You sit outside the middle school, drumming your fingers across the steering wheel. You're pretty irritated you had to leave work early for the little troublemaker sitting in your passenger seat, but you take a big, deep breath so she doesn't end up getting the brunt of your agitation. The last thing you want to do is get legitimately angry at her; you're not that kind of parent. You turn to look at her: her pigtails were all frayed and one of them is almost pulled out, her clothes are all stretched and dirty, and a bruise was quickly forming on her cheek. Aria definitely looks like she just stepped out of the ring. After that talk the three of you had with the principal, Aria hasn't stopped her angered sulking since she got in the car. She has her hands crossed over her chest as she looks out the window and away from you, obviously not wanting to talk about it.
"Aria..." you start.
"What?" she shoots back, not bothering to look over at you.
"It's the first day of school, Aria."
"So?" she asks, still not looking over at you.
"I can't come pick you up every day like this. Why are you getting into fights on the first day anyway?"
Aria finally looks over at you. She uncrosses her arms and clenches her little fists as anger takes over her face. "I didn't start it!"
"That's not what the principal told me."
Aria looks away again. "Yeah, well she doesn't know anything."
"She knows you got into a fight with two different girls on the first day. Was she lying about that?"
Aria crosses her arms over her chest again. "No..."
You let out a sigh. "Aria, you have to talk to me. Why were you fighting with your classmates."
"Because I hate them."
"That's no reason to start a fight with them."
Aria turns to you again, letting her temper get the best of her again. "I told you, I didn't start it!"
You give her a stern look. "Don't take that tone with me, young lady," you say as calmly as you can. "Did they hit you first?"
Aria's anger faltered for a moment and her eyes drop away from you. "Well, no..."
"Then you shouldn't be fighting with them, Aria. I've told you a thousand times you can't solve your problems by hitting people. It's only going to make things worse. And you play with these girls all the time; why are you fighting with them today of all days."
Aria crosses her arms over her chest again. "Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet are stupid. I hate playing with them."
"That still doesn't mean you should fight with them, Aria. How many times do I have to tell you?"
"They were making fun of me!" she says, frustration growing in her voice.
"I don't care, Aria. Nothing they could say should--"
"They said Mom left because of me!" Aria finally blurted out.
"W-what?" you say, that little bit finding you a little off-guard.
Aria goes deeper into her brooding with her brows furrowed and tone quite angry. "Sugarcoat said Mom wouldn't have left if I wasn't so bratty, and then Sour Sweet laughed at me, so I hit them both."
"Aria, you can't do that," you say softly.
"Why not? Were they right?" Aria asks you, finally looking up at you, her angry eyes expecting an answer.
You lean over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Of course they weren't, honey. I told you, Mom left after her accident to get better," you say. The words left a bad taste in your mouth. You hate having to lie to your daughter, but you don't feel like now is the best time to break it to her. That's the last thing you have the strength to deal with today.
"Well that's not what they think," Aria says, looking away from you again.
"Well, it doesn't matter what they think, sweetie. What matters is that you know better. Next time they say things like that just walk away and stop talking to them, okay?"
Aria's frown curves down even worse. "Then how are they gonna learn to shut up?"
You almost let out a laugh at that one. "That's not something you need to worry about, okay?"
Aria lets out a frustrated grunt and turns back towards the window. "Whatever."
Out of the corner of your eye, you see kids start pouring out of the middle school doors. You give off a sigh of relief that you don't have to deal with your little boxer alone any longer. You smile when you think of that meeting with the principal. Your daughter beat those other two girls to a pulp, and barely ended up with more than a bruise on her. As much as you don't condone it, you are a little bit proud that she had no trouble fighting two girls at the same time. She was absolutely vicious when she wanted to be. Too bad that was way more often than you'd ever like, and never in the right ways.
Finally, you see Adagio walk down the sidewalk towards you. She raises her eyebrow when she goes to open the front door, only to see Aria sitting there. Once she opens the door and settles into the backseat, she leans forward between the two front seats to look up at you. "Hey, Dad."
"Hey, honey."
"I thought the elementary school didn't get out for another half hour," Adagio says, giving a passing glance at Aria. Aria makes another grunt and turns away from her sister's gaze. Adagio looks a little disappointed when she turns back to you.
"It does. I had to pick Aria up early," Aria shoots you a quick glare, not wanting to look bad in front of her sister. You feel her pain, since you remember hating when your parents would always announce every bad deed you did to the world. You don't want Aria to suffer any more than the punishment you're already going to give her. Adagio knows better than to ask as well, at least for now. She usually spent a little bit of her day trying to get through to Aria regardless, so she'd probably find out eventually.
"Oh..." Adagio says as she leans back into her seat and puts her seatbelt on. You look at her in the rearview for a moment as you pull out to head back to the elementary school.
You see a little disappointment still on Adagio's face, but there isn't much you can do about it now. You guess it might've scared her a little to think that elementary suddenly got out earlier this year and she might not get that time anymore. Ever since she started middle school she took this opportunity to talk with you about pretty much everything; whatever book she was reading, what she was doing in school that day, or pretty much anything, really. That girl could really talk your ear off, but seeing her smile so much made you not mind at all. You doubt she's very comfortable with opening up like that in front of Aria.
You get back to the school just in time to walk Sonata out of her class. You actually see Adagio talking over the seat when you walk back out, but you didn't know how much Aria was talking back. You pick up Sonata and begin strapping her into her booster seat, noting that as soon as you opened the door it got very quiet.
"Hi, Dagi!" Sonata says as soon as you lift her up.
Adagio gives a weak wave. Sonata looks up to Aria in the front seat and immediately sees that she's in brood mode.
She looks up to you. "Daddy, did Ari get in trouble?"
You nod to her as you finish strapping her in. "What did she do this time?" she asks in her sweet little innocent tone. Aria doesn't appreciate her sister's curiosity at all. As soon as she hears the words come out of her mouth she spins around in her seat and glares at Sonata.
"It's none of your business, baby, so just shut up!" she says before plopping back down in her seat and crossing her arms over her chest.
"Daddy! Ari's being mean again!" Sonata says.
You sigh and rub your temples. They aren't even all strapped in yet and they're already giving you a headache. "Aria, leave your sister alone." Aria gives you a grunt. "And Sonata, if Aria wants you to know what she did, she'll tell you, alright? Don't worry about her."
"Yes, sir..." she says, looking over at Aria curiously.
You get back in the car and put your seatbelt on, sincerely hoping Aria doesn't start any more drama before you can get home.
On the way back you decide that you really don't feel like cooking tonight, so you just grab the girls some fast food and called it a day. Before you even close the front door behind you, Sonata is already tearing into her bag, scooping big handfuls of fries out with her hand and shoving them into her mouth. Aria looks over at her with a look of mild disgust on her face.
"Sonata, if you keep eating like that you're gonna get even more fat and ugly," Aria says.
Sonata pauses with a handful right in front of her mouth. Her face immediately turns to frustration at her sister as she stomps her foot and clenches her fists by her side. "I am not fat and ugly! I'm gonna be pretty just like Adagio is!"
Adagio stops just short of putting a single fry in her mouth. Her slowly turn red with a blush when she realizes what her sister just said. "W-what?"
You smile down at her and put a hand on Adagio's shoulder. "Yes, she's starting to look a lot like her mother, huh, sweetie?" Adagio's blush goes even darker at that.
Sonata's frustration turns to a little smile as she gives you a happy "mhmm" before going back to shoveling down her fries.
Aria looks between you and Sonata, looking a little sad that she isn't included in your praises. "Wait, what about me?"
"You'd be pretty if you weren't so stupid and mean," Sonata says, sticking her tongue out at her sister.
Aria rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest again. "Whatever," she says before heading for the stairs.
"Aria," you say to stop her. "Stay down here for a minute. I want to talk to you."
Aria lets out a frustrated grunt after you crush her hopes of getting away, and stomps her way into the kitchen. Adagio awkwardly runs up the stairs, a deep blush still on her face. Sonata goes into the living room and pulls her coloring book and crayons off of the coffee table, sitting down onto the carpet to color while she eats. Aria gives her a quick glare, no doubt worrying that she might be able to hear the two of you.
"Aria, sit down," you say, motioning to one of the stools. She reluctantly does as she's told, setting her bag of food onto the counter and looking away from you.
"What's gotten into you over the past couple of weeks?" you ask.
"I don't know," Aria grumbles.
"Something has to change, honey. You can't keep getting into trouble now that school has started, and you definitely can't keep fighting the other girls."
"Why not," Aria says in the same low rumble of a voice she was using in the car earlier. You sigh and rub your temple. This isn't a hard concept to grasp. You know you've taught her better than this. You look to your daughter with a little sadness in your heart. You wish Sunset was here to help you. She knew how to deal with kids so much better than you did.
"Because I can't keep getting out of work to deal with you, Aria. And if you keep getting into fights you're going to get expelled."
"So?" she asks, still not bothering to look at you.
You fight to keep yourself from getting too frustrated at her. "So if you don't stop a lot of bad things are going to happen, Aria. There aren't any other schools around here, and I don't have the time to drive you all the way out to Hoofington every morning. That means if you get expelled I'm going to have to send you to a boarding school. Is that what you want?"
Aria's hard demeanor falters for a moment when she hears the words "boarding school". Her lips twist further into a frown. "No..."
"Then you have to stop acting out, okay? I don't want to have to keep punishing you for things that you know better than to do. If you keep this up I'm going to have to start grounding you for a week at a time instead of just for the day, do you understand me?"
Aria's face grew even more upset by the word. "Whatever," she spits out.
"Aria that's not how you address me when I ask you a question," you say sternly.
Aria lets out another frustrated grunt. "Yes, sir," she says, not really bothering to hide the anger in her voice.
"That's better. Now you can go up to your--"
"Ari, Ari!" Sonata says as she runs into the kitchen with a piece of paper waving in her hands and a big smile on her face. "I know you had a bad day, so I drew you this!" Sonata says, handing Aria the paper in her hands. Aria slipped the paper out of her sister's hands and looks over it with a scowl for no more than a second before crumpling it up in her hands and throwing it across the room.
"I don't want your stupid drawing, Sonata, so just leave me alone!"
"But, Ari..." Sonata says as she starts tearing up, following the piece of paper as it bounced with her eyes.
"Ugh. You are the worst, Sonata. Just stop talking to me already!" she yells as she hops off of the stool. She pushes her sister out of the way, almost making her fall to the ground.
"Aria!" you say to her, your tone edging almost on anger as you help Sonata steady herself. Aria doesn't even look back at the two of you. She runs up the stairs as fast as she can and slams her door behind her. Sonata rubs the corner of her eyes as her face slowly turns into one of her occasional fits of crying.
You pick her up in your arms before she starts, but that doesn't stop her from letting loose into your shirt with some loud sobbing. "Shh, honey. It's okay. Aria didn't mean it."
"B-but she... she said she thought... she thought it was stupid!" she says around her sniffs and sobs, making you wince at her volume.
You rub her back, trying to calm her down. "She just had a bad day, sweetie. She didn't mean any of that. I'm sure she loves your drawings.
"And... and she called me... she called me the worst!" Sonata says, letting out another series of ear-piercing cries.
"It's okay. I'll talk to her, sweetie. Just calm down for me," you say. Sonata keeps on crying just as loud, but as you sit down with her on the couch it gets a little quieter. You know you just have to let her cry it out now.. You rock her back and forth a little with one arm as you lean down to pick up the drawing that landed in the living room. As you smooth it out, it reveals a picture of purple and blue stick figures holding hands with big smiles on their face, surrounded by flowers and trees, standing in pink grass of all things. They were labeled "Me" and "You". It might have been a cute gesture had it not ended so disastrously.
You set Sonata down once her crying dies to just a few sniffs. "All better?" you ask. Sonata gives you a weak little nod. "Good. Now go back to drawing, honey. I'll talk to Aria, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy. Do you think she's still mad at me?" Sonata asks with another sniff.
You smile down at her. "No, honey, I don't think she was ever mad at you. She just had a bad day is all. She was just mad that she got in trouble. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Okay," she says, walking back over to her spot in the living room. You let out a long sigh, wishing Aria had taken up a little more of her mother's personality. You wondered how she could be so different from Adagio, even though they were only born two years apart, and their mother gave them each just as much attention. You look over to the bag of food that Aria had left on the counter. There's no use in dwelling over it now; you just have to do your best to set Aria back on the right path. You grab her food and walk up the stairs, hesitantly pushing open her door as you got there.
Her room is dark when you walk in, with Aria already hiding herself under her blankets away from the world. "Aria..." you say.
"Go away!" a muffled voice says from under the covers. You turn the light on and close the door behind you, walking up to Aria's bed and putting the food on her nightstand. You take a seat on the mattress beside her. She jerks away from you when you put a hand on her shoulder. "Just leave me alone..."
"Aria, you know you can't treat your sister like that. You really upset Sonata."
"I don't care," Aria says, not bothering to come out from under the covers.
"I know you do care, Aria. Just because you're mad at those girls at school for saying something mean doesn't mean you can take it out on your sister like that. How would you feel if Adagio or I were that mean to you?" you ask. Aria doesn't answer you, and instead just shifts under the covers uncomfortably. "You wouldn't like it, huh?"
"No..." she finally answers.
"Please talk to me, sweetie. If you've got something troubling you we need to talk about it."
"I just want everyone to leave me alone," she says, pulling the covers even tighter over her.
A knot twists up in your stomach and you close your eyes tightly. You really don't want to do this, but you think it might be time after today. The last thing you want to do is crush her on a day when she's happy, so it might as well be now. "Do you... do you want to talk about your mother?"
Aria slowly peeks out from under her blanket. Her face isn't angry anymore as she looks over her shoulder at you. "Can I just go live with her?" Aria asks.
"What?"
"You said you can't drive me to another school, and if Mom is living somewhere else, can't I just live with her so she can take me?" Aria asks, looking to you with a plain expression as if it was just some normal question.
"I'm sorry, Aria. You can't," you say, feeling a lump form in your throat.
Aria sits up in bed, frustration building in her face again. "Why not?"
"Because your mother is..." you start. You leave the sentence hanging in the air for a few seconds. Aria raises an eyebrow at you.
"Is what? Why can't I stay with her, huh?"
You look into her eyes, fighting that lump in your throat from getting anywhere. You can't do it. You can't stand to see that pain in her eyes, or hear her crying over her Mom. You don't want to have to put her death on your daughter, not now, not ever, really. Adagio can barely live with it herself... how could you possibly tell Aria that she's never going to get to see her mother again?
"She... she just can't see anyone right now, alright?"
Aria furrows her brows. "Well why not? You haven't even called her or anything! Can you at least call her and let me talk to her?"
"No, honey," you say, looking away from her.
Aria tugs on your sleeve, trying to get you to look back over to her. "Why not? She doesn't have to go anywhere. All you have to do is call her."
"I'm sorry, Aria, but we can't."
Aria crosses her arms over her chest again and leans back into her pillows. "She probably still talks to Adagio, doesn't she."
You turn over to Aria and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "She... she can't talk right now, okay? But she loves you every bit as much as she loves Adagio. Don't ever forget that."
"If that's true then why hasn't she come back already? What if she never wants to come back and that's why she won't talk to us?"
You open your mouth, but you have no idea what to say to her. You can only take this lie so far before it stretches too thin. You've already put this off for more than two years, you know Aria isn't going to keep buying it forever. As much as you know it can't keep going, you just don't have the heart to tell Aria right now.
"Don't think like that, Aria. Your mother still loves you every bit as much as the day she left," you say, trying to fight back your own emotions.
Aria gives another frustrated grunt, then rolls over in bed, yanking the covers over her shoulders again.
"Ari!" Sonata says as she busts open the door with another piece of paper in her hands. You shoot a quick, stern glance at Aria, nonverbally warning her not to pull the same stunt twice. "I know you didn't like the last one, so I drew this one even better," she says, handing the drawing to Aria.
Aria takes it and looks over it curiously for a moment, holding it in both hands with a much softer expression on her face than earlier. "Thanks, Sonata," she says, giving her sister a little smile. You raise an eyebrow. Was that genuine gratitude you heard for a moment there? You look over at the paper to see the same two characters from Sonata's previous drawing, except this time they had a little more structure to them than just a few sticks. In the middle of them though holding both of their hands was a much taller woman with red and yellow streaks flowing off of her head. Below her an arrow pointed up at her from the word "Mommy".
Aria purses her lips for a moment, looking between the drawing and Sonata. "Listen, Sonata... I'm sorry about earlier... I didn't mean to be that mean."
What alternate dimension did you just get transported to? You have to double check Aria to see if she isn't just trying to catch her sister off-guard for another insult. When you see her actually looking over at Sonata with some genuine remorse on her face, you can hardly believe your eyes.
"It's okay. Daddy said you just had a bad day and I shouldn't bother you, but I just want to help you feel better," Sonata says, holding her hands behind her back and looking at the floor as she rocked back and forth.
"I... I think this helped," Aria says, looking down at the drawing again.
"Yay!" Sonata runs forward and climbs up onto the bed next to you. She holds out her arms in front of Aria, eliciting a raised eyebrow from her.
"What are you doing, Sonata?"
"When I'm having a bad day, Daddy or Adagio always gives me a big hug to make it better. I wanna make you feel better too, Ari," Sonata says, wiggling her arms and waiting for Aria to come closer.
Aria looks at you with a little reluctance at first, but then slowly leans forward to wrap her arms around Sonata as she does the same.
"I'm sorry you had a bad day," Sonata says around Aria's shoulder. "I love you, Ari."
That brings a bright smile to your face. Aria blinks a few times, a little confused by the sudden influx of affection. "I... I love you too, Sonata."
You give Aria a quick pat on the back as you get up off of her bed. "I set your food on the nightstand, honey." You look back at her with a smile. She's still wrapped up tightly in her sister's arms, so you just give her a wink and whisper, "be nice to your sister."
"Thanks, Dad," she says, some confusion still on her face.
You walk out of her room, leaving them to it. You feel good that if Aria has a more positive relationship with her sisters, she won't feel the need to act out so much. You know it's going to be hard, but you're thankful that Sonata and Adagio haven't given up on Aria. You just have to find some way to bring them closer together. Despite the nervous knots still lingering in your stomach, and having no idea how you're going to deal with Aria, seeing those two hug made you feel pretty good about the future.