Chapter
12
"So, what
do you think your mom's gonna say tomorrow when you get home?" Jennie
asked, once she and Katelyn were back in their hotel room, later that night.
Katelyn
sighed. It wasn't what her mother was going to say that scared her, it was what
she was going to do. But then, Jennie had no idea what Katelyn's mother
was really like. There was only one person Katelyn had told, and that was
Brian, a person she had met for the first time that night, while she had known
Jennie since they were in elementary school together.
"I don't
know," Katelyn said, sighing again. "She's gonna be pissed off."
"Did you
leave her a note or anything?" Jennie asked.
"Yeah. I
didn't tell her where I'd gone though. I just told her not to worry, that I was
safe, and that I'd be back tomorrow afternoon," Katelyn said.
"My mom
would kill me if I did that to her," Jennie said, her eyes wide.
If I don't
watch out, my mom really will, Katelyn thought bitterly, but said nothing.
"Why
didn't you just try and talk her into letting you go?" Jennie asked.
"I told
you, she'd never have let me go. It's better that I did it this way. I'd rather
lie to her and have her get mad, than miss out on having my dream come
true," Katelyn said firmly.
The girls
stayed up and talked until about three in the morning. Then they finally said
good-night and climbed into the two double beds.
An hour later,
Katelyn could hear Jennie's deep, steady breathing, telling Katelyn that she
was sound asleep. Katelyn, however, could not sleep. A million thoughts ran through
her head, and she was full of all kinds of emotions.
She was filled
with happiness from being at the concert. But she was also frightened of what
was going to happen the next afternoon, when she got home. It was a Sunday, so
her mother wouldn't be at work. She would be home, just waiting for Katelyn to
come home. And Katelyn knew she would not be happy.
Katelyn rolled
over and winced as pain shot through her back, where her mother had hit her
with a lamp, making the large bruise that Brian had discovered.
Tears filled
her eyes, not really tears of pain, but of fear. She was terrified of what
Janet might do to her. And the worst part was, there was nothing she could do
about it. If Jennie knew, she would offer to let Katelyn stay at her house. But
she would also make Katelyn go to the police, and that scared her too. She
hated living with Janet, but still, she was her mother, and Katelyn couldn't
turn her in. Even if she had no remorse about turning Janet it, she was still
too scared to do it, fearing that Janet would somehow come after her, and hurt
her badly, or worse, kill her.
As Katelyn lay
in the dark and cried, she thought about Brian, how safe and comforted she had
felt in his arms. In her heart, she wanted to call him and ask for help, but
she knew how busy he was and didn't think it would be fair to dump all her
problems on him. Besides, what could he do? He would probably just go to the
police, just as Jennie would.
Katelyn buried
her head in her pillow to muffle her sobs and eventually cried herself to
sleep.
***
