Katherine by Sarrah Ward

Katherine

Somehow the rudeness of the girl’s late entrance was only enhanced by her ridiculous clothes; baggy shorts and a cut-off T-shirt that left her belly hanging out. Her seemingly blasé attitude as she snuck around the edge of the class and marked the movements was belied by her guilty eyes. And it was those eyes that caught Katherine’s full attention. Otherwise she would have merely dismissed the girl’s appearance with disgust. It had often been clichedly quoted that the eyes were windows to the soul. Whether or not this was true, and Katherine tended to doubt that it was because she had found that if you looked closely at someone’s eyes they are just eyes, prettily coloured bits of flesh and light receptors, did not really matter. It is actually the tiny muscles of the face, the ones that no one can control consciously and that most people are not even aware of possessing, it is those little muscles that are the windows, if not to the soul, then at least to the concealed conscious. And so it was that Katherine decided that this girl was not quite so much unconscious crudeness, as she would like everyone to believe. Perhaps not even as much as she would like herself to believe.

The offensive vulgarity and gaping, vacant flakiness would have been plenty of reason to kill her. But Katherine knew of several such people she could just as happily ignore. It was those diminutive, unsuspected muscles of the face that caught her attention and made her know that this one really had to go. Those little face muscles, that tiny look of guilt as she sauntered in late, told Katherine that the girl’s entire blasé demeanor was just an act. The girl was a fake. It was true, Katherine knew, that most people were fakes. But they were mostly either so inept that everyone saw right through them, or so adroit that no one, not even Katherine, knew what about them was actual or genuine. These latter she had a certain amount of respect for. It was only when the job was badly done, and the façade fooled most people but was still permeable, that Katherine got really angry. It was all well and good to go around being manipulative and acting like something you wanted everyone to think you were, but for god’s sake, if you were going to do that, do it well!

For awhile Katherine couldn’t see the girl because she was across the room and hidden behind some other people. Katherine had the devious thought that the girl was purposely hiding from her, and smiled devilishly, already getting pleasure from the power she held over the girl’s life. When the girl came back into view all of Katherine’s abhorrence manifested as she watched her stand with her mouth hanging open. If there was one thing that Katherine couldn’t stand it was people who couldn’t be bothered to close their mouths. Didn’t they realize how tremendously moronic they looked? Like some ridiculous bumbling animal that couldn’t even figure out how to use its nose to breathe instead. And humans think they are the top of the evolutionary chain, Katherine sneered, well perhaps in theory. But there were too many people around and Katherine couldn’t dispose of the girl just yet. Much as she knew how many people would be truly grateful to her for removing the annoyance, she also knew that there were several people who had pesky hang-ups about the sanctity of human life, blah blah blah. For this reason Katherine also kept her work mainly anonymous. She did not mind really, not being one of those who needed to advertise their achievements and contributions. She knew what she did, and was pleased, and that was enough. Ah, well. She was sure she would be presented with an appropriate opportunity if it was meant to be. If she never encountered the girl in another enraging act of obnoxious, feigned, indifference perhaps it would mean that the girl had reformed, or improved her technique. As it was, Katherine had to grind her teeth, look away, and breathe deeply to control the urge to pounce immediately, but she did control it, and did it well. Control was one of talents, which made her excel in her field. She was not one of these cheap fakes, which one could see right through. Her façade was thick, and deep, and fully detailed.