Kathleen ~ Van McCann

5

I get in my car and drive off quickly. Maybe I'll regret leaving Van over this, but I don't think I can be in a room with him right now. He saw how upset I was when he first brought up my mom, and he never should have brought it up again.

When I pull into the driveway, I decide to text Olivia.

Kathleen: Hey, Liv. Van and I aren't going to work out. He's a little insensitive or maybe just immature. I'm not sure. I'll explain more later.

She doesn't reply right away, which makes sense since it's 6:00. She's probably hanging out with her boyfriend or something.

I get out of the car and walk into the house where I find my mom sitting on the couch in front of the TV. She's luck my dad was a doctor who earned a lot of money because if not, she'd have to work, and she's the most lazy person I've ever meet.

"Oh, Kathy, why are you here? You said eleven o'clock not six," She grumbles and turns down the obnoxiously loud volume on the TV.

"Turns our the person didn't need me to cover the shift. Sorry, I should have texted you first," I tell her.

"Whatever. You know what? I don't even care. I didn't make you dinner because I wasn't expecting you," she says and turns the volume back up to where it was when I walked in.

Does she ever make dinner for me?

No.

I walk into the kitchen and grab the bread from the middle of the counter and start to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Not the best dinner, I know, but it will work.

I walk upstairs to my room and my phone vibrates. It's a text from Olivia.

Olivia: Nooo! Call me. I want to hear what happened. You're too good for him anyway, I know it.

I smile at the text and dial her number. Too bad there are no men like Olivia. Or just men with some sympathy. There probably are some, I've just yet to find one.

"Hey," I sigh when the ringing stops.

"Hey, Kathy. What happened with Van?" She asks. I can tell she cares by the sincerity in her voice.

"He just, ugh. Well, the first night we met, he asked a question involving my mom and I got kind of upset. He could tell I was too, I know he could. I think I made it pretty obvious. And then today he was like, 'you're parents have a curfew for you but can't even feed you a meal,' or something like that. There's really no need for me to be getting this upset, I know. But, I feel like he should have known not to talk about my parent, or at least my mom," I rant to her.

"Girl, you have every right to be upset with him. I would too if I was in your situation," she reassures me. "If he wants to keep spending time with you, he's going to have to make it up to you. Make sure you don't just let him back easily. He needs to recognize his mistake."

"Oh thank you, Liv. I'm glad I'm not overreacting," I say to her.

"Of course your not overreacting," she says.

Liv and I continue talking for what seems like two minutes, but is actually two hours.

"Oh my god, it's already 8:13," Liv laughs into the phone. "I still have to finish up some assignments for my class tomorrow. Talk to you later?"

Liv was still in college and was majoring in biology. She only worked at Starbucks late on the weekdays and the weekends. Tomorrow is Monday, so she probably put all her work off until now. That's just how she is, but she still manages to get fairly decent grades, so good for her.

"Yeah, I'm glad I could help you procrastinate," I tell her.

"Yeah I really appreciate it," she chuckles. "Bye, Kathy."

"Bye, Liv," I say and hang up.

•~~~~~

I turn on the TV in my room to watch the news and I grab my sketchbook from my desk along with some drawing pencils. This was, without a doubt, my favorite thing to do by myself. I loved drawing and hope I can do something involving it for a job one day.

I open to a clean page and begin drawing some pictures of guitars and microphones. All I could think about was Van for some reason, and I was drawing things that remind me of him. I have no good reason to be thinking of Van. It's not like we're a thing. He's probably forgotten about me by now. Anyway, I'm the one who ended any chance we had together.

As I'm drawing my phone vibrates and I expect to see a text from Liv, but it's from Van.

Van: What happened earlier?

I think for a few minutes before I reply. Was I going to lie? Or maybe I should tell the truth.

Kathleen: I had to go to work.

Van: Don't tell me that. You weren't even on your phone. What did I do?

Kathleen: Doesn't matter anymore, does it?

Van: It does.

Kathleen: Why would it matter?

Van: Because I like you.

Kathleen: No you don't. You're a musician. You probably have hundreds of girls to 'like.'

Van: You don't know that. And what would that prove? I think that would show just how much you mean to me. If I had hundreds of girls to choose from, then why would I be texting you right now if I didn't like you?

He made a fair point, but it doesn't excuse him bringing up my mom when he knew he shouldn't. I turn my phone off and decide not to reply.

Only a few minutes later, my phone vibrates again. This time it's not a text, it's a call.

From Van.

I hesitate before pressing the 'answer' button, but I do, nonetheless. 

"Hello?" I say.

"Hi," Van says. "Will you meet me tomorrow?"

"What? Van, are you crazy?" I ask, sounding slightly annoyed.

"No. I don't want to talk over text. I don't like it. Please, Just this one time. Give me once chance. I want to talk through some things," he says.

I almost feel bad now. It's like he isn't the same person that was in the back room of the bar a couple hours ago. Maybe I should meet him. He could have actually not realized his mistake.

"Van, I... I don't know," I say quietly.

"Please, Kathy. One time, then you can kick me out of your life forever if you want to," he says.

Wow, he actually used 'Kathy' instead of 'Kat.' He's really trying not to upset me. I can't help but smile a little at that.

I sigh into the phone. "Fine. One time," I say. He'll get one more try, I guess. Liv would be so upset with me.

"Thank you," he says. I hear him let out a breath on his end of the line. "When do you work tomorrow?"

"I don't. I have the day off," I tell him. Days off weren't really fun for me like they were for most. Yeah, I wasn't super fond of my job, but it kept me busy.

"That's perfect. How about 12:00? Meet at the bar?" He asks.

"Okay. See you then," I say.

"See you then," he repeats. "Bye, Kathy."