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[onehundredhanded]

THE WONDER YEARS

tabitha's parents are both members of doctors without borders, and met when they were both stationed in guatemala. since both her parents had already had careers, and her mother had already been married once, it was a bit scandalous that they got together.

her parents were older than most when they had tabby, her father was 42 and her mother was 40, and only two years later her mom and dad had her younger brother august (augie). all of their lives their parents were still constantly traveling, even with two toddlers in tow.

her mom and dad call her tabby cat, or cat, or kitten, and that’s cute.

even though tabby isn't exactly an “army brat,” she had a fairly similar experience. tabby never remained in one place for long since her parents were constantly being moved for work or just for the love of travel.

tabby on the other hand hated traveling with a passion; she is very organized and needs everything to be scheduled like a year in advance, but here she was being moved from country to country without as much as a few weeks notice.

she was a bright kid, got good grades, had a hard time making and keeping friends though because she knew they wouldn't stay in touch once her family had moved away.

finally when she was thirteen, her parents moved the family to minnesota where they final were settled in for a whole year.

they were so settled in that her and her brother went to summer camp for the first time in their young lives. tabby didn’t connect to it like other kids, and even did make a lot of friends. on the other hand, her brother was all over it and thought it was the best summer ever.

she was already at the max age the first year she went to summer camp, but her brother kept on going back until he maxed out of the age group. while augie threw himself into the world of socialization, while tabitha turned to academics in high school to keep herself occupied.

HELL IS A TEENAGE GIRL

tabby was an academic superstar, got the “most likely to take over the world” superlative for every year she was in high school. she made honor roll, received awards for being in the ninety-ninth percentile for the SAT, and became the president of the debate club.

finally stayed in minnesota because her parents were finally tired of moving every few months, but they still took vacations every year during the summer while her brother was in camp. she never really understood the privilege she had in getting to spend summers on beaches in bali or walking through the halls of the alhambra in spain.

NO TIME FOR ROMANCE OR FRIENDS ONLY SCHOOL. literally, if anyone tried to get close to her she’d hiss like the cat she is. okay, she wouldn't really hiss, but she never gave anyone the time of day for them to get close enough to her.

in senior year was like “OH SHIT WHAT DO I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE?” she got into all of her dream colleges, and chose to go to barnard college after taking a gap year in france (we love a queen who speaks french). but, like, she wasted her scholarships and such on a… communications degree???

literally has no clue who she is and is going through a quarter life crisis hardcore. doesn’t even know if her name is tabby.

"i used to think i'd be done by twenty, now at twenty-nine, the road ahead appears the same though maybe at thirty, i'll see a way to change"

her parents think she is currently doing an internship with one of the bigwig new york publications. she is not, she is currently living off that sweet, sweet scholarship money reading in her local cafe everyday all day to avoid having to deal with real life.

kinda really wants to drop out of college, but can’t tell her parents that or anything because they think she’s some kind of academically driven goddess. plus, if she drops out, she will no longer have a free ride which pays for her housing and other necessities.

finally taking a cue from her parents and becoming spontaneous just so that she can find her path again. tabby has just bought a plane ticket to a random city so she can live her summer out to its fullest potential.