Adopted by Connor Franta (Book 2)

Chapter 28: You Smell Like Hospital!

I made it to the park and sat on one of the swings. I remember I would sit on the one on the left and her on the right. I stepped back, my butt still on the swing. I picked my feet up and swung forward. A memory hit me in the face like a wrecking ball.

Flashback:

"Katie, we should hold hands and swing together." Young Sadie told me, grabbing my hand.

"Sure." We slid onto the swings and stepped back.

"1." Sadie started counting down.

"2." I said rearranging my feet.

"3." We yelled together and picked our feet up. Our bodies surged forward and stayed in the same pace together.

"This is so much fun!" Sadie yelled throwing her head back.

"Totally!" I yelled, doing the same thing. We let go of each other's hands and picked our pace up. Now we are almost swinging higher than the trees.

"Katie, let's jump off!" Sadie screamed, surging back and forth.

"Let's slow down some first. I don't wanna break a bone."

"Okay." We slowed down and grabbed each other's hands.

"1." She yelled pulling her arms through the chains.

"2." I yelled pushing my body up a little bit. We swung backwards.

"3." We yelled together as we were swinging forward. We jumped off, hand in hand, and landed in a pile of leaves we put in a piled up earlier.

"Ughh, today was fun!" I threw my body back in the leaves.

"Yes we have to do this again!" Sadie threw some leaves up in the air. I threw some up to and eventually the sky was raining with leaves. That night me and Sadie stayed in a playground house overnight. It was one of those fall nights that was perfect.

End of Flashback

I've been swinging on this swing for a while now. The sun's setting and it's a little chilly. Of course I'm in shorts and a tanktop. I leave the swing and start heading out of the park. I spot a bench. It's the bench me and Sadie ran to after we had gotten beaten by Mrs. Duece. I stopped walking and sat down on the bench.

Flashback:

"Katie, let's s-stop here." We were shaking and crying. We slowly sat down on the bench. Our arms wrapped around each other and we look like a ball on the bench.

"Why?" I cried onto Sadie's shoulder.

"I don't know, Katie." We sniffled and pulled apart. I took a deep breath and wiped my face.

"I wish m-my dad wouldn't have given me up!" Sadie yelled through her tears.

"Sadie, it's okay. You've got me." I rubbed her back.

"That's all I have. All I have is you. No one and nothing else." She leaned back on the bench and took a deep breath.

"We better get back before we're in more trouble." She wiped her face and stood up. She held her hand out for me so I took it. We had our arms on each other's shoulders the whole way back to the orphanage.

End of Flashback

I snapped back into reality when I heard my phone ring.

Me: Hello?
Connor: Hey, Kay.
Me: Hey Dadd-io.
Connor: Where are you?
Me: Minnesota.
Connor: How's Sadie?
Me: Resting in peace.
Connor: Oh, baby, I'm so sorry. I'm actually on my way back from tour. I'll be there in a few hours.
Me: You didn't leave early did you?
Connor: No it's over.
Me: Oh.
Connor: Stay safe. I talked to Ricky a few minutes ago. His plane just landed. He told me to tell you to call him. I told him I was calling you first.
Me: Okay. Love you. See you soon.
Connor: Love you too, Katie. Call me if you need me. I'll be there soon. Stay strong.
Me: Will do. Bye, Daddy.
Connor: Bye, babygirl.

I hung up and dialed Ricky.

Ricky: Hello?
Me: Hey. Dad said to call you.
Ricky: Yeah I did. So, me and the other 2 boys just arrived at the airport. Where are you? We'll come pick you up.
Me: I'm at the park.
Ricky: We'll be on our way. How's Sadie.
Me: She's resting in peace.
Ricky: Ohmygod! Are you okay?
Me: Yeah I guess considering my sister just died.
Ricky: We're on our way.
Me: Okay.
Ricky: Bye, Katie. Love you!
Me: Love you too.

I hung up and stood up. I continued my walk in the park. I found the basketball court and sat on the bleachers. The wind picked up causing me to shiver. It blew a basketball across the court. I jumped up to get the ball thinking it belonged to a kid that will be looking for it later.

I fought my way against the wind to get the ball. I reached for the ball and allowed the wind to die down some before I moved once more. I walked back to the court and sat down on the bottom row of the bleachers.

It started to drizzle so I walked to the basketball court, still holding the ball. Since I was waiting on Ricky to get here and I have a ball, why not shoot a few hoops right?

I dribbled the ball some and stood where half court would be if it was in a gym. I squatted some and shot the ball. It went in. I retrieved it and shot again. Once again, I made it.

I messed around with my shooting techniques some. I went for a layup. I heard someone walking up but I kept on with my layup unbothered that someone was watching me.

Swish

I made it and retrieved the ball. I turned around to see I had an audience of 3. I walked up to them.

"I heard you walk up." I sat down next to Trevor and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Yeah. Nice shot by the way. Where'd you get the ball?" Jc asked. He placed his hand on my shoulder.

"The wind blew it across the court so I picked it up. Then it started raining and there was nothing else to do so I just started messing around."

"Oh." We sat in silence for a while. I listened to the wind rattling the trees. I heard crickets and leaves blowing around. I closed my eyes and pictured myself somewhere less cold, like California.

"So. We better get going." Ricky said, climbing off the bleachers.

"Want me to carry you?" Offered Jc. I softly smiled at him and reached my arms out. He took me in his arms and I wrapped my hands around his neck and my legs around his waist. We walked to the curb and caught a taxi. We arrived at iHop.

"Food." I mumbled. We got out of the taxi and walked inside. The waitress seated us.

"When was the last time you ate?" Trevor asked me as I was staring at the menu.

"I ate two strips of bacon with Lauren."

"Katie, that was two days ago." Ricky said.

"Oh I didn't realize. I was at the hospital for two days. Wow." I was shocked I had been at the hospital for two days and hadn't eaten a thing.

"You're lucky you haven't passed out from sugar withdrawls!" Jc joked. I chuckled quietly to myself. I ordered my food. When it arrived I ate it all. I swear everytime I would look up from my phone to take a bite, there would be more food on my plate. But I kept eating!

"I'm stuffed!" I clutched my stomach with both hands and looked at it.

"Well you did eat a lot of food!" Trevor said, grabbing my hand. I smiled at him and we left the restraunt.

Ricky caught another taxi and it took us to Con's apartment. We rode the elevator to his apartment and let ourselves in with the spare, hidden key.

"Katie, you can go shower. You smell like hospital!" Trevor told me. He kissed the top of my head and pushed me towards the bathroom. I giggled and walked to the bathroom.