How She Became Her.

Or a Beautiful Nightmare?

I paused and thought about it as I looked at my father.

He was the total opposite of my mother; he wouldn't force me to do something I didn't want to do. He was the more lenient parent, a.k.a, the better one.

"So," Miabella looked at her father in suspicion as she started to tear open the envelope, "is this the black card I've always been asking for?"

To her dismay, her father shook her head, and she let out a grunt in reply.

"I'd rather not exert effort in opening it, then." She muttered, pulling out the contents of the envelope; it was a bundle of papers neatly stapled together. Intrigued, Miabella unfolded the package and scanned the first page with her eyes.

Her eyes immediately widened, and she looked up from her paper to her father.

"No way." She whispered, swallowing her saliva. "You better not be joking, dad."

"Well, I-"

"Dad. This is serious. I'm actually being serious- for once." Miabella's voice was firm, and her stare was as hard as stone. "I swear to the high heavens that if this is one of your sick parental life lessons, I will-"

"Mi, it's not a joke." Her father let out a laugh as he took the paper from her hands and smoothed it out on the kitchen island. He pulled Miabella closer and circled a part for her to read herself with his finger. "You'll be flying to the Manila in a couple of days. First class seats and everything."

Miabella gasped. First class seats?! She squealed with excitement.

"But, are you seriously sure?" Miabella asked again, hoping it would kill her doubts. "Are you super-duper sure?"

Her father nodded raising his left hand in the air and his right hand to his chest.

"Super-duper sure." He says to her, and Miabella lets out a triumphant cackle." You'll be staying with your Auntie for the summer-"

"Wait." Miabella interrupted her father with a look of bewilderment plastered onto her usually monotonous face. "I'm going... all by myself?"

The quick nod of her father's head flipped was enough to set off the fireworks in Miabella's voice box. "I'm going alone!"

Miabella's body quivered in excitement as she tried to prevent herself from running around the whole neighbourhood naked.

"Which reminds me," Her father's parental tone broke her celebration off momentarily, and she turned to face him again, "if I get one phone call from your Auntie Mel saying anything about any pranks, alcohol, excessive shrieking and hyperventilation, nudity-"

"Yes! Okay I understand!" Miabella raised a hand to motion her father to stop talking. "No baby powder in blow dryers, no drinking, no fangirling too hard, no streaking. I wasn't planning on it, anyways." Miabella put out her pinky, and her father gladly entwined his with hers. Smiling, she leaned up to her father and kissed his cheek.

"This is why you're the cool parent. Thank you, dear father."

Her father gasped in surprise. "Wow, a kiss and a thank you? Don't you think I'm being spoiled too much, Miabella?"

Miabella just laughed and started to make her way to her room.

"And don't worry, your mother knows," her father yelled over Miabella's screaming as she ran up the stairs.

"I would've gone either way!"

He sighed and shook his head at the sight of his teenage daughter so excited. He was ecstatic that Miabella loved her summer gift, but a little worried about Miabella going all alone, but then again...