My father was a shrewd middle-aged man who kept to himself; however, he was incredibly loving. Him and my sister arrived home and through the door I heard my sister shriek.
Concerned, I rushed to the living room and saw my sister and even my dad's mouth agape.
"You asked out Kate?" My sister, Tay, eagerly asked me clenching her fists as she beamed at me. Her blond hair shone in the light coming through the curtains as her blue eyes burned into my person.
To my surprise, my dad seemed interesting, wearing a smile I rarely saw.
I let out a low sigh, "No, I just asked her to hang out on Valentines Day like always." It didn't feel good to lie, but the last thing I would want to do is get my family excited about a relationship of mine.
Hypothetically, if we got together and it didn't work out, I would have to face my family, and they would feel bad… and I just would rather be alone with that.
"Mmm… Whatever you say Luke." My sister looked down and shook her head, it was no secret in my family that we were close. But talking about dating or getting together only happened a few other times.
With that conversation complete, I changed the topic to my family's day and talked with my dad about work and shared my day of school. After a short conversation, I once more excused myself to my room.
Days passed and soon it was the day before Valentines Day, Thursday. Kate and I were making our way to school as usual, though something seemed to be on her mind, she was acting aloof, more than usual.
"What are you planning on wearing?" Kate asked, seemingly worried about clothes. Kate was beautiful, she looked good in anything she wore, currently even in the school issued tan blazers and pants, she had an allure unique to her.
"Well, the restaurant is somewhat fancy, so I was going to wear some nicer clothes. But since we are going to the theater after, I want to be able to be comfortable there." I reasoned, the plan wasn't ideal, sitting in a theater in jeans and a button up didn't seem fun.
"Oh, okay. Well, anyway, I am excited about it."
"Yeah, me too."
She smiled; but something felt different now than how it had been the past few days. When we were alone, she wasn't as hyper, it was like she was still at school…
I wanted to ask if everything was okay, but with only a few minutes before we reached the school, I chose to wait for now.
The past week had been light school wise, since the calculus test, there had been no major exams, and the days seemed to have flown by.
Kate sat across from me like usual, I didn't know if she was tired or what, but she just sat with her hand on her chin and stared forward, glaring at nothing in particular. Since talking wasn't her favorite thing to do in school, I took out a piece of paper and started writing.
Once I finished scribbling, I folded it once and gently set it on her desk. She looked over at me and furrowed her brow, as if asking, what is this?
Eventually curiosity got the best of her, and she slid the paper into her hand and unfolded it: Are you okay? Was writing within it. She didn't flinch as she read my message and reached into her bag to grab out a pencil.
Kate scribbled something down and folded it back and handed it back with a smile, it looked fake. Her smile that is, like she was acting like she enjoyed this encounter. But not like I could do anything about it, I just took the letter and remained quiet.
Yes I am, why? Her handwriting, as beautiful as ever was in the corner of the page with her response. I retrieved my own pencil and wrote back.
It seems like these past few days you have been acting differently, that is all. I wrote and passed it back to her.
I couldn't pinpoint the exact time, but after I asked her to go out with me on Valentines Day, her mood just gradually worsened. Had I misread our relationship after all? No, I couldn't have, right?
Kate snapped me out of my head when the paper fell back onto my desk. I am okay, just a little tired. I couldn't help but think it was an excuse, but like this, I didn't think I would get a different answer.
I nodded and crumbled the paper into a little ball, the sudden noise caught the attention of a few people in class, their looks hostile, though they soon went back to whatever they were doing before.
Class ended that day and Kate and I were once again back to our usual routine, walking back home together. With nothing important to focus on in school, I had observed Kate for most of the day.
It was an understatement to say that I was interested in her, infatuated might be the right word. And because of that, I knew that something had to be up. The usual spring in her step had almost faded completely and even when we were out of ear shot of school, her words were still quiet.
"Kate, if you do not want to go on the date, then we don't have to." I said, looking ahead as I did. I didn't want to cancel our plans; I was already looking forward to it with glee. But if it was causing her such pain, then I would reluctantly cancel them.
Immediately after I finished, she looked at me and pleaded, "No!" It was the loudest she had spoke in recent memory, "Please, no. I want to go." However, even when she spoke, a small frown was still evident on her face.
I quickly reassured her, "Okay, okay. I was just making sure that wasn't why you were acting different." I said, but Kate actually seemed to get upset at that.
"I told you I was tired." Her voice was once again louder than usual, as if realizing just now how she was talking, she apologized.
"Sorry." She said and ran off. We were both book nerds, but her physical ability was much better than mine and it was no secret between us that she worked out. When I asked her why, she wouldn't answer, with all that being said, I let her run, not like I could catch her.