Who: Katherine and Jacob When: June 19th, late evening Where: Katherine's house What: Katherine is not in an especially good place, and Jacob consoles her Rating: PG-13 for drinking. And language but that should go without saying. Come on, this is Katherine Status: Incomplete
Katherine lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. Some song was playing, but she was hardly listening. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember even putting any music on. She had been in almost a daze that whole afternoon. She vaguely remember joining her fellow former 7th year Claws after she left James, but she couldn't really recall any of the details that were said. She supposed plans had been made for some post-graduation celebration, but any specifics were lost on her. And then what? She couldn't think of much save for the big picture. She had gone home, changed into shorts and a tank top, collapsed on her bed, and a few hours later, there she still was. Normally she would have noted on how deeply pathetic it all was, but that sort of awareness was beyond her at that point. All she had really thought about was what at utter and complete idiot she had been. That and how much she really wanted to be drunk. If this was an at all an unhealthy way to deal with rejection, she didn't realize it.
She glanced at the clock, idly wondering when Jacob would arrive. Inviting him over had been one of the only things she had done since getting home. And really, 'invite' was too polite of a word- he hadn't really been given a choice; it had really been more of her commanding him to come over because she didn't want to get drunk alone, and really, the prospect of being alone in general was none to appealing. But Jacob, bless him, had agreed with little fight, just like she knew he would. He really was a fantastic mate, she mused. It was a pity she hadn't fallen for him instead; at least he would have been polite and kind about the whole thing. He would have actually said something more than suggesting she should leave. But she didn't really have the energy to be angry with James even when she knew she should be, and she cursed herself for not being able to actually hate him like half of the school did. Against her better judgement, she found herself wondering if he felt any guilt about being a complete arse to her, but somehow she doubted it.
She raised a hand to rub her eyes, forcing herself to stop being so self-pitying. It was ridiculous, really, that in such a short amount of time she had turned into one of those girls she had always mocked, the sort who moped and sulked when rejected by some boy who probably wasn't even worth it in the end. But that was precisely why she needed Jacob. The idea of spending the rest of that evening brooding over James was the last thing she wanted to on her first say out of school, and in theory, Jacob would help her take her mind of him. And she did have every intention of getting her thoughts away from him; the idea of retelling that afternoon's disaster was far from appealing, and if she had really wanted to talk boys, she would have invited Blair; they could have happily discussed everything that was wrong with men. But she had dwelled on it for far too long that afternoon, and she really needed a distraction.
It was then that she heard the door, and she leapt to her feet with more energy than she had shown since returning and hurried down to greet him. "Took you long enough," she announced as she opened the door, her tone an embarrassingly fake chipper. She really needed to learn how to properly fake emotions, but if he hadn't already realized that something wasn't entirely right, then he was incredibly thick.