Picture Perfect
Have Your Cake and Eat it Too
(WARNING: Please ignore any horrific and terrible typos if any- I wrote this pretty fast- I'll get them later! Enjoy the chapter!)
-----Kat's POV
"We're baaaack!" I sing into the apartment as I open the door. Sean and I chuckle as we hear Jules drop something somewhere with a loud thud and scream excitedly. I look around see a ton of Christmas decorations inhabiting every empty space and cranny available.
She claps her hands and hugs the two of us, forming a group hug, "I've missed you too! It gets really lonely here without anyone!" she chimes.
"Maybe we can get a dog then?" I grin, hoping Jules would budge- I've always been a huge dog lover- her not as much.
"Maybe- just maybe," Jules sighs with a soft smile.
"Did I miss the group hug?" Brayden teases as he approaches the open door with the last of my camera bags.
"Thanks for grabbing those for me you really didn't have to- you should've just headed back to your apartment I could've gotten them," I admit with a little annoyance- they always act like I need help with everything.
"Hey- I just wanted to make sure you even got back to your apartment safely in that old jeep of yours," Brayden teases.
"Yeah we're lucky we got back here in one piece," Sean laughs, "I thought the engine was going to fall out of Kat's car for a while there."
"Hey be nice- she may be old but she's reliable," I defend my precious jeep- sure she wasn't new but it got me to and from practices and games just fine.
"Sure sure- I'm just waiting for a call asking for a ride cause that heap o' junk finally kicked the can," Brayden says with a chuckle and nudges my arm playfully along with Sean. "I'm gonna get going now, see ya guys- Kat if you drive to the store let me now and I'll be on call to pick you up since that car's going to break down any minute," Bray pokes fun.
"Yeah, yeah," I roll my eyes with a wave as he shuts the door behind him; I manage to carry my bags and suitcase to take my bags to my room to unpack, leaving the lovebirds alone. Just as I toss my phone on the bed from my back pocket, it vibrates- it's Claude. I drop all of my bags and read what he says, which brings a goofy smile to my face.
"Didn't realize you stole one of my shirts till now-make sure when you give it back it smells like you, yeah?" the text reads.
I giggle a tad when I text out my message to send as I walk back out into the living room, "who says I'm giving it back?"
"Very funny miss- I'll be picking your cute ass up tomorrow after lunch- I promise I'd take you around the city to see all the decorations," I read in my mind and a huge grin grows on my face- I totally forgot we had agreed to do that.
Just as I look up there is a stern face looking at me, "what has you so smiley?" Jules places her hands on her hips.
"Nothing," I force a grim face but she doesn't buy it.
"You're not fooling me- fess up," she keeps her gaze on me, serious but a little smile forms on her lips in anticipation for an answer.
"Noooooope," I sing song and turn to go into the kitchen and grab a water bottle from the fridge. I know if Jules studied my face for any longer she'd figure out I was lying through my teeth. However when I closed the fridge door, she was still standing there refusing to believe any word coming out of my mouth.
"Her and Claude have been flirting non-stop," Sean says from behind Jules, blowing my cover.
"Thanks Sean," I say with fake cheeriness and he replies by sticking his tongue out at me making me roll my eyes.
"Woah, what? Seriously?" Jules asks sincerely, "I thought you were going to keep it friendly."
"Yeah I know but c'mon Jules," I scoff, "it's just flirting- flirting never killed anyone, it's just fun."
"Yeah but c'mon Kat," she scoffs, "you're gonna keep it cool? You can't have your cake and eat it too."
I roll me eyes at the cliché saying, "well who says I want to eat the cake?" I ask as I grab some leftover Chinese food in the fridge, "maybe I'm just fine looking at it," I retort, grabbing a pair of chopsticks out of the kitchen drawer and dig into the cold rice.
"Everyone wants to eat the cake- you can't just look at it forever," Jules chirps back while i stuff my mouth full of rice.
"Well if this good looking of a piece of cake, truuuust me, I can stare at it forever," I say before I fill my mouth again with the cold contents of the paper take out box.
Jules arches her eyebrow in reply to my comment, "that may be so," she starts to say and then takes the carton of food out of my hands, "but if you stare at it for so long and never eat it, it's going to go stale and then it'll be in the trash, gone," Jules challenges. She then takes the chop sticks from my hands with an arched eyebrow.
I look to Sean whose face is twisted in confusion- this whole allegory was probably incomprehensible to him, but to us, it made complete sense. "Well until it goes stale, which isn't anytime soon, I'll be enjoying looking at the cake, flirting with cake- hell I may even take a lick off the frosting," I defend with a smile, referring to Claude as a piece of cake was too entertaining, even though Jules was being pretty serious about not getting hurt. I head back into my room to unpack my things with a water bottle in my hand before Jules can say anything else to me. I know she's just trying to look out for me but I can fend for myself- and besides it's just flirting.
"Sounds good- I feel like I haven't walked around the city in forever" I type a message and send it to Claude- I tried to think of something at least semi flirting but the warning from Jules shook me up a bit. Was he saying this stuff to another girl too? I can't be the only girl- I'd be stupid to think so. Just then I get an incoming message from G, "Me neither- I'm happy it'll be with that cute face of yours tomorrow- don't dress too amazing like you always do- I don't wanna be put to shame in my own city." I may not be the only girl but I was going to dumbly believe that I was.
I throw my hair into a top bun and change into a pair of large sweatpants and a large, baggy flyers shirt with Simmonds' number on the back. I spend a few hours unpacking and then organizing my entire room to keep my mind from thinking about Claude- even though opening and not responding to his snapchats was incredibly hard. He sent me endless streams of pictures of him unpacking and selfies with every filter there was- this boy obviously had too much time on his hands.
"Kaaaaaat," Jules sings outside my door, "dinner has been delivered!" By the time I get to my feet a different, deeper voice was calling my name. I open up the door to see Brayden beaming at the kitchen table holding up bags filled with Philly cheese steaks from Geno's, "glad you could join us ya hermit," he laughs heartily. I can't help but laugh- his whole happy personality was contagious- it felt good to see him so positive, especially with Luke leaving recently.
"You're the best, Bray- I feel like I could even say I feel some love for you right now," I tease with a laugh. His face flushes pink and he hands me the wrapped up cheese steak, "love? Don't play with my heart Kat I know it's just the best cheese steak in town making you feel this way," he teases back.
I look to Jules who is feeding Sean some of her food- I could almost throw up with the amount of love emanating off the pair. I scrunch up my nose and look to Bray who's sitting to my left, "I may lose my appetite," I whisper and I feel Jules' hand hit my arm almost immediately, "Oh you know I'm just kidding, y'all are the cutest," I stick my tongue out at her.
"Damn straight we're the cutest," Sean retorts just before he stuffs his mouth with food.
Suddenly I notice that Jules has taken off her makeup from earlier and the scar that matches mine is showing full blown on her face. Sean didn't look at her pity, sorrow, or with disgust (like Kyle did), instead he was only looking at her with love. I couldn't help but feel jealous of Jules- she had found this guy who didn't care she was scarred for a horrific event and was showing it off. If I was Cinderella, then where was my Prince Charming to love my scar? After we finish dinner, which is full of laughs and stories from the road trip, Brayden and Sean decide to head home since they have an early morning practice- which thankfully, I don't have to go to for once.
"So early? It's only 7," Jules pouts.
"I know but I'm beat from the trip, I'll see you tomorrow though okay?" Sean offers a sweet smile and Jules accepts it with a tight, warm hug.
Brayden stands idly behind Sean patiently waiting for Sean to release his grip on his girlfriend; I however, was not as patient. "C'mon let go you two- you'll see each other tomorrow," I grumble as I tap my foot.
"Okay, Scrooge," Jules playfully sneers at me and looks back to Sean, giving him a goodbye kiss. We say our goodbyes and wave to the boys until the shut the door behind them.
"So did you tell him about your scar?" I ask breaking the silence.
"Yeah- I mean he saw it eventually since he's always sleeping here and I don't sleep in my make up," she explains, "he wasn't grossed out or freaked when he saw it the first time- I was amazed," she laughs. "Not that I was expecting him to be shallow but it was... refreshing to not have someone gawking at your face, ya know?"
"I know exactly what you mean," I chuckle and point to my own face, remembering the time Kyle had made a huge deal when he saw my scar even though he already knew it was there. I shake my head to get it to leave my mind, "well I'm really happy for you Jules," and incredibly jealous of you too, my subconscious adds.
"Thanks Kat," she chimes as she hugs me tight.
Once we finish cleaning up the mess from dinner, I head into my bathroom to take off my make-up. I scrub my face endlessly to take off the cover-up hiding my little secret. I look at my sopping, bare face in the mirror and dab it dry with the fluffy maroon towel resting on the counter. I place my hands on the counter in front of the sink and lean into the mirror, inspecting my scar diligently. Luckily, it has faded a lot since the summer but it was still there nagging me, always reminding me of the night my best friend and I almost died. I didn't mind the look of it too much, it was just the story behind it and other people looking at me like I would be great as a side show act at the carnival.
-----Sean's POV
I had felt bad about lying to Jules, saying we were headed straight home but she'd tell Kat about what Schenner and I were about to do- we knew we'd get hell for it. I knock on the door infront of us loudly and wait for a response. We hear locks turn before the door swings open; G is standing there with a huge smile, "hey boys whatcha need?"
I open my mouth to speak but Brayden cuts off my train of thought, "We need to talk G, now," he says harshly, brushing past Giroux into the apartment.
"What the hell is going on?" G asks looking to me for an answer but I walk by him too, joining Brayden in the living room. After he closes the front door, Claude stands in front of us still clueless, "well?" he rakes his hand through his hair nervously.
"It's about Kat-" Schenner begins to say but G cuts him off in a panic.
"What happened? Is she okay? Did that fucking car of hers break down beca-"
"No, no, she's fine... it's about you guys," I inform him.
"What do you mean? We're not together-"
"But you're messing with her head," Brayden says through clenched teeth- why was he getting so angry?
"What? Are you serious? We're just flirting- and why is this any of your business?"
"Because we care about her!" Brayden practically shouts, standing up and G stands up to meet his height.
"Are you sure? Cause I think it's just you that cares about her a little too much" G challenges with the same level of anger in his voice. Brayden steps closer to G but I put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from taking another step.
"Listen, we're just worried that you guys are going to get careless, and she's going to get hurt," I say calmly, "if you want to use some girl as your play thing, don't use Kat."
"I'm not" he defends firmly, "I'll see you at practice tomorrow morning- not a word of this around the boys, eh?"
Schenner and I nod and walk out of his apartment without a word or fight. Once we get into the car and I turn the key in the ignition, I notice Schenner's fists balled up tightly in his lap, his knuckles white with frustration. "Schenner what is up with you? Why'd you get so angry in there?"
"Don't worry about it Coots," he comments.
"How am I supposed to not worry about it when 5 minutes ago you almost punched G in the face?" I ask, annoyed with his attitude.
"I just care about Kat too much for her to get hurt by G, okay?" he turns to face me in his seat, hearing the honestly in his voice. I just nod, deciding not to pry even more than I was. The rest of the night, Brayden was quiet, going straight to his room as soon as we got to our apartment. I just hope after tonight G knows not to mess with Kat because he'll have Schenner at his door as soon as it happens.
I NEED an update!!!!! AHHHHH! This story has me crazy! I want to know what happens!!
7/9/19