Chapter 67: Classy Mental Breakdowns

Monday, July 17th, 2006

Katie squeezed her eyes shut. “Can you and Kyle come over? I have to go to CVS real quick, but you guys can head over now. I won’t be long.”

Another pause. Then, in a half-teasing, half-shocked whisper: “Katie Lynn Smith, please tell me you’re not pregnant.”

“What? No!” The keys jangled as she snatched them up. “Just-get your butts to my house. And bring Kyle’s drama pills because you’re gonna need them.”

Katie walked to the CVS, the humid summer air clinging to her skin. Her mind raced, frustration bubbling beneath the surface. How had she managed to slip up? With everything else on her plate, it felt like one more sign that she was barely keeping it together.

She quickened her pace, eager to check at least one more thing off her never-ending list. The moment she stepped inside, the air conditioning blasted against her, sending a chill down her spine. She hurried to the checkout requesting stamps, fumbling for her wallet. As she did, her fingers brushed against the unfamiliar plastic-Aunt Pam’s credit card, nearly forgotten in the side pocket.

I’ll mail it back with her invitation, she decided, adding it to her growing list of small but important tasks. At least this one was simple-one less thing weighing on her mind.

Her phone rang again before she even left the parking lot.

“Katie Lynn Smith, if you don’t start talking-” Kyle’s voice was at least two octaves higher than normal.

“Chill,” she laughed, “I’m ten minutes away. Prepare for your mind to be blown.”

She spotted them before they saw her-Noel perched on the porch railing like an anxious bird, Kyle dramatically sprawled across the steps fanning himself with what looked like last month’s Vogue.

“There she is!” Kyle leapt up, nearly toppling Noel. “The woman who’s apparently been leading a secret double life!”

Noel’s eyes zeroed in on the CVS bag. “Why do you need stamps for wedding invitations that don’t exist?”

Katie’s stomach flipped, a wave of nerves tightening her chest. She wiped her palms on her jeans before unlocking the door with suddenly-sweaty fingers, her mind racing through every possible way this conversation could go wrong. “Inside. Now.”

Kyle immediately threw himself onto the couch like a Regency-era heroine with the vapors, while Noel stood stiff-armed.

“Okay,” Noel said slowly. “Start talking.”

Katie took a deep breath and retrieved two ivory envelopes from her desk drawer. The thick paper felt like a promise in her hands.

Kyle snatched his with the grace of a seagull grabbing a french fry. As he tore it open, his eyes scanned the elegant script:

Katie Lynn Smith & Joshua Lee Harlow

request the pleasure of your company...

His mouth fell open. “Oh. My. God.”

Noel’s envelope slipped from her fingers. “You’re getting married?”

Katie held up her left hand. The diamond caught the afternoon light, scattering prismatic dots across the ceiling.

The resulting shriek probably broke glass in the next county. Kyle launched across the room, nearly tackling her to the ground. “WHEN? HOW? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL US?”

Noel remained frozen, her face cycling through shock, betrayal, and something like awe. Betrayal, because Katie hadn’t told her-had kept something this huge a secret. Shock, because how could this be happening so soon? And awe, maybe, because Katie had somehow made this impossible thing a reality. “Katie ... you’re sixteen.”

“Almost sixteen,” Katie corrected, laughing as Kyle alternately hugged her and shook her shoulders. “Birthday’s in three days. Josh proposed back in September, but we had to wait until I was legal to tell people.”

Noel sank onto the arm of the couch like her legs had given out. “Does your mom know?”

“Yeah.” Katie twisted the ring around her finger-a nervous habit she’d developed.

Kyle paused mid-celebration. “There’s more?”

“I’m not coming back to school next year.”

The silence was absolute. Even Kyle seemed speechless.

Noel found her voice first. “You’re dropping out?”

“No! Homeschooling. I’ll still graduate.” Katie tucked her hair behind her ears. “Josh’s lawyers worked it all out. They even prepped emancipation paperwork just in case.”

Kyle made a sound like a deflating balloon. “Sweet baby Jesus. You’ve got lawyers involved?”

Noel’s eyes narrowed. “What aren’t you telling us?”

Katie’s throat tightened. Everything. The weight of past lives, the echoes of promises made and broken, the terrifying certainty that this was right-even if no one else understood. The way Josh’s hands had shaken when he’d slipped the ring on her finger-again. How sometimes she woke up gasping from dreams of car headlights and hospital beeps that never happened. That this would be their second first dance to ‘My Best Friend.’

She swallowed hard. “Just ... trust me?”

Kyle studied her face for a long moment before pulling her into a bear hug. “You’re certifiably insane,” he mumbled into her hair. “But if that man makes you this happy...”

Noel exhaled sharply through her nose before joining the hug. “We’ll miss your stupid face at school.”

Katie’s eyes burned. “You’ll visit every weekend.”

By the time they finished stamping the last invitation, the sun hung low in the July sky, casting long golden beams through the window. Kyle flopped backward onto the rug, groaning. Katie laughed, shaking her head at his dramatics, the tension from earlier finally easing into something lighter.

“I have carpal tunnel now. You owe me bridesmaid mimosas.”

Noel snorted. “She’s sixteen, idiot.”

“Sparkling cider mimosas, then.”

Katie giggled, stacking the completed invitations into neat rows. “Thanks, guys. For ... not totally losing it.”

Noel bumped her shoulder. “Oh, we lost it. We’re just classy about our mental breakdowns.”

As they left, Kyle blew extravagant kisses from the porch. “Next time we see you, you’ll be Mrs. Harlow!”

Katie leaned against the doorframe, watching them disappear down the street. Mrs. Harlow. The name settled over her like a favorite sweater-warm, familiar, and impossibly right. The weight in her chest loosened just a little, the earlier anxiety still lingering but now softened by something steadier-certainty.

Katie exhaled as she shut the front door behind Kyle and Noel, their presence dissolving into the quiet of the house. She cast a glance at the coffee table, where their empty cups stood as the last tangible proof of their conversation. With a quiet smile, she gathered them and carried them to the kitchen, rinsing away the last traces of tea and coffee under the steady stream of warm water. The soft hum of the faucet filled the silence, grounding her in the simplicity of the moment.

Just as she placed the final cup on the drying rack, the front door creaked open, followed by her mother’s voice. “Katie? You ready to head to Josh’s?”

Katie turned, drying her hands on a dish towel. “Hey, Mom. Almost. I just need to grab a few things from my room.”

Judith leaned against the doorway, her car keys jingling in her palm as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, her expression unreadable. “Don’t take too long. I’d like to get there before dark.”

Katie nodded and hurried to her room. Her bag was already half-packed from previous trips, and she hesitated, realizing she needed little. Most of her essentials were already at Josh’s. She tossed in her phone charger, her purse, and the novel she had been meaning to finish. Her fingers lingered on the edge of her nightstand, tracing the frame of a photo-her and Josh, smiling, frozen in a moment that felt both recent and timeless. With a soft sigh, she slipped it into her bag.

When she returned, her mother had swapped her blouse for a light sweater, her stance relaxed yet expectant. “Ready?” Judith asked, already moving toward the door.

“Yep.” Katie followed, shutting the door behind her.

As they settled into the car, Judith turned the key in the ignition and cast a glance over. “Hungry? We could grab something on the way.”

Katie fastened her seatbelt, grinning. “That sounds great.”

Judith backed out of the driveway, the steady hum of the engine filling the space between them. “Any cravings?”

Katie shrugged. “I’m good with whatever.”