•Ella
"You got what?!" My dad's shout bounced through the walls.
I had gotten home before my parents so, I had time to shower, change and think about how to break the news to them.
And now the look on their faces makes me feel I should have broken the news during dinner, and not when they had just returned.
"Expel-"
"We heard you!" Mom places her hands on her hips. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything." Except exist.
Somehow that feels like a crime.
"Of course you didn't! They were just in a bad mood, weren't they?!" Dad's voice escalates showing his rising anger, but mom puts a hand on his shoulder to calm him down a little.
"We can still speak to the school. We just need to know what she did." She turns her gaze towards me, "I will ask you one more time.. What did you do?" Her tone is calm, but her sharp gaze is anything but calm.
"Like I said.. I. did. nothing!" I answer firmly, not squirming away from her burning gaze.
"Then why did you get expelled, for crying out loud?!" Mom's tone finally matches her face.
"Because I'm magicless! I don't belong there with them, that's what I've been trying to tell you for months!" I yell back. The anger and frustration which was buried inside me starts to unravel, not just that of today's events but of the past two years as well.
"You will be careful with your tone when you are speaking to your mother, young lady!" Dad reprimands but I didn't recoil.
I take a deep breath. "I was told to find another school… one that was for me" I continue but this time I didn't yell.
"You are not attending any school consisting of those low class magicle-"
"Aren't I one of them?!" I interrupt my dad. "I don't have magic, I'm not like you or mom. Doesn't that make me low class as well?"
At least those 'low class' people were surrounded with like minded people. They had friends, people to relate with. Here, I had no one. Not even my parents tried to understand that it's not my fault I don't have powers.
"Your situation is different. You are our daughter, which makes you a noble by blood. Whether you have magic or not, you can't be seen hanging around those below our standards" Dad retorts.
"Because it would be bad for your image, right?" I let out a flat laugh after my biting remark.
"Our image" Mom adds
"Your image!" I countered, "I don't care about something as silly as social reputation."
Social standards were one thing that trapped a person without them realizing it, and I hated the feeling of being trapped.
"You are too young to understand any of that right now" Mom replies.
"I'm old enough to know what's right and what's wrong, Mom." I assert.
"We are not having this argument this evening. I will put a message forward to your school and demand they take you back." Dad chimes in.
"I am not going back there." I state firmly
"You are not in a position to decide that." He replies.
I ball my hands into fists, knuckles white from the gesture.
"That has already been established for a long while. But I am saying that even if I wanted to go back, I won't be accepted there, or any other school like this one."
"Not if we have something to say about it" He debates.
"You can try, but unless you are royalty, there's no way they would throw off their so called 'balance' because of one person" I fold my arms.
"Not if-" he starts but mom places a hand on his shoulder and shakes her head.
"Unfortunately, she is not completely wrong. We could try everything to get her into a renowned school ,but we would just be wasting our time and energy. It could even spread the news of her…situation further." Mom tries to reason with him.
Of course, they wouldn't want more people to know about me, especially since they managed to keep the news down to only a few people. But it's not like it wouldn't reach the whole kingdom sooner or later, especially since everyone in my school already knows.
"I suppose you're correct. What do you suggest we do then?" His tone finally cools down a little.
"Let me attend a normal school" I chime in.
They both look at me in silence for a little while, like they're contemplating it.
Maybe, just maybe they'd listen to me for once.
Dad's loud sigh breaks the silence. " I guess we have no choice," he starts, "since you will not be accepted at any high rated magical school… you will not be going to school at all"
His words hit me like a sudden bomb.
What?!
"Excuse me?" I drop my hands and stand up straighter.
"You were going to graduate next year so, it makes no difference if you end school this year. There is no need to drag this topic any further." Dad decides.
He can't be serious, they can't possibly be serious.
"Please tell me you're joking" I look at both of them to see if I can catch a glimpse of humor on their face, or even a ghost of a smile but, I see nothing but the dead serious looks on their faces.
"Go get ready for dinner" Mom says as they start to make their way upstairs.
"No!" My loud yell stops them. "You can't just decide that. Why shouldn't I go to school? You choose your status over my education? That's not right!"
Tears prick my eyes again but I won't let them fall. I promised myself never to cry in front of people, especially not my parents.
"We decide what's right!" Dad exclaimed.
His words had so much power in them that I stumble backwards a little. I bite my lower lip and look away to blink away my tears, before pushing past them and dashing to my room, making sure I close the door with a loud bang before locking it.
First they take away my spending rights by restricting my allowance, now they take away my rights to education.
What do they mean by that? This should be illegal, but of course, there's nothing in the laws of Anodohra that states that parents can't withdraw their children from school if they deem fit.
I'm almost seventeen, I still have one more year of essential school before even heading to a higher institution or academy. And now I won't be attending any? What would I do-
Oh Yes, how could I forget.
I run to my bag, which I haven't opened since I got home, but then I get hit by a wave of dizziness, and not just because my life was spinning in funny circles.
I haven't had anything to eat today.
I fought with my parents during breakfast and stormed off before I could eat, I skipped lunch at school and now I doubt I'm going back downstairs today.
Then I remember the rare kindness I received from Liv today as I open the bag and see the sandwich and drink inside.
Liv must be my guardian angel, that's the only logical explanation.
…
I stare down at the book opened in front of me with my sandwich in one hand and the drink in the other.
It was the book on ACA, and I had finally made my decision. My parents might also agree…might.
I made the decision before even reading the whole book, when I read what was written at the lower corner of the front page:
'Here at Alpha-Centori, we believe everyone has their own potential. Anyone is welcomed at ACA!'
I'm going to ACA.