Melissa continued to dig through Karyn's closet, producing an article of clothing every so often and asking if it was okay to take (Karyn only seemed to say yes to items like loose shirts in dark colors and baggy pants that didn't fit in with this year's fashions), and Tiffany continued to leaf through the books that until recently had populated Karyn's shelves, when Melody began rifling through some desk drawers.
"Oh wow, look at all these notebooks!" Melody exclaimed as Karyn, despite herself, was trying to tell Melissa how important the leather miniskirt she'd never worn before was, and why Melissa couldn't have it. "Can I have one?"
Distracted, Karyn gave a nod of approval, without quite thinking the entire question through.
"Cool, can I take this one?" Melody held up a small notepad with a matte pink cover.
Karyn looked up. "No, not that one."
"How about this?" Melody held up another, this one bigger and in a zebra print.
"No. Ugh, Melissa," Karyn tried splitting her attention, "just cool your jets a second and I'll go help Melody."
Melissa made an almost-inaudible grumble and turned back to the overflowing closet before her, as Karyn practically dove across her bed to reach where Melody was. The action caused Lucy to bounce slightly where she was sitting.
karyn flipped through the desk drawers, mentally cataloging each item she passed by. What was previously a subconscious thought now became a conscious checklist: "Have I used this before? Yes. Melody can have it, she'll use it more. Have I used this before? No. Melody can't have it. I must get some use out of it first."
Everything needed to be used. Ideally by Karyn, but secondarily by anyone else. Item by item was moved from desk drawer to desk, as Karyn systematically removed those things that had, up until the previous night, defined her.
In the end, the two girls surveyed the stash. Three notebooks, all of them half-full: one with a white cover that was full of doodles, one with a cover so full of animal stickers that the original material wasn't visible, and one that was just a solid green. A small black plastic pencil box, full of simple pens, #2 pencils, and standard erasers. A wooden, 12-inch ruler. A 13-inch Asus laptop. A graphing calculator. A Rubik's Cube. Some other odds and ends.
"Here," Karen exhaled, "you can have all of these."
"Really?" Melody was slightly taken aback. "This is what you want me to take? There is an entire laptop in here. Are you sure that's okay?"
"I've got other laptops," Karyn gestured towards the two shiny Macbook Pros that were sitting, closed, one on top of the other on the desk. "I want you to take this whole pile." And it was true, Karyn genuinely wanted Melody to take these things. "And I want you to promise me you'll use them."
"Okay," Melody didn't quite rescind her side-eye. "I guess I'm taking it all, then. Just don't come asking for it back."
Karyn rolled back to the other side of the bed, and as she rolled so did her thoughts. Tumbling like clothes in the dryer. She didn't need any of these old things. They weren't a part of her anymore. Pink was her color. She read about Paris Hilton. And all of her notebooks were blank. That's who she was.
This was good. Bringing everyone upstairs was good. Between Melissa, Tiffany, and Melody, a lot of things in the room were going to get used. Karyn rolled over next to Lucy on the bed, who'd been talking to Tiffany about the Chronicles of Narnia, but Lucy quickly cut herself off as Karyn sat up.
"Hey, Karyn," she said, "can I ask you a favor?"
