One of my parent's presents to me was a car. It wasn't new, though, it was their old car that sat in the garage for many years. I've seen it ever since I was fourteen. The only thing that could possibly be different with it was the fact that it wasn't covered in a coat of dust now. I saw them cleaning it a couple of days ago. Way to kill the element of surprise, guys.

After the party, Adam decided that it would be cool to take a spin in the car, but with only one catch: me as the driver. My parents didn't mind because they were hurriedly cleaning up the backyard, burying the happiness of my aging in dismally black trash bags. Adam's parents minded, nonetheless. You could say that they were still red faced with the news of the corvette.

However, the car drive was nice, even if it took place in a slightly empty grocery store parking lot. Adam told me a lot of tips and suggestions while on the road. But, at the end of the drive, I ended up making the care face an open spot of trees where the sun was slowly setting; making us put our visors down so that the bright orange haze of it wouldn't blind us. I didn't mind the light, though.

I laid my head back on the headrest and let out a big sigh, my hands falling from the steering wheel and into my lap. Adam merely stared out the windshield, he wasn't saying much. Crickets chirped loudly from the outside of the car, our windows were rolled down.

I soon found that my eyes were looking at him. He had changed a lot from when we left to go get Lacey back. But, it was a good change: he grew stronger, physically and mentally. I smirked to myself; he was totally ready to face college this coming fall.

I would miss him and ultimately, by very lonely. I guess I was the only one this trip didn't ready me for what was coming. Since he was my one and only best friend, I guess I thought that I wouldn't need anyone else…until this fall.

He said that he would call or email me at least every day, but I doubted that he would. Once you get sucked into the college atmosphere, your friends usually get left in the dust because one sees and meets so many other faces there. Great, I thought to myself, I'm going to be all dusty.

Adam's eyes finally met mine and he gave me a small smile, sneaking his hand off of his lap to get to my hand. He squeezed it, just like he always does; I guess he must've seen the deep distress in my eyes. That's usually how we functioned, if you couldn't already tell. He continued to hold my hand as he spoke.

"You know I'm going to miss you, Althy." My gaze fell and I let out a sigh.

"I sure hope so." I ingeniously mumbled and I saw him smirk from the corner of my eye.

"But, what I don't see what the big problem is about me leaving. It's not like I'm going to forget you or something." My eyes hesitantly met his again, I forced a meek smile.

"But, that is what I'm scared of, Adam. I mean, you're going to meet a lot of people at college, and…" I would've continued, but Adam put up his hand, stopping me.

"That is true: I will meet a lot of other people." He said. "But, none of them will even meet your high standards." I felt myself smiling, my eyes on the radio. I didn't respond, but I felt him place a kiss on my cheek.

But, that's not what made me look up.

A bright light made us both have to cover our eyes, Adam more than me. I blinked once the light went away and in front of our car stood a young man. He didn't look that much older than Adam, really.

"Althea," He announced as he made his way over to the side of the car. He opened my door and opened his arms out to me. "Come and give Dad a hug!" Adam gave me the strangest look, I was shocked myself.

"Um," I started. "Who are you?" The man's arms slightly fell in disappointment for me not recognizing him.

"Can't you tell who I am?" He gave me a positive smile, which didn't match how he sounded; he looked in the side view mirror, his Hollywood white teeth sparkling in his reflection. I only continued to stare at him.

"I'm afraid not. Sorry." I kept my apology short. I saw the man roll his eyes and he turned directly towards me. He gave me another kind of smile, which looked horribly familiar; I found that his smile was like mine. That's when it clicked in my brain.

"You're Apollo?" He nodded proudly as he stood up.

"In the absolutely awesome flesh," I unclicked my seatbelt and got out of the car, officially looking up at him. He was pretty tall, just like me. This only made me smile.

I soon saw that Adam joined me by my side; he was sizing the god up. You could say that Apollo returned the favor; one of his eyebrows was perched.

"Who's your friend, Althea?" He continued to study Adam.

"Oh, this is Adam, Dad." Calling him my father sounded foreign, almost unreal. But, overall, pretty cool. I saw that Apollo's eyes sparkle in recognition at his name, a sly smile appearing on his lips.

"Ah, so you're the one called Adam." Apollo's gaze went up to the sky for a couple of seconds before they returned back to Adam. "Your father told me to tell you that he approves." Adam gave him a questioning look, but then Apollo twitched his head towards me. Adam and I, in a matter of seconds, looked like tomatoes because we were blushing that much. Adam cleared his throat, glancing at the grocery store over his shoulder.

"So, um, I'm going to go get some snacks." He then abruptly turned and left, walking for the building. I watched him leave; I don't think I could look at my father the same way again. Once I did, I discovered that he still had that same smile on his lips. I rolled my eyes.

"You know, if you keep your lips like that, they're going to stay in that position forever." I saw Apollo then smirk, his face returning to his normal look.

"C'mon, Althea. It's not every day a god can come down for his daughter's birthday."

We ended up sitting on the hood of the car, mainly talking. He asked me about school and what not; along with if I would be doing any operas. He then informed me that he was always one for the theatre. It's not like I couldn't tell, he started to quote Shakespeare then and there.

"But, what I want to know most of all is, how is your mother doing?" He asked me. His question shocked me, he sounded different in a way. Fragile, I guess it was, unlike his player self. "I dearly miss her flute playing." I saw that he got a faraway look in his eyes. "You see, when she was in college, I would always attend every one of her recitals." He slowly started to smile a genuine smile. "Oh, Althea, she was great." I smirked.

"We should trade places, then." I joked. "Because I have to hear her greatness every day," I saw a hint of a smirk appear on my dad's lips, but he only nodded.

"I know. Sometimes I can hear her, but it's rare now." I was the one who nodded this time, he shrugged. "My sunshine reception is quite unruly at some points." I smirked, but Apollo's head snapped towards the horizon, I didn't notice that the moon was now majestically floating in the dark sky. I wondered where Adam was.

"My sister is calling me." He stood up, but looked at me. "It was nice talking with you, Althea." I sighed and slightly frowned; I was secretly wishing that I wouldn't have to hear those words. This was one of the rare moments I would get to speak with him. He frowned when he saw the look on my face.

"Don't worry, Althea. I'm always here." And with that, he gave my shoulder a squeeze and a reassuring smile before disappearing in a flash of light again. It wasn't as bright when I first experienced it. I guessed he was just as sad as me.

Like father like daughter, right?