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felt her bottom lip start to tremble and the bridge of her nose start burning,
so she bit down hard to keep from losing it. She couldn’t very well burst
into tears right at the table. She knew her parents didn’t practice hate and
that they definitely did not think it was right to hurt other people. They
would never just come out and say something terrible about another person.
That wasn’t their style. But it also wasn’t really their style to be more
modern and free thinking. To practice really any form of activism. They
didn’t fear something just be
cause they didn’t understand it, but they
weren’t just going to get on board with it either.
She should have just made it about herself. She should have just had the
courage to tell her parents the truth. Now, she was in the uncomfortable
position of having made everyone else feel uncomfortable. Her dad
squirmed in his chair and her mom hadn’t taken a bite off the fork she had
suspended in midair for a very long while.
“Anyway,” her mom said with forced cheerfulness. “Tell us about the
finds from this week. We might worry about you, but that’s only natural.
We still want to support you and find out what you’re doing.”
Kiera searched her brain, but it was like a big black hole had suddenly
appeared in her mind and there was nothing there. She managed to choke
out a few words about things she was pretty sure she might have already
mentioned, but her parents accepted the change in topic gratefully and
diplomatically. They carried on eating after, and even though she hardly
touched her food, her mom didn’t say a word about it. Kiera was still served
dessert.
The rest of the evening felt strained, but maybe it was just her
imagination. She was extremely disappointed in herself for feeling relieved
when she slid back into her car after her hugging her parents goodbye.
She drove a block from the house, pulled over, and stared at herself hard
in the rearview mirror. She shook her head at herself. She sighed in
