One Wrong Turn
Chapter One-Trunks
November 1, 2011
The world is not cut and dry. If it was I wouldn't be such a sucker for my mother's manipulations. Like tonight- my sister is turning 21. Subsequently she wants a party, but not just any part, a coming of age party. In other words, she wants the Capsule Corporation executive guest house for a weekend of binge drinking, wild sex, and possibly drugs.
Since my father is prone to flying off the handle with the least provocation, of course my mother is inclined to let her- under the condition that I go. Presumably so that I can stop the sex and the drugs. What my mother fails to realize is that even at 21 my sister, and most of her friends, are basically glorified teenagers. keeping the determined from finding a place to do the dirty in a miniature mansion is about as likely Goku eating only one bowl of rice come mealtime, in other words, it's not gonna happen.
So here I am, in the guest house hiding out on the uppermost floor while my sister and her friends party below. I can hear them, but only vaguely. I know I should be monitoring them more, but for the first time in over a month I have time and place to myself to do whatever I want. Besides, the only two people down there I care about can more than take care of themselves.
~*P*~*L*~*O*~*T*~*B*~*R*~*E*~*A*~*K*~
Rrrrrrrring… Rrrrrring…
The phone buzzing on the dresser winds its way into my sleep muddled brain. I absently slap around the desk for it, but not in time to actually answer.
"Grand" I mutter to myself. Now I actually have to go to the effort to sit up. I guess that means I may as well wake up, even though I felt the need to take a person day today.
I stretch lazily; then sit up letting the blankets pool in my lap. The rays of sunshine through my skylight feel good against my bare chest and I revel in the warmness of them a moment before reaching over for the phone.
I flip it open and check the screen. Goten. I should have known. We've been best friends since childhood, and in some ways we are more like brothers than friends. But not all I remind myself with a small mental smile, then shake my head in irritation. I keep telling myself that it's an incident better left forgotten.
As my best friend he is frequently the reason I choose to take personal days, but even when we don't have plans together he magically seems to know and I wind up with him anyways. I think he has this power simply because when we were younger and the world was frequently facing "the next worldwide threat" we made use of our saiyajin heritage in order to share one another's bodies as Gotenks.
A smile finds its way onto my face. Good memories. Then I grimace, even if the world was doomed I would not share bodies with him now. Too dangerous.
I hit the button to return the call as I slip out of the bed. The feel of bare wood on the soles of my feet is always a pleasure in the morning. I am opening the dresser as Goten picks up.
"She's an idiot. A total fricking idiot."
Nothing changes. Goten has always viewed his older brother's child much like his own sister, as such he frequently finds fault with what she's into. I wouldn't automatically assume it to be her, except he broke up with his girlfriend more than a month ago and hasn't really been ready to hit the dating scene all over again yet.
"Hey, you called, returning the call now, so why don't you back up and start over. What did Pan do this time?"
I grab training clothes. No use showering or getting into anything nice, I'm pretty sure if I want the full story a sparring session is going to be in order so Goten can get his head on straight. Sisters truly are among the most infuriating creatures in the world. Sure you love them, you have to, but it doesn't mean they're going to be all sugar plums and rainbows. Though that would be a nice change of pace.
Goten is growling, this must really be bad. I prepare myself for the worst; she's decided to go to school in America after all. "She's gone and gotten herself knocked up," he practically spits.
My eyes go a bit wide. I stumble for the right word. "Are you sure? I mean-"
"Very." He cuts me off. "She's rather round about now."
I would have expected this from my sister, but not from Pan. She's the studios one, the good one. Sure I can't say I know her exceptionally well, my mind starts to wander off in contradiction but I shut it down quickly; I know her well enough.
"That's not completely unheard of in college freshman. You know, away from home and family rules and all that."
"Maybe for some freshman," he practically sneers, and I can tell he's insinuating Bra, "but Panny; she's smarter than that. What makes it worse is that she's known about this for three months. THREE! And never told anybody in the family."
Mental tally.
"Three months?" mental sigh of relief. "Who's the father, then?"
"She refuses to say. All she'll tell me is some guy at Bra's twenty-first. Could have been anybody, I guess. But I think she knows who it is."
I gulp involuntarily. Reflex action. Couldn't be. No way. She'd have said something. No need to worry.
"Yeah. Could have been anybody there. If you want I can ask Bra if she knows."
"That would be great. I'm going to pummel the slimly little bastard when I find out who it is. Ruining my favorite niece's future with damn idiocy. At least I don't have to worry about it being you, right?"
"Yeah. At least you don't have to worry about that," I can feel my voice tremble just a little. Can Goten tell? Kami, I hope he can't. "Hey, do you want to fight this out in the grav. room then or what?"
Silence at the other end. Could he feel my hesitance after all? Does he know that the last place I want to be is in the same room as him right now? That I want to go hunt his niece down to wrangle some answers out of her scrawny little self.
"Wish I could, man. But I've got work in 30. I think it's off my chest for now. Maybe after we can catch up?"
"Yeah. Sure." I breathe in a huge sigh of relief. "Sounds great"
"Kay. Catch you later."
"Later." Goten's end of the line clicks off. I close my own phone and sit down on the side of my bed.
Well damn.
** Author's Notes**
I feel that feedback is critical. Thank you to those who left some on the previous chapter. Please, if there is anything you think isn't working or could use some changing up, let me know. I love constructive criticism as much as praise.
Some thoughts of mine about what I have going on. I may be jumping into the water a little quickly here. I tend to do that, but I think I'm okay with it. As you can see there is also a time jump. Expect that. I know time shifts are awkward, but I feel that writing out the past along with the future a little at a time just gives it a little bit more realism. I don't know, maybe it's just me.
Lastly, while I got this up with a fairly quick turnaround, please don't expect that to be the norm around here. I am the mother of two as well as taking 6 credit hours of college courses. I tend to sometimes be busy, it just depends on what I have going on in my life. I'm going to strive for once a week, but we'll see.
Lastly, for those looking for timeline. If she has known for three months, she's more like four months pregnant.