Tell me how I can improve! This is my first chapter of the book with the same character I used last time. It is written in both instructions and notes & credits because it's "too long" “Cobalt, I need to tell you something. Something important that may uproot your entire life,” my dad’s eyes brown like mine, but full of concern. You see, I had a normal life before, well, as normal of a life as you can have. I had a nice dad, an annoying one though. I had a best friend that I did everything with. I went to school, had hobbies and a pet. My life was as normal as it gets. I personally thought it was boring, it was the same old routine every day. The most exciting thing might’ve been if somebody came to school with a cast on and we all got to sign it, or if somebody did something really bad and got suspended. Nothing that nobody can’t experience. And looking back, I would give anything to have it back. Now, if you’re like me, that sentence already gave a few things away, that actually aren’t exactly normal. Well, first of all, I don’t have such a normal life anymore, and second of all I never had such a normal life in the first place. You see in the second sentence I mention my dad, as annoying as he is, my nice dad. I jump straight to my best friend and don’t even mention my mom, weird right? I really hated doing that because it gives so much away, but saying I had a mom would be implying that whatever caused the rest to be uprooted, also caused that to be uprooted too. Which would make it a lie, and I already do enough of that. “You look troubled, I might guess that you mean, ‘uproot your entire life’ in a bad way. So, do you really need to tell me?” Even though I was skeptical, I could never have guessed what was about to happen. Technically in saying, “I had a mother,” I never say that it’s related to the rest, and so yes, I just lied about lying, I could’ve said, “I had a mother,” without lying about why. If this is gonna work, I’m going to have to stop lying to you, I have to tell the whole truth, otherwise there’s no point.
You see, when I was six my mother mysteriously disappeared while on a work trip in Brazil. My dad had always claimed to know nothing about the disappearance, however I had always expected he knew something I didn’t, and it turns out he did. “If I could, I would leave you out of this, you would live a normal, happy life. But I can’t, and I’m sorry. Your mother didn’t just disappear, she died.” Now this, I kind of already knew, it’s a lot more likely that she died and my father wanted to shield me from the harsh reality of it, than my mom disappeared and it’s still a mystery almost six years later. And this part wasn’t what impacted me, I had dealt with the grief a while ago. “So, if she’s dead then how’d she die? And why would this uproot my life? I pretty much already knew this?” I think the fact that I wasn’t sad surprised my dad, but there was also something in his face I couldn’t read. “I think both of those questions have the same answer: she was a spy,” I had to give him a look to get him to elaborate, “She went to Brazil on a dangerous mission and was assassinated.” Bang! All the puzzle pieces now fit! The mystery is solved! Cool, exciting story that makes my normal life so much more interesting! …Right? Nope, we’re just getting started! You may have noticed he said, “Something that may uproot your entire life,” Although, he was surprised I wasn’t sad, the emotional impact isn’t what he meant, he meant for the rest of my life. As serious as grief can be, he knows I am emotionally strong and would be able to deal with grief. “And why exactly would this disrupt my entire life, yeah maybe it makes it interesting. Or maybe you're trying to trick me, but it’s not that life changing, really,” I asked, something like this was too big to remain unquestioned. And that I thought about it, the chances that this actually happened were small compared to the chances my dad was playing a prank on me, even if my dad didn’t really play pranks. “Because she wasn’t the only spy in the family, and I’m not going to be the only one pretty soon,” the realization hit me so hard, I almost fell out of my chair, literally. My dad was a spy too? And I was going to be one? This was definitely going to disrupt my whole life. When I was little, I thought spies were the coolest thing ever though, and after my mom died, I remember thinking if spies were real they should’ve been there to save her, to know what happened. And soon after that the Cold War ended, I had no reason to think anything of them anymore. They were just a fantasy. “Look, knowing you, you’re probably like, ‘Why are you telling me now?’ and that’s a five star question right there. The agency is looking for young people around your age that could be kind of like guinea pigs to a new training program,” he said this like it was no big deal, probably something he had to do all the time as a spy. “So, I’m assuming you work for the Central Intelligence Agency?” As I said this, my dad chuckled softly. “Er, no, I work for Coalstle, it’s kind of hard to explain how it’s different from the CIA, and why it was formed without breaking multiple security measures. And also, now that you know, you kind of have to agree to working for Coalstle. Sorry?” and now I was wondering why exactly my dad was a spy.
