Big News
Specs woke up at 6:00 in the morning, as usual, got out of bed, dressed, and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and hair. It seemed like a pretty normal morning. She walked back into her room to get her shoes, and was about to leave when her video phone rang.
"Hello?" she answered uncertainly. It had been months since she'd gotten a call.
"Hiya, sweetie!" came the perky voice of her mom.
"Um, hello, Mother," Specs said. "Why are you calling?" Her mom stepped into view, and looked perfectly normal. Big, brown eyes, brown hair, and light skin.
"I just wanted to let you know that-" someone cut her mom off.
"Hi, Julia!" came the horribly farmiliar voice of her little sister, Lorelei.
"Lorelei, don't interupt. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that your father and I are going off the planet for a week, so Lorelei's going to stay with you on the Starship!" her mom said.
"What?" Specs gasped. "No, no, no, no, no. She can not stay here! I have work to do!"
"Well, you're just going to have to find a way to work around that," her mom reasoned.
"Um-um-uh," Specs stuttered, trying to think of a valid excuse. "Commander Up won't let her stay here!"
"Of corse he will, I already talked to him!" her mom giggled.
"Damn you, Up," Specs said to herself. "Oh, fine. When's she getting here?"
"In three hours. We're dropping her off," her mom said, smiling sweetly.
"Alright, bye," Specs grumbled.
"Bye, sweetie," her mom said.
"Bye, Julia!" Lorelei yelled. And with that, the connection cut off, and Specs slumped down to the cafeteria for breakfast. When she got there, she got some eggs and sat down with Krayonder, who was waiting at their usual table.
"Hey, you," he smiled as she sat down.
"Hello," she sighed.
"What's wrong?" Krayonder asked, looking troubled.
"Nothing..." she looked at him and knew she couldn't lie to him. "Well, my parents are dropping off my little sister here in three hours."
"Woah! You have a little sister?" he asked, eyes full of wonder.
"Yeah, and we're complete opposites," she said.
"What'd you mean?" he asked.
"Well, for one thing, she's all perky and bubbly, and I'm shy and calm. She wears skirts and blouses, she's ten, she doesn't understand science at all, and she's annoying," Specs finished, panting.
Krayonder stared, wide-eyed. "Wow, you are complete opposties. Well, I'm sure she can't be that bad, right?"
"Oh, yes she can. And what if she doesn't like you?" Specs asked.
"Well, I'll make her love her big sister's boyfriend," Krayonder smiled. Specs smiled, and leaned her shoulder against him.
"Thank you," she laughed. "Oh, look! There's Up! I'm gonna go ask him why he agreed to have her stay."
"Have fun," he watched her walk away. Specs rushed up to him and caught him by the shoulder.
"Um, Commander?" she asked in a slightly timid voice.
"Now, Specs, I told you to call me Up," he said in his gravely voice.
"Sorry, Com- Up. I was just wondering, um, why you said it was okay to have my little sister stay with us?" she asked, saluting him.
"Oh, well, she needed a place to stay, we don't have much to do, and she's your family," Up reasoned.
"Okay...um, I guess I just don't really feel comfortable with it, since we don't exactly see eye to eye," Specs sighed, desperation setting in.
"Well, we'll all help you through it, Specs," Up smiled his big, whole-hearted smile. With that, he walked away. Specs slouched back to the table, but cheered up when she saw Krayonder pretending his knife was a zapper and 'shooting' his eggs. Maybe he would be good with kids after all...
Three hours later, Specs, Krayonder, and the rest of the crew waited by the air-lock doors for Lorelei. Five minutes later, the door opened, and, for the first time since she had started her mission as a Starship Ranger, Specs saw her parents and her little sister.
"Julia!" her mom cried, and ran to hug her.
"Julia?" Krayonder questioned.
"My real name," Specs sighed.
"Oh..." Krayonder looked confused.
"Mom, Dad, Lorelei, this is Krayonder," she said. "my boyfriend." Her family gasped, and then Lorelei giggled.
"Oooohoooo! Julia's got a boyfriend, Julia's got a boyfirend!" she chanted.
"You have a boyfriend?" her dad gasped. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I-uh-" Specs started.
"Oh, Julia! Congratulations!" her mom hugged her again.
"Er-thanks..." she gasped for breath.
"Well, we'd better be off," her dad glanced at his watch. "You girls have fun!" There was a chorus of bye's from the Rangers and Specs's family.
Now that she looked at Lorelei, she noticed how different she really looked. She was taller, and very beautiful. She had light skin like her mother, long, brown hair, and striking green eyes. She wore skinny jeans and a black tank-top with the Galactic League of Extraterrestrial Exploration logo in it.
"Look, Julia! I dressed for the occasion!" she gestured at the shirt.
"Um, great..." she said, feeling awkward already.
"So, this is your ten-year-old sister, huh, Specs? She's adorable," Krayonder smiled.
"Um, okay, like, first of all, I'm thirteen. Second of all, who's Specs? And third of all, thank you!" she said with a dazzling smile.
"Wait, you're thirteen now?" Specs gasped.
"Um, like, duh," Lorelei smiled.
"This is Specs," Krayonder said, pointing to Specs. "It's her nickname."
"Oh! Okay..." She looked a bit confused. "So, 'Specs', where do I put my stuff?"
Up stepped forward. "Well, Lorelei, I've set up a room just for your visit. Taz will lead you there."
"Cool! I get my own room!" she cheered. "Show me the way, Taz!" As they started to walk away, Specs called after her.
"Um, Lorelei! Meet me in the cafeteria after you put your stuff down!" she called.
"Kk! Taz can show me the way, right?" Lorelei asked.
"Okay," Taz said in her thick spanish accent.
"Well, I think I made a pretty good first impression," Krayonder said as Tootsie, Megagirl, Bug, February, and Up filtered out.
"Yeah," Specs said, feeling a bit down that she had missed her little sister's last three birthdays.
"So, 'Julia', wanna go get a snack?" he asked playfully.
"Definatly. But, one thing," she grabbed his shoulder.
"What?" he asked, confused.
"Don't call me 'Julia'," she laughed.