Charlotte POV

"Yeah, sorry again"

"I understand " said Jane on the phone.

I cutted the call and started dumping my folded clothes into the suitcase. After calling Jane and informing I can't attend her party now, I have one thing left to do. Call Dave, my boyfriend. After packing of course. I still can't believe my mom has a twin. And not to mention in India.

Just freaking Great!

Three suitcases. Done

Clothes packed. Done

Toothbrush, Ariana Grande's magazines , charger, i- pod, healthy snacks, some free oxygen-

"So how is packing going?" Mom barges in my room.

"Mom, what about my privacy?"

"Oh, sorry dear, but she can't come"

I face palm.
'You may get a headache' my conscience says. " I not asking about our poodle Privacy. I am asking about MY PRIVACY"

Yeah, we have a headstrong poodle named Privacy. Now don't ask me why I picked that name.

"Oh... Let it be turned off for today. I need to check how is your packing going on. Because it is a really far away country. By the way your cousin is of your age. You can use her clothing too"

I just didn't like the mere thought of using some random girl's clothing. Even if she is my unknown cousin.

Before I could reply mom starts again " What clothing did you pack by the way?" and she began to rummage through my clothing.

She shook her head disapprovingly and started pulling out all my miniskirts.

"Mom, what are you doing? Do you even know how much time it took??" I ran towards her and grabbed my black miniskirt, which she was about to toss on the floor. Like the others.

"Oh Lotte! You should know miniskirts are not allowed to wear there?"

"What? Why?"

" You see, it is a country with a lot of tradition. If you wear a miniskirt, that would be the start of a city-wide gossip"

How was I supposed to know? I am not a nerd who by hearts every country's cultures in geography!

However , I replied my biggest concern "No please. I would die wearing full length clothes in summer. And not to mention it took so much time to pack these. By tomorrow morning I would be as tired as an ox after packing and repacking. (Don't take that animal too seriously). "

"What I said is final. I don't need a girl ox but I am afraid you should repack. I will check again in an hour " she said leaving the room.

Great! Wonderful! Spectacular! I don't even have any other words to describe the news I heard. I sit on my bed with face in my hands.

I am going to some far away country for a trip. And I can't contact my friends. If they know, everyone will know I am not native. I would not be popular anymore. I should be wearing legging and T-shirts. Or worse(gulp) Sarees.( Got to know in google Indian girls wear Saree's). And surprisingly my mother has a twin living there.
I have to bear all of that without my dad!! Because he has some business errands, he can't come.

I call Dave to vent my misery.

"Hi babe" he said.

"Hi Dave. You know what? My life turned upside down for a week"

" Then place it in front of mirror. 'My life' will be straight again" he giggled at the other end at his lame joke. He makes the lamest jokes ever. Keyword: ever.

"Shut up. I am serious. "

"I thought you were Charlotte"

"DAVE!"

"Okk... OK... " he tries to stifle his laughter but fails miserably " What's the problem baby?"

"I TOLD YOU ONE MILLION TIMES. I am not a baby but a grown up. And FYI I have a name. "

"OK... Seems like your life is not totally upside down then. By the way you are screaming, you look normal. I won't call you babe anymore. So is your problem settled now?"

"It's not the problem. I wanted to say about something else. "

" Then what is it?"

"Yeah you see, promise you won't tell anyone"

"Why would I?"

"You didn't say 'promise' "

"Promise"

"You see, I discovered I am a half- Indian" I start to pretend cry for making it seem intense. Although it is intense.

"Oh… Bab... No… Lotte. So, what's the big deal?"

"You don't see a difference?"

"Nope"

"Oh Dave! You are so sweet. And I am also going there for a week starting from tomorrow. I am going to miss you a lot"

"Same-"

At the precise moment my bedroom door swings open , with Mom falling backward into my room.

Then she stands up, rubbing her butt. It is where it hurt after she fell.

What the hell? She must have been leaning on the door listening to the whole conversation. I kept it on the loudspeaker.

"MOM!" I scream.

"Oh, sorry dear. You both were so interesting" she giggles.

I widen my eyes. Now I am really wondering if aliens kidnapped my mom. They can be real you know. Especially if my mom is not behaving so... Normal.

What if they are collecting information about earthlings like me. You know, popular people.

"Don't worry dear. I was about to leave. And no, I am not an alien. "

"What? Aliens can even read minds?". I widen my eyes.

"Nah. You said that loud. Don’t worry , Aliens are not real." she says leaving the room and closing the door.

I immediately cut my call not wanting any more embarrassment. My face is beetroot red now. Goodness knows what Dave is thinking about me now.  How am I ever going to face him again?

***

" Plane to India will be arriving soon" I hear the announcement in the airport.

If you are wondering how fast I came here, let me give you a clue. The conversation above was yesterday's. And I didn’t spoke to him till now out of embarrassment.

And now it is evening. Suddenly I hear a call. A nature call if that's what you call it.

"Mom can I please use the washroom. It's urgent" I ask her trying to act it is really urgent.

She allows me, and I walk into the room to find out a girl about my age standing there. As if waiting for me.

I try to ignore her but she grabs my hand and says in the most cheerful voice.

"Hello Charlotte, we have been waiting for you".

I free myself. And man, I am confused. Who is this stranger and how does she know about me

"What the -? And who are you. And what do you mean by we? How do you know my name?-" ?

"Calm down girl. Let me introduce". says the latter."

"Waiting here" I reply as I tap my foot impatiently.

********
Bhavya POV

My life took a 180° turn. Like hello!

I didn't even know my mother had a twin. And after that she told me that she and her daughter lives in America.

This is awesome. The freaking USA. I always wanted to visit there. Now I have relatives living there. Now how wonderful is that? My own unknown cousin. I cant imagine how jealous my classmates would be knowing it.

My mom came to the bedroom calling me by my real name. She usually gives me worse nicknames in the history of humankind such as Bhavi, Babu, Babi... the list is basically endless. Whenever she calls me by my real name, chills run down my spine. Because she uses my real name only in... serious situations. I am just terrified at what news she has.

"Hello dear, I have packed your bags"

"But I can pack on my own. And tomorrow is the same timetable anyway". Since when did mom started packing my school bag? Something is definitely up. Did she find out that-?

I am literally panicking now. Did the news about aliens controlling humans turn true? In that case I want the remote control as well. What deal I can make with them?

"Bhavi, I am saying about your luggage bags. It is a surprise. Guess what?"

"Oh-" so I was wrong. My mom is my mom after all. And all I want is my mom NOT to pack my school bag. Because if she discovers, I am still buying those 1 Rupee unhealthy (mom's suspicious) treats and burying them in my backpack, I am good as dead.

If you are reading this, my last wish is to play BTS songs at my funeral when she finds out about it.

"Oh, Babu. You are daydreaming again right?"

I jerked up to my senses. After hearing that nickname, I am 100 percent sure my mom is not an Alien.

"Yes. So, what is the surprise?"

She smiled grinned and said " We are leaving for USA. Tomorrow "

OK. That is a lot to take in. I take a deep breath to control my excitement.

"Actually, you see we have been planning this for a long time. So much money is wasted on tickets but is worth it. We are going to give my sister a surprise she will never forget. "
*****

" Plane leaving to United States of America is arriving shortly" I hear the announcement. I can't wait. Soon I am going to be flying in aeroplane to America. In just two days, my whole life turned. Who knows what more surprises are there in store.

Then, my dad receives a call. A smartphone call.

"Hello"

"Wait what?"

"But... I am on a trip... "

"I.. "

"OK"

He put his phone down, shook his head disappointed.

“Seems like the trip is cancelled. Your mom and I have some important business.” he said with high disappointment.

“No way , we spent way too much on tickets” mom argued.

“We will have to wait .Maybe later someday we can visit there ”

Great ! I knew it was too good to be true. So, mom and dad went to the ticket counter to change the date but the person there said he can’t change especially since the plane is in few hours.

“ Look how much money you have wasted” mom shouted at dad right in front of the counter.

“Whose idea it was?” dad retorted.

Sometimes my parents can be so embarrassing. I looked at them hopelessly as all the other people in the airport were doing the same thing as me. I wanted it to be a memorable trip. To visit America with my parents and have fun… Wait! I have an idea. I hope it would work.

I cleared my throat to grab their attention. But needless to say, they were still arguing. So, I just went in between them stretched my arms to separate them and said “ Listen, maybe I can go on my own. In that way your money will not be wasted or you will not miss your ‘important business’ . And besides your aunt lives there. She can pick me up from that airport“.

My parents were speechless for few minutes and then another heated argument started whether I should go or not.

“She is too young. Don’t even think of such thing!” my mom was saying while my dad “You were persistent about not wasting money. But now you want to?” was my dad.

Just great! Mom and dad arguing in front of the ticket counter (again!), people in line getting annoyed about it, other waiting passengers staring at us…was too much to take in. So, I just did the right thing at that time any other embarrassed kid would do. I covered my face by keeping my luggage bag in front of my face and slipped out silently. It was way too humiliating. I HATE ATTENTION.

Finally, they did settle it allowing me to go on my own. After an hour that is. After ten minutes of arguing, security dragged them away from the counter as rest of the people waiting in line were getting impatient. And then told them to argue slowly.
Thanks a lot officer( notice sarcasm). He should have at least told them to stop arguing.

And then they continued. Finally, dad won(for the first time in this year) about letting me go. Mom is very reluctant. She is telling me safety measures like don’t talk to strangers or don’t keep my hands out of the window (it’s a plane mom, for heavens sake!) until the plane is about to depart.

Finally, some peace. I strech my arms and legs and let out a sigh.

“Hey!”

“Huh?”. I turn my head to see that I hit a business man with my streched arm.

“Oops sorry!” and I giggled like an idiot.

The rest of the flight was peaceful. All tough I didn’t have much sleep in the chair during the night.

Suddenly I feel the urge to pee. So, without delay I get up from my seat to use the washroom. After completing my business, I check around to find no one inside the washroom. Well, no one except one girl of my age who just entered and kept staring at me with her arms folded.

“Who are you and what’s with that staring?” I question her.

“ Nice you asked that question. I am Sparkle and I am here to say you that your trip to America is being written. Other people are reading it and your mind too. Don’t worry it will be only until your trip finishes . And another thing , you have to say everything from your trip to me and the other readers in an interview . I am not crazy and no questions. See you in the interview today” speaking which, she leaves.

I try to find her in the whole plane but she is nowhere. She must be playing with me. Yup that’s it. As if anyone can read my mind. Or can they. Are you reading it now?

Charlotte POV

I jerked up from my sleep with the baby’s cries. Yea, a family is sitting beside me with the noisiest baby in the universe. If I loose my beauty sleep and become ugly, it will be his fault.

Anyway I still can’t forget what that girl named Sparkle told me. Can someone read my mind. If yes, are they reading it now? Nah! It cant be. I am just ridiculous. But I still cant believe I am travelling alone to India because my mom had some urgent business. I begged her to let me stay but she wanted me to travel even without her, to see that stupid country. My life is just ….unbelievable.

And in less than three hours I will be in India. Just freaking great. And interviewing with that weird girl.

=_=