ch. 3

Katerina stepped off the bus at the corner of McKenzie Road and Blanche Avenue. The coulourful sign of Apple Cider stood out among the brick buildings that surrounded it. Through the glass front Kat saw a flash of purple and automatically knew it was Tally's hair. She hurried across the street.1

When she opened the door, little bells chimed above her head lightly. Tally looked up from the table she was wiping and grinned. 2

"Ready for the game?" she asked. Kat made a face. Tally laughed. "That nervous?" Kat nodded and scanned the café quickly. There were a couple people scattered about,but the place was pretty empty. Fairly normal for a Tuesday afternoon. 3

A young man around 20 or so was sitting near the fireplace at the back typing on a laptop. To Kat he looked oddly familiar... but maybe someone's brother?4

If only I could see his face...5

Tally flashed a cookie the size of a CD in front of Katerina's face. It was triple chocolate chip.6

"Earth to Kat, abort lunar mission. This is mission control, do you copy?"7

Kat's eyes went from the man to the cookie, and then to her friend. She looked at Tally blankly.8

"What? Sorry I was just.. Ooh! That's a triple chocolate chip cookie! Thanks Talz!" She grabbed the cookie and took a bite.9

"Oh god, it's still warm. You were saying something?" Kat grinned like a satisfied child. Tally glared at her for a minute then began walking over to a table near the side wall.10

" We're out of biscotti but... I'm assuming cookie is good. How nervous are you Kat? You have the attention span of a child at Christmas." Tally exclaimed, plopping herself down into a hard, red wooden chair. Kat sat down across from her.11

" Honey, you don't want to know how nervous I am. It's not even the final game and already I can't sit still for 5 minutes." She took a big bite of the cookie. "That's why I came to see you," Kat said, swallowing. "I like your hair by the way. When did you turn it purple?"12

Tally smiled proudly, crossing one leg over the other and leaning in over the table. "I dyed it last night," she said excitedly. "And I really like the colour, but I'm convinced the box lied. It said permanent but in the shower, half of it washed out this morning! I'm so mad, but at the same time I'm super happy that it isn't red anymore. I was getting so many bad redhead jokes, and even Jacob was teasing me. Ridiculous!" She stopped to breathe properly. Sometimes once Tally was ranting, she just forgot that air was essential to living. She was a very excitable person and also very easily distracted. Kat took the opportunity to change the subject.13

"Did Jacob ever finish that song you were helping him with?" she asked. Tally shook her head and rolled her eyes.14

" I don't think he's ever finished a song by himself. I was going to help him write some stuff tonight. After the game of course."15

Kat smiled at her. She hadn't forgotten that she was supposed to come to the game. This was good. But it was also the millionth time that she had been with Jacob this month. The two were inseparable and to most, it would probably seem as though they were in a relationship. They weren't an official couple but Kat saw it happening soon. Tally almost ditched her last Thursday, and no one ever ditched Thursdays. It was their one day a week that they had to themselves. 16

Kat sighed inwardly. Since when was a Parading Zebras writing session more important than her? Boys and their bands... really. Tally wasn't even an official member. The boys weren't even that good. Katerina had only seen them once or twice performing live and their music was lacking a bit on the musical side. It was the only reason she approved of her friend helping them out.17

The guy from the back of the room walked by toward the door. Tally waved him goodbye. 18

"Have a nice day!" she called. The guy nodded, his brown eyes smiling as he left. Kat watched as his black haired head passed by the glass front and disappeared. 19

"Talz, do you know him?" she wondered. Tally shrugged.20

"Not really, no. Why?" she asked.21

"He looks really familiar. Are you sure he's not like someone I should know?"22

"Sweetie there are lots of people that you see everyday. This isn't the biggest town in the world. Chances are you've seen him somewhere. " She looked down at Kat's half eaten cookie. "You better finish that. We're leaving in ten minutes when my shift is over. I'm going to go tell Ashley about our new blender and then I should be free to go." Tally gestured toward a confused looking blond behind the counter. "Just sit and eat and chill for a minute. OK?" 23

And with that Tally got up and walked over to the counter and started chatting with Ashley. Kat looked down at her giant cookie and stuffed a large chunk in her mouth. That boy was going to bother her until she figured out how she knew him. The 20 minute walk to the field was going to be a long one. Maybe she'd just get Tally talking about her hair again. It might give her enough time just to think it through. Kat shoved the rest of the cookie into her mouth. 24

Thank goodness for chocolate... 25