The flight seemed to take forever and when I arrived my father’s lab partner was there to pick me up. He didn’t tell me anything about my father but asked me questions about school.

“Mr. Jumba, how is my father?” the large man gave me a soft smile.

“Belle he’s fine. If he wasn’t I would have told you. The only reason we sent for you was so that you could spend some time with him while he had the chance.”

“Oh… good.” I let out a breath of air. I’ve known Mr. Jumba for a long time, he started working with my father when I was just a little girl. He would bring his son Stitch and his adopted daughter Lilo with him to play with me.

“How are Stitch and Lilo doing?”

“They are doing very well. Nani and I were thinking about sending them to your school.”

“That would be nice. I can’t remember the last time I saw them.”

“Yes it has been a while. Lilo has taken an interest in writing fictional stories and Stitch has taken up hacking computers.”

“Wow it really has been a long time.” I said when he pulled out wallet size photos of them. Stitch looked sad in his photo, his hair was cut close to his head and dyed a dark blue to match his dark blue eyes. Lilo looked happy in her photo, Her long brown hair hung in curls passed her shoulders. Nani looked like an older version of Lilo but with long straight almost black hair. He told me how he was happy for Lilo and how she and her friend Victoria have been getting along well and their even interested in boys now. Nani and David were planning their wedding and Stitch has gotten distant and angry. He seems to be very worried about Stitch.

When we reached the hospital he walked me to my father’s room. When I walked in he was sitting up in his bed.

“Hey Dad.” He looked up from his paperwork to smile at me.

“Belle!” He said my name with a smile on his face. I ran over and hugged him. All the tears I had been holding back started to spill over. I was so worried about him and seeing that he’s fine made me so happy. I missed him, his familiar smell and warmth, he made me feel like I was at home. “Oh honey don’t cry, I’m fine.”

“I just missed you.” I let go of him and took a seat in the chair that was close to his bed. He explained what had happened to him at the lab and that the accident had just been him not paying attention and tripping down the stairs.

“I’m sorry I made you worry for nothing honey, but I’m glad you came.”

“It’s okay, I’m glad I came too.”

“How do you like your new school?” I told him about Jane and Zan and how they had become such good friends and the fun things that we had done. “I’m glad you’ve made good friends dear. How’s Adam?” I smiled slightly.

“Adam’s good…” I miss him.

“Has he been nice to you?”

“Yes, He’s been nice to me. We go to our classes together and he eats all of his meals with me. He took me out to dinner once and showed me his favorite book store. We spend a lot of time lazing around reading, talking. Later he took me to this hill that was hidden from the lights of the town and we watched the meteor shower.”

“It sounds like you like him a lot.” I blushed a bit and nodded

“I do, but I don't know if he likes me as anything more than a friend. “

“Oh, I see.” I sighed and told dad more about my adventures at school. Hours passed and visiting hours ended, I said goodbye and Mr. Jumba took me to my hotel, the room was nice with a full size bed, TV and kitchen. I checked the time and decided to try and call Adam, I was so nervous waiting for him to answer.

“Hello?” his voice sounded thick and deep like I had woken him from his sleep.

“Adam?”

“Belle?”

“Yeah.” I heard a rustling sound and waited for him to say something.

“Hey, how’s it going? How’s your father.”

“He’s fine, said I worried for nothing. I’m glad to see him though.”

“Where are you now?”

“At my hotel… I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I was hoping you would call.”

“You where?”

“Yeah… do you know when you’ll be back?”

“No… I’m not sure.”

“Oh.”

“You have a game Friday don’t you?”

“Yeah. It’s going to be so strange without you there.”

“I’m sorry, I wish I could be there.” He sighed and I heard him start moving around again.

“Belle.”

“Yes?”

“When you come home, there’s something I need to tell you.” Come home? I closed my eyes and hugged the phone to my cheek. He’s right, that school is my home, he’s my home and right now I’m feeling home sick.

“Okay… Adam, I… I’m…”

“I’ll see you when you get home. Good night Belle.” I squeezed my eyes shut and a tear slipped out.

“Good night Adam.” He hung up and I continued to stand there hugging the phone to my cheek. “I miss you.” I fell onto the couch and put my face into the pillow to let the silent tears fall down my cheeks.