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Onika rarely understood adults, and it didn't help with the fact that she was nearly one herself, her eighteenth birthday was in four days, and her family wasn't going to be around to celebrate it with her. Not that Onika really celebrated her birthday anymore, it seemed unnecessarily cruel to count the years that she survived the tumour in her brain.
Yes, adults were weird in many ways, but in the black haired girl point of view, what was most complicated were the relationships. Her mother and father had split up over a year ago, after the stress of having a terminally ill daughter had pushed them into more arguments and money problems than they were used to. For months, the girl had been handed from home to home like a pass-the-parcel, her parents only talking to each other when they had to split a hospital bill. And somehow, after everything, they still got back together three weeks ago in an attempt to rekindle the fire of their relationship.
Adults were unusual creatures, but what blew Onika's mind most of all was the fact that they were going on a holiday trip together on her birthday, without her. It didn't matter that much to the girl, she knew her parents deserved some time to themselves without having to worry about her, besides she preferred having them around at the same time, and not having to choose one home for the holidays.
Onika closed her book in her lap and took a deep breath, she had been studying for her physics exam like she wasn't a mathematical genius. The studying was just a time waster so that she didn't have to listen to her mother check off their holiday requirements, and didn't have to watch her dad pack up every book from his study that he thought he would need. But inwardly the girl knew that she couldn't avoid it forever, and Onika finally slinked downstairs where, to her surprise, her parents were sitting together on the couch, laughing lightly like their relationship hadn't been in jeopardy.
They sat up straight when they saw her. "Onika, there's something that we need to discuss with you," her dad stated with a weary smile, as she curled herself up in the armchair across the room.
"If it's about the birds and the bees, I learnt it at school," Onika instantly retorted with a tiny grin forming on her lips. Her father laughed. He always laughed at her jokes regardless of whether they were funny or not; but Onika appreciated it none the less, he was easy to be around like that; unlike her mother who barely cracked a smile around her any more.
He shook his head softly from side to side, tentatively choosing his next words, "No honey, we've got you a baby sitter for the week while we're away,". Onika almost choked on nothing other than air. Was he serious? She was the most responsible girl in the world. If anything, she would be making sure the baby-sitter didn't make a mess in the house.
"You guys remember that I'm almost eighteen, right? Not to mention that I know how to take care of myself, eat food, drink water, don't shove my fingers in electric sockets," her mother glowered slightly at her words. The woman honestly thought that Onika was incapable of anything, ever since she stopped winning science fair trophies and math certificates she was rendered almost useless.
