ONE || Issues

Allison Marks hated the world. She so firmly believed this that her attitude towards everyone around her reflected that same hatred she felt inside. Her life sucked, her current situation sucked, the teachers and their classes sucked; everything just SUCKED. Her life couldn't get any suckier than it already was; She'd like to see it try...

Ally constantly found herself in a foul mood every minute of every day. Everyone around her kept their distance and gave her a wide berth whenever they walked past her in the hallways. It didn't bother her; she rather preferred it and wanted it kept that way.

All she wanted was to be left alone today, but apparently, the headmaster of Saint Apollo's wanted to ruin that for her—all because a particularly hateful someone chose to mess with her today. A big mistake that was.

Ally was currently slouched in one of the headmaster's leather chairs inside his office, her arms crossed over her chest as the two of them argued back and forth. Family discord, one could call it.

"Don't even get me started, Allison..." Anthony Marks rubbed a hand across his temples, a migraine already setting in.

"She deserved it; she called me names, thank you. That ingrate had it coming." Ally resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him. She didn't need to be yelled at more than she already was.

"What have we worked on with you countless times? How to exert self-control. How many times do I have to repeat myself to you that violence is never the answer in any situation? Especially when it involves the Honeycomb's daughter. Now Cathy's parents are threatening to sue the school—sue me—because I can't seem to keep you in line."

Professor Marks paced back and forth behind his desk with arms crossed, looking more pissed than she'd ever seen him. Of course, this was a regular thing between them, but this time seemed different. Ally could tell by the look in his eyes as he paced in front of the tall windows in his office. The big ceiling-to-floor widows he was pacing in front of looked down into the grounds, where students were milling about, talking and laughing with their friends and playing catch with a Frisbee or a ball. Ally sure wasn't feeling so carefree and happy as they were at the moment.

"Well, I'm sorry to ruin the reputation of your precious little school, Dad." Allison gritted her teeth in frustration, biting back the other insults she wanted to throw at him.   Unlike everyone else, it was her father who was the one person she really couldn't lash out at like what she did with Cathy. Stupid "Duchess" Cathrine Honeycomb thought she could boss everyone around as if they were her subjects.

"This includes you as well, Allison. If they really want to, the Honeycombs can close down this school and then where would you and everyone else be? This school allows teens like you to learn about their powers away from the prying, biased eyes of the Normal human society, allowing you guys freedom to be ourselves without being judged. If that's taken away, there's going to be nothing left and most of the Gifted kids who are troubled will be out on the streets with no safe place to go. So don't start with me."

Allison groaned. "They're just jealous someone stood up to Cathy's rude selfish ego for once, and they don't like it when not everybody wants to spoil their precious doll." The words tasted like vinegar on her tongue as she thought about it. She believed those stuck-up royals to be foolish brats, with their billions, cars and big mansions.

Anthony sighed, stopping in his pacing to rub his tired eyes. "Whatever the case, they have a substantial amount of money than we do, not to mention power, so we have nothing to say on the matter. If you had just left and came to tell me so that I could settle this nicely and with fewer injuries, we wouldn't be in this messy situation." He pointed out.

"And risk being labeled as a rat and a Tattle-Tale? No thanks. Everyone else already thinks of me as the angry, spoiled headmaster's daughter, and I don't need another bad wrap to my name." Ally twirled a strand of her reddish-brown hair around a finger, lightly tugging on it out of frustration, looking anywhere else but at him.

Her father placed his hands on his large oak desk loudly to where the two family photos moved—one of all three of them and one with just her parents—and the pens rattled in their holders. The loud commotion made her look up at him. His expression was set in determination as he spoke. "That's enough, Allison... listen real hard and listen well, because I'm not going to say this again. If you cause this kind of trouble again, you'll be packing your bags and going to Barkley's—no if's or but's. If you can't control yourself, the Honeycombs will sue and this Academy's as good as gone. Do you understand?"

Ally could see as she looked him straight in those dark green eyes of his that he wasn't bluffing in the slightest; he was dead serious, and they would have nothing. Berkley was an institution for the really troubled delinquents, a place she had no intention of going even if her father forced her by tying her up and carting her off to that place like a convict.

She glared at him with contempt, spitting out her reply. "Yeah, sadly."

Anthony stood up straight again. "Good. There's one more thing I have to talk to you about; your drawings." He pulled out a drawer and brought out her biology notebook—something she never noticed had ever been missing—and plopped it onto his desk.

Ally's mouth fell open in shock and outrage, and she quickly closed it. "You went through my things, too?! Have you guys ever heard of boundaries?"

"Ally, this is serious. You've been more withdrawn, your grades are falling, more than usual, and you're never paying attention during class. The teachers have said that you're always drawing in this notebook, a lot. So, for your safety, I went through it. Do you know what you've been drawing, repeatedly, everywhere in your notes?"

Anthony flipped open the notebook, flipping past a couple pages. There were pictures of evil everywhere; demons and evil, dark things and the like. There was even a satanic-looking pentagram symbol, which was drawn everywhere within the margins of each page.

Allison remained indignant. "That still doesn't give you permission to go through my stuff! It's a violation of privacy for goodness sake!"

She pushed herself up on her feet, slinging the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"Allison..." Her father tried to get a word in, but she interrupted him, whirling around before she reached the door. She was so angry at him, she wanted to really hurt him.

Anthony Marks was a leader, a visionary, but he could also be tough when he wanted to be. There wasn't much that could get past the defenses he'd put up over the years, and Ally knew what that was all too well.

"You really stink at this whole father thing. If my mother was still here, she would've done a much better job at parenting than you've ever done." She hissed, fuming out the ears. She didn't own one ounce of pity for him at that moment; he'd violated her personal privacy, and that was definitely not okay.

Without another word, without a glance back, Allison left, loudly slamming the door behind her.

~*~*~*~*~*~

After his daughter left, Anthony sat down as those words sank in, his anger diminishing until all that was left was sorrow and regret. She was hurting, she hadn't meant it. She was just an angst, ornery teenager who held some resentment... But was it all true?

He reached for the picture frame of two people; a man and a woman. They were smiling, looking so happy and so in love. Anthony looked longingly at the picture of the dark-haired woman, trailing a finger down the glass as he consulted her in his troubled mind...

'What am I doing wrong, Rebecca? If only you were here... You'd know what to do. You'd know how to help her...'

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EDITED: October 2017

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