warmth {complete}

18||your touch, my comfort, and my lullaby

"We're having the Greenes over for dinner," my mother announces the next morning as I'm attempting to sneak Griffin out of the house. "Please don't get stressed about this, Katherine, it's just a casual affair."

"Why would I be stressed?" I call, glancing towards the kitchen with furrowed brows.

"I don't know, honey, but you are not allowed to make up trips to the bathroom so you can listen to music," she warns. (This sentence annoys me for some reason???)

"But I need to recharge."

"Katherine."

"Fine," I sigh, rolling my eyes and meeting Griffin's green ones. "I'm going to school!"

I haul my bag over my shoulder and nod to the door as Stephanie comes prancing down the stairs. Her eyes widen when she sees Griffin, and she mouths Oh my God to me.

"Don't tell Mom," I hiss, tugging Griffin out of the house and towards my car. He laughs once we're out of earshot.

"Wow, Katherine, what a rebel."

"I am a rebel. An actual human boy slept in my bed two nights in a row, and guess who found out?" I grin and do a little shoulder-shake. "No one."

"Well, your sister— "

"No one that matters. Do you know what kind of dirt I have on her?"

"No, I don't. Care to share?"

"Well, there was the boy she was making out with last year," I say, ticking it off on my fingers, "then that test she cheated on in her freshman year. Oh, she once stole a pack of cigarettes from a convenience store."

"Damn. I would've never expected that from a Worthington."

"Well, she's kind of a disgrace to the family name."

"Ah."

He turns up the volume on the radio, and we listen to "Nothing Without Love" by Nate Reuss, which is yet another song that's very awkward to listen to with your crush. (We already slept together, though, so there's not much more awkwardness to experience.) The silence is companionable, comfortable, and it's the most wonderful car ride I've ever experienced.

***

"Can I sit with you?"

I glance up at the chubby brunette standing in front of me. She's worrying the hem of her skirt, looking anxious and terrified, so I scoot over on my bench and pat the spot next to me. I'm not entirely sure why she thought I would be a good option for friends, but I'm too thankful to judge.

"Are you new?" I ask, smiling in what I hope is a warm fashion.

"Um, yes. I'm Arden," and she extends her hand to me. She's polite and has perfect posture, reminding me distantly of a Victorian debutante, and her cheeks are the rosiest I've seen. She carries extra weight in her hips and stomach, but it just makes her look voluptuous and comely. She's prettier than any of the other losers in the courtyard.

"I'm Katherine," I say, shaking her hand firmly and tucking it back in my lap. "Can I see your schedule?"

She nods and hands me a thin piece of paper. I lean back against the bench as I read, crossing my legs and bouncing them.

"Mmm, we have home ec. together," I tell her with a smile. "And lunch, of course."

She smiles and looks around. "Where are your friends?"

"Ah, yes, I have one, his name is Griffin, and he's over there," I say, waving my hand in the general direction of Griffin's copper head. "He's the ginger."

"Oh, why doesn't he have freckles?"

"I don't know. He's a real disappointment."

We sigh simultaneously, and I smile because friends. Well, friend, singular, but it's a start.

She leans forward to tell me about her family and her dog and how she drives a too-snooty-for-this-world Mercedes. And I listen because friend.

A/N: These chapters are all so short now, but I like them so. I'm just now watching Shadowhunters because I'M  A LOSER and it's sooooo wonderful. Do enjoy this chapter.