Just Breathe

Chapter Six

"Can't we go, like, on a weekend or something?" Lia asked, pacing the kitchen one evening as her father's eyes scanned his laptop screen.

"No tours on the weekends," Lin told her, taking a sip of his decaf tea.  The twins were in bed and Vanessa had gone to bed early.  Before going, she'd urged him to get a date in for a visit to MIT, Lia's top choice and her alma mater.

"I can't just miss school," she explained, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear for the third time.  "It's...it's too hard to make stuff up."

"Kids do it all the time, mija," he assured her as he watched her pace.  Their oldest had always been a bit high strung, but college applications seemed to have put her in overdrive.  She was staying up late, looked exhausted, and was impatient with her family.  "You get two days as a senior to take college tours as an excused absence."

Lia knew all this, but it didn't make her feel any better.  Since adding AP Art History and peer tutoring to her schedule, she barely had time to function.  Plus, she had to put more energy into hiding it from her family so they wouldn't freak out.  If they found out she had taken on extra classes and then lied about it, she would not be in a good place.  She just couldn't afford to take a day off school.

"Ugghhhh!!" She groaned, scrubbing hands over her face.  Lin stood up and forced her to stop walking, bringing her in for a hug.  She tried to pull away quickly, but he held on.  Both he and Vanessa were trying to figure out how to get her to chill out.  It was her senior year and she should be enjoying it.

"Ssshhh, shhhh," Lin urged her as she groaned in annoyance.

"Dad-"

Lin pulled back, putting his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eyes.  "Emilia, I know this is stressing you out, but you need to think big picture.  It may be a little annoying to miss a day of class, but you can make it up.  You know you can do it.  You can even work in the car on the way there."

He gently steered her towards the computer.  "I think it makes sense to do a tour on a Monday or Friday so we can spend some weekend time exploring the town.  So consider your schedule on those days.  Which would be more convenient for you?"

"Neither," she said immediately, but she felt her dad squeeze her shoulder in reassurance.  She sighed as she looked at the open dates.  "I guess next Friday?"

"Sounds good," Lin said immediately, not even considering his own schedule.  He would make it work.  Not freaking Lia out was his main priority right now.  Lia started pacing again as Lin's fingers flew over the keyboard, filling out the online form.  He pressed submit and it was as easy as that.  They'd just need to book a hotel and notify her school.

"Done," Lin said, and closed the laptop lid.  Lia checked her Apple watch and went to the fridge to pull out a Five Hour Energy.  It was 8 p.m.  "Woah, woah," he took it from her before she could open it.  "Sweetheart, it's almost time for bed.  This will keep you up all night."

That was, of course, the goal.  She'd become quite the expert at managing to appear to go to bed at a decent time, but in reality she had to stay up to do homework.  If she was going to get into MIT, she needed to give herself more of an edge.  Their average SAT score for incoming freshmen was 1570.  Lia had taken the SAT twice so far and had received a 1535, then a 1550.  She was hoping to get in one more test before submitting her applications and reach the threshold of 1570.  That added yet more test prep to her busy schedule.

"No it won't," she told him, reaching for it, but he eyed her and put it back in the fridge.

"Bed," he told her, promptly turning her around and steering her towards the hallway.