Liona, now knowing that Erik was going to be staying with her and her family over the summer, put a renewed vigor into her studies that she had all but stopped caring for when she had been first grounded. She had to work hard to make up for lost time before her very last final. Her worst subject, math, was Friday, so that gave her almost a week to brush up on the study cards she had made at the last minute. As each card flashed by on the screen of her school tablet, she did her best to recite the answer before it flipped to show the correct solution.
It was like this that finals week dragged on. This felt like the longest week of her life. Each day a new test, and each day, she hoped she had done her absolute best on the exams. Only once was one of her finals interrupted and that resulted in the pause of the test timer. The student had been caught cheating by the program that was to administer these tests. Once the student had been escorted out with their failing grade flashing across their desk's display, the test resumed for the rest of the class. With that momentary breather, she tackled her history final with renewed vigor.
After school, Liona tackled her studies diligently until it was time for dinner. After dinner was over, she forwent dessert in favor of going back to her math flashcards and other studies. Soon she found herself nodding off, but tried to power through it. Tomorrow was her last final and the day Erik and his siblings would be moving, so she had to do her absolute best so she could help. Technically, her grounding was to last until graduation in another week's time, but she hoped that by putting forth her best effort, she could convince her dad to let her off early.
Waking with a start to the sound of her alarm, Liona looked around groggily, or at least tried. There was an awful kink in her neck and that's when she realized she had fallen asleep studying at her desk. Getting up slowly, she tried to massage the kink in her neck as she gathered her robe before heading to the bathroom to get ready for school. After a hot shower, with the tiredness and kink in her neck still present, she headed down for breakfast.
"Liona, you look like death warmed over!" Her brothers teased.
"Yeah, and you two look silly with those peachy mustaches!" She fired back. Her brothers were maturing and with it were experimenting with growing out their practically non-existent facial hair. Well, to be fair, that really wasn't true. They had a little facial hair, but it was very pale and still very fine. In time, it would probably darken a little to be more noticeable, but for now, it just looked silly to her cranky self.
"Dad! Liona's being mean!" Her brothers whined.
"You were mean first, you monsters!" Liona was in no mood to play games. Her aching neck and tiredness were going to be detrimental to her worst subject's final today.
"Children, that's enough. All of you sit down and mind your manners. We have a guest for breakfast!" The sound of her mother's voice called from the kitchen.
"Your mother's right. Behave yourselves for your great aunt!" Her dad poked his head in the dining room.
"Oh let them be, Leon. A little morning gripe never hurts. It gets it out of the way for the rest of the day." The voice of their Great Aunt Raylina sounded from the front hall.
"Auntie Ra-Ra is visiting?!" Liona was about to jump about and cheer, since that could mean only one thing, but the crick in her neck caused her to groan and hold the backside of her neck as she sat down.
"I don't like the sound of that! What's wrong, baby?" Her mother popped out of the kitchen with the first serving tray of breakfast. She was taking the day off of work today to help Erik's family move.
"Just a kink in my neck, Mom." Liona rubbed her neck, trying to get the crick to iron out.
Her mom set the serving tray on the table where her brothers descended upon it like a horde of hungry locusts before their sisters came downstairs to get their share. After the tray had been completely emptied of toast and the condiments, her mom came over to her and stood behind her. She then gently massaged the tender area where the kink was located. After a few moments, the pain lessened before disappearing altogether.
"You fell asleep studying again, didn't you, baby?" Her mother spoke it like the fact it was.
"Yes, mom. But I was trying to get as much done last night as I could so I could be prepared for my math final today!"
"Sometimes the best approach to studying is to take a break altogether before the big day. You'll find you retain more than cramming does. Do you remember why?" Another one of her mother's teaching moments, she supposed.
"Because if you are less stressed, you'll keep more information?"
"Exactly. So remember that for your future studies." Her mom hugged her from behind before heading back to the kitchen for the rest of breakfast.
Liona didn't get the chance to rebuff her mother's statement before her aunt and dad joined them for breakfast.
"So, are you excited to help me design the school uniforms for next year to present during the graduation ceremony next week?" Her aunt asked.
"Only a week to design and make the prototype? Isn't that a bit rushed? Why don't you just leave them the same?" Her dad knew little about the new uniforms for the school. They had remained the same since he and her mom had attended. He didn't see the need to replace them, which made him skeptical.
"Dad! Of course they have to be designed quickly if they are going to be ready for the new school year! That's only a couple of months to manufacture them, and you should know that Auntie Ra-Ra doesn't do fast fashion and always makes her clothes and designs sustainably. That means she needs as much time to make them as she can without relying on subpar manufacturing means. The uniforms have to hold up to an entire year or more worth of washing, normal wear and tear, and anything that might go above and beyond normal use."
"Remember when you were a kid, Dad? How you would play roughly with your siblings and friends? If that's too long ago, just look at the boys! Would you want to replace a uniform for them every time it got snagged on something, or was subject to a mud pit with them playing soccer or even football with their friends? Extra wear and tear has to be calculated into the design and material! That equals extra manufacturing time." Liona was very passionate about fashion. It was her favorite thing next to cooking.
Her dad sighed before holding up his hands in defense. He should have known that he couldn't win against her in a debate about fashion.
Finishing breakfast, Liona had to dash. Getting to school a little early was in order since, despite her mother's insistence about rest, and the logic behind it, she wanted to be as absolutely prepared as possible. Her desire to do well just to see Erik a little sooner was all she could really think about and it was absolutely clouding her judgement. In hindsight, she should have listened to her mother's advice.
The final exam was difficult and left Liona feeling frazzled that she couldn't remember the simplest of equations, even though she had just gone over them. By the time the truncated school day was over, she was rushing to get home to beg her dad to let her help him and her mom move Erik and his family.
However, when she got home, she found her dad had already left with her mom. There was a note from her dad left for her, though. Skimming it, left a rundown of chores she was to do around the house instead of leaving the house to help him and her mom. She should have known that her dad wouldn't budge on her grounding. Although her Aunt Ra-Ra was here, she was busy doing a bit of alteration on a local bride's dress that had requested it last minute. Leaving her be, she headed up to her room to change out of her uniform. The next and last time she would wear it would be for graduation.
After changing into a cute pink short-sleeved, frill edged tee and pair of lavender corduroy overalls, she got to work on the chores. They all had to do with fixing up the spare room that had been cleaned out by her dad to prepare for Erik staying with them.