Malia's Might

Chapter 2: The beginning of the end.

Three weeks before the move.

                “Malia, can you come down here sweetheart, we have to talk.”  Malia could hear her dad calling her down the stairs.

                Great, what did she do now?  It’s not like she could have stayed any further out of stepmonster’s way.  She had spent all day up in her room working on her art project for school.  She didn’t mind since it kept her away from Shannon.  That was her stepmother, or as Malia and her friends called her the stepmonster.  It wasn’t like Malia didn’t try to have a relationship with her, and it had been good before she had moved in.  Now there was no getting rid of her since she had married her father.  What he saw in her Malia couldn’t understand.  She was more like one of those poisonous snakes people liked to own than someone you could love.  Like she was beautiful but deadly poisonous, she just couldn’t understand why her dad didn’t see it.  Then again one moment she was super kind, like make your teeth hurt sweet, then as soon as her dad was no longer in ear shot it was like she was another person with venom dripping off of every word.  Malia just couldn’t seem to do anything to please the woman, so it was best to just avoid her at all costs.

                So luckily for Malia, she had a 3-d model due for art class the end of the week and she was working on it ahead of time.  Yeah I know a teenager that doesn’t procrastinate, cue the fainting parents in disbelief.  It was true though, Malia learned a long time ago that if she got her work done early she would be able to do whatever she wanted the rest of the week.  It just worked out that her friends were the same way, so plenty of hang time was had by all.

                Putting down her clay tools Malia went to her attached bathroom to wash her hands.  She was not about to live through another episode like the last time she got clay smudges on the end of the banister.  So not worth the headache that would cause her, or the cleaning chores she would get as punishment again for making a mess.  Malia ticked off all the things she could have possibly done that would have her in trouble now.  She was wracking her brain to think of anything that she could have done but just kept coming up nada.  Sighing she headed down the stairs to where she was summoned.  She knew her stepmother was looking for any reason to be able to prevent her from going to the carnival with her friends

                It didn’t matter that she was going to the carnival to work one of the stalls for half the night.  She was getting extra credit for art class by painting faces at the school held event, but her stepmother only looked at the fact that her friends would be there and they had free access to all the rides after their shifts were over.  It was almost like that woman lived to kill joy wherever Malia found it.  Well might as well band aide this one and just rip it off quick she thought as she neared the last two steps before the end of the stairs.  Looking up to meet her father and stepmother’s faces she was expecting to see expressions that told her she was in trouble or that she did something that had disappointed them again.  As if getting a straight 4.0 grade point average for her entire high school and middle school career had not been good enough.

                Malia’s foot almost slipped on the last step when she looked up and saw her dad with a hesitant expression instead.  Almost like he was sorry for what he was about to say to her and wished he could tell her anything else.  The last time she had seen that face was when he had sat her down to tell her that her mother was sick.  Malia felt her heart freeze in her chest, was someone else she loved going to die.  She didn’t think she could handle watching someone wither away like her mother did again.

                “Dad, what’s wrong?  Is grandma okay?”  Malia could feel her heart start to pound out its rhythm in her ears as her throat tried to close with the emotions she felt threatening to take over.

                “What?  No, no Malia grandma is fine.  We need to tell you something though, and I think it would be best if you came and sat down in the living room with us.”  Dad was smiling at her but it didn’t reach his eyes.  If it’s not grandma then what has him wound so tight?

                “Dad look, if you’re going to tell me I can’t go to the carnival I would rather you just tell me now so I can go back to my project for class.  I can just call the teacher and let her know that I…”  Malia didn’t even get to finish her sentence before the monster shrieked in her two bits.

                “For goodness sake Malia for once can you stop being so petulant!  Your father told you he wanted you to sit down so we can talk, do you think you could just do as he asked you?  Stop acting like you are on trial and just do this please.”  Shannon was smiling at her but the look in her eyes said she was going to enjoy this moment immensely.

                With a huff Malia finished coming down the last two steps and trudged into the living room.  The room had new furniture she noticed; she didn’t come in here much since her stepmother and stepsister were here most of the time.  Those two were like replicas of each other, each one complete with their own little barbs that they liked to throw at her when her dad was away.  She would rather chew glass then submit herself to voluntary torture from them any day.

                Sitting in the one chair that was her own, it had been her mother’s favorite chair before she passed, and now it belonged to Malia.  She was so glad that her dad couldn’t bring himself to part with it no matter how much Shannon insisted that it didn’t go with anything they owned now.  Of course it wouldn’t, when they got married Shannon wasted no time eliminating any trace that her mother had even lived here.  Maybe that was why she hated Malia so much, she couldn’t erase the one glaring bit of proof her mother had been a part of her father’s life, the daughter that was living proof that her mother Seraphina had existed.

                Turning to her father Malia felt the tension in the room start to thicken as she pulled her mother’s old quilt over her lap for comfort.  “Okay, what did you want to tell me dad?”

                “Okay Malia, there is no easy way to say this so I am just going to say it.  You can ask me questions after but I am going to get it all out and you need to listen okay?”  He looked at Malia and took a deep breath when she just nodded in response.  “I have been relocated for work and we will be moving in three weeks.  I know it is your senior year but Shannon didn’t think it would be a good idea to just let you stay behind so you will be going with us.  We are moving to Nightshade Cove and you will be attending Cove High.  I know it is a lot to process, but we already put in the transfer for you and they will be expecting you in three weeks once we get there.  You need to start packing right away.”

                Malia just stared at her father in disbelief.  He had just told her that the town she had grown up in all her life would no longer be her home.  That ever single place that held memories of her mother were going to no longer be within walking distance and that even though her friends and their families would gladly take her in to finish her last four months of high school that he was going to uproot her entire life and move her who knows how far away from everything she knew.  He must be joking right?

                “Is this a joke?”  Malia was smiling but felt her smile slip from her place as her father shook his head.

                “No it is not.  Do you have any questions for me?”  Her dad was looking at her waiting for her to ask him everything that must be going through her mind.

                “I have never heard of Nightshade Cove, how far away is it from Maine?”  She was hoping that it would be close enough she could still catch up with her friends over the weekends.

                “That’s the hard part honey, Nightshade Cove is in Europe.  We leave here middle of next week and you start your new school in three weeks.”  Her dad was no longer looking at her but twisting his hands in his pockets and looking at them like they would save him from this situation.  He wasn’t the best at conflict but he loved her with all his heart and that was the most important thing in the world.

                “Wow.  I guess since this has all been decided without talking to me first I don’t have a choice.”  Malia could feel the anger burning in her chest now.  She felt like her father had just stabbed her in the heart while her stepmother turned the knife.

                “Malia, this was a great opportunity for your father.  They requested him personally; did you just expect him to turn it down so you could spend four more months in this tiny little town?  We are doing this and you will just have to adjust like the rest of us Missy, besides a change of scene will be good for us all.”  Her mother’s voice was holding that edge of superiority that made Malia want to cut her own ears off if it would bring her blissful silence.

                “Well fine, since this is happening and I have no choice.”  Malia got up from the chair, she needed to get out of here now before she blew her top and made things worse.  She could feel the anger rising like it had a life of its own.  When they made a motion to stop her she held her hand out to stop their protests.  “I will pack later, for now I am going to go spend the night with my friends and say my goodbyes.  Oh, and by the way I am taking mom’s chair with us.  Don’t even start to argue, it is mine and if I can’t stay where all our special places are then I am taking the one thing I have left of her with me.”  With that she left the room, slamming the front door on her way down the road tears blurring her vision as she pulled out her cell to call the only other people in the world who understood her fully.

                “Mack, hey it’s Malia.  I know you have caller I.D. chicka; can you get the gang together?  I need you all right now and I have some serious tea to spill that will change everything.  Really, it is important.  I’m walking to you now, I’ll be there in ten.  No way, I am too upset to drive.  Just get them together and I’ll explain everything.  Let’s just say I am being hijacked to Europe against my own protests.”

                As Malia ended the call she felt numbness wash over her.  She felt so out of control of everything right now, and didn’t know when that would end.  Hopefully the new place would be good for them all; it wasn’t like she could just leave if it wasn’t.  She felt the anger swirling in her stomach; it was keeping her warm on her walk.  Somehow she just felt like this change was hanging over her head, it was bringing something, she just hoped it was a new beginning even though it felt like the beginning of the end.