The Blue Jay {Short Story}

Part 1

"I just hate birds."

That was the first time that Kenzie really dared to admit it. The look of confusion that scrunched up her mother's face compelled her to say more.

"I don't know why, I just do. It's just one my things," Kenzie offered, shrugging and trying to stay calm as the silence between the two grew sharper and sharper.

"That's ridiculous," her mother scoffed, rolling her pretty blue eyes and ignoring the stony look on Kenzie's face. She smiled a little, and laughed to herself. "You have no reason to hate birds. They don't hurt people, they help people."

Kenzie sighed and felt the frustration burning in her words. "I don't really understand why you don't understand--don't you hate anything?"

Again the eyes rolled and the indifferent woman tossed her hair. She let out a short laugh and said, "Well of course, honey, but not things like that." She reached out and ruffled Kenzie's hair gently.

"Mom!" Kenzie ducked and combed her hair painfully back into its straightened state with her fingers. "I just don't want to go to your weird biology fest--you know I'm not into that stuff."

"Excuses, excuses," the other muttered, shaking her head in mock sympathy.

"I wasn't making excuses--" Kenzie started, but the look that formed on her mother's face shut her mouth quicker than the reply that followed.

"Honey, you're going, whether or not you like it. It's settled. It'll be good for you! Now go get ready for bed before you convince me to change my mind," her mother said, a thin smile returning to her face. She turned around and clicked a button on the dishwasher, smiling contentedly as the insides of the great machine began to churn.

Kenzie stomped up the stairs, purposely slamming the door to her room.

Why in the world is she making me do this? It's my birthday! Let me have a life, please! Or, I guess I could just attend some stupid nerdy bird conference.

She dragged her feet across the room and face planted on her bed and groaned. Her sheets smelled of laundry detergent and scented flowers. They were extremely soft, but not the cheap fleece that covered her pillow. Kenzie breathed in the familiar comforts of lily and rose candles that were burning on her nightstand. She rolled over and stared at the ceiling, thinking self-pitying thoughts about the science fair that she was to attend early the next morning.

Kenzie Davis was a strange girl. Actually, not even strange, really quite normal, except for the fact that she had a deep hatred for anything with wings. Insects, bats, and especially birds. She didn't even know why she held the creatures in such distaste. Every second up until that foreshadowing evening, the day before her fourteenth birthday. The day that fate would strike against her good luck and change her life..temporarily. She was a pretty, thin and spindly girl with dark brown straight hair that complimented her dark brown eyes. She rarely wore makeup, and prided herself in her odd sense of fashion (if it is to be called fashion at all). She skipped preschool, and entered high school at the age of 13.

As soon as Kenzie was ready for the night, she climbed into her bed. The room was completely silent. An cat screeched off in the distance, and a dog barked three times before falling silent. Kenzie lifted her hand to her nightstand and painstakingly opened the third-to-bottom drawer. It creaked quietly, but it sounded like an avalanche of creaks in the dark silence of the night.

She pulled out her phone, placing her finger on the home button. A flash of bright colors erupted in her hand, and she blinked profusely, dropping the brightness to the lowest possible setting. Kenzie scrolled through her seven pages of apps, contemplating.

"Are you in bed, honey?" suddenly a voice floated up from the bottom floor. Her mother started to ascend the stairs, and Kenzie grew tense as the muffled steps grew louder.

Kenzie calmly shut off her phone, knowing that she was not supposed to be on electronics at night. With both her mother and father being scientists, they had come to some sort of 'scientific' reasoning about electronics and bedtime.

"Yeah, I was about to fall asleep," Kenzie answered, faking tiredness. The steps stopped outside Kenzie's door, and she heard a quiet 'ok, good night' before the door to her mother's bedroom closed with a quiet click.

Kenzie lay deathly still in bed for another minute, then relaxed. Assured that her mother would not enter her room, she opened her phone to a new text notification. The sender's name sparked a nervous flutter in the girl's heart and she opened messages.

Scottish Candycane: tomorrow, 7 pm, my house 🎬👈

Me: 😑 i don't know if i'll be there

Scottish Candycane: why not?

Me: my mom is making me go to a science fair 🙄

Scottish Candycane: oh...we'll miss ya 😉

Me: I'm sure you'll survive 😄

Scottish Candycane: unlikely.

Kenzie shut the phone down and sighed. She felt defeat looming on her doorstep; knocking at her door. She wished it would give up and go away.

She smiled as she pictured Scott, a 15-year-old with dark brown hair and dreamy, cloudy blue eyes, laughing to himself. Scott was the joker of the friend group that Kenzie was in. He was a strict optimist, and could make any situation unexplainably better. Kenzie had slipped into the lovable and nerdy group when she fell down the stairs and bulldozed Scott and Ava. They quickly accepted her, and she fit right in with her weird fashion sense and constant smiles. Ava, a quiet, intelligent, star student, was constantly stopping Kenzie, Scott, and the two Martin twins from getting into trouble. The other four counted on her to cover up, in other words.

Kenzie exhaled deeply, and felt her eyes begin to droop. Everything was peaceful. The world outside seemed impossibly far. Kenzie lifted her arm with much effort and placed the phone on the dresser. She dropped her hand and laid her head on her fleece pillow, sinking into the depths of sleep. The ceiling turned to the shapes and colors of a dream.