Kiss & Blog

5. Baggage

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F I V E: Baggage

        Kathryn had been scrolling through her Tumblr dashboard when her mother appeared in the doorway. Ditching the phone, she looked up at her waiting mother. 

        "Are you taking these with you?" she asked, dangling a pair of feathered earrings before her. 

        Kathryn looked at her mother, confused by her random suggestion. "Uh, mom..." she started, her lips quivering into a disgusted grimace, "I don't do feathers." She laughed when her mother frowned and looked back and forth between her and the earrings.

        She lifted them up to Kathryn's ear and cocked her head. "They look cute," she offered, still cocking her head. "Are you sure you don't want to bring them with you?" 

        "I'm sure, mom."

        "Well, okay," she said, pressing her lips into a tight line, quietly watching Kathryn pack. "Do you need any help, sweetie?"

        Kathryn shook her head. She was just about finished- at least, she thought she was. Her toiletries and shoes were all packed, and if she did happen to forget something, she always had the option to buy whatever she needed there or borrow from Leah. She didn't own many clothes; being a social outcast didn't require many outfit changes since no one really bothered to notice her anyways.

        Kathryn placed another sweater in the pile while biting her lip, wondering if maybe that addition was one sweater too much. Deciding she could never have enough sweaters she shrugged and clamped her luggage closed.

        She looked up to see her mother still quietly staring. Holding back a smile, Kathryn waved her hand in front of her mother's eyes. “You’re kind of making me uncomfortable, mom.”

        Her mother snapped back to reality. "Oh, sorry, hon," she cooed, "I'm just- I won't be seeing you for two months!"

        The longest Kathryn’s been without seeing her parents was for the five days she spent touring New York for a school art trip. “Two months isn't that long," Kathryn let out a breath when she finally managed to zip her luggage part way. "And besides," she grunted, finally pulling the two opposite zippers together. She let out a sigh, "You still have Kev." Kathryn laughed under her breath.

        "Oh, hush!" her mother pouted, before continuing in a small voice, "you know your brother is your father's son! You are my daughter."

        "I heard that!" Kevin's voice boomed through her open bedroom door.

        "Love you, Kev!" their voices called out in unison. They laughed together.

        "You take care of yourself, okay?"

        "I always do, mom."

        "Have any of your friends called to say goodbye?" she asked, standing up and walking to the door.

        "They sent me texts," Kathryn smiled, hoping she wouldn't see through her lie.

        With a nod her mother left the room, shutting the door behind her. Kathryn let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding in.

        Kathryn didn't ask to be a geek, she just fit into the category. After Leah moved, she didn't bother keeping up with her friends. The distance between them grew too wide to overstep and soon the social status system became Kathryn versus everyone else. She was also naturally intelligent; her studies came easy to her, and her being a total clutz only made her fit the description of a grade A+ nerd all the more perfectly.