A few hours later, Kaitlyn found herself sitting on a shaded restaurant patio, surrounded once more by Heather and her family. The sun arced high overhead in a clear blue sky, warming the table pleasantly. A collection of sunshades prevented its glare from assaulting her eyes even as it reflected off of the white-painted building and the similarly colored tablecloth.

Kaitlyn had been to this restaurant before, long ago. When she’d first decided to help Heather move in more actively, the girl had invited her to the going-away brunch as a thank you. At the time, it felt like it had marked a nice step forward in their friendship.

To be fair, it had been. Up until Heather went and stole Alex away. Repeatedly and relentlessly, for loops on end.

Fortunately, they were past that. Heather had shown a surprising amount of understanding once Kaitlyn had mustered up the courage to admit her true feelings. Though she’d backed off and dropped her pursuit of the guy, it had still taken longer than Kaitlyn wanted to admit to forgive the blonde for multiple loops’ worth of frustration and anguish. It was something she’d been working on for a while now.

She settled back, watching the family interact. Heather’s mother smiled as she listened to her daughter gush in excitement, one perfectly manicured hand resting on her pale chin. Her turquoise business attire seemed at once eye-catching yet perfectly fitting on the woman, giving her a far more mature kind of style than her daughter. All the while, Heather’s gruff statue of a father sat silently in the background like a watchful bodyguard.

“...Omigosh, I’m so excited!” Heather practically bounced in her chair, curls bobbing wildly. “Kaitlyn, d’you think people’ll be moved in by today? They have to, right? I mean, classes start tomorrow!”

“I think so.” She shrugged. “I think there might be a few stragglers in our suite, though. Not everyone even has a class on Monday.”

“Wait, really?” Her roommate’s mouth practically dropped open in shock. “Can you even get that lucky with classes? Like, I want a three-day weekend, too!”

Heather’s mom chuckled lightly. “Well, you are living on campus, so having classes every day isn’t as bad as it could be. If you had to commute, then I could understand the sentiment.”

“Yeah, but still!” The blonde pouted. “Not having to like, plan my whole day around them would be soooo nice! I could just take all Monday and go study or work on a project or something!”

Mrs. Gardener rolled her eyes. “I thought you were excited about classes starting?”

“I am! Omigosh, especially Psych! My professor is supposed to be really good…”

Heather continued to babble on as the rest of the table listened with interest and amusement. At least, she assumed so - Mr. Gardener was impossible to read. Kaitlyn provided only occasional input and opinions as she idly scanned the menu.

It was a bit harder to join in the conversation than expected. And after a bit of thought, Kaitlyn suspected she knew why. Despite the lack of physical similarities, she couldn’t help but see her own parents reflected in the couple across the table.

The thought sent a fresh spear of longing through her. One that she’d managed to ignore for quite a long time. With a lump growing in her throat, she forced the feeling down as best she could. I don’t even want to think about how long it’s been. Just… don’t think about it.

Maybe one day she’d see them again. One day, when she finally managed to escape from this place.

But if I want a chance at that… then I need more endings.

The thought kept bubbling up with increasing frequency. Ever since accomplishing her goal of acing every class, it seemed to have a mind of its own, popping up whenever it was least welcome. A constant reminder that, as much as she wanted to avoid thinking about it, that coming to terms with her situation was the only way to move forward.

…Just a little more time. Just a little more to get past it and forget. Then I’ll get right back to it.

“Oh, and get this - Kate’s got this awesome idea!”

Her attention snapped back to the present as her name was mentioned. She’d completely missed out on the conversation for a while now. Dragging herself out of the sour mood she’d fallen into, she tuned back in.

“An idea?” Mrs.Gardener arched an eyebrow.

“Yeah! She wants to like, cook meals for people! Y’know, sell ‘em to students.” Heather gestured excitedly. “She was telling me about it while we moved in!”

“Hmm, that sounds difficult, given your dorm situation. Not to mention that everyone will be on a meal plan with Hartland.” The woman fixed Kaitlyn with clear blue eyes. “Besides, where do you plan to find a kitchen for that?”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I don’t need one, really.” She shrugged. “You’d be surprised how much you can do with an electric stovetop, a toaster oven, and a few more things. I can even make the stuff in the common room to have more space.”

“Really? I can’t imagine that’s very scalable.”

“It is for some foods - pasta, curry, soups, big bulk items. Plus, a lot of those I can find ingredients at the on-campus grocery store. Pretty good deals, too.”

As she spoke, she saw Heather’s mom straighten slightly in her seat. Her eyes sharpened into focus as they seemed to take on a calculating quality. A look Kaitlyn knew all too well.

So that’s where she gets it from.

“Hmmm…” The woman continued to stare at Kaitlyn, fingers drumming on the table. “What kind of premium are you planning to charge for these meals?”

“Usually ten or fifteen bucks, depending on what it is.”

“Seems a little steep, especially with the meal plan to compete with…”

“Maybe for the first few weeks, but people will get tired of the dining halls pretty quick. Not to mention other students that don’t have meal plans. And, uh, not to brag, but… I’m pretty good at cooking.” She ended with an embarrassed chuckle.

Mrs. Gardener smiled. “Well, perhaps we should’ve asked you to make brunch rather than going out to eat! And that price covers your costs?”

“For ingredients, definitely. For equipment? I’ll recoup my initial costs after a week or two of sales, no problem. From then on it’s just straight in my pocket.” She hesitated. “Well, that’s all assuming I have good estimates on how many customers I’ll be getting. I’m confident I can sell to most of the people on our floor, but…”

“And that’s where I come in!” Heather threw an arm around Kaitlyn’s shoulders as she beamed. “I’m like, totally down to help with marketing and bringing in new people! As long as you can feed em’!”

“Interesting…” A smile crept across Mrs. Gardener’s sharp features. “Seems like you’ve really thought this through.”

Kaitlyn gave a sheepish grin back. Less that I’ve thought it through and more that I’ve experimented a whole lot. But still… “Thanks. I have.”

“Have you considered that Hartland might not be ok with this?”

A gravelly voice made Kaitlyn jump. After a moment, she realized it had come from the stony figure across from her. She’d practically forgotten about the man during the impromptu business pitch.

Nodding, she addressed the man with a slight bit of trepidation. “I have thought of that. But I don’t think there should be an issue.”

“What if you give someone food poisoning?” He rumbled, burly arms crossed in front of his broad chest.

Heather rolled her eyes in a surprisingly accurate imitation of her mother. “Omigosh, dad! You’re such a spoilsport! It’ll be fiiiine!”

He shrugged. “Cooking for friends is different than for business.”

Kaitlyn ceded the point. “True. But I’ve worked in a restaurant for a while, actually. They’ve taught me a lot about food safety and handling, enough to be certified. So I think I’ll be ok.”

Scarra had indeed taught her the essentials as she’d progressed under his tutelage. The man rather prided himself on his professionalism in the matter, since he saw any complaint at his restaurant as a blight on his personal honor. Well, any reasonable complaint, at least. In any case, Kaitlyn considered her food safety fairly stringent. A consideration backed up by a complete lack of incidents.

She continued. “Maybe if I scale things up a ton, then the school might start caring.” Or the Enforcers. “But I kind of doubt I’m even capable of making that much food in the first place.”

Mrs. Gardener perked up at that. “Well, if you’re that successful, you should consider hiring people.”

“Chelsea, that’s illegal.”

“Oh, not officially.” She waved a hand dismissively. “Just as, you know… good samaritans. More helpful volunteers who happen to be compensated in some small way. You see?”

Heather’s dad just snorted.

“Oh, don’t be so serious, dear.” The woman patted his hand affectionately. “It’s all in good fun! Kaitlyn’s just being a young entrepreneur! Plus, this is a great chance for Heather to get some business experience as well.”

“Exactly! Like, I’m already planning out how to market this…”

The conversation continued on until a server appeared to take their orders. Afterward, the topic shifted away from business and back toward school and other more mundane things. To her surprise, the tension and awkwardness Kaitlyn had always associated with this encounter seemed considerably less. Even under the watchful glare of Heather’s father, Kaitlyn didn’t feel anywhere near as nervous this time around.

Perhaps it was a good sign. After all, she’d spent no small amount of time desensitizing herself to social interaction. Maybe all that talking to people in her suite and at Bash Bros tournaments had paid off.

Or maybe I’m just getting numb to everything.

The thought made her hesitate. Was she? No, that couldn’t be right. If that were the case, then at the very least these worries about her parents and endings and everything else should have receded somewhat instead of getting more intense. Plus, it was worth noting that the nervous feelings were reduced, but not gone completely. That had to mean she wasn’t a complete sociopath.

I’m just going to take it as a good thing. As progress. Let’s leave it at that.

As Heather gushed about the events she was looking forward to on campus - something that Kaitlyn actually was able to provide input on - their meals arrived. She saw her own selection nestled among the others on the tray - a decadent-smelling plate of french toast, stuffed with raspberry jam and topped with strawberries and cream. Her mouth was watering before the plate even made it in front of her.

Glancing up once more at the family, Kaitlyn bowed her head gratefully. “Thank you all so much for having me. Really.”

“Of course, honey.” Mrs. Gardener beamed at her with a gracious smile. “Now, let’s eat!”