City of Secrets

C I N Q

October 12th, a week later.

Four weeks until Ada's 18th birthday

It has been a week, yet the same questions don't escape my mind.

"What is my father doing down there?

"Why is Harry so prone to getting hurt?"

"What are those gems?"

"Does anything normal happen around here?"

"Will I ever find answers?"

I go to the kitchen to talk to my mother. I'm not sure what she is cooking today, she can be a bit spontaneous.

"Mom, do you know if Dad is going to be home today?"

I know he isn't, but I can't tell my mom I know some things. Who knows what she will do.

"You should check his schedule, it's on the fridge."

As I walk over to the fridge, I notice a huge puddle of water almost touching her feet. She's been so busy cooking I guess she hasn't noticed.

"Uh, maman?", I point to the puddle.

"Oh zut!", she sighs. She drops the spoon she was stirring the large pot with and gets a small towel from the counter.

I hurry over to my father, who is sitting in the living room. He is reading a book, and unless I'm wrong, he took that Percy Jackson book from my bookshelf.

"Heeeey Dad!", I say to him.

He looks up from the book.

My father is kind of a sci-fi geek, even if he won't admit it. 

I literally remember him calling me three times during my biology exam. My teacher let me take it outside, and as soon as I called him back, he told me that tickets for Comic-Con just went on sale,  just to "let me know".

I mean, I obviously don't care, cause I am one myself. So, my father understands when I stay up at night rewatching Star Wars films and all that jazz.

"Ada, there is a new sci-fi movie coming out soon! Unfortunately, I don't remember the title, but as soon as I do, I will let you know!", he says with a smile.

"Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to do something today, like go to the park or something?"

He thinks for a second.

I just stand there awkwardly.

"Yeah, okay. I mean, I don't have anything planned for today."

"Great! So what are we going to do?"

"Why don't we go to the park? It can be just like when you were little!"

I miss those times. We would pack some sandwiches and bike all around the park. We even had small races and the loser had to take out that week's garbage.

"I mean, I think the last time I rode my bike was with Jay and Harry two summers ago."

"The bikes should be in the garage, I haven't touched them in a while as well."

That should be true. As I said before, the last time I went riding was with Harry and Jay. Jay ended up falling on the concrete, scraping her knee. Harry, still riding and laughing, did not notice her and then falls off too. Those two knuckleheads.

We proceed to walk into the garage.

And there they are: the dusty red bike and the slightly larger blue one. A picture comes to my mind: A little girl with a brown bob and bangs stands by her bike. The father is taking the picture, while the mother is fixing her daughter's hair.