Room 508, Thursday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy adored Christmas, a fact that likely surprised no one on the island. She also really, really enjoyed getting ready for Christmas--the baking, the decorating, the shopping, even the wrapping. This year, she'd pulled out all the stops, even going so far as to hunt down a real live tree small enough to bring back to the dorms and put up. She'd never had a real tree before; her mother not a fan of the idea of needles falling on the carpet and her father declaring that the pine smell made him sneeze. But this year, in her room, she was going to have a real tree, even if it was only about as tall as she was and almost as thin.

...In retrospect, she probably should have asked Raven if it were okay for her to get a tree, but she'd seen it while out Christmas shopping and had been too excited by the idea of having a real tree that she'd just splurged.

If having a tree wasn't exciting enough, there had been a large package waiting for her in the lobby; a present wrapped specifically in birthday-themed paper (with Do not open till Tuesday, nerd! scrawled in black sharpie on the side). She knew she's have an extra present or two under the plastic tree back home from her parents as a nod to her birthday, but Sarah always made it a point to keep Kathy's birthday and Christmas presents separate. She had the best little sister, she really did.

So now, tree safely ensconced in their room (and lugging a tree across the island and up five flights of stairs had been a workout, she'd earned this damn tree), Kathy was blaring Christmas carols, singing along while she strung up lights and other decorations around the room. Her gift was still on the bed, next to a small pile of presents she'd bought and wrapped for her friends. Those would be going under the tree as soon as she finished decorating that.

Yeah, it was final's week, with random mistletoe flying about and no chance for snow for her last Christmas on the East Coast, but none of that mattered now. It was still Christmas.

Comments

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo stared.

"Oh, are they selling them in the lobby or something?" Stairs might be worth it, after all, for a proper tree.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Errr..."

How were you still surprised by Kathy, Ringo? How?

[soniaroadsqueen]

And now Ringo's eyes were narrowing in suspicion.

"How far did you drag that tree, Kathy?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"It could have been further!" Kathy protested, answering Ringo's question by not answering it. "The tree guy dropped it off by the Causeway so I could keep shopping!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

Sigh, Kathy. Sigh.

"Did you at least get someone to give you a hand?" Why was she even asking? It wasn't like Ringo didn't totally know the answer.

[spin_kick_snap]

Of course you did, Ringo. This was Kathy.

"Well, I didn't want to be a bother..."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo gave Kathy a look. Then giggled and shook her head.

"Did it ever occur to you that some of us have never gone shopping for a tree, or set one up before? Maybe it wouldn't have been a bother." Gosh, Kathy, stop being so selfish hogging all the fun of lugging trees across the island to yourself!

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was clearly the worst.

"I hadn't been, either!" she admitted. "Which was why I went wandering through the lot when I saw it. This is my very first real tree."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Okay, Kathy's tone as she said that made it pretty much impossible to even pretend to stay mad at her.

Ringo grinned. "Well, it's pretty sweet, I have to say."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You can help us decorate it," Kathy offered. "You can also help us craft stuff so we have things to decorate it with!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Really?" Ringo looked slightly surprised. "But, um, you should know that I've never decorated a tree before." She might mess it up!

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's okay," Kathy assured her. "That just means that you get to learn to decorate from me and Raven and we're pros at it. The only hard and fast rule is to not put all your decorations on one side, or the tree will tip over."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Ringo laughed. "That's an easy rule to follow, at least."

Then something occurred to Ringo and she frowned. "Wait, this is your first tree? Doesn't everyone in America have a tree?" That's what the movies seemed to imply, at least.

[spin_kick_snap]

"This is my first real tree," Kathy explained. "We have a face plastic one at home. Our apartment is pretty tiny and up a bunch of floors, so a tree we could bring home in a box that didn't shed needles all over the floor was the way my parents decided to go."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"I guess that makes sense," Ringo admitted. "But," she paused to inhale the scent of pine, "I bet it didn't smell as nice as this."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not even when it was new," Kathy agreed, eyes closing as she inhaled. Mmmm. "This makes it, like, infinitely more Christmassy in here."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh, oh!" Ringo exclaimed as a sudden idea came to her. "Do you put presents under it and stuff?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yup yup!" Kathy said. "The first one to go under it is right there." She pointed to the birthday gift from her sister, still sitting on her bed. "But there are others that'll join it, soon. Possibly even gifts for girls named Ringo, if they manage not to be a brat from now till Christmas."

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Hey! I'm never a brat!"

And you better not laugh, Kathy!

"But, um, I don't have a present for you." Ringo sounded disappointed with herself.

[spin_kick_snap]

Yeah, Kathy was too busy laughing to respond to Ringo's 'confession' right away. Bwahaha, not a brat, suuuuuuuuure.

"That's fine," she said, still giggling. "I'm not worried about it. I didn't buy gifts for anyone expecting to get them in return!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

That was just mean, Kathy. And now Ringo had to stick her tongue out at you! That was just how it went.

"Well, you may not want me to feel bad, but I kinda do anyway. Maybe I can come up with something."

Ringo's nose wrinkled up as she thought about some options.

[spin_kick_snap]

"You can also make me something?" Kathy offered. "Besides, weren't you thinking about bringing me to Japan? That's a pretty neat gift by itself!"

[soniaroadsqueen]

"Oh!" Ringo's eyes lit up! "Um, what are you doing for New Years?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shrugged. "No plans," she said. "I know the school usually does something for it, but I've nothing specific on my calendar. The day after is the Newbie Picnic, though."

[soniaroadsqueen]

Suddenly Ringo's shoes became really, really interesting.

"Um," she sort of mumbled, "you could come spend it with my family."

"If you want, I mean. You don't have to, of course. I mean, I know you've probably got lots of options, and stuff," and now she was babbling.