REBELS

Episode 4

"Won't we stay here until we have to change countries again?" I asked directly, looking at her blankly.

"This is just a hotel where we'll stay until we solve some problems and then we're going to go to another smaller city, but don't worry, we're not going to leave Pennsylvania," my father tried to explain to me.

I did not want to ask what problems since I knew them perfectly, because I was the only cause of it.

When we got inside the hotel I put my sunglasses on my head, which I had put back on when I got out of the car because of the intensity of the sun in that city. I looked at the architectural details of the building with interest, everything looked very modern and expensive. The place was really gorgeous and sophisticated, it screamed money everywhere.

The truth is that I did not know where my father got enough money to be able to pay for accommodation in this wonderful and dreamy hotel since he always spent his time working from home, only on some occasions he went out to do some business, business that of course was not my concern according to my mother.

Not that he had been saving for more than 100 years.

While my father took care of registering us at the hotel, I stayed with my mother, looking around with an impressed and anxious look. She had never been in such a luxurious place, and for the first time she was letting me go on impulse by filling my gallery with beautiful photos of the lobby.

My father returned to us with a hint of a smile on his face.

"They only had suites available ," he warned us.

-AND? -I asked for.

-We stayed.

"I mustn't get used to it," I told myself before going to admire the access card my father had brought with him.

The first thing I did when I entered the suite was to run in search of a window to look at the landscape. I was lucky as there was a glass wall showing most of the city.

"It's beautiful," I commented, placing a hand on the glass, as if I were going to touch or grab the image in front of me to keep it.

"It's good that you like it, honey," I heard my father say from behind me, "since we'll spend a whole week here, or at least until I manage to transfer you schools, among other things."

"How many hours from here is our new house?" I asked, turning my face slightly to see him, his great height had always intimidated me, but his casual clothes gave him a much more jovial appearance than he appeared, his face did not indicate how close his age was, they could easily confuse him with a relative of mine, but never as my father.

"Only about three or four hours," he replied simply, playing it down.

-That? —She pronounced in a tone of disbelief, looking at him with a frown. I alternated my eyes between him and my mother, who was joining us at that moment. "And why didn't we go directly there?" I mean, it would have been good if we had landed there and not here. They know I hate sitting for so long and even more so in cars —I refuted like a capricious girl, I even crossed my arms in a position not favorable for my age.

“First, the Philadelphia airport brought us closer to our true destination and second… Honey” my father used a calm and affectionate tone, he looked at me cautiously, “don't get upset.

"I'm not… I'm trying to be okay," I said after receiving a look from him : don't lie . My parents knew me very well, before them I was transparent; an open book, right on those pages where all the fears and insecurities were narrated.

"And you will be, as always," my mother comforted me, placing a hand on my shoulder and pulling me towards her, her icy touch causing a small shiver to run through my body.

"Well, second," my father resumed his comment, "we need to settle some business here and wait for the Smirnovs." He mentioned my friend's last name.

—I understand, I'm sorry, I'm not thinking straight; everything has happened so unexpectedly that I still don't believe that the events that have us here now happened just yesterday —I spoke melancholy, suddenly sad.

—Try to forget it, that issue is already resolved, it was just a trick that you shouldn't put any importance on, we're all here together, including the person you refused to leave the country for in the beginning —He approached my mother and me and wrapped his arms around us.

"She's coming," I said, still having a hard time believing that Abby would come.

"I need to take a shower," my father communicated after distancing himself from us, "should we order dinner or go downstairs?" I saw that the hotel houses a restaurant.

"Let's go down," I answered instantly, "I'm dying to see the surroundings."

“Let's unpack and go downstairs,” my mother mentioned. Immediately an expression of denial formed on my face, I was too lazy to perform any small task.

"Doesn't some hotel employee take care of that?" I murmured hopefully.

My father laughed as he started to walk away from us, my mother made a move to do the same, but when she heard me she undid that task and stood firm to order me this time.

"Unpack your things, then shower, and we'll meet you here at seven."

"Damn, we're in a suite, someone should come sort my clothes," I protested.

"Do you want someone else to look at your pink panties?"

"I didn't say anything." I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I didn't think I heard anything," she celebrated, then began to walk in the direction of the corridor that led to the rooms.

I did the same as her after picking up my suitcase from the hall, I just arranged my underwear and put a couple of clothes in the closet. I did everything in a hurry, very anxious to get out of there, I finished showering in a few minutes, so before the stipulated time I was ready and about to leave the suite.