the one where there are no hunger games [nessa&flynn] au

”You can’t write a whole paragraph about your cat!”

I highlight the paragraph on the laptop screen, very nearly hitting the delete button but Nessa’s recoil stops me, and I just hit the highlight button instead. ”Seriously, they don’t care that much about your cat…” I am helping the black sheep of the family, a whole line of human doctors and my sister chooses veterinary medicine as her vocation. I suppose someone had to break the pattern and it is not too much of a stray from everyone else. We have chosen to help people; my sister has chosen to stick thermometers up dog’s butt holes.

Nessa is the last one in the family to apply for college, the final fledgling to leave the nest and I am the one helping to push her out of it. Mom and dad are at work, Dorothy is two hundred miles away at university in New York and Nessa is eager to follow her. We’re sat in the kitchen at the dining table, making the last edits to her draft application.

”You just need to sell yourself more, stand out from the rest of the pile. Remember they’re going to be reading hundreds of these, you need to be the memorable one. Especially the Ivy League schools and scholarships, you can’t forget about potential scholarships!” My family isn’t short of money but is always helpful to have a little helping hand in my little sister’s future.

”But it is a good start, honestly. I am proud of you, we all are! You’re going to get so many offers in a few months, I can bet on it!”