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Mia nodded. “I will, definitely.”
Her mom sighed again. “Well, I guess we’ll talk to you soon then.”
“I love you, mom,” said Mia, feeling like her chest was getting squeezed in a vise. “I hope you know that. You and dad are the best parents ever.”
“Of course,” her mom said, looking a bit puzzled. “We love you too. Come home soon, okay?”
“I will,” said Mia, blowing an air kiss toward the computer screen, and ended the conversation.
Her sister was next. For once, she was actually reachable on Skype.
“Hey there, baby sis! What’s this text I just got from mom about you not coming home?”
Mia hadn’t seen her sister since she got pregnant, and she was surprised to see Marisa looking pale and thin, instead of having that pregnancy glow she’d always heard about.
“Marisa!” she exclaimed. “What’s going on with you? You don’t look well. Are you sick?”
Her sister made a face. “If you can call having a baby sickness, then yes. I’m throwing up constantly,” she complained. “I just can’t keep anything down. I’ve actually lost five pounds since I got pregnant –”
Mia gasped in shock. Five pounds was a lot for someone her sister’s size. While a little taller and curvier than Mia, Marisa was also small-boned, with her normal weight hovering somewhere around 110-115 pounds. Now she looked too thin, her cheekbones overly prominent in her usually pretty face.
“– and my doctor is not happy about that.”
“Of course, he’s not happy! Did he say what you should do?”
Marisa sighed. “He said to get more rest and try not to stress. So I am working from home today, preparing my lessons for next week, and they got someone to substitute for me for a few days.”
“Oh my God, you poor thing,” said Mia sympathetically. “That sucks. Can you eat anything, like maybe crackers or some broth?”
“That’s what I’m subsisting on these days. Well, that and pickles.” Marisa gave her a wan smile. “For some reason, I can’t stop eating those Israeli pickles – you know, the little crunchy ones?”
Mia nodded, stifling a grin. Her sister had always been a pickles fan, so it really wasn’t surprising she was going pickle-crazy during her pregnancy.
“So anyway, enough about my stomach issues . . . What’s going on with you? Why aren’t you coming this Saturday? We were all ready and excited to come over, see you and the parents –”
Mia took a deep breath and repeated the whole story to Marisa. She was getting so good at lying that she could almost believe herself. Maybe she should think about starting such a program at NYU next year – if she were still alive and attending school at that time, of course.
Her sister listened to everything with a vaguely disbelieving expression. And then, being Marisa, she asked, “Is the professor cute?”
To her horror, Mia felt her cheeks turning pink. “What? No! He’s old and has kids and stuff!”
“Uh-huh,” said Marisa. “So I’m supposed to believe you would be willing to do something like this at the request of an ugly professor? Just to pad your resume a little?” She shook her head slightly. “Nope, I just don’t see it.” A sly smile appearing on her face, she asked, “Just how old is old?”
Mia cursed her poor acting skills. Now Marisa would probably go blabbing to their parents that Mia had a crush on her professor. She tried to imagine liking Professor Dunkin that way and shuddered. Between his receding hairline and the yellowish spittle that frequently appeared in the corners of his mouth when he spoke, he was probably one of the least attractive individuals she’d ever met.
“Old,” Mia said firmly. “And unattractive.”
Marisa grinned, undeterred. “Okay, then, who is he?” she persisted. “I know you, baby sis . . . and you’re hiding something. If it’s not the old and unattractive professor you’re staying in New York for, then who is it?”
“No one,” said Mia. “There’s no man in my life . . . you know that.” And she wasn’t lying. There wasn’t a human man – just an extraterrestrial of the male variety. Who was also old – a lot older than her sister could imagine.
“Oh, please, then why are you acting so weird? You’ve been kinda strange for the past month, in fact,” said Marisa, looking at her intently. “Mia . . . is something wrong?”
Mia shook her head in denial and silently cursed Marisa’s sisterly intuition. It had been so much easier to fool her mom. “No, everything’s fine. It’s just been stressful, you know, with finals and all . . .”
“Uh-huh,” said Marisa, “you’ve had finals for the past three years, and it’s never been like this. I can see you’re not yourself, Mia. Now fess up . . . what’s happening?”
Mia shook her head again, and tried putting on a bright smile. “Nothing! I don’t know what you’re talking about – there’s absolutely nothing wrong. I just got a great opportunity to get some valuable work experience, and I am taking advantage of it. I’ll see you soon, just in a couple of weeks. There’s nothing to worry
