Kara stretched out on the enormous leather sectional Daddy loved so much and Mom tolerated, bored but content. The doctor didn't want her on her phone while she was recovering from whatever had happened that morning
(I was supposed to be somewhere else?)
but had allowed her to watch some television to assuage the Insta withdrawal she was suffering. She reminded herself that neither sister was allowed to use cell phones during school hours, so she wasn't missing much, and worked through the cable and streaming offers with as much determination as
(Karyn)
she had ever brought to bear on anything.
While poring through Netflix offerings, she passed Firefly, and for some reason
(this is one of my favorites!)
(ugh, nerdery)
(it's one of my FAVORITES)
she paused, and with a sigh, clicked to start at Episode 1. She was interested
(bored)
(engrossed)
and as she watched, she remembered watching it with her
(dad)
(Mr. Black)
(Dad)
someone else, years ago, and that made sense, sci-fi was
(stupid)
(her favorite kind of show)
a guilty pleasure and had been for years. She settled in to watch and lost track of time.
Sarah stopped in the hall, passing the little night terror Gibson girl. "Zoe, right?" she asked, surprising herself.
The teen Goth turned, wary of Paige's older sister speaking directly to her. "What do you want, Barbie?"
Sarah looked at her -- really looked at her -- and realized something. "You'd make an amazing cheerleader. Forget what you think you know about us -- come by after school. Give us a chance."
Bile and spite went to war at the tip of Zoe's tongue... and then died there. For some reason -- Sarah's tone, the way she looked at Zoe as if seeing an old friend for the first time in years, something in Zoe's own head -- Zoe found herself nodding and saying, "Whatever, fine, but don't waste my fucking time."
