Timothy Cargill's Story

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"She just texted me that she's on her way out, just give her a second," Timothy insisted, a bit impatiently, after Michaela piped up a complaint about how long it was taking Katherine to come out of her house. In truth, his sister had all the right to be annoyed. Timothy was used to Katherine's tendency to run late, but it didn't mean that everyone else was, and with Michaela and Kayleen both in the car, waiting on her too, Timothy knew that he needed Katherine to actually be telling the truth this time, that she was really on her way out. He was unsure whether to believe it, though, considering that she had promised the same thing five minutes ago. It was only a ten minute drive to school from Katherine's home, and though it was only eight o'clock, Timothy still felt pressed for time with the pressure of holding both of his siblings up. He knew that Michaela was purposely being a bit dramatic, especially since Timothy had convinced their mother to force Mickey to ride along with him, rather than go with her friends, out of his own desire to not have to be alone with Kayleen in the car. It wasn't that anything was wrong with his half-sister, and as made apparent at that very moment, she was good at doing nothing other than staring out the window or using her phone silently throughout the car ride, but Timothy still felt like their silence was uncomfortable. He preferred Michaela and her antics, over that silence any day.

However, in the back of his mind, he was definitely considering flagging down Nat in the hallway, when he saw her later, and requesting that she take on driving-Kat duty for the entirety of the next week. He would make sure that Natalia made it seem like she was the one who wanted to take that job off of Timothy's hands, as to not offend Katherine, but it seemed like something that had to be done, at least until Kayleen's car arrived next week. Though their father had offered multiple times for her to use one of their spare cars, the blonde had insisted that she didn't mind driving with Timothy, and though that made him feel better, in a way, because he did possess an unnecessary amount of guilt over her situation, and a desire to make her feel comfortable, he now was wishing she had driven herself. At least, if he didn't have to drive Katherine while he was driving Kayleen too, the ride to Brentwood would be quicker and less painful. Considering that Katherine didn't have her driver's license still, convincing Natalia to drive her was his only option at relieving himself of the extra passenger, even if he did love driving with Katherine every morning. It was only him overthinking things, as he tended to do, but still, he couldn't help but to feel tense until the minute he saw the brunette emerge from her front door. "See, what did I tell you?" he said, not even turning to look at his sister in the passenger's seat as he returned the smile and wave that Katherine sent his way, as she hurried towards the car. "She's here, and we're still going to be early. You've gotta learn to relax and trust me, Mickey. You should know by now that everything goes perfectly when I'm in charge," he said, boastfully teasing, before Katherine got in.

---

"Ugh, here she goes again talking about him," Katherine groaned, soon after they greeted Nat, her eyes moving between Kayleen and Timothy, complaining as if Natalia wasn't standing right there. It wasn't as if Nat had never heard the complaints before, anyway. Though she would never admit it, Katherine had a very frequent tendency of being jealous and territorial. In a way, it was flattering, because when she became territorial over people, it only meant that she cared about them and valued them over most people. At the same time, in cases like this, with Natalia, it's less-than-appealing side would rear its head, because Katherine would become territorial for selfish reasons. Sebastian Cole had never done anything to prove to her that he was an unfit boyfriend or friend or whatever the two wanted to claim to be, to Natalia, and yet she still refused to believe that he was good enough for her friend. She liked to believe that she just thought that Natalia was so amazing, that she was too precious to stoop down to the level of any of the guys that they had ever met, but in reality, Katherine didn't want Nat to become involved with anyone, out of fear that it would cut into the time that she could spend with her. As bratty as it sounded, Katherine liked having her friends "on call", and even though most were always busy enough to not be on call when she needed them all of the time, she knew that allowing them one more close relationship would only make them all the more unavailable to her. And so, without fail, Kat always liked to be dramatic and act like Nat did nothing other than talk about Sebastian, even if he rarely came up in conversation. "I'll fill you in, Kayleen, since you'll probably have to hear a lot about him this afternoon - he's this guy that's obsessed with Nat. Like, he's decent looking, or whatever, but he's really just not on her level, and I try to tell her that all of the time, but she refuses to listen," she said, now looking to Natalia, with a look that read, "isn't that right?".

"As you can see, my friends love making a good first impression," he said, smiling more rigidly than normally, as he looked to Kayleen who shook her head and smiled, as if she were making an attempt at dispelling the apologetic look on his face. "Who doesn't love some drama every now and then?" she said, before looking down at her phone, and reading the time. There was no rush to get inside, but she was still learning the layout of the school, and wanted to get to her locker before first period too, so it seemed reasonable to head inside now. "I'm going to head in. I have to stop at my locker and stuff before physics, but thanks for the ride, Tim. I'll see you guys later," she said, smiling at the girls at the last part, and then turning to head inside before waiting for their responses. Timothy only nodded at Kayleen's departure, but watched as she headed into the building, as if to make sure that she looked like she was headed in the right direction. He was distracted enough to have missed Natalia saying, "Kotenok, enough," accompanied by a stare that probably accounted for Katherine intertwining her fingers with his. The touch of her soft hand brought him back to reality, and he turned back to the girls. "Hopefully I'm allowed to talk about him, then," he said, rolling his eyes, but only being playful, as he gave Katherine's hand a gentle squeeze. "But really, I'm not surprised. That guy's got a good head on his shoulders. I always say that about Bas. He's got his priorities straight," he said, casually, yet thoughtfully, as if to reassure Natalia that no one other than Katherine believed what she had told Kayleen. Timothy didn't feel the need to protect Natalia or look out for her in any extreme aspect anyway, but e if he did, he would have felt comfortable with her and Bas being together. Timothy meant what he said, about believing that Sebastian was a good guy. "I'm starting to think that you want him for yourself, actually, Kat. I think you talk about him more than she does," he accused her, with a mockingly hurt tone.

"Um, absolutely false!" Katherine objected immediately, as she sent Timothy a glare for essentially taking Natalia's side. There was no need to feign offense for him believing that she wanted Bas, because Bas wasn't despicable enough, socially or physically, for her to act appalled at the accusation for. As stated, there was nothing wrong with him, so much as there was with her own personality. "I only talk about him when she talks about him, or when she decides to abandon me, for him, but fine, I won't say another word about him! Besides, we have better things to talk about! Like shopping today!" She squeezed Timothy's hand in excitement, though her eyes were focused on Natalia. While she enjoyed dragging Timothy with her to go shopping, because Kat was the kind of person who almost always liked having someone with her to socialize with, she definitely preferred her girlfriends for events like shopping. If she didn't want Kayleen to come, or if she thought to suggest it as a girl's trip, she wouldn't have even invited him to begin with. "We need to find you something nice and green, right?" she said. In her mind, that counted as putting talk about Sebastian to rest, even if she was indirectly hinting that Nat had no reason to wear anything other than green, dismissing their relationship. The "kitten" in Russian, that Nat had sent her way, a minute before, had her at least remaining indirect about it, though.

---

Their quad had turned into a trip when Kayleen left, but had gained two new members when Lennox and Rhys approached. Rhys' departure was followed by Elijah's entrance, and though it certainly wasn't a feeling that was consistent among the new group, Timothy was glad to see his friends. Eli was one of the closest friendships that Timothy had ever maintained for his entire youth, and Knox was someone that he got along with as well. He didn't mind his presence at all, even with his arm slung over his shoulder, but Natalia was quick to express that she didn't want him there. Before he could focus on that though, he decided to address Elijah, whose comments were likely going to affect him more personally. Katherine wasn't someone who looked like she possessed much strength, but Timothy was sure that if she was in the right mood when Elijah poked and prodded like that, that he could end up with a few broken fingers, considering that her hand was still clasping his.

"I think that I can speak for the both of us when I say that Knox isn't really our type," Tim said, a playful smirk on his face, before turning his head to look at Knox, who was still at his side, and flashing him a more apologetic look, though it was still meant light-heartedly. "Sorry, man, but I guess it's obvious that you can count me out for the pre-party. Gotta get my place ready, but I'm sure there will be a lot of green by the time you get there. What about Rhys? Too close to home to ever be green in your eyes?" he inquired, noting that the girl had walked off a minute or so before. Timothy wasn't personally close with Rhys, and really only knew her through association, but he was aware of how frequently Lennox could be seen with the girl. He suspected that they were platonic, and like he said, had some relationship that made a real relationship seem off limits, but it was only now that he was actually asking Lennox about it. While he was curious to some degree, he also felt like turning the conversation to something that would put Lennox in more of the spotlight would be better. Elijah and Lennox both had a personality where they enjoyed being assholes, basically. They liked to be obnoxious and cocky, regardless of how uncomfortable it made anyone else feel, and while Timothy did find it to be amusing, and was actually rarely bothered by it himself, he knew that others weren't always so thick-skinned. Natalia had made it very clear on multiple occasions, and again today, that she wasn't in the mood for Knox, and Timothy doubted that Katherine was appreciating what was coming out of Elijah's mouth either.

---

"Hey, Knox," Katherine greeted, only surprised for a second by the sudden physical presence of him at her side. Her voice was much perkier and reflecting of her happiness at seeing him, than Natalia's was. That wasn't something that shocked Katherine, though, as she was well aware of how Natalia wasn't Lennox's biggest fan. Kat understood where Natalia was coming from, to an extent, but she was never as bothered by Lennox's cockier side. In Katherine's opinion, she had seen far worse, but maybe that was also because she had seen his kinder, more down to earth and friendly side, too. He was much easier to like when you knew that he wasn't an ass twenty-four-seven. Elijah was a little less welcomed in her opinion, but she wasn't capable of being outright rude to him, given that they weren't enemies, and Timothy had taken the initiative to respond to Elijah's questions about their sex life, before she had to do so directly. "I don't think I could have a threesome with two guys. Like, I think I would want one of them to be a girl, right?" she said, looking to Nat only, as if another female's opinion would be the only one that really counted, and following Timothy's lead in trying to dispel the tension, because she didn't want Nat to run off. Katherine wasn't an overtly sexual person to begin with, and she definitely wasn't interested in having a threesome to begin with, but the proposal made her ponder the subject more than she had in the past. However, she was aware that she was asking Natalia, someone who was far more comfortable with her own sexuality. "But I don't think I would want my boyfriend touching another girl either, so how is that even supposed to work?" Although she was very tempted, she held her tongue against pointing out that if Nat were to have a threesome with Sebastian, Katherine would bet a million dollars that he would want the third person to be another guy, because he just seemed to swing "that way", as if it would be one more reason for why Natalia shouldn't want anything to do with him. Katherine was ignorant, and that mere thought reflected it, but she wasn't completely idiotic, and knew no that she needed to back off, even just a little, from pressing Natalia on the Sebastian subject for a little while. "And Kayleen's definitely going to be wearing green tomorrow, right, Tim?! Knox, she should totally be on your radar, but not if you're going to be mean to her. She's totally going to be one of my new best friends within the next week, and I will not stand for you breaking her heart!" Katherine exclaimed with a mixture of excitement and dramatics, at the thought of how she was convinced that she could get Kayleen to magically go from seeming indifferent towards her, to loving her in the next few days.

As the boys began to chat, Kat released her grip on Timothy's hand and squirmed out from under the arm that Lennox had over her shoulder, in favor of linking arms with Natalia. Again, it was partly an attempt to make sure that Nat didn't think she could run off before classes started to go catch up with Bas again, but also, partly because she just preferred her friend's presence over being in the middle of guy talk. "And FYI, I plan on getting drunk enough tomorrow that that strip tease might actually be a reality," she said, playfully matter-of-factly, since she knew that Natalia had suggested it as retribution for her pressing the Sebastian topic. As her locker was located near Nat's, Katherine found it appropriate to pull the girl a few paces ahead of the boys, since they would end up going in different directions anyway. "But speaking of pre-parties, what are we doing? You're either coming to Lennox's house, and crashing that, or I'm coming to your house. Girls only, in that scenario," she said, knowing that Natalia would know just who she was purposely excluding, before piping up, "Unless Gabby wants us to come to her house."

---

Make no mistake - Timothy Cargill possessed an ego and some arrogance, much like Elijah and Lennox. However, people who knew him and even just knew of him, likely thought of him in a completely different light than they would Knox or Eli. Simply put, Timothy possessed a personality that was more easy to like than the other boys. His way of being didn't revolve around him being better than others, and he wasn't constantly wearing that ego to a point where that was what he was recognized by. Things rolled off his back easier than they did with the other boys, so he was definitely seen as being more laid back and approachable. That was why the things that came out of Knox and Eli's mouths didn't bother him in the slightest. On one hand, it was true that they didn't bother him because he was so used to hearing things like that, but he also just didn't get worked up over most things. Their comments regarding Katherine fell into that category, and he only shook his head in amusement at Knox insisting that Kat always had room for him in her bed. His smile remained, even as Knox brought up Kayleen, and then, even still, when Elijah jumped in to claim his position as being the best or most entitled suitor for Kayleen, as if this were some time way back when, when men could actually claim something like that over women. The teenage boys were all, to an extent, misogynistic like that, but Timothy was well aware that their comments were coming more so, out of concern for that very same "bro code" that Elijah brought up. Like them, he wasn't even sure if that bro code needed to apply here, because Lennox was right in pointing out that there was some very noticable distance between himself and Kayleen. He didn't necessarily feel like he needed to shield her from anyone or anything, because she was her own person, capable of making her own choices and doing what she wanted. At the same time, the idea of either of these guys "having their way" with her, left a sour taste in his mouth because he knew how both of them were. The last thing that Timothy needed was them upsetting his sister in any way, and him having one more thing to feel guilty about, but at the same time, he didn't think that Kayleen would want him infringing on her business.

It was conflicting for him, considering that he did tend to overthink things like this, and he ran his hand through his hair, as he paused to ponder it for a moment. "I don't really have a problem with it, no," he confirmed, his words still a little bit slower than usual, signaling the uncertainty in the thought. "I will say that I'm pretty sure she has, or had, a boyfriend or something, so I doubt she would be interested, but as long as you're not about to come back to me with all of the details, I'm not telling you don't go for it." It seemed like the best response that he could give as a friend and as an un-involved brother, even if he still wasn't quite sure that it was what he should have done morally. He held, at least a little bit, of trust that both of these friends would be more careful with Kayleen, given her relationship with him, at least.

Once he entered the school building with the boys, the smaller area that they were now in, compared to the large and open outdoor quad, made everything feel more crowded. Katherine and the girls were still only a few steps ahead of them but Timothy was sure that with all of the students beginning to flood the building now, that he was bound to lose sight of them sooner or later. One would have imagined that that would have been no big deal, and that he simply could have texted Kat explaining that he'd see her later, but one who would have imagined that, would have been just a teenage boy with no experience. Timothy knew that that was the kind of thing, while minuscule, that could lead to a girlfriend getting upset, thinking that he ditched her, or didn't care enough to even say goodbye. Surprisingly, Katherine, a girl who was nearly known for her emotional responses to things, wasn't really all that dramatic with things like that. Sometimes, if her mood was right, she could be dramatic, but she wasn't a crazy girlfriend. Not at all. Still, Timothy knew that it was the "boyfriend thing to do", to verbally say goodbye before departing from her for the day, and he was content with that being a part of their morning routine. "I'll be back. Gotta go say bye to Kat, before she's got me picking out a yellow outfit for tomorrow," he said as he departed from the boys.