** I will definitely be finishing it on reedsy. **
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1nmWUZfHo6
The glowing numbers on my nightstand clock glared 2:17 AM. My phone, usually in easy access for late-night scrolling, buzzed with an incoming call from 'Dad'. Dad. At this hour.
My stomach instantly clenched into a knot, then contorted into a neat little bow. I rubbed my eyes and let out a groan. I can't put up with this. My speech distorted weirdly. "Hewoo... Dad, is 2 AM... go away"
"Aura just slept. I need to plan something with you guys..."
"Whu...?"
"... Your mom didn't see my text?" He asked, blinking in shock.
I groaned. "You guys don tell me shit... just call me at 2 AM and think I know rocket science"
Dad got straight to the point. "I hear you guys had an incident at home. An Aura incident."
"Aura in't even here, lemme sleep..." my half-asleep self garbled into the device. "Just her stoopid friends..."
"And...?" Dad prompted. My speech henceforth was incoherent muttering, but Dad was able to get some content out of it.
"They come to say hi, talked to us..."
"Honey, Aura's not there though, but... what happened next?"
"So like there was an angry red girl asking too many stuffs and her red twin brother just asked after she went away..."
Dad probably laughed at my description of Carly and Archie as 'red people' but it kind of makes sense. In my defense, they have beautiful red hair. "Okay, what did she ask? Come on, Zinnia, stay awake..."
"I don't wanna," I groaned, flopping back onto my pillow. "Let me sleep... my brain is a pile of mush right now. It's too early for me to think about what happened... Aura's friends brought a casserole."
Dad let out an 'mm-hmm', prompting me to go on. I explained everything as far as I could. "The twins turned 17 a week ago, which allows them to legally drive. Carly decided to use her license for the first time to come to our house to comfort / interrogate me. She asked me for more details on what happened to Aura."
"And... where was your mother while this played out?"
"Work. Usually she works from home but she's been going physically at least once a week since 2051 or so. She ditched me... I had to handle my kid sister's friends..."
"What did you say?" That was the serious part. I had to brace myself.
"I told them that Aura was always sick, but even I didn't know until she died. Even she didn't know of any sickness." I paused, then mentally added... because she never had any real sickness. "And she was stressed at the lab. Homesick... she'd never been outside anywhere besides school without parents."
Dad paused for a long time.
"Did I not do well?" I asked quietly. "I'm sorry..."
"That was brilliant," he said to me. "Just downplaying it... But what about Archie?"
"I told him secretly that it was a side effect of the cloning process..." I answered. "That boy did not take even a second to think before getting all upset. He is head over heels for that oblivious sister of mine..."
"I know... Hang on, I'll send you something, be on the line."
ns216.73.216.221da2
