"But it's not fair!" The shrill voice of my sister traveled up the stairs and down the hall. "Why does Val get to go to a super elite school? It's a great opportunity and she couldn't care less about it."
I wasn't going to go down there and get involved. Until the V word was used. I got downstairs just in time to get dragged into the argument. "Don't blame this on me, Mel. Mom and dad are making me go." I told Melissa.
At fourteen, Melissa was just two inches short then me and I'm five-seven. Her green eyes gave me a death stare, somehow blaming me for this great injustice. "Stay out of this Valerie." She dragged out my given name very slowly, knowing how much I hate it.
I glared right back at her, "Sure thing, Tone Deaf Mellie." Her face insteadly became bright red at the nickname that's plagued her since elementary school.
We stood there glaring at each other until the back door closed and Ryan came in. Perfect timing as always. "Yeah, I'm gonna leave. Call me when World War 3 is over." Bless Ryan, sensing the rising tension; he was trying to get away before he could be forced into choosing a side.
Unfortunately, Melissa knew that too. Just as he turned to leave, Melissa grabbed his arm and clung to him like a child. "Tell them Ryan. Tell them it's not fair." She pouted with big sad puppy eyes.
"Tell who what?" Ryan raised an eyebrow, now curious.
"Oh, they didn't tell you?" I'm surprised Ryan didn't know. As the oldest, dad and mom usually tell him everything first. "I'm being shipped off to boarding school. In Boulder, Colorado."
At this news, all humor drained from his face. He liked the idea even less than me. Forgetting Melissa still held his arm, Ryan turned to face dad. As the golden boy of the family, dad usually gave him more leeway. "This isn't a good idea. Veil shouldn't be punished for something she didn't do."
Yes, if anyone could talk them out of this, it's Ryan. There's a reason he's been the state debate champion for two years in a row. However, my hopes were quickly squashed with dad's next statement. "You baby and spoil her to much Ryan. She already thinks she can get away with doing whatever she wants. And you aren't helping things. As her older brother, you should protect her and want what's best for her."
"I do want what's best for her." As he spoke, he moved away from Melissa and over to me. "And I'm protecting her by trying to prevent you from just shipping her off for some random reasons." He pulled me against him for a hug.
This back and forth arguing continued between the four of us until mom blew her coach's whistle. "Your giving me a headache." She shook her head and looked at each of us. "Ryan, it's good that you care about Veil. But she's going no matter what. Be grateful I talked your father out of military school. And no Veil, you don't get a choice. You've proved us more than once that you aren't mature enough to do that yet."
She cleared her throat, "As for you Melissa." Melissa actually stepped back at mom's direct stare. For some reason I'll never understand, Mel was only scared of mom at times like this. "It's more than fair. You go to the best school in the state and will most likely graduate from high school two years early. We give you and Ryan what you need to improve your talents. We challenge your mind and Ryan's skills. Veil hasn't had that benefit. So we're sending her somewhere for both."
"But how are you paying for it?" I dared to ask. "Mellie's school cost a lot and so does Ryan's football gear. Not to mention al of the bill you already pay."
When she looked at me, mom's features softened. "If you'd stayed instead of storming off like a child, you'd know you got a full scholarship. There's only a very small amount that we have to pay for."
"What!?" Me, Ryan, and Melissa said in unison, mouths wide open.
Mom shrugged, "We were just as shocked as you are. It's a sports one, something about your martial arts."
I had been learning judo for the last seven years and started bojustu about three months over the summer. I've never been good at most sports, but I picked up both judo and bojustu kind of quickly. So my siblings aren't the only ones with talent or trophies. I just prefer not to talk about mine. Once people find out you know how to fight, they insteadly wanna fight you. Which is one of the many things on my permit record.
"They saw your last competition and you...ah colorful school files and liked what they saw," Mom said so matter-of-factly.
"So your saying that ever after seeing her grades and criminal record they still accepted her?" Mel snorted. "Maybe the school's not as good as I heard, if their letting criminals in."
If you haven't guessed, I can have a bit of a temper. All those sayings about red heads and their tempers are so very true when it comes to me. "Your died twerp!" Ryan tried to stop me as he realized I was going after Mel. Ryan was stronger then me, but I knew how to use that against him. He held my wrist, but one quick twist in the opposite direction of his thumb and I was free.
Mel ran out the back door like a scared rabbit. She was almost to her bike, when I grabbed her shirt and yanked her back. She let out a small yelp, when I kicked her feet out from under her and sent her falling to the ground.
I know using my mad ninja skills on a nerdy girl isn't fair. But in my defense, Mel isn't like most nerds. For one, she's actually athletic and is a cheerleader and plays basketball. Also, she's taken judo for the past year and a half. She knows how to get away, especially after attacking me. Yes, when no adults are home, we've been known to get physical with each other. As far as the parents know, we're just sparring. They only allow it because we seem not to be arguing as much. To them, judo has brung us closer together.
When in reality, it's just given us the skills to beat each other up. So when Mel went down easily, I was confused. That was until daddy dearest came storming out. "Valerie Melody Hart!" Uh oh, the full name, I'm officially died.
Ryan and Mom were right behind him. Ryan shaking his head as if to say 'You've done it now.'
Dad checked on Mel, then turned his anger on me. "We were just sending you away for one semester. If things had improved and you stayed out of trouble, we would bring you home. But you've proven yet again that we can't give you any leeway. Any hope of coming home early is gone. Go pack, your flight leaves at eight tomorrow morning."
All the while he yelled at me, Mel was grinning like the Cheshire cat. I'm an idiot. She ticked me off on purpose, than let me trip her, just to insure I'd get sent away. And I foolishly played right into her trap. Now my fate is sealed.
"Relax Veil, its only for a year. It's not the end of the world." Ryan tried to cheer me up as we stood in Mel's room for me to pack. The bulk of my things would get shipped over night and be delivered to my dorm. While I was to be on a four hour flight from _________ to Boulder, Colorado tomorrow morning.
"How can you be so calm about this!?" I shouted as I angrily folded my clothes. Poor things are getting the blunt of my anger since crafty Mel isn't here. "You saw what Mel did. This is all her fault! I get shipped off less than twenty-four hours after finding out. Not even a chance to say bye to my friends or come to terms with this. I tell you the timing is to prefect." Throwing clothes into my suitcase, I stomp back over to the closet.
Ryan sighed, "In Mel's defense, you did walk right into it." He began to laugh, then stopped when I looked out to glare at him. "Point is, what Mel did was wrong, but your also to blame. Either way, mom and dad were gonna send you away. Only question was for how long?"
Damn, I hate it when he's all calm like this. But he is right, Mel may have handed me the gun, but I;m the one who pulled the trigger. For lack of a better analogy. "Look, do well there and I'll work on mom and dad. I'd hate to have you gone. I'll actually have a chance to be in my room for more than five minutes." He joked.
"And you'll have no one to keep all the fangirls away from you. You'll actually be able to date." I said with fake shock. "What ever will you do with out me?"
Unlike Melissa, Ryan actually tries to make me feel better. Once he even spent all day shopping and even went to the hair and nail salon with me. It was great seeing my big bro get his nails done. This was after one bad fight with Mel, in which I got most of the blame. Got grounded and missed a big martial arts compition. Of course Mel was also grounded, but she didn't miss anything important.
Don't get me wrong, I love my little sister. But sometimes, I just want to smack her. IN the face. With a chair. Twice. Whoever said younger siblings were annoying hasn't met Mel.
"Come on, let's get you packed quickly. I intend to spend one last day of fun with you before you leave." Ryan helped me to finish packing and then spent the rest of the day doing whatever I wanted. First on the list was seeing him get a manicure and pedicure again. Ending with watching stupid movies in his room until we fell asleep from laugher, like we use to as kids. It was the best way to end the day.
Little did I know how few more of those days I was going to have.
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