Kate quickly smeared stray tears across her cheek and smiled through a brave face as Jo told Lee, “We’ve got one more comin’ to RBU with us.”
“Aww, but I just took the car seat out.”
A shy, goofy grin flashed over Kate’s face. “Very funny Dad. I don’t have much. In fact, what I have on me is all I got. Just a shit tonne of emotional baggage, heh. I promise I won’t take up much space.”
“Yeah right, like we wouldn’t make room for you,” Jo snorted.
Kate sniffed before quickly adding, “I can pitch in for gas, I just need to open my own bank account first. Um, I think the financial aide office is in the Admin Building, right? You can just drop me off there when we get, um, there.”
“Forget it, I wouldn’t take your money,” Lee answered.
“Lee’s parents are loaded,” Jo explained with a smirky shrug, “don’t worry about it.”
“Not loaded exactly, but they do okay.”
“He’s just being modest. Seriously Kate, it’s fine. We’re just glad you’re back home with us. Screw Feverfew! Screw your parents! Lee and I adopted you forever ago anyway, we got dibs.”
Kate looked to her feet that held her otherwise shaky legs steady enough to stand on her own.
Home? What’s that? And, parents? Don’t know those either. The only thing these two adopted are my problems, and if I had any other means to get to RBU on my own I would.
She mumbled back, “Thanks, guys. I, um, really, really needed to hear that.”
It was what they wanted to hear, Kate figured. If only she could believe her own words.
Jo immediately reached out to hug Kate. “Oh, don’t cry now you dumb cow! We’re all starting over starting now. Remember your hair; remember how we cut off the bad together, and remember what green means: nature, new life, tranquility.”
Kate squeezed back though a bit lifelessly.
“I’ll start loading up the Jeep,” Lee offered.
The past twenty-four hours rushed at Kate in a big gust when her dorm door swung open on loose hinges. The bang of the doorknob hitting the wall scared her back to the present.
The eager sunrise of the second day on campus crept further into the room. Kate hoped her exhaustion was strong enough to fend off dreaming lest her thoughts continue to torment her unconscious mind too. Her body ached from tight, tensed muscles that she couldn’t seem to release. With any luck this was another good sign for a few dreamless hours, at least. She gripped the edge of the bed. Jo’s bed. On the drive to campus the couple explained their plan to share Lee’s room and insisted that Kate take Jo’s dorm despite objections.
“Hey, wait, that’s not fair. I mean, that costs money I’m not sure I can pay back here.”
“Will you stop?” Jo snapped. “We’re your parents, let us provide for you.”
Lee glanced to Kate in the rear-view when he said, “Jo’s tuition and residence fees are all looked after already, the room would go empty for the whole semester anyway. This isn’t charity, you really should take it. And when it comes to getting a loan for tuition, keep me posted ‘cause if you need a parent to co-sign that’s where my folks can step in.”
“Aren’t they already covering yours and Naomi’s fees?”
Jo insisted, “Gen and Michi are great, Kate. You can trust them.”
“I’ll pay you back with interest, both of you. I don’t know how, or when, but it’ll happen.”
Lee asked the long stretch of highway in front of them, “Why?” But Kate didn’t have an answer.
She still didn’t. Without a family of her own, would she be stunted as her friends’ adult-child forever? Was a clean start in RBU even possible with so much emotional baggage cluttering her bare room?
[The back-half of this scene (the italics) was inspired by @ennysimmer 's scene here.]
