Ignore my last comment, I had some free time today and was able to finish it earlier than I thought.
Chapter 5 is in 2 parts because I exceeded the picture limit.

Note: Nonna and Nonno are Italian words for Grandmother and Grandfather, respectively. So when Kat is talking about Nonna, she means her grandmother. It’s her pet name for them, not their actual names, LOL. That would be strange if their names were so similar. Also, I don’t speak Italian, and found those meanings on the internet, so if they are wrong I apologize to anyone who speaks Italian!
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Oh my gosh! I can’t believe how fast Junior year is flying by. My first date with Sean was 3 months ago, so let me recap what’s been going on since then.

For Christmas break, Momma took Sophia and me to visit our Grandparents who live in New York. It was good to see family that we don’t see much. Nonno had the best stories about his life in Italy before his parents came to the US. We had a ton of fun in the snow with our cousins! We don’t get as much snow in the south where we live.



Nonna wasted no time in asking me if I had a boyfriend. It was the first time I could answer the question with a ‘yes’ and I found myself blushing profusely when Nonna asked me all about Sean and his family. Nonno grunted and muttered something under his breath in Italian, which I didn’t understand.

“Oh, my darling Kat, ignore your Nonno.” My grandmother said, “He only says he wants you to marry an Italian boy, but I say you are young and happy and there is plenty of time before you get married. We can introduce you to some nice Italian boys when you are older.”



The holiday passed but those words stuck with me. I couldn’t believe my grandparents would expect me to marry for tradition rather than love, how unfair! The car trip home was the first time I was alone with Momma and Sophia, and I brought up what Nonna had said. Sophia said that I had gotten off easy; when she turned 14 Nonno lectured her on the importance of marrying into another Italian family, probably because she was the oldest child. Momma told me not to worry about it; she only wanted me to be happy no matter who I married. Her parents had arranged her marriage to my father, and he ended up leaving her.



I decided that I was too young to think about getting married anyway, and pushed the thoughts out of my mind.

Now that school had started again I got to see Sean almost every day and it was no surprise that he asked me to Junior Prom the minute that announcements went up. Kelli was going with Damion, and she’d confided in me that she was planning on sleeping with him for the first time after Prom. Sophia wasted no time in asking Pete to the Prom. He was in her grade and they had gone out a few times after that night at the bowling alley.

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It was hard for me to think about anything other than Prom the whole month leading up to it... dinner, the limo, the dress, hair, nails – I was so caught up in it all. I never considered myself the type of girl who goes on a lot of dates, or puts much emphasis on makeup and fashion, but I was enjoying my moment of being a girly girl.

Kelli came to our house to get ready, and we goofed off until the guys picked us up for pictures. When the boys arrived, Sean was practically tripping over himself to tell me how beautiful I looked. I had picked out a lovely turquoise, sequined gown a few weeks ago. Sophia said it complemented my skin and hair. I didn’t know about that, but I felt like a real princess in that dress.

Prom was so much fun! We danced a lot, well, everyone except for Damion. He said he didn’t like to dance and Kelli went ahead without him. My favorite part of the night was slow dancing with Sean.





After Prom, Kelli and Damion parted ways with the group. I don’t know why, but she never wanted to talk about what happened that night. The rest of us just went home, exhausted.

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Before I knew it, it was the last day of school. When I got there, Sean was waiting for me by my locker.

“If you aren’t doing anything tonight, would you want to come to my house for dinner?” he asked.

“You mean, with your dad?” I returned his question with a question. I had never met Sean’s parents before, he lived with his dad and his mom was away on business.

“Well, yeah, if you want to.” He said. “Kat, you’re very important to me and I want my dad to know you, plus he’s a great cook.”

I agreed and smiled at the thought of our relationship progressing. We kissed each other in the hallway before heading to our exams. Normally, I didn’t like seeing public displays of affection at school, but we were in that stage. You know the one I’m talking about, when all you want to do is make out.



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Momma drove me over to Sean’s house for dinner at 6 o’clock. Mr. Riley had made spaghetti with meatballs, and it was almost as good as my Nonna’s authentic Italian recipe.

I found out that Sean’s dad worked at the state capital, and his mom was an Architect. She was currently living in Tokyo working on an 8 month long project. Sean was an only child and wasn’t close to his mom at all since she was often gone on work projects.

We made small talk over dinner and Sean told his dad how we met and how our friends had played a part in setting us up, which his dad found pretty amusing.



“So Katarina, are you planning on going to college at Sim State?” his dad asked me curiously. Sim State was the local university, and Mr. Riley’s Alma Matter. He’d been pushing Sean to go there after high school.

“I don’t know where I want to go yet, maybe out of state. I’ve already gotten some scholarship offers if I keep my grades next year. But I do know that I want to study medicine and maybe be a Nurse, like my mom.” I replied.



I really liked Sean’s dad and I hoped he liked me too, since he and Sean were so close.

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School was finally out for the summer! Kelli was leaving tomorrow to spend the summer with her Aunt in California, so we all got together one last time at the skate center. It was the last time we’d all be together as a group because Pete and Sophia were leaving for college in a few months.



“Hey guys! Watch this! I can do a jump twist!” Kelli hollered as she started spinning.







Hahaha! We all laughed when she landed on her butt in the middle of the skate floor, I helped my friend up and she laughed with us, “I guess I’m not a figure skater after all.”

Sean and I skated to the slow songs, but I was a little worried about Kelli. She seemed to be avoiding Damion that night.