I sat at the kitchen table, working hard on the essay for my 18th Century Lit. class, followed by the studying I needed to do for Psychology and the lab write-up I had for Chemistry.
I was just thankful that the damn homework for Algebra was done already.
With Mrs. Tran's help, I made it in to a community college in Flathead, Montana. She helped me re-dye my hair to a more normal color (I went with being a redhead. If it worked for Rowena, it should work for me no problem), forge myself a GED and some other background documents, and thanks to what Sam and Dean had taught me I had a new driver's license under the name Diana Kylie Tran. (Mrs. Tran's idea on keeping my first name in general, and my idea on the last name.) The college was maybe 20 minutes from where she lived, so I could continue living with her and not have to pay for on-campus housing.
Our plan was that after I had established enough papers to pass the scrutiny of an accredited institution (and apparently having two years of basics out of the way would be insanely helpful, plus a job soon), I would advance to a higher university.
"You know you can do better than community college, sweetheart." Mrs. Tran told me. "I know you can, and I bet if Kevin were here he'd be pushing you to go straight for it."
"Yes, well, I'd still like a bit of buffer time to make sure I'm in the clear." I answered. "It's a tactically sound move."
If I had been completely honest, I would've included the part about how I was going to enjoy being a part of a family again. Coming home to meals, doing homework on a kitchen table, having a mom remind me to do my homework and asking about my day. Hell, having a mom in general. No worries about magic or demons or angels or Lucifer or the Winchesters or the end of the world. Just… Just being able to make a choice, a choice for me. Not for the world. Not for anyone else. Just for me, to make a choice for me and chose what I want and be able to do what I want. I wanted an education. I wanted a chance at a normal life.
And finally, I could choose to have that.
"Want me to check over that algebra homework?" Mrs. Tran offered. I nodded, sliding her over the workbook of completed pages as I continued working on the chemistry. It was actually a lot similar to spell creating and formation, which made it easy.
Hell, having the book floating right in front of me with the ability to flip to a specific page as I worked made it easy, even.
"Kylie," Mrs. Tran said calmly.
"Yeah, mom?"
"Didn't you only have pages 112 through 120?
"Yeah."
"You went through 140." She stated. I stopped, turning my head to the workbook.
Sure enough, I'd done some extra.
"Well, I guess I have next week's homework out of the way, then." I said, shrugging as I turned back to my Chemistry. "Dammit." I muttered, looking back up at her. "How long have I been doing this lab?" I asked.
"Maybe a half-hour." Mrs. Tran answered. "Why?" In answer to her question, I held up my work that I was doing. There were some seriously over-complicated calculations written down to prove my work on this.
"I think I just turned this in to a spell." I stated, looking at it for a minute again. Mrs. Tran just laughed.
"If magic was a job." She muttered, smiling. I held a hand to the page, and everything disappeared on it except the basics.
"That look good?" I asked. She shook her head.
"Missing what I want to say are three more basic calculations and," she flipped it over. "The explanation paragraph."
"I hate those." I muttered.
"When is it due?"
"Tomorrow at four."
"And when is the essay due?"
"Tomorrow at two."
"You need to stop procrastinating." She told me.
"I know." I agreed. "Look, it's, what… Ten now?" I asked, checking a clock. Ten exactly. "The Lit. Essay is only four pages. Ten minutes to finish up this stuff, another hour, maybe, on the essay, and the psych test isn't until Friday morning so I'm thinking flashcard the crap out of it tomorrow after classes?"
"You want help with the flashcards?"
"I'll make them myself," I promised. "But it's a bit of a pain to float them and run through the info at the same time." Complete and utter lie, but I liked studying with Mrs. Tran. "Mind being a card flipper for me?"
"No problem." She smiled, setting down the algebra as she got up to grab two glasses of water. "You called me mom, you know."
"I did?" I asked, my book clattering to the table. I winced. Dead giveaway of nerves and anxiety.
"You did." She said. I looked over, afraid to see that pitying disappointed face that would tell me not to do that again.
Instead, she smiled at me, and brought over the glasses. "What's wrong? You look startled at that."
"No, no." I said quickly, floating the book again. "I just… I understand if you would prefer me not to."
"Sweetheart, I'm glad that you do!" She assured me, handing me some water. I gulped down half of it fast. "I'm glad that you think of me as your mom, and that you're comfortable with saying it."
"Thank you." I let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't thank me for that!" She told me. "I'm happy that you do."
We sat together in silence, me finishing up the Chemistry so I could move on to the Lit essay. I finished it in under fifty minutes, and called it a night.
If I'd known that that would've been the last normal night I got of college, the last one from a few weeks of good normal college life, I would've hugged Mrs. Tran tighter.
