Chapter 12

Friday Week 3, Day 21

Graduation. It was already here. I'd just turned in my final homework assignment, and the ceremony's tomorrow. I was emptying my locker, putting all my books, including Demand Excellence or You'll Get Mediocrity that my teacher had me read at the beginning of the year, into a bag. I also had a separate bag for all my other stuff, scraped newspaper articles, and other miscellaneous papers. The school custodian had a large recycle bin at the school's entrance for the kids to dump out all of their unwanted papers. I went over to the recycle bin to dump out all my papers, when I looked up from the heap of white paper to see Percy. We both smiled upon seeing each other, and headed out of the school together.

"Wanna go to Hogan's?" Percy asked, as we walked down the school steps.

"Not today, I need to go home and work on my book." I told him.

"Really? What are you working on?" Percy asked, as we started walking down the concrete street.

I blushed. "Well, it was suppose to be a surprise, but…"

"Is it about me? Because that would be really cool." Percy thought aloud.

"Actually is about you. But not like, your life. It's about a character that's just like you. It's called Percy Keaton and the Lightning Thief." I confessed, really embarrassed to have told him.

"Really? That sounds awesome!" Percy replied, ecstatically.

"That's good to hear, once it's done I'll give you the complementary copy." I promised him.

"Cool!" he replied, and we Friendly Hugged.

I got home to see Dad by the door.

"How's my graduate doing?" he asked, holding something in his hand.

"Good. What're you holding?" I asked, putting my backpack down.

"Just a small graduation gift." he replied, opening up his hand. In his hand was a small key. "It's in the garage." he told me, tossing the key.

I ran over to the garage, another recent addition to the house. The garage was mostly a clutter of stuff we're too lazy to send to the family storage. But at the very end of the garage, right where the garage door was, should've been Dad's Big Lemon. Instead, there were two cars.

"You got me a car!" I shouted, jumping up and down.

"Yep, I know it's not the most expensive choice. But I took a few extra Opportunities to pull together enough money." Dad explained.

I stared in awe at my brand new Yomoshoto Evasion. It was the standard black, which was fine by me, since really, who wants a bright pink car anyway? It was an expensive car too, reaching nine thousand eight hundred Simoleons, if he bought it directly from Buy Mode. I felt guilty, since my car was way more expensive than his Big Lemon, which was like eight times less expensive. Then I realized something.

"Dad, I can't drive yet." I stated, cringing.

"I know. I've been putting off teaching you, using work as an excuse. And your mother, well, she's been going through some tough times. So I'm putting aside all of my Opportunities this weekend to teach you how to drive." he explained.

"Alright, then let's get started!" I said, already getting into the car.

I breathed in the New Car Smell people were always talking about, and they were right, it smells like new car. I wasn't use to being in the front seat and have Dad be in the passenger seat. Usually it was the other way around.

"What about Tommy? Shouldn't you teach him to drive too?" I asked, as Dad was teaching me how to start up the car.

"Oh, no. Tommy has the Eco-Friendly trait, so he'll be happy with his bike." Dad explained.

"I didn't know Tommy had the Eco-Friendly trait." I told him, as the garage door opened.

"I didn't know either, until he told Mom that he'd only eat organic cereal." Dad explained.

"You guys bought organic cereal? No wonder it was so expensive." I joked, remembering the price tag on the cereal.

We started slowly down the road that headed towards the center of town, going slowly so Dad could point out all the rules of driving, although it's actually really simple.

"In Old Country, there're these things called stop lights and speed limits. It meant that at a certain point at a street, you had to stop, where's here, we have such a small town population that there's really no need for it." Dad explained.

"How big is Sunset Valley anyway?" I asked, as we turned the corner to the road near City Hall.

"Um, I think since the last family moved in, the population is about ninety or so." Dad estimated.

We were just turning the road near the spa, when another car was driving behind us, much faster than were. As it approached us, it wasn't slowly down by a bit.

"Dad, that car behind us isn't slowing down…" I commented, looking at the rearview mirror.

"Oh, don't worry. We'll be fine, you'll see." Dad replied, leaning back in his chair.

I gripped the wheel as I watched the car speed closer, and closer. My hands became sweaty as the car came mere feet away from us. That car was going to crash into us, I was certain. It was a Margaret Vaguester, a much faster and more powerful car than mine.

"Dad, he's going to hit us!" I screamed, shutting me eyes tight.

The car came straight towards us, not faltering a bit, he zoomed straight through our car. I opened my eyes as the car zipped away. I checked everything around me. The car seemed completely fine, as if another car hadn't zoomed right through it.

"See Cindy? Everything's alright. Car's are built with the ability to go through other cars." Dad explained.

I was furious, but at the same time I was laughing.

"Why didn't you tell me that before?" I asked.

"Because it's funny!" Dad told me who was also laughing. "But I think that's enough learning for today. Go on and bring her on home.".

I turned the car around when I noticed a spec of white in my rearview mirror. Then I realized it was Dad! And it wasn't just a spec, it was his whole head!

"Dad, look at your hair! You're an Elder!" I cried.

Dad checked his face in the rearview mirror. He smoothed his hair out a bit, with absolutely no look of surprise on his face.

"Well, what do you know? I am." he said.

Just as we parked in the garage, Dad had him and I sit on some extra lawn chairs in the basement for a serious talk.

"Now Cindy, now that I'm in my Elder stage of life, I fear that I will not live much longer." he began.

Before I could object, he stopped me.

"No, no, don't worry about me. I'm not afraid to go, I've had a very satisfying life." he explained, but I still didn't like where this conversation was going.

"As for your mother, I want you to promise me you'll take care of her. After I go, you'll be the only working family member, and I'd hate to see the house and our stuff go to some Repo-man." he told me.

"Of course, wouldn't want to lose your gem collection." I joked.

He didn't laugh.

"One more thing, I want you to have something." he said, reaching for his inventory. Out of his inventory, he pulled out a vial of light pink liquid. "We can only afford to make one, so use it well." he told me.

"What is it?" I asked.

He looked me in the eye. "Young Again potion.".

Quick Question: What do you think Cindy will do with the Young Again potion?

P.S. I'm going back to school tomorrow, and I felt that I needed to get this chapter out before school started. Hope it doesn't feel rushed.

-Tando