CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Amelia was not in a good mood when I was back to school.

"Did you get to plant your seeds?" She asked me.

"Well, yeah. That's a homework right?"

She nodded, pouting. "We have no place at home to plant it without having our dog trampling all over it."

I raised my eyebrows. "Why don't you uh, tie your dog up?" And then I thought of something. "Or you could plant it in my house." I suggested cheerfully. Let's just hope there will be no more plant-trampling ghost around.

Amelia zeroed on me. "You're not kidding?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"So you're not joking or anything are you?"

I breathed out impatiently. "Only if you think it's funny."

Amelia threw her arms around me and began squealing stuff like, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Tina! I'm forever in your debt…" Ha! Yeah right.

I smiled at her. "Amelia. It's fine, seriously."

"Not only are you saving me from my homework, I might be able to finally meet your mom!"

I tried hard not to laugh at that so I just told her yeah sure.

Turns out, Amelia couldn't get what she wanted after all. Or something like that. I found out during dinner. I was perplexed to see Mom's usual chair at the table, empty. I looked at my Dad (who always sat at the head by the way), questioningly.

He looked at me smiling slightly. "Christina, your mother is just home late. She told me she will be a while ago."

I still refused to sit down.

"Tina. Sit down." That was Jake. He always does that. I sat down, grumbling.

"Dad," Daniel asked, looking strangely happy. "Did you tell Tina about the trip?"

Jake smirked.

"What trip," I said flatly.

Dad smiled. "It's just a visit to Carmel,"

"All of us?"

"Well, Christina I was gonna ask you about that project of yours how long it will last—"

And then I got it all of a sudden.

"Dad…Are you planning to leave me here in Pasadena, um, alone?" I said. Jake, I noticed seemed to like that fact a lot.

"Not technically, querida, since Austin is here and..." My dad mumbled this and that. Something hit me then. Well, not literally, if you know what I mean. That time when there was a rampaging ghost who deliberately stepped on my mother's hydrangeas. I never really realized my father could see them too. And I was just there. And I never got to process it. God, I'm that lame.

Dad was still talking about how I was not going to be all alone during that trip of theirs and caught me staring at him with my mouth open.

"Christina, what is the matter?" he asked.

I slipped back to reality. "Dad, I don't want you to talk about leaving me here,"

Dad raised his eyebrows. Jake snorted.

I gave Jake a stern look. "I told Amelia she could plant her seeds in the backyard. That's okay, right Dad?"

Jake stopped chuckling at once.

Dad smiled, "Of course, Christina."

Jake sort of looked like he was choking.

"What's the matter, big guy?" I teased.

He mumbled a few words that were meant to be insults.

"What was that, Jacob? Didn't hear the last bit."

We all turned and I saw my mom hanging up her coat and came to perch her arms on my chair. She smiled at Jake.

Jake turned red. "Nothing, Mom,"

"Thought so, hi sweetie," she patted my head and then Daniel's and then approached Dad and kissed him on the cheek.

"Susannah, have you eaten?" My dad asked.

"I will, in a jiffy." Mom said and bolted upstairs.

I told my Mom about Amelia visiting and she looked at me as though she never knew I had friends.

"Why of course, Tina, Amelia can come." Was what she said.

Amelia came by Saturday. She was all nerves and kept stuttering. I told her to chill but she still smiled nervously. My mom and dad was just about to leave when she arrived.

"Mom, dad, this is Amelia, Amelia, my parents." I went real fast.

"H-hello, sir…ma'am." She said, flustered.

The great thing about my parents is that they're pretty gracious and doesn't mind nervousness. So they introduced themselves and with a quick, "Be careful, don't try handling suspicious vegetation okay" from my mom, they left for work.

Amelia eyed me with that remark.

I shrugged. "My mom has a thing for disfiguring skin rashes."

Amelia giggled. "She is very lovely though, your mom. And you Dad, whoa Tina, you look alike! He looks like a model or something. Is that a weird thing to say? It's true though."

I don't think I look anywhere as good as my Dad.

"Nah, I've heard more complex descriptions of my Dad. My mom's pretty observant with them though, haha." I said.

Amelia grinned. "Of course," She turned and saw Daniel turn toward the kitchen again. Jake locked himself up in his room. "Shall we?"

I nodded and grinned.