Page 60 of The Pucking Kiss
For a split second, I heard a trace of bitterness in her voice, but she quickly covered it up and smiled wide.
“I wanted to prove a point to you,” I replied.
“Oh, you proved your point, Romai,” Kathy laughed. “You got Bryan in the end. You were right, and I was wrong.”
It felt oddly satisfying to hear Kathy say those words to me. I had dreamed of this day for weeks now when she finally realized that she had done me wrong and apologized.
I just had no idea that it would come this soon.
“How do I know…” I paused, scrutinizing her expression once again. “That you’re not trying to set me up?”
Kathy laughed as if I had said the most ridiculous thing ever, “Set you up? Do you really not trust me at all, Romai?”
“Let’s just say that you’ve given me enough reasons not to.”
“No, I’m not trying to set you up. The school year is almost ending, and I just wanted to make sure that things between the two of us were right again.”
I was quiet, not knowing what to say to her. She took this as an opportunity to try and convince me even more.
“Romai, you know that prom is coming up. Don’t you remember we used to dream about it as little girls? I want to be friends again so that we can experience it together.”
I found myself softening up at her words. Maybe my biggest flaw was that I always tended to relent.
After all, Kathy had been my friend for so many years. Perhaps we could still salvage our friendship…
“What do you say, Rom?”
I hadn’t heard that nickname in weeks.
“I…” I hesitated, “I guess that we can give it a shot.”
Kathy’s face lit up immediately with a wide smile. “I knew you would not let me down. God, I’m so happy that you’ve decided to put things in the past.”
“You’re right that school is ending,” I nodded. “We should bury the hatchet. I mean, next year, we are all going to be in different places anyway.”
“That’s exactly what I think, too,” Kathy grinned. “I am so glad that we are on the same page again.”
“But what about….” I broached the topic slowly, “Well, Bryan.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Kathy replied, “I should not have been so weird about that to begin with.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you serious? You broke up our friendship over him.”
“And I’ve changed my mind now,” she insisted. “Come on, let’s not keep talking about things in the past anymore.”
I was suddenly reminded of how bossy she could get. Kathy must have realized that, too, as her expression changed from annoyed to happy again immediately.
“How about we have a fresh start?” she offered. “Just you and me. We will go shopping for prom together.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’ll pick you up after school. It’ll be just like old times.”
“Kathy,” I sighed, “I really don’t want to go back to exactly how it was in the old times. I don’t want you to be a shadow around while you soak up all of the limelight.”
Kathy shook her head immediately, “It’s not going to be. Trust me, Romai. I’ve done a lot of self-reflection, and I realize that I was completely in the wrong. You have to trust me here.”
“Fine,” I replied. Even though I wasn’t fully convinced yet, I was not cold enough not to give her a second chance.