” He snapped convinced she stopped him from cheating.
Eric was skeptical. “Well, after you were gone, I didn’t have any problems.”
“You shouldn’t abuse your powers like that. Why add to the conflagration?”
“Oh.” Kate didn’t think that was so surprising but she didn’t like to hear it. “Good.”
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Pleasant Dreams
That night Kate tossed and turned as she dozed off. She tried to keep her mind clear so that she
wouldn’t bring someone into her dreams. But she must have. She was in her misty room wearing her day
clothes again. She got up and looked to the door to see who would walk through.
“This is new. We’re usually in my room.” It was Greg. He walked right up to her and ran his
“This isn’t a guilt dream, is it?” He frowned. “We aren’t going to talk, are we?” He bowed his
She bolted out of bed in her dark room, under her covers, in her pajamas panting. It was two in
the morning. She rolled on her side and faded off from weariness.
Jim came downstairs to the smell of breakfast. Kate decided that she would treat him for once.
“This is nice.”
“I’m not an experienced cook but I can do some easy foods.” She flipped a hotcake over that was
“Well, you have to know the person. You can’t bring in Brad Pitt, for example. They have to
allow it. You can’t pull in someone that wouldn’t want to come in. When I was young, just thinking about
someone would bring them but as I got older I learned to control it. Who did you bring in?”
“I’m glad you brought it up. There are other things you need to be ready for.”
“Like?”
“Well, on your mother’s side is some telepathy. You may be able to talk and hear people in your
mind.”
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“That’s happened once with Eric but he can do it already with Matt so I assumed it was all him.”
“We’re all close but he seems to be less willing to let go of our old family and we have grown
He understood. “He scared me the most at first. Even at the funeral he stared me down. He was
clearly the hardest to win over. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to realize that was my first imperative.”
“Eric is more intimidating than Ron?” Kate couldn’t imagine it. Ron had the worst temper in a
family of hot heads. But then, Eric was the strongest bastion of her over everyone else.
Jim laughed. “Ron wasn’t so bad. We had a talk about how weird this was when we first met. I
think he feels bad that he ended up with my wife. I ended up with you and that’s fine with me.”
Kate shuttered. It was a bizarre way to become friends. Jim really did have his feet planted on
solid ground.
“Anyway I already mentioned that we have an easy relationship with animals. Mom’s really good
at it. But you may start to talk to Zuzu more.” Jim continued.
“Does that mean that Ellen will learn things I’m up to from Zuzu?”
“Possibly. And she can hear it even from far away. I was ten when I realized the family dog was
ratting me out.”
“You’ll have to ask your mom. I think she can stop things that other people do.”
That was how Kate could stop Eric from moving the pool balls around. “I have done that to the
“Not many but we seem to find each other. Like me and your mom. And your grandparents.
They were both telepathic and empathetic. What about your brothers? What is it they do?”
“Aside from telepathy?” She wasn’t sure she should tell him. “Don’t tell Mom or Ron but they
Jim had expected as much. “Well, Andy can do something kind of unique. It’s like telepathy but
“Don’t tell anyone. And it can be cool but it’s a one sided conversation. When I eloped with your
mother, he saw me signing the marriage certificate and went nuts trying to find me.”
“I felt bad because he should have been my best man but he was out of town when we married.”
He laughed. “We call him Andy because of his surname. His first name is Maynard and he hates
it.”
“Don’t laugh. A man named Maynard killed Black Beard, you know.”
“Actually, I do have to tell you one other thing.” He got very serious. “You’re birthday is coming
up.”
“Don’t tell me you aren’t really my father.” She sassed. Her very essence knew with complete
certainty.
“Oh, I am. The tests prove that. And if it helps, you didn’t even have a plausible blood type to
match Ron. He had to know you weren’t his from the day you were born.”
“But the timing, well, Sandy had already switched places. I didn’t know what had happened, only
that something seemed off here with Sara who I had no reason to doubt wasn’t your mother but I could tell
something wasn’t the same. And one night the real Sandy was in my dreams, which happened plenty, so it
wasn’t a surprise but well, I wasn’t in the same town as your mother when you were conceived.”
Kate tried to digest that tidbit. “You got her pregnant in a dream?” She shivered.
“Crazy.”
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“The craziest.”
When in Rome
The next day at school Kate ignored Greg as much as politeness would allow – perhaps a bit more
than that. After English ended she ran out before he could catch up. And so it went for a few weeks.
The dance was approaching and Brian was taking Meg. Jeff asked Kate to the dance first and she
didn’t know how to say no, so she said yes. She wondered who Greg would take but decided she didn’t
care.
Jim gave his willing permission but he was a nervous father the night of his daughter’s first date.
Kate came downstairs wearing a burgundy sleeveless dress that went to her knees.
“Jeff is going to be the envy of every boy at the dance.” Jim gave her a careful hug to avoid
Jeff picked her up looking smart in black pants, a white shirt and tie. He didn’t notice that Kate
was silent as he took on the lion’s share of the talking. He gabbed her ear off all the way to the school and
The auditorium was transformed to a dance floor with tables in the back half and out on the large
covered patio connecting it to the rest of the school. The DJ kept the music flowing, mixing in fast and
When they met Brian and Meg, Kate felt more comfortable. They were a good-looking couple.
Jeff had a different group of friends but the school was small and everyone knew everyone else. Out of
The gathering filled with the usual suspects. Some people brought escorts from other schools.
Stacey was with an attractive boy that Kate had never seen before. She was surprised that she wasn’t with
Greg but Meg had always insisted he wasn’t interested. They sat with seniors but Stacey made the
Her date, Chris, was from Santa Katrina. He was an athlete, probably basketball or baseball
because he wasn’t bulky enough to play football. The all-American boy with dark brown eyes and black
hair, which were a nice contrast to his fairer complexion, gave a cagey glance to Jeff. His small frown
been dreading it. The night was an excuse to play dress up with her friends. She didn’t have a clue how to
dance but didn’t say no – not that he really bothered for permission.
A slow song played and he put one hand on her waist and held hers in his other. He was nimble
on his feet and kept it simple until she got into the groove of it. As she caught on they started dancing
around the floor rather than circling the same spot. It was kind of fun.
Comfortable in their pace, she eased up her concentration and checked out her classmates and their
dates. Everyone looked marvelous. She spied Dave dancing with Claire. She beamed at him and waved
Jeff was still talking her ear off, mostly about colleges. He was fixated on where he would go
after St. Iggy’s. And he didn’t notice Dave had maneuvered to them. In a slick move he cut in. Jeff and
Claire spun off in one direction and Dave whirled Kate in another.
“You’re striking.” He had to speak up to be heard over the music since they were by the speakers.
“You clean up pretty good yourself.” He was even more dashing than when she first saw him in
She blushed. “It’s all good fun. And Claire is really cool.”
“She’s a good friend.” His eyes stared at hers and then up. “Well, look who made it after all.”
Kate followed his gaze. Greg entered alone looking debonair in a bright blue shirt and dark pants.
He, like most of the guys, didn’t wear a tie. He gave Dave a head nod and gave her a couple of eyebrow
lifts as he joined Brian and Meg. Meg kept glancing to the dance floor but Brian hadn’t picked up on the
hint. He was engaged in an exchange with Greg, probably sports. He needed to dance with Meg.
Brian, Kate concentrated her thoughts willing them to her brother, I don’t know if you can hear me
He got it that time. She could see him flush even in the dim lighting but he got up with Meg.
“Let’s sit down.” Dave suggested seeing that Greg was being abandoned.
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Kate hadn’t accounted for that reaction but followed.
“I thought you were coming with Claire.” Greg said as his eyes sailed up and down over Kate.
“Jeff stole my date. Of course, I’m livid about it.” Dave wasn’t. “Doesn’t Kate look beautiful?”
“What’re you queer? She’s lovely.” Dave turned to Kate, “Ignore him. He thinks all girls should
“Go back and dance. You looked good out there.” Greg ordered.
“It’s cool.”
Kate looked at the clock over the entrance. “It’s only ten thirty.”
“We’re going to an after party and it’s all about the after party.”
Greg was shaking his head for her to say no. She didn’t understand why. It reminded her of the
Kate had seen telltale signs before but she hadn’t put the pieces together. Dave and Greg didn’t
badmouth Jeff but they didn’t care for him either. Even Brad, who was excessively friendly if that was
possible, was standoffish when it came to Jeff. The cliques were looser but they were still cliques.
From school they drove to a very modern home in the hills. It had more windows than walls. “Do
“I don’t drink.” Kate was just shy of sixteen and it seemed an odd question.
She took a sip and it was kind of refreshing. She shrugged and figured while in Rome. The house
filled with many of the same kids from the dance. Jeff had gotten into a heated debate with another boy
Feeling the courage from her beer, Kate decided to mingle. She kept waiting for one of the twins
to pop up and direct her but she was alone. She talked to Lindsay from math.
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“What’re you doing with that?” Brian asked eyeing the beer. He had an opened soda. “Here.”
He swapped drinks with her and drank her beer leaving her with a Coke.
She spied Brad and went to thank him for the party. “Hi Brad.” He was in a group of juniors and
seniors athletes. They were more like themselves with their sleeves rolled up and no ties, if any wore one.
“What are you drinking that for? I can’t stand to see people not drinking at my party.” He took
her Coke and gave her the rest of his beer, which was still cold and half full.
They didn’t let her walk on. Instead they riddled her with tons of questions. When Brad’s friends
learned St. Iggy’s was her first venue into Catholic school they really started grilling her. She enjoyed the
attention and stood by Brad because she knew him best. He was sitting on the arm of the sofa and at some
point that she hadn’t noticed he had put his arm around her waist. It was very friendly and she felt
comfortable enough with him to not feel like she was being pawed.
“Hey guys.” Greg stopped by glancing down at Kate’s beer. “You don’t mind if I take Katie for a
minute, do you?” No one complained and he pulled her from Brad’s side. “Why are you drinking beer?”
“When in Rome, do like the Roman Catholics.” She giggled at her joke.
He smiled. “Just my luck, drinking makes you smarter. Typically booze degenerates one’s ability
to think. Let’s get you something more age appropriate.” In the backyard he pulled out a bottle of water
from an ice chest and sat on the low brick wall on the side of the patio. The yard was mostly private except
“Thanks.” She giggled to think that he was acting like Eric would if he were there. She was
“What’s so funny?”
He got the hint but ignored it. “Are you having fun with Jeff?”
“I was, but then he started talking politics with Sam and I decided to socialize.”
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“Nice. He should take better care of his date so that someone doesn’t take you away. Brad and
She was sure he was overstating things. Like Eric, he seemed to think every guy on earth was out
“The girl I wanted to ask was already going with someone else.” He equivocated.
“Who is she?” Kate couldn’t imagine that he couldn’t have worked around that if he really
wanted to. The mystery of who she was annoyed her. Maybe she was envious of whoever the girl was but
He rolled his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell Jeff you wanted to go with Dave?”
“You could have said no.” Greg didn’t like that she didn’t speak her mind.
Like that was going to happen again. “And there’s no need to.”
“What does that mean?” He got a little hot under the collar.
“You did the damage. You showed Eric you weren’t afraid of him.” She looked down feeling
“You have this all figured out.” He nudged her shoulder with his.
She nodded her head. Her beer clouded mind swished around her skull.
“You were doing a good job of it in there with the football team.”
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“We were just talking.”
“You had them enchanted.” He pushed her hair behind her shoulder to see her better.
She shrugged and it fell forward again. These were the kind of talks Eric always had with her.
“So that’s your conclusion, about me, that I kissed you to defy Eric.”
“What?”
“Smart girls are like nice guys. They’re always just friends.”
“Not at all. That’s why I’m here with Jeff.” She gave him a defiant look.
“He’s a letch, you just don’t know it. And you’re here with me and Jeff is inside arguing the pros
“I can leave you alone with your air.” He didn’t move and she didn’t say anything. “So you want
me here.”
“Ouch!”
“I don’t believe for one minute that you have any feelings.”
“Why then?” She wished she didn’t ask. It was a trap. He was playing word games with her and
“Couldn’t be that you are incredibly fun and beautiful and smart and sweet, when you want to be?
She tried not to blush but it wasn’t something she could control. “I’ll be nice.” She finally
“Don’t. I don’t need the temptation when I’m abstaining from kissing you.”
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She stood up and her head went fuzzy.
“I’m fine. I’m going back inside.” She didn’t like his cryptic conversations that zigged and
zagged and she didn’t have the gear for a proper slalom.
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Party’s Over
Getting her bearings again Kate ambled into the house leaving Greg and his mind games on the
patio. Brad bumped into her again. “What did I say about drinking?” He gave her a fresh beer and went to
Kate fluttered around the people nursing her beer. A group of kids she didn’t know were in the
kitchen playing a game of quarters. One of them was Stacey’s date Chris.
“That’s me.” She nodded too hard. It was the beer. “So what’re the rules?”
“It’s fun. You try to bounce a quarter into the glass. If you get it in, you get to name someone to
“Like what?”
“Like, no cursing, or you drink. Or no using names, or you drink. No pointing, or you drink.
“I’m only Mr. Right-Now. She’s probably working Mr. Right as we speak. Where’s your date?”
“I don’t know. I was looking for him but he wasn’t were I left him.”
“I’ll help you. It’s no fun when you aren’t drinking and I am driving.”
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They walked into a few rooms and found Jeff immersed in a larger political discussion. The
crowd of debaters grew and they had moved to a better location around the dining room table. They all
wore neckties. She waved at Jeff and he crawled out from the group. He was disconcerted.
“I’ll see you around then. It was nice meeting you.” Chris gave her a long look before departing.
“I was the one that roamed off.” Kate didn’t feel guilty. Politics was about as exciting as
“Mingling.”
Her beer was still three quarters full. “Well, I could use some water. They have some outside.”
The patio was as empty as before and they sat on the brick wall.
“Why?”
Nonetheless her cheeks went pink. “I’m not and we’re well matched in math.”
“We are. I like a challenge.” He ran his hand through her hair. “Are you glad we came?”
He put his arm around her and it felt uncomfortable. He ran his fingers down her arm and she
“I like it out here.” He moved his hand across her jawbone and guided her face to his.
Realizing he was about to kiss her she jumped up. “It’s getting kind of cold.” He was the one that
had made the point they were just going for fun, as friends.
He rose to his feet. “I’ll keep you warm.” His arms wrapped around her, ensnaring her.
“I’m not a tease.” She wiggled to dislodge but didn’t even get more room.
He ran his face down to kiss her. If she hadn’t been kissed before she may not have known what
he was thinking. She put her arms between them and tried to pry free. It didn’t stop him and he mashed his
Opening his mouth he infiltrated her lips with his tongue. She pushed harder against his chest. He
“Let’s explore all the options.” He lasciviously closed in for more intimacy but was abruptly
pulled back. Greg yanked him by his right shoulder. Jeff was about to voice a protest but his face met with
Greg’s fist.
Jeff cradled his left side of his jaw. “Get out of here Greg. Kate came with me.”
Greg stood between them with his back to her staring Jeff down. “Well, she’s going home with
me.” He grabbed her hand and led her through the house.
As they neared the door they ran into Brian and Meg. “What’s going on?” Brian demanded. He
didn’t know why she was with Greg and why he was holding her hand.
“The hell you are!” Brian spat back and stepped up to Greg. He wasn’t going to allow it.
Jeff got to the entrance hall ready to stop her from leaving but froze when he saw Brian’s agitated
Brian studied the two boys trying to comprehend the situation. Jeff looked disheveled and
pleading. Greg looked perfect and fierce. Brian couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Meg looked at Kate and
understood. “We’ll go with them.” She jerked on Brian’s hand away from Jeff.
“Think about it Jeff.” Greg warned ready for a tussle if the need arose.
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Jeff wasn’t a fighter and neither Brian nor Greg would have any trouble if things escalated. Both
of them standing there was two times too intimidating. If Kate told Brian what Jeff did he would have to
face off with both boys. He said goodnight and went back to the party.
“What happened?” Brian had only gotten more lost after Jeff’s brief appearance.
With that Brian completed the riddle. “I’ll be right back.” He was about to go after Jeff.
Meg held his whole arm and couldn’t do more than slow his progress. “Brian, it’s fine. Let’s go.”
The three of them cajoled Brian to leave and drove home in two cars. Kate was in Greg’s Bronco.
“You’re right. He’s a letch.” She hugged her arms around herself feeling like a naïve idiot.
“I should’ve figured it out faster.” Greg didn’t look at her. “That he would get fresh.”
“And you’ll give Eric a full report.” He hated that she was under Eric’s influence.
“I always do. And there’s no escaping this. Brian knows too much.” She wanted him to
understand that they were her brothers. Greg was an only child and didn’t know what it was like to have a
sibling.
They were at a stoplight and he looked over at her. “Is that how you see me? As another
brother?”
“I don’t know how I see you. Sometimes you seem like a friend but other times…”
“How so?”
He didn’t answer. He parked in his driveway and opened the door for her. She stepped out and
He didn’t let go of the car at first but finally he hugged her back. He held her for a long moment.
“Don’t do that.” He was terrified when he saw her crying. “Everything’s fine.”
She dried her other eye. Inside, Jim was passed out in front of the television. “Dad, I’m home.”
He stirred.
“I’m home.”
“I like it.” He was in seventh heaven. “Did you have a good time?”
“You have it easier than we do. Do you want to talk?” Jim looked nervous that he had to perform
Jim relaxed and turned off the television as they headed to their rooms.
Kate took a quick shower to unwind her tense muscles. After giving Zuzu an acceptable amount
of consideration she curled up. When her head hit the pillow, she was out like a light.
She sat up in her misty room wearing her fancy dress. She hopped out of bed and watched the
door knowing who would enter. He was the only thing on her mind.
Greg strolled in looking as rakish as he had when he arrived at the dance. “I knew I would get
“Better.” He walked up to her. “Don’t say anything this time. I don’t want it to stop.”
“But…”
He kissed her softly. “Please.” Unlike Jeff’s advances, Greg’s kiss was ideal and sweet.
She melted at his touch as he ran his hands down her arms and held each of her hands in each of
“Better.” His lips brushed hers softly and he pressed them together.
She kissed him back for the first time, awake or asleep. His kisses were wonderful. There was so
much emotion behind them. She lost her train of thought, enjoying the moment.
“Even in my dreams you don’t listen to me.” His eyes were kind and warm and dazzling.
His hand stroked her neck and then along the top of her shoulder. Her head followed it as if it was
“That’s the point.” He joked as he traced her smile with his fingers.
It was too much for her. She took a small step back. “Please, really. You’ll regret it in the
morning.”
“No I won’t.” He kissed her with more passion and the bones in her legs turned from solid mass
She enjoyed it but when they broke for air she said, “You promised you wouldn’t kiss me.”
“Once. It was very short.” He swept her hair behind her shoulder.
“I knew I’d be seeing that dress again.” He smiled through his confusion. “Although, you don’t
usually talk this much.” Some awareness crept in but he shirked it off.
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She wondered what she usually did in his dreams. It was a dangerous thought and she shook her
head to erase it. Perhaps more talking would prove it wasn’t a normal dream. “Momentum equals mass
“That doesn’t prove anything. We both know that.” He wasn’t going to be convinced easily,
He gave a sideways look. “That’s how they cheat at pool. And you can stop them.”
“Yes.”
“Could be my imagination.” Despite his words, she could see his doubt. His cheeks grew rosy.
“And I can pull people into my dreams.” She added for a final argument.
He sat clumsily onto her bed accepting it. “We’re dreaming together?”
“Yes. I can’t control it. And after tonight, you were on my mind.”
“It’ll pass. I don’t know how to make it end faster. Unless one of us wakes up.”
He stood up and started for the exit stopping when he was shoulder to shoulder with her. “I’m a
“It’s okay to like me.” He meant as more than a friend but she wouldn’t let herself believe it.
Something was buzzing behind her but she turned away facing him.
He turned to her as well. “Not really. Dave likes you.” His fingers glided along her hairline.
She understood. The twins were the same way. “Bros before hoes.”
“Better than the uniform.” The buzzing got louder but she ignored it.
“You look pretty good in that too.” He hesitated. “We didn’t even get to dance.”
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Too loud to ignore, she turned to her left looking for the source of the interruption and she was in
her dark room, alone in her pajamas. Her cell phone blinked a text message from Eric. “Are you
awake?”
“Call?”
“Go to sleep. I’ll see you soon.” She would be able to bring him into her
dream. She was getting the hang of it. She shut her phone off and tried to go to sleep. It worked. She sat
“No. Start from the top.” He had heard from Brian that something happened.
She told him about the dance and how everything was fine. Then how she went to the party and
how she walked around mingling. She kept the details light when it came to guys.
That was hypocritical. They had done the same at her age. She didn’t remind him. “It wasn’t that
big a deal.” She mentioned that Greg kept her away from the beer and was on good behavior, mostly.
Then she told him how she found Jeff and he was aggressive but Greg came to the rescue.
He liked the sound of that even though she was feeding his ego. “Then?”
“We left.”
“Sort of. You aren’t the first person I pulled into a dream tonight. I didn’t mean to pull him in but
his wishes.
“A little. But I wanted him to know it wasn’t the usual dream and I finally convinced him. After
“We aren’t going to anymore. Dave kind of liked me first and they won’t let a girl come between
“For now.”
“And you didn’t pass. You were alone with an aggressive ass.”
She wanted to tell him she might have done better if he let her test the waters earlier. That
although he had the best intentions, all his meddling had kept her naïve. But she didn’t. That was water
“Okay.”
Sunday Kate ate lunch at her brothers’ as planned. Eric wasn’t home but Brian and Matt were and
Sandy busied herself in the kitchen getting food ready for her hungry children. Making sure her mother
was too far to listen Kate updated them on the events of the evening regarding Jeff and the party. Eric had
“So why didn’t you pull me into a dream?” Matt asked a little miffed.
“Hey.” Eric yelled as he walked into the house. Greg was with him. “What’s for lunch?”
“Taco salad.” Sandy zoomed out of the kitchen with a big serving bowl.
“I’m giving Greg another chance.” Eric said to an unheard question from Matt. “He did all right
considering how much trouble Kate got into yesterday.” He turned to Greg, “And now you know it isn’t us
being protective. The girl has a talent for finding trouble. Or trouble finds her. Either way it’s a full time
Greg laughed. “I don’t know how you did it for so long.” Then he turned to Brian. “How did it
“Well until the end. She didn’t like that I lost my temper.”
“It happens.” Matt said to the most even keeled of the Thomas men. “She’ll get over it.”
“Why did you get mad?” Sandy asked suddenly reappearing with serving utensils. When no one
bothered to answer, she grew impatient. “Brian, why did you get mad?”
“What happened?” It was the sort of story that would trigger her mother’s concerns.
“Well, you’re a girl and it’s different. Besides, look how they turned out.”
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“That’s sexism.” Kate groaned.
Sandy played with Kate’s hair. “Another year won’t kill you. In the scope of things, you’ll have
“Don’t worry about it, Bri. It’s good for her.” Matt was hardly as vocal as Eric when it came to
Kate but a few more boy-free months suited him just fine.
Greg watched the family interact with new eyesight. It probably annoyed him, as it always had,
that her choices were being made for her. However, there was a part of him that liked that her dating
activities would be curtailed. Patience wasn’t a hardship of his but the Thomases were a different breed –
even their little half sister Kate. “What would be good for her is if you taught her how to throw a punch.”
Greg suggested.
Kate stuck her tongue at him. One minute he was public enemy number one and the next he was
“Get up.” He repeated and pulled at her shoulders. “Okay, keep your knees loose and stand with
your feet shoulder distance. That’s right. Make a fist like this.” He held his hand out with his fingers
rolled in and his thumb on the outside. “Good.” He stood behind her and torqued her arm in a twisted arc
She jabbed in the air feeling more idiotic than when she wore the Dodger cap.
“Faster.”
“So are you coming batting with us?” Greg asked Kate as he lifted a forkful of salad into his
“Not this time. Homework.” She could bat. Her brothers had taken her many times. But it
messed up her tennis swing and she had a lot of philosophy reading to do.
After they left she moped all the way home hoping against hope that Jim wouldn’t agree with
Sandy. Her genetic parents sat on the kitchen stools debating her fate. Sandy was displeased and that was
a good omen. They hadn’t come to a resolution and her fate was still salvageable.
“You didn’t tell me everything that happened last night.” Jim was kind, as always, but hurt that he
learned the news through the grapevine. Ron or Sandy would have started off in a harsher tone and added
the phrase ‘young lady’ to the end of allegation number one. They also would wait for a response before
Quickly she weighed the best route on how to leverage his understanding without dishonesty or
taking advantage of his relative newness to parenthood. Subdue and reassure. “It has gotten blown out of
“Eric was bouncing off the walls last night.” Sandy snapped.
“Well, Sandy, they are a bit overprotective.” Bonus. Eric’s crazy big brother ways that amplified
things with the Thomas parents had the reverse affect on Jim Dad.
“I do. I was one not that long ago. And I think you meant to say ‘kids’.” Nice slight on Sandy’s
sexist predisposition.
“We need a united position.” Their new family arrangement had weakened Sandy’s authority.
me on this?”
He didn’t like that comment. He never called Kate a puppet but it was clear that she was low man
on the Thomas family totem poll. “She needs to make her own choices.”
“You have to set down house rules. You’re the parent now.”
“We have rules.” His tone rose. “She has a curfew and she lets me know where she’s going and
Kate knew things couldn’t stay as harmonious as they had been. She didn’t know what the first
fight would be about or when. But it would come and it had. Her stomach twisted from anxiety.
“Jim, put your foot down for once.” Sandy practically commanded him seeing that common sense
failed her.
“Don’t fight. I won’t date if you don’t fight.” Kate blurted out. She would agree to anything to
“Sandy, what’s that going to do but make Kate more interested and less honest. And it doesn’t
matter. She can pull people into her dreams. Do you want her experimenting with boys in that realm?”
“Damn!” Sandy hardly ever cursed. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“And she can do that too? I mean pull people into dreams?”
Kate was still in the room but you couldn’t tell the way her mother was talking.
“Since?”
“You didn’t.”
“I was right. She was my daughter. It was going to start soon anyway. What does it matter
now?”
“Only that she has learned your little trick.” Sandy was incensed.
“She’s a smart girl with a good network of friends. She’ll be fine.” Jim stood up. “Why don’t
They stared at each other for a minute. “I guess you won’t have to wait until next year to date.”
Sandy rolled her eyes. Jim was right. There was no use laying down a law they couldn’t enforce.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have done this. Maybe it was better the way it was. I upset everyone’s life to free
myself.”
“Mom, I like living with Jim. It was a good decision. And I see Brian every day and the twins
often. I even have Ron still and things are better with him. Remember how he was so distant from me.
“He has changed a lot.” Sandy admitted with a thoughtful look. “We all have. I knew things
would change. It was fortuitous they didn’t change for the worse.”
“We do.”
“Do you still love Jim?” It was easy for Kate to have two fathers. There was room for both in her
heart. Sandy wasn’t in a position to have two husbands and it seemed to Kate that she was choosing Ron.
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“Not like that. We have changed too much in different directions. And I shattered our trust
beyond repair. But Ron and I are getting along.” She blushed. “Funny, after all this time of hating my
She sighed. “Yeah. A little of both of us died and a little of both of us lived.”
“Are you happier?” Kate always felt like her mother wasn’t truly content.
“I’m very happy. Ron and I are still…” Sandy worried if it was the sort of talk she should have
with her daughter but then remembered she had told her far worse during her confession. “Just friends, as
“I wasn’t thinking that.” But it was a good point. “Just trying to understand.”
“There’s a part of me that wishes I could change back to my old self and work it out with Jim.
Kate had made the same assessment. Jim had a sense of balance that she had never seen before in
“I do.”
“Take him to dinner. When was the last time you got gussied up for fun?”
Kate patted her mother’s hand. “Go out and have a good time with your husband.”
Sandy went home. Kate kind of liked the idea of her mom and Ron finally working it out. She
felt bad for Jim. He got the short end of the stick. He told her that he had some serious relationships since
Kate went to his office. “That was kind of cool of you to stand up for me.” She said from the
doorjamb.
He melted at the sound of the word. “Do me a favor. Stand up for yourself too.”
Pride swelled inside him. “You aren’t just working me for some money are you?”
“I don’t need a dime.” She batted her eyes to emphasize her purity. “It’s just, this all started up so
fast and it was easier than I would have guessed and you should hear that it was going well.”
“Thanks.”
Amazing how much could change after one dance. Brian was right. Meg was turned off by his
anger at the end of the party. They were destined to date before Saturday. But after, it was like they may
have been introduced once but weren’t sure. Brian still liked Meg. Even without him admitting it, which
he did, Kate could see it. However Meg was scared off.
Greg and Kate had established a comfortable friendship. She was incredibly attracted to him but
she understood where things stood and she put those tempting ideas aside.
Jeff apologized for his actions and blamed the beer. She told him to not worry about it but kept a
respectable distance.
Dave was bummed he missed the excitement. Brian, Greg and him were now on the outs with
Jeff. They wouldn’t forget it. And Dave was more straightforward with his fascination in Kate. He asked
Stacey was always somewhat removed from Kate’s world from the first day of school. The dance
had changed that too. She was openly cold to her. Initially Kate didn’t care although it was impossible not
to notice. But Stacey was the most popular senior and it only took a couple of days to realize that girls
were reverberating the icy treatment. Some of the boys were too. Boys weren’t totally arctic but they
stayed clear.
Brad was immune to Stacey’s influence and had become more of a friend. He flirted with Kate, or
at least it was close enough to round off to flirting. It was purposeless and purely for entertainment value.
Her tennis was better than ever. It was all misplaced energy from a few different avenues.
Whatever it was, Coach Evans was pleased and she played the top players in class. That meant more
matches with Stacey and Stacey was better, best in the class, and had an unbeatable singles record. She had
Even though Kate couldn’t beat her, she reveled in every point she won knowing she was catching
up in skill. When she first delivered an ace serve, Stacey was visibly irate. Kate grinned and gave her a
wink. The action enflamed Stacey’s competitive side and Kate was trounced after that. It was worth it.
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They had enough courts to play single games but mixed it up with doubles. Whenever possible, Meg was
Kate’s partner and that made it more fun even if they lost to Stacey and one of her cronies.
She had the upper hand on Stacey in Physics. And it helped that Gerard taught it. He was a great
teacher and it was her best subject. When it came to the tough problems, Gerard often called on her or Jeff
since they were the two that usually completed them without assistance.
Comedy got more fun. Miss Carter decided they would read Little Shop of Horrors, since it was
almost Halloween. At least once a week the class read through lines almost as a faux rehearsal.
Occasionally she played a song from the soundtrack. They were zipping through it so fast, Miss Carter was
Philosophy was the best class of all. Sister Rene kept it engaging. Often prodding the class into
lively debates. Unlike public school teacher’s, Sister Rene liked them to have an opinion even if it wasn’t
the same as hers. She wasn’t impressed with parroting but she was persistent that the students support their
positions. Sister Rene called on everyone out of the blue and was never disappointed with Kate’s ideas.
The class was open to input without raising hands and waiting to be called. It felt very grown up.
Frequently Sister Rene stepped in when pandemonium broke out but after order was restored, they went on
talking freely.
History wasn’t easy for her. The dates, places and people were hard to remember and they all
sounded the same. Father Francis was a stickler in class. He wanted full dates and names but the tests
were mostly multiple choice and essay questions. They were the toughest exams she ever had but fill-in-
the-blanks would have made them impossible especially since she couldn’t spell well and foreign names
were impossible.
The movie was pleasant and Dave was a perfect gentleman. He hugged her at the end of the night.
She really wanted to like him but she didn’t. She wouldn’t admit why.
The most unsettlingly outcome was Greg and Eric. They had become friends, bonded even. It
was Greg that eased Eric’s worry when he heard Kate was going on a date with Dave. A clear sign that it
The next week, things continued to adjust to the new changes and more were in the works. Stacey
was giving a preternatural amount of attention to Brian. And Brian was a fool to be hoodwinked. Kate
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decided it wasn’t her looks that made her the IT girl but her ability to seduce boys for attention. Meg was
easily as pretty as Stacey, prettier. Kate was disappointed in Brian. He got attention from other girls but
Stacey was the most forward and somehow he only saw her.
“She’s trying to envenom you.” Meg said one lunch as if she was spared from any emotions on
the matter.
“Because Greg took you home from the party. She has heard that by now. She probably thinks
“Like that matters. Given the choice to be bested by no one or you, she has opted for you. You’re
“She has throngs of adoring men. Why can’t she pick from them?”
“The easy prey bored her years ago. She’s a predator.” Meg held out her fingers in gnarled talon
Kate snickered until Stacey ran her fingers through Brian’s hair. It was due for a trim but that
wasn’t what irked her when she caught the intimate contact. “I don’t like it.”
“Well, you shouldn’t do anything. You don’t like it when your brothers meddle in your life.”
Brian and Kate eschewed the topic of the wicked harpy. She heard from Dave that Brian was
taking Stacey out on a date. She played like she already knew but Greg saw through her. He always did.
It was Thursday and she couldn’t wait another day to see the twins. Fact was she didn’t need to
stop it. She only needed to push the first boulder to start the avalanche to stop it. She texted her boulder.
misty room.
“Cute uniform.” Eric teased as he sat on her bed and played with Zuzu. “What’s up?”
“Brian. He’s going out with this vile girl from school.”
“Meg doesn’t have a chance. Stacey, this other girl, is on a quest. She’s very blatant.”
“You’re hung up on Greg.” It wasn’t a question. A family of empaths didn’t have to ask – only
“Not liking Dave doesn’t equate to liking Greg.” She said quickly.
“That isn’t an option, is it? And all your effort wasn’t needed.”
She pouted.
“On Greg? Like you’d help me with him.” She sassed. “What’s your advice? Don’t date?”
“If you would agree, yes. But you won’t. If you want another chance at Greg, don’t date Dave
anymore.”
“No, actually you should date, anyone else, but not Dave.” He was giving her earnest guidance.
“He’ll get over that Dave liked you first once you and Dave move on.”
“After we get to know a girl, it’s easy to tell who likes her more and who she likes. At first
It was a mockery of romance. “What about that girl Matt was seeing freshman year?” She never
heard the truth why they broke up but Eric was involved somehow.
“Matt liked her, I don’t know why. She liked me, and I don’t know why. And I didn’t like her
because she was leading Matt on. Honest to God. We didn’t swap identities. She tried to hit on me
pretending to think I was him and that was when it ended.” Eric let it sink in. “I hate to admit this, but I’m
sure you can find another enamored boy without much effort.” He had spent too much time fending off
“I can’t. I am on the poo poo list. Brian’s skanky girlfriend has everyone hating me.”
“She chased Greg for months and now she hates me because he took me home from that party.
She doesn’t realize he won’t date me. That doesn’t matter. Meg says she’s after Brian to piss me off.”
“Funny.” He was thinking about when Greg use to try to annoy him by flirting with her.
Kate nodded.
She woke up with a plan. She would test the waters with Meg and see if that interest could be
resuscitated. As for someone to date to show she wasn’t going to date Dave, she had an idea. The only guy
in school who didn’t treat her like a pariah was Brad. Maybe she could work that some. Too bad she
“Good morning.” She was spry with her new tasks at hand.
“Kate, where do you want to go for dinner this weekend? Saturday’s your birthday.”
She had forgotten it was coming up so fast. Jim sounded like he meant all her family and she
loved him more for it. He freely accepted all her domestic baggage without wincing once. “Anywhere?”
“Remember you gave me free range.” He warned. “Of course we’ll invite the Thomas clan.”
“And the Andrews?” That would help with her plans for Meg and Brian.
“Grandpa.”
She told Brian about the plans on the way to school and she hadn’t counted on the added benefit
that he would have to postpone his date with Stacey. He had practice on Friday and Sunday wouldn’t be
At lunch, Brian sat with Stacey. Kate knew exactly when he cancelled their date because Kate got
one mean stare from vampira. She smiled as she turned away to talk with Greg. She was going to get her
As she changed in the locker room Stacey groused from the aisle over. “And he has to postpone
Meg coughed to hint to Stacey that the juniors could hear her but she didn’t lower her voice. Kate
“She’s so jealous of me because Greg wouldn’t ask her out.” She derided.
Kate rolled her eyes as she laced up her sneakers. That was old news and Greg had plenty of time
to go out with Stacey before Kate moved to town. If anyone was jealous, it wasn’t Kate.
“I’m surprised they’re even related. Well, just barely. She has a different father. Imagine that,
They say if you put a thousand monkeys in a room with a thousand typewriters they will
eventually write Hamlet. Stacey had successfully fumbled around different buttons to push and unearthed
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the one that caused Kate to spring to her feet with her hands clenched, shaking with anger. Her jaw was
locked tight as she mentally recalled her lesson in hitting. Her feet were apart, loose knees and her hand
was ready for impact. Amazing how clear she saw her target in her mind’s eye.
“Kate, relax. She’s just being a bitch.” Meg whispered taken aback by yet another Thomas
temper tantrum.
The other juniors stared. If they hadn’t been giving her the cold treatment, she believed they
would support her need to defend her family. As it was, they were only hopeful for a catfight.
The seniors left for the courts. “Geez, what’s with your family?” Meg asked seeing Kate about to
explode.
“How’d you like her talking about your mother that way?” Kate hissed.
“I wouldn’t hit her.” Meg was too docile to strike out at anyone.
They walked to courts. It was a doubles day and Kate and Meg were matched up to Stacey and
Allison, another senior cheerleader and head toady of the Stacey fan club.
Stacey served and Kate returned it without error. It was a great serve too. Kate was determined to
win. It wouldn’t be enough justice but it would be sweet. She focused all her rage into her game and it
worked. Kate and Meg won the first game. Stacey was irate, more than expected, which made Kate happy,
more than expected. She was a sore loser being unfamiliar with the feeling. Kate served and it was out but
“That was great Kate. Pull the racket back further before swinging and wait for a good toss.”
The next serve was just as fast and in bounds. Stacey didn’t get close to returning it. She stomped
her feet in dissatisfaction. Kate dominated the game and it was over in record time. Stacey didn’t touch a
serve until the last but her ball went out of bounds.
Allison served next and Stacey stood ready to fight for a win. It was close but Kate and Meg
triumphed again. Coach Evans had moved to their court. “You’ve been hustling me.” He accused Kate.
Could Coach Evans see that it was personal? He must but he didn’t seem to care. He was
Stacey got up to serve with a look of hostile determination on her face. She hit the ball hard but it
was long. She got ready for a second go when Kate said, “Meg, are you coming to dinner with us on
“I’m sure we’ll go.” Meg said casually with a questioning look.
Double faulting was the worst way to lose a point and Stacey boiled. Her next serve was limp and
Kate’s backhand was perfect. She won the point. Stacey turned red with frustration. Meg returned the
next serve and a rally was curtailed by Allison that was a worthy net player.
Let’s see you hit this one bitch. Kate heard in her head. She smiled. It was Stacey’s mind. The
Meg laughed. If she wasn’t sure why Kate was asking those things before, she had caught on
then. “Probably.”
“Girls, you can discuss this after class.” Coach Evans cautioned.
It was too late. Stacey’s concentration was shot. She couldn’t get a fastball to land in bounds and
Kate took the next game and Meg hugged her after their first win. Some of the frostier chicks
“Yes Mr. Evans.” She said guiltlessly as the other girls shuffled back to get their books and
came with time and patience. His point was she was getting there and he told her to think about trying out
Stacey stopped Kate in the locker room. “Don’t let your rare good luck go to your head.” She
“If you say so.” Kate said casually over her shoulder. She walked around to the junior’s lockers
Kate’s high was instantly gone. Stacey must have upset Meg. She hadn’t accounted on collateral
damage. The battle was between Kate and Stacey and no one else. Kate slumped on the bench.
“Hi.” Kate prepared for a telling off. She was one of Stacey’s followers.
“Um, Stacey went into major bitch-zilla mode after the game. She laid in pretty hard on Meg.”
“It wasn’t cool. She pretty much told Meg she couldn’t be friends with you.”
“Half the school hates me because of her but that isn’t enough.”
“I’m in the other half now. Do you think you can beat her again?” It was a request and not a
question.
“We’ll find out on Monday.” Kate wasn’t sure if she could pull off a victory one-on-one. If so, it
wouldn’t be from an underperformance on her part. She was sure that Coach Evans would match them up.
The other classes were getting out and girls bustled in and out. She went to meet Brian at his car.
Fifteen minutes later Brian marched up and unlocked the car. He was in a foul mood. She got in
without a word.
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“What did you do?” He snarled at her after closing his door.
“I didn’t do anything. You’re girlfriend,” she said the word scornfully, “told Meg she couldn’t be
my friend.”
“She lied.” She didn’t think she should have to defend herself to him.
“Back off.”
Kate soured in her seat. He wasn’t going to listen to reason. He was under Stacey’s trance.
That night, she didn’t ask Eric’s permission before falling asleep. He was there when her dream
started. And furthermore, she pulled in Matt as well. Things were perilous to not call in the full reserves.
“She’s good.” Matt remarked about Stacey’s preemptive counter move by telling her version to
Brian first.
“What do I do now?”
“Let him stew. He needs to figure this out. Anything you say will only make it worse.”
“I noticed that.”
“Let’s see how Meg handles this tomorrow.” Eric said thoughtfully.
“Why?”
“It won’t last but I don’t want that either.” She forgot Matt was more outspoken on Brian’s life
Kate felt better. She may not be able to persuade Brian but the twins were pros. And if he did
Jim picked a restaurant called Siegfried’s. It was German and the food was too heavy to be great
but it was good. What made it a uniquely amusing choice was they had an oom-pah-pah band to celebrate
Oktoberfest. They were a great group and after every song, the band downed shots that were bought for
them by admiring patrons. Andy picked up a round and following his example, so did Jim and Ron each.
It was a testament to their drinking prowess that they stood up let alone play music.
The joint was a favorite of Jim and Andy’s, who knew most of the staff by name. Andy brought
Angela along, which was fine with Kate and Jim. And another benefit was Ron had some men friends to
chum around with. Jim and Andy included him in all their rounds which were fewer than the bands but still
impressive. Kate hadn’t seen Ron lit before and he may not have been but he was a heck of a lot closer
than ever before and loving it. Other than a slight condemning sensation from her mother regarding Ron’s
They sat in the patio that had picnic tables and one group blended into the next. It was a very
Brian adeptly shunned Kate without causing suspicion in the adults. Meg was friendly to her but
hadn’t told her about what Stacey said. She wanted to bring it up but there were too many people. Brian
talked to Meg most of the night since he was avoiding Kate and the twins who took her side. At least some
Matt didn’t parse words. He told Brian off the moment they were back in town. “I’m much easier
“Like it would matter if Kate called her a bitch first or not.” Matt didn’t care if it was a fair call
“Point is you don’t like her. How’s that going to work in our family?”
Awful. Thoughts were heard and feelings felt without audibly being expressed. It was an exposed
existence and new people were going to have to get a group approval to enter beyond an outer boundary.
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When the band played the chicken dance for the hundredth time Greg asked Kate to join him. It
was nonsensical fun and the only part more fun was seeing her parents dancing along. Later they sat off to
the side as they watched everyone getting rather silly from the music and drinks.
“How come Brian’s not talking to you?” Greg didn’t know about the drama.
“Well, now she wants Brian and she told him I called her a bitch, which I didn’t but she is.”
He chuckled.
“It’ll pass.” He promised. “So what happened with Dave and you?”
“Nothing.”
He put his hand in his pocket to get something but stopped. Eric and Matt were on a direct course
Andy and Angela had plans after the dinner so Greg went home with Jim and Kate. Jim was
“You haven’t done that dream thing lately.” Greg said bashfully.
He didn’t answer. Jim was already too close for her to explore further. And to Greg’s delight, he
Greg ran his fingers lovingly along the side before entering. He took a moment before starting it.
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“Don’t worry about it.” Jim snickered. “I’m insured.”
“My Bronco will never be enough again.” Finally he started the engine and drove home incident
free.
Kate was in her misty room sitting in her chair waiting for the one guy that had passed the
“Here. I don’t think I’ll have the guts to give it to you for reals.” He handed her a small rectangle
“Oh. Well, if you give this to me now, I’ll have it in the morning.”
She opened it up and found a gold bracelet inside. It was too much.
“Do you like it?” He took it out and clasped it on her dainty wrist.
She held up her hand to admire the elegant gift. “It’s great. But you shouldn’t have.”
“It was your money, kind of.” He looked around at her furniture. “Happy Birthday Katie.”
He shook his head. “I like Katie better.” He was looking deeply at her with his piercing blue
“Because I was too stupid to admit how much I liked you at the funeral.”
It sounded ludicrous.
He left.
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The first basketball game against Santa Katrina was that Friday and the school was charged in
anticipation by Monday morning. The walls were covered with rally posters and the few kids in free
periods were discussing the upcoming game as Kate rushed through the halls. She was late to school
because she had her DMV appointment to get her license. Physics was half over when she walked in.
She held the keys to her new VW Bug up for him to see.
He continued his lecture and Greg gave her a couple of eyebrow flashes from across the room.
Perhaps the thrill of having an official driver’s license had caused her memory lapse or perhaps
because she drove herself to school and didn’t see Brian, she had almost forgot last Friday. Almost
morphed to not-at-all as details came back in vivid color when Meg was nervous at lunch. They sat with
some juniors and Stacey walked in and shot daggers their way. Kate would beat her again if sheer
determination were all that was needed. But it wasn’t. Stacey was the fastest server she had ever seen.
Stacey sidled up to Brian at his table and kissed him on the cheek. When did that start? She
laughed extra hard throughout lunch, surely to get Kate’s goat. Sadly, it worked.
Kate was so distracted wondering how close they really were that in philosophy, where she sat
away from Brian for the first time that year, Sister Rene got her first disappointing answer when Kate asked
to hear the question again. She trekked to the lockers to change for tennis wanting to win more than ever.
Stacey spoke loudly to be overheard again. “So we’re going out after the basketball game. He
adores me.”
Kate steamed. She needed to vent and she planned to take it out on the court but there was a ready
“He said the dinner was awful. He said SHE,” Stacey pretended that kept Kate’s identity secret,
Kate closed her eyes and took a deep breathe for serenity.
“Kick her ass.” Meg said clearly for the seniors benefit.
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Smiling Kate withheld her shock. She didn’t expect Meg to stop being her friend on Stacey’s
orders but she also didn’t expect her to take a hard public line on her side.
“If he wasn’t such a good kisser, I wouldn’t bother.” Stacey’s continued with her venomous rant.
“I hope that’s a good sign.” She said suggestively. The other seniors giggled.
No one could have distinguished whether Meg or Kate had a harsher glare but they were united. It
was great that Meg didn’t succumb to the pressure but all Kate’s worries weren’t erased. Stacey had kissed
Brian. Did they have a chance to progress further? Were they dating? Truth was she didn’t know and it
hurt more than anything Stacey said. But those words were to hurt Meg as well. The rage was invigorated.
Coach Evans matched them up for singles. To no one’s surprise, Kate was up against Stacey.
“Me too.” Kate gave a wicked grin and wink. She hoped it was as taunting as her brothers’ smile.
Her first serve was an ace and she was up fifteen love before breaking a sweat. It wasn’t as easy as Friday.
Stacey was just as mad and motivated and much better as a single player. Every once in a while some
insulting thought from Stacey entered Kate’s telepathic mind. It fed Kate’s confidence and improved her
swing.
Kate was up five games to three when class ended but no one went to change. The other girls
stayed to see who would win. It was rare that Stacey lost even one game in a set and the chance that she
would finally be bested was too enticing to worry about leaving on time. And Kate and Stacey had
invested too much to leave. Finishing the set was important to both and they played on.
It was Kate’s turn to serve. She bounced the ball a couple of times.
Stacey glared at Meg and Kate heard her thoughts. Wrong side to pick. Stacey’s mind dripped
with bitterness.
Kate delivered an unreturnable serve and Stacey almost threw her racket.
Kate served again. Stacey made contact with uncanny speed and they were in a long rally. Stacey
I’m not going to make this easy. Stacey thought. It was a self-defeating comment.
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Kate loosened up, feeling in her zone. The rage had ebbed. Kate had enough ire to know that
revenge was still as good a reason as any to belie Stacey’s championship streak but it wasn’t all consuming.
Two more serves and she was up two points. Stacey’s speed was fast but plausibly so.
Bitch! Claire didn’t hear what Stacey thought but Kate did. Then Stacey told herself to be faster.
Kate served and they were in another long rally. Knowing Stacey’s best work was at the net, she
subjugated her to stay at the baseline. With a final lofty lob loaded with topspin that bounced just inside
the line and over Stacey’s head Kate was victorious, winning the point, the game and the set.
The girls exploded into cheers. Meg and Claire were the first to get to Kate taking turns with high
fives. Most of the others, some seniors included, had joined the congratulatory mob. They were fist
The giddiness that was rightfully Kate’s to feel was diluted. She was in control of her temper, that
wasn’t the problem. The problem was that her real problems weren’t fixed. She didn’t like the way Stacey
had turned the school on her, how she tried to get Meg to stop being her friend and mostly how she had
come between her and Brian. The rest of the student body was pouring out of the building as the girls from
tennis were just getting back from their last class. A few students questioned why they were so late. The
Stacey stormed up to her when she walked into the locker room. “I suppose you think you’re hot
shit now.” Kate tried to side step her but Stacey wouldn’t have it. She meant to beleaguer. “You’re
nothing.”
“I’m not in the mood for your fractured ego.” Kate sighed wondering how Brian could believe
meretricious Stacey over her. She started to walk around but Stacey grabbed her sleeve and spun Kate her
direction again.
“Let go of me.” Kate pulled free. Obviously Kate’s dispassionate response wasn’t acceptable to
Stacey and she was going to get her riled up one way or another.
he wanted to upgrade.”
Meg almost lost her temper but didn’t. It took a lot of effort as Meg’s face twisted with inner
dichotomy between doing what is right and doing what felt natural.
Stacey had gone too far and Kate called her on her tyranny. “Why do you have to be so mean?
We don’t want any trouble. Go away and leave us alone. And forget about Brian. He won’t date you if I
have anything to say about it.” She walked right up to Stacey face-to-face ready to slug it out.
“It’s too late.” Stacey shoved Kate and she reeled backward hitting the side of a row of lockers.
The epiphany that struggled to reveal itself to Kate before finally shined brightly. Stacey’s speed
was too fast, faster than humanly possible. It was some talent she hadn’t learned about.
“How did you do that? Do you use that to play tennis?” Kate straightened up.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Stacy spat out but her face showed the antithesis. The
others girls were confused and Stacey didn’t want rumors, true or not, spoiling her unbeatable reputation,
“Let’s go.” Meg urged fearing that the famous Thomas temper was going to erupt.
It won’t work on me. Not now that I know. Kate thought wondering if Stacey heard. Kate wasn’t
sure if she could thwart Stacey but it was a bet worth taking. After all, she won the game and maybe it was
The other senior girls gasped. The truth was stated plainly by the worst person to profess it in
Stacey clenched her teeth and lurched forward but it was slower and Kate jumped out of the way.
Stacey slammed up against the lockers and ricocheted back hitting Kate square on the mouth.
Kate stumbled over a bench and held the back of her hand to her bleeding lip. She looked at the
blood on her hand. The anger was too much and she laughed – hard. “How are you going to explain that to
Brian? Are you going to tell him I hit your fist with my face?”
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“Stop it!” Meg pleaded, “Before a teacher comes.”
Stacey pounced and they were wrestling on the floor as classmates egged them on. Kate blocked
for protection. She had only learned to throw a punch when standing and she couldn’t get a good angle for
full torque. She did a fair job of stopping the blows but never got a shot in of her own.
Before long teachers were there responding to the hullabaloo. Sister Rene pulled Stacey off Kate
and Miss Carter helped Kate off the floor. Stacey kept struggling to attack but Sister Rene didn’t allow it.
“It was Kate’s fault.” Allison said but she was the only one in the locker room backing Stacey.
The other girls admitted it was Stacey without being asked. Don’t hit thy neighbor wasn’t a top ten
“The head master can sort this out.” Sister Rene let them compose themselves before they went to
Father Francis’ office. Meg wrote something feverishly in a note pad as Kate was marched out of the
locker room.
Kate and Stacey waited on benches in the hallway. Miss Carter stood guard while Sister Rene
updated Father Francis. The school secretary came out of her office kneading a cold compress to start the
The compress helped as she held it to her bleeding lip. It throbbed but she felt no pain. Stacey
and Brian were over and that kept her happy and distracted. He wouldn’t forgive Stacey after seeing Kate’s
cut. Even if she had started it none of her brothers would tolerate it. She giggled when she wished she had
“This way.” Father Francis had the girls go into the office together. The sat down in the same
chairs that Kate and Jim had sat on when she enrolled. It was the first time she was in the office since that
“I’m sorry.” Kate had let him down. She knew it. And she was regretful although not
completely.
“That doesn’t seem to be the general consensus.” The priest’s eyes bore into his subjects.
“Allison will tell you the same.” It wasn’t enough but it was the only collaboration Stacey had to
“But no one else it seems. This will go easier if you’re honest with me.” He promised. “What
started this?”
“I won a tennis match.” Kate said without going into all the exposition.
Father Francis took it as confirmation. “Stacey, you’ll have four weeks of JUG.”
“Four!”
“Unless you’d like more.” He added coolly not swayed by her furor.
She didn’t calm down, the opposite actually, but she contained herself. “And Kate?” Stacey
“I don’t know. I’m not sure how much provoking Kate did.” He looked expectantly at Kate.
Kate didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t think it would get physical and when I got shoved…”
She got up and glared at them both but left. She was afraid of getting a longer sentence.
“Do you want all the gossip that goes with it?”
“You two aren’t friends, I get that. Let’s stay on topic of what happened after tennis.”
“She was saying mean things to me and a friend and I didn’t like it. I told her to leave us alone.
She pulled my shirt and I tried to walk away but she didn’t stop there. Then she shoved me and when I still
didn’t fight back or run she hit me.” Kate was glad she was bleeding even though she would feel it later
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when the pain broke through the deadness. “Then I laughed. I don’t know why. The anger was too much
“And she lost control after that?” Father Francis finished for her.
Kate nodded.
He watched her as he pondered what to do. “I believe you. Not sure if that means I should
“Whatever you think is best.” Kate didn’t feel deserving of JUG but it wouldn’t kill her.
His face opened in recognition. “So much like your father. He was pretty familiar with this
office.” He deliberated on his dilemma. “There will be no JUG this time. But we’ll call Jim. He can deal
“Thank you.” She wasn’t sure what Jim would do but he would be disenchanted. It sickened her.
Kate walked out and found the hallway was no longer vacant. Gerard was there. So were Brian,
“What!” Greg was appalled. “How did you get out of that?”
It was then that Kate noticed that the guys were in their gym clothes. They were in basketball
That wasn’t really an explanation. Meg couldn’t barge into basketball practice or could she?
“I better go. They’re calling Jim. I should be there if he comes home early to…” Kate wasn’t sure
what he would do or how she would make up for her careless transgression.
When she pulled up at her house, Jim’s car was there. “That was fast.” She said to herself. She
“Hi Kate.”
“This girl at school who is kind of mean to me has been picking on me for a few weeks. Anyway,
I think she can do something, like one of those talents that you talked about.”
“She can move real fast when she wants. And she uses this to always win at tennis, not that she
needs it much. But today she wasn’t able to use it against me. And she got pushy after class and started
insulting Meg. I tried not to fight back but how much are you suppose to take before it’s too much?”
“I never know.” He held her face and checked her swollen lip. “Did you fight back at all?”
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“Not really. Just blocked more of the same.” She smiled and flinched when her mouth was pulled
tight.
“Did you stop her from using her speed during the game?”
“I think so.”
His chuckle was hearty and deep. “And that was why she started the fight?”
“I didn’t really take actions to prevent it but I didn’t do anything to encourage it. I swear.”
“That was what Father Francis told me when he called. Kind of crazy being on this side of that
conversation.”
“Yeah. He mentioned you had your share of talks with him.” She peered up to see how he would
react.
“He meant more than my share.” It wasn’t anything that shamed him. “I wasn’t bad but I did get
into trouble. I didn’t expect you to. I at least hoped you would be smarter about not getting caught.” It
“Yes.” He would like to skip over the incident but he wasn’t her only parent.
“Well, whatever is fine but can I please go to the basketball game? I’ll come right home and I’ll
sit with you guys and not talk to any friends.” She wanted to see Brian play his first game.
Kate slunk upstairs and took a shower to clean up. It pleased her that Jim was on her side and
ready to negotiate minimum punishment. She examined her fat lip in the mirror. It hadn’t bruised but she
would wait for the morning to be sure. She was starved for some reason and she went to get some food.
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Her jettisoned backpack was on the counter and her phone rang. Digging it out she saw that she
“I haven’t the foggiest.” That wasn’t completely accurate. If it was up to Sandy and Ron they
would ground her for life at a minimum and probably send her to military school or worse yet, home
schooling.
She hung up and checked her incoming call log. There were two from Brian, one from Eric and
“So we’re talking again?” She teased happy it was over with Stacey. It was well worth the cut lip.
“No. I was in the shower and just got their messages now. I called you first.”
“You missed a great fight. Jim talked them out of grounding you.”
“Mom didn’t care if you started it or not. She was freaked out. First Jeff and now Stacey. She
went off on the school. Said this stuff never happened at San Marino.”
“Boys are different. And then Ron said if the school didn’t punish you, he didn’t see why they
should.”
“Really?”
“You could finish your call. I just didn’t want to eavesdrop.” He laughed at her guilt.
She rolled her eyes. The twins were in tons more trouble before they were even sixteen. “I’ll try.
He gave her a warm look. “Not at all. You’re sticking up for yourself – that’s good. You’ll learn
“Yes Dad.”
He ordered pizza for dinner and afterwards she went to her room to study.
“Hi Katie.” Greg poked his head into her room. “You’re dad said I could come see you.” Greg
“About damn time.” He smiled. “I tried to call you earlier. I heard you beat her at tennis.”
She gently bit her lip smiling. It stung when she did.
“She cheats.”
“How so?”
Her phone rang. She hadn’t called the twins back and it was the-never-patient Eric.
“Hi Eric.”
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“Brian told us what happened. What did I teach you to hit for if you weren’t going to use it?”
“I almost did. But my temper passed once I realized she was messing it up on her own. I even
“I blame Jim for your temper control. The rest of us would have clocked someone before they had
a hand on us.”
“I guess not.” He would have liked it if she got in some punches of her own.
“He wants to say something.” Kate passed the phone to Greg’s waiting palm.
“Hi Eric… She doesn’t look too bad. She has a fat lip… I was in practice but I couldn’t do
anything to help in the girls’ locker room… I see that she’s a full time job… Okay. Bye.”
“I don’t know if I like it better that you’re friends.” She put her phone in its charger.
“He’s not so bad now that I know that you’re a trouble magnet.” Greg joked.
“How did you find out I was in trouble if you were at practice?”
He grinned like a child caught playing with something he shouldn’t. “Meg told me.”
She tilted her head waiting for a better explanation but he didn’t give one.
“I mean, she’s so good at manipulating people so she always looks like the victim. She must’ve
“She was thinking all kinds of nasty thoughts. That was why I stopped being mad. It was all
unraveling. If I didn’t dislike her so much, I would have felt sorry for her.”
Jim’s voice, “I was so worried about her when she first moved in. She didn’t like to make decisions and
“Really?”
“Yes.” He stared at her with his piercing blue eyes. “I’m sorry this happened. I know it’s my
fault.” He teased.
“Always.”
He leaned and kissed her softly on the broken corner of her lip.
“Please, don’t.”
He was embarrassed.
“I’m not mad. It’s nice. But if we aren’t going to date, we aren’t going to date.” She needed to
“No. It’s you. Don’t blame Dave. We aren’t going to date either.”
“Okay.”
After he left she cried. She took off her bracelet for the first time and put it in her desk drawer.
Zuzu jumped up on her lap and purred. “I don’t like standing up for myself very much.” She told the cat.
Kate checked her lip first thing the next morning. It wasn’t swollen but there was a clear break
Brian let her drive since she had a new license and car. They schlepped up the hill to class as
usual when they ran into some juniors from the anti-Kate movement. She didn’t expect any greetings but
they walked up to say hi and ask if she really beat Stacey at tennis. Upon her validation they congratulated
her. One even expressed regret for being so rude the last week.
“Yeah. I’ll catch you at lunch.” Brian ran off to his locker.
She received a few more apologies and even more congratulations before she got to her locker
room. The guys were really impressed about the victory. She made the needed swap of books and went to
“It doesn’t look so bad.” Brad said holding her chin and turning her head left and right to get the
best light.
“Tough girl, aren’t you?” He winked. “If she was trying to ugly you up, it didn’t work.”
Mr. Stewart walked in with an unctuous mood. “Your grades will go out this week. Just giving
“I suggest some of you get help. This school has a reputation for passing scores on achievement
tests.”
“We need help.” Brad turned to the girls. “And how are you ladies doing?”
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“C.” Meg spoke first.
“Can you help us?” Brad wasn’t embarrassed to ask. He needed a C to stay on the baseball team.
“Sure.”
“Paying attention would also be wise, Mr. Shaw.” The math teacher rebuked tired of their hushed
Kate started taking notes, but then she saw a message in Meg’s binder scribbled in the margin.
“Greg. Kate’s in FF’s office. Stacey hit her.” Kate figured that was what she wrote
after she was taken to see Father Francis the day before. It was odd since Meg could have spoken freely
For the rest of the day, everywhere Kate went she was welcomed. The news was thoroughly
Gerard was waiting for the students before Physics started. Dropping his teacher’s hat for the
Stacey lathered as she sat at a desk across the room from Kate. Gerard ignored her.
“Good.”
By lunch it got outrageous how many kids were talking to her. Freshmen, sophomores and seniors
she had never met also spoke up. It was too much attention and it made her feel more conscious about her
cracked lip. Even while she ate her lunch there were interruptions to euphemistically pat her on the back.
Brian had rejoined their table completely recovered from his temporary loss of his sanity from
“And most of them were looking through me as if I didn’t exist last week.” Kate ate her sandwich
hating the direct attention. No one liked being ignored but the spotlight was too bright for Kate’s liking.
“It’s very big news.” Claire added as she took a seat with their group. “It’s kind of like, ding-
“I wonder who Coach Evans will pair you up with today? It won’t be Stacey.” Claire asked
rhetorically.
Kate shrugged.
“At least you have her number.” Brian smiled thinking about how Kate could keep the game fair.
I can sneak up and make sure she doesn’t. Brian thought and Kate heard. She smiled
acknowledging. Brian wasn’t as good at the twins with telekinesis but he was catching up fast.
Greg gave him a scornful look. Brian smiled virtuously. Greg had been on the victim side of the
twins. He didn’t know if Brian could do it too but it wasn’t a leap that he would pick it up. She understood
why he would feel that way. He was a sportsman and things should be played fairly. And he would
understand how skills were inherited and that they manifested around the late teens. His father probably
told him about being able to see what people wrote. Then she remembered the scribbling in Meg’s math
notes. That was how Greg learned Kate was in the head master’s office. He could see things that were
The locker room was jarringly still for so many girls to be there changing for class. Stacey didn’t
say anything but gave dour looks to Kate and Meg as they hurried to the main courts. Coach Evans sent
Kate and Meg to play singles on courts up the drive by the science lab. They had fun playing without
scoring.
Claire told them after class that Coach Evans pulled Stacey aside to give her a lecture on sporting
conduct. Kate didn’t revel in it. She had what she wanted and Stacey was just a bad memory. Meg
After Tuesday, people stopped congratulating her but she was more popular than before the dance.
The rest of the week passed eventlessly. Coach Evans always assigned different courts for Kate and Stacey
underdog. They were down but not out and Brian was new to the team, which could be the grain that
tipped the scale. Greg and Dave prayed that he was. Brian took the pressure in stride.
Kate and Meg went to the game together to support their school and brothers. It was at Santa
Katrina High School. The school was as ugly as the first time Kate laid eyes on it. Habitants took a little
off of that institutional edge. They could’ve sat with any group since Kate was off the hit list and for the
time being the most popular junior. They sat with Brad and his friends in the front row.
Brad was with other non-players. He was on the football and baseball teams and basketball was a
spectator sport for him. She knew most of his friends from his party and they were nice guys.
Kate sat on the aisle next to Meg. On Meg’s other side was Brad and then his crew. Brian and
Greg stopped by to say hi but Dave didn’t want any distractions from his game. Greg smiled and said,
“Hello Katie.” She hated herself for blushing. Smugness crossed his face seeing how he could affect her.
He gave her a couple of lifts from his eyebrows before talking to Brad.
The teams ran through drills like a well-trained cadre. St. Iggy’s wore royal blue uniforms. They
all looked pretty good. The Santa Katrina team was more intimidating and wore red. They were all tall but
on average, the other team was taller. Kate noticed some familiar faces from the dance. One of the players
waved at her. It was Chris, Stacey’s Mr. Right-Now. Kate waved back.
As she turned around Brian frowned at her. It was reminiscent of the twins. “I met him at your
party.”
“And that goes double when baseball starts.” He pointed a strict finger at her.
The game begun and Santa Katrina took an early lead. They held it but it never got farther than
six points ahead. The cheerleaders, Stacey included, did a good job keeping the school’s spirit up. At half
Coach Evans must have given one hell of a we-can-do-it speech because St. Iggy’s gained a two-
point lead and held it. By the fourth quarter, they maintained their slight lead and the clock ticked down.
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The ball didn’t seem to move out of the ordinary. Brian could interfere but he wasn’t as
competitive as the twins. He played hard but he didn’t know Santa Katrina from any other school and it
wasn’t as personal for him as it was for the rest of the team, especially Dave and Greg.
Things slowed down as fouls abounded and time outs were more frequent. In the end, Dave
scored the final shot and St. Iggy’s won the upset.
Brad told them about an after game celebration at one of the public school kid’s home. The girls
wanted to catch up with Dave, Brian and Greg before committing. Meg had the routine down. She walked
around to some lunch tables by the parking lot where they sat waiting for the players. Shortly thereafter a
Chris was in the first group. “Hi Meg. And Kate, right?”
“Hi.” Kate didn’t want to say his name in case she got it mixed up as she often did.
“That new guy on the team, he’s your brother?” Chris had spent most of the second half guarding
Brian.
“I heard there were two new transfers this year and that they were brother and sister.”
She blushed a little. “You played well.” His compliment had served its purpose and softened her.
Had the rumors made it to Santa Katrina High? Kate felt the heat of the spot light shining on her.
It wouldn’t have surprised her if she broke out in a rash from its brilliant beam.
“They’ll come. They won.” He was sure of it. “See you there.”
“He’s kind of cute.” Kate surmised as he walked to the parking lot. Before he turned the corner
“She used him to get to Dave. It worked.” Meg’s tone was tart.
“What’s so funny?” Dave asked. Greg and Brian were with him.
“Girl talk.” Meg evaded. “Are you up for one of Auggie’s parties?”
The party was at full swing when they arrived. Brad was behind them with two buddies each
There were many St. Iggy’s students at the party. Stacey was still in her cheerleader uniform
talking with a boy that looked too old for high school. Good. Kate hoped he would keep her from any of
her friends.
Brad passed everyone but Greg a beer and left to find a place to keep the rest cool. Kate and Meg
chatted with Claire. A hand squeezed her elbow and Greg was back with a bottle of water. “If not for me,
for Eric.”
“Freedom doesn’t feel so free.” She teased but took the water and gave him the beer. He just put
“He doesn’t drink.” Meg informed her. “He almost got a DUI last spring and Uncle Andy
After a powder room break, Kate found Meg talking with Brian. She rerouted to give them some
time to get reacquainted. For a while, she joined in Brad’s group. They were talking about the game and it
bored her. She moved on. The house was huge. It wasn’t as nice as Brad’s but it was easily as large. The
weather wasn’t too cold that night and people were outside by the pool talking and drinking.
“What?” Kate hoped he would ask her out. She could live with that, even if he was on the Santa
Katrina team and once dated Stacey. He was cute enough to absolve him on both counts.
Kate was a little deflated that he didn’t ask for a date. “You heard about that. Yes, I did.”
“Classic. I would have liked to have seen that in person. So are you up for a game of quarters?”
“Sure but I can’t play long.” She didn’t want to get as buzzed as she had at her last drinking party.
They went into the home. “Is it always played in the kitchen?”
The game had barely begun and there were no rules established. Chris introduced her to the
group. There were two other boys and two other girls. She sat between Chris and Auggie, the host.
Auggie gave her a beer and the quarter. “Why don’t you start?”
Knowing it was her first time Chris took the quarter to demonstrate the technique. “The best way
to do this is keep it flat and bounce it off the table like so.” He dropped the quarter with a subtle jerk
downward and it hopped off the table and into the glass. “You try.”
Kate missed. Chris went next and made another shot. “Auggie.”
Auggie took a swig from his beer. Chris went again but it ricocheted off the rim.
Kate and the first girl drank. He made a rule that they couldn’t use names. Not a problem for Kate. The
next girl made it but Kate could tell by her reaction that she didn’t get it in often. She noted a gender trend.
Auggie drank. Then she missed and it was his turn. Auggie didn’t use the method that Chris’
demonstrated. He rolled the quarter on its edge down his nose but it was a perfect shot. Kate drank. And
so it went for a few rounds. Before long, they weren’t allowed to point with their fingers and if you missed
a shot you had to drink. Kate’s beer was the first to empty.
She hadn’t taken two more drinks before Greg was there. “Hey Katie.”
“Not tonight, thanks.” He said genially. He gave Kate a strange look and decided not to make a
“No. He’s a good friend. His dad and my dad are best friends.”
“I could’ve told you they weren’t dating.” Auggie said. “He didn’t punch you.”
They stopped the game and talked for a while. Kate was glad. She felt guilty after Greg’s flyby.
“Do you want something else?” Chris was standing by his vow to keep her safe and sane.
“Sure.”
The soda was in the backyard and they watched the people and chatted. Kate was getting better at
small talk.
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“I don’t mean to keep you from partying.” She was being babysat. He knew most of the kids
since it was a Santa Katrina party and she was monopolizing his time.
“You aren’t.” His dimples were adorable. “I wouldn’t mind talking to you again?”
“This is fun.” She was enjoying herself and the hope that he would ask her out sprung anew.
“Maybe we could do something together sometime?” His face had a cute pink complexion.
“I’d like that.” She grinned. He punched her number into his cell with plans to call and make the
arrangements.
She went to find the rest of her group. Dave and Greg were ready to leave. They found Brian and
Meg rode with Brian and Kate got a ride with Greg and Dave. She wanted to tell Meg about Chris
but it’d have to wait. How would Eric react? He told her to date but she didn’t imagine he’d be happy.
Jim was asleep on the couch waiting for her again. “Dad, I’m home.”
“We did.”
“Good. I hate it when Andy’s brooding about a high school game.” He smiled at her. “Did you
She nodded. “A guy from Santa Katrina asked me out, no firm date. Can I go?”
“Who? Where?”
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“Chris Jenkins, I think.” She wasn’t sure about his last name. “And I don’t have the details yet
“Sure. I don’t have a problem with it.” It was a fib but he’d deal with it.
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Playing Games
Kate called Meg the next morning. Meg had a nice time with Brian and they were back on track.
It was good they left when they did because Brad and his friends got into a tussle with some of the boys
from Santa Katrina. It wasn’t bad. It was a friendly rivalry but it got out of hand once in a while. After
assuring Meg that she was glad that Brian and her were getting along and didn’t mind being ditched Kate
“You’re going out with Chris?” Meg was impressed. “He’s so cute.”
“He will.”
Eric and Matt were home on Sunday. It was best to wait until after her date before mentioning it
to any of her brothers. Eric might have seen she was keeping something hidden if they didn’t have so many
other things to discuss like the tennis win and the basketball game.
The school was stoked over defeating Santa Katrina in basketball. The team was the new stars and
Kate was glad to lose the limelight. The basketball players were far more deserving.
Kate was extraordinarily nervous when Chris called a week later. He wanted to go to dinner and
then to a game of miniature golf. He acknowledged it was a cliché but it was better than a movie because
they could get to know each other. She worried if she could be entertaining that long.
She wore jeans and sneakers. This made Jim happy, probably because she looked her age rather
than dressed up like an adult. He had a condition that he meet Chris before they left. It was fair but Kate
She was in her room reading when the doorbell rang. “Kate, Chris is here.” Jim hollered.
Chris was chatting in the kitchen with Jim and Andy. She didn’t know Andy was over but they
often watched games together. Andy talked to Chris about football. The man had few other topics to
discuss. The fact that he could speak knowledgeably on any sport meant he was diverse in his opinion. He
Chris was comfortable talking to them. He knew Andy well from the games. “Hi Kate.” He said
Chris had a Honda Civic. He confessed it was a hand-me-down. It was still very nice. They went
to a local hamburger joint for dinner. Kate was so shy that it wasn’t until half way through their meal that
“Not really.”
The golf course was packed with families and other couples. It was a relaxed location for a first
date.
He let her go first and cringed at her form. “Let me help.” He stood parallel to her mirroring the
position she should take. She hit the ball and it was a fair shot. On the green he stood behind her to show
her where and how hard to hit the ball. It was hard to focus with his arms around hers – at least hard to
focus on her swing. He was ahead but she was under par when they came to the last hole. It was a
“It’s all about how hard you hit the ball.” He went first and his ball sailed over the side and
She tapped her ball. It glided up the hill but stopped short and rolled back close to its point of
origin.
“You can still beat par if you make it this time. Maybe you could use some incentive. How about
Was he kidding? They may as well have gone Dutch. “How much?”
“Not money. If you get it in, I’ll kiss you.” He was hesitant.
Kate turned red in record time and gulped. “I just lost my concentration.”
It kept going up the far side. An inch below the lip it slowed and rolled into the cup. She jumped with joy.
“You’re a natural. So now I have to pay up.” He faked a frown. He walked up to her and pecked
her quickly on the lips. It was very sweet. “Okay, I lied. I probably would have done that if you scored a
thousand.” He kissed her again taking more time to relish the moment. “So, I was thinking, we get along
pretty well and we have a fall formal coming up, and maybe you would come with me.” His sentence
spilled out rapidly as if it was one long compound word. It was a pleasant contrast compared to Greg who
was overconfident that she liked him. She was evenly matched with Chris.
It was half past eight when they got home. “Do you want to come in?” She asked. “We have a
pool table.” She was having too much fun to end the date.
“You’ll have to let me win. I have a huge ego.” She didn’t believe him on either statement.
Her dad and Andy were watching TV and had been joined by Greg. He had a grieved face when
he saw her with Chris. He quickly recovered. Her bliss vanished at the sight of him.
“Hi Chris.” Their dads must not have mentioned her date to him. He was a little dazed.
“Too bad he didn’t come to our school.” Chris glanced at Kate wishing she attended Santa
Kate had told Chris that they almost went to his school. How different things would have been?
“It worked out for the best.” Greg was happier than ever that they defeated Santa Katrina. And if
Brian had tipped the game in their favor they surely would have lost if he was on the other side.
“We’re going to play some pool. Want to join us?” Chris invited.
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Kate was split between what would be the less painful of the two options. She would feel bad if
Greg was excluded but she didn’t want to have to manage both guys at once. It was a secret she’d take to
her grave but her brothers were right, she was in over her head when it came to guys.
“Sure.” Greg got up from the couch as if he was doing them a favor.
It wasn’t so bad. Chris and Greg seemed like old pals. Kate kept her distance from both as subtly
as she could. Each boy assessed the other whenever she was near one. Kate was tempted to mentally ask
one of her brothers to stop by but since they didn’t know about her date she opted against it. The help
“I heard there was a ruckus at the party.” Greg asked with a sneer.
“You know how these things get hyped up. Did you hear that we didn’t start it?”
Kate’s head jerked to Chris. He had been part of the clash. He didn’t have a scratch on him but it
“I figured when I heard Brad was involved. He was pretty tipsy.” Greg’s smirk moved from a
“About a win that hasn’t happened yet.” Chris shook his head.
Greg shrugged.
“What win?” The temptation to know the details was too much for Kate and they were giving up
painfully small pieces of data at a time. The suspense was like death by a thousand paper cuts.
Kate stared at Greg. He was why it was a sure thing. He had a wicked smile on his face. His
“We may win. You could get kicked out of school.” Chris jested.
“Won’t happen.” Greg sunk the eight ball winning the game.
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“Almost did once.”
Whatever they were talking about they stopped. Kate would find out the answer later.
“Kate, this was fun. We’ll talk later.” Chris had to go.
She walked him to the door and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before bidding him
farewell. The game must have ended because the dads had made themselves scarce.
Greg waited in the rec room. “Now I know why you got so weird after the game.” It wasn’t an
“What happened? When you were almost kicked out?” Kate sat on a barstools.
“Someone copied one of my papers and we were both called in for cheating. It was his word
against mine and it is automatic expulsion if you cheat. In the end we had to write new papers on different
subjects.”
“Jeff.”
Kate moved from mild dislike to open contempt for the letch that was too big for his britches.
“That was why no one believed me. Well, Father Francis did. I showed him my earlier versions.
“Father Francis is great.” Losing his conceited air he asked, “So, did you have nice date?”
“Yes.”
She was going to play dumb and answer that Jim knew but it would only delay the inevitable
follow up question. He meant from Eric. “Not exactly. I kind of had a standing approval.”
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“They won’t like it.” It was an understatement. “Did he kiss you?”
Kate didn’t want to upset him. “We’re friends. It shouldn’t be like this.”
He looked out the window. “It’s late. I’ll see you later.”
Why did he have to be there when she got home? Kate texted Eric, “R U home?”
“Me 2.”
Kate needed advice and Eric was a wealthy resource even about boys. She sighed. She wanted to
talk to him because she was so confused. But she had to prepare for him to be mad. He told her to date but
he still worried too much. She was in her chair surrounded by the mist when Eric walked in and sat at the
“Who with?”
“This guy named Chris from Santa Katrina. He’s really great. You’d like him.”
“He had his chance.” Eric said but after seeing her expression he eased up. “You still want him.”
Eric laughed but stopped. She was so sad. “Sorry but it’s kind of funny. You wouldn’t have this
“Now what?”
“Greg either steps up and you have a choice or he doesn’t and you either like this new guy or you
don’t.”
“Yes.” It hurt to admit it. She did like him – a lot. But she felt like she was giving up something
better in exchange.
“Greg?” Kate didn’t expect her to ask about him. After all, Meg hadn’t known anything about
“Well, you two seemed kind of close. I have suspected as much since your dad’s barbeque. And
then when he came over yesterday, he talked to Dave for a long time. I think he was wondering how Dave
Kate closed her eyes. Why did things have to get so complicated?
Giving Thanks
Greg was extra nice to Kate as her friend. Things could have been different if any of so many
little anomalies hadn’t manifested. She should have listened to Eric. He had always understood the
situation and she had refused to believe him. Greg and her let things get muddled right from the start and
she never knew what oblique direction they were headed. Chris played a straightforward game that Kate
Kate’s report card came. Her grades were good, all A’s and B’s. St. Iggy’s had a tradition of
personal input from the teachers. Mr. Stewart wrote that she seemed bored in class and suggested extra
Jim disregarded it. He said that if she was challenged overall, he didn’t see a need to ask for more
unless she wanted it. It was a rude comment for Mr. Stewart to make. She had an A and he impugned her
for it. He was one of those teachers that liked to find your Achilles’ heals and expose them. Perhaps he
believed it was the best way to toughen up the kids but more likely he got off on lording over the lowly
plebs.
Wednesday before Thanksgiving was a short day. Thursday Jim’s sister would be in town for the
night and Kate was anxious to meet her two cousins and their parents. She started her homework to get
some out of the way before the house was too full and noisy. The doorbell rang and she found Eric
“Hi.” He said inelegantly. “Gran is coming and Dad and Mom wanted one of us here with you?”
“Why?”
“Nothing’s going to happen except unneeded yelling. They wanted me here to keep you away.”
“Oh.” They wanted her hidden. That didn’t make her feel that her mother was safe. Eric was
right. What could really happen other than an ugly family feud? Ron and Sandy were in a better place than
ever. Gran may be able to test their love but they would prevail.
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“And we’ll know what’s going on.”
That was why it was one of the twins. They would know what the other was thinking. It was
better than a permanent phone connection. If things got bad, beyond yelling, would they go and stand with
their family or would Eric steal her away to a safe haven until the storm passed? He would take her to
safety and she would follow but she would rather weather the storm.
Ensconced for an undetermined stint they hung out watching TV and playing cribbage. Zuzu
made a nuisance of herself trying to swat the cards as they shuffled. They heard the front door and Eric
went rigid. It was nerve-racking that he responded so strongly knowing he was truly troubled about her
wellbeing. They relaxed when Ellen strolled into the house loaded with grocery bags. She stopped by to
put some food in the refrigerator for Thanksgiving. Zuzu welcomed Ellen and kept her company as she did
prep work for dinner. Either the game bored her or she was hoping to pick up some scraps.
“Hello there. Aren’t you a happy kitty?” She cooed. Ellen loved Zuzu and only gave her up
knowing she would take to Kate so well. She didn’t linger and Zuzu got her treat. There were more
“She still gives me the creeps.” Eric said half jokingly as he set the balls up for a game of pool.
“Wait. If you’re here to keep us connected Mom and Dad know about you guys being telekinetic
and telepathic?”
“We told them after Dad heard Gran was on her way. Grandpa called.”
Grandpa Morrie was stricter than strict and aloofer than aloof. “Grandpa isn’t coming?”
“He disowned Dad and from the sound of it, giving him a heads up on Gran’s visit was a random
act of kindness.”
What a mess? Hopefully after Gran said her peace things could finish healing.
The front door opened again. “Did you forget something?” Kate hollered but didn’t get an
answer. “Ellen?” Kate went to the kitchen to see why she came back. But it wasn’t Ellen’s friendly face
It was Gran Thomas looking ferocious. “Well if it isn’t the little bastard.” Gran was a small
woman with a permanent scowl. Her eyes were almost black, like a shark’s. She wore her hair in short
loose curls.
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“Technically she’s the only one born in wedlock.” Eric moved in front of Kate. Matt was already
Gran tilted her head curiously at him, saddened and amused that he protected Kate. “They
suspected I might come here first.” She had an evil leer. The front door closed and locked by itself in the
background. Then the other doors started locking around the house. “I’ll have my say.”
Eric concentrated to unlock the door. Kate, I can’t open the locks. Even through telepathy his
words trembled.
Kate tried to obstruct Gran’s telekinesis but she didn’t know if she could jam Gran without
Gran looked up at the ceiling menacingly. “It only gets better with age. They won’t be able to
“What do you want?” Eric ground out from his clenched teeth.
She gave a sullen look to Eric. “Why do you do this to me, Eric?” She hesitated on his name.
She couldn’t tell the twins apart with absolute conviction. “It breaks my heart that you would stand against
your grandmother.”
“Kate! Eric!” They heard their families muffled frantic shouts from behind the front door. Matt’s
voice was the clearest. It wasn’t just for Kate’s sake – he didn’t like being kept from his twin.
He didn’t move. He had his arms spread back from him in a reverse point guard position.
“I said step aside!” She yelled and Eric flew off to the left and landed hard on the couch. Kate
“We knew all along. You weren’t Ron’s daughter. How could you be? And we were willing to
live with the secret. But I’m afraid I am not willing to live with the truth. That hussy made a cuckold of
Eric didn’t move. It was taking all of Kate’s concentration to hinder her.
Gran’s eyes vibrated with effort and the front door opened. Ron, Sandy, Matt and Brian ran in.
Gran spun in her spot and they stopped short of the kitchen unable to pass an imperceptible wall.
She had broken through Kate’s opposition. “And now we have the whore too.” She scathingly spat out of
clenched teeth.
“I’ll deal with you later.” Kate flew back and hit the doorframe to the rec room and crumpled to
“You!” Gran pointed at Sandy and an invisible force pulled her forward.
“Such a disappointment of a son you turned out to be. And a twit to fall for her or was it her
sister.” She disparaged viciously. “I can’t remember how the story goes.”
“Get out of my house!” Jim had come home and Matt and Brian kept him back for his protection.
“I’m doing you a favor. They made a fool of you too.” Sandy hung in the air a foot in front of
Kate was on all fours, aching from banging the door. Mom, can you hear me?
Sandy closed her eyes, as Kate didn’t take hers off the horrific scene. Sandy dropped to the floor
“What’s going on?” Gran couldn’t determine who was pulling against her force. She thought it
was Ron or one of the boys exerting an opposite and equal reaction. Regardless what the issue was her
Ron flew back into Matt and Brian. They staggered but stayed on their feet.
Kate and Sandy weren’t strong enough to deter her for any duration.
Gran grabbed Sandy by the hair not bothering with metaphysics. “I always wondered how you
Revulsion ran through the room at her words. She had killed Sara.
Abruptly Gran flew over the counter and over the couch breaking the glass coffee table. Kate felt
Everyone moved at once. Jim and Matt ran to Eric and Kate. Ron and Brian went to Sandy.
Gran wasn’t down for long. She scanned the two groups calculating her next move.
Kate didn’t know where she would strike next. All at once. Push her out of the house all at once.
She sent a telepathic message to Ron and her brothers to eject the threat.
Gran was lifted off the ground and sailed out the room towards the door. She rolled to the side
and freed herself from their efforts. She couldn’t stop them but she could introduce a new direction and
A chair flew from the dinette set and sped straight at Kate’s head. The twins didn’t have time to
react and Jim jumped in front of Kate as it broke on his head and back. He was down and out. A second
At the sight of Jim, Kate’s anger tempered her anxiety. The second chair lost momentum and
tumbled before making contact. She concentrated trying to hold back Gran’s telekinesis.
It’s working. She heard Eric’s voice in her head. Can you keep it up?
“Yes.” She spoke the answer afraid telepathy would weaken her focus.
Gran glared at her. “You’re doing this?” She was disgruntled to learn Kate was obstructing her.
Stay focused. Someone said in her head. Kate concentrated so hard she didn’t know which
difficulty on if letting her leave would only delay another encounter. Kate’s attention broke when she
Gran was waiting for a release and all the knives in the wooden block on the kitchen island flew
Terror petrified Kate. A cutting board flew up in time and took the grunt of the knives as some
stuck and some fell to the floor. One flew past and cut her mother’s upper arm. Kate refocused and
“You can’t keep this up?” She smiled seeing that the effort was erratic.
There was a metallic click behind Gran and she turned to face a cocked rifle pointed at her head.
“I’m good right now.” Kate closed her eyes to stay focused.
“Leave or be shot.” Gerard threatened not dropping the business end of the weapon.
“It was a mistake coming here.” Gran pretended that she was offended by their misunderstanding
Kate wanted to check on Jim but was afraid to stop concentrating. “Is she really gone?”
Kate opened her eyes and knelt by Jim along side the twins.
“We need an ambulance.” Ron was on the phone. “He slipped and hit his head.”
He held his hand over the receiver, “We don’t want them thinking we did this and they won’t
picked up the knives and hid the rifle. Ron examined Sandy’s cut.
Kate whimpered.
The sirens were close and Brian went outside to direct the ambulance crew. He was back in a
minute with two EMTs. Andy and Greg followed seconds later.
“He’ll be fine.” One of the EMTs said shining a light in his eyes. They had him flat on his back
“He fell on the chair.” Ron stated without a hint of pretense. He was as clever as the twins with a
ready tale.
The kitchen was back in order. Sandy had a towel on her cut and quivered with relief or fear.
Greg surveyed the room and the occupants. Catching Kate’s eyes he knew there was more to the
story. Ron was clearly concerned for Jim and had no sign of remorse so he decided it wasn’t a fight
between the two dads. Then he saw Gerard. He wouldn’t allow for a cover up if there were some sort of
interfamily clash. Greg suspected that some of the family talents were involved somehow.
Andy wasn’t as observant or maybe it didn’t cross his mind since he didn’t know about the
“Two.” He moaned. “I fell on a chair.” Sandy told him telepathically to claim he fell. “I feel like
“We’re going to take you to the hospital. They’ll run some tests and you can come home tonight
if everything checks out.” The emergency medical techs left to get a gurney.
“Go with Jim. I’ll take care of your mother.” Ron told Kate quietly. They were going to a
The EMTs put Jim in the stretcher and Kate rode with them. She called Ellen on the way.
“Good.” Zuzu was in the room the whole time and had given Ellen a full report.
Kate stayed with Jim until he was carted off to x-ray. Andy and Ellen were in the waiting room
when she gave them an update. “They’re checking for cracks and internal bleeding but they don’t think
A nurse led them back to Jim after a few tense minutes. He was coherent but lightheaded. “Sorry
Ellen frowned.
“They say I can go home but I need to wake up every two hours.”
“You had me worried.” Andy jabbed. “I thought I was going to have to watch all the football
Greg opened the door to Jim’s home when they pulled up. “Where’s the coffee table?” He asked
“I got rid of it. I want to get that new one with the cooler inside.” Jim quickly fibbed.
“Good choice.” Andy agreed. “On the house.” He helped Jim upstairs with Ellen following
behind.
“Katie, he’s fine?” Greg held her arm. He had questions and she was his best chance for clarity.
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“Yes.” Kate’s volume was so low it was really just a movement of her lips. Mentally recalling
the events, she panicked. It wasn’t just Jim. It was everything; her odious ex-grandmother, the murder
confession, the fact that she wanted Kate and Sandy to pay. Her strength faltered and she cried again.
Greg held her tightly stroking her hair. “What else happened?”
“For not lying. I want to know. Jim’s like a second father to me.”
“And you’re like a son.” She rubbed her palm across her face to clear away some of the water.
Kate was stiff from hitting the wall and she stepped up gingerly.
“It’s part of the same thing I can’t tell you.” She admitted and again he was grateful but not
satisfied.
She reclined on the bed over her covers. He held her hand until she was still. She knew when he
Metaphysical Inventory
Thanksgiving morning, Jim was more his old self. He moved cautiously but it wasn’t noticeable
to anyone who didn’t know the truth. Kate’s back ached but aspirin and a ready smile hid it. She paid a
short morning visit to see her brothers and parents. They were planning a subdued Thanksgiving. Sandy’s
arm was patched up. It was a clean cut and wouldn’t scar.
Beth, Jim’s sister, and her family arrived around noon. Beth looked like a younger Ellen, no signs
of graying. Wes, Beth’s husband, was about average height and build with sandy brown hair and brown
eyes. Vicky, thirteen, looked like her father and Naomi, eleven, looked like her mother. They were so
excited to meet their big cousin. They lived in San Luis Obispo, about an hour or more north.
Kate had always been the youngest and she enjoyed the new pecking order with her on top. They
shadowed her all day. They never grew tired of petting the cat and that was okay with Zuzu. Their good
Ellen sent the girls to clean up before dinner and Kate to retrieve Jim and Beth. They were in his
office catching up on the many changes since their last holiday visit when Jim was a childless bachelor.
“I can’t believe she didn’t tell you that you had a daughter.” Beth castigated. “What if you hadn’t
seen them at the funeral, would she have ever told you?”
“It’s okay.” The same thought had crossed Kate’s mind as well and the only tranquility was that
they did find each other. Perhaps it was kismet and, if anything, took longer than needed to reconcile the
separation.
“I can’t get over it. You have a daughter and she’s older than mine.” She positively appraised
Kate.
“And you fall into the doting father role too easily.” She wasn’t insulted. He loved his nieces.
“We’re coming.” Jim stood too quickly and had to steady himself.
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“Have you had too many beers?” Beth incorrectly guessed. “It isn’t like you to be a lightweight.
They sat at the dinning table by the kitchen. The television was on for Jim and Wes, the volume
was muted for Beth. The girls told their mother everything about Kate and how they wanted a computer
If the girls liked Kate, they loved her brothers. After dinner all the Thomases and Gerard stopped
by Jim’s. Eric and Matt were especially fascinating to her cousins because they were indistinguishable.
They added to the intrigue by regularly switching their identities to confuse the girls. They were enjoying
new victims. Kate was a little jealousy. She had been the youngest girl for so long. It wasn’t a strong
Beth was stiff around Sandy but loosened up when she saw how comfortable Jim was with her and
Ron. The last time she met Sandy she was happily married to Jim discussing a family of their own. Wes
and Ron got along very well. Neither was as fanatical about sports as Andy and they talked about business
The day before seemed distant but not forgotten. Kate didn’t let it stop her from enjoying her new
family and her old one. By nine o’clock the girls were worn out and everyone retired early.
Beth and her family left after lunch the next day and the Thomases and Gerard were back within
an hour. Everyone agreed they needed to understand what happened and be better prepared for the next
encounter.
“Kate, do you think you could stop one person without stopping another?” Ron asked.
“I can try.” It would have been beneficial if Eric didn’t lose his abilities when Gran did.
They went to the pool table and juxtaposed two balls in the center of the green felt. Ron would
push one ball while Matt moved the other and Kate was to prevent only one from any motion. Each time
“And try to focus on Ron’s mind rather than just sending out a stop signal.” Sandy offered. “I use
to be able to do it.”
Kate nodded and they repeated the exercise. That time, only Matt’s ball rolled and Ron’s wobbled
in place.
“It’s some kind of local disturbance that stops these things.” Sandy hadn’t thought about how her
talent had worked in years. “Sara discovered that you could concentrate on one person’s mind rather than
“Why can’t we do it?” Eric liked the idea of having more skills and it was one that had aggravated
him in the past when Kate had put a stopper in his shenanigans.
Jim and Ellen sat with Zuzu for a while. They wanted Zuzu to let Jim know first if any
Ron, Ellen and Jim weren’t telepathic but the rest were. They could send and deliver, so it
wouldn’t be a problem unless Gran went for Ron, which was unlikely. She may have some years on him
but he was most capable of competing in a paranormal fight. They expected Sandy or Kate to be her first
target. Sandy and Gerard were particularly tuned into people’s presence and all the kids agreed to work on
that talent.
The communication was solid but if Gran found any alone, there would be little time for others to
relocate. Sandy and Gerard were fairly certain they could detect her arrival within a good range but the
twins were thirty minutes away. They needed to be on the look out while at college. It was a slight chance.
The twins’ prodigious connection strengthened them and Gran would be foolish to approach them.
“We either get good enough that she can’t touch us or we have to kill her.” Ron bluntly deduced.
had lost his wife to his mother and he was unwilling to lose anyone else. The revelation woke him up. His
“We can’t let the children be party to this.” Gerard shook his head.
“They’re the ones we’re protecting.” Sandy frowned. “She murdered Sara. And she would have
come after me if she knew we were twins. She must have thought Kate was in the car when she killed
Sara.”
Kate shuttered. It was sound logic. It added to the already dismal disclosure.
“This is insane.” Jim paced. He had just discovered Kate and now she was under attack by a
“No.” Ron said simply. “I don’t exist. There isn’t a chance he would stand against his wife.”
“There has to be an alternative.” Matt hoped. “We just aren’t seeing it.”
“I agree with dad,” Eric pitched in, “we know how far she’ll go.” Like all of them, Eric had run
through the events over and over again in his head. He came to one humiliating conclusion. If the others
“In self defense we do.” It wasn’t like Brian to take such an arduous line. But he was the most
“I should’ve shot her.” Gerard had the opportunity but didn’t take it and he was second-guessing
himself.
“There are better ways. If we stop the flow into her heart it’ll look like an attack.” Ron had
“Yes. My father climbed up the corporate ladder following a line of heart attacks that struck
people in his way. He didn’t kill them – just prostrated them. If it’s physical, we can affect pressure.”
“We do it with locks.” Matt reminded him. “We can feel the mechanisms.”
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“Same thing. How do you think we always have sons in our family? Until Kate snuck in.” Ron
They parted with a list of tasks. Sandy would work on her deterrence. She was rusty. Kate would
try to impede one person instead of everyone in the general area. The kids would all practice reading
people in their environment. It was most important for the twins, as they would go back to college after the
long weekend.
Kate got ready for bed when she heard her name in her head. It was Eric’s voice. We want a kids
After dozing off she sat on her bed in her misty room waiting for her brothers.
Eric walked in first. Matt and Brian were right behind him.
“Think of all the times we ran off to the park when we could have our meetings right under their
“Me neither,” Matt said, “but she killed our aunt. She tried to kill Mom and Kate before.”
“I won’t feel bad if she dies.” Eric was the most fervent. “But if we can think of a better way, I’m
all for it. I don’t want to be a killer or related to one, well, another one.”
“We’ll need to study up on our biology. To be able to…” Matt didn’t finish. He was thinking
“Let me try something.” Brian turned to Matt. “Tell me if you feel this.”
Matt’s hand flew to his neck. “I feel it.” His voice was strained.
“Too hard?”
“A little.” His tone returned to a hoarse version of itself. “I couldn’t breath but the outside of my
married Ann. He could always feel people’s presences and even their feelings for those he was closer to.
He thinks his empathy was so strong with Grandma that he learned telepathy.”
“That means you’ll be able to pull someone into a dream.” Empathy, like telepathy, was two way
street.
The twins gave each other a sideways glance. “We have always had the same dreams, lots of
twins do. But Wednesday night, I woke up in Eric’s room, it was all misty like this one.”
Kate’s back panged as it occasionally did over the last couple of days. “How did she break the
“She broke it and her fall before she hit.” Eric said point-blank.
“Did you guys notice Grandpa today?” Matt asked. “He can tell who is doing what. He knows
“We,” he pointed to them to exclude the parents, “do but Mom and Dad can’t and other than Eric,
“Try to empathize with us when we move stuff. You’ll pick it up.” In another situation, he might
not have been so eager for her to catch up to him but she needed to defend herself. Their skills were no
“Can you read other people’s thoughts, besides the family’s?” Brian asked. “I can’t with Meg.
Well, I tried to send her a message but she didn’t get it.”
“You shouldn’t do that.” Matt didn’t like him revealing his tricks.
“I have, read that is.” Kate remembered the nasty thoughts during her tennis match. “I heard
Stacey’s that day at school. And boy was it a cesspool of putrid opinions.”
“That girl that can move fast? It may be easier with people that already have a glitch in their
brains.” Matt was thinking aloud. “And receiving is easier than sending. She must’ve wanted you to hear
what she was thinking even if she wasn’t willing to say it out loud.”
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Kate opened her desk drawer to get Brian’s phone. He had left it. Her gold bracelet was coiled up
“Trust me, you can pass things off through dreams. Zuzu and I are living proof. She was a gift
“Ew!” Eric said. “Well, I’m not bringing Marie into one of my dreams for sure.”
“Who’s Marie?”
“She’s just this girl I met.” He blushed. Embarrassment looked good on him or maybe it was
such a rarity that Kate liked to see the sanguine complexion on him. Maybe Marie was a factor why he had
lightened up on her and boys. She already had a good feeling about her if she could wheedle his staunch
“Yeah, so I’m the only one without a significant other. I’ll have to play the field.” Matt joked.
Kate remembered how Sara was a player and Sandy wasn’t. She hoped he was kidding. He was –
it didn’t suit him to fool around carelessly. “I’m not dating anyone.” Kate reminded him.
“Eric said you’re going with some guy from Santa Katrina.” Matt lifted an eyebrow waiting for
“Chris Jenkins.”
“We went on one date,” Kate held up a finger for emphasis, “and he’s taking me to his fall formal.
Her smile vanished and she stuck her tongue at him. She hated to think about Greg like that.
Even if they had the same feelings he made it clear they wouldn’t act on them.
“Okay, now back to not getting killed from our evil grandmother. Let’s all agree to brainstorm
options other than death by self defense.” They approved of Matt’s suggestion.
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School was a welcome rut to fall back into after the overly stimulating weekend. Mr. Stewart had
them working silently on problems while he had quick one-on-ones with students. Brad was one of the first
and when he got back to his seat he wrote Kate a note, “Will you really help? Can we set
She nodded.
It wasn’t long after Brad that Meg was called up. He was going through the class in reverse grade
order. Meg was almost in tears when she sat back at her desk.
Greg was the next in their group. It was shorter than the others but his complexion had grayed.
Jeff went up before Kate. “You must be the best in the class.” Greg whispered. She was the only
person who hadn’t been called. “Or tied.” Greg relished how that would irk Jeff.
“Kate Graham.” Mr. Stewart called after Jeff slunk back to his desk significantly deflated.
Kate took the seat by her teacher as all the students before her had.
“You have a solid A. You’re obviously not challenged in my class. Did your parents talk to you
about taking on more work.” He had a ready list of extra credit sitting on his desk.
“Fine. You won’t mind if I give them a call.” Of course a sadistic despot like him wouldn’t
believe her.
He seemed disappointed. It was because she was confident. Mr. Stewart liked his superiority over
the students and she denied him of it. “Well, that was all.” He dismissed.
Kate shook her head. She would explain at lunch when their tyrannical teacher wasn’t watching
them. No other teachers had talks with the students but then no other teachers had so many kids falling
short on grades.
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“So what did he say to you?” Brad picked at his sandwich in an uncharacteristic not-hungry
moment.
“He’s mad because he wanted me to take on more work. He thinks I’m not challenged. He’s
going to call my dad to discuss it. He didn’t believe me that my parents don’t think I need to do it either.”
“Never mind that leery fool. Are we going to start study sessions?” Brad needed to get his grade
“Me too.” Kate wasn’t sure how helpful she could be but she would do her best for her friends.
Coach Evans didn’t pair up Stacey and Kate but they were playing on side-by-side courts. Kate
kept her from cheating against Meg. Stacey won but it was a narrower margin than usual. The movement
from tennis helped ease her back but she paid for it after classes. It ached the rest of the day.
Andy and Greg were over for dinner that night to watch football with Jim. They fixed the salad
while Kate finished the spaghetti. When she reached up for the strainer she flinched at a spasm from where
she hit the doorframe. Greg grabbed the strainer putting his hand on the exact spot for support.
“I can’t. Please understand.” Kate decided she needed to learn how to lie better next time she saw
Jim got home a little later. He checked the messages and Mr. Stewart’s voice filled the room.
“Hello Mr. Graham. This is Mr. Stewart, Kate’s math teacher. Please call me when you have a chance.”
“He didn’t believe me that you agreed that I wasn’t going to take him up on his offer for extra
math.”
“Ah.” Jim made the call. “Hello Mr. Stewart. This is Jim Graham, Kate’s father… Yes, that’s
right… I agree with her choice but it’s her call to make… But she gets an A in your class. You must
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know how smart she is… Well, then why wouldn’t the choice be hers?...” He winked at her as he spoke
well aware of his audience’s interest. “It isn’t anything that needs reconsideration. Thank you for your
“You did great.” Greg corrected. “He gets off on power tripping.”
“We don’t want Kate wasting time on math when she can be cooking us dinner.”
“Geez, Jim. Why not take her right to vote away?” Andy kidded.
“She’s stuck with extra work anyway. Katie is helping some of us get our grades up.”
“Good.” Andy worried that Greg wouldn’t be able to play baseball if his math grade dipped any
“Does that mean someone will help you with history?” Jim had a cocked eyebrow.
After dinner the dad’s did the dishes, probably feeling guilty about the misogynist jokes earlier.
Greg and Kate studied history. They had a test that week. They worked in the kitchen so Greg could watch
the game.
When the phone rang Jim answered. “Kate, it’s for you.”
“Hello.”
“Hi Kate.” Even over the phone she could hear Chris’ smile.
“How was San Francisco?” She walked to the living room for privacy.
“It was all right.” He didn’t need to know the awful truth.
She expected he would call. Even so she was thrilled. “I have the okay from my dad.” After
taking notes on the day and time she returned to the kitchen. Andy and Greg had gone home.
“I think Greg has a crush on you.” Jim watched for her reaction.
hear about any effort he had made. It was all very nice but at the time he was sending some very direct
“He was nervous. He didn’t speak much that day. I’ve never seen him so shy.”
It wasn’t an act of shyness. It was because he was mad at her and that was another fine example
of the misdirection she received. “Dad, can I get a dress for the semi-formal?”
“Yes.”
“Of course you can.” He pulled out a credit card. “Try to keep it under a thousand.”
“It’ll be hard. I’ll have to settle for the ugliest dress ever.”
She called Meg to see if she would go shopping with her. Meg needed a new gown as well. St.
Iggy’s had a semi-formal the same night. Brian and Meg were an official item and were going to their
dance together. Meg tried to persuade Kate to go to their dance with Chris instead but she had already
accepted.
Kate got her best history score that year. Greg really helped her understand how things fit together
and it didn’t feel like a random list of names, dates and places to remember.
Stacey had renewed her pursuit of Greg. Meg told Kate it was a foolish effort. He wouldn’t
forgive Stacey for hitting her. It was the angriest she had ever seen Greg. They agreed that it was all about
Thursday after school they had their first Math IV study group. They met at Kate’s and planned to
mix up the locations going forward. Gerard liked the idea so much he brought them food as a
compassionate gesture. He told them if they hit any problems they couldn’t solve, he was always available.
“Your grandpa is so cool.” Brad said. “I wish Mrs. Graham was still alive. She was the best
“Are you so good because she taught you all her tricks?” Brad asked.
“She gave you the power through her genes.” Greg tried to cheer her.
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“I must have gotten it somewhere.” His explanation was as good as any.
They got to work. Kate was a natural and things started clicking for the others. After a couple of
“What’s this about you not going to our dance?” Brad confronted Kate. “Please tell me you
“You like Chris.” Greg gave him a reprimanding look. No doubt he was Brad’s source and didn’t
“Off season.”
“It is off season. Basketball doesn’t count.” Greg mostly cared about baseball.
“Are you going to come to my party afterwards? You can bring the schmuck.”
Kate laughed at his inappropriate invitation. “He isn’t a schmuck. I’ll mention it to Chris.”
“He’ll do what you want. These things are about the girls. We don’t want to dress up in suits.”
He blushed, a rarity for him. Brad turned to Greg. “And you? Are you coming? With a date this
time?”
Meg and Kate shopped all morning and into the afternoon on Saturday. They were successful.
Kate got a dress with a black velvet bodice, black taffeta skirt and an antique gold sash around the waist.
Meg’s outfit was red and form fitting. She looked sexy in it. Brian would be pleased.
At school Brad was relentless in expressing his distaste that Kate was going to the wrong dance
with the wrong guy. He told her not to do it again and if she didn’t get asked, he would take her. His dad
wouldn’t let him get serious until he was safely on scholarship at college so he had an open dance card.
Dave agreed and made the same offer, with the condition that he wasn’t dating anyone.
“I know someone was going to ask you to ours. You should’ve waited.” Dave said.
Dave meant Greg but she didn’t allow herself to think on it too long. He made his position clear
“Not for a semi-formal. Even they aren’t that classless.” Brad said snobbishly. “I heard it was at
the Plaza Pacific down the coast. It’s a really nice place for it. We usually have our proms there.”
“How far?” Brian was immediately interested at that point. Until then he hadn’t contributed at
all. He didn’t know Chris from Jack but he didn’t care for Santa Katrina after the grueling win on the
basketball court.
She nodded that she heard it. Greg was looking at her and she wondered if he caught there was an
unspoken exchange. She decided she was getting paranoid. Greg did pay her a little too much attention. It
was passing since she was going on another date with Chris. He had no reason to wait and see how it
After school they met at Greg’s for math study. It was going well and everyone was feeling more
Shortly after falling asleep Kate sat in her chair when her brothers arrived.
“I can’t get use to you in that uniform.” Eric strolled in comfortable with their occasional shared
dreams.
“Kate’s dance this weekend is thirty minutes out of town and if Mom can’t know when Gran gets
near you two in Santa Barbara, she won’t know if Gran goes there.”
“But it’s close to Santa Barbara.” Kate added. “You guys will know if anything happens.” It was
too late to cancel and she hadn’t expected Brian to make a mountain out of a molehill. That was Eric’s job.
“Friday.”
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“And it’s not like Gran will go looking for you. How can she know you would go to a dance at
“Why can’t you bring him to our dance? It’s in town.” Brian protested. “I haven’t forgotten how
“I can’t ask him that the day before.” Kate was dismayed. She hadn’t forgotten about that day
either but she didn’t think the dance was a danger. They always blew things out of proportion with her.
Brian’s concern was part of that old pattern and he was stirring up Eric and Matt’s worries.
“Okay, then we don’t worry about it.” Eric said too easily.
After they were gone, Kate had a regular dream about that day in the kitchen, more a nightmare.
She woke up with a sudden start when Jim went down after the chair hit him. It was only three in the
morning. She rolled over and cleared her mind to get some restful sleep.
She woke up remembering Brian’s concerns. On their way to school she promised him that
everything was a non-issue and that they were getting better everyday. “Nothing will happen.” She
averred.
“I’m overreacting. Have fun and I really hope you find him less interesting soon.”
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Chris arrived on time and looking more handsome than ever. He wore a dark suit with a standard
white shirt and black and dark grey striped tie. “You’re beautiful.” He said when she came downstairs in
Jim snapped some photos as promised for Sandy. Kate felt bad when Chris put a corsage on her
wrist but Jim had a boutonnière for him that he had gotten if the need arose. He was a lifesaver.
They drove down the coast and come up on a grand hotel in the Spanish-Mediterranean style. It
was picturesque overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The valet took the keys. Chris put Kate’s arm in his and
escorted her into the dance. Santa Katrina was easily five times bigger than St. Iggy’s. Kate didn’t see a
familiar face until they sat at their table and she recognized Auggie. The other guys she had seen but didn’t
know their names. They were on the basketball team and all their dates were very pretty. Two were
cheerleaders.
Kate had told Chris they were welcome to go to Brad’s party but he declined. “Auggie’s having
an after party as well but really, why? We have parties after every game.”
“I met you at an after party.” She fluttered her lashes. Even when she didn’t know him, she was
attracted to him.
“Another good reason not to go. Someone might snake in on my territory.” He winked. “I only
went because Stacey wanted to find her next target. Do you know who it is or was?”
“Greg and I don’t think she has completely given up. If anything, she has renewed her old cause
with vigor.”
He laughed. “Well, he’s smarter than me to stay away for so long. Still, it’s difficult to ignore
Kate didn’t like the sound of that. “You dated her once?”
“I did. It was about a year ago when her reputation was getting established. I didn’t believe the
Kate laughed. “Well, she’s Catholic. Doesn’t that mean no sex until marriage?”
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He chuckled harder. “Not at all. There are wild Catholic girls and there is a tempting duality
about it. So, what about you? Were you dating Jeff?”
She rolled her eyes at the sound of his name. “Never.” He was a cad and she was a fool to not
“I don’t like him after what he did to Greg. That wasn’t cool.”
“It wasn’t hard to tell he was trying to get him kicked out of school.”
“Why?”
“To see if he could. Greg wasn’t a good student and he was easy pickings.”
“After that and his near DUI, he got his act together.”
“Are you guys close? You know so much about him.” She didn’t understand their rivalry and
“We’re in the same baseball camp during the summer with Dave. We get along better when
school’s out. What’s the deal with you two?” He hit the nail on the head.
“No deal.” She played nervously with her bracelet. She wished she hadn’t worn it. It was a
betrayal to wear it while she was out with another guy but it went so well with her dress.
Chris didn’t believe her but let it alone. “We’ve been here two hours and you haven’t asked if
“I’m not much of a dancer.” He had a silly smile, his dimples accentuating it radiantly. “But I
suppose we should.”
He took her hand and assumed the position when they got on the floor. They stayed in an easy
box. He was very muscular for not looking so beefy. His arms were like steal bands and he kept them
locked in place but loose around her. They rocked to the music with their cheeks nearly touching.
“You aren’t.”
“I’m not allowed to get serious with anyone. Baseball first. And your excuse is…”
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Brad was the same way. “I was kept on a tight leash that has recently been lengthened.”
“Strict parents?”
She nodded. “And brothers. Three and one of them is particularly good at intervening whenever a
“Yes. But Eric isn’t here.” Kate’s heart started pounding faster out of anticipation and guilt.
Chris was going to kiss her again and it excited her. Eric would grill her and she fretted the inevitable chat.
They walked out on the balcony. It was a clear night and the ocean sparkled under the light of the
moon. They were surrounded sparsely by other couples talking, holding hands, kissing or a combination
thereof. A sudden chill ran down her back. They were both thinking the same thing. He wrapped his arms
around her as she leaned against the parapet looking out over the ocean. He pulled her hair back from her
left side and whispered in her ear, “I’m glad you came.” He held his cheek to hers.
“I’m glad you asked.” She moved to face him and he pressed his lips to hers with the softest
contact. He held her face as they kissed with more energy. Kate felt lighter than air. Where her feet even
on the floor?
His arms were security for her and he ran his hands through her hair. “So how much competition
Her thoughts went directly to Greg. “You can’t get serious with anyone.”
That chilling sensation increased and she realized it was driven by fear not nerves. Eric, Matt, can
you hear me? She kept her face blank as she tried to mentally reach out to her brothers.
She looked over her shoulder but saw no one. It didn’t matter. Gran was there. “How did she
“I need to go powder my nose.” She didn’t want him to get caught up in her family squabble
as ominous as ever. Kate ran in the opposite direction to her only egress. Passed the double doors she was
by the pool. It had a wooden deck and lounge chairs and there wasn’t a soul in sight.
She kept running but was suddenly pulled back. The invisible force picked her off her feet and
twisted her around. She was floating impotently towards the old lady.
Kate was inches from her. She was too wound up to concentrate. She kicked with all her might
and dropped as her ex-grandmother buckled over. Kate scurried back and focused to keep Gran from
“You think you’re making this harder but it only strengthens my resolve.” Gran had recovered.
“What do plan to gain by hurting me? You’re losing your son and grandsons by behaving like
this.” There was no rationalizing with the old woman. Kate knew that. She was stalling for time.
Hopefully the twins would find her. She slowly got to her feet but her concentration wavered to do it.
Gran felt it at once. “You can’t hold it much longer, can you?”
There was a pressure inside Kate’s chest but it passed as she doubled her deterrence. Gran had
tried to stop her heart. “I can hold it.” Kate challenged. She had to.
Gran took a step closer. “You can’t stop me and my telekinesis at the same time.”
Kate stepped back but when she did there was another hiccup as her power was depleted. The
“You see that I am right.” The lady sprang forward and grabbed Kate by her shoulders and threw
Kate bobbed up and took a gulp of air but was instantly pulled down. She couldn’t think clearly
with the water around her. Gran kept her down. Kate held her breath. The urge to gasp grew. She
struggled to swim up but felt an iron grip on her ankle weighing her down. Eric, Matt. I’m in the pool.
Are you here? She tried to send a message. Her mind was so chaotic she didn’t know if she could reach
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them. She heard nothing back and the reflex to breath overtook her. Chlorine water flowed into her lungs
The hold released as if hewed with a hacksaw and she swam up coughing out sputum and taking
in air. Eric was in the pool with her. He helped the water empty out of her lungs with his telekinesis. Matt
had tackled Gran but she threw him back. One sensation pulled Kate out of the pool while at her feet
Close your eyes and concentrate. She heard in her head. She obeyed and the grip on her feet
weakened and she was lifted out of the water and landed on the deck behind Matt.
“Another time then.” And Gran hurried off away from the hotel. She moved like a woman half
her age.
They could feel her retreat. It was easier to sense that Gran left than to find her coming when it
wasn’t expected. Kate panted for more air. Her lungs stung but they were empty. The coldness and the
A hotel employee had come out to tell them the pool was closed for the night. When she saw Kate
and Eric were drenched she exclaimed, “Oh dear.” She was a motherly looking woman in her fifties.
Kate’s Type
“Matt, can you get Chris and tell him where I am.” Kate requested. “He’s on the balcony.” She
didn’t know how she could explain her appearance to him but she couldn’t leave without seeing him.
“I’ll find him.” Matt ran into the hotel. He’d be easy to find without a date.
The towels came and Kate and Eric wrapped up shivering in the coldness. They walked into the
Kate was astounded that he wanted to scold her after running into Gran. “Now? You want to
“We ran into Kate. We came to crash the party. We really are protective monsters.” Eric’s story
slid out easily. Aside from the protective monsters proclamation it was all rubbish. “We took her out to
the pool to have a private conversation and well, we fell in.” He held out his hands opening his towel as his
clothes dripped. “It’s our fault. We’re sorry for ruining your night.” Eric lied well, spun his yarn quickly
Donna, the hotel hostess, led them to a vacant room where Kate and Eric could stay warm and
took their clothes to dry. Kate and Eric cleaned up and put on robes while they waited for their cloths to be
returned.
“I’m really sorry Chris.” Kate felt horrible. “Go back and have fun.” Her life was too perilous to
“I’ll stay here, more excitement.” He flashed his dimples at her and she melted.
At least she didn’t look like a drowned rat anymore. She smiled back.
“You guys play?” Chris asked. They could pass as baseball players.
“Not us, not on a team. We’re just trying to pinpoint Kate’s type.” Eric relished the discomfort he
inflicted on his sister. He may not be able to stop her from dating but he could have fun taunting her.
Kate blushed. “I don’t have a type except for those audacious enough to put up with you two.”
“Don’t listen to them. They do this to scare off people. Why don’t you two go and I’ll bring
“The hell we’re going to leave you alone in a hotel room wearing only a robe with some
Kate didn’t know how the hotel got their clothes dry so fast. Her dress looked as if it had never
been worn. Her hair wasn’t as pristine but otherwise she was more or less as good as when Chris picked
her up.
“I’ll ignore that.” Chris took her arm and walked her out. The twins waited to give them some
space.
“Where did you go to?” One of the basketball players asked seeing them get off the elevator and
“It’s not what you think.” Chris waved a hand in the air as if it would stop his friend from
Kate flushed. There was an obvious but wrong deduction from their appearance.
“You weren’t kidding about your brothers, were you?” Chris didn’t seem that bothered by the
intrusion. Considering he didn’t know the truth, it was very forgiving of him.
“We’re a tight family.” That didn’t begin to explain it away but it was in the right direction.
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“They’re following us.” He spied in the rearview mirror.
Kate looked out the back window. The twins drove a few cars back in the fast lane. “They’re
going home. They usually spend part of the weekend in Santa Katrina. We aren’t being followed.” The
He walked her up to her door. Kate could sense Greg nearby. He must still be up. It made her
uncomfortable. He couldn’t feel her presence but her mind imagined the worst.
“Sorry about tonight.” She repeated pushing her feelings about Greg as far down as she could.
“I had a great time.” Chris grinned even though she clearly didn’t believe him. “I’ll call you.
You’ll see.”
She smiled and he kissed her. It was a more adoring kiss than ever. Maybe he wasn’t scared off
Waving good-bye as he drove away Kate stood in the open doorway. When she closed it Greg
pushed back on it looking very unnerved. He scanned her dress with a confused expression. “We need to
talk.”
“I can’t right now.” She didn’t want to talk about Chris with Greg. She was thoroughly turned off
that he ambushed her return home. He had gone too far. “It was just a date.” She snapped too concerned
with getting to her family and a real problem to bother with kindness.
She stepped outside. “How do you know about that?” She didn’t want Jim to catch her.
“It’s difficult to explain. And don’t worry. Jim isn’t here. He’s at Ron and Sandy’s.” Greg
wanted to talk to her alone where he would get more truthful answers.
It made sense that Jim wasn’t home. The twins probably called him over once they got home. “I
“After I talk to my family I’ll bring you into a dream.” She didn’t have time to argue with him
and she wanted to know how he learned about what took place at the hotel. He may have overheard a
She went upstairs to change and checked the couch before she left but Jim wasn’t there. She ran
down the street. The lights were on and everyone had gathered including Gerard and Ellen.
“I’m fine.” Kate broke free. “I’m fine now.” Aside from the sting her lungs felt if she breathed
too deeply.
“How did she find out where you’d be?” Gerard’s analytical brain couldn’t find any answer and it
Eric glared and mentally chided her. You shouldn’t let boys distract you.
“We felt her too. It’ll be easier now that we know what we’re looking for.” Matt pointed to Eric
as he spoke for both of them. Kate wasn’t sure about that. Finding an incoming presence would require
“But we can’t live in fear of being alone or out of town.” Jim was angry. He didn’t want any of
them to have to always look over their shoulders. They shouldn’t be prisoners by fear.
“Why does she go after Kate? I thought she wanted Mom?” Brian asked. Not that he would have
felt differently if they were there after his mother was assaulted.
“Because I’m almost as strong as her.” Ron was only guessing. He worked from home and was
“I underestimated how far she’d go. It won’t happen again.” Ron had learned what happened to
“What do we do now?” Gerard brought them back to the urgent matter at hand.
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“We magnify our efforts. We need to be careful about anytime we break from our routines. She
doesn’t want to bring it here where we’re never alone and know the ground layout better.”
“I don’t know. Routines may be easier to sabotage.” Jim thought out loud.
“It’s an idea but how?” Ron pulled his hand through his hair. His temper was in jeopardy of
“When I sensed she was there, I ran. I didn’t want her hurting someone at the dance.” Kate acted
on instinct.
“Don’t do that again. She isn’t going to expose herself in front of strangers.” Ron speculated.
“Not that she can’t imprecate with witnesses but she’ll constrained.”
Looking back, when she was in the lobby Gran didn’t do a thing. It wasn’t until she was alone by
Jim walked Kate home in silence. Finding his daughter had brought more joy than he had
Kate curled up with Zuzu by her side. She fell asleep as her mind whirled around the strange
occurrences from the evening. When she sat up in her mist filled room wearing in her black dress Greg
“Okay, you first.” Kate cut to the chase. She didn’t want him confusing her with flirtation.
He sat next to her. “I can sometimes see through your eyes. If you’re thinking about me or in
trouble.”
“Yeah. That’s the only way to get an idea across otherwise it’s hard to make sense of it.”
He knew that was what she meant. “It doesn’t matter. I was sitting at home working on physics
the other week and all of a sudden I see Eric’s back in front of me and some spiteful old hag. I can’t hear
what she’s saying but I can tell it wasn’t ‘hello and how do you do.’ People ran in but they stopped.
You’re mother moved forward. She was floating. You jumped back suddenly and fell. And the old lady
flew over the couch onto the coffee table. It shattered before she landed. The chair hit Jim. I didn’t know
where it came from. And a cutting board popped up and stopped knives from hitting your mother. And
then Mr. Sanchez was there with a shotgun and it went blank.”
Kate let him get it all out as she listened. It went blank because she closed her eyes to focus her
energy.
“And then tonight I saw you looking at the bracelet. I was glad you were wearing it again.” He
gazed at her eyes knowing that she had feelings for him and wondering if they were greater than those she
She reflexively glanced at her arm as he spoke and spun the gold chain around her wrist. It made
sense that he noticed she hadn’t been wearing it. Still she felt bad for hurting him.
“A little later I saw Chris and I tried to clear my mind because I didn’t want to see that. He was
going to…” Greg swallowed his suspicion. “But then you were hurrying through a hotel lobby and out by
a pool and that old lady was there. I couldn’t tell what you were doing at times. You were too tall for a
while, like you were standing on a box and then your foot kicked her in the gut. And you fell into the pool
and wouldn’t get out.” He stood up. “It was too long and then there were bubbles. You were drowning?”
He sat back down and put his arms around her. “And thankfully Eric was there and Matt and the
Kate was shaking even though she savored the comfort-giving embrace.
Kate let out a soft moan of frustration. “She’s my grandmother, well was. She’s Ron’s mother.”
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“That mean old bitch is related to you guys?”
“And she wants to kill Mom and me. She’ll kill my dads and brothers to do it.” It was out. It was
refreshing to talk to someone about it. She hated covering up and lying to her friends, him most of all.
“She already has. She murdered my aunt, my mother’s identical twin. She didn’t know there
were two and she probably thought she had killed me at the same time. I wasn’t even a month old.”
Greg trembled and held her tighter with irrational thoughts of never letting her go. “I’m glad you
told me.”
She pulled out of his chest. “I shouldn’t have. What if you get hurt by knowing?”
“I’m not worried about that.” He stated in an obvious tone pulling her close again.
“No. You have to stay away. We can talk about it but you can’t be caught up in it.”
“Too late. I’m already involved. If Jim and you are in danger, we aren’t going to stand aside.”
“What do you mean we?” She didn’t need to ask. His intention was apparent.
“Dad saw the chair. He didn’t realize it was flying.” Greg spoke gently.
“Because he saw through Jim’s eyes. That was when Jim was in danger.” He let her absorb that
“Katie, you are the only person who I ever saw through that wasn’t related to me. I don’t care that
you’re dating Chris, we have some kind of connection and I can’t stand aside…”
“So, if I am in danger, my vision flicks into yours.” She steered away from the topic of Chris.
“What about when Meg wrote you I was going to Father Francis’ office?”
“Probably. I also saw some of your tennis match. Masterful, I might add.”
“I wasn’t in trouble.”
“You were intense or you may have been thinking about me. That can do it sometimes.”
“At the ball game after the foul ball. I kept seeing myself through your eyes.” He looked down
avoiding her.
How often did that happen? Kate tried to think about all the times they were in close quarters and
she allowed herself to daydream of what could have been. “How did this happen? A year ago the only odd
thing in my life was my brothers could cheat at pool. Now everyone I know seems to have magical
powers.”
She closed her eyes. He scooted up on the bed and held her as she curled up in his arms. Zuzu
jumped up on the bed and took her usual nightly post next to Kate. He played with her bracelet and then
ran his hand up her arm and held her while she fell asleep in her dream.
She felt him stirring. “Sorry.” She let go of him so he could get up.
“Um, Katie.” Greg whispered into her ear as he jostled her shoulder.
She opened her eyes. Something was wrong. She was under her covers, in her pajamas and the
room was mist free. Morning light shined in from the window. She had pulled him through her dream.
Kate sat up pulling her covers over her. “How did that happen?”
“I don’t know.” Greg got out of bed still in his day clothes from the dream.
“Dad said that couldn’t happen.” She told herself despite the forensic evidence.
“I didn’t crawl in your window.” He promised as he looked out the window for an escape route.
“I’m fine.” She replied not realizing she didn’t answer the question he asked.
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“Can I come in?” The door was already opening. He looked at them in her room. “What’s going
on here?”
“Downstairs, now!” He commanded the boy. “We’ll discuss this when you’re dressed.”
Kate threw on some clothes and ran to the kitchen. She started to sit down next to Greg but Jim
They nodded.
“That’s good to know.” He forgot his anger for a brief moment as he stored that fact. “Kate, I
can’t control your dreams but you shouldn’t be pulling in boys, not even Greg. You know that you have
“I’m not going to fool around with someone else’s girlfriend.” Greg remarked.
Kate glared at him. She was tired of saying Chris wasn’t her boyfriend. “Dad, we were just
“I had dreams when I was your age and there were very few words.” He stared at his daughter and
her stoic expression. “You weren’t doing anything but talking?” He was feeling secure that was the truth.
“What about?” If his worst fear wasn’t true, there was more to hear. They were guilty about something.
“Well…” Kate started as she gave Greg a look like the cat was out of the bag.
“Look. I believe you weren’t. I think I would believe that if you were naked. I couldn’t handle
the truth if it were otherwise. But there is this loud voice in my head that sounds exactly like your mother
“I can’t tell you. Dad can’t know.” Greg didn’t look up from the table.
“What can’t he know?” Jim was lost. As far as father and sons went, none were closer than Andy
“Aren’t you in all the way?” Kate called Greg on his promise.
“Using my words against me, you and your cruelty.” He tried to joke and then gave a long sigh.
“I can see through Kate’s eyes sometimes, like Dad has done with you.”
“When she writes? Do you keep a journal?” Jim prayed it was about her date with Chris and
nothing more.
“Dad, it isn’t just writing. Think about it. You were only signing your name but Andy knew it
was a marriage certificate.” It was a detail she noticed immediately when he first told her about his
wedding day.
Jim sat there blinking a little too much as the idea processed. “What did you see?”
“Dad saw the chair hit you but he thinks you were moving to it, not it to you.”
Greg nodded. “I saw it all; the old lady hitting the table, the knives, Gerard with the shotgun, the
pool.”
“That’s a lot for you to take.” Jim felt bad for the boy being pulled into their nightmare. “And
you haven’t told Andy because he’ll freak out that you can see through Kate’s eyes.”
“Because you have to be someone they care about a great deal for them to do it. Andy doesn’t see
“I’ll try. I mean, I’ll do it, somehow. He needs to know. Katie’s right. We’re in this thing now.”
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“No you aren’t. It’s too dangerous. Do you understand what you saw?” Jim wanted to protect
Jim shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re staying clear of this.” He commanded to Greg.
“Do you really see either of us standing by while either of you are in danger?” Greg questioned
trying to keep the rebellious teen angst to a minimum. “And remember, we can see through you guys.”
“Kate, do you think you could jam this vision thing?” Jim couldn’t stop Greg’s determination but
“Maybe.” Kate didn’t know how but she could stop everything else.
“Hey!” Greg shouted. He didn’t like being cut out of the equation.
Jim’s eyes started darting back and forth unable to focus. “I can’t see anything. I can’t hear
anything.” He slapped his ears with his hands. “You did that? Can Andy?”
“Everything went black and silent.” Jim explained to Kate. “She wouldn’t be able to move
anything if she can’t see what she’s doing.” He peered up at Greg. “You better get home before you have
to convince Andy that nothing was going on. I’ll talk to him later about what’s going on with us.”
Stacey’s Blog
After the pool incident, the whole family worked harder to polish their multifarious skills. Kate
discovered she was able to learn new tricks once she let herself empathize with someone completely. Eric
and Greg adapted skills with alacrity. She was able to move objects and cloud people’s senses. And Eric
had picked up the knack of stopping others from using their gifts. Once Eric caught on, Matt followed
shortly there after. Brian wasn’t far behind but even telekinesis had come late to him. Their repertoire was
improving.
Their parents weren’t able to absorb new skills and Gerard’s hypothesized that you can’t teach an
old dog new tricks. The kids were still growing and learning and that promoted the ability to share. He
was in his early twenties when he learned telepathy from Ann and even then it didn’t come as clear.
Greg had picked up telekinesis faster than telepathy and empathy. Kate figured it was personal
after the trouble the twins put him through earlier. She was having trouble with seeing through other
people’s eyes but got flashes from Greg when he wrote notes. Blacking out people’s vision would be good
for her brothers to learn but she wasn’t sure how to explain where she picked up that knack. She worked
on a plausible excuse.
The Thomases didn’t know that Greg and Andy were filled in on the facts or that they had shared
their gifts with Kate. Jim didn’t know how they would take the news. Time would most likely give an
School was a diversion from boot camp. The Thursday study groups were going better every
time. Meg had even corrected Kate when she misspoke. As for Brad, Kate didn’t know how he wasn’t
getting a higher grade. He was so social and jovial all the time it misled how truly smart he was. Greg
learned the quickest but Brad retained the knowledge the best. He had a singular focus and that was to get
Gerard sat with them for a particularly complicated lesson. He didn’t instruct but encouraged
them to break down their confusion until it was gone. The disparateness between him and Mr. Stewart was
changed but Greg would talk her through the chapters a second time helping her recall.
It was the week before Christmas break when Kate hit any problems at school. Stacey had a blog
and had been trashing her on it for weeks. Claire told her that there was a posting about how Chris and
Kate had snuck off from the dance to hook up in a hotel room.
Kate laughed it off the easily controvertible rumor and assured them it wasn’t true. Meg was
furious. Chris thought it was childish and cruel and wished he could stop it. Kate hadn’t seen him since
the dance but he called regularly. They had tentative plans to go out during break after his midterms. St.
Greg didn’t take the news of the blog well. Dave informed them how he told Stacey off and she
said he couldn’t face the truth because he had a thing for Kate. Later that day, Stacey tripped walking
down the stairs. She said she almost blacked out and then was falling off the last steps and sprained her
ankle. Greg would not admit or deny any responsibility. To no surprise, the tidbit pleased Eric and Kate
was tempted to tell him that Greg may have been behind it.
The last Friday before break was joyous. All the students were light hearted. It was purely for the
holidays. Every teacher in every class gave them a run down of what to study for their midterms that
started the third week of January. Despite the harsh reality of exams, the students’ spirits stayed high.
“Greg, can’t we start over. We were friends once.” Stacey used her sweetest voice before the last
Physics class. She had snagged the seat by Greg, a bold move even for her considering Kate was on his
other side.
“Take down your blog and I’ll think about it.” Greg bargained.
“No. It's all true.” She pouted intransigently. “And I stopped using real names.’
“Somehow people have uncovered that you mean Katie when you write Cate. I don’t know how
Kate snickered. It annoyed Stacey but she didn’t have a choice if she wanted to seduce Greg.
“My parents are throwing a splendid Christmas party. They said I could invite someone.” Stacey
hated talking to Greg in front of Kate but she was his only friend that didn’t run her off immediately.
“You should.”
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“Do you have someone in mind?” She batted her eyes.
“Chris probably isn’t very friendly to you either after those lies.”
“Fact is they disappeared from the dance and were seen later coming out of the elevators from the
rooms. You just don’t want to believe it. My cousin was there and he said someone’s hair was rather
mussed up.”
She got her point across. Greg was agitated. It wasn’t the truth but he didn’t like to think about
Kate with Chris. He lowered his voice to keep from embarrassing Stacey more than was necessary. “I
“You will. In time.” Stacey was confident. She hadn’t lost a prey and he wasn’t going to be her
Class finally ended and Greg walked Kate down the hall. “Katie, I hear you and Meg are going
“Of course not.” Kate rolled her eyes. They were friends and there wasn’t a need to ask
permission.
“And what’re you doing tonight, would you want to go to dinner and a movie.”
“Well, I was trying to be sly about it to save face in case you said no. You can. I know you’re
close to Chris but you say you aren’t dating…” His cocky air was lost in the face of admirable competition.
“We aren’t.” She had given up on Greg and suddenly he was stepping up to bat. Swiftly she felt
Kate wasn’t sure if she really could say yes. Chris wouldn’t like it but he also kept it very clear
“That wasn’t for her. Geez, when will she stop?” Greg felt mildly bad.
Tennis had been enjoyable all week with Stacey sitting out. Even Allison had more fun but she
They were changing back to their normal clothes, ten minutes early. “So he finally asked you out.
“I don’t know. I wish he had asked when there were no complications.” Kate was only a junior
and it wasn’t like she was romantically committed to either boy. Still she felt like she wasn’t being fair to
It was Greg. But she was completely exposed to him. She had no place to hide and that scared
her. And her feelings for Chris weren’t far behind. “They’re incomparable.”
“Anywhere is fine.” Kate was sure it would be in town. He knew what was going on with her
family and he wouldn’t take her out of range of her mother and grandfather’s scope. That reminded Kate to
give Meg a head’s up that her brothers would be at the mall. There wasn’t a decent shopping center in
Santa Katrina and she had to get permission from the family to go shopping in Santa Barbara. “By the
way, he wanted to go with us shopping. And we may see Eric and Matt. They said they were still looking
Kate had never spent so much time picking out an outfit. She decided on a dark gray A-frame
skirt and pink long sleeve leotard top. Grabbing her black jean jacket she answered the door.
Greg was dressed in jeans and a white oxford. He looked traditional. They took his bronco to the
pier where they had a few choices for dinner. In the end the fish house won out.
Kate had been alone with Greg many times. They were friends. That night she was nervous
around him. She hadn’t been since he first kissed her. And hiding it wasn’t happening as she constantly
fidgeted against her best efforts. It helped that he was as uncomfortable as she was.
“It’s weird. We already know each other.” Greg stated after another long suspension in
conversation. He wasn’t sure if it was a bad omen and he worried. “So, how close to serious are you with
Chris?” By that he meant do you guys have an easier time talking to each other?
“Let’s not talk about him.” Kate hung her head. She liked Chris. She liked Greg more. There
wasn’t a good way to explain it without hurting his feelings or lying and she didn’t want to do either.
“Am I too late? Is the game over?” He searched for a telling reaction.
There were three Christmas themed movies to choose from; a romantic comedy, a dysfunctional
family comedy and an action film. Kate nixed the action film and Greg nixed the romantic comedy.
Chris took her miniature golfing because you didn’t get to know each other in a movie. She was
glad that Greg didn’t make a choice like that. There wasn’t a need for small talk with him and dinner had
The theater wasn’t full but they had to go back a few rows to find a good pair of seats that weren’t
on the side. Greg took out some Altoids and offered her one. She accepted it and hoped it wasn’t a hint.
He held her hand as they watched trailers for upcoming flicks. The movie started flashing scenes
of a small snow covered town as the music played a lounge-y version of “Blue Christmas.” Apparently the
main character didn’t care for the holidays but was stuck in his hometown forced to relive bad childhood
memories.
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Greg’s thumb rubbed the outside of her hand. The action persistently reminded her that she was
sitting next to him in a dark theater and the plot was moving ahead without her full awareness. She leaned
against his shoulder and he tilted his head toward her. “I think in the end he’ll learn to love Christmas. I’m
“Merely pointing out that we don’t have to take a quiz on it.” He kissed her and turned back to the
screen.
Kate reached up and kissed him. That was the response he wanted. He pulled her head to his and
forgot all about the holiday film. Too quickly, the credits were rolling and the house lights came on. They
“Kate.” It was Auggie and Chris. They were coming out of the theater that had the action film.
“Hi guys.” Instantly she released Greg’s hand to wave hello and heard him sigh.
“We’re going to grab a hot chocolate, want to come?” Chris invited the couple keeping his
“We’ll catch you later.” He flashed his dimples at Kate and they left for their after movie treat.
Greg didn’t speak as they clambered back to his car. It was because she dropped his hand. She
wanted to spare Chris’ feelings but wounded Greg’s in the process. She would have done the same if they
were in the opposite situation. How did other girls juggle multiple men? She walked up to the passenger
door waiting for him to unlock it. Instead of opening it, he leaned against the car on one side of her and
held his right arm out with his hand on her other side. She was cornered.
His eyes locked on hers. “You have a new problem. I want to date you, just you and no body else
She nodded. He was right. The confusion and guilt ate at her insides. There wasn’t any debate.
It was Greg. As scary as it was for her, it was him. He was too close and it was a risk at getting hurt.
Chris couldn’t hurt her – as much. It would be harder to live without Greg than with him. She opened her
easily self-assured in his words but unsure of her feelings for him.
He cut her off with a kiss – a long, hard, burning kiss. “It is what it is.” He opened the door and
“Tell me tomorrow.” He held her hand. “I’ll feel better knowing it wasn’t a knee jerk reaction.”
Chris called Kate early the next day. She told him that Greg wanted to date exclusively. Luckily
she didn’t have to dance around the topic too long since he saw it coming.
“I came to the same conclusion. He beat me to it. Actually, I should have said something at the
dance but the answer wasn’t in my favor. I hoped in time… He’s too smart to give me that chance.”
“Make sure he takes good care of you. I’m not the only guy waiting in the wings.”
Kate sniffled. She didn’t mean to hurt Chris. She pulled herself together. She had a larger family
than ever and hadn’t started shopping. It was the last Saturday before Christmas. And Meg didn’t need to
They took two cars to the mall since Meg would have to leave early. Her family planned to spend
the holidays in San Diego with her grandparents on her father’s side. Greg and Andy would be down for a
Once in Santa Barbara, Greg excused himself to shop alone. Kate and Meg got to work on their
lists and were through most of the items in a couple of hours. The stores were crowded with cheery people.
There was the occasional frantic shopper but they were few and far between.
“We bumped into Greg. He was in a jewelry shop.” Eric gave Kate a smirk.
“You’d think he only needs a gift for his dad. What would you buy a dad in a jewelry store?”
Matt teased.
“Whatever he’s buying it better not be a diamond ring.” Eric finished their taunt.
“I’m glad Dave wasn’t twins.” Meg said gratefully after leaving to get a hot chocolate from the
Starbucks at the food court. They rode the escalator up to the third floor and sat with all their bags and
enjoyed a brief break. “I got everything I needed.” Meg double-checked her purchases to her Christmas
list.
“I still have a couple more.” Kate was down to Jim and Greg and she didn’t have a clue for either.
And the pressure was on for Greg if he was buying her more jewelry. His dad made a good living. It was a
must to live on that street. And Greg was getting more and more commissions from furniture he helped
make for the shop. Jim gave Kate a credit card and told her she could spend up to twenty dollars per
person. That was plenty for her family. They kept Christmas small as possible. She could supplement
Greg’s gift with her savings. There was a sport store on the bottom floor directly below. She would go
“You never told me how your date was?” Meg sipped her drink.
“We will be when he let’s me answer. He said I had to sleep on it.” Kate rolled her eyes. “I
“I wonder what Chris will say.” The kindness might have been forgone if Kate hadn’t chosen
Greg.
Meg hopped out of her chair and hugged Kate. “This is how it should have been. Greg saw you
“Don’t say anything. We haven’t talked about it yet.” Kate wanted to tell Greg herself.
“Won’t be a problem. I have to go. Call him now.” Meg picked up her bags.
“I’ll call him after my next stop.” She had to get his present first.
Kate finished her drink and collected her things. She waited for the elevator when she sensed that
We did. She’s close. How did she get so close so fast? It was Eric.
I’m coming down the elevator now. She tried to reach Greg but he had trouble with telepathy.
The door opened and a family of four with a stroller exited. Kate stepped in and pushed the first floor. The
doors closed but the elevator didn’t move. She hit the first floor button again and it didn’t react. The door
I’m trapped in the elevator. She told the twins and pulled out her phone to call Greg.
There was a creaking noise and a snap and the elevator jerked down a few inches. She looked out
the window for Eric and Matt on the first floor. If Greg didn’t hear her, he was probably seeing it. She
other side of the third floor stood Gran. She waved bye as Kate heard another snap and the elevator
dropped a few more inches. It creaked as it hung askew. Had she severed cables? Gran was mentally
feeling her way through the elevator mechanisms and it was only a matter of time before she removed
anything holding it up. Kate grabbed the rail bracing for a hard drop. Two stories wasn’t a long fall but
There was another snapping sound and Kate peered at Gran. She had an unfocused look to her
eyes. It was the look Jim had when Greg blacked out his senses. Greg ran across a bridge from the food
court to the shops across the atrium. He skillfully missed everyone and then slammed into Gran. She
tumbled to the ground but quickly got up. The telekinesis must have helped her sustain the tackle. Even
blacked out, she would be able to fortify herself for impact. Her grandmother’s eyes regained their clarity.
Security arrived and was asking them what happened. One mall cop talked to Gran. She wasn’t able to
work on breaking the elevator with her back to it. Greg pointed to Kate as he spoke to the other guard.
Seconds later a voice was on the intercom. “Miss, are you okay?”
Kate would have liked to think they wouldn’t fail either. The guards walked Gran away. Greg
With all her effort, Kate focused on the elevator room. If something happened, she was preparing
to keep it from falling at full force. She had moved things but it was a larger object than anything she had
practiced on. She hoped she could make enough of a difference to affect damage control.
The doors cracked open. The floor of the elevator was a good two feet lower than the third floor.
A maintenance man widened the opening and she could see Eric, Matt and Greg. When the gap was large
enough Eric reached in and pulled her out of the elevator and into a vice like hug.
Greg took her next and he kissed her cheek as he held her.
“Oh. I do. Don’t do that in front of me.” He tried to smile but it was kind of twisted.
Maintenance handed her bags out. After further inspections the cables were broken and three of
the four emergency breaks. They wanted to get a written statement. Gran watched them with security.
She glared at the kids and paid special attention that Greg was part of the group.
They sensed her leaving as they gave their statements. The element of surprise was gone. She
Kate insisted on shopping for her last two gifts. Eric convinced Greg to let them take her home.
They suggested for the sake of time she get gift certificates and buy extra thoughtful gifts for their next
presents.
By the time they arrived on their street the rest of the family was gathered at Kate’s house ready
After needlessly strong hugs from her parents, they dissected the incident. “Where is she getting
“Why didn’t we feel her sooner? She was already at the mall.” Eric wanted more warning.
“Too many people around. That makes it harder.” Gerard wasn’t sure.
“We felt her and Kate was on her way down.” Matt told the family.
“She was on the other side of the mall watching. And I could hear the elevator parts snapping but
then Greg was there blacking out her vision.” Kate forgot they didn’t know about Greg.
The twins exchanged looks. They knew he helped but didn’t know he had used anything
metaphysical to do it.
“He can black out senses. It’s very disorientating.” Jim filled in the blanks. “Go on.”
“And he ran into her and security was there so she couldn’t concentrate.”
“That was smart.” Sandy stated. “How did he know to go after Gran?”
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Kate looked sheepishly at Jim. She had said way too much.
“Andy and Greg know what’s going on. We only discovered this a while ago.” Jim updated.
“That’s right. I didn’t tell you. They can see things through certain people. Andy can see things
through my eyes sometimes and apparently Greg can with Kate. So he saw everything in the kitchen and at
“And now Gran knows who he is.” Sandy shook her head.
Kate gave an involuntary shiver. She was glad Greg knew. Even if he hadn’t put the clues
together himself she wanted to tell him. But he was in jeopardy because of it.
“Would Andy and Greg want to come over?” Ron asked Jim. “I welcome the help but they
“Actually they insisted and said they wouldn’t stay away if we tried to keep them from it.”
“Get them. I want to hear more about how Greg stopped my mother.”
“Well, I ran into Meg and she told me that Katie was at the food court so I went looking for her.
Then I heard a faint thought from Katie about an elevator. A moment later I could see inside the elevator
through Katie. She was looking down at the twins and then up at the wicked witch. I started running to the
woman and blacking out her sight. I was ready to take her down and break a hip but that lady is tough as
nails.” He rubbed his shoulder remembering the impact. “The mall cops were there in seconds and she
told them she was fine and they needn’t bother. But I said I hit her pretty hard and that they should have
her checked out. One asked me why I was running and I said because someone was trapped in the elevator
and they called for maintenance. The old lady was still saying she was fine so they let me go and told me
to slow down.”
“How come she doesn’t get hurt?” Gerard asked. “She must be in her late sixties.”
“She probably braced herself with telekinesis.” Ron conjectured along the same lines as Kate.
“The real mystery is how does she find you and why not Sandy. Sandy was at that mall alone only last
weekend.”
“If we find out how, we may learn why.” Andy had a good mind for strategy – it made him a
great coach.
“Maybe she wants Sandy to die knowing Kate was killed.” Ron had a gruesome look as he spoke
his fears.
“They won’t have listen to common sense.” Jim and Andy had a long talk after the pool attack
and in the end Andy convinced him they were in too deep already.
“You could get hurt or worse.” Sandy could think of no reason to bring more people into the
danger.
“There are eleven of us, we aren’t going to lose.” Andy vowed. “And if we get hurt, we get hurt.
“What if I get hurt and can’t play ball?” Greg half jested.
“Then you don’t play.” There wasn’t a hesitation in Andy’s response. It was absolute.
“We need to find out how she’s finding you.” Gerard came back to the unanswered riddle.
“I’ll research what other kind of gifts are out there that can see the future or predict someone’s
whereabouts. It won’t be easy sifting through all the bullshit studies on psychics. I’ll see if there is
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something we don’t know about.” There wasn’t an enigma Gerard couldn’t solve when he put his
“Good idea but I don’t think that it’s likely. I would know about it or share it.” Ron stared at the
Sandy shook with fright. “What if the last elevator brake broke?”
“I was ready to stop the fall.” Eric, Matt and Kate spoke in unison.
“Until we know what’s going on, Kate you stay close.” Ron got paternal. She was the target in
three attempts and he passed his threshold of tolerance after the first.
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Witch Hunt
The rest of Christmas break Kate spent on her block with her family and friends. It wasn’t so hard
since she was dating Greg. He had got her golden hoop earrings for Christmas. He liked his gift certificate
but Kate felt it was impersonal in comparison. They had a lot of studying to do for midterms. Ellen went
to Beth’s for Christmas while Jim and Kate stayed behind to spend it with the Thomases. It was for Kate’s
protection and Jim gave Beth a line about having too much work on his plate.
New Year’s Eve was nice. Andy was out with Angela and Kate and Greg watched television and
Post holiday blues hit St. Iggy’s hard as midterms were on everyone’s mind. They had one week
of review. Mr. Stewart was enraptured by the mass misery. He reminded the class that it was fifty percent
of their grade for the term. The study group stepped up their sessions to three times that week; Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday morning. Kate didn’t think they needed it but Brad insisted. He had a one-track
mind. He was set to improve his grade and he said that fifty percent was almost half. She was sure it was a
joke.
St. Ignatius’ midterms were two hours and thirty minutes long. The students had to stay a full
hour before they could leave. Outside of a few freshmen elective classes, no one would finish in an hour.
The good news was that they spanned the whole week and there were no tests on Friday. Most students
didn’t have any on Thursday. All subjects were at the same time and were taken in the auditorium. If you
didn’t have a language class at the language time, you didn’t go to that test. There were four tests times
daily but it was rare for a student to attend more than two in one day.
Kate had English and Philosophy on Monday, World History and Physics on Tuesday and Math
on Wednesday. She felt solid after her tests. She had done well. All the extra work had paid off. Math
was an exceptionally hard exam. Mr. Stewart went overboard. Half the class would fail. She was
She finished with sixty minutes to spare. She was always a fast tester, pass or fail, and she waited
outside the auditorium for her friends. Greg and Meg were out half an hour later. He picked Kate up in his
arms and kissed her, “You are the best girlfriend ever.”
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“Ahem, Mr. Andrews, you’re at school.” Father Francis scolded.
“Sorry sir but I just aced a math test. I didn’t know how to react.” He set Kate down.
Father Francis gave him a wry grin. “Well, that would be new for you.”
Greg didn’t mind the jab. “It is and it feels pretty darn good.”
“I’ll be happy if you get a C. We need you on the team.” Even priests cared about sports.
“He loves me. He just doesn’t know how to express it.” Greg told the girls.
Brad was out fifteen minutes before the official end. He grabbed Kate in a similar hug and kissed
“Francis.”
“That’s what I meant. Father Frank Francis, I just left a math test early. Do you want to know
why?” He didn’t wait for a response. “Because I was sure I had the right answers. I had tripled checked it
“And you’re to thank for this sudden burst of intellect?” The priest smiled kindly at Kate.
“No. We studied together. The book was more help than me.” Kate said magnanimously.
“She’s being modest.” Meg shook her head. “Or maybe she thinks we failed and doesn’t want to
be blamed.”
“It warms my heart when the kids work together. It’s synergistic.” Father Francis was pleased.
“And we’re equal to more of the sum of our parts.” Greg joked still jubilant.
“Maybe you should start a humility study group next, Miss Graham.”
“Get out of here before my good mood passes and I start handing out JUG to assert my authority.”
was catatonic from another of Mr. Stewart’s math exams. Her mood escalated to anger when she caught
Andy threw them a dinner party to celebrate. Gerard, Dave, Brian and Jim joined.
“You got an A? But you haven’t got the test back.” Andy asked Greg as he cut off a piece of his
t-bone. It was a manly meal for the occasion, steak and potatoes.
“Dad, it has to be an A because I never felt like this after a math test.” Greg was high from his
academic feat.
Brad gave him a high five. “She has your wife’s gift Mr. Graham.”
No other words uttered in the past or the future would ever bring more pride to Gerard. “I bet Ann
Kate was embarrassed thinking of her deceased grandmother that she never met. For all the
repairs to her family life she had undergone since that fateful day in August, a relationship with her
Monday morning Greg was anxious to get his test back and see his A. They all were and they
arrived to class ten minutes early the first time all year.
Mr. Stewart walked in averting them. Brad gave Greg a fist bump. They were sure he ignored
them because he hated to give them A’s. They had no idea how true that was. Mr. Stewart passed back the
exams and all four of them had a large red F scrolled across the top with a note to wait after class to talk to
him. When the other students were dismissed Mr. Stewart closed the door sequestering them.
“We have one unbendable rule at St. Ignatius’. Cheat and you’re expelled.” His delivery was icy
cold.
“Four perfect tests and they all belong to best friends, one of which has a record.” His eyes darted
none to slyly towards Greg. “The odds are against you. How else do you explain it?”
advice, you should think up a better alibi than you studied hard if you want to be exculpated. Your parents
“I would give you JUG for that foul mouth Mr. Andrews but there will be no more JUG for you.”
He had a vindictive sneer. “You’re late for your next period, not that it matters.”
They went to their next class disenchanted. Once in Physics Kate and Greg told Gerard the whole
story.
“That buffoon.” Gerard grumbled. “I’ll be there. I’ll back you up. I saw how hard you worked.”
It broke his heart to see his granddaughter so sad. “Kate, let me keep your test and your text book.”
Trusting he had a good reason, she left the items and hoped he could find a way to prove their
innocence.
School drug on as every minute drew them closer to their showdown. Brian and Dave offered to
hold Mr. Stewart down so that Greg and Brad could trash him. They probably didn’t really mean it.
“He can’t get away with this.” Brian put his arm around her unable to do more.
Kate’s cell phone rang. It was Chris. “I’ll be back.” She walked off to an unpopulated corner of
“That Greg and Brad are about to get expelled for cheating. It’s not true, is it?” He teetered
between disbelief and wishful thinking. He would love to have them both in their athletic program but not
“Meg and me too. But we didn’t cheat. Mr. Stewart can’t believe we aced the test.”
“Really?” That made her proud of their scores even if they were about to be expelled.
“That’s the word over here. What do you think will happen?”
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“It looks bad. I’ll call you after it’s over.” She promised.
“You do?”
“Thanks.” She hung up and turned to go back to the table and saw Greg. He had been listening.
“They know at Santa Katrina?” His head sagged with the heavy news.
“Shit!”
“Don’t you remember your history? The Inquisition comes to mind. Catholics can be very unkind
“You’re being melodramatic.” She took his arm and walked back to the table.
“This isn’t a showdown, it’s a public hanging. Santa Katrina is already buzzing about it.” Greg
announced.
Their parents started arriving at three thirty. Andy and Jim were first on the scene.
“You didn’t do any…” Andy pointed to fingers to his eyes and shifted them back and forth to
“No.” Greg was insulted. He was too down to catch the joke.
“I know. That wouldn’t explain Meg and Brad.” He tried to give an encouraging front. “We’ll
Meg’s mother and Brad’s father were there fifteen minutes later. All the parents had seen them
working hard and it would take substantial proof to convince them the grades weren’t earned. That didn’t
They had collected in the hallway outside the old receiving room of the mansion when the double
“Feels like old times.” He said to Andy and Jim and escorted everyone to a long conference table
Gerard and Coach Evans were there. Sister Rene was the Assistant Head Master and attendance was
required. Coach Evans was there for Brad and Greg. He wasn’t going to lose two of his best players
without a fight.
“Please sit down.” Father Francis held his hand out to the chairs. He was very civil. The school
secretary brought bottles of water for the group and shut the doors as she left. “Now to business. Mr.
Stewart has charged these four students with cheating. We all know there is a no tolerance rule here at St.
Ignatius’. We will listen to both sides. After which Sister Rene and I will convene. We’ll be judicious.”
Mr. Stewart stood up to address the table as if he were Perry Mason or something. “Kate has
always earned A’s, but the others were C students until they miraculously took this exam. They are thick
as thieves, these four, and clearly they used their one strength to illicit ill-gotten grades for the lot of them.”
“And do you have a modus operandi?” Sister Rene asked in her dramatic way.
“I don’t know how they did it but do you know the odds of three C students getting an A when my
“No, I don’t. What are they?” Her habit helped her look innocent but there was an objection in
her voice.
He was taken aback. “The lottery would be easier to win. And given that the top student got a C,
“But you said she earned a straight A in your class.” Father Francis pressed.
“I doubt how she achieved that now. I knew my test would prove her real worth.” The way Mr.
Stewart spoke it was as if he made the exam purposely hard to test Kate’s mettle. She seethed.
Father Francis lifted up his hand and held back a smile. “Soon.” He turned to Mr. Stewart. “Do
“Since you’re the mastermind, Kate, why don’t you tell us your side of the story?”
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Kate gulped and sat up straighter. “I earned all my A’s.” She repudiated. “And when we got our
mid-semester grades we decided to form a study group. We’ve met once a week even through the holidays
“I find that hard to believe,” Mr. Stewart interrupted, “considering your aversion to extra work.”
“She doesn’t have an aversion to work.” Jim defended. “And it’s true.”
“Gentlemen, please. Kate was speaking.” Father Francis motioned for her to continue.
“I can’t add anything else, not to defend myself against such a vague accusation.” Kate finished.
“I can confirm they had a study group. And I don’t see how we can be here without proof. This is
a witch hunt.” Jim’s glared at Mr. Stewart and his inner teen wanted to rumble.
Father Francis held back a laugh that time. He continued down the table asking first the student
and then their parent their version of the story. It was the same responses across the board.
Coach Evans cleared his throat, “Thank you. I wanted to confirm that Greg and Brad were in
study group. They discussed it often at practice and with me. I find it hard to believe they would put
Father Francis gave him a warning look. “Mr. Sanchez, you wanted to add something.”
He pulled out four sheets of paper and four pencils. He handed them to the students. “Please
indulge me.”
Kate looked at the page she received. It was a math problem. She smiled realizing he was
proving they were all competent. They bent their heads and started working.
“Not only did I know and see the study group in session, I attended one as a guest speaker. By
that time, these students were well matched to Kate’s intellect.” Gerard stated breezily. “I have a question
“Yes.” Mr. Stewart was apprehensive. His opinion was that Gerard was covering for his
granddaughter but his statement gave the students more credence and pitted teacher against teacher.
“Assuming these four didn’t cheat, and I don’t for one minute believe they did, that would make
“It’s an assumption I don’t share.” He had planned to challenge the students and not Gerard, who
had placed himself neatly as their accomplice. The situation had grown treacherous.
“None.” Mr. Stewart didn’t know if he was escaping or falling into a trap.
“So out of, say twenty five students, there were only five passing grades. That would mean that
eighty percent of your class failed this test. What do you spend your time with these students doing?”
“I’m not the one who is being tried here.” Mr. Stewart hissed.
The students had finished their problems and were watching the adults intently.
“Maybe you should be.” Gerard collected the papers. “Correct, correct, correct, and correct.” He
“Let me see those.” Mr. Stewart’s eyes widened incredulously. “These aren’t comparable
questions.”
Gerard took the pages and handed them to Father Francis and the others. “They are harder
actually. I had to write them myself. I was going to take them off the achievement test from last year but
they were much easier than your exam.” He reached into his folder again and pulled out Kate’s test with
the large red F scarring the top page. “You may want to see this as well.” He gave it to Father Francis. “I
Kate snickered. Mr. Stewart whipped his head to her. “You aren’t off the hook.”
She sat up tall and tried to hide her grin. She felt no hook.
“Do the rest of you have your exams?” Sister Rene requested and received the other three papers
with the same large scarlet F in bold sharpie. After perusing them she showed Father Francis and pointed
out some of the solutions. Sister Rene had a hint of a grin as they bowed head to head over the
forensicality.
Father Francis added his input. “I spoke with these very students as they left their exam and I
stated it then and I feel the same now, they are the epitome of synergized effort. I wish more students
“They cheat well.” Mr. Stewart couldn’t hold back his outrage.
“Sister Rene, shall we deliberate?” Father Francis rose from his seat.
“We don’t need to. I’ll agree with your verdict.” She gleamed at the students.
No hook at all.
Father Francis sat and began, “Well, then, we’re sorry for wasting your time...”
“Mr. Stewart, you presented your case and it has not been close to sufficient. These students have
“Father Francis…” He tried to cut him off but whatever he meant to add wasn’t allowed.
“I’m not going to punish them because they aced a test you intended to be impassable!” The
priest recomposed himself. “Again, I would like to apologize for taking your time and for the false
Father Francis walked them back to the hallway. “I never believed you two were the delinquents
you pretended to be. And here’s the proof.” He said to Jim and Andy as he put one hand on Kate’s
shoulder and the other on Greg’s. “Good job. And you too, Brad and Meg. Well done all of you.” He
shook their hands and then the parents’. “Now if you can excuse me. It seems my day isn’t done.”
“You’re cleared?” Brian looked at his friends and sister who were nodding.
“Katie, let me call Chris.” Greg held out his hand for her phone.
“I’m sure I’ll regret this.” She handed over her cell.
Greg turned the volume up so Kate could hear both sides of the conversation.
“Of course it wouldn’t turn out to our benefit.” He was happy for them.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m glad you were acquitted. How did you prove it?”
“My grandpa, he teaches Physics here, he gave us math questions spur of the moment. It was
“I gotta go.”
Gerard told them later that Mr. Stewart was lucky he wasn’t fired and he was on probation. Sister
Rene had seen that their work was not identical and they often worked out their problems using a different
order of steps. Additionally, Mr. Stewart was told he had to come up with a plan to get the classes grades
up. The students who needed extra points had three chances for ten more points each if they came to pre-
class lessons. The problems were much more in line with achievement test levels.
Since Mr. Stewart gave such a hefty weight to the midterm, fifty percent of their grades, Greg,
Brad and Meg had high B’s or low A’s for their semester grades. Mr. Stewart didn’t write any comments
The Leak
Baseball geared up and Greg spent a large time in practice with Brian, Dave and Brad. Claire had
become a welcomed regular with Meg and Kate as they had more boy-free time on their hands.
Stacey was as antagonistic as ever but she had finally aborted her pursuit of Greg. He was no
longer a star on her virulent blog but rather a villain. Kate kept telling herself she should read it some day
but she really didn’t care. She heard most of the worst libels through word of mouth.
The first game of baseball was the second Saturday of February and the school was even more
charged than they were when they played Santa Katrina in basketball. For the simple reason that they were
the easy winner. Kate decided what she liked best about baseball was that there didn’t use cheerleaders.
Eric and Matt came to the game along with all the parents and most of St. Iggy’s. They were an
hour early. The teams were warming up. Greg looked great in his uniform. They all did but Kate only had
Greg beckoned her to him with a head jerk and she ran up to the fence to talk.
“Are you all pumped up?” She tried to sound like she understood sports. It was a nice effort but
“I’m in the zone.” He kissed her through the fence. “Nice hat.”
Only Greg would think she looked good in a St. Iggy’s ball cap. “It’s for you.”
He knew it. “You’re rooting for us, right?” He glanced over at Chris in the other dugout.
“You’ll have to kiss me again. I haven’t forgotten when you let go of my hand at the theater.”
Kate struggled to recall what he meant. “You’re memory is too long.” She kissed him as agreed
“I won’t root for your school but I’ll cheer you on.”
“If I really thought you would do it, I’d take it.” He flashed a smile.
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She had forgotten how cute he was. “Are you going to behave or will I have to leave?”
“Look who’s talking? Have you gotten into any trouble lately?” He put on a stern expression.
“Hey, I meant to ask you if you were at the Santa Barbara mall when that elevator mishap
happened. The news said a girl was trapped in the elevator and since you were there, I assumed…”
“It was me in the elevator.” Kate tried to work out what wasn’t right about that question when it
“I was reading Stacey’s blog. It was all about us back then. How I took you to the dance and all
that, remember?”
“I never read it. It said I was at the mall? Before I was there?”
“She had the inside scoop. She knew I was taking you to the dance before Auggie.”
“Do me a favor. Tell me that your brother isn’t good at baseball.” He watched Brian walk out on
the field looking every bit the baseball player that Greg and Chris did.
“You wouldn’t believe me how well he can make the ball go where he wants.” She gave a sinister
smile. “Good luck but not too much.” After her dismissal she went straight to Eric and Matt in the stands.
“I just heard something interesting. Remember that girl that hates me.”
“I mean I can see where her talents lie.” Matt tried to recover. “Anyway, her nose is too big.”
Kate rolled her eyes at his feeble attempt. “She has a blog and writes about me often. Talking
about where I am going and who with.” Kate waited for them to do the deduction.
“Should we tell Mom and Dad?” Matt asked and they looked over to their parents who were in
“After.” Eric said. “Let’s see what we find.” It had been a while since their mother had smiled
Kate moseyed to the parking lot careful not to arouse suspicion. She neared a sports equipment
shed when she heard something stir inside. Slowing she peered in the door instinctively wondering about
Suddenly she was shoved inside and the door locked behind here. She couldn’t see much. The
only light came in around the edges of the entrance and after being in the bright sun, it was severely
deficient. She banged her fists for someone to let her out.
“Can’t use your little trick when you’re locked up.” It was Gran.
How could she get so close and Kate didn’t feel her? She sensed her then. “Let me out!”
All the equipment started to raise and swirl in the room. Every rotation the gear sped up and
without more light, she had a hard time ducking. She held up her arms and dodged the bombardment as
best she could but there was too much. Sending a message was too hard when she kept swerving and
ducking. A safety cone wacked her shoulder and then a baseball pelted her back. Everything was
accelerating faster and faster. Something hard thumped the back of her head and she passed out.
“Katie, wake up.” Greg held her in his arms as she lay on the floor surrounded by fallen debris.
She blinked in the beam of sunshine that slanted into the shed through the open door.
“Katie, I don’t know how long she’ll be out.” He pulled Kate to her feet and her head spun. It
was too soon but they had to move and fast. She stepped over her grandmother’s motionless body on the
ground by the shed. “I hit her with the bat.” Greg said as he steadied her shaky legs.
Kate touched the bump on her own head. A bat probably hit her as well.
They started walking back to the benches as her brothers and their parents ran over. Greg’s hands
left her and he flew back slamming into the wall of the shed.
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“You’ve fighting a losing battle boy.” The old woman had woken.
Gran tried to stop the family progress but Eric and Matt were preventing her. Then she started
shaking her head. Greg was blacking out her vision. She ran off in the opposite direction with her arms
stretched out and stumbling as she moved. When she was beyond Greg’s range she moved quicker and in a
beeline.
“I’m not going to hit well for a while.” He twisted his back trying to find the sore spots.
“She’s gotten more brazen.” Ron panted when they approached. “She’s found a way to go
undetected.” Ron didn’t know how but she had fooled Sandy that time and after Gerard, she had the most
“Can you play?” Andy’s concern for the sport was never completely sidetracked. “It’s only an
exhibition game.”
“I’ll get one.” He was about to go to his car. “Is she gone?”
“Just checking.”
“You aren’t looking for the corked bat are you?” Chris had come to the shed. “What the hell
happened here?” The equipment was strewn all over the room.
“He got slammed against the wall.” Kate answered forgetting her own bump.
“Enough to beat you.” It was the aches that made Greg snap.
Chris rolled his eyes. He didn’t need to explain to Greg that wouldn’t qualify as a win. “Yeah,
yeah, but in the scope of things, this doesn’t count in the season.”
“Sorry. I’m a little grouchy.” Both of his hands were on the small of his back.
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“Here you go.” Andy returned with Advil and water. “Kate, you should take some too. You were
“You know the brute squad.” Greg took another long drink of water.
“Sure. They were guest chaperones for my school dance. Pushed Kate into the pool.” Chris
“Oh yeah. I had heard about that. They take some getting use to.” Greg wondered how they
didn’t scare Chris off with their bizarre behavior and cockamamie excuse.
“This is Ron and Sandy, Kate’s other parents.” Jim finished off the introductions.
“Hi.” Chris shook their hands. “So Brian, are you any good at baseball?”
“That leaves a lot of room. Make sure you pick up his slack.” He nodded to Greg and got the
“He’s a nice boy.” Sandy commented. “He doesn’t know about all this?”
“We haven’t confirmed,” Eric answered, “but a girl at their school keeps a blog and Kate is one of
“Still, we should have sensed her sooner.” Matt stared at Kate as she held her bump.
Sandy’s face broke into a revelation. “Ron, remember the other night when you scared me.”
“When you were reading that thriller? I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“But you were in the room before I knew you were there. I didn’t sense you approaching.” Sandy
“Well, I have a question about that old hag.” Greg was frustrated. “I hit her pretty darn hard at
the mall and today I went for the fence on her head and she wasn’t out for a full minute.”
“I thought about that after last time. Perhaps the telekinesis builds us up over the years. We get
tougher. Did you see her run? That wasn’t the pace of a sixty plus woman.” Ron hated to think Gran had
more advantages.
“Are you sure your father can’t get her under control.” Jim brought up the same question.
Sandy looked oddly at Ron. “He called him a couple of weeks ago. It didn’t go well.”
“He said that she was beyond reason, which we know. I said that we were going to do our best to
defend ourselves, whatever that would take. He wished me luck but he expects her to be victorious.” Ron
“We out number her and we have more skills.” Matt didn’t like the answer. No one did.
“She’s toying with us. She’ll take it farther and never give up. She taunts Kate because she
doesn’t care about her and it will hurt Sandy if she…” He didn’t say the word. “She wants Sandy to pay.
Dad confirmed it.” Ron’s head hung as he was the harbinger of more dreadful news.
“Find out about this website.” Sandy pointed to the twins. “We’ll set up a trap. I’ll be the bait.”
“It’s me or Kate. I’m older, it’s my turn and I owe her for Sara.” Sandy had that same fierce look
she had on her face at the funeral. Not the same, more poisonous. “We’ll work it out later. If we can’t
know if she’s coming, we can at least choose the place and narrow the timing.”
“And have Brad’s dad look at Kate’s head. He’s a doctor.” Greg shouted back as they ran to the
dugout.
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Meg gave the twins the website and they surfed the web while Kate got a quick exam from Brad’s
“Just unlucky.”
“If it starts to hurt again, take more aspirin and you may want to wake up a couple of times in the
night. It’s just a precaution.” He tugged down her lower eyelids as he moved his finger for her to follow.
“Thanks.”
Greg got to bat. Kate could see he was stiff compared to practice. Two balls flew past him as he
swung a split second too late or too slow. Chris grimaced seeing Greg struggle at bat. He really was a nice
guy. Greg hit the next ball. It was a line drive just out of reach of the second baseman. He was safe on
“He’s going to make it worse just to beat Santa Katrina.” Andy didn’t want Greg to overdo it.
“You play dumb.” Jim raised a brow denoting that he knew the truth.
Eric and Matt read the blog and got more irritated by the minute. Apparently it was devoted to
school gossip and ninety-five percent was about Kate. They rummaged in the archives to see if there were
“Why are they reading Stacey’s blog?” Meg asked in a distant tone.
“Kate, they aren’t interested in her lunatic fantasy. What’s going on?”
“Does this have something to do with the anger management problem your family has?” Meg was
“Sort of. And if you knew, you would be surprised how well we suppress it.” Kate wondered
how Meg would take it if she knew half the things they had to overcome the last few months.
“That bitch.” Matt grunted. “We were with them the whole time. That didn’t happen.” They
excavated the section after the semiformal. Stacey had accused Kate of sleeping with Chris.
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“Shit. Right there. She’s talking about it weeks ahead.” Eric was incensed.
Eric fervently typed a staccato on the keyboard. Kate hoped he wouldn’t break it. The enter key
was already sticking too often and Apple technology was no match to his temper and telekinesis.
Chris was at bat. He let the first pitch pass to get a feel. The second pitch was perfect and he
swung hard. It flew out to centerfield. Brian sprinted for the fence. Kate didn’t think he would use mental
assistance but she figured he wouldn’t be able to with her watching. Brian hopped up grabbing the fence
with his right hand and stretched to catch the ball. He was out. Chris was half way past second when he
“We’re friends.”
“Good. Now, we’ll talk about this.” She pointed back to the twins. “We can do it now or later.”
“Never.”
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Supersonic
Greg was up at bat again. He was still shaking out his aches as he walked from the deck to home
plate. As he stood ready to swing Kate couldn’t help think about how handsome he was. There was
something about baseball player arms that was irresistible, all of them really, but Greg was at bat and his
arms were accentuated. Matt was right. She did have a thing for baseball players.
Greg swung at the first pitch and it flew over right field fence. He jogged the bases at a leisurely
pace. Chris gave him a pat on the back with his gloved hand as he passed.
“Yeah. I was worried but he’s doing great.” Kate froze. Meg didn’t know he was injured.
“Can you see things?” Kate replayed the facts in her head looking for the answer.
“Through Greg?”
He wouldn’t do that. And he didn’t have time. “What did you see?”
Kate glanced around. No one was listening but her family surrounded them and it wasn’t a safe
place for a private talk. “Later. After you go to sleep. Don’t freak out.”
St. Iggy’s won the game by one run. It was slimmer win than predicted but the school spirit was
high regardless. Brad threw a party but Greg had to pass to take care of his back. Meg and Dave went
They gathered at Andy’s house where Greg could lie down on the couch while they convened.
“Stacey had it all out there before it happened, the bitter bitch.” Eric fumed. He probably
information but it was the only leak they uncovered and it explained why she found Kate and not Sandy.
“Shall we hack in and add an entry?” Brian was good at computers and it would be an easy wall
to breach.
“Stacey might shut it down if she thinks it’s compromised.” Matt hypothesized.
“I can leak it to her during tennis.” Kate was sure it wouldn’t take much chatter for something to
Sandy nodded. “I have a great idea, something that would be too enticing for her to miss.” She
had everyone’s attention. “Ron and I are going to renew our vows. Well, renew them legally but really,
we aren’t married so we’re setting things straight. We get that on the blog and she’ll come.”
“She won’t be able to resist even out numbered.” Ron said. “Good idea.”
Brian sent Kate and Greg a mental memo. We’ll see about that.
The parents started ironing out the plan. They decided Gerard’s house would be a good location
for the mock wedding. The kids would stay together at one of their houses a mile away. In the end, Eric
and Matt convinced Sandy they were old enough. It helped that their skills were well developed. They
chose the first Saturday in April. It would be set up for a small wedding. The real wedding would take
“We should stick together. If something goes wrong, she’ll come here next anyway.” Greg stared
“We’ll figure it out when the time is closer. We’ll get there.” Kate helped Greg to his bed and
kissed him congratulations on his victory and another for saving her life again. Then a few extras for the
Kate was in the mist again waiting for her friend. Meg walked in slowly. She looked around. Everyone
realized it wasn’t the usual dream when they first experienced a shared dream and Meg was sharper than
“I didn’t believe you when you said to go to sleep. It sounded like you were brushing me off.”
Meg admitted.
“It’s a family talent. I got it from Jim and my brothers seem to be learning it from me.” Kate told
her.
“He’s getting there. The twins have an advantage. They learn twice as fast because they learn off
each other. Just halves their time and doubles their skills.”
“We’ll both remember it in the morning. And here.” Kate picked up a note and wrote, “it
really did happen on it.” “Keep this. You’ll find it in your room when you wake up.
“You first.” Kate wanted to reveal as little as possible and would work around what Meg had
figured out.
“Well, you know how Greg can read what you write?” Kate nodded so Meg went on. “Well,
Dave and I can too. We aren’t as good. We get the notes but Greg can see more sometimes.”
“But he can’t hear what people are saying.” Greg was confused when he saw things without
“No. He can’t. And my father can’t at all even though he’s Andy’s brother. He said when he was
younger it happened a couple of times and he didn’t like it. He had seen his girlfriend cheating on him and
he just hated it after that. It was bad enough to find out she wasn’t faithful but like that was too much.”
Kate remembered when Greg saw Chris standing close ready to kiss her. She wouldn’t take that
well if it was Greg with some girl and that was only kissing. “That’d kill the urge all right.”
“Grandma thinks it’s because of him that our skills are softer. She says use or lose it.”
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It was true. Sandy had gotten rusty from disuse. She was regaining ground but it took some effort
Meg took a deep breath. “Well, Grandma has another skill, one that seems to skip the men in our
family. She can hear things from far away when she knows where to aim.” Meg didn’t know if aim was
the right word. “Dad and Uncle Andy knew she was onto them more than most parents but they didn’t
know how she did it. During Christmas when we were down in San Diego, it started with me, probably
because Grandma was there. She says men don’t get it because men don’t listen.” She giggled at her joke.
“Not really. It takes something to call my direction to it and I heard a cacophony of banging this
afternoon. I couldn’t make out what it was and then I heard a hard whack and Greg was talking to you. He
said he hit someone with all his force but she didn’t stay down.”
Kate raised her eyebrows. Meg had gotten an earful. She tried to spin a tale that would cover up
“And I heard Chris say your brothers were at the Santa Katrina dance and threw you in a pool.”
She was disgusted. She liked the twins enough but she still had memories of them being overprotected
“That’s what they told him.” Kate laughed. “They didn’t throw me in.”
“And the elevator. I heard Chris asking you about an elevator and telling you about the blog. I
may have been trying to listen then.” She held her face down in shame. She had been checking that Kate
“Damn.” Kate exclaimed. Meg had learned too much to give a partial story. “Who knows
“You.”
“Not the twins.” Meg didn’t trust them. They were too calculating and too powerful to execute
“It’s the only way you’ll be let into the inner circle.”
“Now? We’re telling them now?” Meg jumped up off the bed.
Eric and Matt were next. They eyed Meg in Brian’s arms.
“I haven’t said anything but you need to hear what she knows.”
“I knew you were hiding something.” Greg pointed at Meg as he entered the dream.
Eric gave a moment pause to be impressed. “You’re getting really good at this Kate.”
“Thanks.” She put her hand on Meg’s arm. “You have to tell them.”
Meg repeated her story about being able to hear conversations far away. She skipped the joke
“We’re best friends. It won’t be a problem.” Kate lifted her shoulders as if it was old hat.
Meg beamed when Kate labeled her as best friend. “I am. You can learn this?”
“Then you teach us and we can use that at the wedding.” Matt liked the idea of hearing from far
away. Kate wondered if the twins could learn the seemingly female gift.
Kate started waving her arms in the air for everyone to slow down. “Wait, a second. WE are not
getting married.”
“I’ll tell you everything.” Brian was about to start from the top.
“We can’t tell all our dates about this stuff.” Eric protested.
“She’s too close. She needs to know.” Brian barked back. He was the most passive of the
brothers but only because he didn’t have to take the first stand. When push came to shove, he was ready to
take on anyone, twins included. Kate felt the same way when she told Greg.
“Think about it. Maybe there’s a reason your girlfriend didn’t get thrown against a tool shed
“Eric, settle down.” Matt took command. “We’re all connected by our relationships. The
stronger the bound the more responsive each part is to another. When one gets pulled, it sends out a ripple
affect and we all feel it. Meg is in this from two sides.” It was true for anyone but their empathy made it
even truer.
Eric flung himself on the bed in annoyance. “Go ahead. I see I’m out voted.”
“Your grandmother tried to kill you?” Meg was astounded by the news.
“Well, Stacey wasn’t really that good of an enemy so I upgraded.” Kate joked so easily she
surprised herself.
“And it’s her blog that’s tipping this lady off? And I thought I was too harsh on her. Next time
Eric sat up trying to snap out of his funk. “How’s the back tough guy?”
“Better.” Greg stretched checking for tender spots. There were a few but he’d live.
“I hear kissing really makes that kind of injury worse.” Eric grinned.
“Can we go now or do you want to pull in Marie and tell her everything too?” Matt stood up.
Kate had forgotten about Marie. Eric had just met her before Thanksgiving but it was clear he was
captivated. “I would if I ever met her.” Part of Kate was eager to meet the woman that had captured
Eric’s heart but part of her didn’t feel as positive after so many months. Why would Eric keep her from
“We haven’t even gone out. I hadn’t seen her for months.” He smacked the back of Matt’s head
“Ten minutes older. That’s all.” Eric hated when Matt played the oldest child card.
“I knew something big was happening but this is really BIG.” Meg’s eyes were wide opened.
“Yep and we’re going to use Stacey to help us set a trap. We’ll talk about my parents wedding in
tennis class.”
Fast Learning
School was school. The midterms were behind them and the finals were far away. Baseball was
going well as St. Iggy’s swept through the season undefeated. Mr. Stewart tried harder to break through his
arcane communication barrier with his students. His job and possibly career was on the line if the whole
Philosophy was more charged than ever as the students built a reference to earlier idealisms they
studied. They were reading The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was a Russian novel about
three brothers; a sinful brother that believed in God, an atheist brother and one that was a monk. The tome
was slightly smaller than the Bible. About two hundred and fifty pages in, and still more than two thirds to
go, they came to a parable told by the atheist brother to the monk called The Grand Inquisitor.
In it, Jesus returns to Earth during the Inquisition and the people recognize Him by His miracles.
An inquisitor arrests Him and pronounces they will burn Him to death the next day. The inquisitor
proceeds to tell Jesus off. He accuses Him of making it too hard to choose free will and that humans are
bound by their sins. The only comfort the Church can give them is to keep them from the realization they
will go to hell. The inquisitor states that people were going to suffer regardless and the Church eases their
pain by keeping them ignorant of the fact and fooling them into believing they will pass on to heaven. The
bulk of the story is spent on the Inquisitor’s speech while Jesus merely listens. After he finished his tirade
he asks for Jesus to respond expecting the worse. Jesus kisses the inquisitor who then releases Him and
“What are you thoughts on this chapter, Mr. Thomas?” Sister Rene asked Brian.
“It’s a parallel to the brother who is telling it and the brother listening to it. Ivan, the atheist, is
narrating to Alyosha, the monk. Even in the text when Alyosha kisses his brother in response to hearing
“That line always makes me laugh.” Nuns had a weird sense of humor. “And what of the
inquisitor?”
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“Well, it’s insight to Ivan.” Brad took up the train of thought. “He professes to be agnostic, that
he knows there’s a God and that He’s good but that Ivan will not submit to Him. That he trusts his own
rationalizations rather than Biblical teaching even though he knows Jesus is God.”
“The kiss grows in his heart, but the old man adheres to his ideas.” Sister Rene read from the text
in confirmation.
Kate added, “And it showed that Jesus loved him. The kiss kind of trumps it all. He didn’t defend
Himself even facing death by burning and after being crucified, I’d have to think He wasn’t too keen to
“It’s like Nietzsche.” Greg pitched in. “And his Master-Servant morality. The inquisitor has
good intentions, which is good in servant morality, but wrong actions, which is bad in master morality.
Jesus’ kiss is good in both. And it got Him out of getting burned to death.”
“It also shows the conviction of the inquisitor. He claimed to be on the side of reason but his heart
“Love usually wins in a battle against wits. And in the end he did the right thing rather than
“Why murder Him again anyways? It didn’t stick the last time.” Brad questioned and there was
an outburst of snickering.
“It would be overkill.” Sister Rene couldn’t resist the blatant pun.
Kate walked out of class thinking about her mother’s decision to take her sister’s place. It been
done with good intentions but not with right action. In the end, she corrected her path and things were
better for it. The family was happier. Things, aside from her murderous grandmother, were improved.
There were still two weeks until the wedding and Kate and Meg had it on their list of things to do
to talk about it in the locker room before tennis. “So, my parents are renewing their vows.” Kate began.
“Your mom and step-dad Ron?” Meg followed their rehearsed script.
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“That’s right, in two Saturdays at my grandfather’s house. They eloped last time and they just
wanted to have a proper ceremony with us there. They went through some hard times and this is a
declaration that they are more in love than ever despite it.”
They could hear Stacey giggling on the other side of the locker. The seed was planted. What they
weren’t prepared for was hearing her every word in reaction to the news. Even in her muffled whispers,
Kate and Meg heard clearly. “It must be hard to choose which child’s father to marry.” Stacey delighted in
“I’ll hold her down.” Meg whispered ready to keep her promise.
They walked out of the locker room refraining from eavesdropping to keep their tempers in check
and were the first on the court. Kate asked Coach Evans who she was partnered with that day.
“Stacey. I haven’t played her in ages and I want to see if I still can beat her.” Kate played
innocent.
“I don’t know. Wasn’t there some commotion over it later?” He had doubts about letting them
“She isn’t a good loser.” Kate didn’t think she was very good winner either.
When Stacey came up she was pleased that they were playing. She wanted to reclaim her
champion title.
Neither girl had played that hard for a while. Kate was up five games to three when it was
Stacey’s turn to serve. Stacey was quickly up by two points. The class would be out in fifteen minutes.
“Try to serve a fast ball, it gives me more to work with on my returns.” Kate heckled. Coach
Evans was busy two courts down helping out another match.
“You’re a freak!” Stacey spat too loudly but the coach didn’t hear. She bounced the ball a couple
As anticipated by Kate, she used her unnatural gift. Her moves were inhumanly fast. Kate didn’t
return it.
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Stacey’s face was elated. She hadn’t figured why her skills were hampered in tennis but she
Kate gave her a devilish wink. It was another powerful delivery. Meg and Claire stopped their
Stacey didn’t mind. She was back in full force. Kate hit her best ace but Stacey was there to
return it for the point. “Love fifteen.” Kate jauntily bounded over to the other side of the court and served
another great serve that was returned. They got a rally going and Stacey was all over the court. Kate
barely won the point and almost unwillingly stopped the speed demon.
Kate started gathering the balls to put them away for the day.
Kate put on an angelic face, “Can’t today. I have a date with Greg.” It was Thursday and they
Stacey stormed in the locker room. “We play again tomorrow.” She pointed her manicured finger
“I’ll beat her tomorrow. You can put money on it.” Stacey vowed to Allison.
Study group ended early because Brad had to go home for a family function. As soon as the door
“Kate played Stacey in tennis today. And at the end Stacey started playing, well, sometimes she
“She has a talent for speed.” Kate informed Meg. “A talent like our talents but for speed.”
“That’s how she wins and how she couldn’t beat you, because you stop it.”
Kate nodded.
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“If you can stop it why let her use it today?”
Greg understood. “Because Katie can’t learn it if she doesn’t use it in front of her.”
Kate snatched Meg’s pen across the table in the blink of an eye.
Greg leaned over and kissed her. “Have I mentioned lately that you are the best girlfriend ever?”
“And I’m not going to let her win tomorrow.” Kate smiled.
“Just stop her. She doesn’t need to know I purloined from her.”
“You may feel differently if she blogs. She’s going to be nasty for sure.”
“Then a bonus. We need Gran to show up.” That was the plan but Kate dreaded what Stacey
would write.
“Why do you still call her Gran?” Meg asked. “What’s her first name?”
Kate woke up in her misty room in her PE clothes. It was a first but she figured given the
information she wanted to convey, it made sense. Eric walked in moments later.
“It’s better than the plaid.” He said when he saw her shorts.
It didn’t take Eric long to pick up the knack. He was even faster than Kate. They guessed it was
because of his natural telekinesis. The gifts had similar feels about them.
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Temper Control
As promised, Kate won tennis the next day. Stacey was irate that whatever had gone wrong to
stop her talent had returned. Kate hoped the truth didn’t cross her mind. All the thoughts she had on the
Stacey was silent in the locker room after class. They accepted that as a fringe benefit.
That night Eric read the blog. It was particularly acidic but it had all the details they needed
peppered through her aspersions. Stacey made it sound like their mother was a tramp.
Greg and Kate met Brian and Meg at the pier on Saturday to walk around and grab a bite to eat. It
was a gloomy day and off-season for beachgoers so there weren’t many people out and about. It was all
locals and predominately teens. Stacey and Allison were trolling for men. Chris and Auggie ran into their
group a little after they saw her and Greg gave them a heads up on Stacey. The Santa Katrina boys left in
“I don’t know how you can be so calm about her when she wrote those vulgar things.” Meg found
“We kind of have bigger fish to fry.” Brian said. “And we did learn a neat trick from her.”
Meg hadn’t been able to pick up tricks but Greg and Brian took to the speed talent without much
difficulty.
It was easy for the boys to be diplomatic. They hadn’t picked up the hearing gift and Kate and
Meg had caught more than they wanted on how wretched they were. And there was a long soliloquy on
how much happier Greg would’ve been with Stacey and the litany of reasons why, many of which involved
no clothes.
Claire and Lindsay were at the pier too. They were watching the waters for dolphins and whales
with good luck. Meg and Kate joined them while Greg and Brian went into a store that specialized in
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sports memorabilia. It was small potatoes compared to the one at the Santa Barbara mall but it was there
“If it isn’t some of biggest losers from school.” Stacey and Allison walked over to ridicule them.
Kate kept her cool by reminding herself she needed the blog no matter how uncouth it was.
“Thanks for the warm wishes. It’s next Saturday. We’re all really happy about it.” She wanted to repeat
Kate grimaced. Her friends tensed. She hoped that Stacey would speak her mind and leave.
“Come on Kate.” Claire tried to steer their group out of the line of fire. “She’s jealous because
“She cheats. Just like in math. I heard Mr. Sanchez threatened to leave if they didn’t acquit her.
We all know the truth. She’s as innocent as OJ.” Stacey was getting out months of bottled up frustration in
one afternoon.
Kate’s fist was clenched. She recalled the motion Eric showed her in head in case she lost control
and needed to strike. She was on her last nerve and if Stacey didn’t move on she was going to blow. She
was already blocking Stacey’s speed in case things came to another bout. They weren’t at school and she
wasn’t going to hold back a second time. Jim told her to pick her battles and grounds better. Off campus
was better.
“I mean, Brad couldn’t outscore Jeff in math, could he?” Stacey just wasn’t going to stop, not
Kate closed her eyes willing Stacey away. Wouldn’t that make a great talent?
“Did they sleep with you for your help? Greg and Brad? Was it all at once or each separately?”
SMACK! Kate opened her eyes. She hadn’t moved. But on the ground was Stacey blubbering
Meg’s body was trembling. Her fist opened and closed from the sting of impact.
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“You hit her first.” Claire piped up and eyed Lindsay to do the same.
They were alone in the corner of the pier. The only other people in sight were Greg and Brian
Allison was on the deck by Stacey’s side. “She hit her without provocation.”
They may have been fibbing about the first punch but that was a bigger lie. Kate and Claire shot
Greg grabbed Kate around her waist as he arrived at the scene of the crime. “Are you okay?”
“Is she okay? I’m the one that was hit.” Stacey was infuriated.
“Did you hit her?” Greg’s blue eyes pierced Kate’s, as she shook her head no. He was confused.
Brian caught his attention and darted his eyes at Meg to let Greg know who struck. Greg gave a
quick glance to his cousin who was still rickety. His confusion transformed to outright shock.
“Stacey threw the first punch. That was what I remember.” Claire echoed.
“That’s a lie. She was just shooting off her mouth.” Allison changed her story to the truth but it
wouldn’t be enough. The conspiracy was set. They already had a proven record of starting fights and
“Well, it’s over now. Why don’t we all walk away and forget about it?” Greg tried to diffuse the
situation.
“I’m pressing charges.” Stacey sounded nasally as she held her nose to stop the bleeding. She
“It’s your word against ours.” Brian reminded her with a wicked grin.
“No one is pressing charges.” Greg said moderately. It took a lot of self-restraint.
Meg finally spoke. “She called Kate a bastard and then she said Mr. Sanchez threatened to quit if
they didn’t say we didn’t cheat and then she said Brad and you both slept with Kate to get her help on
Math.”
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Seconds passed as the boys absorbed in the new information. Kate’s empathy was picking up
uncharted levels of anger. Brian and Greg were exerting total self-control to stop their eruptions. Slowly
“Come on Stacey.” Allison wasn’t going to wait and see how much fuse was left on Greg. She
They stood still. Everyone expected Greg to blow. Brian wasn’t far behind him but he was too
busy sedating Meg with his embrace to let his rage flare.
“Tell me again, what she said that made you hit her.” Greg asked besieged.
“If I may.” Kate interrupted. “I would like it noted that neither Brian or I lost our tempers here.
Our family has to get a merit for that. You guys dock us every time we lose it.”
Greg’s smile broke through his anger. “And Eric? If he were here?”
“And a place to hide the body.” Brian added with a sinister laugh.
A House Divided
Jim was barbequing when Kate got home. Ellen was in the kitchen fixing the salad and setting the
table. Zuzu scurried around her feet. The cat was trying to comfort Ellen. There wasn’t a telling sign in
Ellen’s appearance that anything was off but Zuzu was never wrong.
The phone rang and Kate picked it up. Matt was looking for Eric. Telling him she hadn’t seen
their brother, she hung up and stared at the cat again. “I didn’t know you were coming over for dinner.”
She forced a sanguine demeanor as she tested the waters with Ellen.
“Aren’t I welcome here?” She meant it as a joke but it had a sharp edge to it.
“Always.” Kate picked up Zuzu still getting a strange vibe. The cat didn’t even squirm to be put
down and she didn’t like being held. “So, what’s going on?” Kate tried a more direct approach to get Ellen
“Just dinner. Why?” Ellen turned and saw the cat in Kate’s arms. “Stupid tattle tale cat.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Just a disagreement.”
Kate watched Jim cooking on the grill. “About?” It was like pulling teeth.
“He doesn’t want me at the wedding and I should be there. He says they don’t need Dr.
Doolittle’s help, like he can do anything better. What good is he if they’re all awake?”
Kate laughed. It was true. Jim wasn’t much help when things got metaphysical. She considered
letting Ellen into the kids’ plan to crash the wedding. She couldn’t. There was no guarantee Ellen
wouldn’t rat them out the way Zuzu had just ratted her out. “He doesn’t want you getting hurt. It’s the
“Andy is going.” Another fine example of an ill-equipped paranormal skill for certain battle.
“And he’s a chauvinist pig. Makes you wonder what kind of mother he had.” Kate teased.
“Are you talking about me?” Jim balanced a plate of food in his hand as he closed the patio door.
Kate put Zuzu on the floor. “The cat let it out of the bag.”
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“Now the cat is spying on me.” He faked a mad face at Zuzu.
They ate without a word. Kate cleared the table when they were done. She put the leftovers in the
fridge, rinsed off the plates and started the dishwasher. Ellen disappeared in her art studio and Jim watched
A sudden image flashed in her mind. It was a piece of paper with Greg’s handwriting on it.
“Kate, come over if you can.” And then it was ripped out of its notepad and tossed in the
“Didn’t you spend the whole day with him?” Jim was cranky from his spat with Ellen.
“It’s a more peaceful environment.” She went to the backyard and walked into Greg’s house. It
was easier that way. Greg and Eric were watching the same game as Jim.
“I can’t keep her away. She must have a crush on me. I don’t do anything to encourage it.” Greg
pretended to be blameless.
“No. Stay.” Eric didn’t mind it wasn’t his home to extend an invitation.
“Hiding. I couldn’t think of anywhere else Matt wouldn’t come and bother me.”
“Oh, that makes sense except that you and Matt don’t bother each other, everyone else, but not
“I suppose there isn’t somewhere to go where no one will bother me.” Eric huffed.
What happened? She tried to reach Greg’s mind to bypass Eric’s foul mood.
“I’m not an idiot.” Eric could tell they were having a silent discussion.
“We’ll stop.” Kate said. Curiosity was building but she would give him room. He wanted to talk
and he would. He wasn’t patient and although that was often a contentious deficit, it was going to keep her
wait short.
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“It’s Marie.” Eric whispered. “They were kissing.”
He had to mean Matt and Marie. Kate didn’t think a woman could come between them. They had
their rule of course but even without one it seemed implausible. “I’m sorry.”
“Are you sure about this? That doesn’t sound like Matt.” Kate knew her brothers well and they
could take things farther than comfort but they had their perimeters.
“I saw it with my own eyes. I had to. He blocked out any connection we usually have.”
“He called looking for you.” Kate hadn’t notice anything odd in Matt’s voice on the phone. They
were proficient liars and she was a gullible fool. The very fact that Matt didn’t know where Eric was a
“That was why I didn’t go to your house. He wouldn’t expect me to come here.”
Greg’s house had to be on the short list if he didn’t take a car. She didn’t mention it. “He already
checked my house if you want to come over. You can stay the night.”
“I’ll tell him to go away until things cool down.” Kate would be there for Eric until it passed.
“I meant it when I said you could stay here. I just thought you needed to talk to Katie.”
Kate. She heard Brian’s voice in her head. Are you with Eric?
Yes. He’s extremely upset. She answered back hoping Eric wouldn’t catch on she was talking to
Brian.
Matt is going nuts. It’s not what he thinks. Brian tried to present the other side.
Kate took Eric to her house and asked Jim if he could stay for a while. Jim didn’t ask questions
but he had them. He was still too annoyed with Ellen to pry into new arguments.
Sandy dropped in searching for Eric. Matt must have told them everything at home because she
“He messed up. According to him, she made the first move and he rebuffed her several times
It only aggravated Eric more to hear Marie had been the aggressor. “He can have her. I don’t
care.” He lied.
“Thanks for letting me crash here. Is it rude if I ask how long can I stay?”
“You can stay as long as you want as far as I am concerned but your mother isn’t going to take it
well. She’ll want me to kick you out.” Jim surmised accurately. Sandy had told him off for allowing Eric
“You’re a good guy.” Eric had liked him from the start. He had wanted to hate him because he
was Kate’s father and took her away from his family. He was over that.
“Thanks. This too shall pass.” With that sage remark Jim went to work in his office.
Kate pulled Brian into her dream after they went to sleep. It was the only way she could talk to
“Hey, it’s hard when an attractive girl comes on to you. It isn’t like we don’t have desires.”
“Yeah. Like you and Stacey.” Kate said with a lot more bite than she intended.
“Give Matt a break. It’s not as bad as what Mom did.” Brian tried to point out that they had over
“You didn’t see Eric. He’s torn up.” Kate wished she could erase all of Eric’s pain.
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“So is Matt.”
The dream ended abruptly. Kate had hit her fill of unconstructive bantering.
Matt was over early the next day. “Not today.” She told him before he even started.
“Why would you do that?” She wondered if it was revenge for his girlfriend from their freshman
year. From the way Eric told the story, she assumed he hadn’t taken the bait but perhaps he had and this
“I don’t know why I did it. She came over to our place pretending to look for Eric. She could tell
I wasn’t him and that he wasn’t there. I swear it, Kate. I blocked him out because it was getting dicey.
That raised his concern because he headed home from the library fast. And then she was all over me. She
was relentless.”
“Come on. It was a stupid move but I can’t undo it. I don’t even know why I let her kiss me. I
don’t like her. How could I the way she was treating Eric. Maybe I was fatigued or just spent from
studying and all this stuff we’ve been doing but I lost my rationale.”
“I do. Give him some time. You’ll get through this.” She gave him a hug and he left.
Eric stayed with them that week taking Kate’s car to Santa Barbara. Greg drove her to school
since Brian wasn’t talking to her. For a family that had numerous communicative skills like telepathy,
empathy, dreams, visions and hearing, the silence was deafening. Eric had a hard time sleeping the first
night because Matt tried to break into his dreams but he found a way to stop it. It was one thing for
everyone to be divided on the matter but it was totally bizarre for the twins to be incommunicado.
Sandy and Ron were over often trying to convince Eric to go home. Ron thought it was puerile to
fight over a girl and told Eric to grow up. He also accused Jim of stealing another of his children. Sandy
was more sympathetic. She felt Matt went too far. The family was split down the middle.
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On Tuesday, before Eric was back from class, Sandy had a long talk with Jim. She told him he
had no right to let Eric stay there. She understood that Jim was a kind man and that he would offer anyone
shelter but she wanted him to kick Eric out. It gave him a place to hide rather than face his problems. Jim
said he wasn’t going to throw him out and if everyone left Eric alone he would get past it faster. He added
that Eric would exonerate Matt in his own time and rushing it wasn’t going to help anyone, least of all Eric.
Gerard felt Eric should go home and face the music. Everyone had an opinion.
The real wedding and the faux-wedding were days away. Kate had no hope that the fight would
be resolved in time but she did expect that the wedding would outshine the rift. Matt had once told them
that when people cared about each other they had a bond and when something happened to one a ripple
affect happened through the group touching those closest first. How true it was.
Kate grew more upset to think he should have known better. The twins’ tight rope stretched to its
limits. They each took family members with them and it caused other tethers to grow taut with pressure
like two archipelago islands in the sea but really they were adjoined beneath the surface. She felt Eric and
her, with her mother and Jim pulling one way and Matt and Brian, with Ron and Gerard, pull the other.
They were near splintering but that wasn’t possible. The family was too smart and could read each other’s
minds and hearts and although that provoked the tension it was the durable foundation that would keep it
from cracking.
Philosophy class was hard with Brian sitting on the opposite side of the room. At least Greg was
on Eric’s side. They figured it would pass but Kate hoped it wouldn’t leave a long-term scar. Meg
officially took a neutral position but she thought Matt went too far. After her personal experience of losing
her temper, she had softened up on the twins, Eric most of all.
Kate skipped lunch with the group on Wednesday. She wanted Brian to sit with his friends other
than Meg. The team followed Greg and Dave and she was glad for it at first but Brian needed to have his
support group too. She ate in a corner of the patio with her world history book reviewing for a test the next
Stacey and Allison sat a couple of tables down. They were giggling clearly trying to rile her.
Stacey had no idea of how frothy she really was to Kate. She was desensitized to her immature gossip
games.
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“Studying so late?” Father Francis was on his usual lunchtime patrol.
“Brushing up.”
“Are you ready for the big day?” He was performing the real ceremony for the weddings vows,
“Can’t wait.”
She really liked him and Sister Rene. They had changed Kate’s opinion about Catholics and the
Holy Orders. How could anyone not like them? They had such a peaceful nature about them. Maybe
because they didn’t get married and have kids. Kate made a mental note to not have kids, especially since
She got up to go to Philosophy. She would sit away from the usual suspects again. There was
always tennis to take out her aggressions. After the day of isolation, she enjoyed her drive home with
Greg.
They had arrived at their homes. “Well, I’m better than a peck on the cheek.”
She gave him an earnest kiss on the mouth. “I could never kiss you enough to equal your full
worth.”
It was months ago when they went on their movie date that he first told her he loved her. Kate
hadn’t forgotten. That kind of fear and excitement were unforgettable. “I know.”
“Say it.” He wanted to hear it. He usually felt he should wait for her to say it in her timing but he
needed to hear it. The faux wedding was rapidly approaching and that meant they would have to stand up
It wasn’t really the same thing but it was as close as she could get. He gave a half smile. He
would take it for the time being. She would get there.
Friday after school she went home to get her dress before going to Gerard’s house. It was a short
guest list but it was a real wedding that needed setting up. She was pleasantly surprised that Zuzu had
stowed away into her car. She gave her some water and food, which was left over from summer when they
stayed there last. Zuzu shadowed her around the kitchen but remained inside when Kate checked the yard.
Brian and Matt were working on decorations. They agreed to put hard feelings aside for the day.
She wanted to put them away forever but that was Eric’s duty to absolve Matt.
Gerard went all out. He had a gazebo built and it was picturesque for a wedding. There was a
large table set up on the patio for dinner. Kate worked on the table setting.
“What’s wrong with your cat?” Gerard asked when he came out to check on the progress.
Kate went to check on Zuzu who was clearly disturbed if the raised hackles were any indication.
The cat sensed other animals around. “It must be a neighbor’s dog or something. She seems to think there
Ellen was in the kitchen working on the meal. It was odd that she didn’t try to calm Zuzu.
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I Do
Kate still had an hour before she needed to change. She got out her book bag and sat in the study
for some solitude. She worked on her physics when Chris called.
“What do I owe this surprise to?” She asked without a formal greeting.
“Just missed you. Auggie is having a party tomorrow and I wanted to invite you guys.”
She couldn’t. Even though the wedding was really on Friday, she had plans to crash the sting. “I
“Auggie is hooked. He knows it’s all drivel but we get a good laugh at it.”
She hung up with a warm fuzzy feeling. He was a friend of both of theirs. Proof that two guys
and a girl could have a happy ending. She didn’t want Marie to get either of her brothers. She was a man-
eater. What was Matt thinking? She cleared her mind. It wasn’t the day to worry about it.
Greg and Meg arrived still in their street clothes. They were going to change there with the others.
Greg stayed with Kate and worked on his physics. Eric joined them when he arrived. He found a book and
“Chris called asking if we wanted to go to Auggie’s party. I don’t know why, he knew about the
“They love that kitschy trash over at Santa Katrina.” Greg rolled his eyes. The public school
reveled to hear the worst of their rival’s gossip. “And I heard Auggie’s party was tomorrow. He’s trying to
Kate was never his but she didn’t argue. “It is tomorrow.”
“Well, then why did he call?” Greg was sure it was to flirt and test the waters, see if things
“But if he read about the wedding, he would know we can’t. The blog has it posted for
They all stared at each other. Kate replayed the phone call in her head. Eric grabbed her laptop
from her bag and booted it up. He read Stacey’s blog out loud. “It seems there are two weddings this
weekend. Perhaps the mother is marrying Kate’s dad one day and Brian’s the other.”
Eric ran outside to tell their brothers. Kate and Greg ran into the kitchen. “Ellen we have to call
Father Francis and cancel.” Kate said as they turned the corner and found said priest already there.
“Why?” He asked.
“Um, um.” Kate stuttered without any answer. She hadn’t learned to lie and a priest would be a
“She just came in… What was that Kate?” Ellen was on the phone.
“Is that Mom?” Kate forgot about the priest and took the phone. “Mom the blog has both dates.
We have to cancel.”
“It’s a family emergency. We’re going to have reschedule.” Kate told him.
They ran outside to the gazebo. Gran walked up from the side of the house. She circled them
taking an internal roll call. It was only the kids. She stopped facing the gazebo with backyard behind her.
Eric and Greg stood in front of Kate just beyond the gazebo and Matt and Brian protected Meg on the other
side.
“Good, we’ll have last rights.” Gran glared past the kids.
Kate turned back. Father Francis and Ellen were in the gazebo. Father Francis was perplexed.
“Leave her alone.” Brian hissed moving Meg directly behind him.
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“You know why I’m here.” She stared at Kate.
Greg and Eric stepped closer together to tighten their guard. Two sentries that weren’t going to let
Nothing happened. Kate wondered if it was Ellen or Father Francis presence. Gran must think
they weren’t there by accident. She was probably accessing their potential role. Kate should make a move
before Gran did. She struggled to think of her options. Her mind was blank. She tried to think but it was
“Matt.” Gran said incorrectly to envenom Eric. “Again you protect that child.”
“I’m Eric.” He glared at Matt. The egregious mistake was like salt on his wounded heart.
Kate wished her parents would hurry. They didn’t know Gran was already there. Kate needed to
tell them. She couldn’t think how. There was a way. She had done it before. What had she done? She
“It’s an honest mistake.” Gran still addressed Eric. “You look so alike. Anyone could make it.”
“Shut up.” Matt sounded like a child unable to articulate a better retort.
“Ten minutes older.” Eric blurted impetuously. It reminded Kate when the twins were in junior
high and Matt teased Eric about being younger. Eric hated it.
Eric took a step toward Matt but Greg stepped in his way. “Stay with Katie.” He whispered. It
Kate wanted them to stop fighting. They had bigger problems than girls. Gran still hadn’t made a
“Yes, Katie.” Gran said mawkishly. “Your precious little Katie. And what is she to you?” It was
directed to Greg.
on some level but at a decreased amount. Matt shook his head trying to dislodge his gray matter from its
Eric, Greg and Brian were staring at Gran. Meg was looking curiously to the next house over.
Was there someone over there? Kate’s brain broke through to make a small deductive reasoning.
“This is a private party, ma’am. You’ll have to come back later.” Father Francis stepped down to
Kate had been to several masses that year for school and the funeral. It was a prayer. “Our
Father, who art in heaven.” She began but couldn’t remember the rest.
That was a misquote. Nietzsche didn’t mean that God was literally dead. Kate remembered that.
Meg heard someone. That was why she was looking off to the neighbor’s yard.
“Hallowed be Thy name.” Greg continued. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it
is in heaven.” He stopped. Maybe he lost his place as she had. “Katie, what’s the Pythagorean theorem?”
“The square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares on the other
two sides.” She repeated it automatically. It was engrained deep in her mind. Why was someone in the
next yard? They must be helping Gran. Kate started scanning in the same direction looking for a presence.
“Enough of school. Kate, if you come with me now, no one else needs to be involved. I won’t
even bother your mother.” Gran was using the most alluring tone she could muster.
Kate’s mind found someone on the other side of the hedges. Kate didn’t know what skill to hinder
but she willed her energy to that person to stop whatever they were doing. She couldn’t. Reciting the
theorem had cleared her mind. Mentally she started running through the mathematical proof. It helped.
Again, she tried to hinder the person in the next yard. Her brain popped free. They all did.
Even Gran’s face cleared up. She lost her advantage and she knew it.
Kate needed to deter Gran too but hadn’t tried two people at once.
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We’ve got it. She heard Matt and Eric’s voice in her head. Matt and Eric blocked their
grandmother. Kate felt strengthened to know they were on the same side. She felt stronger than ever. The
“Such clever children. But I have learned not to underestimate you, not after the elevator and that
baseball bat did leave a mark.” Gran shot a belligerent glance to Greg.
There was a click as Gerard walked to the gazebo with his shotgun ready and aimed. “Sorry it
took me a while.”
Gran turned to run but three mountain lions came out from the bushes of the backyard. She
stopped. They didn’t advance but they cut off any escape.
“Not going to run this time.” Ellen threatened. She had brought the cats somehow. They were
“I wanted to see my grandchildren.” Gran lied. “Catch up with them. Matt, I hear you have a
new girlfriend.”
That wouldn’t get the twins quarreling again. It did cause them to lose their hold on Gran and she
Two things happened at once. Gran shot at Kate. There wasn’t enough time and power with
telekinesis to stop the momentum of the bullet but it was visceral to try. Somehow Eric and Greg lithely
pulled her down before it hit. It was faster than human. The bullet hung in the air inches from where she
had stood and fell to the ground. It had been stopped mid-flight.
At the same time, Gerard had shot but his arms were pulled to the right as his round discharged. It
passed by their grandmother without making contact. Gran was most amazed of all.
Gran’s gun fell to the ground. Her arms pinned at her side subjugated by some unseen force.
“Enough woman!” It was Morrie, Ron’s father. He sauntered through the backyard to his wife.
He was a tall man with gray hair and brown eyes. He had a hard face that was exaggerated with frustration.
The presence next door ran off. Whoever she was, she wasn’t going to stay around to face the
wrath.
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“Gerard, can you lower your weapon? I’ll deal with my wife.”
Morrie shrugged. He could pull the gun away as easily as he done with Gran’s but he didn’t.
“Silence Grania.” Morrie ordered and Gran’s mouth closed against her will.
Everyone but her grandparents stood by Kate. She was lying on the lawn with Eric and Greg.
Sandy helped Eric to his feet as Andy helped Greg. Brian picked up the bullet and examined it. Ron lifted
Kate into his arms. He held her in a tight embrace, Jim at his side stroking her hair.
“You really love her, even knowing she isn’t yours.” Morrie gently accused Ron. “She would
have made a fair granddaughter if I ever gave her the chance. But it was against our family’s tradition.”
He eyed his iconoclastic grandsons. “A tradition that will probably end here.” He laughed too hard at his
non-joke. “Ronny, you aren’t a disappointment. After all, your kids love you.”
“It was wrong. And I didn’t care to hear her mouth off on how much she did for you and me over
the years. I never cared about climbing the corporate ladder but she insisted and cleared the way.” Morrie
shirked.
“No. But it kept me out of the house more, so why fight it.” He looked kindly at Sandy. “I’m
sorry your wedding was ruined.” He gave Father Francis the once over. “Ronny, you’re having a Catholic
wedding?”
“We get a bad rap. You start a few crusades and it takes centuries for people to forgive you.”
Morrie’s hearty laughter rumbled. “You’re all right for a zealot. I promise everyone here, this
will end or I will end it.” He glared at his wife. “It’s time for us to go home.”
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Gran’s body was released but her mouth remained sealed. She bent to pick up her gun.
“Come along now.” Morrie walked Gran out of the yard and through the house.
Everyone was in a state of shock except for Father Francis. “Are you going to change before the
“When you’re a priest you’ve seen and heard it all. The things I could tell you if I didn’t have
vows to keep.”
“No.” Ron shook his head. “We’re getting married. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my
life with you and I don’t want to wait another day. We don’t need to change.”
The mountain lions stayed even after the shooting. Ellen walked out to the overgrown cats,
petting each before they crawled back through the hedges to wherever they usually lived.
Father Francis did the honors. It was a simple exchange of vows. After the ritual was over they
“Stacey’s blog had put down two dates. She must have overheard Father Francis when he told me
he would see me on Friday instead of Saturday.” Kate commenced the replay. “That was when we talked
to you, Mom. And Gran was here. But she didn’t do anything.”
“There was someone helping her in the yard over.” Meg added.
“I think it was Marie. It was how I got when she…” Matt stopped.
“Manipulated you. I got that way with her too. It’s like your IQ drops and you can’t make logical
“I sensed it too.” Father Francis said. Everyone was stunned when he spoke. “I started praying
the Our Father and the more I repeated it, the clearer my mind became.”
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“That’s why you told Katie to recite it.” Greg realized.
He nodded. “I knew she could stop whoever was doing it. But you don’t know the prayer as well
“But it did for Greg.” Kate recalled. “He asked me what the Pythagorean theorem was and that
snapped me out of it some and I found Marie and stopped the clouding. But Gran could tell. It must be a
power you can’t keep one person away from. Gran may have been doing something to keep her mind
clearer but it was too much to do any telekinetic tricks. And she knew about Matt and Eric fighting. She
“And it worked.” Eric said bitterly. “But then we blocked Gran and things were at an impasse.
“I went to get it but kept forgetting what I was looking for.” Gerard continued the narrative.
“Finally my mind cleared I grabbed the gun. She was going to run but there were cougars.”
“Mom, I’ll never keep you away from life threatening situations again.” Jim joked.
Kate picked up the recap. “She made another comment about Eric and Matt and they lost their
concentration and she pulled out her gun and shot me. It had momentum and I couldn’t stop the bullet but
it was my first impulse to try. Then everything slowed down. I must have sped up.”
“You all did.” Father Francis spoke. Again the family was shocked. “All the boys and Kate were
pushing on the bullet and Eric and Greg pulled her out of the way.”
“And I could tell she was shooting and I shot.” Gerard said. “They sounded like one bang so it
must have been at the same moment. But as I shot something knocked my arms off and I missed her. I
“I have a question.” Jim sat back in his chair. “You’re taking this all very well, Father Francis.”
people’s gifts, not just these quirks but what subjects they excel at and sports. It’s useful when evaluating
kids for school. So I knew about the menagerie of talent we had to defend ourselves like Kate’s blocking,
the boys’ telekinesis, Meg’s hearing, Ellen’s connection to animals, those sorts of things. But I’m losing it.
I didn’t realize Kate and Greg could use telekinesis and I didn’t know about any speed until it happened.”
“Well, Kate can empathize with people or get them to empathize with her. She learns it and
“And your other gift?” Andy had his opinion set and sought confirmation.
“I know when people tell the truth or when they lie.” He smiled. “How else do you think the two
kids with the longest records in St. Ignatius’ history were never expelled?” Jim and Andy exchanged
glances. Father Francis laughed seeing them behave as they had so many times before in his office. “Even
when you did the crime you didn’t lie to me. Honesty is a great virtue.”
“Who has the longest record?” Greg asked hoping for bragging rights.
“Jim but when you are talking about the speed of light, what’s another mile per hour give or take.”
“I’m grateful for you helping my family.” Ron was awkward around the priest. “I’d appreciate it
if you didn’t tell anyone.” It reminded Kate of the Grand Inquisitor from philosophy class seeing her
Part of the table began to laugh; Father Francis, Ellen, Gerard, Jim, Andy, Greg and Meg – AKA
the Catholics. Father Francis leaned towards Ron, “If you have a secret, you can trust a priest to keep it.”
“Both times with you. And I knew you could the second time.”
“Well, is this really over?” Gerard asked. “Will Morrie keep Gran from coming back?”
“He told the truth.” Father Francis nodded. “Now, about this blog?”
The St. Ignatius’ kids showed Father Francis Stacey’s blog. He promised to put an end to it.
“I’m curious about this Marie.” Ron asked. “What did she look like?”
“She’s short, about five three and a killer body.” Eric described her.
“Her hair is shoulder length strawberry blond and she has grey eyes.” Matt finished.
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Ron smirked. “That woman is an old friend of my mother’s. She doesn’t age. And she’s very
tempting. Mom tried to break Sara and I up using her. It didn’t work.”
“You have a solid family.” Father Francis remarked. “There are times I wish I had a child to pass
on my gifts.”
“Katie will learn them and share them with us. We’ll pass them along for you.” Greg offered.
Free at Last
It was hard to believe that they were free. A month passed and Kate was still guarded. Greg took
her to a baseball game alone and that was when she really felt safe. They were out of town, away from her
brothers and families and nothing happened other than the Dodgers losing. Something she lived with better
than he did.
Father Francis was in the inner circle. True to his word, the blog was shut down. Stacey was
furious about it but it was to be shut down or she would be expelled without receiving a diploma. She got
Kate finally went to a dance with Greg when he took her to their prom. It was at the Plaza Pacific.
Kate fixed Claire up with Chris. Dave had started dating Lindsay and he was Claire’s back up date. She
They had a live band that played swing, lounge and jazz. Without asking, Greg picked up Kate’s
She didn’t recognize the song until they started singing the lyrics. It was I’m Your Puppet. “That
“Nice.”
After the prom Greg and Kate made a short appearance to Brad’s after party before going to
Greg’s for some private time. Andy and Angela were on their first weekend vacation as a couple. Kate
was glad for Andy and even happier to have the place to themselves.
Greg sat on the couch with Kate’s legs over his lap as they kissed. He kissed to her ear pulling
“I…” Kate began before Greg had his hand over her mouth.
“It’s one o’clock. It is tomorrow.” She grabbed her purse and pulled out an envelope with a bow
He opened it and fanned out five tickets to a Giants game in San Francisco. “Five?”
“Dad thought Angela would join us. We really need to find him someone now.”
“Sure thing.” He didn’t take his eyes off the tickets. “Can I check where the seats are?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
They went to his room and he opened the Giants website. Kate stood behind him as he worked.
He pulled the tickets out and a sixth piece of paper fell to the ground. He picked it up and it read “I
love you” on a heart shaped note that had been folded in half.
He got up to give her a long intense kiss. “And it wasn’t because I said it first?”
He leaned in for another kiss but froze just short of her lips. “How did you do that?” Greg
realized it would be impossible for her to write a note saying she loved him without it flickering to his
vision.
She giggled. “It was easy. I practiced writing nonsense without looking at the paper. I didn’t
want you to see me writing it. I didn’t even look at the tickets to be extra careful.”
He chuckled. “When was the last time I told you that you are the best girlfriend ever?”