Room 508, Friday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

After classes got out, Kathy returned to her dorm to make sure it--and she--were ready for her parents' arrival. She'd been obsessively cleaning it all week; Raven had caught her dusting the walls and the ceiling fixtures once, but every time Kathy turned around, she spotted something that wouldn't meet her parents' high standards. Her blanket wasn't straight enough. Her desk wasn't tidy enough. Her mini-fridge wasn't clean enough and was filled with treats that her mother wouldn't approve of. Kathy had never had to worry about her weight, even before her metabolism had ramped up to eleven, but her mother believed that a girl was never too young to start worrying over her figure.

Granted, Sarah was the one who had a figure to worry over, but that was neither here nor there.

Once Kathy had done everything she could to make sure her room would past muster, she sat down and started working on herself. Out came the earrings in her helix, leaving only a small pair of studs in her lobes. Off came the makeup--her mother would complain that she wasn't 'doing enough' to be pretty, but that was easier to deal with than worrying about whether it was subtle enough for her dad's approval. The tiny pair of shorts she was wearing got hung up in the back of her closet, behind the few clothes she'd kept from LA, and came a long skirt that fell below her knees and a collared shirt that wouldn't have looked out of place as a uniform from her old school.

Feeling like she'd shed the last two years of personality development, Kathy examined herself in the mirror. Hmm. Were her ends too ragged? Maybe she should have taken up the offer of a haircut yesterday.

[For me, but also open!]

Comments

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Hey nerd," Sarah said from the doorway. "Guess who owes me, like, a million for covering for them with our parents? I'll give you a hint: she's nerdy and still dresses like an American Girl doll."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Sarah!" Kathy said, wheeling around and throwing her arms open for a hug. "Hey brat. How many people did you flirt with on your way to my room, huh?"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"At least three," Sarah said smugly. "And some of them even knew you! I, of course, was shocked to hear my sister had learned to talk to hot guys without blushing herself to death."

She still didn't think Kathy knew how to do anything more than talk, but hey! It was a start!

Looking around the room, she let out a long sigh. "So, Flick left? Shame. He was hot, too."

[spin_kick_snap]

"He says hi, by the way," Kathy said, laughing. "But yes. He graduated and moved off with his girlfriend. But I have a new roommate and she's awesome. One of my very best friends, in fact. Her name is Raven and maybe if you promise not to embarrass me too much, I'll think about introducing you to her."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Raven?" Sarah asked. "Is she goth or were her parents, like, hippies or something."

[spin_kick_snap]

Silly Sarah. Goth Raven was the older one, and this Raven had been born long before hippies were a thing.

"Neither," she said, because that was the easiest answer. "That's just her name, is all. And little girls named after a baking conglomerate can't throw stones."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Look, Puffy Dragon or whatever you were named for," Sarah said, rolling her eyes, "I'm not so little anymore. I'm not the one still wearing training bras."

Buuuuuuuuuuurn!

"Besides, like, everyone on this island has a weird name. Raven, Flick, Anders, Dante. Who names these people?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Dante?" Kathy asked, eyes getting big. "You met Dante? When? Where? What did he say to you? Oh god, am I gonna have to kill him?"

She didn't want to kill him, Sarah! They had plans for Monday! Very important plans!

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Some guy I met at the picnic," Sarah said smugly. "He told me about some guy named Ezra. Why didn't you tell me about this Ezra, Kathy?"

TODAY WAS THE BEST DAY EVER!

[spin_kick_snap]

NO IT WAS NOT.

"What makes you think there's a lot to tell?" Kathy asked, hedging for the moment. "What did Dante tell you?"

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Like, so much," Sarah said, too canny to let Kathy know exactly how much she knew. "It sounds like you're having a really good time here at school, doesn't it?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy opened and closed her mouth a few times, but no words came out. Sure Sarah was insinuating what she thought Sarah was insinuating. Right? Dante wouldn't have said that much, right?

"Ezra and I are just friends," she croaked. "Just like Dante and I are. Just friends. Who do friend things. You know. Hanging out. Argue about music." Have sex. Spar with powers. Steal motorcycles. "That kind of thing."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"Oooh, you got defensive real fast," Sarah noted, eyes sparkling. "And, funny, cause, like, I didn't say anything about you and Dante."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You know I can dangle you out the window and nobody would even notice," Kathy threatened. "And I'm five floors up."

[the-family-li.livejournal.com]

"But you can't drop me because Mom and Dad would totally notice," Sarah pointed out. "So dangle away, nerd!"

[tigerundercover]

Raven and Charles had decided they could skip the picnic -- he'd gone the first year he'd come to visit, after all, and that was enough giant crowds of excited people for one telepath. Instead, Raven had met him at the causeway and taken him straight back to the dorms. She was excited to show her best friend out to her brother, and vice versa.

"Should I change?" she asked when she saw the outfit Kathy had picked out. Raven was wearing her usual '50s-esque circle skirt dress look, but the skirt had grown progressively shorter the longer she lived in the 21st century. "Are your parents here yet?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was excited to meet him, too!

Also anxious, but that was to be expected. She was anxious about everything this weekend. Though making a good impression on Charles was definitely high up on that list.

"Ummm...?" Kathy bit her lip. "I mean, it's your room and your clothes, so you can wear anything you want...And I'm not entirely sure when they'll be touching down, so..."

Kathy was caught between her progressive 'You do you, Raven!' stance and her 'Oh god my parents judge everything' fears.

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

"Personally, I think you both look splendid," Charles said, offering Kathy a charming smile. "Though I get the feeling your parents would be more comfortable if Raven added an inch or two." He glanced over. "Ah, which she's already done."

Raven rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Of course I have. And Charles, you're not allowed to read Kathy's mind, either."

Charles sighed. "I'll try, darling, but she's fairly radiating anxiety."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Sorry," Kathy said, giving Charles an apologetic smile. "My parents can just be a little--" Judgy. Racist. Douchey. "--strict. And they're not aware that there are mutants, never mind that their daughter and her roommate are ones. So..." She shrugged. "I'm a little nervous. I want to make sure everything is up to their standards, you know? That will keep them from poking around too much about the stuff that they shouldn't."

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

Charles nodded reassuringly. "Of course. Raven and I are both perfectly used to subterfuge. If you like, I could make sure your parents are only seeing what they'd approve of. At least as long as I'm nearby."

[spin_kick_snap]

"How are you suddenly going to turn this into Seoul, with me graduating from med school, engaged to another young, Korean guy, secure in his place in the patriarchy?" Kathy grumbled.

[tigerundercover]

"I could turn into a Korean boyfriend," Raven volunteered.

"Well, perhaps nothing quite so elaborate," Charles confessed. "But I could make certain they can't see if any of your dormmates on the floor have horns."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That would actually be amazing if you could," Kathy said, deliberately not thinking about whether or not that use of telepathy on the unsuspecting was ethical. "And you don't know enough Korean to get away with being my Korean boyfriend," she said to Raven, breaking out in a real smile. "I can add that to the list of subjects you refuse to let me tutor you in, though."

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

"That's the wrong tree, I'm afraid," Charles said, draping his arm over Raven's shoulder. "As smart as she is, Raven refuses to let anyone tutor her. I've been trying for years."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy dimpled at him. "She didn't tell you? She's taking two extra courses this year. History of Drama and, because I'm the naggiest of roommates, Introduction to Anatomy."

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

"Raven!" Charles feigned shock. "Why, you're practically on your way to becoming a nerd. I'm so proud."

Raven rolled her eyes and whacked him on the arm. "It's like a cultural exchange. I'm teaching Kathy how to relax and she's teaching me how to study."

[spin_kick_snap]

"On the whole, Raven's been a better student than I have," Kathy admitted. "She got so happy the other day to catch me napping, but I'd just fallen asleep over an article on genetics I'd downloaded off of JSTOR."

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

"Ah yes. Genetics articles can be terribly dry," Charles said. "Now, what's this 'JSTOR'?"

Charles' nerd head was about to explode.

[spin_kick_snap]

"The digital library and archive of academic books, journals, peer-reviewed articles, and primary sources," Kathy explained, reaching for her laptop and pulling up the JSTOR website. "Pretty much any university can give you free access to it. I have one because of all the AP classes I'm taking."

Raven, Kathy was seducing your brother with nerd stuff.

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

If Charles wore glasses, he'd be adjusting them as he stared at the website she pulled up. "Extraordinary. Raven's mentioned the 'world wide web', but I never imagined anything so . . . useful."

[spin_kick_snap]

"There are vast parts of it that aren't," Kathy said, scooting over so Charles could sit down and look through it properly. "But JSTOR makes up for most of it. And Wikipedia. It's got articles spanning back decades. It's am amazing resource for anyone who considers themselves a scholar."

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

"It's a library," Charles said, fascinated. "Several libraries. In a box smaller than your average textbook."

Raven wandered over to her bed and flopped down, well familiar with losing loved ones down nerd spirals. She knew this was going to happen.

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's what makes the internet so amazing," Kathy explained, forgetting her anxiety entirely in her excitement. "Because it's not just our libraries. It's libraries from around the world, accessible from right in your pocket. You can discuss gardening with people from Ghana or ethics with someone from Estonia or philosophy from Paraguay. It makes the world so much smaller and connects us so much more deeply."

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

"Indeed!" Charles poked at the laptop a little until he worked out how to scroll, and skimmed a few article names and summaries. "And you communicate with these individuals regularly?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh yeah," Kathy said. "Social media's great for that. Email allows you to send communications to anyone on the planet in seconds. Twitter lets you update the world on what you're doing in messages of 140 characters or less. Tumblr combines cute pictures and personal platforms to offer opinions from. It's a rare day when I don't exchange at least a few words with someone who lives on the other side of the world from me."

[gothisgroove.livejournal.com]

"140 characters? That seems a bit . . . limited."

[spin_kick_snap]

"It's an excellent tool to learn how to condense your thoughts and still get the gist across," Kathy pointed out. "And also helps people learn why some platforms are better for certain kinds of communication than others."

[that_oldsaying]

"Kathy, Kathy, Kathy!"

And there was Alluka, peeking in the doorway. She surveyed the clothing carefully.

"... Are you playing dress-up?"

It was just that while it was kinda cute, it was also not really what she was used to seeing Kathy wear.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hi Alluka," Kathy said, giving her a smile that was a little strained around the edges. One more friend she'd be trying to keep away from her parents, so they didn't say anything rude. Because if her dad was mean to Alluka, she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep quiet about it. "Umm, a little? I guess you could say that."

It was a much better way to think of it, actually.

"Do you like it?"

[that_oldsaying]

The fact that the smile was strained when riiight over Alluka's head. (Sorry, Kathy.)

She did take the question seriously. Dress-up games were super serious things, after all.

"You look like a princess that hasn't been rescued," she said, after a moment. "It's cute, but rescued princesses have better clothes."

[spin_kick_snap]

That was fine by Kathy. She didn't want Alluka to think she was anything other than happy to see her.

"I do, huh?" she asked. That wasn't that far off from how she felt, actually. "What do I usually look like, then?"

[that_oldsaying]

Ummmmmmm.

Alluka conferred with Mr. Bubbles (though they didn't speak out loud) for a moment before saying, "Like yourself."

Which was true.

"But it's okay if you don't look like you usually do for dress-up," she added, nodding her head. "That's the fun of it."