ONE.
( I can keep a secret, can you? )

"What's wrong with him?"

Tasha looked up from her practically catatonic husband and saw the four teenagers standing at the entrance of the living and kitchen. She let out a sigh, glancing at the man before standing up. "He's just nervous," she said.

"About what?" Bree raised her eyebrows before pointing at him. "Cause he's not blinking."

The older woman sighed. "He recently partnered with a tech company and the owner and his daughter are coming over for dinner."

Leo's face was scrunched up with concern and a bit of dumbfoundedness. He walked up to Donald and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Big D? Are you okay?"

"Oh, Donald," Tasha huffed, sitting back beside her husband. She placed a comforting arm around his shoulders. "It's going to be fine. They're going to love you. I'm sure Mr. Lawrence is a wonderful man."

The man let out a quiet scream at the mention of the name, grabbing onto a couch pillow and clutching it tightly to his chest.  

"Lawrence?" Chase furrowed his eyebrows. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"Wait, they're that family that lives down the road, right?" Bree realized. 

Leo gasped dramatically, his eyes widening while his back snapped into a straighter position. "The Lawrences? As in that super-rich family who lives in that huge house down the road?"

"Yes," Tasha answered as her eyebrows inched closer together. Her son was acting odder than usual. "Leo, what's wrong?"

Just then, the doorbell rang. 

Leo and Donald both let out simultaneous shrieks of fear and froze. Eyes went to the door, and there was a single beat of silence. 

Tasha scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be so dramatic, you two. It's just dinner. Bree, can you set the table?"

And just like the wind, the teenage girl sped off towards the kitchen table, the sound of metal cutlery and fine china hitting the table. Donald always liked to have the fine china out for special dinners. 

Tasha primped up her hair, straightened out her dress, and plastered a kind smile on her face before opening the door. "Mr. Lawrence! Please, come in."

"Thank you, Mrs. Davenport," Grayson Lawrence gave his usual charismatic smile. She quickly shut the door behind him and he glanced around the house. "A lovely home you and your husband have."

"Thank you," she grinned even wider, feeling her cheeks start to cramp and pinch. "And you must be Katherine."

From beside her father, a smaller teenage girl with straight brown hair, a blue dress, and a decorative flower crown appeared. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Davenport."

The woman gave a rather obnoxious giggle that sounded forced and clenched her teeth. "Donald! It's rude not to greet our guests."

Grayson and Katherine looked over her shoulder to see a wide-eyed man with an equally wide-eyed boy and three other teenagers. Katherine observed them curiously, finding them all familiar. She knew who Bree was due to them having a chemistry class together.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise when the wide-eyed man on the couch sprang up like a fish out of water and rushed towards them. "Grayson! Katherine! It's so great to see you!"

"You too, Donald," Grayson spoke in amusement, glancing at his daughter and seeing the corners of her lips lift. "I hope we haven't arrived at a bad time."

"Not at all!" Donald exclaimed, placing a hand on their backs and beginning to push them towards the rest of the family. "I would like to introduce you to my kids. These are Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo."

"Leo?" Katherine couldn't help the name slip past her lips, and everyone turned to her. She looked almost in disbelief. She now remembered why he looked so familiar. "As in the freshman kid who dumped school chili on my head?"

And as if he had just been told he went bankrupt, Donald Davenport was drained of color, face full of sheer, white panic. They all slowly turned to the youngest boy in the room, who only nervously chuckled. 

"I paid for the dry cleaning," he tried to justify, his voice growing smaller and smaller with each word. 

"My hair took 2 hours to do!" Katherine exclaimed, hands subconsciously playing with the ends of her hair. 

"And he is very sorry," Tasha cut in, eyes glaring into her husband and son. "Please, have a seat. Donald, a word?"

She quickly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside to the kitchen while the others walked over to the dinner table. Katherine's eyes continued to glare into Leo's head, her father having to drag her over to the table, making sure she sat the furthest away from the boy. 

"So, Mr. Lawrence," one of the Davenport kids, Chase, began to speak. He had light brown hair and was noticeably shorter than his other brother. "What have you and Mr. Davenport partnered on?"

Katherine looked at him oddly. "You call your dad Mr. Davenport?"

The boy's eyes widened as he started to stumble over his words. "I ─ well ─ I like to remain professional?"

His statement sounded more like a question, but a soft nudge from her dad made Katherine stand down. 

"Currently, we're working on new pieces of equipment. More specifically, with energy transference," Grayson explained calmly. 

"That's awesome," Chase had a look of actual interest and excitement. "You know, I sometimes work on the technology with Mr. Davenport."

"Really?" the older man raised an eyebrow. "I don't know many people your age who would be interested in our line of work. Whenever I try to talk to Katherine about my day at work, she falls asleep."

"Math makes me sleepy," the girl shrugged. 

He gave her a small smile before turning back to Chase. "If you're interested, I would be glad to show you the latest project that we've been working on."

"Of course I'm interested!" Chase's face lit up. "I would love to see what you've been working on."

Katherine wanted to roll her eyes at his enthusiasm, snacking on some garlic bread that was on the table. She was never someone who enjoyed math as a subject. She enjoyed her English classes way more. 

"These are my mother's recipes," they all turned to the side, seeing Donald and Tasha walking in with dishes in their hands. Katherine's senses were immediately filled with the smell of shrimp scampi pasta and a lovely-looking steak. Her mouth watered as she remembered how hungry she was. 

"I like you already," Katherine suddenly stated, eyes never leaving the pasta dish as he placed it on the table. 

And though she didn't see it, Donald let out a very noticeable sigh of relief. "Thank you, Katherine."

"So, Katherine," Tasha took a seat at the table. "Have you met Adam, Bree, or Chase at school?"

"I've seen them around," Katherine nodded, piling pasta onto her plate. "Bree and I had a chemistry project together."

"And we totally aced that," Bree grinned, the two girls sharing a high-five from across the table. 

"Chase and I are in the same grade but I don't see him much. People think he's a loser," she nonchalantly said, feeling a sharp pinch at her side. Her head whipped to her dad, eyes squinting at him. "Ow! What?"

"I apologize," he said. "Katherine hasn't learned what social cues are yet."

She scoffed. "I didn't even say anything! It's not like I called him a loser. I just said that people think he's one." She then turned to Chase. "I don't think you're a loser. Just... irrelevant."

Grayson loudly cleared his throat, eyes sternly staring into his daughter. "Katherine."

She opened her mouth to retort back, but Tasha let out a forced giggle. "How about some lemonade?"

✸

"Thank you for the dinner. It was delicious," Grayson complimented as he and Donald shook hands. "I'll be sure to treat you next time."

"You and Katherine are always welcome here," Donald gave an overly kind smile. "Katherine, it was nice to meet you."

She bowed her head in acknowledgment. "It was nice to meet you too, Mr. Davenport. You and your... family."

She glanced over a sauce-covered Adam, a lemonade-covered Chase, a water-covered Bree, and a hysterically laughing Leo. 

"I deeply apologize for... that," Donald sighed as he gestured to his kids. "It won't happen again."

"I understand," Grayson nodded. "Teenagers can be quite the hassle. I can barely take care of one and you're juggling four."

"I'm not that difficult," Katherine slightly pouted. "I think I'm delightful."

"Of course you are," Donald was quick to agree. 

"We should be heading out now," Grayson pulled on his coat. "Be in the office by 9 tomorrow. Oh, and bring Chase with you. I believe that he would benefit from seeing how we work."

"You got it," Donald grinned. "Have a good night, you two."

Katherine and Grayson Lawrence walked out of the Davenport household, and once that door closed, Donald slowly turned around to face everyone else. 

"What's happening?" Bree asked with wide eyes. 

And they all watched as this man sunk onto the living room floor and curled up into a ball. A barely audible scream left his mouth, face full of shame. 

"I think he's having a breakdown," Adam muttered, licking the sauce off his arm. 

Chase sighed, hopping off the stool. "I'll grab the left leg."

"I got the right," Bree said after. 

"We'll grab his arms," Leo concluded before the four stalked up to the mess of a man on the floor and grabbed onto his limbs, carrying him up the stairs. 

✸

Chase wondered if he had just stepped out of Earth and was about to enter Heaven. His own personal Heaven. 

His face was full of awe as this unknown man guided him through this exceptional-looking laboratory. There were smoke-filled beakers, explosions coming out of others, a multitude of laser weapons shooting in random directions, creatures he had never seen before. It was like all of his work led him to this moment. 

"Chase!" the boy broke out of his child-like excitement, seeing Grayson Lawrence walking towards him. "I am so glad that you could make it. What do you think?"

"What do I think?" Chase repeated, his voice sounding like it was going to burst. "Mr. Lawrence, this is the most incredible thing I've ever seen. How is this possible?"

Grayson gave a smug smile, the two slowly strolling through the large lab. "We have a very dedicated team. We research the unknown and make the impossible possible."

Chase didn't know what else to say as they stopped at a desk, where Donald Davenport grinned proudly at the sight of him. "Isn't it great?"

"That would be an understatement," Chase breathed out, not being able to take his eyes off of the space. "How long have you been working on this?"

"I've only just started, but, Mr. Lawrence has been doing this for his whole career," he explained. "His work is inspiring."

"It sure is," Chase agreed. "What does Katherine think of all this? She must be proud."

And suddenly, there was a cold breeze that swept past them, and the two adults fell silent. Chase felt his face slowly drop, and he grew concerned that he said something wrong. "What?"

Donald and Grayson glance at each other with serious expressions. 

"Katherine doesn't know that I do this," the man admitted. 

Chase's face scrunched up in confusion. "What? But, I walked past her. She works the front desk, right?"

"Sometimes," Donald nodded. "Great penmanship."

"How does she not know that you do this if she's here?" Chase asked. 

Grayson sighed. "She doesn't know that the lab exists. She doesn't even know that there's a basement to this facility."

"Wait, what?" Chase was having a hard time wrapping his head around this. "Then what does she think you're doing?"

"As far as Katherine is aware, I run a company that makes eco-friendly tech for the government that runs on green energy. Hence the name, EnerLaw."

"That's what you said at dinner," Chase realized. "So, what do you actually do?"

Grayson and Donald glanced at each other again, the latter giving a nod. Grayson huffed. "The first part is true, but, what I mainly focus on is... bionic technology."

"Bionic technology?" Chase repeated in disbelief. He looked to Donald. "Wait, does that mean he knows that ─ "

"You, Adam, and Bree are bionic?" Grayson cut him off. "Yes, I do. Mr. Davenport came to me after a mutual business partner told him of my work. We believe that by working together, it can make your team stronger."

"Wow," Chase thickly swallowed. "Does that mean everyone else in here knows?"

"Yes," Grayson stated. "And they are under strict orders to keep your secret. If we suspect that they have told anyone, their contract with be terminated and consequences are severe."

That eased some of Chase's worries, but this was a bit much for him. "So, Katherine has no idea about any of this?"

"No," Grayson said sternly and shook his head. "And I plan to keep it that way. The results can be dangerous if she finds out."

Chase felt like it was cruel to keep such a big thing from your daughter, but he knew that Grayson only had her best interest in mind. "I understand."

"Good. Shall we get to work?" Grayson walked up to a keypad and pressed his palm against it. There was a blue light that emitted from it before the doors opened with a start. 

Chase took a deep breath before stepping through the threshold. 

✸ AUTHOR'S NOTE !

ANDDDDD DONE!!!! i know that there wasn't a whole lot of Katherine in this chapter but I just wanted to get this exposition out of the way so that I could focus on her more!! hope you enjoyed!!