Cathy dumbly marched down the hall to the bathroom, and threw cold water on her face.
She remembered Troy's splashing cold water on her face earlier, and she started to cry all over again. She cried so hard that her knees turned to jelly, and when her mother came to see how she was doing, Cathy was curled up on the floor, with the cold water still running in the basin.
'Oh, Bob, she's not in any condition to go out.'
Her father came to the door, and picked up his sobbing daughter, and put her back on the bed. Jimmy was standing at the foot of the bed, biting his lower lip.
'What's the matter with her, Dad?'
'Growing pains, I suspect, Son. Come on, we'll go get a pizza, and bring it back to the house.'
Cathy stayed in her room for the weekend. When she woke up Sunday morning, her eyes were all swollen and red, but she didn't care. She had the feeling that she had cried so much, that she'd never cry again in her life. She thought that she had shed her lifetime supply of tears.
Jimmy tried to talk to her, and she didn't look at him. She just stared at the bedspread, and picked at it.
Her mother came up to see if she wanted something to eat.
Her father came up to talk to her, but Cathy just lay there, feeling very, very unhappy.
Monday morning she got up and ate her breakfast, and went to school.
She was dragging her footsteps. At noon, she got wonderful idea, and it perked her up a little.
Her brother was very solicitous. He came up to her table in the cafeteria, and offered her his apple pie. Cathy didn't want it. She ate just because she really wanted to live.
No matter how bad things were, they had to get better, and her idea had given her a little hope. She couldn't wait to see how this whole thing worked out.
After school, she slipped away quickly before any of her friends could catch up with her to walk her home.
She took a bus to the River Gate section of town. She wandered around the streets, until she found the one where she knew Troy worked in an automotive repair shop.
When she reached it, there were a lot of motorcycles parked outside the shop. She found Troy, filled with grease, working on one of the motorcycles.
'Whatsa matter, kid? You lost?' one of the mean-looking boys barked at her, as she walked timidly up to Troy. Troy was buried in his work, so he hadn't seen her approach.
'You took the bus the wrong way, sweetie!' someone else said. There was a lot of rough laughter.
Cathy held her ground, as Troy looked up. He saw her, and stood up.
'Shut up!' he barked at the assembled boys. They did look like hoodlums, but then, so did Troy, all greasy, and wearing stained Levi's.
The laughter died out fast. Troy walked over to her.
'Hello, Cathy,' he said, smiling at her.
'You were right,' Cathy said, a slight quiver in her voice. 'Mother said no.'
'I told you so!' Troy grinned. 'Sorry, Cathy, I really would have liked to go with you. I like you.'
'I like you, too, Troy,' Cathy said. 'I came to make you a promise. I don't really care about the prom so much, but I care about you, and you can-can have me when I'm sixteen, if you want.'
'I won't hold you to that. Come to me when you're sixteen, and we'll see.'
Troy walked her back to the bus, and saw that she got on it.
She turned at the stairs, and looked at him.
'I mean it,' she said.
'I think you do,' Troy said, his face grave. 'I'll be thinking of you.'
Cathy stared at Troy until the bus turned a corner. She noticed that Troy didn't move, either!
Maybe it was love-the real kind.
Chapter 7
So, for the remainder of the week, Cathy acted like a stranger in her own house. She did her household chores, she did her studying, she answered her parents civilly when they spoke to her, but she acted like a little lost soul. She kept to her room most of the time.
Her parents plied her with presents, promised her outings. Her brother found her a date, finally, after a desperate search. He was a nice guy, and Jimmy, without telling anyone, had bribed him, with a full week's allowance.
'I'm not going to the prom. Thank you anyway,' she said to her shocked brother.
'Cathy! How can you?' her mother asked. 'You wanted to go so badly.'
'I don't want to go to the prom,' Cathy said, toying with her food.
Cathy had lost her appetite, and with it a little weight. Her face was slightly pale.
Her mother and father were now hovering over her like worried birds over a baby bird who has fallen out of the nest.
'Damn!' Jimmy exclaimed, slamming his hand on the table. 'That date cost me a whole week's allowance.'
Cathy's pale face flushed as she stared angrily at her brother.
'You bribed someone to take me to the prom? What about my pride?' she screamed. She started to cry, and ran away from the table.
Mr. Jones shook his head. 'Son, your intentions were laudable but I happen to agree with Cathy.'
'Well, he's a nice guy, and a terrific dancer!' Jimmy said, defensively.
'That's not the point,' Mrs. Jones said, patting her son's arm. 'The fact of the matter is, you did bribe him, and Cathy's pride has been hurt.'
'Not to mention her heart,' Mr. Jones said. 'What in hell does that Troy bastard have? He's the biggest heart- breaker in town!'
'I don't know,' Jimmy said, his mouth set in anger. 'But I'm going to find out! I think he seduced her.'
'I doubt very much that he did. Your sister said he respected her promise to your mother,' Mr. Jones said.
'Oh, he's the typical heart-throb,' Mrs. Jones said, smiling slightly.
'He certainly appeals to me. Have you ever seen him? He's so tall and dark and handsome and…well, rakish! And he's a boy after a mother's heart. He's been supporting his mother and his two sisters since he was fourteen in that automobile shop!'
'Yeah, where all those bikers hang out!' Jimmy snarled.
'If I were you, I wouldn't tackle him,' Mr. Jones said, pointing his fork at his son with a stern warning look on his face. 'I've heard that he's a superb boxer, and that he's already been offered scholarships to two Ivy League colleges on those merits alone.'
'Not to mention his skill at basketball,' Jimmy said sarcastically.
He rose from the table, discouraged, and heart-sore. He couldn't understand Cathy! She wouldn't have anything to do with him in the last week.
He called up Sam Appleby, and canceled the deal. Sam didn't really care, but he invited Jimmy the next week to play soccer in his back field with some of the other boys in his set.
Jimmy went back to ask his parents if it were all right.
'Sure,' Mr. Jones said.
Jimmy went back to the phone, and made the date firm. Then he went up to his sister's room.
He knocked on the door.
'Cathy?
'What?'
'Can I come in for a minute?'
'Yeah.'
Jimmy opened the door, almost timidly. He walked over to the desk where Cathy was studying. He stood
