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[sub][color=lightgray]Collab with [@Lovely Complex][/color][/sub]
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[indent]After Kit jumped out of the car, she gave Sam a big hug goodbye. She had to show her gratitude somehow! Sam had done a lot for her that evening, and Kit wanted her to know that she was appreciated. [color=7fc19e][b]“Thank you! I’ll see you at school.”[/b][/color] With that, the car pulled away and Kit zipped toward the house, opening the door to come face to face with her father, who was sitting in an armchair, wide awake. [color=7fc19e][b]“Doc! Where’s the Professor?! I need her.”[/b][/color]

[color=c2b280][b]“KitKat, it is like one in the morning! I can’t wake the Professor up. She was [i]furious[/i] that I let you go to that party… Wait, do you have a McFlurry? What kind is it? Where did you get a McFlurry?”[/b][/color] Oliver was suddenly very confused as his daughter stuck a bite of ice cream into her mouth.

[color=7fc19e][b]“Uh, McDonald’s? Duh [i]du jour[/i], Doc. Don’t you have PhD? It’s M&M. Annnnnd it has Rolos in it. Annnnnnnd some Oreos. I [i]kinda[/i] made them put everything in it. It’s delicious. Now, [i]vamos![/i] Awaken the Professor! It’s [i]important[/i].”[/b][/color] Kit ordered, stepping up the stairs. She [i]would[/i] have done two at a time, but Kit’s legs were much too small for that. She took them one at a time like any other person. [color=7fc19e][b]“Send her to my dwelling! And, you too. There’s more for you to do.”[/b][/color]

Oliver watched as Kit headed up the stairs, and wondered briefly if she was just on a bad trip. (Un)Fortunately, Oliver knew in his heart of hearts that his daughter didn’t have a bad trip inside of her to go on. She was just kind of weird. She got it from him, after all. Shaking his head, he walked to the downstairs Master bedroom and went to the bed, shaking his wife’s shoulder. [color=c2b280][b]“Molly? Get up. Kit wants you. She says it’s [i]important.[/i]”[/b][/color][/indent]
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[indent]Muffled growls could be heard from the matriarch's mouth. Her face was hidden by her pillow while her back faced the ceiling. It wasn’t the fact that Kit went to a party that upset her, it was the fact that her husband gave her permission without consulting the mama that did. They were a team, weren’t they!? This boiled her to the core. Her husband knew better. 

There’s one thing Molly always looked forward to. That is: giving her daughter advice whenever she needed it. Her husband robbed her of that opportunity. She could’ve given her child, emphasis on HER child, some sound words that could’ve prepared her for any happenings at a big party thrown by big name kids. The dos and don’ts.  The whos and whats. The DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. You know, basics. But no, her husband felt like it was totally okay to allow her daughter to go gallivanting with strangers, with nothing but her own ideas.  Kathryn was a special kind of girl, and with unique traits like that… it required management and a gentle push in the right direction. 

Begrudgingly, she turned her body around and glaringly narrowed her eyes at her other half, muttering, [color=a7fc00][b]“[i]Oliver.[/i]”[/b][/color] He was the person she [i]didn’t[/i] want to see. Especially not at… she glanced over to their clock on the nightstand… ONE-FUCKING-AM.  [color=a7fc00][b]“What the shit! This can’t wait?!”[/b][/color] 

There was no respect in this household! 

[color=c2b280][b]“I don’t think it can wait. She’s having one of her…  things, I think.”[/b][/color] Oliver was treading lightly, he’d expected this to go poorly; Molly didn’t normally like to wake up, let alone be [i]forcibly[/i] waken up at such an hour. Even so, this wasn’t the first time that Kit had a ‘moment.’ Typically, they were chaotic and rarely ended without someone (usually Oliver) being yelled at, for some reason or another. [color=c2b280][b]“I mean, I can try to deal with it, but she really wants you in her room. I dunno why.”[/b][/color]

[color=a7fc00][b]“Something [i]probably[/i] happened at the party.”[/b][/color] Molly sat up aggressively. [color=a7fc00][b]“A party I didn’t find out until after she was already gone!”[/b][/color] She patted down her fly aways. [color=a7fc00][b]“You see what happens when you don’t bring things up with me?”[/b][/color] After throwing off her comforter, and a variety of other blankets, she gestured for him to get his hoodie so she could throw it over her and her nightgown. It was chilly. [color=a7fc00][b]“If something bad happened, I swear to God, OLIVER.”[/b][/color] 

[color=c2b280][b]“Nothing [i]bad[/i] happened, come on. She’s smarter than that.”[/b][/color] Before she’d even gestured, Oliver had already grabbed the hoodie and was handing it to her. He knew what wifey wanted, but, even so… [color=c2b280][b]“You know, it’s one in the morning. And didn’t we [i]already[/i] argue about this? C’mon.”[/b][/color] Oliver gestured for Molly to follow him to their daughter’s room, where light leaked out of an open door, along with [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ_eVIZkjZE]some music[/url]. [color=c2b280][b]“See? She wouldn’t be listening to music if it was [i]that[/i] bad.”[/b][/color] Oliver protested, as they walked into the room.

Their daughter was sitting on the bed, chewing on a piece of pizza that was leftover from the night before. With her mouth full, she addressed her parents. [color=7fc19e][b]“Hey, Professor! Doctor.”[/b][/color] She beamed at her mother, and gave her father a stiff nod; nothing new, this was their typical greeting.

[color=c2b280][b]“Doctor.”[/b][/color] Oliver returned the nod, before Kit began speaking again.

[color=7fc19e][b]“Hey, I dunno if you guys know this, but… we’re kinda running low on pizza? I don’t know if you guys want to replenish that or if I’m gonna have to start eating normal foods... You know what? That’s not that important I guess.”[/b][/color] She grabbed a piece of printer paper and hopped off the bed, thrusting it at rOliver. [color=7fc19e][b]“Go see Auntie Sofi. I need that stuff, asap.”[/b][/color] 

Oliver looked down at the piece of paper and read it, before looking back at his daughter. [color=c2b280][b]“These are hair dyes?”[/b][/color]

[color=7fc19e][b]“Yup. A royal blue and a royal purple. I was serious about the pizza by the way.”[/b][/color]

[color=c2b280][b]“Sofi is probably asleep…”[/b][/color]

[color=7fc19e][b]“You have a house key! Wake her ass up, coward. It’s for me. She’ll be happy to help.”[/b][/color] Kit protested, and Oliver sighed, turning and leaving as he mumbled about how Sofi probably slept naked and he was going to get hit and this sucked and life sucked.

[color=a7fc00][b]“Woah, woah. Hold on just a second.”[/b][/color] Molly snatched the paper away from her husband, quickly scanning at it and then peering at her daughter, [color=a7fc00][b]“... No.”[/b][/color] Usually, Molly spoiled Kit to bits but this was her hair on the line. [color=a7fc00][b]“You will not be dying your hair, young lady! Why do you even need to?!”[/b][/color] Her natural hair was [i]beautiful[/i]. This was outrageous. [color=a7fc00][b]“First, you change your style. Now you want to change how you look completely? I won’t allow it.”[/b][/color] Molly folded up the paper and was ready to storm off and go back to bed. She was woken up for this bull. And for once, it was all directed to Kit and not Oliver. 

Kit looked at her father for help, though when he shrugged his shoulders, before stepping out of the room. Kit realized she was fighting this battle on her own. Oh well, she could do it. [color=7fc19e][b]“Of course [i]I’m[/i] not dying my hair. You’re dying it! And cutting it, I’m thinking about to here.”[/b][/color] She gestured with her hand to show neck length, as opposed to the longer hair she wore now that was gliding down her back. She took a deep breath, and sighed. [color=7fc19e][b]“Mama, I had a really bad night. My heart was broken. I thought I was in love with Selena Sterling. I’m not. I need to change myself, a lot, so I can be Kit, instead of Kit In Name Only, Who’s Simply Trying to Make Selena Notice Her. I don’t want this anymore!”[/b][/color] She pulled at the long hair, and pointed toward the closet that was filled with expensive, preppy clothes, that had buried her more normal attire of comfy pants and graphic tees.

[color=7fc19e][b]“I want to be me. I like soccer, and fighting games, and the internet, and pizza. I can’t keep doing this to myself. I look in the mirror, and I’m sad. I don’t want to be sad anymore.”[/b][/color] By the end of her statement, Kit’s voice was uncharacteristically quiet and almost cracked to break into tears.

How was a mother supposed to react to this? Biting her bottom lip, she gave her husband back the list, but still was on the fence with saying ‘yes’. Her permission for him to leave wasn’t given yet. Approaching Kit, she pulled her into an embrace and softly spoke, [color=a7fc00][b]“What does your hair have to do with any of this?”[/b][/color] Molly looked down at her child’s hair and ran her fingers through it. If anything, this was more of a mother not wanting to let go of the one thing that reminded her that her baby was her’s. Mothers were usually attached to little things like that. 

Molly’s hair was always something she took pride in, going to school with the longest, volumiest, and softest hair compared to her classmates, even Summer, her best friend, admired her hair.  Kit’s hair was no exception. When she was small, Molly would spend every night brushing her hair, while she did all the things she liked, like playing video games or eating pizza. Now she wanted to cut it! AND color it! She wanted to understand. She really did. But she couldn’t. All she needed to do was be herself, right? Why did she have to change her looks? What Molly didn’t realize was, Kit was very much like her. For years, Molly pretended to not be as smart as she was, to belong. She taught herself to be popular and hot, because everyone liked what they saw, but then her husband helped her love the person who she truly was. Still hot and popular, but a total nerd too. 

Her mother didn’t get it. That was the simplest this could be boiled down to; Molly didn’t [i]get it.[/i] Kit changed herself so that she could be more appealing to people who she didn’t really like. She didn’t want to pretend anymore, pretending was hard. It made her sleepy, and she could have so much more fun doing things a different way. The right way. The way she really was.

[color=7fc19e][b]“I’m trying to make friends, Professor. With people who are like me, but I can’t. I can’t do it when I can’t even be friends with myself. Like, look at me! I’m fake. I’m fake. I don’t want to be fake, I just want to be me. The hair is part of the fake! Look, the Doc told me that if you go through something stressful, a good way to distance yourself is dramatic change. I want to distance myself.”[/b][/color] Kit was explaining her logic, but like it or not, she’d accidentally thrown Oliver back under the bus.

Oops.

 [color=a7fc00][b]“Oliver, what the hell?!”[/b][/color] Molly pulled away from her daughter and brought her attention to the love of her life.  [color=a7fc00][b]“Have [i]you[/i] ever gone through a drastic change when you needed to ‘distance’ yourself? What does that even mean? What are you feeding our daughter?!”[/b][/color] Rest in peace, Oliver. You lived a good life.  [color=a7fc00][b]“I don’t understand why changing your hair solves any of this!”[/b][/color] Molly was losing focus. She didn’t know who to be mad at. Her husband or her daughter. Truly, she shouldn’t be mad at either, but this was her child’s hair! The hair that she gave her, while she was in her womb! How is that fake?! 

[color=c2b280][b]“Molly, I have a PhD! I think I know what I’m talking about! Literally, a doctorate in teenage psychology! It was [i]your[/i] idea!”[/b][/color] Oliver protested over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs. [color=c2b280][b]“I’m going to see Sofi! Give up! She wins this one.”[/b][/color] Then, there was the sound of their front door opening and closing.

[color=7fc19e][b]“Molly, Daddy says. Can’t we just do what I want? Because, like. If you don’t help me with this, I’m gonna do it myself, in the mirror, with a pair of Crayola safety scissors and hope for the fuggin’ best. This is not a game, this is real life. I need your help, I am asking you for your help. [i]Help me![/i]”[/b][/color] Kit was at her absolute end of the rope.

[color=a7fc00][b]“Okay, whatever. You win. I’m going to make coffee.”[/b][/color] Molly wasn’t the bad guy in this situation but they both were painting her out to be the enemy, and then Oliver left without kissing her goodbye. It was too early for this. She had a headache and when she found time to be alone, she’ll just give herself a good cry and make things better.  [color=a7fc00][b]“Find a picture of what you want and print it out so I can use it as reference. If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.”[/b][/color] With that, Molly sternly, and strongly, walked out and made her way to her kitchen. Taking a seat on a barstool, she buried her face in the palm of her hands. She was probably a terrible mother and wife for caring too much about this. 

[color=7fc19e][b]“Can you bring me some trash bags? I need trash bags!”[/b][/color] Kit yelled after her mother. Sure, Kit had upset her a little, but eh. She’d get over it. Her mother was tough, and speaking typically, her father would handle it! Just as soon as he returned from where he was going and brought back what he wanted from Auntie Sofi! [color=7fc19e][b]“How many pictures? I think I found some!”[/b][/color] As far as Kit was concerned, this was a win for her.[/indent]