“I hate him! You can’t even imagine how much I hate him
right now!”
Lacy went out of the school like a storm which threatened to
destroy the whole neighborhood. She was so angry that she could commit a
murder. Even her best friend, Hannah, could barely keep up with her at the pace
she was going.
“Calm down Lacy, before you do something stupid!” said
Hannah, hoping it would get to her. “Talk to him! Maybe you’ll get him to
change his mind! Or talk to the headmaster, maybe he will get him to change his
mind!”
“Didn’t you see that he didn’t even want to listen to me?!
My dad hates me! And the headmaster’s both afraid of my father and sick of me!
I can’t get out of this!” yelled Lacy so loudly that probably the entire
neighborhood heard her. She had no idea where she was heading to. She didn’t
want to go home, because her dad was sure to go there once he finished with the
headmaster and the paperwork.
“He’s your father, Lacy, he can’t hate you! He’s probably
just mad, but I’m sure he only wants what’s best for you!”
“Oh, so sending me to hell’s distance in Sterlington is his
way of telling me how much he loves me, huh? Awesome way to show affection,”
Lacy said with sarcasm.
“Lacy, you beat a guy so bad you almost brought him into a
coma! You’re lucky you weren’t arrested for that!”
“The guy was a stalking freak, what else was I supposed to
do?! Didn’t you see how he just kept showing up?! When he started touching me,
I just lost it!”
“You thought he was cute at the beginning!”
“Well said, AT THE BEGINNING! Before he showed his true
nature and made me get transferred for it! It’s a ten hours ride, I won’t be
able to see anyone! He’s better pray he stays long enough in that hospital so I
don’t get my hands on him before I leave, because if I ever see him again…”
Lacy said, at this point almost growling.
“Oh, Lace…” Hannah sighed.
They reached a small park and Lacy sat on a bench to calm
herself for a bit. Thinking about it, she probably had it coming. Given that
her dad, John Maxwell, was head of the Ministry of Education, he cared a lot about
image. Those kinds of people usually have kids going to Harvard, Yale, Stanford
or whatever kinds of universities like those. Lacy wasn’t like that. She was
more the practical type. She didn’t believe in staying for hours in front of an
open book reading about stuff you do in life. She didn’t have the patience for
that. She believed in experiencing it herself, then learning from it. The only
reason she hadn’t left John’s house yet was because she was still in high
school, but that would change once this year is over and she’ll graduate. With
that, she’d get a job and leave that house once and for all.
“I don’t want to leave, Hannah…” she sighed.
“I don’t want you to leave either,” Hannah said, hugging
Lacy. “But think that you only have this year until you graduate. Just try not
to get into too much trouble; I won’t be there to bail you out anymore if you
do,” she added.
Lacy smiled. That’s why she was best friends with Hannah.
She always took care of Lacy, making sure that she doesn’t go over the line or
lose control. Given Lacy’s character, one day she’d be quiet, shut down, and
the other she’d do a lot of stupid stuff which she would later on regret.
“I promise I’ll try,” she said as a reply to Hannah’s
advice. She had that specific smirk on her face though, which made Hannah roll
her eyes.
Well, the worst already kind of happened. She’s being
transferred, she won’t be able to see her friends anymore, and the place she’s
going is more or less like a prison. What else could possibly happen?
***
Once home, she stood in front of the house door for about a
few minutes, thinking. She had the feeling that if she went in, she’d have her
head chopped of. Once she placed her hand on the door knob, a lot of thoughts
went through her head. She could run away. The temptation to do that at this
point was very big.
But where would she go? She didn’t have a job yet, so she
couldn’t afford renting a place to stay in. Hannah would gladly take her in,
but Lacy knew there was barely any space in that small house for another
person. Hannah had a big family, and Lacy didn’t want to trouble her like that.
She cared too much for her.
Defeated, she pulled the knob and went inside. Just like she
thought, her parents were waiting for her in the living room. Her dad standing,
looking as cold as ever, and her mom, Julie, was sitting on the couch, her eyes
red. She cried, it seems. It was the only thing Lacy felt fad for, seeing her
mom suffer. She saw Lacy as a daughter, not as a political image which would or
would not make her look good.
“I believe we have to talk,” said her father. Looking at him
was like looking at stone. Cold. Impassive.
“No. We don’t,” she said in the same cold tone. “I’ll be
leaving and your problems will leave as well with me. Now if you’ll excuse me,
I have to pack my things,” she said, as she started for the stairs which led to
her room upstairs.
“See, this is why I’m sending you to Stephen the Great. It’s
a good high school and it will hopefully send you back on track. The way you
are now, you are just a disappointment to your family,” he said, echoing
through the large room.
She always knew he considered her as a disappointment, from
the very moment she was born. It was the way he was treating her. Like a
stranger, someone who wasn’t like him at all, someone who wasn’t his daughter
at all.
But this time, she didn’t just ignore it. She snapped.
“Maybe I don’t care if I don’t live up to your expectation!
And maybe I don’t care about your image! You obviously don’t care about us,”
she said, glancing at her mother too which looked like she was about to faint,
“given that you’re always away from home and you’re practically just a ghost in
our life, so why would I care what you think? Who knows, maybe you even have
another family somewhere out there and you keep swapping between them-”
A slap across her face made her stop in shock. A slap that
was delivered to her by John. Shock was then replaced by anger, but she simply
glared at him.
“I’m actually very glad I’m leaving this place,” she said as
she turned around and went to her room. She didn’t want to hear any more of
him.
Shutting the door to
her room, she threw a suitcase on the bed and started throwing clothes in it.
Hearing her door opening made her go into full defensive mode, but when she saw
it was her mother, she relaxed. She gave her mom a smile, which was genuine.
She was always happy to see her. Julie was a best friend to her, and provided
it didn’t include John, she’d always listen to Lacy, give her advice and not
judge her. Maybe she hated her a bit for not standing up against John, but that
wasn’t enough to make Lacy cherish her. She hoped that one day she’d do the
right thing and leave it, though she figured that you can’t really mess with a
woman in love.
“Hey,” she said as Julie stepped into the room. Her mother
smiled kindly, but you could see how sad this made her. She felt guilty for not
doing anything for Lacy.
She just placed her hand on Lacy’s cheek.
“Does it still hurt?” she asked, and Lacy realized that
Julie was talking about the slap John gave her.
“It’ll pass,” Lacy answered. It still burned a bit, but she
barely even noticed it before her mom mentioned it. She was too worked up.
She sighed.
“When am I leaving?” Lacy asked.
Her mother’s smile now turned into a sad one.
“Tomorrow morning,” she said.
“Tomorrow morning, huh..” she repeated, but more like to
herself. Apparently, John wasn’t wasting time. “Well, Hell… here I come.”
