Once Upon a Time...

Part Eleven

Amelia- 15

            The next day Matthew took me to the Magic Kingdom again. He was acting really weird, though. I couldn't place my finger on it, but something was definitely going on. Half of the time, he would bore his eyes into me with such of an intensity that it made me uncomfortable. The look in his eyes reminded of the look a lioness gets at the Animal Kingdom when the zookeepers take her cub away to do studies or to transfer it to another portion of the park. The rest of the day, Matthew took photos. He was glued to his camera. At one point I tried to pull out my camera phone, but Matthew insisted that I try his own digital camera. We explored the park, posing for photos in front of every attraction.

            About an hour later we were sitting on a bench in Fantasyland, scrolling through all the pictures we took. Matthew put the camera down and turned to me.

            "Um, Amelia," he began. His voice was quiet, like he was afraid to say whatever was on his mind. I knew it had to do with whatever had been nagging him all day.

            "There's something kind of important I need to tell you—" he continued, but was cut off by the obnoxious vibrations of a text alert on my cell phone. I quickly checked the text, hoping we could get right back to whatever Matthew was struggling with. No such luck, I realized, when the caller-ID said it was my mother trying to get ahold of me.

            "Where are you???" it read.

            Seconds later, I got another message.

            "Call me!"

            Hands shaking, I dialed her cell number. What was wrong? Did she figure out we left yesterday? Did she somehow discover what we had been up every day since we met? How? Or was it something completely different? Was it Dad? Did Maria get hurt?

            "Amelia?" she asked briskly after one ring.

            "What's going on?"

            "Get home now! There's someone here to see you," she snapped. Though I could sense the tension in her voice, it was obvious she was trying to keep her tone calm for someone on the other end of the call.

            "Who's here to see me?"

            "Just get home, now." Then she hung up.

            I stared at my phone for a moment, not sure what to make of that conversation.

            "Is everything alright?" Matthew asked from behind his camera.

            I looked up and blinked. "My mom needs me to come home."

            Matthew raised an eyebrow.

            "She did sound pretty serious," I sighed. "I guess I better do what she says."

            I must have said something wrong, because he immediately stiffened.

            "Hey, you okay?"

            "Fine. You better take the monorail; it's faster."

            I narrowed my eyes but complied. I would have wondered why Matthew became so rigid at my words, but I didn't have any time at the moment. I waved good-bye to him and took off in a sprint for the front gates. I took a short-cut I learned when I was eleven to get to the station. I didn't know what was waiting for me back at the suite, and wasn't sure if I wanted to find out.