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rainbowfic2016-07-07 09:03 pm
kay_brooke) wrote in rainbowfic2016-07-07 09:03 pm
Entry tags:
Aqua #16, Lotus #19, Ruby #6
Name: kay_brooke
Story: Unusual Florida
Colors: Aqua #16 (sooth), Lotus #19 (Truthfulness), Ruby #6 (vanity)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas
Word Count: 1,026
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Cassie is upset about Amy leaving.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
Amy shoved another sweater into her already overstuffed suitcase, thought about it, then took it back out, shaking her head. She didn't need more sweaters for where she was going. She'd been living in Maine too long.
That was such a depressing thought that she had to sit down on the bed for a minute, running the soft wool sweater through her fingers as she did so. She really did like the sweater. Maybe she should take it anyway. Florida was known to have its cold spells.
She threw the sweater into the corner of the room. Stop it. She was finally getting away from here, why did she feel the need to bring reminders? Her aunt had given her that sweater for Christmas a couple years ago, and Amy didn't want it or anything that it stood for. She was done here.
Her eyes fell across her open bedroom door, and the small figure that huddled right at the edge as if she wanted to disappear into the bleached wood frame. "Cassie, what are you doing there?" She stood up again, feeling silly that she'd ever felt the need to sit in the first place, and smashed the lid of the suitcase down over the mound of clothes that had built up inside it. As she struggled with the zipper, her sister finally spoke.
"You're really leaving."
Cassie sounded so despondent and lost that Amy straightened and turned back around, worry arcing through her chest. "Yes, I'm leaving. You've known about that for months. I'm going to college."
"In Florida." Cassie slid down the wall a little as if she, too, felt the need to sit down.
"You can come in," said Amy, worry replaced with a pang of annoyance at her sister's dramatics.
Cassie stepped through the door, but went no further. She also said nothing.
"What do you want?" Amy asked, perhaps a little more harshly than she intended.
"I heard Aunt Megan and Uncle Tom talking about you," said Cassie, her voice still small and meek as if she was afraid of what Amy might do. Which only increased Amy's irritation. She and Cassie had shared a bedroom for seven years of their lives now, as long as Cassie could remember. And when had Amy ever been mean to her? It was just more of Cassie playing a part for as much sympathy as she could get, and Amy was tired of all the pretending. She knew Cassie was evading the real subject, she could feel it, furtive and fleeting in the air, and she just wanted her sister to get on with it.
"I'm sure they talk about me a lot," said Amy. "Why are you really in here?"
"They said you could have gone anywhere you wanted." Cassie straightened a little.
Amy gritted her teeth. It was bad enough she had to hear it from her aunt, now Cassie was giving her a hard time, too? Cassie was ten. She didn't know anything. "And I'm going exactly where I wanted."
"Aunt Megan said you could have gone to Ivy League," said Cassie.
Amy elected not to tell her that "Ivy League" wasn't a school. "Well, I didn't want to go there. I'm allowed to go where I want." Despite how they had been living the past several years, her family had money. And she wasn't above using that money to get the hell away from here.
"But it's closer," Cassie argued. "If you go to Florida you'll be hours and hours away."
Then Amy understood, and her previous irritation evaporated. "Cassie," she said gently. "You'll still see me at holidays. And during the summer." That last she said hesitantly, because if there was any way she could stay on campus over the summers she was going to take it. It wasn't that she hated her family, even with Aunt Megan having spent the last year making increasingly louder noises implying that Amy had settled for a school that was beneath her. It wasn't that she didn't want to see them again. She just wanted--no, she needed--to get back to where she belonged, to the hot air and the warm sea and the palm trees and most importantly no snow that could be categorized as anything other than "freak." Where she was born. Where all of her best memories laid. Where she was from.
Not this place. This had never been her home. She appreciated that her aunt and uncle had tried their best, but she had never felt like more than an intruder in their lives. She knew for Cassie it was different. Cassie didn't remember where she was from. She didn't miss it. But Amy dreamed about it every night, and when it came down to choice of colleges she knew immediately what part of the country she would be searching in. She didn't even glance at anything else. Let her aunt be a snob and cry about how she was only good enough for Harvard or Yale or Columbia. She wasn't going to spend her life taking tiny steps back toward where she wanted to go. She was just going to go.
Tears appeared in the corners of Cassie's eyes. "I don't want you to leave," she said. "I don't want to have my own room."
"You know that I'd still be leaving no matter where I decided to go to school, don't you?" said Amy. "And it'll be fun to have your own room. You have your friends over and never worry if I'm going to be there."
Cassie shrugged. "Do you have to go to college?"
"Yes," said Amy firmly. She flicked the zipper on her suitcase. "It's too late to back out now, anyway." She wasn't sure if Cassie would take that as the joke it was, but her sister at least gave her a wan smile. "Come on," said Amy. "I have one more night here. We'll do whatever you want. Watch a movie, play a game, whatever."
"Okay," said Cassie softly, finally stepping into the room.
kay_brookeStory: Unusual Florida
Colors: Aqua #16 (sooth), Lotus #19 (Truthfulness), Ruby #6 (vanity)
Styles/Supplies: Canvas
Word Count: 1,026
Rating/Warnings: PG-13; no standard warnings apply
Summary: Cassie is upset about Amy leaving.
Note: Constructive criticism is welcome, either through comments or PM.
Amy shoved another sweater into her already overstuffed suitcase, thought about it, then took it back out, shaking her head. She didn't need more sweaters for where she was going. She'd been living in Maine too long.
That was such a depressing thought that she had to sit down on the bed for a minute, running the soft wool sweater through her fingers as she did so. She really did like the sweater. Maybe she should take it anyway. Florida was known to have its cold spells.
She threw the sweater into the corner of the room. Stop it. She was finally getting away from here, why did she feel the need to bring reminders? Her aunt had given her that sweater for Christmas a couple years ago, and Amy didn't want it or anything that it stood for. She was done here.
Her eyes fell across her open bedroom door, and the small figure that huddled right at the edge as if she wanted to disappear into the bleached wood frame. "Cassie, what are you doing there?" She stood up again, feeling silly that she'd ever felt the need to sit in the first place, and smashed the lid of the suitcase down over the mound of clothes that had built up inside it. As she struggled with the zipper, her sister finally spoke.
"You're really leaving."
Cassie sounded so despondent and lost that Amy straightened and turned back around, worry arcing through her chest. "Yes, I'm leaving. You've known about that for months. I'm going to college."
"In Florida." Cassie slid down the wall a little as if she, too, felt the need to sit down.
"You can come in," said Amy, worry replaced with a pang of annoyance at her sister's dramatics.
Cassie stepped through the door, but went no further. She also said nothing.
"What do you want?" Amy asked, perhaps a little more harshly than she intended.
"I heard Aunt Megan and Uncle Tom talking about you," said Cassie, her voice still small and meek as if she was afraid of what Amy might do. Which only increased Amy's irritation. She and Cassie had shared a bedroom for seven years of their lives now, as long as Cassie could remember. And when had Amy ever been mean to her? It was just more of Cassie playing a part for as much sympathy as she could get, and Amy was tired of all the pretending. She knew Cassie was evading the real subject, she could feel it, furtive and fleeting in the air, and she just wanted her sister to get on with it.
"I'm sure they talk about me a lot," said Amy. "Why are you really in here?"
"They said you could have gone anywhere you wanted." Cassie straightened a little.
Amy gritted her teeth. It was bad enough she had to hear it from her aunt, now Cassie was giving her a hard time, too? Cassie was ten. She didn't know anything. "And I'm going exactly where I wanted."
"Aunt Megan said you could have gone to Ivy League," said Cassie.
Amy elected not to tell her that "Ivy League" wasn't a school. "Well, I didn't want to go there. I'm allowed to go where I want." Despite how they had been living the past several years, her family had money. And she wasn't above using that money to get the hell away from here.
"But it's closer," Cassie argued. "If you go to Florida you'll be hours and hours away."
Then Amy understood, and her previous irritation evaporated. "Cassie," she said gently. "You'll still see me at holidays. And during the summer." That last she said hesitantly, because if there was any way she could stay on campus over the summers she was going to take it. It wasn't that she hated her family, even with Aunt Megan having spent the last year making increasingly louder noises implying that Amy had settled for a school that was beneath her. It wasn't that she didn't want to see them again. She just wanted--no, she needed--to get back to where she belonged, to the hot air and the warm sea and the palm trees and most importantly no snow that could be categorized as anything other than "freak." Where she was born. Where all of her best memories laid. Where she was from.
Not this place. This had never been her home. She appreciated that her aunt and uncle had tried their best, but she had never felt like more than an intruder in their lives. She knew for Cassie it was different. Cassie didn't remember where she was from. She didn't miss it. But Amy dreamed about it every night, and when it came down to choice of colleges she knew immediately what part of the country she would be searching in. She didn't even glance at anything else. Let her aunt be a snob and cry about how she was only good enough for Harvard or Yale or Columbia. She wasn't going to spend her life taking tiny steps back toward where she wanted to go. She was just going to go.
Tears appeared in the corners of Cassie's eyes. "I don't want you to leave," she said. "I don't want to have my own room."
"You know that I'd still be leaving no matter where I decided to go to school, don't you?" said Amy. "And it'll be fun to have your own room. You have your friends over and never worry if I'm going to be there."
Cassie shrugged. "Do you have to go to college?"
"Yes," said Amy firmly. She flicked the zipper on her suitcase. "It's too late to back out now, anyway." She wasn't sure if Cassie would take that as the joke it was, but her sister at least gave her a wan smile. "Come on," said Amy. "I have one more night here. We'll do whatever you want. Watch a movie, play a game, whatever."
"Okay," said Cassie softly, finally stepping into the room.