You have to be joking. She has to be kidding. No way, Grandpa can’t be dead. It’s not fair, it’s not fair at at all.

“I would never joke about this, Iris. Listen, I know he was close to you, an-“

Of course he was close to me, you moron. He’s more or less my grandfather. Hey, Marisa, you look like shit, what happened to you?

“First off, you’re like eleven, stop using those bad words. There was a car accident. Your “grandfather” didn’t make it. I did, and that’s that.”

But you look hurt. I mean, your face is all bumbly and ugly.

“I’ll be fine. Anyways, I didn’t just come here to tell you that. You trust me, right?”

She sounds angry. I hope she’s not angry at me. S-sure I trust you. Grandma’s gonna be upset when she finds out, though.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“She already knows.”

I guess that’s why she looked so sad before.

“Well, we have to go away for a bit. We’re not going to be gone forever, just for a year or so. Remember when you went to Hawaii?”

That was fun! Dad got me a shaved ice, and we petted dolphins, and grandpa taught me how to shoot a gun, and-

“Yeah, well this time we’re going to go to a place like that. But we won’t take a plane, we’ll take a boat.”

Are you picking on me?

“Of course no-“

Come on, stop being so mean. You’re playing a prank on me, Grandpa’s fine, right?

“Look, I’m not lying to you. Have I ever lied to you?”

The whole thing is weird. I mean, I guess I can understand Grandpa not being around anymore, that happened to mom and dad before, but why do we have to go to Hawaii? You’re bullying me, right? Just because I’m young doesn’t mean I’m s-s-stupid.

“We’re not going to Hawaii. Just think of it as a little game of hide and seek. We can even give each other codenames. Call me Lee from now on.”

Oh, oh, I’ve thought of a good name. Can you call me Agent Awesome?

“Uh, on second thought, I’ll think of a name for you. Something shorter and prettier, maybe.”

Iris is short and pretty enough, thank you!