More than Black & White

4- dried your hair with a welcome mat

"Kim you are so late!" Her mom said sounding out of breath when she rounded the corner from the kitchen wiping her hands.

"I left a message." She told her mom hoping she hadn't been worried.

"No, no. I got your message, what a terrible thing to do! Do you have any clues to who did it?" Her mom stood at the end of the hall between the stairs case and the kitchen door.

"No, none. I hope we figure it out soon though and I can give them a piece of my mind!" Kim hung her coat in the front hall closet and left her shoes on the mat.

"Come eat, have you eaten at all today? Ms. Lennox called from the office and asked for permission to excuse you for the day of classes, she was telling me all about the mess in the drama room. She also said that Mr. Rossi was so happy to have you so he could focus on teaching and he knew you would be able to handle things." Her mom chatted as Kim made her way to the small kitchen table half littered with mail. They usually sat in the dining room or the living room so the table tended to be a catch all for paper.

"It was a pretty big shock honestly. Aneese and I were the last ones to leave the room and then to come back to it like that... I mean someone took our giant white board and duct-taped it to the ceiling! There had to be a bunch of people in on it. It took Ane and I all school day to just sort through and then twenty-two people like six more hours to get it back in shape." Kim shook her head. Her stomach growled as her mom put a plate of meatloaf and mashed potatoes with green beans and corn in front of her. "Thanks mom!" Kim dug in.

"So it is all done?" Her mom looked surprised.

"Oh goodness no!" Kim laughed and covered her mouth. "We have just sorted out anything damaged and put away anything that wasn't. This week will be about assessment and repair or replacements, but the thing is, we have no budget for replacements or even to hire help for repairs, so that means donations and possibly a fundraiser which I will probably have to organize and run, on top of being the stage manager." Kim talked between bites as she made quick work of her dinner.

"When will you have time to breathe?" Her mom asked concerned.

"Six toooooo fifty-six months?" Kim shrugged finishing off her plate and finally looking up.

"You better get some sleep!" Her mom shook her head.

"I wish! I had Ms. Lennox gather up my class notes for today, so I have to go look over those before I can sleep." Kim tossed her knapsack over her shoulder and side hugged her mom who had taken her plate and then kissed her on the head before heading up to her room.

"Ok but please be quiet, your brother is sleeping already." Her mom said nodding towards the stairs.

"And that is why you should let me move down stairs. There is plenty of room in the old playroom that no one has gone into for like ten years." Kim said with a smile at her mom.

"It has not been ten years! Jack is only eleven!" Her mom said shaking her head.

"Ok so like two years." Kim grinned.

"I said I would think about it." Her mom ushered her towards the stairs.

Kim passed the door to the main bathroom upstairs and thought about how nice a hot shower would feel. She also thought about it relaxing her to the point of falling asleep and she didn't like sleeping on wet hair so she kept walking, promising herself that she would shower in the morning.

In her room she didn't even bother with the overhead light, choosing instead, to use her bed side lamp so she wouldn't have to get up to turn the light out when she got tired.