Angel had finally escaped from her teammates, but she couldn't find the green haired girl anywhere. She shyly checked out the lower-classman locker room before going to change into a T-shirt and jeans (much more comfortable than her school uniform), but the girl didn't seem to be there. Too bad, except for Rita, Angel didn't have many friends on the pole vault team. The girl was obviously dedicated and would probably be fun to talk to. Oh, well. Maybe she'd see her in the halls tomorrow.
She walked over to her car, which was parked in the spot closest to the gym. On the way, she found herself checking out the nice motorcycle that was parked in the half space next to her car. It was a beautiful Suzuki, colored white and blue. She knelt down to admire it better, when she heard a shout from behind.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing�?" She trailed off. "Miss Tenoh?"
Angel looked up to see the girl who she'd been vaulting against standing there in front of her. She had changed into nicer clothes and had taken down her hair, which Angel thought was beautiful. "Oh, is this yours? I was just admiring it. Looks fast� but a dirt bike'd be better."
"I know. Mitch has one. She's much faster on it." She wasn't mad though, because she smiled.
"Mitch?"
"Oh, my twin, Michelle."
"And you are�," Angel prompted, thinking of the coincidence that this girl's twin had the same name as her godmother.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Katherine Mizuno, Kat for short."
"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Katherine," Angel said, thinking that this explained how Kat had known her last name and how her twin had ended up as Michelle. Amy Mizuno was connected to the water, as was her Aunt Michelle. It made sense that Amy might name one of her children after Michelle.
"Ne, you too, Miss Tenoh."
"Enough with the 'Miss Tenoh' stuff! Call me 'Angel.' I really hate it when my schoolmates are so formal around me. I know I'm older than you and a princess, but so what? Besides, you're a princess too, aren't you? So just call me 'Angel.'"
"Ok, Angel." She smiled, seeming to relax some. Angel was glad that she had agreed so easily. Even some of her friends were still formal sometimes.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kat got on her bike and couldn't stop smiling. She had been so upset, but now she couldn't help being happy. That was until she tried starting her bike. It wouldn't start. She tried again. For the third time today she realized what an idiot she was. She was going to fill up the bike on the way to school, but they were running late, so she had forgotten. And now she was out of gas. She must have been running on fumes and at the speed she was going�. Well, this was great. The busses weren't running and it was kinda far to walk home. But there was a gas station a couple of blocks away.
"What's wrong with your bike? It won't start?" She jumped. She thought Angel had left and was surprised to see her getting out of the car next to her. Kat hadn't noticed that she had gotten into it. "I'm sorry, I just hadn't left yet and you looked like you were having trouble."
"Oh, yeah I am, actually. Well, this morning I was running late for school, and I forgot my bike was almost out of gas, and I drove it down here on fumes, and now it won't start." Duh. Did she need to tell the whole story to people when they asked? *She's going to think I'm so dumb. She'll never want to hang out with someone so immature. God, Kat!* she thought angrily to herself, *You couldn't just say, "I'm out of gas"?*
"Hey, I know. Why don't we throw it in the backseat, and I'll give you a ride to the station?"
Kat looked at the backseat of the convertible and shook her head. "I don't want to ruin your nice car. It's just a couple of blocks to the station. I can walk."
"I won't hear of it." Angel walked over to the bike and walked it to the car. She started to attempt to lift it, but even though she was pretty strong and the bike was made with the new lighter metals of the day, it was still heavier than she could handle by herself. "Come on. Aren't you going to help?"
"Oh, sorry!" For the hundredth time that day, she found herself blushing, but she helped Angel put the bike in the back. As she hopped in the front, she smiled shyly at the older girl. "Thanks a lot," she said quietly.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They had decided to skip the gas station altogether, opting to trade pole vault stories on the way to Kat's house. She had informed Angel that she could always fill up her tank there, as long as it wasn't too much trouble. Angel had assured her that it wasn't.
"Rescuing damsels in distress is my job. They don't call me Angel for nothing," she explained. Kat giggled. Wow, she had a pretty laugh. Angel was surprised at how well the too of them were getting along even though they had never met before. She could tell already that she wanted to spend more time with Kat. She didn't know how Kat would feel about becoming friends with an older student, though. Sometimes younger people were intimidated by things like that. But at least Kat had seemed more comfortable since she got in the car with Angel.
"Hey, you want some ice cream?" she asked suddenly as they stopped at a light in front of an ice cream parlor. She smiled as Kat's face lit up. "I'll take that as a yes," she laughed.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kat couldn't believe that Angel had suggested ice cream. She loved ice cream. Especially coffee flavored ice cream.
She looked over the menu and found what she wanted - Mocha Chip. She took out some money and walked over to order. But suddenly, Angel took the hand that had money in it to stop her. "I'll pay."
"Really?!"
"Sure, what do you want?"
"Oh wow! Mocha Chip would be good."
When Angel handed her the cone she asked, "So are you the reason my little sis now loves coffee ice cream?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, Puroko. Yeah, sorry, I was trying to take her mind off what happened that day, with the mean kids and all. Coffee ice cream's my favorite."
"No, it's fine. In fact it was a good idea. Sometimes it's hard to distract her, though sometimes it's real easy." She laughed. "You know, typical little kid."
"Yeah." Kat wondered if Angel saw her as a little kid. She was slightly younger than Angel, and she
remembered her mother telling her stories of the difference that one year made between the Inner Scouts and
Amara and Michelle when they met. Both sides had felt removed from the other, even thought there was only a year's difference. And Angel would've been taught by her mom and godmother. Maybe she saw Kat as an upset kid who needed her mind taken off today's loss and her bike. She suddenly wasn't very hungry anymore.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Angel didn't like this change in the spirit of the conversation. She wasn't getting real answers from Kat anymore. It was as if Kat had suddenly decided that the attempt at conversation was worthless. And the ice cream was melting in her cone. Something had upset her, but Angel didn't know what it was. She attempted to lighten the mood.
"Kitten�," she started, but knew instantly this was not the right thing to say. Kat was obviously upset by the nickname. *Dummy, you took it too far. She'll never want to talk with you again.* She started over. Perhaps distancing the relationship a little would be better.
"Uh, Katherine, did I say something wrong? If so, I'm sorry."
