Trojan Horse

2 - Exclamation Points

In retrospect, maybe Minna should have started packing sooner. The truck she and Kevin had rented to make the long, horrible drive to SoCal was almost full and she still had several boxes to squeeze in. And to add to that, she had four dozen more clothing articles to sort through.

"We're leaving at six," Kevin said firmly. "You better get up."

"You better go to sleep early," Minna argued. "You're the one who won't get up in the morning. Andrew, tell him."

"He knows already," Andrew said boredly.

Minna spread her hands smugly, then slipped away to sort through the several handmade clothing articles. She knew Abby had appeared in the doorway when one of the tops moved of it own accord. She looked up and the team nurse was smiling knowingly.

"They'll be good for you," Abby said.

"I know," Minna agreed. "Should I go for the color explosions? Or should I stick to the regular colors?"

"Patterns," Abby said. "Or a mix. I'll bet you'll end up making more while you're there anyway."

Minna accepted that with a nod and grabbed a few sets. Skirts and tops, pants and tops, shorts and tops — they were all sewn by her. And she was so incredibly proud of her works. Some were all the same color, others were on-the-edge-of-bizarre mixes. She folded her clothes and tucked them away, all into the final suitcase. To be fair, only a few things didn't fit, considering her folding methods were incredibly difficult — so she didn't have to leave much behind anyway.

Minna fell asleep checking her contacts — just to be sure she had everyone that mattered. She bolted awake at five when her alarm went off and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

She could hear through the walls the hassle of getting both Kevin and Andrew up to drive across the country for three days. She covered her face and mussed her hair.

"Minna?" Nicky's voice called.

"I'm awake," Minna groaned. She rolled out of bed and slowly changed into leggings and a t-shirt. She grabbed her PSU zip up and exited the room, dragging her last suitcase with her.

"Looking tired," Abby joked. "Where's Aaron?"

"Still sleeping," Nicky said. He stretched and yawned loudly. Minna snagged the first mug of coffee and sipped it to try to wake herself up.

She slowly set herself down in a chair as Kevin was dragged into the kitchen. Her lips quirked a little, then she was handed a few boiled eggs. Andrew took his meds with coffee across from her and Kevin started snoring at the table. Abby hit him and put a mug in front of him and Nicky finally got his own coffee.

"Why're you even up?" Minna asked through a yawn.

"Kevin set five alarms," Nicky yawned. "I couldn't fall back asleep after the third one."

"And he slept through 'em?"

"Yep!" Andrew's cheery voice cut through the exhaustion.

"You're lucky," Minna whined. "You're gonna be able to sleep halfway through today. Kevin is driving and he needs help with the GPS — he always does."

Kevin scowled at her but didn't deny it.

Andrew gave her an overly enthusiastic smile.

Thirty minutes later, the three were finishing loading up the truck and strapping everything down.

Minna pulled the bungee cord hard and Andrew tugged on it from the other side.

"You're stronger than me," Minna gasped. "Let me get this side down, then let's get that side."