Everything was probably in a police locker, anyway, if people were looking for her. She wasn’t sure they would be. Trixilite would look, she thought, glancing down at her hands. She reached over and began to fidget with her signet ring. Trixilite won’t rest until she finds you.
“I thought about it,” said Jenna, “And I want my name to be Jenna Kat Hansen. Is that okay?” She liked the rhyme. It seemed like a fitting tribute to the girl who’d given her life to get her this far.
shibrogane
No matter how many times she did this, Anabel never really got over how easily one could reduce a human life to a few scraps of paper. Gemma Kit Hudson had presumably been a girl with a full life, friends and family and a future (though not necessarily a bright future). Now she was gone, so much dust in the proverbial solar wind.
"Your parents probably have other documents," said Anabel. "But it's alright." She opened up her yellow legal pad and uncapped her favorite blue sharpie pen. In bold, sharp-cornered print she wrote the new name: Jenna Kat Hansen. "If I set you up as eighteen, this will be easier," she said, frowning. "I won't have to make documents of emancipation and you'll be able to get a job, if you want one. But it's your call."
"Your parents probably have other documents," said Anabel. "But it's alright." She opened up her yellow legal pad and uncapped her favorite blue sharpie pen. In bold, sharp-cornered print she wrote the new name: Jenna Kat Hansen. "If I set you up as eighteen, this will be easier," she said, frowning. "I won't have to make documents of emancipation and you'll be able to get a job, if you want one. But it's your call."
Jenna paused in fiddling with her ring. “Um,” she said. She didn’t really look eighteen, she thought, which was probably the first problem. But then again she’d walked into this meeting fully intending to give herself Harry Potter’s birthday so that didn’t seem to be much of a concern. Who you were on paper and who you really were could be two different people, apparently. “If that would really be easier for you?” she asked. “But can I still be sixteen with my friends?”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to really be a grown-up yet. After all, Jenna had a lot of catching up to do! When you were eighteen, you had to start taking care of yourself, or at least that was what the primal sort of logic that still clung to the inside of her head said. Right now, she still needed to be taken care of, and Laney was doing a very nice job of that.
“Her mother had a hard time taking care of her,” she said about Gemma, repeating what Aleksy had said. “I don’t think I can get those other documents.”
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Anabel nodded. “Yes. A document of emancipation would only create more of a paper trail for people looking for you to follow, so.” She made a few more notes. “You’re really sixteen, for the purposes of your personal life. Legally, though, you’ll be able to make your own major decisions. Whether you do or not is up to you.”
She collected the papers Jenna did have and stacked them at her left hand. “School. Unless you’re very attached to the idea, it’s better if you don’t go. You can take the GED and get the same things out of it. Kids notice differences fast.” Anabel looked up from her notepad. “Does that sound fair?” She’d never done this with a child before. Especially not a child without some kind of advocate present. Avalon had had Finn… Jenna was alone.
It was a lot of responsibility. Anabel sighed. “Do you have a new address?”
She collected the papers Jenna did have and stacked them at her left hand. “School. Unless you’re very attached to the idea, it’s better if you don’t go. You can take the GED and get the same things out of it. Kids notice differences fast.” Anabel looked up from her notepad. “Does that sound fair?” She’d never done this with a child before. Especially not a child without some kind of advocate present. Avalon had had Finn… Jenna was alone.
It was a lot of responsibility. Anabel sighed. “Do you have a new address?”
“Yes,” said Jenna, and rattled off Laney’s address to Anabel. She liked living with Laney. They were good friends, and her apartment was cramped but cozy. Jenna felt safe there, like nothing bad could happen to her as long as she was within those four walls.
“If you think it would be best for me to be eighteen,” she agreed, “then we should do that.” Anabel was the expert, after all. Jenna had never had to forge her identity before, and she could always tell people she looked young for her age. Anabel had given her lots of reasons in favor of doing it, after all. “I’d like to not have to go back to school,” she admitted. “I… I wouldn’t have any records, anyway, would I? I’d have to take everything again.”
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Anabel shrugged. “I could make records up for you and swing you as a transfer, but it’s best to keep interaction minimal in the beginning, I think. So.” She smiled, after a moment. It would be best to be friendly, right? Children were susceptible to fear, and someone who didn’t smile made it worse. “Do you have any questions for me? We’ll have to take a new picture of you, but I can’t do that here in the rec room right now. You know how to get to the DMV? Finn or Arkady can tell you.”
Jenna shook her head. “No, no questions,” she said. Really, she just wanted to get this done with without being too much of a hassle for Anabel. Actually - she had one. “Can I get there on the bus?” she asked. “I know I have a learner’s permit, but I don’t actually remember how to drive. Or have a car. Or anything.”
“Yes, of course,” she said. “That’s how we get people to their driving tests, yeah?” She smiled again. Jenna did not seem soothed, which was kind of a blow to Anabel’s self-esteem. “Okay, so, here’s my phone number in case you need it; I’ll bring this by your home when it’s done. Until then… be safe, alright?”
Jenna shook her head. “No, no questions,” she said. Really, she just wanted to get this done with without being too much of a hassle for Anabel. Actually - she had one. “Can I get there on the bus?” she asked. “I know I have a learner’s permit, but I don’t actually remember how to drive. Or have a car. Or anything.”
“Yes, of course,” she said. “That’s how we get people to their driving tests, yeah?” She smiled again. Jenna did not seem soothed, which was kind of a blow to Anabel’s self-esteem. “Okay, so, here’s my phone number in case you need it; I’ll bring this by your home when it’s done. Until then… be safe, alright?”
Jenna didn’t have a cell phone, either, but she pocketed the phone number and gave Anabel a bright smile. “Okay,” she said. “Thank you. I’ll try to come by the DMV soon - you’re a knight, right? Can you use your ring and tell me when a good time would be?” She held out her hand, showing off the rose gold band circling her right ring finger. “I found mine - see?”
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Anabel nodded, and reached into her bag. On the table, the silver box appeared otherworldly. The sheen of it was just wrong. Anabel took one of the thin wires from within, and held it out to Astrophyllite. “Attach this to your ring. It’ll make it so you can call people. Come by around 4:45, okay? Bring a friend.”
She stood. “If that’s all?”
She stood. “If that’s all?”
Jenna nodded and slid the wire onto her finger so that it could stack with her ring. “Okay,” she nodded. “Yes, that’s all. Thank you.”
