Admiring the Light

Ep 42

New perspective

Caitlyn really hadn't gotten used to Edgewater in her four months. The tight streets weren't doing it for her; she hated how many small places there were. And the only entertainment? A crumbling bowling alley and an ancient movie theater.

The chill here might've even been worse than her last place; a seaside apartment in Providence. The wind ran through her thick braids as she glanced around the street.

"Ayooo." "What's good?"

"Fucking- ughhh."

Caitlyn stretched as she rested her arms over the back of the bench. "Day's not going good?" She pulled her fleece off her shoulders, letting the sun onto her arms.

"It's great. Just fucking great." She snapped.

"I know the feeling." She let out a long sigh. "I very much know the feeling."

"The fuck do you think you're talking about."

"People assuming the worst." Caitlyn watched as people wandered by; this was awfully calm, compared to her typical city life. "Parents, friends, teachers."

"You don't know shit."

She just laughed it off a little, but she flinched at the comment. "Heh, one of my first moves... I remember, I threatened to bring a gun to school. I said I'd kill my bullies. They moved me soon after."

"Foster kid? What's your deal-"

"Deadbeat mom."

"Ah- my mothers adopted me, probably like, back in Mexico or something."

"I've had families assume the worst as soon as they look at me." She checked her phone; aside from a text awaiting a response, she really had nothing to do.

"People think I'm some kind of fucking weed dealer."

"I'm the high maintenance teenage girl that nobody wants." She chuckled.

"Mmph, they're not wrong, are they?"

"Nahhhh, we all know it."

"As long as my grades are perfect, my parents don't even acknowledge me."

"No matter what I do, my parents don't acknowledge me."

"What's it like?"

"Come again?"

"What's it like? Moving around so much?"

"I've been everywhere." She carefully avoided looking up at the other girl. "From Miami to Vegas, I've been there."

"They dropped you off in Sin City??"

"For a few months, till I picked up smoking and they bumped me to Tulsa."

"Shit-"

"You can imagine how the South has been for me. Born in Minneapolis." Caitlyn didn't linger on her tangent.

"You must love the snow."

"That's the first thing you think of? Oh my god, I haven't been able to find a good pecan roll since I left. Porchetta, y'all don't have any here."

"Yeah no-"

"Oh my god, my other favorite place I've been. New York fucking City. I loved the chaos, couldn't be more different from home. Brooklyn, right next to nothing- fuck you." Caitlyn shot a glare at her, tightening her arms as her hands gripped the bench.

"Sorry, sorry." Alexandra cut the giggling. "I've just never heard you like, talk this much."

"Mmph."