xp_logs | Stoker and Stalkers: Range of Effect

Betsy finds Kitty failing to eat her dinner and decides that she needs a night away from the work. Clearly she needs some time away from something.

The blankness in Kitty's mind was not entirely unfamiliar. It had that 'I'm a little too tired to think right now' feeling to it, although there were overtones which were less easy to interpret. The fact that she was sitting at the table, her spoon posed over a cooling bowl of soup, just staring off into space did support the theory that maybe she'd been pushing herself a little too hard lately.

Coming up behind Kitty, Betsy's eyes furrowed. She was sure the swaying motion was a sign that something was slightly off. Placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder, Betsy squeezed lightly. "Kit, Kit," she said, shaking the girl out of her trance. "Are you alright?"

Kitty started at the hand on her shoulder, having been completely unaware anyone was in the room. "Ms. Braddock?" she asked, turning in her chair to blink up at the woman. "What?"

"Are you all right?" Betsy repeated, looking curiously at Kitty now. "You seemed to be somewhere else entirely. Compounded by the little fact that you've been holding your soup spoon in that exact position for approxiametly three minutes now....I'm concerned that you may be overexerting yourself."

Kitty blushed and finally lowered the spoon. "Yeah," she said, "I know. 'S midterms, is all. I've been working too hard or something and it's catching up to me."

"If you say so?" Betsy replied dubiously. "Term exams can be harrowing. But perhaps you should consider lightening your load a bit?"

"That's what everybody's been saying," Kitty said, the smile she offered up rather wan. Propping her elbow on the table, she leaned her cheek on her fist. "Am trying..."

"Try harder," Betsy insisted. "You'll do no one any good if you've run yourself into the ground." After a moment, she paused and rethought her approach. No good alienating everyone at the school. "Right, so what is it we're working on?"

Kitty was both too fond of Betsy and too distracted to be put off by her bluntness. "Finished my... um, my physics and math midterms. Physics and math?" She blinked, trying to tell if that was right. Sounded right. "Wasn't worried about them, anyways. Ne'er am. Still have a paper to write, and the dance instructor asked me to choreograph something for her beginners class, if I had time. Said she'd give me an independent study so I could still get some credit. Plus work."

"When was the last time you took a solid holiday on your own?" Betsy asked curiously, taking the seat next to Kitty. "Would it be out of the ordinary to consider taking a term off to galavant the globe?" She clasped her hands together, looking studious for the briefest of moments. "Gain some perspective and well, I think everyone could do with some time away ever so often."

The idea would have been mind-boggling even if Kitty's brain had been firing on all cylinders. As it was, she blinked at Betsy for a good five seconds. Finally she said, "I didn't do anything all summer and I almost went out of my mind. Me'n school breaks don't mix well."

"Hmm, what are your plans for the evening?" A conspiratory smile fell upon her face as she waited for Kitty to respond. "You could spare a few hours to help me with something else entirely."

"Was jus' gonna study," Kitty said slowly, "only now I don' know. Not sure I can think. Head's all fuzzy. Would I have t' think? Like helping you..."

"Absolutely not," Betsy said with a hurtful sniff. "We won't have to think at all." She ushered for Kitty to get up and helped her clear off the table. "I'll have to make a phone call just before we leave but I don't think we'll run into any problems."

"'Kay," Kitty said agreeably, following Betsy about. "'S fine by me."

It was a matter of moments for Betsy to make her phone call, collect Kitty's things, and make their way to the garage. She told the young girl that it'd be a tantilizing trip but beyond that she remained quiet about where they were actually heading going. Betsy 'borrowed' one of the keys to school's vehicles and she mentally felt the pain as she walked past Eleanor but kept moving without missing a step. Once they were in the car, Betsy took a sidelong glance at Kitty and grimaced at her wane expression. "Ready?"

Without waiting a moment, Betsy turned the ignition, the car revving loudly, and zoomed out of the garage just as the overhead doors swung open.

As they zoomed down the drive Kitty rested her head against the window, staring out into the darkness, eyes locked on something unseeable. But within seconds they were off the grounds and out onto Greymalkin Lane and, though her eyes flicked back the way they'd come for a second, it couldn't have been more than a few miles down the road before Kitty began to perk up a bit. "So, where're we going?" she finally asked, leaning back into her seat. The fresh air and the speed seemed to be waking her up.

"What was that all about," Betsy questioned, looking back at the rapidly disappearing gates of the school from her rear view mirror. "Did you see something?"

"Nah," Kitty said, shrugging. "But you dodged the question. That's cheating. Come on, tell me where we're going? Please? Pleeeeeeze?" She was definitely feeling perkier, and so breaking out the big kitten eyes was a go.

"My," Betsy said with a laugh. "A moment ago, you were barely registering that I was in the same room with you." She shook her head. "So, have you been to the Spa down in Salem Center?"

"What can I say, fast cars go vrooom and it's a good thing. And no, I haven't. Spas aren't really my thing on the whole."

"Well, my dear," Betsy said with a wink. "Spas should definitely be your thing. It's ingrained. I've called the owner in advance and he's holding the store for us. Alison and Lorna have managed to visit when things get awfully stressfull." The car stopped at a light and when it turned she made her way into the shopping center and found the stand alone structure with the only lights still on within the city block. "Feel up to it, Kit?"

"I guess I wouldn't have thought midterms would qualify as the sort of stressful that a spa would be good for, but.. sure, why not." Kitty shrugged. "Although given how tired I've been, I'm as like as not to fall asleep here."

"Darling," Betsy said, amused. "Haven't you learned anything from the women that lived at the school. Absolutely anything stressful constitutes as a reason to go to the spa." They pulled up to a small boutique style shop and pulled up to a complete stop. "Feel up to being completely pampered and be fed ridiculously rich chocolates?"

Kitty grinned, suddenly feeling much better about this idea. "Oh yes, that I think I would probably always be up for. Let's go."