The Red Planet

Chapter 6

One night I was looking through my phone and all the photos I had on it. Ones of me and my dad, pictures of me, Andrew, and Imani, pictures of me and Andrew at work (our Earth jobs). At first, looking through the pictures made me happy because I was thinking of all the great memories, but then as I continued looking through them, my eyes began to well up with tears. One tear fell after the other and the next thing I knew, I was sobbing. It made me realize how deeply homesick I was. I missed my dad, I missed Imani. I just wanted to go home.

I should have never let Andrew drag me onto that spaceship. But if he hadn't, I wouldn't have seen my mom, or known that she was alive.

It was a double-edged sword. I knew I couldn't, and probably wouldn't, stay mad at Andrew forever. I wasn't one for holding grudges. Besides, what was the point of holding a grudge when we only had a few more days until we returned to Earth? I wiped away my tears and decided that I would talk with Andrew tomorrow. I laid my head down on my pillow and tried to get some sleep.

. . .

The morning started out like any other day. I woke up, got dressed, ate breakfast, and went to work but after work, Miss Prudy hadn't arrived to pick us up.

"Where is she?" I said.

"She's probably just running late." Andrew said.

We both sat on the stairs and waited. I thought about what I told myself the night before about talking with him.

I guess now's a better time than any.

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted. I was just so upset and I was trying to wrap my head around the whole situation. For me, it was a lot to take in all at once. I've realized that it was kind of petty for me not to talk to you for as long as I did. I'm honestly just glad that I got to see my mom again, and I think I'm ready to forgive you now."

"It's okay, and again, I'm so sorry for not telling you everything. I wish I told you everything sooner. It's a relief to hear that you forgive me because I thought you weren't going to forgive me for a long while." Andrew said.

I laughed, "You know me though."

He smiled and nodded. Just then, someone driving Miss Prudy's car stopped in front of the library. The person rolled down the window and I saw that it was my mom in the driver's seat.

"Mom? Where's Miss Prudy?" I asked.

"She's back at the house. I asked her if I could pick you guys up today." She said.

Both Andrew and I got into the car. Andrew sat in the passenger seat and I sat in the back. We didn't say much on the ride to Miss Prudy's house, but I noticed my mom glancing at me a few times in the rearview mirror.

When we arrived there, it didn't look like anyone was home. I was about to walk up to the door but my mom and Andrew led me to the backyard.

What are they doing?

The backyard lights were off, but then when we went through the back gate, the lights were turned on and Xena along with her parents, and Miss Prudy popped out yelling, "Happy Natal Day Quinn!"

Lights were strung everywhere and there was a long table set up in the middle of the backyard with a bunch of food. In the middle of the table was what looked like a big tart.

I smiled and said, "So this is why mom picked me up. You know I had a feeling there was something going on, and I assume you knew too Andrew."

He nodded.