Change of Heart

chapter 31

Isaac POV:

A cacophony of knocks suddenly hit my door, startling me.

"I'm coming." I shouted, but stayed on my bed for a few extra seconds, before unenthusiastically dragging myself off of it and opening the door.

"Dad?"

Well this was unexpected to say the least. I couldn't remember the last time my dad had come directly to see me.

"Your face is looking very nicely decorated." He spoke, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah." I did an awkward chuckle, having forgotten about the whole Dillon fiasco.

"Go get ready then."

I tilted my head slightly at his strange behaviour, "For what?"

"We're going out." He smiled, then walked out with no other comment.

This seemed more like an absurd dream, so I pinched myself, just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating this, but nothing happened, confirming this was real.

Or as real as it could be.

I quickly took off all of the books on my bed and dressed my bed, then grabbed my phone, slipping it into my pocket.

Grabbing some shoes and a jacket, I quickly ran down the stairs to meet my dad who stood by the door with a pained look on his face, until he noticed me and replaced it with a smile.

"Let's go then." He once again walked out first, as I scrambled to get my shoes on, then ran after him, seeing him already in the car.

"Where to?" I hopped into the front seat and put my seatbelt on as he started to drive.

"Surprise."

"Dad, is this for my birthday? Because you do know my birthday isn't till August."

He laughed, something I hadn't heard in a long time, and shook his head. "Just be patient."

I tried a few more times to get it out of him, but each time, he would shut me down, saying to be patient, so in the end I just kept silent, looking out the window and watching the houses and shops fly by.

Finally, the car stopped, and I turned to see an aquarium that brought back waves of memories.

"The Aqua place." I whispered, feeling my dad's eyes on me.

"Come on, instead of staring, let's go in." My dad got out of the car first, then I did too, taking a bit longer than him, trying to understand why he was doing this.

As we walked towards the aquarium, I could see my dad's nose twitch a bit; he hated the smell of aquariums whilst I loved the smell and I would grab any opportunity to come here, whilst he would grab any opportunity to get out of it.

At the reception, my dad gave two tickets to the receptionist, before we walked in, the familiar salty smell welcoming me in.

I felt like my 6 year old self again, going around the aquarium with my dad, pointing out the different sea animals.

"I forgot how long this place takes to finish." My dad complained for the 1516262 billionth time, acting like a child.