When his face showed the confusion, Kenna’s head plopped to a 45-degree angle so sharply, her bangs were dislodged from their combed-over swoop. He was really new if he did not know what a dryad was. Poor thing, who left him unsupervised?! Her eyes were still wide and gentle, though as she smiled and straightened her head. “I’m a tree person,” she replied simply with a shrug. “Like. Nymphs and stuff. I’m super connected with the earth and stuff. Like what hippies wish they were.” She wiggled off her mitten by waving her wrist a bit violently until it loosened, and her hand was free. She then put it in front of her and thought about being a tree. Slowly, her hand cracked and knotted as the color and texture was no longer the alabaster tone it had been, but the off-white and dark brown look of a silver birch. She locked eyes with him, which were now a brilliant and unearthly green—not unlike fresh buds in spring. “Tree.”
After the small display, partly to show she was not crazy, Kenna put the mitten back on her hand and shoved both into her pockets. When he asked about where she was from, Kenna rocked onto her toes and back to her heels a few times. “I guess. I mean, it was a community thing. Like. Others like me and witches and stuff. I was homeschooled until I was 15, and even then, the biggest city before here was Santa Cruz. Which is like, only busy with tourists. So, like, that doesn’t count.” She shrugged and smiled when he commented about owning a map-map. How old was this guy. Who owned actual, physical maps that like. Folded and stuff? She gave a small giggle and covered her face with her hand. “I mean like. Google Maps. The App. On the phone? I don’t think I have touched a map outside of my history books.” She smiled. “I go to Stockton University, actually. I was at the community college for a while, but now it’s bachelor’s time.”
“I get that. Family is supes important,” she replied idly as he caught up. When he mentioned he knew someone in town, she looked up at him and cocked her head. “Who is it? I like, know pretty much everyone here. Faces and names, but like. I may know them. Him. Her.” Nailed it.