Smart

Sympathy

Two weeks had passed since Tag had introduced the city transfer option. Spring break had just begun, and not only Johana and her boyfriend Assic were here, but Terrik, his wife Janice, and their little boy Fausto were home, too. Our entire extended family was here. Off course, Terrik was going back and forth between Janice's house and mine, but seeing them again made me go insane.

"How are you doing, little girl?" Terrik teased.

"Shut up!" I barked. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I haven't seen you in years!" Terrik claimed.

"Not true. Only five months," I snapped.

"Okay, fine. But I miss my baby sister. I was already five when you were born."

Knowing Terrik, he didn't miss me. He only cared about Janice and little Fausto.

"You don't have to lie every time you see me," I told him.

"What if I'm not-" he started, but Fausto's excited scream cut him off.

"Auntie Ame!" Fausto exclaimed. He gave me a big hug, and started telling me about his week. He really was a cute three-year-old.

"Daddy brought me to the museum and we saw a bottle of refined petroleum," he said.

I gave Terrik the look. He was an archeologist and all that, but very few people made it, so it was pointless to get his son so worked up about it.

"I liked it, too," he responded. "Come on, Fausto buddy, let's go see Mom."

I let them walk out of the smaller living room, and I sat down and picked up a tablet. Most people my age prefer to read on mind-sphere, but I still liked eBooks from the World Wide Web.

Halfway through Emily's Escape, I heard Johana's booming voice. "Look at the little bonehead," she said. "Seventeen years old and still reading seventh grade material on a tablet, no less."

"Just because you mastered this book in seventh grade doesn't mean it's seventh grade material," I scoffed. "Besides, it says high school level."

"Whatever." Johana came over and sat on the next to me. "How are you doing, Ame?"

"You saw me two days ago," I protested. Spring break was when my siblings pretended they didn't hate me. It never amounted to anything as soon as the Spring Festival was over.

"I know," she said. "But how are you doing now?" She started moving her fingers, obviously browsing her Mind-Sphere.

"Who do you do this?" I shouted. "Why do you pretend so darn hard if you actually hate me?"

Johana's eyes actually focused on my face. "Because I don't' actually hate you. I never did. I'm just worried about you. I don't' want it to happen ... when you turn twenty-one."

"Oh, yeah right," I bit back. "You would love to see me die. You probably dream about it."

"No! Of course not," she protested. "You're my sister. I don't want anything to happen to you. All my anger, that's all fear."

"If you can say this after Friday, I'll think about it." I got up and walked away.

"No, Ame, just hear me out!" Johana begged. It would have been so much easier to believe her if she didn't walk in pointing out how stupid I was. I walked up the stairs and into my bedroom, flopping onto my bed. The bed heater immediately kicked on, as if it didn't know it was already spring.

"Room, turn off the bed heat," I commanded.

"Yes, Lady Carol," it responded. The heat turned off immediately.

I hated my sibling's sympathy almost more than their teasing. They were always showing off how smart they were, how much like Selvin and Ellie they were.

I heard footsteps ascending the stairs. "Room, close and lock room door," I said.

The door swung shut and the lock clicked. "Yes, Lady Carol," the room responded. Sometimes, the only guarantee in life was that the main computer worked 24/7.

Bored, I decided to video Tag through Mind-Sphere. Scrolling through all my useless contacts, I found Tag's name. He answered almost immediately. He was probably as bored as I was.

"I'm guessing you're as bored as me," he said. I was right. His house was probably empty, since he didn't have any siblings.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm guessing you're parents aren't bugging you the way Terrik and Johana are bugging me." Tag's parents worked most days, and spring break was probably no exception.

"Well, nope. But could you sneak over to my place for a few hours?" Tag asked.

"Can't. We're having dinner soon," I said. "You can come over, though, since you're alone. When are Kris and Bria coming home?"

Tag's parents Kris and Bria Smith worked until late, so he usually could sneak to my house, as long as my parents didn't find out.

"They're not coming home at all 'til tomorrow afternoon," Tag said. "You know, they don't get spring break off like the smarts do."

"Then come. You'll have to hide in the closet during dinner, but after that, it shouldn't be too lonely," I offered.

Tag chuckled. "And that's okay just because your closet is almost as big as my bedroom? Kay, then. Bye," he said.

I laughed. "Bye." I turned off my eyescreen and waited for dinner to start. Dinner with Terrik and Johana. Boring.