"Katherine, where have you been? You're almost two hours late." He tried not to look angry, but concerned instead. The girl had just finished being grounded and the fear of a repeat performance was not something he wanted her to concentrate on right now.
"No way! Two hours!? Oh my god, I didn't realize how late it was." She looked up guiltily at the horizon where the sun was just beginning to set - a clear indicator of how late it was. "I'm sorry, Dad," she repeated more quietly.
"Really, you should have called as soon as you knew you were going to be late." He tapped on his watch, which also doubled as a communicator. She knew he was right, and he knew that now that he mentioned it she probably would call next time.
"Sorry, but I couldn't help overhearing." Angel had gotten in her car, but she jumped out again to come to Katherine's defense. Greg could practically hear her figuring out how best to approach the situation. She had definitely been taught well by Amara. "You see, Mr. Urawa, sir, I came back from Hawaii this week, so pole vault practice went a little longer than usual because your daughter and I are pretty well matched in skill, even though, I must admit, we are better than most of the girls there." Katherine blushed and lowered her eyes modestly. "So we were kept longer than usual, maybe half an hour extra, does that sound right, Kat?" Katherine nodded, but kept her eyes down. "Then her motorcycle wasn't working so I offered to drive her home. Now she probably would've called if I hadn't been there because she was going to have to walk to the gas station, but I decided that it would be unfair for such a nice girl to have to walk to the gas station, so I offered her a ride."
"I find it hard to believe that one of Amara's children would take so long to get from the school to our house."
"On the contrary, Mr. Urawa, sir. I tend to go exactly the speed limit, which is how my father taught me. I also was taking extra care because I didn't want to endanger your daughter's life." Greg relaxed. He could tell that Angel told the truth. He knew that his daughters tended to go faster than they were supposed to when they were on their bikes, especially Michelle, so he was used to thinking of it as a 15 minute drive to the school, but it was actually longer than that. But it still left some time unaccounted for.
"Then on the way here, I had a sudden craving for ice cream, and I remembered Puroko telling me that one of the twins gave her ice cream, so I thought I'd return the favor, although it could have just as easily been the other one. But anyway, I guess, you can probably see how it would've been easy for Kat not to realize that each of these distractions was making her later and later. If anyone should apologize for it, it's me, not her." She turned on her best adult-charming smile. Even though Greg knew this, he still couldn't help forgiving both of them. He was actually quite impressed that Angel was willing to take the blame for his daughter's tardiness.
"Thank you for bringing home my daughter, Angel. Your parents have taught you good manners. Katherine, you should probably put away your bike."
"Oh, ok. Thanks, Angel. See you at school."
Angel ran back to her car, hopped in, and drove off waving. Katherine, meanwhile, put her bike in the garage. "I'll have to remember to get up early enough to fill it up tomorrow morning," she informed him.
"Kat," he hesitated. It shouldn't have mattered, but he thought he might mention it anyway. "Angel's a lot older than you, you know, and Amara's daughter. Don't get so caught up in her charms that you aren't true to yourself."
"But I don't think she's going to try and boss me around. The age thing doesn't have to matter," she said, and as an afterthought, "does it?" He shook his head and let her go in.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The first person Kat saw when she came in was Gabriel.
"Gaby!" she exclaimed and ran up and hugged him.
Gaby was very confused. Kat didn't usually impulsively hug him. Maybe Mitchi when they weren't fighting, but never Kat.
"K- Kat? Uh, are you feeling ok, sis?"
"Yep, Gaby. Thanks for asking." She danced off.
Gaby watched his father walk in. "Uh, hey, Dad? What's up with her?"
His father shrugged. "She made a friend today, I think."
