Chapter 9: Family Reunion

This is the chapter I've been waiting for! XD, so I'm gonna try and update this as soon as possible! :P.

It had been two and a half weeks since we last saw Paula. Her arm was fully healed, and she was back to her normal self. However, her mom was still persistent, to not letting her take part in anything dealing with dragons.

Paula and her two best friends, Hope and Tasha, currently were sitting on top of Paula's bed. Tasha had a brush in her hand, and started to comb through Paula's long black hair, as it was so smooth and beautiful. Sometimes she even combed it with her fingers, as she admired the tangle free hair.

"I'm just so nervous…" Paula kept on repeating herself repeatedly.

As Hope tried to calm Paula down, Tasha continued with her hair. "Man, I just love your hair!" She said aloud.

Paula stopped herself, and listened to what Tasha said. She liked it when people commented on her looks, so she had no clue what she looked like. "Really?" She turned around, and grabbed the brush from her hand.

"Your hair so long and shiny, actually you're really pretty all together." Hope touched Paula's shoulder, for it was the truth. Paula felt like crying now, for she always feared that she was ugly, since she couldn't judge herself on her own looks. But hearing that, made her day a whole lot better.

"Awww, thanks guys, I really needed to hear that." She smiled, as she grabbed her long locks and put them in a high ponytail.

"And don't worry about this, family reunion. I mean come on, they're your family." Hope gently said. However, that's exactly why, she was afraid.

Tasha looked out the window, to see another car pull up next to the house. "I guess it's about time we leave. Good luck on your family thing Paula!" She spoke out as she pushed herself and Hope out the Paula's room, and then toward the front door.

It was that time of year again, the family reunion. Family reunions used to be on Kathy's vacation house in Florida. However ever since Kathy died, they stopped using that as the place for their reunion. Besides, all the known relatives lived in New York, and Will's house was just big enough to accommodate them all.

So far, the only people who've shown up were Jake, and the extended family of Gregory. The two old men, still hated each other's guts, even after all these years. But they had a new reason to argue, or maybe start to get along with each other. One of Gregory's grandkids, Melissa (who was the oldest of 3), was chosen as Paula's replacement as the American Dragon. She was 13 (almost 14 in a month), so far the only one in the family to get dragon powers, and the biggest snob in the world. She kind of reminded Jake of just how Greggy was when he was her age.

Gregory's wife, daughter, her husband, and their three kids sat together on one couch, while Jake, Bonnie, and Will sat on the other side. They needed to discuss the, Dragon Training arrangements, before the others came.

"So Jake, when do you want to start training, my granddaughter, Melissa to replace you?" He said, with a smirk. Melissa gave out phony smile at Jake.

Jake rolled his eyes, and looked over at Paula's room door, which was closed. "Well, nothing's in writing yet, Greggy. Paula still has about 2 more weeks till she meets with the Dragon Council…" He blankly said as he took a sip of his soda.

Both Gregory and his own kids gasped as this remark. "Jake, you know we decided to not let Paula do this inferior training stuff, especially what happened last time…" Bonnie growled at her dad-in-law.

But right now, Jake could care less of what she had to say. "I'm just sayin'…" He remarked again, along with another sip of from his glass. Everyone knew he was doing this just to piss of Gregory.

"Stop kidding yourself Jake. It was smart of you to decide Melissa as the American Dragon," Jake leaned his eyes forward, and glared at him, "It's obvious that Paula isn't fit to take on such a job."

"What does that mean." Jake rolled his eyes once more, at the ignorance he was showing.

"What does that mean?" Gregory lifted up his arms, and stood up. But when he did, a crack from his back could be heard. "Are you serious? For god sakes, the kid is frickin' blind! How can you expect someone to watch out for danger when she can't see!!"

"Father, settle down please…" Gregory's daughter Sophie grabbed her father's shoulders and set him back down onto the sofa. Everytime these two old men meet, this always seems to happen…She then hinted toward her kids, to go away, so they won't hear any more.

Jake clinched his arm, about ready to fight. "I've seen more power in Paula than I'll ever see in your granddaughter." He jumped up, and bent forward.

"Please…not this year…please…"

"How can you be so stupid Jake, Melissa is the greatest dragon for the job, at least she can see…"

The rest of the family just watched, unsure of what to say. Bonnie of course had a lot of things she'd like to say, but Will stopped her from speaking her mind. "Don't forget Greggy, I'm the Dragon Expert here. I know who's best to take my job." He growled.

"Don't, call me Greggy!" He yelled off the top of his lungs. Here it goes…

Suddenly, the two guys jumped into the air, and dragoned up. They then went after each other, fighting in the air.

This was the last straw, Will got up, and pushed the two old guys off of each other. "Alright this is enough!" Will watched as Tasha and Hope walked into the living room, and headed fort he door. He waited for them to leave, before he continued. "Dad, Paula is never going to be your replacement, just get it through your head already!" Jake's heart stopped when he heard that. How could his own son, lose faith in his daughter like that? He then dragoned down and just stood onto the ground, saying nothing. "Now will you two please discuss Melissa's training schedule like adults?" Both of them sat their butts down, and said nothing.

Will was right, but Jake couldn't believe he said it.

Meanwhile, while the adults were arguing, Melissa and her two brothers Zach and Andrew all sat together. Since both her brothers were, very young, they had small toys to entertain themselves. However Melissa, she didn't bring anything, so instead, she got up, and decided to explore the house for Paula.

Paula still relaxed in her room; she didn't want to go out just yet. She knew why Jake and Gregory were arguing, and didn't want to get in the middle of it, especially since her mom was over there too. So for now, she decided she'd stay in her room until dinner. That was until; she heard a knock on her door.

Just then, Melissa entered into the room, and shut the door close. She slowly walked up to Paula's bed, and looked down at her. Her head was turned, which annoyed Melissa for it was as if Paula was ignoring her. "You do you know why they are arguing in there right?" She spoke out, though Paula still had her head turned. "They are discussing the plans for your Grandfather to train me!"

Paula proceeded to act like as if she didn't care, though inside, her hurt her a lot. "But it's obvious; I mean he couldn't keep kidding you and yourself forever? How are you supposed to protect the city when you can't see!"

Paula knew this all along, but hearing it blankly told to her face really started to make her sad. One stream of tears flew down her face. "I mean, I bet you can't even tell how many fingers I'm holding in front of you!" She lifted up her arm, and pointed four fingers right in front of her.

Another stream of tears poured down. Paula backed up, and grabbed her legs and wrapped them in her arms. She then quickly turned her face, and answered. "…four. She cried out.

Melissa looked at her arm, surprised. But she assumed Paula just guessed, I mean she only had 5 options. However, she changed her four fingers to a two. " No I had two fingers up you idiot. See, if you can't even tell what's in front of your face!!"

As more tears started to fall, Paula cleared her throat and started to speak out. Her voice was harsh, and stern. "I could have easily been the American Dragon like you." She still had her head turned, away from Melissa.

"Will you give it up already? I'm the American Dragon now. And what'll you be? You'll be a worthless Dragon, living with your parents or something that'll have to care and tent to you for the rest of your life. Cause you can't see, anything."

"Stop it." Paula whispered so low, but she knew Melissa couldn't hear her.

An evil laugh Melissa then made, as she felt this was enough torment to the girl who almost cost her the job as the American Dragon. She grabbed the doorknob, and gave one last look at the sobbing girl, then slammed the door shut.

Paula turned around, and cried into her pillow. She couldn't understand how could someone be so mean to tell her that stuff, but she also couldn't believe how foolish she was. She was only kidding herself; she could never become some great magical protector. This last month and a half were a complete waste.

But what most of all bothered Paula, was the very last thing Melissa said, for it was true. She'd have to live a caretaker, for the rest of her life, for she could never be on her own. She could never have a normal life.

Suddenly, the fear of the future stayed in her mind. Her head was pounding from all the crying she was doing. All she wanted to do was get away, get away from her horrible family, and clear her mind. She didn't want to be here, any longer.

With that, she ran over to the window, and jumped out of her room.


Man, Greggy's granddaughter turned out to be we-otch! XD I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

But she was turn...well mostly, and it really bothered Paula. But where did Paula go!? (note: Paula's room is on the first floor, I don't want anyone thinking see commited sucicide XD).

Oh, and if you are wondering why I added that hair scene in my story, hey that's what I imagined when I first thought of this story, sue me. :P

Also note, the story is ending soon X(. I'd say about...two to three chapters left. Finally I'm giving an ending to this story lol.