Cored

Chapter 6: Math or Potatoes

Katherine woke earlier than normal the next day but stayed in bed to give herself a chance to process everything—and everyone—that had happened the day before. She opened her notebook, making notes about each of them.

September 2

Hermione—kind, knows George somehow; came into pub with dark-haired man, red-haired man, and red-haired women.

George—G.W., twin brother of Fred

Fred—F.W., father, dead

Dark-haired man—knows Hermione, connection to others unclear

Red-haired man and woman—siblings of George??

She racked her head trying to remember the names he had given her last night, but there were so many. I knew I should have taken notes, she chastised herself. She twisted at her ring trying to refocus and dig into her memory.

Near 9, she heard a knock on her door. She rolled out of the groaning bed and pulled on a sweatshirt before answering. It was Kevin, holding a hot cup of coffee.

"Hey," he said, handing her the mug. "Sorry, I just hadn't seen you and wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine," she said. "Thanks for the coffee."

"Of course.' He leaned against the door frame and folded his now empty hands over his chest. "Everything okay with the room?"

"Yeah, it's great," Katherine said. And it was, the perfect mix of cozy and simple. Not hers, really, but it felt homey. "I do have to do a load of laundry, though, if that's okay."

"Sure," he said with a nod. "It's all yours when you need it. Just throw in a load of towels when you are done."

"Can do. I'll be down in a minute to start."

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn't. He just turned around and went back down the stairs.

Katherine pulled off her pajamas but put the sweatshirt back on along with a pair of black leggings. You scream American, she thought, but it was her mother's voice that she heard. Evie hated the black stretch pants. Katherine smiled though, knowing that her mother would have loved even a small show of rebellion.

Evie had been a great mom, even if she was young. Katherine was a smiley child, and the two of them would spend all day laughing and imagining around if they could. She didn't care if Katherine drew on the walls or made a mess. Heck, she was normally drawing alongside her. After they had moved to the States, Evie got a job at a coffee shop, but took classes at night to become a paralegal. She hated the office work, but it was steady, and they always had enough to pay rent. Eventually, she bought their little house. Katherine never knew how she did it, and Evie never talked money. She never talked about a lot of things, though.

What Evie did always tell her was to not be afraid to break the rules. Katherine was always getting in trouble for talking during class or being too bossy. "Leadership potential," Evie would say when the teachers would complain. And she'd tell Katherine to never force herself to be quiet.

But Katherine did get quiet eventually. Somewhere in high school or maybe even early in college, she became more and more serious. She liked fun—craved it even—but with loud and fun came attention. And Katherine did not like attention. She was unsure enough about herself, the last thing she wanted was someone else pointing out what she already was sure was wrong with her. No, it was much easier to just keep your head down and step forward. But, with her mom, there was no point in hiding. The two of them would stay up for hours baking ridiculous looking cakes, always ending up throwing more frosting at one another than ended up on the cake. And no matter how peculiar the cake ended up looking, her and her mother would eat the whole thing throughout the week. "Just because something is different doesn't mean it is bad," her mother would coo when Katherine was worried the cake was too off balance or lumpy. "You can't be so afraid of the new that you ignore the good."