Vol 5, Chapter X — The School Trip, Part IV: The Return

Can anyone guess who missed me and my wifey dearly? Besides my dad, her dad and my sister, that is. If you thought about our murderous furball Oliver, than you’re correct.

Right now, he was the definition of silly fluffiness: flopped on his back, his paws splayed wide open, exposing his fluffy tummy, his head rolled back exposing his chin and throat, the tip of his tongue peaking out, a soft pink outside of his puffed cat lips. As soon as Oliver heard us arriving, my dad having driven us here after picking us up from school, he glued to us, crying like an abandoned baby. The only time he finally quieted down was when Violet and I settled on our bed after unpacking, each of us taking turns giving him attention so he wouldn’t make too much noise. Violet sat with her back on the headboard while I sat perpendicular to her, my legs crossed over hers, my feet dangling and inside one of the fluffier socks Violet had given me for my birthday. Oliver was between us at a forty-five-degree angle so that we both could give him some love and attention as we worked. I was now doing just that, having finished my report close to an hour ago, my fingers scratching his tummy as he purred almost as loud as he usually snored. He looked more like a seal than a cat to be fair, but that just goes to show how extra fluffy he is. He had to get neutered, and ever since then, he put on some weight that never seemed to disappear, regardless of whether or not I gave him treats. I was still blamed for it every once in a while though.

Shifting my focus to Violet, I saw her with her eyes closed, head leaning back, her fingers tapping the papers she was holding.

As overachieving as always…

It was somewhat amusing this time, specially since, in a moment of questionable honesty, Evelyn—Miss Maple, told us not to worry too much about the report as it was more of a formality than anything else.

Then, I noticed her cheeks turning a bit rosy as the corners of her mouth started to twitch. Even if I didn’t have the ability to read her like an open book, I could clearly tell what she was thinking anyway.

“Are you not done yet?” I asked, holding back my teasing urge for now.

She snapped her eyes at me, blinking momentarily as if snapped out of a trance before answering.

“No, erm, I did,” she said, composing herself. “I was just making sure I had included everything important.

I reminded her then of our homeroom teacher’s words and she nodded in agreement, but explained something that was utterly her: she didn’t want to not give the impression that she didn’t care about the report, but she also didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard. That got a good chuckle out of me as I offered to give it a read.

I moved over to her side, shoulder to shoulder, moving our furball to my lap, him making no effort to move, a dead weight in my hands, and then legs, as I positioned him as he was on the bed. Violet petted his belly as I gave her report a read.

I think she had stricken a good balance, the report being detailed but not exhaustive, getting to the point, being clear in the presentation of information, and it even had a paragraph akin to a letter of appreciation for the school and teachers for allowing her and the class to go on a school trip.

“Yup, pretty good babe,” I told her, tapping her leg. “I don’t think you need to add anything else, specially that.”

“W-what do you mean ‘that’?” she said, feigning innocence. “I wasn’t thinking anything you think I was thinking.”

I laughed and challenged her to say that last part as fast as she could. A bit surprisingly, she did, sounding like Oliver’s mumblings when there’s a fly buzzing around his head.

She then got a bit sombre as our giggles died out. Something came to her mind, and this time, I didn’t have to wait long to hear about it.

“You know… I mean, I know that you do, you always do, but… haah, getting to the point, I had planned on using this school trip as a… a ‘case study’ for a future trip for us… just us.”

“Yup, I figured that out at the hotel entrance,” I confirmed, nodding and smiling at her. “So? Any conclusions?”

“Hmm, that’s the thing… I really didn’t get that many due to how busy everything around us was and how much fun I was having the rest of the time.”

“In that case, we can conclude that our trip has to be to somewhere not too busy with people.”

Her eyes rotated up, as if she was trying to read something on the inside of her eye sockets before she agreed with me with a click of her tongue.

“Do you have suggestions?” she then asked, deciding to be open about it instead of taking it all up to herself. “We never talked much about it, but I always got the impression you and your family used to travel a lot.”

“Not a lot, but once or twice a year outside business trip.”

The way she tilted her head was a mix of exasperation and amusement, making me realise that I just confirmed her impression while denying it. Even if we exclude the business trips, I was still going on trips once or twice more than her zero annual trips.

“Well, there were quite a few places that could work for us, but the one that might be a better fit was one I did with my family to a chalet on the mountains. That one trip where I was almost struck by lightning?”

“…And you’d like to go to a place like that?”

“Mins the lighting, yeah. It was peaceful, there were plenty of trails to explore, and there was a town twenty minutes away if driving. It might be expensive though, but I’m more than ok with just a tent.”

“You mean camping? Hmm… dunno about that… at least for this trip, I’d like for it to be a bit more… you know, more like a cosy getaway.”

“…So, it has to have a bathtub, huh?” I asked, not resisting bringing that up.

“I-I wasn’t thinking about that!” she huffed, her redness saying otherwise. “Gee! You’re impossible sometimes!”

Says the girl who didn’t resist initiating our illicit love making at the hotel bathroom all because I was acting a bit needy then.

I COULD have stopped her…

True, but I also didn’t want a repeat of stopping her and partially regretting afterwards like when I stopped her from initiating it at school.

“So, the mountains?” I said as my giggling calmed down.

She hummed that it sounded good to her, her eyes drifting to the ceiling, most likely already making all the plans in the world for that. She then looked back at me asking if there were any other places I’d like to go.

“Meh,” I said with a shrug. “As long as it’s you and me and a cosy place, I guess everywhere is fine.”

“That’s… not helpful at all.”

I fluffed myself against her, telling Violet that we’d cross that bridge once we got there. We were still sixteen—Well, I was, she was still fifteen for another week—so we still had plenty of time until we were even allowed to go anywhere without adult supervision, let alone having the means to do such trips.

“For now, all we can really plan for is maybe go camping behind your house or maybe have a camping trip with the guys in the woods. I bet Mathilda would drag us by the necks if we barely even mentioned it around her.”

“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Violet nodded, making it sound like Mathy would literally do that. “And she’d likely do something ridiculous like taking a portable projector to have a movie session in the woods.”

“A horror movie session?”

“What else?” Violet laughed. “Still… hidden cameras, huh?”

She was recalling the surveillance system she had running at the hotel, having had Stepehn’s help setting them up and taking them down.

“Yeah… that girl ain’t right in the head.”

I heard Violet wonder if any of us is under her breath. I joined her in petting Oliver’s tummy, mostly as an excuse for my fingers to touch hers. After all the time apart or with others around what usually are private spaces, this moment of us together, chatting about dumb stuff and simply being was heavenly.

We fell into silence, our breathings syncing up, the moment only interrupted by her dad knocking and asking if he could come in.

He apologised for the intrusion, but he wanted to chat a bit with Violet. He didn’t exactly say this, but it was clearly what he was looking for.

“Dad, have you been eating well?” she immediately asked, this being the first time she saw him less dressed, now being on a t-shirt and shorts with flip-flops on his feet where before he always had a bit more coverage.

“Oh yeah!” he assured her with a very satisfied smile. “Daddy’s been working out and having a nutritionist giving him guidance. I’m down to sixteen percent body fat where before I was almost twenty percent. Same weight too, just so you know.”

“Damn Papa Stan, you’re getting buffed, huh?”

He flexed an arm playfully. I didn’t have much of a reference, but yeah, he did look more athletic than four months ago.

That was it for me interrupting, I then left him chatting with Violet about the school trip and what he has been up to while drawing circles on Violet’s back of her hand and tracing her knuckles. Today’s dinner was take-away and with the whole family, so he likely wanted to spend some time with Violet before everyone gathered and made one-on-one conversations harder.

To summarise his recent life, he’s been acclimating to his new job quite well, and my sister has been giving him a helping hand here and there although that’s now rarer. Those two still meet up because he can tell she appreciates being needed and using what she learned even if not working directly in the Business Management area. Hanging out with her has also been a way for him to de-stress too.

“Did she tell you already about her recital?”

“Recital?” I said, perking right up despite my previous decision of pretending to be a cushion. “What recital?”

“Oh, she hasn’t yet?” he said with a wry smile. “I won’t say anything else then. She’ll likely tell you all about it today during dinner.”

I knew sister had taken up playing the piano again, so it had to be that, but I wasn’t expecting her to be having a recital so soon. She had been very skilled when younger, but that was around ten years ago. She also didn’t talk much about it, and if Claire brought that topic up, she’d just get hushed by sis.

This all made me dying of curiosity, but Papa Stan wouldn’t budge, he simply smiled and waved as he left, leaving me on my hands and knees facing the door, demanding to know. Violet laughed as she patted my rear, telling me to calm down as Sophie should be here in less than an hour.

“We are going, right? Right?”

“IF, we are invited, sure,” Violet said, tugging my skirt so I’d go back to snuggling. “I’ really curious to hear her play.”

I went on and on about how skilled Sophie is—or rather, was, Violet letting out hums and short vocalisations with an amused tone as I spoke.

And no sooner than I heard the front door unlock, I sprang out of the bed, Oliver giving me an annoyed look as this was the second time I shook the bed violently.

Sis had just come in when I crashed into her, giving sis a tight hug for the second time today. I had my chin on her sternum as I looked up, immediately asking if she didn’t have any news to tell me.

Papa Stan appeared then, Sophie looking at him, half surprised, half annoyed.

“You told her about it?!” she asked while I bounced on the tips of my feet.

“Sorry, I got excited while talking with Violet,” he explained. “I simply asked if you told them about it though, I didn’t give them any more details.”

Violet was the next one joining in, pulling me away from Sophie, saying that sis’ face was turning blue from my grip. In reality, I wasn’t hugging sis that hard, but Violet knew that the best way to reel in my enthusiasm was if she was the one holding me, and yeah, that worked. I was still bouncing a bit, but with Violet’s gentle but firm embrace from behind, it wasn’t a buzzing that’d make whipped cream if I had a cup of cream with a fork in my hands at that moment.

My sister sighed and looked at me for a moment, my eyes transfixed on hers, clinging to Violet’s arms.

“All right, fine, I’ll tell you now and repeat it once dad arrives,” Sophie said with a second sigh. “I was invited by my piano instructor to participate in a recital that’s to happen at the end of this school year. I haven’t decided if I’m participating or not, but when I do decide, I’ll tell you about it, and only then, so don’t go pestering me about it. Deal?”

“Wait, you haven’t decided yet?” I said, utterly disappointed. “But your instructor invited you, so that must mean that you’re good enough already! And I wanna hear you play sis!”

“I know, I know… It’s just… look, I’m an adult right? At least that’s what the law says. Still, I’m still under dad’s care. Do you get what I mean?”

“…You’re worried that people who know us see you perform, tell mum about it, and then mum comes kicking a fuss with dad because he’s letting you do whatever you want?”

“Precisely,” she said with an emphatic nod. “It’s not the sole reason, but it’s a big one.”

I was going to say something, but Stan was the one who stepped up to the plate, approaching Sophie and resting a hand on her shoulder.

“As a father and someone who knows yours, I say that you should do it if you want to. Let him—and me, deal with her if push come to shove. That’s what a father is for.”

“I’m sorry, you too?”

“Of course!” he said with a chuckle. “You’ve got my back, I’ve got yours. Right?”

“…Right.”

The way my sister’s expression softened under his words… it tickled something in my subconscious that made my conscious mind take a small tumble. There was something there that was suspicious.

I wanted to pull sister to the side to talk to her in private, but dad arrived at that exact moment, so I had to post-pone it for now, but if I was right, things could get… not exactly messy, but a bit complicated. I don’t know. A bit weird I guess. But for now, that’s just me doing something my wifey does: fussing over things outside my control and that I don’t have the whole data yet. For now, I had to bid my time and simply observe.