Chapter One

"Dimitri, come here please." I heard my mother calling me. It was dinner time on a Thursday evening. She always called me down for supper, but this time, I could tell something was off. She sounded way more cheerful than usual.

"Dimitri, I just got a call from your teacher, and she said your overall grades have been miraculously improving! What do you say we go out to eat tonight?" I didn't know how to respond. My mother never got onto me about my grades. I mean, yeah they were C's, but they were passing.

"Yeah okay mom." I assured her with a slight grin. She smiled back at me. I went back up to my room, but I didn't feel the same as I did downstairs. I began to feel a little sick. I figured I was just a little winded from climbing up the stairs, so I thought little of it. I continued to work on a project for my design class.

We were assigned a project to recreate a historical famous event. I chose to do Pompeii, and my Mount Vesuvius is looking really nice so far. It's made from paper mache and the eruption effect is baking soda, food coloring, and vinegar. I just wish I had a more creative idea.

The uneasy feeling hasn't faded at all and I started to get dizzy. I tried to focus on my project, but I needed to take a short break. I closed my eyes for just a moment.

Just then, my mother knocked at my door. She had brought me a glass of water and candy floss. She informed me we'd be leaving soon.

"Here, I brought you a treat. Your project looks very nice." She set the snacks on my desk and patted me on the back, careful not to spill the water. I nodded and took a small drink.

One drink was all it took and the dizziness completely faded away, and the uneasiness in my stomach settled. That doesn't normally happen instantly, but I shrugged it off. I started to get worried about my project, and I needed to get back to work. I only had a week left to finish it before I had to turn it in to my teacher. I am notorious for turning in assignments last minute, and old habits die hard.

A few hours had passed and I almost completed my project. Just a few more layers of paint was all I had left to do, but before I could finish painting my sister rush in my room.

"Dimi!" She screamed. She had an extreme expression on her face.

"What! What's wrong?" I asked. She looked me dead in the eye.

"I have a very important question to ask you. Pink or purple?" She held up two dresses. One was a bright pink summer dress with frills on the hemline that were made of tulle covered in glitter. The other was a deep purple dress that had white polka dots down the front with a laced up back.

"You scared me. I honestly thought something was wrong. What do you want my opinion?" I asked back.

"Mom is busy working on a promotional poster for work and dad is doing something in the study. You're all I have left." She rolled her eyes. "So could you pick one?" I took a good look at each dress pretending to care which one she wore.

"Purple." I said. Without saying anything else she left my doorway and back to her room to change. I put my paints away and decided I should change out of my paint covered shirt. After I changed clothes I headed downstairs to meet with everyone before going out. We all loaded up into the car and we were off.