The Prince of Arc - Part I

Chapter 10 - The Press Conference

10.

The next morning I woke up to Henry's voice shouting at us to get out of bed. I glance over at the clock above the window, and see that it's 7:30 in the morning. Pulling my covers over my head, I try to block out his voice. It's way too early to try to get two teenagers up.

"Come on! It'd be really bad if we showed up late to the press conference!" He screams from outside our room. His voice suddenly sounds awake and alive. I don't know how it's possible, but some adults can wake up and instantly be well... awake.

"Come on, Blake, let's go." Cam says, getting out of bed. "We might be late," He says, glancing at the clock.

"Do you really want to go to this?" I ask, uncovering my face. "And we have an hour."

"Stop wasting time." He says, uncovering the rest of my body. "Henry's going to get mad..."

"Ok, fine." I say, sitting up. "Since when is he happy to go to a government press conference?" I ask, directing my attention to Henry.

"He's not happy; I think he's just putting on a show to ease your nerves."

"Or to hide his own emotions," I say, grabbing the last clean shirt out of my suitcase.

"Yeah, it's whatever. It's not a bad thing, so why should we care?"

"Because it's weird." I say, buttoning up my gray shirt. "Let's go and get this over with."

"You guys ready?" Henry asked, handing both of us a donut. "Here, I got you guys both," He says, handing us the other two in a white bag.

"Oh, thanks!" Cam says, snatching the bag from him. Donuts were his favorite breakfast. I didn't care for them, but I ate mine anyway. "Can I have your other one?" He asks, once Henry walks far enough away to not hear us.

"I don't care," I respond, trailing both Cam and Henry. We walk down the steps and get into Henry's car. Once I buckle up, I remember that our suitcases are still in our room. "Are you going to get our suitcases after the press conference?"

"Yeah, I will. Don't worry." He says, once again in a happier tone than usual. I can't take it any longer, so I speak up.

"Why are you so happy? If it's just an act, you can stop. You're not fooling either Cam or I."

"Is it really that bad?" He returns, asking in his regular, monotone voice.

"It's worse than bad." Cam adds only the truth. "So what exactly is going to happen once we get there?"

"Well you'll meet up with your parents, tell them your suggestions, and then once it actually starts, your dad will open up with a speech, followed by a speech from your mother. They will add in what you told them throughout both of their speeches. Then after your mom finishes your Dad will step back up for the questions. There will be a half hour of just questions, hopefully that way everyone will get an answer this time, instead of no one getting answers like last time." As he says this, I try to picture my dad being cooperative with the citizens, but I just can't see it happen, even in my mind. By the time Henry finished explaining what the conference will consist of, we were in the car pulling out of the driveway.

"Hopefully he won't have one of his tantrums where he just ignores the questions. That's what happened last time," I say, as we go down the steep street towards City Hall.

"I think your mom has solved that problem. She won't allow it to happen in person. She is as sure as possible that it won't happen, but there's always doubt." Henry says, and he's right. But how sure can my mom really be? My dad's really unpredictable, and not in a good way.