章 17: Crash And Burn
Me and Sarah were standing before the front door of my house, and all I could think about was why Sarah wasn't going to see her parents. Does she really want to see me crash and burn that bad?
"Why are you still here?" I whispered.
She gave me that usual mischievous look before shrugging. Then, before I could stop her, she pressed the doorbell. She really does want me to see me crash.
"Coming..."
I heard my mother's voice from the other side of the door. My heart started pounding, and my mind spun with a thousand meaningless scenarios that would never happen.
Despite knowing none of them were real, I couldn't relax. My nerves, which I thought I had left behind, came flooding back.
The door opened, and there stood my mother, now in her forties but still as beautiful as I remembered. But she looked tired, like she hadn't slept well in ages.
Her eyes landed on me, making me freeze. I couldn't speak. My thoughts were all over the place, noticing things that didn't matter, like how she seemed older, more worn.
My mother placed her hands on my shoulders. I braced for the worst.
"Jesus, Eva, have you looked yourself in a mirror? You're all skin and bones! Haven't you been eating?"
Her horrified expression deepened as she pulled me into a tight embrace. I didn't know what to do, so I stood there like an idiot while she squeezed me tighter.
She kept murmuring, "Is this real? Are you real?" and I couldn't answer because, honestly, I didn't know either.
I expected this reunion to be hard, but I didn't expect it to hit me this hard. I missed my mother.
Feeling her trembling against me was all it took for me to snap out of my stupor. I hugged her back.
A flood of emotions rushed through me, but the strongest one was contentment. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I fought hard not to let them fall.
"Honey, who is it?"
I heard footsteps and my father's voice approaching. When he appeared at the door, I couldn't hold it in anymore. I broke down, sobbing, as he wrapped both me and my mother in his bear-like arms.
"My darling little girl has finally returned home. I'm glad."
I pulled away from the hug and gave him my meanest pout. "Dad, stop calling me little. I'm grown."
He chuckled dryly. "You'll always be my little girl, no matter what." He finally noticed Sarah. "Sarah, you're here too?"
"Thanks for finally noticing me, the girl who brought your prodigal daughter back home."
Both my parents laughed, while I rolled my eyes. My father led us inside, and I braced myself for the changes I might find.
But when I stepped into the foyer, everything was just as I remembered. The spacious hallway with the familiar coat rack, the hardwood floors still scratched from the roughhousing my sister and I used to do.
Sarah and my parents headed to the living room, but I made my way to the kitchen. That's where I found my little sister, stuffing herself with ham like the sneaky little rat she was.
She froze mid-bite when she saw me, her eyes wide. I raised an eyebrow as she chewed slowly, gulping down the ham. When she reached for another piece, I finally spoke.
"Aren't you supposed to be in college today?"
She shrugged, barely looking at me. I had thought our reunion would be easier, but apparently, it's been too long. Everything's changed.
It hit me suddenly—I'd been gone for three years. That's a long time. I'd fooled myself into thinking everything would fall into place like I never left, but life doesn't work that way, especially with fragile human relationships.
I sighed and gave her a self-deprecating smile before stepping forward and extending my hand.
"Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm Eva, your older sister. And you are?"
Kat blinked, staring at my hand for a second before breaking into the most radiant smile I'd ever seen. She shook my hand.
"Nice to meet you, Eva. I'm Katherine, but I go by Kat because it's less embarrassing. I'm your younger, prettier, annoying sister."
"Glad to see you remember you're annoying," I teased, and we both chuckled before pulling each other into a hug.
"I missed you, my not-so-pretty older sister," Kat said.
"I missed you too, you little shit," I replied.
As far as reunions go, I think this one went well. I guess.
[Ding~ Ding~ Ding~ Congratulations, host, for completing a hidden mission: reconcile with your little sister. You've earned $5,000 and a sub-ability, Mind Imprint.]
What a pleasant surprise. So, besides the visible missions, there are hidden ones too? That's neat. I focused on the money I'd earned.
'Hmmm... with the $23,523 I still have in the bank, plus the $15,000 from the extra mission of getting Sarah and Heather to work together, and now the $5,000 from this hidden mission, that brings my total to $43,523. Not bad, but still not far enough.'
As for Mind Imprint, it lets me read someone's mind from up to 160 miles away. That's going to come in handy when I reach Tier 2 rank.
But I could use it now if I activated the reward that came with the $15,000 mission—24 hours of mind-reading. But I won't. Not yet. And definitely not at home. I don't fancy the idea of reading my parents' minds. At all.
I pulled back from Kat, breathing in her scent like a weirdo. "So, do you have a boyfriend yet?"
Her cheeks reddened. Oh, come on, Kat. Have you forgotten the first rule of siblings? Always tease them to death.
I grinned. "Oh, there is a boy. Who is it? Do I know him?"
Her blush spread to the tips of her ears. That means yes, I know him. Hmm, who could it be? The only person that came to mind was...
"Don't tell me it's Daryl?" Her silence was all the confirmation I needed.
Oh, Daryl. You just had to have a Ridley girl, didn't you?
"Does Mom know?"
She nodded shyly, but her silence spoke volumes. "What about Dad? Does he know?"
"Please don't tell him," she begged, her face pale with terror at the thought of our father finding out.
"Don't tell me what?" My father's voice boomed from behind us, and Kat went even paler. I heard her mutter under her breath, "I'm dead."
Yeah, no doubt about it. Rule No. 1 in the Ridley house: Don't date until you're fifty or Dad's kicked the bucket. Hehehe... And Kat just broke that rule.
It's good to be home.
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