Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Kit
The fact that the flight was so long had not occurred to Kit until she stood behind her father, hoisting her huge black case with a white ribbon tied on the handle ( for easy identification on the carousel , Terry had said).
She would arrive in Japan a full day later, and the distance between her and her family, her house, her bedroom, even Sabrina, suddenly felt vast.
The thought of everything continuing as usual once she had gone left her simultaneously comforted and troubled. Her perfect little life moving forward without her. It was unimaginable.
She was anxious to get away from her parents quickly.
“Are you sure, honey, that you don’t want to do this unaccompanied minor thing?”
“Sal, it’s too late for that—the airlines need notice for these things. You can’t just do it as we check in.”
Sally brushed her husband’s obstacles away as though they were flies buzzing around her face.
“I can figure it out, Mom. I’m eighteen.
It’s a short layover in Newark. I can always ask someone if I need help.
Everyone speaks English.” Kit forced a smile, though she was starting to question her ability to do all of this independently.
She was going to college in the fall, she could handle a trip alone.
There was a niggling feeling at the back of Kit’s mind that she had chosen Penn because it was close enough to home.
She could go back any time she wanted. She pushed the thought away immediately.
She could see Sally’s eyes starting to glisten, as though tears would come at any moment.
“You didn’t want Sabrina to join us to see you off? I thought she might come to the airport,” Sally asked.
Kit hadn’t told her mother about the burst pipe at the Chen household.
She hadn’t told her mother that Sabrina was no longer going anywhere for the summer, but instead working two jobs.
She hadn’t told her either that when Sabrina had asked about her trip, Kit had felt it necessary to keep her answers brief and change the subject quickly.
She knew her mother would take pride in her consideration of her less-fortunate friend’s summer plans being dashed by—what was it that Sabrina had called it— a force majeure .
She thought about the phrase again, and knew she would use it in the future.
But for now, she felt satisfaction when she thought of how understanding her expression was the last time she saw Sabrina.
She was lucky that her family could send her to Tokyo for the summer.
It was not her fault that Sabrina’s could not.
Kit had other things on her mind. She was wearing a brand-new outfit.
Sneakers she had carefully picked out for her trip, new sandals packed in her suitcase, and high-waisted jean shorts that she would wear with her cropped T-shirts.
She had put a new case on her phone and the Kanken backpack she carried was carefully packed with her iPad, Kindle, and toiletries for the flight.
She couldn’t wait to get through security to buy herself an iced coffee, a Venti Iced Coffee, that would make her mother raise her eyebrows immediately and say You’re not going to sleep tonight if you drink all of that, honey.
But Kit could do as she pleased, because she was not going to be supervised.
This new thrill of independence rushed through her.
She would be a different person. The kind of person people looked at with admiration, thinking how young and adventurous she was, marching through the airport to board a flight to a faraway country.
Sir, is this the way to the gates? she would ask a security guard.
She felt Sally’s gaze linger on her with sadness. She hugged her parents goodbye, pulling away as she started to feel a homesickness she wasn’t prepared for. She turned quickly and walked through the bag check without looking back at them.