The Blue Sheets
On the day we went shopping for college supplies, Mikayla, my younger sister, picked up a lace bedding set, her eyes sparkling.
Mom put the item into the cart without glancing at the price.
When it came to my turn, my brother, Cory, furrowed his brows at my choice of a blue bedsheet set.
“Kaycee, why do you always reach for the cold-tone colors?
“Girls should go for something softer. Be like Mikayla.”
Even my childhood friend, Ben, chuckled.
“No one in your dorm knows you anyway. Just pick whatever’s easy.”
Mikayla shifted her gaze to the blue bedsheets in my hands and murmured, “Kaycee, why don’t you use my old ones?
“It’s not like you mind anyway.”
Mom was on board with the idea.
“Don’t spend unnecessarily, Kaycee. Putting two girls through college isn’t easy on the family.”
My grip on the sheets tightened.
I knew exactly what Mikayla was talking about. The fabric was worn thin, the edges were pilled, and the pillowcase still had the coffee stain.
Things had always been this way.
Mikayla’s unwanted dresses, old backpacks, and tiresome room would go to me.
I once believed that by staying in my lane, I would eventually get my turn.
It had been eighteen years.
All I got in return was that I never cared about what I got.
At the checkout counter, Mom paid for Mikayla’s things.
My blue bedsheet set was dumped back on the shelf.
I grinned.
No one would make note of the things I liked.
I grabbed the blue bedspread.
This time, I wouldn’t be putting it back.