Katelyn covered up a yawn as Fred backed the U-Haul moving truck they rented into the driveway. She was glad they finally arrived at the house she bought with her winnings from a purchased lottery ticket. She was also happy to finally be out from under her uncle and aunt’s supervision.

“God, I am so glad to be here finally.” Katelyn couldn’t believe the paperwork and how long it took to buy the house.

“Tell me about it. I thought you would never get the house.” Fred was just as glad as Katelyn to leave his parent's supervision.

They watch as two more cars pull into the driveway. One was their friend Clare and her girlfriend. The other one was Barbara, driving Katelyn’s old Ford Explorer. All of them were attending The University of North Carolina for various subjects.

Katelyn was studying Journalism. Freddie studied environmental law and policy. Clare and her girlfriend studied nursing, and Barbara inherited a local newspaper company. Which Katelyn would be working for as a freelance reporter.

“Well, I’m just glad the deal finally went through. It cost me almost all of my winnings.” Katelyn didn’t want to use the insurance money she received from her father’s and mother’s death. Her aunt and uncle got some of it to support her while living with them.

However, that changed when her uncle forced her to accept the job at the trash substation. Since he made her pay rent and half the utilities. They also made her buy her food as well.

“Do you still have enough to have your operation?” Freddie knew Katelyn wasn’t born female, even though she looked female.

“I’m short five thousand dollars. If I can sell a few more political cartoons or sell the story I’m working on. I’ll have enough to get the surgery.” Katelyn couldn’t wait to have her groin area match the rest of her body.

“God, this is a nice house, Katelyn.” Barbara looks at the house that they were moving into. She wasn’t sure about moving in with a bunch of young adults, but she knew all of them.

“Thanks, Barbara. Now the hard work begins.” Katelyn wasn’t looking forward to unloading the moving truck.

They all contributed to renting it since they put some of their things in the truck. Freddie and Katelyn pull the ramp out and set it up. Afterward, everyone starts unloading the back of the truck. They place everyone's items in the rooms they want or the common room, like the living room, den, or kitchen.

“Hey, Katelyn, where’s the nearest fast-food place?” Clare looks over towards Katelyn for an answer.

“I’m not sure. Check your cell phone and see.” Katelyn didn’t know the area she bought the house in.

“Well, I’ll see if I can find a chicken place or a pizza joint.” Clare motions to her girlfriend to ride with her.

“Alright. Also, bring back some sodas to drink, please.” Freddie was a soda addict.

“Alright.” Clare gets in her car and waits for her girlfriend.

Once Cindy gets in the car, Clare backs out of the driveway and follows the directions on her cell phone.

“Hey, Katelyn. What do you want to do with your screen-printing equipment?” Freddie looks towards Katelyn as she walks towards the truck with Barbara following behind her.

“Second garage bay. I will set my work area in the second bay and keep the first bay open for working on our cars.” Katelyn knew Freddie knew how to work on cars.

“Sounds good. That will give me a place to put my tool chest.” Freddie had a professional tool chest from working with his uncle at his garage.

By the time Clare and Cindy get back from making a food run. Half the truck had been unloaded and brought into the house. The sun was setting, and it was getting dark outside.

“I don’t think we'll finish tonight, Katelyn.” Barbara looks over towards her friends.

“I think your right, Barb.” Katelyn was hoping to get everything unloaded today.

“When does everyone have to start their classes?” Barbara knew everyone was enrolled at the same college.

“Next week. So, we have a week to get everything done.” Katelyn looked at all the stuff they still had left. That wasn’t counting what was loaded
in her Explorer, either.

Freddie and Katelyn put the ramp back in its storage spot and locked the truck door before walking inside the house. They all sit around the coffee table that Barbara donated to the house. The pizzas Clare and Cindy bought and the sodas were set up.

“Man, I’m going to be hurting in the morning.” Katelyn looks at her friends and roommates.

“Tell me about it. Why didn’t you tell me you had a lot of heavy furniture?” Freddie looked at Katelyn and couldn’t believe how heavy her old-style desk was. From what he knew of it, it was an old-fashioned Georgian kneehole desk.

Katelyn once told him it originally belonged to her grandmother on her mother's side. She had a bunch of antique furniture that belonged to her mother and father that she inherited. She couldn’t part with it, and her aunt and uncle didn’t want it.

“I inherited most of it. My mother and grandmothers on both sides of my family loved antique furniture. I’m just glad none of my relatives wanted any of them.” Katelyn would have hated letting her other aunts and uncles take any of her parent's furniture.

“Well, I will enjoy those old vinyl records you inherited. I love the sound of old records when you play them.” Cindy loved old-style records.

“Wait until you play them on my father’s old stereo system. He loved listening to music from it. He picked each component out himself. None of them are from the same brand.” Katelyn knew her father loved his stereo system.

“Well, I can’t wait to see what I inherited.” Barbara knew newspaper print wasn’t trendy nowadays. Most news was reported online or on television.

“Well, I think we can fix that, Barbara.” Katelyn was willing to help Barbara with her news agency.

“Thanks, Katelyn.” Barbara looks over towards her friend.

They met at a journalism seminar where Professor Wiggles from the Boston Globe was talking. She knew Katelyn from her reputation of going after politicians and school officials who passed the legislation that banned trans students from using bathrooms and changing rooms of the gender they identify with.

She also wrote about how the police treated her and how, thanks to the new sports policies about girl sports teams. She could no longer compete on the girl's swim team against other girls. She didn’t stop there either. Katelyn tore into one of the prominent people of her town as well.

The woman managed to get her expelled from school for a whole week. Even when she was threatened with being expelled for the rest of the school year, she wouldn’t apologize to her. The principal of Katelyn’s high school followed through with the threat of expelling her for the rest of the school year.

After dinner, everyone grabs a sleeping bag and sleeps in the living room. Barbara took the sofa while Clare and her girlfriend combined their sleeping bags and slept with each other. Katelyn sleeps near one of the enormous bay windows and looks out into the darkness of the front yard.

She takes a deep breath as a smile forms on her face just before she falls asleep.