Chapter Eighteen: Changing Seasons

Third-person

 Autumn had arrived, and on the Tuesday was Spooky Day. The family duly dressed up and threw a party. Xanthe, under supervision, decided to carve a pumpkin. She was a creative girl, and was excited to carve a funny face. Although the outer skin was very tough, she had a lot of fun, especially since it was a lot messier than she'd anticipated. 

A couple of days later, Xanthe woke up one morning and decided to head to the living room for a quick morning dance, which was always a fun way to start the day. To her surprise, she saw a giant red bear by the stereo!
"Um... hello?" she asked.
"Hello, Xanthe," came a muffled voice which sounded very much like her father's.

"Oh, Dad," she said, feeling relieved. "What on Earth are you doing?"

"Apollo was in a bit of a Bear phase, like you had when we were in Selvadorada," he explained. "I thought it'd be fun to join him."

"Oh right," she grinned. "It's funny seeing a dancing bear."

A while later, Peter entered the living room and noticed Artemis reading; this would normally have been unremarkable, except for the fact that she held the book rather close to her face.

"Artemis? You seem to be holding the book very close to your face," he remarked.

"Oh," Artemis replied. "Err - yeah. I've noticed that words seem to be quite blurry. My teacher says I've been squinting a lot."
"Oh right," Peter said. "Perhaps you need glasses."

An appointment with the optician was duly made, and Peter took Artemis along. After a few tests, the optometrist had the verdict.

"Yes, you will need glasses," she said. "You have both myopia and astigmatism."

"What are those?"
"Myopia is often known as shortsightedness. Normally, the eyeball is pretty much spherical. Light focuses on the retina, which is what processes objects you can see and passes information to the brain. Your eyeballs are a bit longer than normal, and light focuses in front of your retina. Things that are far away, such as a whiteboard in a classroom, appear blurrier than objects closer to you."
"Yeah, I've had trouble copying stuff off the whiteboard," Artemis nodded. "So what's astigmatism?"

"That's to do with the front of your eye. The front bit of your eye is normally round like a football. Your eye is more like a rugby ball. This means that both nearby and distant objects are blurry."
"Right," Artemis nodded. She was a smart girl and appeared to be taking everything in. "So, when will I get my glasses?"
"They'll take a few days," the optometrist replied. "We have to make them specially for you. Why don't you go with your dad to choose some frames?"

Back at home, Erytheia was keen to quiz her younger sister.

"So, how was the optician?" she asked.

"OK," Artemis said. "I've got to have glasses."

"Ooh, cool," Erytheia replied. "You'll look super brainy."
"Thanks," Artemis grinned. "I hope no-one teases me at school."
"I'm sure they won't," Erytheia said kindly. "If they do, they'll have me to answer to."

That Saturday evening, Caroline came home from work to a message from her agent, officially declaring her a Global Superstar. She also had an invitation to a tile-laying ceremony on Starlight Boulevard. 

"Come on, kids, get some smart clothes on," she said. "I've been invited to put a tile down on Starlight Boulevard!"
The children were excited. They didn't know a whole lot about the celebrity world, but they did know that a Starlight Boulevard tile was big news. The girls put on their favourite party dresses, and Apollo put on a smart shirt.

The weather in Del Sol Valley was warm as the family arrived. A small crowd of fans had gathered, sensing that something exciting was about to happen.

As Caroline placed the tile down, everyone started cheering and clapping!

The next day, Artemis had received her glasses. When she put them on, she was able to appreciate how bad her eyesight had been. Everything was suddenly so clear and sharp!
"Ooh, your glasses look smart," Xanthe said. "It must be great to see clearly."
"It is," Artemis replied. "No more blurriness!"

That evening, Artemis went to visit Malia in Sulani.
"Ooh, glasses!" Malia grinned. "Wow, you look so smart and clever."
"Yeah, I feel it," Artemis grinned back. "Hopefully everyone else at school will be nice."
"I'm sure they will," said a woman who'd introduced herself as Malia's mother. "It's nice to meet you at last. I'm sorry I couldn't see you last time you came here; I was busy with work."
"That's fine, I understand," Artemis said. 

The next Wednesday was Winterfest. Erytheia and Xanthe decorated the first part of the tree together.

"I can't believe it's already Winterfest," Erytheia said. "Time goes so fast. Soon we'll be in high school!"
"I know," Xanthe replied, placing a bauble on a branch. "Then it'll be university... then we'll be getting married... then we'll have kids..."

"I can't imagine getting married," Erytheia said. "I wonder who my husband will be."

"Alexander?" Xanthe grinned slyly.

"Maybe," Erytheia blushed. "But he has to like me back, of course. He might not fancy me."

The following evening, the family returned to Starlight Boulevard, this time for a tile-laying ceremony for Peter. Although not quite a fully-fledged concert virtuoso, he was still well-regarded enough to warrant his own celebrity tile. 

"Isn't it cool that we've got two famous parents?" Xanthe whispered.

"Yeah," Artemis replied. "The paparazzi can be annoying, but at least Mum and Dad earn enough money to buy all the toys we want."

Time continued to fly by. Soon, Spring had sprung, and Peter and Caroline now had two teenage daughters. 

On the evening of Love Day, a now teenage Alexander Paraskevas arrived, to congratulate Erytheia on her recent birthday.

"Hey," he said. "Wow, you look so pretty!"
"Aww, thank you!" Erytheia replied, flushing as red as her jumper. "You're pretty handsome yourself."

Things between the two redheads progressed rapidly, and they headed onto the balcony for some privacy. Erytheia leaned in for a kiss, and Alexander was only too happy to respond.