Foolish One ✷ Jess Mariano

IV: Star Girl

Her hair was sprawled across her pink pillow like a fan, her honey skin was lined in a shimmery sweat, her back sticking to the oversized top she had thrown on and her linen shorts hiked up. Despite the chilly conditions that had occurred the night prior, the hot sun had returned to cast its glow over Stars Hollow.

Kitty groggily yawned, stretching her muscles at the same time before arising from the bed. The patting sounds of the bare soles of her feet echoed through the quiet room as she reached out to the loose metal doorknob, swinging open the rackety door with a loud creak. Muffled voices from outside flowed through the paper-thin walls and filled the house with lively chatter.

With her hands effortlessly sweeping her hair into a messy updo pinned in the back of her head, Kitty made her way down the stairs. It had a blue railing and the walls were a soft ivory beige (much like the entire house with the exception of the tiled bathroom, her mother's soft orange room, and hers which was the softest pink of all, nothing like the vibrant exterior of the house).

Kitty wandered into the kitchen as she extended her arms over her head and stretched her spine as well as she could, imagining herself a little taller as her feet dragged across the dark floor. Through the wide window, she caught sight of her mother and Miss Patty in the garden, talking with wide smiles and tall glasses of juice in their hands.

She sat on a crimson cushioned barstool beside the island bench of her 70s-style kitchen and watched as Patty wrapped her arms tightly around her mother. She grimaced, face wrinkling like a screwed-up piece of paper.

Penelope Lovelace slid the glass screen door open, wind rapidly flowing through the house. As quick as it was opened, the door closed, muffling the whispering breeze. "Hey, baby," She smiled, pecking Kitty's temple and reaching over her to grab a ripe fig from the ceramic plate. "You're up early."

Penelope reeked of cigarette smoke, much to Kitty's displeasure, scrunching her nose at the putrid smell. She leaned against the counter, the cold and pale marble making goosebumps trail up her arm.

"Surprise?" She rasped through a thick dryness her throat held in the mornings. Penelope slid her a plate of sliced figs and she gluttonously let the natural sugar melt onto her tongue for a minute, "Thought I'd catch you before you left for work."

"Well, here I am," She cleaned up a bit in the kitchen. She was a bit of a freak, but at least it kept their house in order considering the amount of people they always had around. "Are you going anywhere before school?"

Her teeth sunk into her rouged bottom lip in thought, before nodding. "Yeah," Kitty decided, "Probably going to see Kenji and Teddy."

Penelope rummaged through the cupboards for their last full cereal box, Frosted Flakes. She shoved them in her hand with a knowing look, "God forbid they haven't eaten anything."

Kitty put down the cereal box on the counter and spun around, light as a feather, wandering around the house and up the stairs. Her mother followed her to her bedroom. She yelled out a muffled, "Thank you, Mama!" She hunched over into her closet and grabbed her navy jacket with the Chilton crest on it, tossing it in the crook of her elbow under a white button-up shirt and a pleated skirt that hit a little above her knees. She shut the bathroom door behind her as Penelope grabbed a red licorice from a bag on her cluttered dresser. "Are you going to the Independence Inn or the ranch?" She asked through the wall.

"The ranch," Penelope replied, chewing on the bright magenta candy. Kitty heard it in her voice and rolled her eyes, throwing on her jacket. "I need to see how our baby Sterling is doing."