Catching You
Catching You
by
Katie Gallagher
Table of Contents
Catching You
ISBN 10- 1-61258-051-3
ISBN 13- 978-1-61258-051-7
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Copyright © 2012 Katie Gallagher
Cover art by Bret Poinier
This book is a work of fiction. Any
resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, any events or locales is
purely coincidental. The names, characters, places and incidents are products
of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission from
the publisher LazyDay, with the exception of quotes used in reviews and critical
articles.
Dedication
This book wouldn’t have been possible if not for the
following people;
Breanne Rowe: Meeting on MySpace four years ago started a
wonderful friendship. It’s because of your encouragement that this novel was
the “One” that I’ve achieved my dream.
Tiffany Cole: If it wasn’t for your critique, I think this
novel would still be sitting on my computer unedited. Thank you so much!
Megan Vitolo: Thank you for the countless hours that you
spent editing this novel, the emails and texts that we exchanged and the food
that we consumed talking about the novel. I love you girl!
And to my husband David: Thank you for dealing the countless
nights that I sat in the living room while watching TV and suddenly got up and
ran upstairs to write something down my character said. And also for not
letting me hit the delete button on this one when I was frustrated. Your arms
are my home.
I can’t believe I’m actually graduating.
I waited to
get into Arroyo High’s upper parking lot.
The line of cars inched
forward very slowly. I glanced at my watch, sighing. 5:10 p.m. I’d gotten stuck
behind a slow driver going like ten miles an hour when the speed limit was
forty five. I hate people!
I got out of the car: a 98’Ford Escort ZX2 in gold with tan interior.
I’d begged my dad for red, but he’d put his foot down real fast. He said the
police were more likely to give speeding tickets to people with red cars. I was
juggling my cap and gown in my right hand and coffee in the left. I had my
purse, a cross-body bag, in bright pink over my middle. I shoved the door shut
with my right hip, jostling my coffee, and spilled it all over the front of my
shirt. “Oh shit!” I yelled, hurrying to brush it off before the coffee stained.
I’d worn my black sequined tank top that hugged my small
body. At only 110lbs, I was lucky to have curves. I’d paired my shirt with my
favorite denim mini skirt. It gave me the allusion of a bigger butt and showed
off my slender legs. My shoes were Chanel bowflats in forest green. They matched
my eyes perfectly. I’d gone natural with my makeup and only used mascara and
lip gloss. Everything was perfect.
My hair was another story. I’d straightened it before I left
the house, but by the time I arrived at the school, late of course, it was back
to the natural brown curls that I detested so much.
I hope nobody saw that.
Glancing around, I didn’t see
anyone. Then I heard my phone go off alerting me I had a text message. I
stopped for a moment, digging through my purse for the phone that was buried at
the bottom and hit read.
Someone’s getting cozy. If you want to still have a
boyfriend tomorrow, you better hurry. Time is running out.
Hmm…what the hell?
I thought. Although, I didn’t give
it much more thought as I tried to shake my gown off as I hurried towards the
football field. I ran past the fountain where Ryan asked me to be his
girlfriend freshmen year. Two trailer classrooms were on my right and a
basketball court on my left. I struggled to put my gown on over my clothes and
still hold onto my half full coffee.
Finally.
I got as far as the front gate before I was stopped by Mr.
Tate, my former English teacher. “Lauren, you know that no drinks are allowed
in the ceremony,” he said, pointing at my coffee cup.
I glanced down at my coffee. “Is there a trash can I could throw
this in?” I asked sweetly.
He pointed across the asphalt towards the gym doors. “Over
there.”
I glanced down at my wrist. “Do you think you could do it
for me? The ceremony is going to start in five minutes and I’m already late as
it is.” I bit my lip nervously.
“Fine, give it me. Now, don’t let this happen again.” He
grabbed the cup, waved me away. I walked through the gate and headed towards
the field praying that nobody noticed my late arrival. I glanced up at the
bleachers; they were packed! Our graduating class was a big one this year
rounding out at 600 students. The seats were clustered into three columns of
two hundred seats each to fit all of the graduating class. I slipped into the
nearest seat I could find in the back row. I didn’t want to disturb the
ceremony with my late arrival. I glanced around to see if I could see anyone
with a cell phone. It might tell me who sent the text message. No luck.
A few seconds later, I felt a nudge at my elbow. I glanced
to my left and saw my best friend, Elisabeth York, grinning at me. She had her
dark brown hair done up in a French twist fastened with a butterfly clip. Whereas
my makeup was minimal, Elisabeth had caked hers on. The purple eye shadow that
she had smeared on her lids really brought out her brown eyes, though. She
didn’t like them. She often called them mud brown.
She pointed at her watch with her newly done French
manicure. I couldn’t tell what she was wearing under the heinous yellow gown
that the school made us wear, but I did notice that she had on her grandmother’s
pearls, as usual. She never left the house without them.
“First, you’re late and then you sit in the wrong seat. I
made sure that all of us got to sit together and now you’ve gone and ruined
it!” she complained
“Sorry I just didn’t want to cause a commotion to get to my
seat, so I just sat down.”
“Well, I thought for a second you weren’t going to show.
What happened?”
“I had a mishap with coffee,” I lied. I didn’t want to
tell her about the text message yet. I didn’t even know what it meant myself. A
few people shushed us, so I turned back around. I could hear Elisabeth
chuckling behind me.
A few minutes later, the choir took their places and began
singing the class song,
Friends Forever
by Vitamin C. I glanced around
and saw a few girls dabbing their eyes with tissues and laughed. I don’t know
why they were being so dramatic. It’s not like they wouldn’t see each other on
school breaks.
The choir finished singing and the principal introduced the valedictorian.
I dug my nails into my hands listening to her speech about our future after
high school. How boring. I didn’t even notice my name being called.
“Lauren Bailey,” The principal repeated looking out into the
crowd. I quickly got up and hurried to the stage. I accepted my diploma, smiled
at the principal, and walked down the steps to my seat. I breathed a sigh of
relief.
The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch. I cheered
as each of my friends received their diplomas. Once the ceremony was over, I
knew that my parents were probably trying to find me to congratulate me, but
with the stadium at double capacity, it was likely going to take them awhile.
Instead, I ran off to find the rest of my friends. I spotted
them standing around in the grass and was soon getting hugs from
everyone—except Ryan Carmichael, my boyfriend.
My other best friend, Bryn Roberts, threw her arms around my
neck. “We graduated!” she exclaimed.
“Bryn, you’re choking…me,” I managed to say through her
tight grip she had around my neck.
“Oh sorry.” She giggled, letting go.
“That’s okay,” I said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. She’d
taken off her gown and was wearing a lime green wraparound dress that looked to
be a few sizes too small. At only 5’4, Bryn was what you would call a big boned
girl. She recently had her blonde hair cut to a stylish bob.
I glanced around the field for Ryan and found him standing
at the edge of the group whispering with Elisabeth. He looked over, staring
directly at me. I wasn’t sure what it was that still stirred me about him after
being together for four years. His smile that was both sneaky and kind at the
same time? His engaging blue eyes? Or was it his jet-black hair that was a
contrast with his pale complexion? I didn’t know, but after all this time he
still made me happy to call him my boyfriend. He was wearing tan dress pants
and a white polo shirt. He’d worn his black hair spiked for the occasion.
Elisabeth didn’t look happy at all. She’d taken off her gown
and had it draped over her arm. She was wearing a strapless white dress and
every time she leaned down it looked like her boobs were trying to escape. Her
legs were toned from running track. We met in kindergarten when she offered to
share her animal crackers with me at snack time and we’d been best friends ever
since. It sometimes felt like more of a competition than a friendship, though.
“What’s up with those two?” I asked gesturing towards Ryan.
Bryn blushed. “Nothing. It’s nothing.” I could tell that she
was lying, but didn’t have time to worry about it because my parents showed up.
“We’re so proud of you!”My mother gave me the hug of death
while my father just stood there.“Help me!” I mouthed at him. I’d inherited his
pale skin and my mother’s curly hair and green eyes. While my other friend’s
mothers wouldn’t wear shorts in their late thirties, my mother didn’t care.
She’d worn tan shorts, a white t-shirt and sneakers to my graduation.
“Thanks Mom.”I pulled away, straightening my gown out.
“Where’s Ryan?” she asked.
“He’s talking to Elisabeth.” I gestured behind me.