Snippet #2549012

Catalina didn't respond when Luke praised her cooking. She appreciated compliments but didn't need to hear them. Cooking was something that she enjoyed doing. It kept her sane all of these years and allowed her to feel a connection to the real world that she was no longer allowed to be a part of. She made a plate for Kaylee before covering the rest of the food so it would stay hot if any of the others wanted any.

When Lucas confirmed that he hadn't seen Kaylee and commented about how she shouldn't worry about it, Catalina frowned. It was easy for him to say that Kaylee couldn't get into any trouble. He wasn't the one that would have to clean up the mess if she somehow got hurt or hurt someone else. It was Catalina whose head would be on the line when Jade came around, ranting and raving about how she hadn't been watching Kaylee close enough. Besides that, Catalina liked knowing where Kaylee was. Like a mother hen, she always worried about Kaylee and even the newer kids too.

Before she could respond to Luke, Alexa appeared, clad in only a towel but Catalina was glad to see that she had cleaned up. Between rehearsing her act and just messing around, she was constantly covered in blood and although Catalina had gotten used it, she didn't like that anywhere near her kitchen. She disappeared back into the bathroom after spotting Lucas, and a moment later, Brooke entered.

"Eat while it's hot," Catalina said to her, nodding at the food on the stove. She made a small plate for herself and rummaged through the refrigerator, looking for something to drink. She decided on lemonade and as she turned away from the fridge, she noticed that Kaylee had managed to slip inside. She raised an eyebrow, eyeing the girl as she greeted Lucas and snacked on cotton candy. Catalina grilled her on a daily basis over eating candy that would rot her teeth out, especially before dinner, but lately Kaylee seemed to do it on purpose just to piss her off.

Catalina slid the plate of food in front of Kaylee and pulled the cotton candy away, swiftly dropping it into the garbage can. "Where have you been, mija?" she asked in a surprisingly calm tone as she poured a glass of lemonade for herself and then one for Kaylee. Lucas made a comment about the Kaylee's hair, and Catalina quickly directed her attention back at the girl. The pink streak wasn't as bad as some of the other full head of colors that Kaylee had tried out, but again, Catalina felt like she was just doing it to spite her. "You change that back to blonde," Catalina said sternly, before turning to Brooke and commenting, "she's starting to take after you in more ways than just the hair."

When Lucas loudly asked Alexa if they had new people joining the carnival, Catalina's attention was drawn away from Kaylee and she listened for Alexa's response. Honestly, she hoped that it wasn't true. She didn't want some poor new kids to be sucked into this life and she knew that if it was true, Jade would be requesting that she be on hand to make sure the new performers emotions didn't get out of control. Catalina didn't mind manipulating the emotions of the crowds of people that came to the show because they didn't know she was doing it. However, doing it to people that she knew and would be living with was different. She felt like it was unfair and unethical to use her power to control how someone felt when emotions were really the only thing that people could control on their own.