A Dark and Stormy Night

James couldn’t help but frown when the next song filled his left ear. “Another boy band.” He groaned. This was the third one in the last half hour or so. James wasn’t sure how much more of this he could take.

Katlyn, who by now was sitting less than three feet away from him, looked at him with a sort of sheepish look. “Well,” she said with a weak smile, “I am a girl.”

James sighed, pulling tiny phone from his ear. “Ok, I’m sorry, but I just can’t listen to that anymore.” There was a little more to it that just the music. Katlyn didn’t have a terrible taste in music, as far as he was concerned. It was just that her interests varied too much. The real reason James got up was to just not be so close to her. He didn’t know why, but being near Katlyn made him feel uncomfortable. Pacing quietly around the room, James removed what was left from the bag of ice off his face. His whole left cheek was numb. With a reluctant slowness, James prodded the flesh just under his eye to gauge how badly he had been hurt. The brief needle point pain that erupted from where he had touched gave him a vague idea.

“Does it hurt bad?” Katlyn asked.

“Not really.” James lied. Weakness was never something he wanted to show around a girl, no matter what the situation was. He hoped that Katlyn would leave the situation well enough alone, but he wasn’t surprised when he heard her rise from the bench. James had passed beyond the point of wanting to scream or get angry. There was very little left in him except exhaustion, both physically and mentally. When Katlyn moved in front of him, he didn’t offer her any resistance. He just stood there, waiting to see what she would do. When she stared at his face, James began to shift nervously about on his feet. He was really, really uncomfortable with this. He knew that Katlyn wasn’t, but the way she was looking at his face made it seem as if she were staring into his eyes. Katlyn gently reached out with her hands and touched his skin around the edges of his wound.

The feeling a physical contact, even something as small as her fingertips, cause a wave of goose bumps to radiate across James’ body. He shouldn’t have hated the feeling, but he did. It reminded him too much of…
He pulled away suddenly, leaving Katlyn there holding her hands out in the air, which looked really silly. “What?” she said in a completely oblivious voice.

“I just…” he started before the voice died in his throat. He looked down at his feet. “Nothing.”

“I’m sorry if it bothered you.” Katlyn said. “I was just checking to see how bad the swelling was. I would say to put another bag of ice on it, but I don’t think it’ll do any more good.”

“What are you, a doctor?”

“No.” Katlyn shook her head. “But my mom’s a nurse. She taught me all about things like this.”
James nodded, quickly turning his head away because he realized he was looking at Katlyn’s face. He paced to the other side of the room, his mind momentarily lost. Katlyn, for whatever reason, decided to remain quiet. James turned back to her. “Be honest with me, how bad does it look.” James stood and watched as Katlyn worked her eyes over his injury. Again, that slightly weird, yet familiar tingle was coming back to him. He wanted to look away, but he knew that she needed him to stay still so she could give him an honest answer.

And why would she be honest with him? James didn’t know, but he was sure Katlyn would. There was something about her, something he just couldn’t put his finger on, that made her seem so trusting. The only thing he could think of was her kindness. The more he thought about it, the more James was certain that was the reason he believed Katlyn wouldn’t lie to him. It was also another thing that added to his discomfort. He was just not used to this kind of compassion, especially from someone who didn’t even know him. Clarissa had never been this nice to him when they had first meet.

“Well…” Katlyn started, then abruptly closed her mouth. Her eyes went wide and the top of her cheeks turned a faint shade of red. “I can’t believe this.”

“What?” James asked, “What is it?”

“I…I don’t know your name.” Katlyn said sheepishly.

He stared at her unblinkingly for a moment. There was a quick collection of his thought processes, then he returned to the present. “It’s James.”

“James.” Katlyn repeated, rolling his name off her lips. She then looked at him. “Well, James, it doesn’t look that bad. You can tell there’s some swelling, but it could be a lot worse.”

James nodded his head weakly before heading towards the bathroom. He believed her, but he wanted to see for himself. As he passed through the locker room’s entrance, Katlyn called after him. “Where are you going?”

“To see how bad it is myself.” James replied. He hung his head low in a degected manner. “Not that it makes any difference.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know I’m ugly anyway.” he told her before walking out. James didn’t want to sound mean, but he really did feel that he was telling the truth. After all, if he wasn’t ugly, why had Clarissa dumped him for Marcus? If he wasn’t ugly, then why could he get other girls to even look at him? James sighed heavily, feeling the familiar sting of Clarissa’s betrayal spike in his chest. He shut his eyes, fighting the sadness back as he pushed through the doors to the bathroom. Sulking over to the sink, James looked at himself in the grimy mirror. Sure enough, there was visible swelling just under his left eye. There was no way he was going to be able to hide that from anyone. And he knew that by the next Friday night, everyone on the football team, probably half the school, would know about how Marcus had kicked his ass. What would Clarissa do, he wondered. Would she try to get Marcus to leave him alone? Would she try to pretend that she had never known him at all? Or would she laugh along with the rest? Folding his arms across the sink, James found himself seriously doubting it would be the first option. Resting his head against his arms, James did his very best to hold back another wave of tears. It was getting monotonous, but it wasn’t like he could just turn his feelings off. Or think about how worthless he felt. After all, who could possibly be attracted to a troll like him?

**

Katlyn held her breath as she stood close by the door to the bathroom. She felt kind of bad for being there, it seemed like she was spying on James. She listened carefully for any noises coming from the other side of the door, especially the sounds of crying. Katlyn felt really bad for James now, her previous anger at his nastiness to her all but a distant memory in the back of her mind. He wasn’t hurting from just the punch he had taken to his face. There was something much deeper cutting him apart. As stupid as it may have seemed, she really wished that he would talk to her about it. Her mother had always told her that sometimes just having someone to talk to can make all the difference in the world to them. But James was being so closed about it. Katlyn was starting to wonder what was wrong with her. All of her friends found her to be good company, they liked talking to her. Sometimes about some of the biggest problems they were having in their lives. As she wondered why, a sort of realization struck Katlyn. Maybe James didn’t want to talk to her about what was bothering him because she was a girl. Katlyn suddenly developed a strong suspicion that James’ problems were related to a girl.

Maybe that’s why he had been so hostile to her in the beginning. And was still being distant. James may not have noticed it, but Katlyn certain had seen the look of worthlessness wash over James’ face just before he had walked around the corner. She knew the look all too well. She had seen it countless times on her friend’s faces, and knew that a few times it had been on her own. She wondered if James was in the bathroom think about how ugly he was. Katlyn certainly knew that feeling. She had spent more than one lunch break throughout her school life locked in a bathroom stall crying her eyes out after being call a fat cow, or blimp, or any other number of fat jokes from stupid idiots that needed to hurt people to make themselves feel happy.

As she leaned against the wall, Katlyn began to picture James’ face in her mind. She tried to imagine what it would look like without all the swelling. She began to wonder why he must have thought of himself as ugly, because she was certain that he carried himself like that. He wasn’t a pretty boy, Katlyn knew that from a woman’s point of view. He didn’t have the power to make girls blush by just looking their way and smiling, like some of the guys in their school could. But he certainly wasn’t ugly. Katlyn sighed as she looked down at her own body. Without much conscious thought, she pinched a small portion of her stomach, making a revolting face at the fat that was clearly wedged between her fingers. She didn’t have anywhere near the weight problems that some of her friends had, but there was no way that she would ever be an hour glass bombshell. Glancing once at the door to the bathroom, Katlyn silently walked away. James just didn’t realize how lucky he was to not have all the fat that she had. As she walked away, Katlyn felt the grumble come from deep within her stomach. Katlyn sighed wearily, softly placing a hand over her rumbling tummy. She hadn’t eaten since lunch. Looking back on it all now, she really regretted not eating that sandwich that her mother had made for her just before her parents had left. She felt sort of stupid now for assuming that she would be able to have a late dinner right after the game. Katlyn went and sat back on her spot on the bench. It didn’t take long for the next spasm to hit her stomach, followed almost immediately by the great empty feeling. Katlyn groaned. In the far back of her mind, she wondered how she was ever going to be able to make it through the entire night without something to eat. She also found herself wondering why she had to be thrown into what had to be the most confusing situation of her entire life.

**

James weakly lifted his head from the sink and stared at himself again in the mirror. He came to at least one positive conclusion. He was so hideous that he didn’t have to worry about the swelling spoiling his good looks. Accepting his unattractiveness, James took a moment to collect himself before exiting the bathroom. Katlyn was bound to start wondering why he was taking so long in the bathroom, and he didn’t want her to worry. Why upsetting Katlyn felt like such a big deal to him all of a sudden, James had no idea. He brushed the curiosity aside before he had enough time to dwell on it. Thinking too much on anything, especially things that he had no answer for, was a recipe for disaster that he was all too familiar with.

Returning back to the locker room, James found Katlyn sitting exactly in the same spot that she had been when he had walked out. Had she been sitting there the whole time? He didn’t know, but James didn’t like the thought of having made her wait for so long. He quietly walked over to the same spot and sat down beside her, though not as close as he had earlier. The discomfort of being near her still lingered in his mind. Sighing heavily, placing his hands on his knees, James looked at the wall on the far side of the room.

“You were right.” he said to Katlyn in a quiet voice. “It…wasn’t that bad.”

“See.” Katlyn replied with a tiny smile. “I told you so. Why would I lie?”

“I never said that.” James countered. There was a drawn out moment of silence between them. He was quickly growing to hate the silence. It made the lingering tension all to present in the air. Just as he was thinking about the mounting unease, Katlyn groaned.

James looked over at her. “Is something wrong?”

“My stomach.” she whimpered.

“What?”

Katlyn gently rubbed her belly. “I haven’t eaten cense lunch.”

“Is it really bad?” James asked, unable to hide the slight amount of concern in his voice.
Katlyn looked over at him and forced a weak smile. “It’s ok, I’m not going to die without food for one night. I’ll just tough it out until tomorrow morning.”

Despite her happy and comfortable appearance, James could see that she was definitely hungry. He glanced at his watch. It was seventeen past eleven. James felt a knot form in his gut. Katlyn hadn’t eaten for over eleven hours. He had never gone so long without food before, and could only imagine how much her stomach must be hurting. When he heard the obvious grumbling of her stomach, James felt himself overcome with sympathy.
Katlyn again tried to play off her situation. She lightly patted her belly in a joking manner. “Down boy.” she chuckled softly.

James didn’t laugh. He was starting to feel really bad for Katlyn. Most of it was because she had done so much for him even though they were total strangers. There was a little more to it than just that, though James had no idea what it was. He really wished that there was something that he could do for her, even if it wasn’t much. But as he sat there, staring at Katlyn as the growls from her stomach became more frequent and intense, he could see no way to help her. Sighing, he shifted on the bench, feel the all too familiar taste of utter defeat pressing down on him. It was in that moment that he felt something dig slightly into his left thigh. Grumbling, he dug his hand into the side pocket of his pants. When his fingers wrapped around the object, his face practically began to radiate. Pulling his hand back slightly, James stared down at the tip of the nut bar he had bought hours ago but had never bothered to eat.

He glanced once very nervously over at Katlyn, who by now was not looking his way. She had her head turned and seemed to be off in her own little world. No doubt an attempt to block out the hunger from her mind. James pulled the small snack from his pocket and looked at it very hard for a single moment. It wasn’t even close to being a meal, but it definitely was something that he could give to Katlyn. And if he did help the girl with her current hunger crisis, then he would perhaps even the slate between them in good deeds.

He gulped once with hesitation. Again, he had no idea why he did that. With a quick clearing of his throat, James slowly leaned over and tapped Katlyn on the shoulder. She jumped slightly at his touch, which in turned caused him to retract his hand as if it had been bitten. When she turned to face him, she saw James holding the small bar out to her. There was a long moment of silence between the two as Katlyn stared at James, and he in turn stared at her. Her eyes broke the lock when they darted down towards the nut bar. Katlyn stared down at the offering, as if it were some kind of special gift. Her eyes brightened in a bizarre way, which he was sure weren’t completely due to the chance to put something in her stomach. James really wished that she hadn’t done that. Again, that weird, uncomfortable yet vaguely familiar feeling was flooding into him.

“Where…” Katlyn began.

“Just take it.” James said, holding the bar closer to her. “You need it a lot more than I do.”
Katlyn looked up from the nut bar at him. Her eyes were glowing in a way he had never seen before. The stare sent another wave of shivers up James’ spine. He felt his chest tighten slightly and a little bit of the heat leave his body. Why was she staring at him like that? He didn’t know, and he wished that she wouldn’t. This whole night had already been more than enough excitement for him, and he just wanted the rest of it to pass in relative peace. He saw a few slight twitches go through Katlyn. James wasn’t sure, but he thought that she had been about to move several times. What was she going, or had been going, to do? James found himself suddenly scared at the idea that he had no clue.

Mercifully for him, Katlyn took a deep breath and took the snack from his hand. “Thank you James.” She whispered softly. “That’s very kind of you.”

What she said had been too much. James jumped to his feet and started to walk out the room.

“What?” he heard Katlyn call after him. There was mixture of a lot of surprise, and a faint twang of hurtfulness, in her voice. James stopped in his tracks, took a sharp breath to collect himself, and looked over his shoulder at her.

“Nothing.” he lied again. “I’m going to go get you some water.”

“Water?”

“Yeah.” he said, forcing a friendly smile. “I figured you would want to have something to drink with that. Otherwise your throat might get very dry.”

Katlyn stared at him for a moment in silent confusion. The dawning of what he was saying became apparent in her face shortly after. “Oh.” she said. “Well, thank you again James.”

“You’re welcome.” he replied walking out. He was true to his word. He quickly filled up a cup of water and brought it back to her. There was no more ice left, but the tap was cold enough to make the drink enjoyable. When he placed the cup by her side and sat back in his usual spot, he saw that Katlyn had already taken the first bite from the snack.

After a quick chew and swallow, she sipped a little bit from the cup. When Katlyn had finished that, she looked at him. “James,” she said in low voice. “I know it isn’t much, but what you’ve done, well….it’s very sweet. So thank you again.”

Very sweet. Hard to image two simple words could affect a person so much. At one instant, James felt a great surge of comfort push its way into him. In the same moment, he wanted to rip his hair out. Damn this whole situation, he thought to himself, why does it all have to be so confusing? Katlyn was throwing one hell of a monkey wrench in his train of thought, and he had no idea how he was going to be able to cope with it. The scariest part of it all for him was that he had absolutely no idea why she was having such a deceive effect on him.

“You’re welcome.” he repeated himself, slipping over his words this time as he spoke.

Katlyn chuckled softly under her breath as she took another small bite from the snack bar. She chewed it up quickly and swallowed it. “James?”

He cocked his head and looked slightly at her. “Do you go by that name, or do you have another?”

She looked nervous about asking him. There was still no answer why she was suddenly acting so weird around him, which in turn was fueling his own discomfort. James scratched his head softly. “Sometimes my friends just call me J.”

“J.” Katlyn repeated, testing the feel of the nickname. “You mind if I call you that?”

“Call me whatever you want.” he said, trying to sound distant again. He got back on his feet and started pacing about the room while Katlyn finished off her meager, but no doubt very appreciative, dinner.

“Kat.” she said.

James turned and looked at her. “What?” he asked.

Katlyn gave him a weak smile. “My friends call me Kat. So you can call me Kat.”

“We’re not friends.” James said. There was no hostility in what he said, it was merely stating a fact. Katlyn frowned.

“Why not? Why can’t we be friends?”

“You don’t know me.” James replied hotly. “And I don’t know you.”

Katlyn folded her hands and rested them in her lap. “Then let’s find out. I’ll ask you a question. Then you ask me one. We’ll make them real simple, and see where we go.”

James gave a tiny laugh and shook his head. Was she serious? What could have possibly made her think that he would want to do something so stupid as play trivia about his life? Katlyn gave him a good answer.

“What else do you have to do? Sit there and stare at the wall?” she said.

James shook his head again. He glanced up at the ceiling before looking back down at Katlyn. “You’re right.” he said in a defeated voice. “I don’t have anything else to do.”

Katlyn’s smile widened when he returned to his spot on the bench and sat back down. “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Katlyn stared at him again, which sent another tingle radiating through James and caused him to look away from her. If Katlyn thought anything about what he did, she didn’t show it. “I’ll go first then.”
There was a long pause. “Tell me about your parents, J.”