Saved from a Storm Drain

Who: Kitty and Kavin
Where: Streets of Marquette, near a gas station
When: Afternoon

Out of all the stupid things Kitty had done in her life, she was pretty sure this ranked up in the top ten. Maybe even the top five. All she'd meant to do was swing by the gas station on her walk home and buy a soda, but when she heard the voice calling from the storm drain, she'd had to go investigate. All she'd intended on doing was checking out the scene, but the closer she got, the more her curiosity peaked. There was definitely someone down there! Without much thought, she pulled up the grate and leaned in, attempting to see who it might be. And that's when she slipped.

The ghost snickered and ran off, leaving Kitty sitting at the bottom, looking up at the hole she'd fallen down into. Climbing to her feet, she reached up and grabbed the ledge, but her upper arms didn't prove to be strong enough to pull her out. "Hey!" she yelled, hands waving frantically from the hole in the ground. "Somebody help me!" Hopefully someone would be as willing to investigate as she had been, though hopefully not near as clumsy.

Kavin was out of cigarettes. And ever since finding out that Nate had left town, he'd been smoking twice as much as normal so being out was practically the end of the world. He pulled up at the gas station and parked his car and was just about to go inside the store when he heard the sound of someone calling out for help. He raised a brow and glanced around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from and that's when he saw fingers. Hands waving from a storm drain.

Why someone would be down in a storm drain was completely beyond him, but he wasn't just going to leave her there, so he jogged over and knelt down. "How'd ya get down there?" he questioned, leaning over a bit and getting into a position that wouldn't leave him falling in too. "Come on, lemme get you out of there."

"Oh, thank God!" Kitty smiled when Kavin came to lean over the storm drain. "Be careful, it's slippery," she warned. "I heard voices down here, so I just meant to come see, and then I opened it, and I just-- yeah, I fell in. Think you can give me a hand?" she asked. She didn't know if the guy was strong enough to pull her out, but she certainly hoped so. Calling the fire department would be humiliating.

Lucky for her, Kavin was strong enough to get her out of the drain. He reached down and took hold of her arms. "Hold on to me." he directed the girl and slowly pulled her upwards. She was light, so it wasn't hard to get her out of the hole. Once he'd gotten her out and helped her to her feet, he gave her a little smile. "You okay?"

Getting pulled out of a storm drain was not on her list of things to do today, but she took his hands and went with it, since staying in the storm drain was far, far worse. What resulted was an instant need for a shower and leaves in her hair, as well as a few scrapes and bruises, all of which she could deal with... once she got over being embarrassed. "Thank you, oh my gosh, thank you so much. I just-- yeah, I'm okay, just a little scraped up," she said, trying to brush herself off. Now she needed antiseptic. And bandages. Her hands had been scraped in the fall and she didn't even want to think about the filth they'd been in.

He nodded, reaching up to pluck a leaf from the mass of red curls on the girls head. "Not a problem." he told her, flicking it away and leaning down long enough to move the grate back into place. "You know curiosity killed the cat." he pointed out teasingly. "I'm Kavin." he added. "Kavin Reid."

"Then I should be glad to be alive," she laughed, hearing the pun he could never have intended. "Nice to meet you, Kavin. I'm Kitty. Kitty McLain," she smiled as he pulled a leaf from her hair. She was sure her face was just about as red to match, but it would fade. "I promise not to run off and get stuck in a tree or something. But I do think I'm going to go in and see if I can't find some bandages for my hands."

He smiled at her and nodded. "Yeah, you should probably do that. Don't want any infections." He couldn't help but think that he sounded a lot like his mother when he said that, but, well, infections sucked. "I gotta go in myself."

"I had a soda," she said, looking around before following him towards the gas station. "But I think the storm drain ate it. Stupid ghost. I guess I should've known better than to help one that was hanging out in a storm drain." It reminded her of a Stephen King story, though it'd been a kid rather than a clown. If there'd been a clown down there, she'd have stayed the hell away from it.

"You wanted to help the ghost?" he questioned. That was definitely a new one. Most of the people he'd talked to about the ghosts either couldn't see them, like Kyle, or just were slightly annoyed with them, like Jeri and the ghosts that kept hanging around his bedroom. They reached the gas station door and he pulled it open for the girl, letting her enter ahead of him.

"I guess," she shrugged. "I wanted to see if they were okay. Or if they needed out or something. I don't know. It seemed like the nice thing to do until the bastard laughed at me." Now she knew better than to help ghosts in weird places. Cemeteries were fine, but storm drains were not. "Thanks," she said, entering the gas station. "You think ghosts can be helped?"

Kavin shrugged a little. "Maybe. Guess it depends on the ghost. Some might not want help, like the laughing one in the drain." he said with a little smile. "Do you always try to help the ones you see?" he asked. "You could be walking around for quite a while trying to get them all."

"No, just when I feel inspired to do so, I guess. I've talked a few, and some are just pissy. And then there are some that are lonely, so I try to give them company. I just feel bad for them. They're stuck here and don't really know why," Kitty said, easily imagining how much that would suck. An eternity of never being able to move on, to do something new. They couldn't even leave Marquette. It didn't appeal to her, being a ghost.

"Some of them like to make a mess." he said with a smile. "One has been in and out of my closet for like... well since all this started. You've actually talked to them though?" He couldn't imagine being stuck in a place and not understanding why. It was probably awful. A big annoyance most likely. Not knowing why you were stuck and not being able to do anything about it.

"Yeah," she smiled. "Some are willing to communicate. And depending on when they lived, they can be really interesting. So you have one hanging out in your closet?" she asked. That seemed a rather odd place to stay. Maybe the ghost had lived there before Kavin did. She was guessing that he hadn't tried asking. "What's he doing? Sorting your clothes?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "I guess you could say that. More like tossing my clothes out of the closet and all over my room. I don't think he particularly cares for my taste in clothes."

"You should ask him to stop then!" Kitty laughed. "Or at least find out what his problem is. You know, they say that ghosts are here for unfinished business, and I doubt his is to continually raid your closet. Maybe he's looking for something!"

"I did ask him to stop." Kavin told her. "And he did. Kind of grumpily. But at least he stopped." He shrugged a little and headed back to the case that held the drinks and grabbed himself one. "So what do the ghosts you've talked to say?" he asked the girl.

"See! Ghosts are people too," Kitty smiled, following him back to grab a drink for herself. Having lost hers in the storm drain, she'd just have to buy another. "Most of them will tell me their name, when they died, and what's bothering them, if I ask," she said, heading towards the isle with first aid. "I haven't officially been able to help one yet, but I'll keep trying, if they want me to."

"Well it's cool that you want to help, but you might wanna be a teensy bit more careful, Kitty." Kavin told her. "Wouldn't want you to fall down something worse than a storm drain. You sure you didn't hurt yourself at all?" he questioned. He was hoping she was alright. It was a pretty deep fall.

"Mostly just scrapped my hands," she said, looking herself over. "Ripped my jeans, but that's not bad enough to bandage up. And hit my head, but I don't feel blood. I'm not, like, gushing all over myself, am I?" she asked, lightly touching her head with her fingers, looking for an injury.

Kavin shook his head but still looked where she was touching. "No... I don't think so." he told her. "Just making sure you didn't hurt yourself. It was a long fall and all. Wouldn't want that. Still want some bandages though?" he questioned. "Not sure if they'll have them here or not."

"Yeah, just enough to clean off my hands. Who knows what's been down there," she said, curling up her nose. There really were better places to fall into. "They're not really bleeding, but they sting and it just seems safer, I guess. Know anything about first aid? I know I probably should, but I'm only a freshman. I'm still just taking classes like biology and chemistry."

"I know plenty." he smiled. "My mother made sure I knew how to bandage up just about anything when I moved out. Did you drive here? I could take you to the pharmacy and get you some of that antiseptic stuff. Keep it from getting infected and all that. Maybe some bandages too if you want, but cleaning those up I think is the first order of business. You're right... wouldn't know what's been down there and that's never good."

"I walked, so if you don't mind giving me a ride, I'd really appreciate it," Kitty smiled. Catching a ride with strangers probably wasn't any better an idea than helping a ghost out of a street drain, but he didn't seem like he could hurt her. "When you moved out? Do you live in the dorms then?" she asked, assuming he must be a college student like her. "What's your major?"

He smiled and shook his head as he headed up to the counter and got his cigarettes, paying for those and his drink. "I'm in high school." he told her. "Senior. I moved out when I turned eighteen. Wanted some privacy I guess. Be my own boss instead of listening to my parents every second. You live at the dorms?" he questioned.

"You just... moved out?" she asked, brows raising. "Like, into an apartment? I didn't get along with my parents, but they would've never let that fly." Plus, she didn't have the money and it wasn't like they were going to fund her living somewhere else just because she wanted soem space to herself. Being in another city, they had to cough up the funds, but if she'd gone to school at home, she might've been stuck there. "In the dorms," she nodded. "But I lucked out and got my own room, which pretty much rocks. I wasn't looking forward to sharing."

Again there was that smile while he let her pay for her drink. "No. A house." he explained. "Down the street from my parents. My dad and I do a lot of traveling with his private business and that helped me pay for it. That's cool that you get to have your own room though. I'd hate having to share a room with someone I didn't know. That'd definitely be weird."

"You've got your own house?" Kitty asked, her eyes just about to fall out of her face. "What kind of crazy business does your dad run? You're not, like, Marquette mafia, are you?" A high school boy with that kind of money was unheard of, as far as she was concerned. There were plenty of things she'd save money on before she bought a house, which led her to believe that he must have had plenty to spare.

"It's a private thing, but no, not the mafia." he smiled, heading for the door and ready to change the topic. "What are you going to school for?" he questioned, a bit curious about her major.

"But you have your own house!" Kitty said, still shocked. It almost made her feel poor, but then she decided he had to be the minority. "Even if my parents had that kind of cash, they'd never go for something like that. And just for privacy? Are you a porn star?" The question popped out before she thought much about it and she found herself turning red as she tried to laugh it off. "Sorry, I just can't get my head around it. I'm going to school for nursing."

"Nursing." he smiled, letting her off the hook for the porn star thing. The flush on her cheeks said that she didn't want him dwelling on that part, so he didn't. "That's cool. No wonder you want to help the ghosts, you seem like you just want to help people period." He held the door open for her and let her head out ahead of him then walked out himself and went in the direction of his car, waving a hand to let her know where it was.

"Actually... it's not really my first choice," Kitty said, following behind him as they headed out into he parking lot. "I think it's more the ghosts that interest me. Helping them just seems logical. Not that I don't want to help people, but if I had it my way, I'd be majoring in music." Which was a much more selfish career choice, but it was her life! So what if she didn't want to help people for a living! Though she actually didn't mind that, which was why she'd chosen nursing over majors like business or education.

"Music? You play or sing?" he questioned, opening the passenger door for the girl to climb in. "Or write. Has to be one of those right? Or maybe you're all mulit-talented and you do all three." he grinned.

"I sing," she smiled. "And I can write, but only vocals. The best I can play is really poking around at a piano. I'd love to have lessons, some day, but vocals are really my specialty." If she had the time, the money, or at least the support, then maybe she'd have expanded on what she could do. Unfortunately, that was the one area she was severely lacking in.

"Nice." he said, heading around to the driver side once the girl was in the car. He climbed in and buckled himself in and turned the car on, glancing over at the girl. "You any good?" he asked. "And do you like sing anything or you have a particular type of music you like more?"

While she wasn't one to brag, Kitty knew she was good. Maybe she wasn't visually what the music industry would want, and maybe she was too small to play a leading lady on Broadway, but her vocals were strong enough to earn her a scholarship, even if she'd been forbidden to take it. "I like to think I'm good," she said, putting on her seatbelt. "And I really enjoy just about anything, but I think my unique talent is that I can sing Opera."

Kavin pulled away from the gas station and headed off in the direction of the pharmacy. "Opera?" he said with a little smile. "Can't say I'm the biggest fan of that particular genre, but I know it takes a hell of a singer to hit some of those notes."

"It's not exactly something I'm going to be doing a lot of here in Marquette," she admitted. "It's more that I can that would make me valuable. I enjoy the pop songs and everything, too, but there are a lot more people out there that fit into that genre." The more popular the music, the stiffer the competition.

He nodded. "Gotta be different." he smiled. "Set yourself apart from the masses and you'll probably go farther. Be some famous opera singer or something." That would be interesting, he thought, to go from small town girl to famous opera singer.

"Maybe," she said, trying not to sound too wistful and probably failing. Unlike him, she didn't have the money to do whatever she wanted, and her parents hadn't been supportive about the music degree. How she was going to get from Marquette to anywhere even slightly visible was beyond her, but she couldn't stop trying. "What do you wanna do? Planning on college?"

"I might go into like business classes or something." he said with a shrug. "Learn more about the workings of corporations so I can better run father's business when he turns it over to me." That wasn't entirely untrue. He did plan on taking some business type classes in college when he got out of high school, but he knew he didn't have to.

Kitty nodded, trying to understand that and super curious about what his father did for a living. "It's always good to have the education to support you, even if you know the business. It means the people beneath you will respect you and not just think of it as a case of nepotism," she said, figuring that if this was a corporation, it must be pretty high scale.

He nodded, though there weren't any people 'beneath' him to speak of. She didn't need to know that. So he smiled and moved the topic right along. "Your family live here in town?" he questioned.

"Thank God, no," Kitty said. "They're over in Houghton. I was ready to get away, have some space and be myself. Yours do, right? Or did you like, move out and move away?" That seemed like a pretty bold statement, but then so did buying his own house. Since Kavin said he worked with his dad, though, Kitty figured they were still on good terms.

"Down the street from me." he nodded. "Didn't move too far." he admitted. "Not when father and me work together a lot. Saves me gas and stuff. And if I moved to another town, I'm pretty sure my mother would have packed up her things and followed me." he chuckled.

"I'm really kinda shocked they let you move to begin with. I mean, shouldn't you be saving for college? It's not exactly cheap, you know." Or, she knew, since her parents had made such a big deal about it. Plus, if he bought his own house, surely he bought his own car. "So does this mean you clean and do the dishes and do all your own laundry?" she teased.

He was thanking god by the time he got to the pharmacy. She kept questioning his reasoning for moving out, his income, his family. All things he wasn't about to start talking about. "Yeah. I do all that. All grown up and stuff. Handling my own business." he nodded as he pulled into the pharmacy parking lot and parked the car. "Time to get you some bandages and antibacterial stuff." he told her with a little grin in her direction.

"Awesome, thanks," she said, climbing out of his car. "You don't have to come in if you want. I can walk home from here. But I really appreciate the ride. And help getting out of the storm drain." For all she knew, she'd still be down there if it weren't for him.

Kavin gave the girl a smile and nodded. "Alright." he told her. "Guess I'll catch ya around town then. Sure we'll bump into each other again. Small town and all. It was nice meeting you."

"Nice meeting you too, Kavin!" she said, waving at him before she headed inside. He was right about one thing, it was fairly easy to run into people in a small town. She was sure she'd see him again, hopefully sooner rather than later.