(rainbow house) writing experiment

[seventhe]

Tangerine moves out the day after mom announces she's pregnant.

She can't; she just can't do it. Two years of her life on hold, taking care of this damn house, cooking and cleaning and studying, and now Mom's having a baby? Mom's always been like this, sure, typical type A always-on always-going, and Tangerine's been happy to help but she is not raising a kid, too.

They don't see her. Mom's always just looking for more of everything, always wanting to know, to get, to have. And Dad trails along happily in her wake, happiest when he's elbow-deep into some other maintenance project, happy when she's happy. And Cayenne's just like the two of them combined, outgoing and ambitious and driven, too caught up in his relationships with Violet and his own job and his own damn sense of self.

None of them see her, there in the shadows, making sure the floors stay clean and the garbage goes out and the fridge has groceries.

Tangerine's tired. She loves her family, but she's tired of it, all the business talk and the amount of time Mom spends on the treadmill and the way her brother treats Violet like a possession sometimes and the way Dad laughs at everything. The only one who ever sees her is Indigo, and that's complicated.

So Tangerine packs the very few things she has, talks her way into a small loan, and moves out.

Her new house is small and simple. The upper floor isn't even finished, but she's always been handy like dad, and it'll be fun putting in things she wants. The best part of it will be the garden she's envisioning: surrounded by trees, and flowers, and her own vegetables to cook with. Tangerine isn't like Mom; she was never meant for an office. She has no idea how she'll pay rent and taxes, but she lives simply; she's excited to live simply, after the bright crush of her family's house.

(She tries to get Violet to come with her. Violet's undecided, though; her friend yearns for freedom, but they just lost Violet's dad, and her mom - with two younger children running around - hasn't recovered yet. Violet hasn't recovered. Violet's so ready to get out of that house, but she's tangled up in a lot of stuff right now, and she's just painting it all away rather than actually doing anything about it. Tangerine won't push her, though. Violet probably has a limit she'll hit just like Tangerine did.)

(There's an empty bedroom upstairs for when she can convince her best friend to join. There's space for another, actually, if she can ever afford the materials, and Indigo could come too.)

She isn't, like... leaving the family. No. She's going to be there to take care of that kid, who deserves someone that will happily share her snacks and change their diaper. She just has to have her own space for once. God knows whether Cayenne will step up and help out, or if he's going to be like Mom, focused more on his own trajectory than those around him. Tangerine loves her brother, but he's becoming a bit unpredictable. He's technically older, but some days it feels like she's the eldest -- or, at least, she's the farthest ahead.

Ahead. Apart. They aren't great words to use for her family. Tangerine's always loved her family. She still does. She just has a limit.

Eventually she'll invite them to her little shack. Mom will bring something native to brighten up her walls, and Dad will grill something traditional, and Cayenne will probably bring Violet and sneak off to make out somewhere in the unfinished basement she can't afford to do anything with yet. She can have the kid over, teach the poor child that it's okay to have boundaries. They're thinking of calling the kid Ginger, regardless of gender. It's a good name.

Mom calls, but it's late, and Tangerine has to work tomorrow. She turns on the television and lets the cell phone ring out.

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(please note: i'm trying something new, writing in a particular world as a warm-up for other fic; snippets will all be tagged "rainbow house" as we go along. i'll explain more in a bit.)