October 25th, 2016

Kinsky, California, USA

The Manor

Ash jolted up. She was awake again.

The girl got out from her covers, stretching in her bed. She wore a pair of dark gray gym shorts and a thrifted concert t-shirt that was two sizes too big for her. She walked over to her record player and restarted an album by The Cure that had been placed in there the night before. Then she turned to the opposite end of the room where she opened a small closet, taking out a dark-green crew neck, some jeans, and an old camo jacket with the words POLIZEI etched on the back and a couple of patches sewn into its fabric. She walked over to the  bathroom, put a bit of powder on her cheeks, then combed her short, wavy bangs to the left side of her hair. When this was done, she walked downstairs.

As she got to the kitchen, there was a man standing over a coffee machine. He had auburn red hair, with a trimmed beard and thick-rimmed black glasses. When he saw Ash, he smiled.

“Hey, kiddo!”

Ash scratched at her hair as she groggily walked over to the fridge. “Hey, dad.”

When she opened the fridge and leaned over to see its contents, her dad pointed to it. “There are still some Cinnabuns left, in case you want one of those.”

 “Yeah, thanks.” 

There were two paper plates on top of one another. Ash removed the top plate to reveal two cinnamon rolls. She grabbed one and put it on top of a paper towel.

Her father observed her as she did so, waiting for his coffee. “So… have you heard back from Alto yet?”

Ash seemed uncomfortable. She closed the fridge door. “Well, I mean… I just finished the video interview, two days ago. So not yet.”

He nodded. “Alright, well… you let us know when you’ve moved on. And when you get the financial aid sheet, too.”

“Yeah, I got it.”

He didn’t poke any further. The young teen sat down, picking out pieces of the roll with one hand and scrolling through her phone with the other.

“You remember that I’ll be with the girls most of today, right?” She mentioned as her father sat down with his coffee.

“Yup. Your mom already left for work. Is one of the girls picking you up?”

“Yeah. Emily is.”

He nodded. “Well, you have fun.”

The two looked at their own phones for the duration of the breakfast. Eventually Ash got a notification from Emily. She said goodbye to her father and walked out to her friend’s car.

Ash got into the passenger seat. Emily smiled at her.

“You awake?”

“Oh, yeah. I usually wake up at around this time, anyway.”

Emily scoffed. “Not me. Not on weekends, anyway. But the girls wanted to get breakfast, and I figured… why not?”

Ash nodded. “Think I’ll just get a coffee. Money’s still tight and all.”

“Yeah, I get it.”

They kept driving. As they left the suburb, Emily spoke up again.

“Oh, did you see what Carmichael wrote?”

“About the Haunted House?”

Emily sighed and shook her head. “You’d think he’d have told us he had a conflict, you know, not the week before the event. But here we are. I told Mr. Prescott about it and he said, ‘Oh well, in cases like these, we just need to give people the benefit of the doubt’, yadda yadda yadda. Same as usual.”

Ash shook her head. “It is kinda mean of him.”

“You don’t seem particularly concerned. We’re understaffed now.”

The dyed-hair teen turned to the driver. “Think we can recruit one of the girls over breakfast?”

“We can try.”

The car pooled into the parking lot of the Kinsky Cafe. As they got out they noticed Sadja waiting at the door. She smiled.

“The others here yet?” Emily asked, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“Nah, we’re the only ones right now. Kat’s picking up Maria, Rose says she’ll be here in a bit.”

Ash slanted her head. “Kat’s picking up Maria?”

“Oh, yeah. Her car broke down again, and I guess she’s just sort of given up on it at this point.”

“So much for that birthday gift,” Ash muttered.

Sadja shook her head. “I mean, it’s not like it’s the boys’ fault. They had good intentions. But, uh… you get what you pay for, as they say.”

The three leaned on the wall, making room for those entering and exiting the cafe, as they waited for the others.

…

Some time had passed. The girls were all together now and they took a long table at the end of the cafe. Some girls bought pastries and meals. Ash and Maria both settled for a latte.

“Alright, before we get too deep into anything, first thing I want to talk about…” Rose waved her arms across the table, a croissant in her hand. She was looking at Kat. “…my girl over here, and her big life change. What made you finally break up with him?” 

Kat gave a deep sigh. “We just had different outlooks on life, I guess? Took us a while to figure it out, but… I think it was for the best.”

Rose: “Oh, definitely for the best. Fuck that guy.”

Kat: “I mean, I don’t want to shit talk him. It’s not like he was ever mean or anything. We just weren’t made for each other, you know?”

Sadja: “I just don’t think football players are good for you. I don’t think they’re good for any of us. No offense to Maurice.”

Rose: “Oh, Maurice is the exception. The others are douches.”

Maria: “Russell isn’t that bad, either.”

Sadja: “Russell scares me, though! You see how big he is? He could like, pick up a car.”

Emily: “Nah, Russell is nice. I know him.”

Rose: “Still, let this be a lesson to us all. No more points for flaggin’ football dick.”

Kat: “Basketball still counts?”

Rose: “Of course it does. Aaron is my baby. He’s a bit dumb, but he’s my baby.”

Sadja: “Alright, basketball still counts. I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Just in case.”

Rose: “Sure thing, honey. But screw sports, that’s not the only thing I wanted to talk about.”

The table suddenly turned silent. Maria, confused, looked up. They were all looking at her.

“…Huh?”

Rose looked at her expectantly. “What’s with you and Cole?”

“Oh, uh… t-that’s… different.” Maria looked down into her coffee mug, swirling it with a spoon.

“That’s different?” Rose repeated.

“That’s how it always starts,” Sadja interjected.

“No! It… it’s just a, whatever thing. He’s helping me with something. I don’t like him, or anything. And he doesn’t like me, either.”

Rose turned over to Kat. “That last part true?”

Kat shrugged, taking a bite of a breakfast sandwich. “I can’t give out confidential information.”

“Wh-what’s that supposed to mean?!” Maria asked in a slight panic.

“Come on, Maria. Aren’t you at least a little interested?” Sadja leaned in. “I mean, all that gym time has sure been turning out well for him. A few days ago, I walked by him after Physics, and I was looking at his arms…”

“G-guys!” A red blush began to show around Maria’s cheeks. Emily decided to step in to prevent things from going any farther.

“Alright, I think at this point Maria has shown she’s about as interested in talking about boys as I am.”

Rose shrugged. “Sorry, me and Sadj are traditionalists.”

Kat took a sip of coffee, turning towards Emily and Ash. “So, how’s the haunted house coming along? That’s this Friday, right?”

Emily let out a stunted laugh. “Yeah, about that. Carmichael apparently ‘can’t make it’, so now we’re understaffed.”

“What was his excuse this time?” Rose asked.

“He said he had some speech and debate competition that he didn’t know the dates for until last week. But it’s not like he helped too much in the planning process, either.”

“I mean, between this and the whole Twitter debacle… couldn’t you just, I dunno, fire him?” Kat asked.

Emily shrugged. “I mean, it is student government.”

“Not like that’s really much of a democracy.”

“No, I was referring to the student part, not the government. They don’t really care too much if anyone messes it up, because it isn’t the important adult stuff. They just figure it doesn’t matter, I guess.”

“I mean, I think it does.” Sadja mentioned. “The events give us all a chance to be together, have something to do. And that last part is real important, especially in a place like Kinsky.”

“Would any of you guys be able to help us?” This was Ash now, who lightly rubbed her ear. “For staffing, that is.”

“What would we have to do?” Maria asked.

“Oh, not much. The theater kids are playing the characters, and the Art club already set up all the props. We just need someone to replace Carmichael in sitting at the entrance and exit.”

Rose shrugged. “I could do it. I’m not doing anything that night.”

“Me neither,” Maria responded. “If you need an extra person.”

“Yeah, we might.” Emily reached into her skinny jeans and pulled out a phone. “I’ll add you guys to the doc, you can just pick out whatever times you have available.”

The girls continued to talk amongst each other for a while longer, until it was time to leave for the Wilkins’ house.

…

It was Maria’s first time at Kat’s home. There was a lot to take in that she wasn’t used to, from the large three-story foundation, the Greco-Roman columns at the front of the house, and the small fountain that could be seen as the cars curved their way into the front driveway. But perhaps the one thing that caught Maria’s eye the most, was the thing she didn’t see until the moment she walked in the house. 

Kat caught her staring, and leaned over to her. “Yeah, that… scares just about every person who comes in here for the first time.”

At the entrance lobby of the house was a large wall, which held an equally large painting. The painting depicted a rather somber looking portrait of a man with slick, short blonde hair, and a suit. There was a little girl with long hair of the same color, who was in a floral dress. The golden inscription at the bottom of the painting read as follows:

GORDON J. WILKINS, WITH HIS DAUGHTER KATHERINE

“Hi, Mrs. Wilkins!” Rose called out when she saw the older woman in the kitchen. The woman turned to face the teen, and smiled.

“Hi, Rose. Hi Sadja, Emily, Ash…” Her head leaned out into the hallway. “…and Maria, I take it?”

Maria turned around. “Oh, yeah. Hi, Mrs. Wilkins.”

“I’ve heard good things about you. Glad we could finally meet.” The mother then turned to her daughter. “You girls enjoy yourselves, alright?”

“We will!” Kat waved behind her as she began to walk up the steps. The rest of the girls, including Maria, followed.

Kat’s bedroom was probably as big as the entirety of the Cortez House’s first floor. A large bed sat in the middle, covered in pink and white blankets and sheets. There was a TV on one side, and a small computer desk with some school notes on top of it. On the opposite end, there was a large, open bathroom with two sinks, a messy counter, and a closet next to it that opened into a mass variety of clothes. A large maroon curtain separated the toilet and shower from the rest of the room. 

Maria was intimidated – though even that was an understatement. The whole room unnerved her, and perhaps more so was the casual manner the girls placed themselves around it, as though they had each been there one hundred times before.

“Alright, feel free to check out the closet. Everything is up for grabs.”

“Oh, I know exactly what I want to try.” Rose smiled as she walked in, looking at the rows of items. “I want to do something cute, but also a sexy take on it. But not too sexy, like into slutty territory. Just something that’s, you know, exciting. Different.”

Sadja looked over at her. “Rose, that sounds like you have no idea what you want to try.”

Rose gave her a sarcastic smile. “Alright then, Ms. Costume Depot. What do you want to be for Halloween?”

Sadja leaned back and called out to Kat, who stayed near the entrance of the closet. “Hey Kat, you still have that navy coat?”

Kat nodded, and pointed farther into the closet. “It’s on that rack, over there.”

Sadja walked deeper into the closet. “I was thinking… a sailor outfit might be pretty cute. I’ve already got the bob — just get a little sailor cap on, a dark blue and white polo, some blue chinos maybe. And I can have the coat around my shoulders, like you see in those old photos.”

“I actually think I have some blue pants from back when I worked at the movie theater. I dunno if they match with the coat, though.”

“Where are they?”

“Closer to the front, I think. Where I keep my formal wear. You might find a polo you like there, too.”

Sadja looked over at her. “Damn, girl. You got the sailor cap, too?”

Kat shook her head. “No sailor cap, unfortunately.”

When Sadja walked closer to the front of the closet, Emily spoke out as she passed. “You know, I was planning on doing a pirate costume. We could tell everyone that we matched our costumes on purpose.”

Sadja laughed. “Oh, hell yeah.” She brought out her hand and the two hi-fived. Kat pointed down the closet once more.

“I don’t have a sailor cap, but I actually do have an eyepatch. If you look in that little dresser thing, there’s a bunch of stuff from when I did theater in middle school.”

“Oh, sweet.” The black teen turned towards Kat, holding up a white puff-sleeved shirt. “You don’t mind if I take this one too, do you?”

“Go ahead.”

Rose moved her hands across the fabrics in front of her before her eyes locked onto something of note. She gave a little grin as she took the clothing from its hangar.

“Hey, Kat… you’ve got a kimono?”

Kat looked over at the girl. Sure enough, there was one — an oriental dress with beautifully laced fabric, a pairing of white, blue, and magenta hues. Upon seeing the dress the memory came back to Kat, and she scratched the side of her head, somewhat embarrassed that such a piece was in her catalog.

“Oh, yeah. We went to Osaka once, in freshman year… for a business trip with my dad. We met some important minister or something there and so I had to get one. I haven’t worn it since, though.”

Rose looked back at the kimono in full. She turned towards Ash.

“Hey, Ash. Stand still a minute.”

Ash did what she was told. Rose put the dress up against her, inspecting it.

“You know, I think this could fit you.”

“Oh… I don’t know…”

“Might as well check to see, right?”

“B-but I don’t think I need it for my costume.”

“Didn’t say it was for the costume, did I?”

Ash looked over at Kat. The kimono’s owner simply shrugged. 

“Not like it’s getting any more use here.”

Somewhat reluctantly the smallest of the girls took the dress, walking out of the closet and behind the maroon curtain of the bathroom. The girls circled around, eagerly awaiting the results. Eventually, Ash finally walked out.

The kimono did fit. In fact, it fit her perfectly. The colors of the dress served as perfect contrast to Ash’s hair, and the girl seemed to move around in it effortlessly, as she looked herself up and down in the mirror.

Rose, with a big rosy smile on her cheeks, clapped her hands together. “I approve!”

“Wow, Ash…” Emily looked on at the girl, paying close attention to the way she smoothly carried herself. “You look great in that thing.”

“It’s like… princess-esque.” Sadja gazed on in awe.

Ash shrugged. “Don’t really think the ‘princess’ look is my thing.”

“It works with you, though,” Maria commented. “Not like a traditional princess, but an independent one. One that isn’t afraid of what others think about her. One that wears her heart on her sleeve.”

“One that doesn’t take any bullshit!” Rose interjected.

Kat smiled. She got up from the side of the bed where she was sitting, and approached Ash.

“Ash, you should keep it.”

The girl in the kimono looked at her, her cheeks beginning to redden. “Oh, Kat, I can’t-”

“The only thing it’s going to do in that stupid closet is attract dust and rot. It would be better if it was with you.”

“But… when am I gonna wear it?”

Kat shrugged. “You never know. Might come in handy someday.”

The girls went back to the closet. Ash took the kimono off, but kept it close to her side. At some point Kat turned towards Maria, who had been staying away from the closet, simply observing the girls picking out their own clothes. 

“You have any idea what you’re going to be?” Kat asked her.

“Oh, I don’t know… I, uh, well…”

“Well what?”

“Oh, it’s just…” Maria turned her head down, embarrassed now by the pact she had made. “I promised to do matching costumes with Cole.”

A smile came over Kat’s face. “No shit, really? I’ve been trying to get those two to do matching costumes with me for years, and they’ve never agreed.”

Rose gasped from the closet. “And she said there was nothing!” 

“W-well I… I kinda, pressured him into doing it, you know…” Maria fiddled her thumbs together. 

Kat took a chair by her desk, and dragged it over. She sat it in front of Maria, sitting in it so that the chair’s back was in front of her. “So, a costume that looks good… that could be copied by clothing that Cole would have… that Cole would like…” The girl rested her arms and chin on the chair, looking intently at Maria’s form and face and function. Suddenly a lightswitch shot on in her mind, and she brought her head up straight.

“I’ve got it.”

With lightning fast focus, Kat pulled the chair over into the bathroom. She passed by the other girls, gathering various items from the closet and the drawers. The girls looked on at her in surprise, including Maria, who had become somewhat intimidated. Eventually Kat came out, a pile of clothes and makeup in her hand, beckoning Maria into the bathroom. 

Before Kat closed the curtain behind her, she turned back to the other girls. “No peeking,” she ordered them. The girls nodded, and Kat went into the bathroom, making sure to cover the curtain behind her.

The girls circled yet again, perhaps with even more interest than the first time. Now they had no idea quite what to expect — what Kat had in mind for the girl was a total mystery to them. They each kept their own visions within their mind, and withheld them until Kat finally came out, smiling at her captive audience. 

“Ladies and ladies, I present to you…” She spoke with theatrical flair, keeping a tight and ready hand on the curtain’s edge. “… Maria Cortez, the rockstar.”

The curtain withdrew. Out came a Maria, different from the one the girls knew before. Her short brown hair was slicked back with hair gel. Her eyes were whisked with eyeliner and mascara, which gave her natural olive-colored irises a contrasting dominance. Red lipstick lined her small lips, a shade enough to notice but not enough to distract. Her upper body was clothed in a deep scarlet satin blouse, partially covered by a black punk jacket with glittering rhinestone studs on its shoulders. Her lower body had on dark denim skinny jeans and high-topped chelsea boots to finish it all off. The other girls looked on with widened eyes.

Rose’s face morphed into a smile. “A badass bitch,” she murmured.

Ash looked on in awe. “Y-you look… so pretty…”

Emily gave the girl a little wink, following it up with a thumbs-up of approval. “You look fantastic.”

Sadja, who sat on the edge of the bed, kicked her feet around as she grinned. “You should dress like this more often.”

Maria turned to look at herself in the mirror. As she examined herself down, a sense of satisfaction finally filled her face. She put her hands on her hips proudly, and smiled. “Thanks!”

Kat looked around the room. “So, you guys each got something for yourselves?”

“I got my stuff, thanks Kat!” Rose now had a set of clothing in her bag. 

“I think I got enough for my pirate set. Really appreciate you letting us borrow your closet.” Emily spoke out.

Kat shrugged. “It’s no biggie. I got way too much of this stuff, anyway.”

“So, is it time for lunch?” Sadja stretched out her arms. “I’m starving.”

“Me too. Let’s hit it.” Kat led the group back out of the room and downstairs. Maria followed behind, but stopped one more time in the mirror. She looked in the mirror, posed, and giggled softly to herself. For a moment, everything was okay.

…

It was later in the night, and all of the other girls had gone home with the exception of Sadja. Both she and Kat had decided on sleeping over, and so she took the guest room — a place smaller than Kat’s room but still bigger than Sadja’s own bedroom. 

There were two beds in the room, adjacent to one another. Sadja sat in one, looking at her phone. Kat was in the other, fiddling with a jammed zipper on her pajamas.

“Hey, I haven’t asked in a while… have you started to get an idea of what college you’re going to?” Sadja asked, putting her phone away.

“Oh, yeah, well… I think I’m beginning to lean more towards Oregon, actually.”

“Oregon, huh?” Sadja smiled. “I think it could be a good fit for you.”

“Yeah. I mean, mostly I just want to get out of Kinsky. Northern California in general, really. I feel like if I go to Simpson or North Cal I’m gonna go stir crazy.”

“Is your dad up for it?”

Kat scoffed. “Is my dad up for it? No, he’s been trying to get me to change my mind every other day. Honestly just makes me think Oregon is even better.”

“Maybe he just wants you to stay close by. I know that’s how my mom is.”

“Nope. He wants me to go somewhere prestigious, like Stanford or something. Like he did.”

Sadja got up from leaning on the bed frame. “Wait, your dad went to Stanford?”

“Yeah, Stanford Business School. He went to North Cal for his undergraduate. I tried to tell him that it’s different, but he didn’t seem to listen. Kept munching on that cigar of his.”

Sadja went to the edge of her bed. “You should tell him that those cigars will end up taking a few years off his life if he isn’t careful.”

“That’s the thing, though. They’re specially-made cigars. No chemicals in them or anything. He just does it cause he’s got some sort of… oral fixation or something, I guess.”

“Oral fixation, huh?”

Kat leaned back into the bed, pushing some covers over herself. “Mhmm. Think I might have one of those myself.”

Sadja laughed. The two girls laid down in bed for a little while, staring up at the ceiling fan, when Sadja spoke up once more.

“Speaking of guys and their stupid habits… how are you feeling about the Isaac thing?”

Kat gave a deep sigh. “I don’t know, Sadj. I keep thinking… I made the wrong decision.”

Sadja turned over in bed to face the girl. “Kat!”

“It’s just, you know… I feel like it’s just natural for guys to do and say silly stuff sometimes. And for me to break up with Isaac, over all that? It feels like I’m being too strict about it. I mean, like, if I break up with every dude who makes a bad call… I’m never gonna end up finding anyone.”

“No, trust me — there’s a difference. Not all guys act like Isaac. In fact, I know there’s a lot of great guys out there who would treat you way better than him.”

“Yeah? Like who?”

Sadja paused. She leaned up once again onto the bed frame, pulling a blanket over her lap. “Well, I mean…”

Kat lifted her own head up from the covers. “Well, you mean?”

“…What about Lukas?”

Kat shook her head. “Nuh-uh, Sadja. Never gonna happen.”

“Why not?”

Kat leaned up against the side of her own bed frame, draping a quilt over her shoulders. “Cause I’ve known him since I was like, what, eight? He’s a big brother to me. Turning that into something romantic just isn’t going to work.”

“I don’t know, Kat. If you’ve gotten along with him for that long, that might just mean he’s the perfect fit. Besides, plenty of childhood friendships blossom into healthy romances.”

“It’s just… it’s not the same thing. We do have something special, but… it’s different from a boyfriend-girlfriend sort of thing. He’s someone I can talk to, closely, about anything. Just like Cole. Just like you. And I don’t want to mess that up.”

Sadja sighed. She crossed her arms behind her head and closed her eyes. “Well, it’s your life. You do what you want to do.”

Kat grabbed the rest off the quilt off of the bed, and wrapped the entire thing around her like a giant cloak. She snug herself in and then leaned back against the bed frame once more. “I will say that the one thing I didn’t expect about post-relationship life is how horny I’d be now that I’m not getting my fix.”

Sadja giggled. “Kat, it’s only been a week!”

“Well, it’s not like we were having sex while we were mad at each other, you know. I mean, how do you deal with it?”

“Oh, I have my ways.”

Kat’s head shot up to face Sadja. Her eyes squinted at the friend from her quilt hood. “Whaddya mean by that?”

The young middle-eastern girl winked at her friend. “I find my way around, is all.”

Kat lifted the hood from her head, and smiled at the girl. “Oh Sadja, you dog.”

“You could try the same thing, you know. Just gotta be careful.”

The blonde girl fell back down onto the bed, keeping the blankets wrapped tight around her. “I don’t know, I don’t think I could do it. I’m a pushover when it comes to sex. I just… it feels like it should be intimate, that you should do it with someone you really know and love and care about. It feels like an emotional connection, to share your body with someone else…”

“It’s for pleasure too, you know.”

“Yeah, I know. I don’t blame you for doing it that way. Just make sure you don’t go attracting any STDs.”

Sadja gave a short laugh, laying back down in her bed. “Jeez, you really don’t have any faith in me.”

Kat grabbed the string connected to the lamp between them. “I do. But like that Planned Parenthood video said… you can never be too safe.”

Sadja smiled, wrapping the blanket around herself. “Goodnight, Kat.”

“Night.”

The lights went off, and the girls got to sleep.