Chapter 1 - A Change
So," her father said to her, "what have you been doing today?"
"The usual. Coursework, getting ready for exams, that sort of thing..."
"I thought you didn't start coursework until Year 11?"
"Not most of them, no, but a few start early."
"Ah." Sima looked up at him. He seemed to be tired and world-weary, something quite strange for him. Normally, he was a lively person, energetic and the sort of person that you would love to be around. But not today. Something was different. Something fundamental had changed. Sima likened this to the discovery by the ancient Greeks of irrational numbers. But the question was, was this a permanent change, like theirs?
She wasn't certain that she was about to take the right method of approaching the subject, but there was no other way that she could think of. Guess there's no other option. Off we go! she thought.
"Dad..."
"Hmm...?"
"You seem different today." She took a breath half-hoping that she was right for her own sake, and half-hoping that she was wrong for her Dad's. "Weary."
His eyes instantly changed. They flitted back to having the energy that they normally displayed. Ah, she thought. He's been hiding this all along. You're too kind... He gave her a look that told her all she needed to know. Either he's planning something, or we need a lot of money and fast. I just hope it's the former.
"So..." Again, she wasn't certain that this was the way to breach the subject. But she was right the first time, so what would it hurt to place trust in her own judgement again? "What are you planning?"
There was a pause. Then he looked up and, quite simply, laughed. Nothing more to it, no hidden agenda that she could see, just laughter.
"You'll find out soon enough."
Well, at least that means that I was right, she thought, feeling rather pleased with herself. Nothing serious, it seems.
"Well?"
Sima was surprised by the sudden speech, the pair having remained quiet for the few minutes after this short exchange.
"Well what?" she questioned.
"You were telling me about your coursework, before we got distracted."
"Oh yeah... So where was I?"
---ooo0ooo---
"Hey, Alex!"
"Yeah, I'm here." Her voice came through the phone crisp and clear, unusual for this time of day. Sima decided to count her blessings and not question this.
"Guess what?"
"Go on, you know I hate guessing."
"My dad is planning something. I have no idea what, do you want to come over and help me try and catch him out?" This was a favourite pastime of the two, attempting to catch people out and discover secrets being hidden from them. Few people bothered trying to hide anything from the pair now, so it was often something very big if someone still tried.
However, Alex hesitated. Something was clearly wrong.
"Alex? Is there something wrong?"
"Umm... Not quite, I'm just a bit busy right now, homework and everything. You know, you've probably got the same problems."
"Uh, yeah... Sure. Well, I'll talk to you later then. Bye." She hung up the phone without waiting for a reply, unnerved by Alex's response. But we never do our homework until the last minute... Something is going on here, and I don't like it.
---ooo0ooo---
It didn't take long for Sima, being Sima, to find the plane tickets. That was to be expected. But from there she took a path that no-one would have ever thought she would, having missed one vital detail. There were three tickets - not two, as she thought - to Venice.
Far from being angry, as most teenagers would be, she was simply extremely sad. As she retreated from the organised, clean living room1, she felt betrayed that the first time in years anyone from her family would be able to take a holiday, she would be excluded. However, she simply bore it, telling none of her discovery – reasoning that her parents needed a holiday on their own, she was less important and that it made sense that the two went alone, without her.
Without me.
Those words stung unexpectedly. Regardless of the fact that she would normally not care about something like this, she was hurt. Because she had never expected this from her own family, so it was an area she had left unguarded. And it stung.
But her parents had come to rely on her superior sleuthing skills so much that they had chosen to allow her to find the tickets. That she seemed not to have after two weeks made them worry, and so they eventually decided that they should tell her.
"Sima?" There was no reply, but Sima's body lying on the sofa in front of the TV was clearly visible to her mother. Lately, this had been her primary pastime, which was strangely uncharacteristic of her.
"Sima, we've got something to tell you..." She walked up to Sima and shook her lightly by the shoulder. Sima merely grunted in response.
No doubt come to tell me something I've already worked out, she thought, preferring the relative quiet of the house before her parents had just stepped in.
"Honestly Sima, what has gotten into you? You were so happy and cheerful before!" Her mother paused for a minute to catch her breath, while her father looked on anxiously, wondering what the outcome of the conversation would be.
"Mum, just tell me what it is you want to tell me. After that, just leave me in peace, please."
"Well... Ok then." She paused again to compose herself. "We're going... to Venice!"
"I know."
"But in that case. what's wrong? This is our first holiday in years, the first since you were born in fact. We thought that surely you would look forward to this moment... The freedom, a chance to explore, just the three of us-"
Sima looked up. "Three? But there were only two tickets."
"Of course there weren't. Did you think that we would just go on holiday without you? Aw, is that what all of this over the past couple of weeks has been about...?"
Sima nodded slowly, feeling rather foolish now that the truth had come out. "So... We're all going to Venice?" Sima's mother nodded, smiling. Sima smiled too, pulling her mother into an embrace. "To Venice!"
Author's Note: I am British, and so is Sima/Keetha. Therefore, this chapter contains some British English (also known to us as 'English' =P) that people who speak different dialects of English won't necessarily understand. From here on in, any particularly British English that I happen to use, I will put at the bottom of the page along with it's American equivalent. However, seen as I don't speak American English myself, I may end up missing stuff or adding stuff that most people already know - I apologise in advance if that happens.
1Living Room = Lounge
