Kate

Text Box: Confession by Emily Burney The piercing shriek of the alarm broke through the stillness of the small bedroom, announcing the start of another day.  Kate swung her arm over to the bedside table where it miraculously landed on the snooze button: silence.  She was tempted to let herself drift back to sleep, but the thought of having to listen to the alarm go off again was worse than just getting out of bed. Her feet hit the carpet.  She made her way over to the door and down the hallway to the bathroom.  The woman she saw in the mirror above the sink didn’t look like her.  She was haggard with dark circles under her eyes where tiny wrinkles were beginning to form at the corners.  The green irises staring back at her were the only part of the reflection she was willing to claim.  She washed her face and brushed her teeth then headed back down the hall.  She paused at a door on her left and pushed it open.  A pile of clothes lay in a heap on the floor and were strewn across the desk, partially covering the computer and a stack of books.  Below the conglomeration of posters on the wall depicting young, shirtless men was a bed with a lifeless lump buried beneath the covers.  Kate stood at the foot of the bed. “Time to get up,” she announced loudly. The lump remained still, so she reached down and pulled back the comforter, causing a groan to escape from the girl tangled amidst the sheets.  “Elise, get up or you’re going to be late for school!” “Mom,” she groaned, “Five more minutes.” “Fine, but I’m walking out the door at 7:45, with or without you.” She left the room, flicking the light switch up on her way out.  Minutes later she heard the familiar blasting of music, which signaled she had won.  She dreaded the day when Elise would start driving because her threat would no longer hold the same weight, but that was still at least two years off—thank God. Back in her room, she began getting dressed.  She’d laid out her outfit the night before, so she wouldn’t have to go through the ordeal of having to decide what to wear.  Meeting days were always tough to dress for.  She wanted to look sharp for potential clients without making them think she was trying too hard.  As she glanced at herself in the full-length mirror, she smiled.  Maybe her face looked old, but she’d managed to keep her figure.  After Elise had been born, she’d begun running to lose the baby weight but once it was gone, she had kept right on going.  It helped keep her sane. On her way to the kitchen, she passed Elise’s room and glanced in to see Elise trying to style her hair.  Kate flicked her gaze down at her watch, which informed her that they needed to be walking out the door in ten minutes.  Kate went in and Elise ignored her, eyeing her reflection with frustration instead.  Kate wished Elise would realize how lucky she was for that youthful reflection.  Elise’s biggest concerns were hair up or down and what shade of eye shadow went best with her T-shirt. Kate glanced at her watch again.  She stepped over to the desk and started folding clothes and stacking papers.  She couldn’t help it.  “Mom!” Elise shouted over the music, “Leave my stuff alone!” “I would if you cleaned occasionally,” Kate shot back, annoyed.  When she stepped over to grab a pile of dirty clothes off the floor, her foot caught on the strap of Elise’s backpack, and she stumbled forward, narrowly catching herself on the corner of the bed.  “This room is awful!” she spat, and turned to grab the backpack, whose contents had spilled across the floor. A small, yellow case caught her attention and she scooped it up.  Her fingers fumbled at the latch and she opened it, knowing with a sinking feeling what was inside.  A circle of pills, half-gone lined the case.  “Mom!” Elise screeched.  “Give that back!” “Why do you have this?” Kate asked, horrified.  “When did you—” “It’s none of your business!” Elise said, swiping it from Kate’s grasp. “Oh, I think it is!” Kate hissed, “How long have you and Andy been having sex?” “Oh my God, Mom!” Elise shrieked, turning red, “That’s definitely none of your business!” “While you live in my house, it’s my business!” Kate bellowed, still in shock.  She paused for a moment, letting it wash over her.  “Oh my God,” she suddenly moaned, “You’re too young to be having sex!  How did this happen?” “Mom, would you stop freaking out already?” Elise squealed, practically purple.  “Elise,” Kate said agitatedly, “I just don’t want you to end up like me.” “What do you mean?” Elise asked, looking confused. “Before I met your dad, before I had you, I…I made the biggest—” she struggled to swallow a sob, “I got pregnant and I—I—” she couldn’t bring herself to say it.  “I got rid of it,” she sobbed, “And I don’t ever want you to have to go through that.” Elise was quiet for a moment, staring at her mother as if she was seeing her for the first time.  She looked angry. “Mom, you’re such a hypocrite,” she finally said, “And that’s what birth control’s for!” “Elise, you can still get pregnant!” Kate shot back, wiping her eyes.  “And then what would you do?” “Why can’t you just be glad I’m being safe about it?” Elise groaned, picking up her bag and shoving the books back inside. Kate sighed, too angry and shocked to think clearly.  She glanced at her watch and cursed.  “We’re late!  We’ll have to finish this tonight!” “Would you just chill?” Elise grumbled as she shuffled out of the room. Kate followed after her, trying to shove the past from her mind and refocus her attention on her upcoming meeting.   Text Box: Plunge by Rebecca Twaites  There was no doubt in her mind that she was in trouble. No doubt at all. Katie Pierce looked down at the ground from the branch she was clinging to and felt like crying. Of course the neighborhood boys could get down from the branch; they were tall. She, on the other hand, was shorter than them by a good five inches. Why she’d let them climb down the tree before her was beyond her at the moment. “You guys, help!” she cried out to the boys who were still laughing at the base of the trunk. Part of her wanted to cry and part wanted to pummel them all. The boys stopped laughing and looked up at her. “Come on, Katie! You got up there,” Neil said. She glared at him.  “I didn’t break the branch,” Katie snapped, hurling a twig she’d picked at his head. Neil ducked, and the twig missed him by a hair’s width. He returned the favor with a glare. “She has a point there,” one of the other boys mumbled to no one in particular. “You gotta come down or your mom’ll tan our hides,” Neil declared, as if Katie needed a reminder. Her mother always wanted Katie to act like a lady, which was why her mother had tanned her hide for burping, using her hands at the table, and coming home dirtier than Tom Sawyer ever had been. “She’s gonna tan our hides anyway, so why don’t you help me down!” she demanded, watching as the other boys backed away a little as the verbal battle raged. She threw another twig at Neil. It made contact with his shin and he bent over with a cry of pain. “Come on! Stop being a wimp,” Neil seethed. Katie snorted at him and looked beyond the dying leaves of the tree. She could see her trailer, which was across the field, and Neil’s a few doors down. Her dad was heading for his truck to go to his 3rd shift job while a neighbor’s mutt yapped around his ankles. Katie noticed a blue duffle back slung over his shoulder and wondered how long he’d stay away this time; the duffle only came out when he was leaving for more than a week. “Katherine Elise Pierce! You’d better get your scrawny ass outta that tree! What have I told you about climbing trees? Stupid girl!” Katie’s mother yelled from the trailer’s front door. Katie felt her cheeks flush with guilt and anger. Looking at the sky, she saw the sun was starting to set and she needed to be home in time for supper, or there would be more than a tanning to look forward to. Especially since she’d been caught in the tree. Whimpering, Katie slowly lowered herself downward. She stretched as far as she could and finally felt her tip toes hit something solid. The taste of blood filled her mouth and Katie realized she’s been chewing on her lip as she’d lowered herself down. The branch she was holding onto started to sag under her weight. The arch of her foot caught the branch below her and Katie moved one hand to the trunk to steady herself. Letting go of the other branch, Katie hugged the tree trunk with all her strength. The branch she was standing on bent downward. She clung tighter as the branch made snapping noises and broke, taking her with it. With a thud, Katie landed on her back, arms still extended from hugging the tree. The wind was knocked out of her and her chest burned. Black and red spots danced in front of her eyes and there was a roar in her ears that reminded her of thunder. For a few moments, Katie thought she was dead until she heard someone talking to her. “Katie?” Neil was asking above her.  The spots began to disappear and Neil’s face came slowly into focus. Katie closed her eyes hard and sat up with much difficulty. She heard her bones crack into place more than felt them, causing her to gasp as another wave of pain swept over her. One of the other boys helped her to her feet when she was capable of standing. She put her hands on her hips and then stared at Neil. “That was a cruel thing to do to a girl,” she spat at him. “Katie, you got yourself up there,” he reminded her. “So?” she huffed. “You could’ve helped me get down.” “Why?” he asked, perplexed at the notion. Katie looked at him, dumbfounded. Had he really just asked that? She stood there for a moment, and within a second, clocked him across the face. “Because I’m a lady, that’s why,” she retorted and walked away, wondering how she was going to explain her dirty jeans and Neil’s   black eye.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                            Text Box: Confusion by Michael Samuelson  Kate stopped her pen.  She suddenly realized how quickly fatigue hit her in the stomach.  Her writing on the paper was becoming chicken scratch.  Glancing slightly to the left, she saw a mountain of homework and reading towering over her like a dark shadow of a black omen.  All these papers were such a waste of trees. She switched her gaze to the clock on her computer.  It was already midnight.  Her roommate, Ashley, still hadn’t come back from the party.  It was a Wednesday night and this girl was a business major the same as Kate.  But nearly every night, her roommate would come back drunk or with a new guy she met at the party, yet she hardly struggled with her classes.  Near the end of the mid-semester, Kate decided to be nosy and checked Ashley’s midterm grades by snooping around Ashley’s things.  To Kate’s disgust, the roommate was pulling Bs and As.  Kate worked her ass off and was happy that she pulled off Bs and sometimes a C. The mere thought of Ashley‘s lack of effort made Kate want to shoot steam out of her ears.  In a blind rage, she slammed her fist to the open book of Business Practices.  The single attack on the page felt so good that Kate went for another.  Her hand struck the page with such ferocity that she felt a pulse of pain shoot up her arm.  That didn’t stop her.  Her nails began to dig into the pages and the ripping sounded like justice.  She heard herself scream and shout at the book as twisted strips of paper flew about her desk. The lock on the door clicked and Kate’s rage subsided.  She felt panic stab her bones as the knob turned.  Her face flushed with a great heat. Kate wiped the cold tears from her cheeks and quickly tried to scoop up some of the paper.  Ashley’s voice made her freeze. “Kate, are you all right?” asked Ashley, standing at the open doorway. Kate swallowed back the lump in her throat and forced a smile.  She looked toward her roommate as she tried to breathe correctly. “I’m fine,” she managed to voice.  “I just hate this class so much.” Ashley suddenly burst out with laughter.  It was an annoying laugh where the person breaths in and makes a sound similar to someone begging for the Heimlich maneuver.  Kate saw the glazed look in Ashley’s eyes.  There were stains on her pink shirt to indicate how many times she spilled her drink.  This time, Ashley’s speech was clear enough to understand, which could mean that the girl didn’t drink much this time.  Normally, she barged in with a speech that was close to babble. Ashley calmed down and, somehow, Kate composed herself.  Her cheeks were no longer flushed with bright red anger. “Are you having trouble with your classes?” asked Ashley, folding her arms at her middle.  “I’ve noticed that you’ve been falling asleep at the computer.  Not only that, but you’ve been coming home from work acting like a zombie when you try to start studying.  I mean, try to have some fun, Katie.” “My name is Kate,” hissed Kate, squinting her eyes to a glare.  “I’m not a kid anymore.” Ashley raised her hands as if someone had pointed a gun at her face while she kept a dopey smirk.  “Hey, I’m just telling you that you need to loosen up once in a while.  I bet you’d get laid a lot more.  If you get laid, you’ll feel this totally calm mood.” The rage jumped back to the surface.  “I don’t need to get laid,” Kate snapped, returning to her cleaning of the shredded paper. “You don’t have to get angry,” Ashley replied, her face banishing the smirk.  “I’m just trying to help.  Maybe you should cut down your hours.” “Unlike your parents, mine won’t pay for anything,” Kate answered, gripping a pile of the shredded strips in her hand.  “My father is gone from my life and my mother is too busy trying to forget my father left.  I sometimes wonder how I even got here.”  With a hard thrust, Kate threw the shredded paper into the basket.  “I hate paper.” “I know this guy,” Ashley started, “he’s a real wiz with business.  Maybe he can—” “I don’t need help!” screamed Kate, jumping from her seat.  This time, Ashley looked scared.  If there was something that could sober a person up, this was that something. Kate sat back into her chair and unfocused her eyes.  Her heart raced with emotion.  Most likely, the only reason Ashley knows this “wiz” is that she slept with him a couple times one night.  Maybe she should take Ashley’s advice and just sleep with a bunch of men.  She could find one that knew business enough for her to copy his homework or steal his notes.  The idea brought nausea to Kate’s stomach.  She could never sleep with a stranger. No matter what it took, Kate was going to see to it that she made it out of college with the kinds of grades honors students wished for. “I’m sorry, Kate,” whispered Ashley.  “I was only trying to help.” Kate flicked piece of shredded paper with her finger.  “I need to do this on my own.  I can’t rely on people.  If I rely on people, I’ll only end up being hurt.  Do you understand?”  “I think I do,” softly replied Ashley.  The girl calmly walked to her dresser and started to prepare for bed. The next day, Kate went to the dorm office and requested to be reassigned to another room.

Text Box: Decision by Jessica Hill A cell phone vibrated under Kate’s arm and startled her awake.  She got up quietly and looked around the room for whomever she may have followed home for the evening.  She remembered setting the alarm on her cell phone before she went out for the night just to make sure she didn’t sleep through her big proposal meeting.  It hurt to open her eyes, and her terrible headache was getting worse.  As she frantically put on her clothes and shoes, she quickly looked around the house and listened for any sounds of movement.  There was trash and empty cans everywhere. People she didn’t know were still passed out, and she found herself in a place she knew she never wanted to be in again.  She walked outside and recognized the neighborhood.  She wondered why she had ever wanted to go home with a guy that lived in this kind of place.  This neighborhood was close to home, yet not a place where you wanted to end up.  She quickly whipped out her phone and called a cab. As she waited for her ride, Kate started to piece the night together. She remembered hitting on a couple different guys throughout the night, just looking for a good time.  She called her friend Kelly whom she had gone out dancing with that night.  Kelly must have been asleep because she didn’t answer her call.  She wasn’t sure why, but Kate had this gut feeling that something just wasn’t right.  Her entire body hurt.  She couldn’t distinguish any pain from any other and just assumed she was feeling hung over, much worse than she normally felt. Her cab arrived and she quickly jumped in, hoping no one from the house had awoken as she left and praying she hadn’t given out her phone number to anyone last night. She pulled out her compact mirror and frantically tried to correct her appearance. Mascara had been smeared below her eyes and her hair was a bunched up mess.  “Run me by 12th and Park. I need a quick fix up!” Kate called her stylist for an emergency appointment and was lucky to get in. As she sat in the chair, a knot began to form in Kate’s stomach.  She realized that she did indeed have to put her clothes back on before she could leave the house. She was looking for a good time, but didn’t want it all to go that far.  Her stylist combed, plucked and pulled as Kate stared into space. She dreaded what she now knew she had done last night. “Thank God no one was awake when I came to.” Kate thought. “Maybe I’ll never have to see him again, whoever he may be.”  Her thoughts were interrupted by her cell phone, and her mind instantly shifted to work as she rushed out the door to her meeting. Nothing was ever said about that night again and she never did get a phone call. Frankly, she had completely forgotten about the incident until about a month later when she woke up to a sick feeling in her stomach. She hadn’t gone out the night before and had no idea what may have brought on her queasiness. She was fine after she came out of the bathroom and continued to get ready for work. Later on in the day, Kelly approached her. “Kate, do you have a second?” “Yeah, what’s going on?” “Well, I’ve been thinking about what you told me this morning about you being sick out of nowhere and I put it together with your tiny weight gain—very tiny, nothing serious—and you have been eating some really strange things.” She paused.  “Do you think you might be pregnant?” “No way!” Kate exclaimed “I haven’t had sex in forever, and honestly who would I have a baby with? I have barely had any time for all my work projects.” Kelly sat silent, staring back at Kate. Kate knew exactly what the stare meant, and she was instantly brought back to her one night stand and then to her teenage years. She had seen tons of girls get pregnant in high school, drop out, not knowing who the father was and then spend the rest of their lives in that same little old trailer park she had grown up in. She swore up and down that she would never go back to those roots.  Now she had planted them right into the ground with her mishap. “It’s not for sure!” she told herself. “Let’s go to the drug store at lunch and get a test.  I have to know!” She walked away from Kelly with a quick turn. That afternoon, they ran to the store and headed back to Kate’s apartment for the moment of truth. She sat in anticipation waiting for the one little pink line to show up.  “Look at it, Kate!” Kelly yelled. “I can’t. What am I going to do, Kel?” “Well, it’s not for sure until you look at the damn test,” Kelly exclaimed. Kate mustered up all her courage and finally turned towards the test.  There was a pink line, but there wasn’t just one. There were two.  Kate sat down on the toilet in shock. “What am I going to do now? I’m not ready for a kid and I don’t even know who the father is. Life doesn’t get much trashier than that.” “You’re not getting any younger, Kate. Lots of people have married and finished having kids by their mid-thirties, and at 26, you haven’t even begun. If you ever want a family, here’s the perfect time to start.” Kate sat and pondered Kelly’s thought but was angry at the entire situation. “I love my life,” she exclaimed, “and I’m not going to let my career go down the drain over this one calamity! It’s got to go, I’m not having it!” Kate ran out of the room and grabbed a phone book. She called the clinic and made an appointment for an abortion instantly. They told her she had to come in for a consultation and think about it for 24 hours. She argued with them for a good twenty minutes before giving in. Eventually, she said okay, but penciled the abortion into her schedule book anyway. A week later, Kate sat in her car staring down at that very schedule book with “DOCTOR’S APPOINTMENT” written in capital letters and circled in red ink. That day was today. It was the day that her life would be put straight again and the day that this nightmare would come to an end. She had worked so hard to change her life around from where she grew up and she wasn’t going to let one night on the town ruin it all for her. She opened the car door and stepped out, staring up at the clinic. “This is it.” Kate sighed with relief and walked in through the glass doors.