Chapter 60: Unwary, Beware

As any passably intelligent creature may have gathered from my foreboding tone, a vacation that begins with exploring an ancient tomb in an attempt to prevent our father's death cannot truly be a vacation at all. While I could forestall the action, hint at my father's inability to receive a cure, and dangle the truth tantalizingly, my father's vacation was neither harrowing nor interesting to repeat. After pleading to the Sphinx to be allowed entry, my father explored the caverns within, uncovered treasure, resisted temptation, and was blessed by an ancient statue, releasing him from the mummy's curse.
    The entire affair was so boring that it didn't spark a single flame of intrigue among my siblings and myself.

My father lifted his curse within twenty-four hours of us arriving in Egypt. Mother insisted that the two of them enjoy their time as a vacation, and essentially abandoned Leah, Charles, and myself to our own devices. It was just as well, because my younger siblings were scheming on their own.

"If dad can explore a tomb, so can we!" Leah yelled, her voice carrying across the desert. 

    I glowered at them, furious at having been taken away from my warm day on the water.

    "I'm not arguing with you! I'm all ready to go," Charles said.

    The pair turned to face me.

    "Oh, no, I'm not having any part in this. I rarely get a chance to scuba dive away from home. This is the ocean!" I bit my tongue, hoping neither of them would catch my error.

    Leah, damn her infernal intelligence that she hid so well, cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, really? You're telling me that Egypt borders the ocean? Which one, pray tell?"

    "Technically, Egypt's waters lead out into the Indian ocean."

    "You're trying to tell me that this is the Indian ocean?"

    "Fine. It's the Mediterranean sea. Happy?"

    Charles rolled his eyes. "Enough of your semantics, Leah. Phil, we'd be happier if you joined us."

    "Why do you care so much? You guys don't care much for my company."

    "Of course we do!" Leah lied.

    "Phil. If Leah and I go in there, we'll get in deep shit with mom and dad. But with you there? Everything will go fine, mom and dad won't find out a thing. And even if they do, they never discipline you."

     I considered this. "Explain what I stand to gain from this?"

     Leah smirked. 

    "Ooh, I'm Phillip! I hate having fun! Adventure is for weanies! I want to be a frog, and I look like one too!" Leah made the most ridiculous face I had seen in a while, bringing a faint smirk to my lips. "You smiled!"

    "And? I smile sometimes."

    Leah gave me a nudge. "C'mon, Phil. You wouldn't have dressed up like this if you didn't want to join us. I know you love an adventure as much as Charlie and I."

    "I dressed like this because I look dashing."

    Charles sighed and shoved a large rock into my arms. "Here, Phil. We need two donations to get into the tomb we want to go to."

    "HEY! I was going to use that one!" Leah pouted.

    "Too bad. Are you in, Phil?"

    I nodded, barely containing my anticipation. We marched across the sands for a short period, a flat sandy wall braced by two pillars greeting us. Charles and I each took post at one pillar, and at the same time, deposited our rocks onto the pillars. They lowered, revealing a door. 

"I wanted to do it!" Leah whined.

    "Stop being such a crybaby. You probably couldn't even lift it. Come on, Leah, stay focussed in here. We need to be serious."

    Charles wasn't exaggerating. A skeleton greeted us just past the entrance of the tomb. 

    "Hey, it looks like there's an engraving here!" Charles said, walking over.

    "What does it say?"

    "How would I know? It's in hieroglyphics."

    I rolled my eyes. "It's common sense to learn the language of any country you plan on visiting."

    Leah sniffled. "Egypt's official language is Arabic."

    "Do you want to know what it says or not?"

    My siblings nodded. 

    "It says: "Unwary, beware. For those unprepared must prepare to meet their doom."" I pronounced.

    "I love cryptic shit!" Leah squealed. 

"There's nothing cryptic about it," I said. "It's telling us we'll die if we're not careful."

    "Well it's boring if you say it like that," Leah complained.

    The next few hours passed with great effort. Our path, blocked by statues, had to be cleared by dragged the statues across the tomb, working together to avoid being boxed in. Once I passed the first set of statues, hidden traps set flame behind me, preventing my siblings from following suite. 

    "What should we do?" Leah called.

    "Stay there. There's a pool of water here—it looks deep, but I'm the best one suited for the task. Maybe I can find some way to turn the fire off."

"Sounds like a plan!" Charles yelled. "I'm sure you've got it handled."

   Apprehension taught me that this had been their plan all along. It was hard for me to avoid diving headlong into an adventure. Sometimes, literally.

The water was unnaturally cold, and any inferior human than I may have struggled to avoid losing their physical sensation in such coolness. As it was, I was a fish in water. But, I wasn't fool enough to forget my lack of gills, and hurried forth. I could see nothing, feeling my way along the edge of the well as I propelled my way forward with my feet. The water slowly warmed until the temperature was nearly unbearable. At last, I arose in a pool of shimmering red liquid, reflecting the fire flickering on the outskirts of the room.

I was completely cut off from my siblings and saw no way of returning to them. I couldn't help but worry—the door behind them was locked, and with the fires in front, they had no way of moving forward. I trusted that they were intelligent enough to find another solution—climbing the statues, maybe?—but even if they did, the passage underwater would be far too much for their capacity of lungs.

    At least they had non-perishable rations with them, and each other for company. They would surely be worried for me, but that wasn't something that could be helped.

—Meanwhile—

    "The service in here is pretty good! I have three bars."

    "What's your battery, Charles?"

    "Eighty-three percent. I have a a portable charger if you need one."

    "I'm good for now. Man, there's not a chance I would have dived in. I would have to say R.I.P. to my phone."

    "You could have given it to me!"

    "Oh, please, Charles. I'm sure that you'd crack my passcode and find some sexy pictures Jo sent me."

    "While that sounds appetizing, I wouldn't want to risk coming across any photos of you."

    "No risk of that. I've even created an album of her pictures. Wanna see?"

    "Now you're talking."

I groaned as the pickaxe chipped away one more rock, coughing as the powdered stone filled my lungs. Wiping tears out of my irritated eyes, I braced myself again and released the pickaxe once more. At least by the end of this day, I would have stronger muscles to help in my aquatic adventures. 

    After another hour of labour, I finally managed to uncover a star keystone. It wasn't immediately apparent where to put it, but I stowed it away in my pouch for safekeeping.

    The only portion of the room I had failed to explore was a hole next to a decayed skeleton. Bile rose in my throat and I thrust my hand into the hole, curses escaping from my lips as small, six-legged creatures skittered over my hands, their antennae brushing curiously across my skin. I let out a cry of disgust and, feeling a wood lever at the bottom of the hole, wrapped my fingers around it and pulled. A chain blocking a door loosened and I barreled through, shaking my arm off in disgust.

The next door had a star keystone engraving in it. I placed the key in the hole and admired the chain loosening from the next door. Once I had found my siblings, I would have to return and examine the mechanism. How old was this place? Who had placed so many traps? It did not seem as though the creators were trying to prevent entry—instead, simply preventing entry to the unworthy. 

    I pushed my way through the door and immediately stumbled into a pit of flames. I panicked, running further into the flames as they caught onto my clothing. I removed them as quickly as possible, shaking my limbs as if to rid myself of the fire. 

Regaining some senses, I flung myself to the ground and proceeded to roll around until the last of the fire dissipated. Exhausted and light headed from the smoke, I passed out where I lay. 

When I awoke, my actions were performed under the duress of less oxygen than I was adjusted to consuming, and can therefore be excused. I possess memories of only certain events. Namely, I first consumed some granola I found in my sock. Whether it was truly granola is a fact I do not wish to probe thoroughly. The next memorable action was somehow procuring my childhood teddy bear in my arms and hugging it for comfort. This particular memory was alarming simply for the fact that it could not be true, and yet, no memory in the world was more striking than this. The final action was drinking a potion I had somehow conducted. My senses seemed to regain themselves and my mind was put at ease. Somehow, wearing nothing more than my underwear, socks, and glasses, I had managed to procure both the ingredients and vessel to make a mood-improving potion. I could only accredit this to my genius, even under situations of extreme stress. It would make an excellent story to tell during interviews when asked how I perform under pressure, if only I thought it was even slightly believable. 

I was now grateful that my siblings were safe from harm's way, although their presence would be comforting. What if I died in these tombs? That would be a sour way to perish. If they were here, they would be able to resuscitate me if circumstances led to such an event. 

    I had never been an excellent brother, but I promised myself in that moment that I would not, could not die in this tomb. My siblings needed me to free them, and I would do anything in my power to make sure I could complete that task.

—Meanwhile—

    "Hey, Charles, look! These doors opened up!"

    "You're right. Phillip must have done something inside the tombs to trigger that."

    "Cool! I think this one leads to a shortcut. Do you think we should wait up for him?"

    "Nah. He'd want us to go ahead and get the treasure."

    "I think you're right. After all, anyone could stroll in right now and take it for themselves. Then all of his efforts would be for naught!"

    "I like how you think. We're simply preventing any distress on his end."

The theme of this tomb was to ignore temptation. I passed up the opportunity to grab an gold statue of a king cobra and a door opened to reward my resistance. In reality, there were two other reasons I didn't want the statue. First, I thought it was pretty tacky, and considering how wealthy my family was, I wasn't exactly for want of money. Secondly, there was no way I'd be able to carry that python in my underwear.

    The inscription in the following room revealed the true treasure to be the Eye of Horus. Careful studying lead me to understand that with both eyes, I would be able to teleport between them. At this point, I had given up trying to understand the science behind such workings. If father could be cured of a cursed bestowed upon him by a mummy by being blessed by an ancient statue, then clearly Egypt was deeply steeped in magic. The restrictions on supernatural types entering the country made more sense now. Such a revelation, however, was not one I would ever be open to sharing with my cohorts.

 

After claiming the other eye as my own and confirming that teleportation was somehow possible, I was eager to leave the tomb and reunite with my siblings. Indeed, reuniting with my siblings was not an event I ever before found pleasure with. A final engraving informed me that the rest of the treasure was for my taking as a reward, and a door opened. At last, I could leave this place. Blast the treasure! My underwear was at its capacity.

To my great misfortune, taking the treasure was a non-negotiable event. And even more unfortunately, there were more puzzles leading to the rest of the treasure. I was at my wits end, and performed the necessary tasks with perfunctory motions. The only joy this adventure brought me was the vast amount of history in each room. Tapestries adorned the walls, well preserved paints and cloths showing off the cultural and historical significance of the sacred territory I walked. Dazzling jewels brought me no joy, but even in my state of exhaustion and pain, I couldn't help but admire the art around me.

As I was studying the bust of an Egyptian, a whisper caused me to nearly jump out of my skin and wet myself, had I not the pride and composure of royalty. 

    To my relief, my siblings had somehow found their way to me. 

    "What happened to you?" Charles cried, demonstrating my appearance.

    "Yeah, we've been waiting ages!" Leah added.

    "Let's see... I've nearly drowned, been burned to death, bitten by deadly insects, starved, died from exhaustion, crushed by boulders, and locked away forever by ancient magic. What have you guys been up to?"

    Leah shrugged. "Something along the same lines. Treasure hunting! What's your load? There are only a few rooms left, Phil, so let's split up and keep searching!"

    This was the last thing I wanted to do, but Leah and Charles departed faster than my fatigued body could follow them. 

The fastest way to satisfy them would be to do as they wished. I dragged myself into the nearest room, unaware of the danger lurking within. Little did I know, the treasure I set my eyes on would be the last one I would ever find.

"Unwary, beware. For those unprepared must prepare to meet their doom."

Chapter 59: The Curse of Teenhood

For the most part, my childhood was filled with science and math. There was an upstairs chemistry lab table that was stocked full of various chemicals and ingredients (almost all of them were expired, but that rarely stopped me from using them). I was attending a different high school from Leah, as mine was IB. I had also taken some AP tests, for a fee, and had studied to write my SATs in case I wanted to go to university in the States. I had been shocked to discover that in the last four generations of my family, only two members had gone to university—Uncle Harry, who was a surgeon, and Great-Aunt Sandy, who went for the creative arts.
    The family certainly had a history with politics, and my father's expectations were for me to go into business or political science. I had no desires to follow such a route, but I understood that a safe, comfortable, and wealthy life would lie before me if I heeded his request.

Despite the fact that William was born a ghost, he appeared to age and grow in a manner comparable to normal infants. Or so I believed. I wasn't fond of young children and tried to avoid him when I could. Even Charles could be bothersome at times. He was in elementary school, and acted with such a cocksure attitude that I was certain he would get in trouble when he was older. Leah's legacy of cold popularity created the walkway for Charles. While the rest of us shunned paparazzi and the attention attached to our names, Charles lived for it. Although not particularly skilled in STEM subjects, he excelled at communication classes, picking up languages easily and engaging in debate club. His focus, however, was on making as many friends as possible. Equipped with a golden-tongue and passive parents, there was nothing Charles couldn't get away with.
    Despite being extremely spoiled, even I could admit that Charles was not selfish. He was particularly affectionate with William, happily accepted baby-sitting duties, and always put William first. Begrudgingly, I could admit that Charles was a far better elder brother than I.

I preferred to occupy my time with other activities. Fishing, conducting science experiments, looking out the scope of a telescope... They all appealed to me far more than interacting with others. The leniency of my parents drove me to make decisions by myself of morality and what was right and wrong. Which led me into trouble on more than one occasion.
    For some reason, our town enforces a curfew. This is a law I've begged my father to change, but which he has insisted lies outside his jurisdiction.
    I could come up with exactly two reasons for a curfew: in order to prevent teenage crime, and in order to prevent teenagers from being a victim of a crime.
    In order to avoid these things, I decided to enjoy my nighttime activities close to the house, where I knew I would be safe.
    Unfortunately, even fifty feet off my property was considered to be breaking curfew in the eyes of the man who cuffed me and returned me to my parents.

"This is completely unnecessary," I fumed, pushing my glasses further up my nose.
    The cop chuckled. "Really? This is for your own safety. You know the rules. Don't break them."
    "I can handle myself."
    "You're covered in soot, for some reason. Clearly you can't."
    "I'm not going to follow illogical laws. Laws forbidding stealing and unethical acts are sensible. Laws forbidding someone from exiting their home at a certain time are dystopian."
    He didn't say anything more, simply dropping me off and informing my parents that next time, it wouldn't be a warning. For once, my parents actually tried to discipline me, and 'grounded' me. I put the word grounded in quotations because the times they restricted me from exiting the house were the same that curfew was enforced.
    Needless to say, I didn't care enough to abide by such a trifling matter.

Somehow, between the lines and math and the space between the stars, I had discovered something tangible that grounded me on the earth.
    Sailing. Ever since our travels to Egypt, I had begged my parents to enrol me in windsurfing and sailing classes, and had placed various pieces of fishing equipment on my Christmas wishlists.
    There was something about being on the water that made my mind clear and an inexplicable sense of happiness overwhelm me. Every morning, I rose before dawn to fish, bringing home my catches for breakfast. My parents hadn't minded me getting up before curfew for that.
    In the evening, I would attend debate club after class, go home, do my homework, eat, and then head out on the water until I was surrounded by nothing but the glassy ocean. That's when I would begin my dives, collecting seashells and swimming alongside the fish.
    I was lucky my family was rich, because all the oxygen I bought for my scuba tank cost a pretty penny.

I managed to successfully sneak out for a few days. One night, I returned home a bit later than usual and climbed upstairs to work on some experiments. Unfortunately, my purple father was waiting for me. Yes, purple.
    "Dad, are you okay?"
    "Oh, I'm perfectly fine! Don't I look fine, son?"
    "I don't understand... were you outside? You must be freezing! Should I call the hospital?"
    "Phillip. I know you've been sneaking out. I've spent the last two hours searching every nook and cranny for you—including outside! The surfing equipment was gone from the garage, but even when I swam in the water, I couldn't find you!"
    I was a bit baffled that he would swim in an attempt to look for me. "Dad, I don't really understand the situation, but I don't want you to be mad at me. I'll clean the whole house if that's what it takes for you to forgive me."
    He blinked twice. "Okay, that sounds reasonable."
    I hid my smirk when he turned his back. That man had no idea how to discipline.

    I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder and put on my best pouty face as I turned to face my mother. "Mom, I don't understand why he was like that..."
    She smiled. "Don't worry about him. He was just stressed. Listen, Phil, he went into the water looking for you and turned blue within ten minutes. He was getting frantic thinking about how cold you would be."
    "That's why I have a wet suit!"
    "Still, you're not invincible."
    I shrugged and gave her a hug. Truth be told, despite my lanky frame, I withstood the elements far better than the average person, and even the frosty winters didn't deter me. I looked like a fool while wearing the full body wetsuit, but I had no qualms looking like a fool if that allowed me to pursue my passion.

Although I had found a passion, something to direct all of my energies towards, Leah was still looking for hers. She mastered the piano easily, yet didn't challenge herself further with her pursuits. Instead, she wanted to feel validated through other means. Namely, by flaunting her body in an attempt to woo others her way.
    I shouldn't be too discrediting. After all, Leah was struggling with discovering who she was. The crux of her self discovery happened during a daytime bikini beach party put on by the most popular teenagers. Needless to say, it wasn't a crowd I mingled with. Leah was kind enough to extend an invitation, despite knowing I would decline. Her stories afterwards made me glad I had missed the drama.

Around school, Leah had gained the nickname "Iron Keys" as a play on"Ivory Keys". She claimed that this was because she was either ice or fire depending on her mood. I held my tongue in mentioning that the temperatures of metals do not change "because of their mood".
    She was a flirt, to summarize my findings, and was known to make out with at least one new boy at every party she went to. Since she was only a second year in high school, not many people were venturing further than that.
    At this bikini beach party whatever event, Leah had made sure to wear the most revealing bikini she could possibly find to compliment her spray-tanned skin and minuscule physique. After seeing her in it, I considered burning my eyes with bleach, but decided against it since the last image imprinted into my brain would be an utterly horrifying one of my sister.
    After choosing her prey, someone else drew Leah's attention.

It was fitting, truly. The equation suddenly made sense. The only other person who could match Leah's flirtatious, attention-seeking, confident personality was that of another girl. The girl's name was Jo (a bit contrarian in my opinion), and she was cool as a cucumber and as nasty as cat claws.
    Feeling irresistible, Leah didn't wait long before attacking her prey.

There were plenty of eyewitnesses to report back on the event. The show was something the male (and female, apparently) onlookers greatly enjoyed.
   Leah told me that from this moment, she knew that she was gay. That throwing away any preconceived notion, accepting that she would never be heiress anyway, and embracing her desires allowed her to feel comfortable in assessing her attractions.
    Unfortunately, this moment was not quite as enlightening for Jo.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Jo had screamed, causing the onlookers to avert their eyes.
    Leah had been repentant, apologizing profusely and promising not to do it again. And, just to push her luck, she asked if they could start over.
    "I'm not thrilled at the idea of dating someone who lunges at me like that," she had responded.
    Leah had promised her that if she ever did something even remotely unwanted again, she would allow Jo to reject her without putting up a fight. After many minutes of promises and flattery, Jo agreed to try things out.
    And that was how Jo started coming over to our house every single day, at first, to do homework, but considering Leah's intellect, that usually left them plenty of time to swap spit.

I had hoped that when Charles got older, he would have acted as an ally to me. Alas, he was even more rambunctious and difficult to handle than either Leah or I. I broke rules, Leah partied hard, and Charles did both. Tensions quickly rose between him and my father. The breaking point was when my father prohibited Charles from babysitting William. Despite his many flaws, Charles had an enduring love for our youngest sibling, and immediately resented my father for this decision. Father told him that if he wanted to be a good brother, he would have to start by being a good role model. This led into a tumultuous argument that I evaded, using the opportunity to sneak outside.
    It was exhausting to listen to them. I still wasn't sure of the details of their relationship. All I knew is that to this day, my father and Charles never saw eye to eye. Most parents grow more lenient with the more children they have. With my parents, it was quite the opposite. I was the golden child, and almost all rules were let slip when I was the one breaking them.

The most brotherly act I've ever done was one that, at its heart, was selfish. I was fascinated with the challenge of creating the famous metamorphium potion, and offered it to my sister to test its effects on her imaginary friend. When I saw what her friend turned into—a pudgy, trashy girl with a nasty sense of humour, I couldn't help but feel that I had done something wrong. After all, why would Leah ever imagine someone so despicable?
    To my relief, Leah seemed happy at this transformation, and thanked me rather than reprimanding me.

Her friend, Francina, made her introduction to the family by approaching Charles and immediately ensnaring him in her grasp, feasting her lips on his. Leah was thoroughly amused, especially when she explained the situation to Charles and added in additional details, such the fact that when Francina was invisible, she would hide in his room to watch him change.
    Leah later told me that this story wasn't true at all and Francina always stayed close to Leah's side growing up. One can imagine the great relief this information was to me.
    Charles, of course, immediately despised Francina and warned her never to approach him again. Francina's obvious mirth seemed evidence against any attraction she claimed to have for him.

    The largest issue with this growing number of teenagers was all of the other teenagers they brought into the house. I made sure I was scarce every evening, shutting myself away in my room to do my homework and escaping to the outdoors as quickly as possible. My parents' loose control on my siblings meant there were no restrictions on the frequency of their parties and hangouts.

    Leah's motivation was Jo, who she claimed to be 'completely obsessed' with. Sometimes, I wondered if Leah was simply stoking her own ego. Jo was, without needing to dwell on the subject, hot. Leah enjoyed many public displays of affection, especially during school hours. Avoiding my siblings was my favourite activity while trying to attend class. Leah paraded around her relationship (if one could call it that), and laughed about how she and Jo were the exact same size and could swap outfits at any point in time. To which many boys usually requested an example viewing.

    The only point I ever defended Leah on was her motivation to be so public with her interests. Many self-indulgent males claimed that she and Jo acted for the satisfaction of the boys rather than their own hormonal desires. I simply told them that if they wanted to attract any attention, it would be that of the other girls. 

    As for Charles, his intentions were purely unethical. He proudly informed me that his goal was to sleep with as many people as possible, male or female. Personally, I thought he was way too young to be thinking about such things, but that didn't stop him from inviting over muscular men and busty ladies. He was really a simple minded guy. 

    He never admitted it to me, but I was fairly certain that Francina was his first kiss. Maybe she was the ignition to his desires. However, sleeping with her was certainly never going to be an option.

    That didn't mean that having brawny friends around helped deter her interest, however. Francina may have been aware of her unattractive personality and appearance, but that certainly wasn't an obstacle in her quest for... well, whatever it was that she sought.

    Her latest victim was one of Charles' friends, Marion. He was nice, kind to Francina, and instantly regretful in his behaviour towards her.

    Marion gave her an inch and she took a mile. Er—that is to say, her advances towards him were certainly not reciprocated. And once more, this reaction apparently caused her little distress. If anything, Francina's ultimate goal was to make others as uncomfortable as possible. I can affirm that I've been locking my door for a very long time now.

    On this particular night, Charles had succeeded in convincing his friend Jon to join him privately... outdoors in our front yard on a bench, despite the five centimetres of snow we had received that evening.

    This information I can share confidently as being accurate, as, unfortunately, I had been caught once more for being out after curfew. The cop was only lenient because it was half an hour after curfew and I was making my way back to shore. Frankly, it would have been amusing if he had tried to wait for me all night. I could have windsurfed to the other end of the island and simply gone to school the next morning.

    However, I didn't have the energy to deal with such an ordeal, and submitted to returning home. Unfortunately. Maybe if I had acted as a rebel, I wouldn't have had to see Jon and Charles canoodling. I also wouldn't have had to witness Francina's jubilant expression upon seeing this display, nor how she stood there watching them. I busied myself by taking care of mother's horse, given the cold, to earn myself a few brownie points with my parents. And to avoid going back inside with all the sweaty teenagers. Eventually, I used the trampoline to launch myself onto the balcony, then I snuck back through Leah's room into my own.

    Okay, fine, I didn't actually do that. But it would have been better than seeing Leah's tongue making circles on Jo's chest, with her hand down her pants. Honestly, our house had seven locked rooms and they chose to conduct their business in the living room with the lights on. Nothing could deter me more from the thought of engaging in such activities than having to witness my younger siblings fornicating with their partners everywhere.

    Thankfully, the ambiguous man in the sky must have heard my desperate calls for help, because he bestowed upon me a joyous gift that alleviated my grief and even brought a dash of excitement to my heart: father was cursed by a mummy.

    To clarify, it was not the curse itself that brought me joy, but the consequences of this curse—a return trip to Egypt. It also explained why I had frequently seen father trying to learn snake charming. Charming a snake could apparently also mend the curse, but he was running out of time and hadn't made any progress.

    Honestly, I had just accepted my family's peculiarities and assumed he wanted to learn snake charming for personal growth and leisure. 

    A week without Francina, William, or other nuisances/responsibilities. A week without seeing my siblings shove their tongues down someone's throat, of worrying about our idiotic curfew, or the mundanities of school. Finally, a week where I could just relax. Surely nothing would interfere with that!