Deception

twenty-six*

// cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will //

It's been about a week since Thanksgiving and school has been relatively busy so I've been in my room a lot trying to finish up all the work. Mom and dad are keeping to their promise and have been home early from work most days which is nice.

Tom has been coming over more too since he asked Kris to tutor him in some subjects but they usually sit in the dining room. Kris says it's because it's not as stuffy there but I know she just doesn't want me to tease her about them being in her room alone.

I've already gotten used to their relationship so when I see them holding hands or smiling giddily at each other, I don't feel weird anymore. Well, I'm certainly not running away nor cringing when I see them together that's for sure.

Only sometimes, because I'm not too fond of public display of affection.

"Cassidy! Dinner is ready." I hear my mom call from downstairs so I put my laptop on sleep mode and the Wikipedia page turns black. I release my hair from the lazy bun I put it in after I came out of the shower. I didn't want them to fall onto my face when I do homework as that can get really distracting. I comb through my hair with my fingers as I walk down the stairs and I can already smell food.

"You finished your algebra work yet, Cass?" I hear Kris ask as I sit down next to her.

"Yeah, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be but it still took some time to finish." She nods at my answer and mom joins us at the table and sits at her usual spot next to dad, which happens to be in front of me.

"Now that everyone is here, let's eat. I made lasagna with grandma's recipe." Everyone serves themselves and dinner is filled with small chatter about school and work. Kris announces the news that she has already sent in her application for her choice of universities and that she's decided to take medicine as her major instead of nursing. I think everyone at the table knows the reason behind her sudden change but no one says anything.

After dinner, Kris and I help to wash up while mom goes for a shower. Dad goes to watch TV but I'm not sure what he's watching since he's put the volume pretty soft.

"Is Tom nervous for the finals?" I ask in an attempt to make a conversation in the midst of our washing. We decided not to use the dishwasher and I'm not quite sure why.

"He is but I'm sure he'll do fine. He's been studying a lot lately in preparation for it, he really doesn't want to stay back for another year." I just nod but doesn't say anything else and neither does Kris. We just silently wash the dishes as we listen to the soft voices coming from the television.

After about thirty minutes of clean up duty, I go back up to my room but I don't get back to homework immediately. Instead, I go online to look for bracelet and necklace charms. I find a few decently priced ones with nice designs but I could have easily gotten them at the shop so it isn't really worth the hassle of shipping and everything.

After multiple pages of looking at different charms that are pretty but don't really catch my eye, I finally find something that might be perfect. They look like different polygons so maybe I can google a random medicine or something like that and try to copy its scientific shape or whatever it is called.

Kris is studying medicine so maybe this can be my little customized gift to her. It will remind her of home when she looks at it.

I check the price of the charms and thankfully, it's not too expensive. There's also more than enough for me to use in case I mess up somehow. I check the details and add it to my cart but then I realize I need to ask my mom for her credit card to pay.