Inciting Investigations

Chapter 19

A comfortable silence stretched over them for a minute or two, and Birdy took that time to analyze the last thing that she had said. Not even the whole sentence, just that last word. Birdy wondered why she kept using it when it really wasn’t needed. So she asked. Which was very surprising to her because usually she would’ve just kept the question in her head.

“Why do you call me kid? You know my name is Birdy.” There was a pause before an answer.

“I don’t know. I guess it just fits you.”

“Yeah but, I’m gonna be an adult in two years. It's more like one and a half, really. ‘Kid’ doesn’t really suit me all that much.” Birdy argued to the other woman on the phone call.

“Well, until then, you’ll stay as a ‘kid’.” Sarah gave her answer.

“What do I have to do to convince you?” Birdy asked.

“Nothing. Birdy is a fine name, okay? I’m still gonna call you kid, though.” She said.

Birdy laughed. She supposed that she wasn’t going to get anywhere with what she was trying to do. Sarah would just keep on calling her ‘kid’ for the rest of their time working together.

“Well, I should probably go so that I can finish getting packed.” Birdy spoke into the phone.

“Yeah, see you in a couple of hours…kid.” Sarah said and abruptly hung up before she could respond.

Birdy shook her head at her phone like she couldn’t believe what the older woman had just done. Ultimately, she found it funny and was glad for it. In her mind, the whole kid nickname was like their thing. It's almost similar to an inside joke. She had always been told that those were important in any friendship, even though they weren’t friends, just partners. It still felt kinda nice to be included in something, knowing that other people wouldn’t get it. Sure, if Sarah called her ‘kid’ in front of someone else, they would consider it normal. But she and the other would know the context behind it, and that would be nice.

Birdy got off the bed and finally began putting an array of different items into her bag. She wasn’t sure just how many days they would be there, but probably no more than three. Plus, all else fails. She could just wash the clothes. She made sure to pack two changes of clothes, the ones she had on counted as her third change. She put her computer in there since the majority of all her important documents were on there at that point.

She had tried the whole cool tv show detective thing with the red string and physical photos, but that didn't work. It ended up being way too time-consuming and definitely one of the worst ways to go about the whole thing. So, at some point along the way, she had just ditched that idea and transferred anything that she considered important onto her computer.

Next on the list was any cleaning necessities. Deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, hair brush, hair ties, hand sanitizer, etc. She tried to think of anything else in that category, but her mind was drawing blanks. She knew she would remember something later and hate herself for forgetting. So, she grabbed a twenty dollar bill from one of her drawers and stashed it in the bag to buy whatever else she needed there.

All of the liquids, like her shampoo, had to be put in tinier containers for the flight. Even with that, her bag was still losing room very quickly. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to fit much more in there, but she still had some stuff that she thought needed to go with her. Okay, maybe needing to go was a bit of a stretch. But she wanted them with her, though.

She placed the smallest stuffed animal that she had, a little whale that she had gotten when her family went to see them before Cyrus disappeared and placed it in the backpack. She was well aware that it was extremely childish of her to be bringing it, but she didn’t care. She needed the mental support of Mr. Whale to get through the rest of this.

Next, she put together an extremely small ziploc bag of makeup. She knew that it wasn’t needed, but she was a teenage girl and enjoyed it. She put in concealer, a tinted lip balm, and mascara. That was it, really not that much. She reasoned that since it was tiny and could fit that she was justified in bringing it along with her. Though, she had to make sure it was a tiny concealer so that she could still bring it with her on the flight they were boarding.

Okay, now for the book. Birdy looked over at her bookshelf and sighed. She just had so many, it was so hard to pick. She wanted to bring all of them despite knowing that she didn’t really need to. She probably only needed one book for the whole flight and trip because she was a very slow reader, but she still picked out two. She used the same reasoning that they could fit so they could go. She ended up picking out ‘Girls Like Girls’ by Hayley Kiyoko and ‘The Maze Runner’ by James Dashner. She had already read both of them from cover to cover multiple times, but she would gladly do it all over again.

Birdy knew that she needed snacks because she wasn't sure if she would be able to get any from the airport. She reasoned that she could sneak into the kitchen before leaving with Sarah. She knew that her mother had bought some honey buns, which would be great to bring along with her. She would probably grab a water or two as well to stay hydrated.

Oh! And her passport, couldn’t forget that.

She looked down at her pack and knew that, with the idea of adding the snacks and her waters, she wouldn’t really be able to fit much more in there. Besides, when she attempted to lift the bag, it already felt heavy enough. She knew that she would need to lug it all the way around the airport multiple times and too wherever Sarah had arranged for them to stay.

Now that she thought about it, she didn’t know where they would be staying. As much as she hoped for a nice hotel, she would settle for a trashy motel if it still meant they would catch Tempest. Anyway, the tickets themselves had to have been expensive enough, so she wouldn’t be expecting too much luxury when they got to where they were going.

Birdy heard a car pull up outside her house and looked at her phone clock. Wow, time had flown by fast while she had been packing. Still, it was like twenty minutes until Sarah was supposed to arrive. Birdy just shrugged it off, thinking that the woman had probably just driven fast.

Birdy ran down to the kitchen as quickly but still quietly as she possibly could. She reached into the cabinet and pulled out three honey buns, smashing them into her bag. She didn’t care how smushed they were, as long as they would still taste good after all.

She then placed a water bottle in each of the side pockets. Right when she was about to leave the room, she spotted some apples left on the counter. They looked good and she supposed that she should bring something healthy to eat, so she jammed one in her coat pocket.

Right when Birdy was near the entryway, she heard the door creaking open. That was weird, Sarah had no key or any other way to get into her house. She balled her hands into fists, just in case she needed to fight. Then she snuck around the corner to see who was there.

Her eyes widened as she noticed Cyrus shutting the door. She tried to back track into the kitchen, thinking that she could possibly sneak out through the back door. But Cyrus had already spotted her.

“Birdy.” She cringed and walked around the corner, well aware how suspicious she looked with her packed bag. She responded, “Hey Cyrus, what are you doing here so late?”

“Badger told me everything.” Dammit.

(I love Sarah and Birdy bonding.

Also, what do you think? Was Badger being a good or bad friend by telling Cyrus about what Birdy was planning to do?

Hope you enjoyed! Bye!)