Chapter Fourteen

The first thing I felt when I awoke was an ear-splitting headache, like someone had cracked my skull open. "Water," I said to no one, my voice barely a whisper. "I need water."

As if by magic, a tall glass of water appeared in my line of sight, extended by a thin, tanned arm covered with a stack of gold bangle bracelets. "Here you go, sweetie," a familiar sweet, calm voice said as I gulped it hungrily, the cold, smooth water running over my tongue and quenching my Sahara Desert thirst. I looked up to see Ivy standing by the bedside, a small smile on her face. "Want some more?"

"…Yes please." From the other side, Aqua handed me another cup, which I drank down in one gulp. After a few more cups of water, the pain in my head had ebbed to the point where I felt almost normal, and I sat up against the back of the… bed? "Where am I?" I asked, looking around me for the first time and noticing the plain white walls, gray plastic raised bed with guardrails, and beeping machines full of strange wires, some of which appeared to be attached to me. This place looked nothing like Alfea, even the infirmary (which I'd had the unpleasant experience of spending the night in once, after one of Lola's pimple-erasing spells went wrong – don't ask).

"The Magix Hospital. Apparently you passed out and no one had a clue what was going on with you, so Nurse Ophelia sent you here." That was Dee, who was now running a scan over my body with her ladybug device. "Looks like nothing too serious, though. Whatever it was must've just been an extreme adverse reaction to something, because you're perfectly fine now."

"Ugh, speak for yourself." Although the water had helped immensely, my head was still pounding something fierce. I tried rubbing my temples, a trick Ivy always used when she was complaining of headaches, but it didn't do much.

"So, miss Alyssa," Lola said, perching herself at the foot of my bed, "I believe you have some explaining to do." She stared down at me with a pointed look.

For a moment, I had no idea what she was talking about, but then with a start it all came rushing back. "Um… where do you want me to start?" I asked feebly.

"How about when you realized your roommate was a psychopathic bitch hell-bent on destroying you?" Aqua crossed her arms over her chest. "We're your friends, 'Liss; you know you can tell us anything."

I sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry for keeping you in the dark. But really, I only discovered the full depths of Taylor's psychosis today, and then I was kind of busy trying not to die." A thought occurred to me. "What exactly happened to her? Taylor, I mean."

Mel laughed. "Ms Faragonda is dealing with her right now. She's been expelled, of course, and I think they were mentioning mandatory anger management rehab and something like house arrest. You parents were even talking about pressing charges against her."

"Speaking of which," Aqua continued, bending over and resting her head in her hands on the edge of my bed, grinning conspiratorily at me, "your mom is one certified hottie. I can see why your dad seems unable to keep his hands off her."

"Aqua!" Ivy reprimanded, shooting the dark girl a look. Aqua just shrugged impishly and laughed it off.

"My parents… where are my parents?" The word felt strange on my tongue. For so long it had been just Dad, and now… parents. It was hard to wrap my mind around.

"Outside. The doctors said they could wait in here for when you wake up, but they wanted to spend some time together, alone. So they said we could wait for you instead."

"Can I go see them?"

"I don't see why not. As long as you can get out of bed."

That would prove to be more difficult than I thought. Regardless of what Dee's bug thing said, my legs barely felt strong enough to support my body weight. Finally, with the help of Mel and Aqua, I pulled myself out of bed and stumbled awkwardly to the door. Pulling it open cautiously, I peered outside and saw a sight that made me stop dead in my tracks.

Right outside my hospital room were my parents, arms wrapped tightly around each other, passionately making out. It would have been cute if they weren't… my parents. "You guys!" I chided, shaking a finger at them. "Get a room!"

Startled, they broke apart. Mom's cheeks were as red as her hair, and Dad was… laughing? I'd never heard him laugh before; he was always so serious. "Sorry, sweetie," Mom said, smoothing her hair, which had somehow become tangled (gee, I wonder how?).

I tried to laugh it off, even as a part of me cringed inside at the sight that could never be unseen. "It's okay. You two haven't seen each other in ten years. I understand."

"Girls, could you give us some privacy please?" Dad asked pointedly, adjusting the lapels of his trademark long burgundy coat.

"Sure," Lola said. "Come on, gang, I'm thirsty, and I saw a soda machine down the hall."

"I could go for a snack," Dee quipped, as my friends trailed down the hall and out of sight.

Dad sat down in one of the plastic chairs, and I did the same. Mom looked as if she was going to sit on Dad's lap, then thought better of it and took the chair on the other side of me. "So, Alyssa…" she started.

"So, Mom," I echoed, putting emphasis on the word Mom. "Wow, that feels weird to say."

She laughed. "I know. I never knew my parents either. In fact, my whole childhood was very non-traditional. So once I knew I was having a daughter, I told myself that I wouldn't let you have such a bad childhood like I had. Of course, I didn't really make good on my promise, did I?"

"No… not really," I laughed. "But it's okay. You're here now. And I'm sure within a matter of days, we'll have made up for all the mother-daughter bonding time we've missed over the last fifteen years."

"Oh great," Dad groaned. "Shopping. Just don't expect me to carry your bags for you."

We both laughed. "Don't worry – you're free from bag-carrying duty." He looked momentarily relieved, until I added, "But if you don't start explaining why you kept so many secrets from me, maybe you won't be so lucky."

He sighed. "I knew this conversation was coming the day I sent you off to Alfea, but that doesn't mean I'm any more prepared to have it. Okay. What do you want to know?"

"Why you lied to me about everything," I said, without skipping a beat. "That seems like a good place to start."

Mom reached out to take my hand in hers. "I can't say I agree wholeheartedly with everything your father did to raise you, but you have to understand that there are reasons why he did what he did that you can't hope to understand, without knowing our story. Please, don't hate him for doing what he thought was necessary to protect you."

I could feel my resolve weakening at the sincerity in her voice. If it had been Dad, I could've dismissed those words, but Mom was another story. "Okay then," I said, turning to her. "Tell me this story of yours."

"Ours was an unusual love story. When I graduated Alfea, I thought my life was laid out for me – I'd marry Sky and become the Queen of Eraklyon." Both Dad and I flinched at her words. "Yes, Taylor was right in that one miniscule detail, although anything else she claimed about me having ruined her life is entirely false." I relaxed slightly. "And then… I realized that I didn't actually love him, and that I wanted more from life than to be queen of a planet not mine by birth. So I ran off to Sparx, which was still a frozen wasteland at the time, and tried to restore it on my own." She reached over me and squeezed Dad's hand. "And that's when your father caught up to me."

"If I recall correctly, I pulled you out of a snowbank unconscious," he teased, staring at her with such love in his eyes that it almost took my breath away.

"Details," she laughed. "I certainly was not expecting to fall in love with him; it just sort of… happened. And then it reached the point where I could not live without him. There were some kinks in the road because of external forces beyond our control, but for a while, things were quite close to perfect. Then you came along, and they got even closer." She sighed and stared down at her lap. "And then the Trix ruined it all."

"Who are these witches?" I wondered out loud.

"In a word: nasty, ruthless, catty, bitchy, and heartless. Actually, that was more like five, wasn't it?" Dad arched a brow.

"Be nice." Mom tapped him playfully on the nose, and he smiled. "They were a giant thorn in my side throughout high school, and evidently they really don't know how to give up a grudge. But all that's in the past now," she declared, taking both of our hands and joining all three of them together on my lap.

I pursed my lips. "As sweet as that story was, I still don't think either of you really answered my question."

"When your mother disappeared, it left me in a very tight spot. Even after fighting tooth and nail with the Magix Council, they still didn't want me in a position of power; hence why you won't find any records of me as King of Sparx." Dad chuckled slightly. "It's a truly ridiculous idea, really, given the irony. So I was none too nicely kicked out of the palace, and had to scramble to find somewhere to raise you. You were so young, you didn't remember very much… and at first, I just thought it was easier to say that she had died, than get into the whole story." He sighed. "And when you got older… At first I rationalized it as protecting you from people like Taylor, although I certainly never imagined dealing with someone of her magnitude of psychosis. Kids can be cruel, and as is, I saw you suffer from taunts about your eyes; that's why I homeschooled you. But I won't lie; I was motivated to keep you in the dark for personal reasons as well." I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off. "You and I never had that great of a relationship, and I'm sorry for that–" I inwardly winced "but do you remember how you reacted when Faragonda told you the truth?" I nodded. "It was selfish of me, yes, but I didn't want you to hate me for the mistakes in my past, more than you already seemed to resent me for not knowing how to be a parent."

I thought about it for a moment. "I hate that you're right," I finally admitted. "Because this means I can't be mad at you."

"Oh, honey, you're a teenager. It's your right to be mad at your parents for all sorts of reasons, whether they're justifiable or not." I looked at Dad in shock. In all my years of life, I had never known him to make anything remotely approaching a joke.

Mom laughed and smoothed my hair. "You had us so worried there, Alyssa. I don't know what I would have done if…"

"But I'm fine," I interrupted, not liking the direction this seemed to be heading. "So let's not think about this anymore."

"Fair enough," she said. "There are a few other things we need to talk about as a family, but I think we should let Alyssa see her visitor, shouldn't we?" Dad made a face as she winked at me.

"What? Who?" I racked my brains, trying to figure out who it could be. As far as I knew, all of my friends were getting snacks. And there was no way Taylor grew a conscience and came to visit me (like my friends and parents would have let her within twenty feet of me), so that left…

"Hey, Alyssa…" I heard a very familiar voice say, before I turned around to see Ryan standing behind me in the hospital hall, holding a bouquet of white tulips and staring shyly at his feet.

Mom smiled at me. "I think we'll give you two kids some alone time," she said, pulling Dad to his feet. "Come on, love, let's go join Alyssa's friends and get a snack."

Soon they were gone, and it was just Ryan and me standing in the hallway. "So…" I said, for lack of anything better to say.

"So…" he echoed. I could tell he was just as nervous as I was. "These are for you," he said finally, handing over the flowers.

"Thank you." I buried my nose in the soft petals and took a long inhale, filling my nose with the sweet perfume. "They're beautiful."

We stood there in awkward silence together for a few moments more, until Ryan finally said, "I don't know how to say this, but for what it's worth, I'm sorry."

I exhaled. "I knew you had a sister, but…"

"Believe me, I didn't know either that she was this… unhinged." He shuddered. "She was always a little off growing up, but I just chalked it up to her being a girl and left it alone. If I'd known, I would've done something, I promise." He was so earnest and sweet that my heart just melted.

"I believe you, don't worry." I took another sniff of the flowers again. They really were gorgeous – and immaculately flawless, which meant they must've been expensive. Someone was obviously trying to make up for something. "Why're you so nervous?" I finally asked, noticing the obvious nervous tics.

He hesitated. "I really, really like you, Alyssa. And I hope you'll still give me a chance."

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked softly. Feeling suddenly emboldened, I took a few steps forward, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him softly. Again, I felt that distinct sensation like I was floating on air.

When we finally broke the kiss, Ryan mumbled something under his breath. "What?" I asked.

"Will you go to the farewell dance with me?" he blurted loudly, and the whole room stood still, waiting in anticipation for my answer. Behind him, I could see my friends, with my parents, coming back from the snack machines, and they too were staring at me intensely, waiting to hear what I would say next.

I didn't have to think twice about what my answer would be. "Of course!"