Who: Leda and Cate What: Finally reunited Where: Cate's house When: April 14th, after school Warnings: None yet! Status: In progress
It had been a few weeks since she'd started school. It was almost amazing how easy it had been to avoid Cate... the school itself was pretty small, but it was remarkably effortless to blend in, to remain anonymous in the sea of student bodies. It was almost unnerving, if she thought about it too much, how easy it was to hide in plain sight, but she figured it was better not to spend too much time focusing on such paranoid thoughts. She had other things to worry about.
Today had been the last day of school before Spring Break. She had been given a pretty enormous stack of readings to do over the vacation to help her 'catch up' in her classes, but she had already decided to forego any of that. That kid Joel she'd met at the dance seemed smart enough. She was sure she could ask him to help her out if she really needed it.
But good grades weren't why she was here. Cate was.
The thing inside of her had become agitated, impatient, roiling within her subconscious in a way that was eerily reminiscent of the large, black mass she'd encountered in that messed up dream from the dance. She couldn't see it, but she could distinctly feel it, urging her to pursue this encounter, reminding her, playing on her longing. Today it was particularly insistent, and so she found herself standing uncertainly at the edge of the other girls' driveway, partially hidden behind her neighbor's hedges, battling internally with her own thoughts... or was it the creature?
So close. Go.
"I can't just...go," she hissed back, anxiously gnawing at her thumbnail, peeling the vibrant cobalt polish from her digit with her teeth. "I just need a second, ok!?"
This is what you wanted. To see her. Be with her.
So many emotions were battling within her. Drawing a deep breath through her nostrils, she shook her head and took an uncertain step back, her nerves fraying. "I can't. It's too much. Maybe... maybe tomorrow."
But just then the front door of the house opened, and she froze. There she was. Cate looked exactly the same, only... different somehow. Healthy. Happy? She couldn't tell. And suddenly all of her emotions burst within her at once, each one battling for dominance. Anger. Excitement. Hurt. Fear.
She was moving forward before she could second-guess herself again, coming to the bottom of Cate's porch as she turned from locking the door. She merely stood, looking up at her, her arms folded defensively across her abdomen. She waited for Cate to acknowledge her, allowing her to see her for the first time. She'd run through a million scenarios in her mind of how this would go... her breath was actually bated as she awaited her reaction.
When the silence stretched on for too long, though, she opened her mouth, and in her raspy, low voice said, "Hey, Cat."