Chapter Two
Like Swallowing Nails
Aradia did her best to skirt around family breakfast. It would do her no pleasure to sit down with Hana and Damara, and instead took a small bowl of cereal to the couch while the other three members of the household sat together. She mindlessly ate, her eyes kind of swaying about the room, refusing to focus on any one thing. Voices drifted into her ears, and Aradia picked up snippets of Damara's Japanese ramble while Hana translated to her father. Daniel Droog was trying to learn his new wife's language, but he struggled with it immensely. Aradia supposed it was good of him to try. She knew in her heart that Hana couldn't possibly be all bad, that there was just a rift in the family, but the whole situation felt like utter shit and she tried as hard as she could to distance herself from the other women who suddenly stepped into her life. She placed her bowl and spoon curtly in the sink and paced into the other room where her schoolbag sat by the door, waiting for its first excursion into the world. A picture hung on the wall above it. It was their old family portrait. Aradia was near entranced by it. Her mother was beautiful, light blonde hair set atop a round face with a warm smile. She was mid-laugh in the photo, and Daniel stood opposite her, his gaze oozing pure adoration. And a young Aradia, three or four years old charging at the camera with a huge smile on her face and her hands covered in dirt. She smiled at the photo, trying not to let any tears pool in her eyes. Aradia wasn't able to remember her mother very well, but she remembered what her dad said over and over after the funeral.
"Aradia… you look so much like her. Promise me I won't lose you too," he used to say when he put her to bed and stroked her dark hair at night. He never cried, though. Not that she remembered. As Aradia stared at the picture, the truth of the memory hit her. She did look remarkably like her mother. Same shape, same face, same eyes. The truth was dark hair was all she'd inherited from her father. And it hit her like a brick, a dull, painful realization in the side of her face. For as long as she knew, she missed her mother. But the love of the family was tangible just from their portrait, and Aradia now not only missed her, but needed her more than anything. She stared into the late Rachel Droog's smiling eyes, longing for her to be able to reach out and hug her. But it was impossible. A jangle of keys in the room behind her tore Aradia from the photo. She blinked heavily, stepping backwards. Her backpack still sat by the door, and she grabbed it as her father came around the corner, Damara close behind. She shot Aradia that sickeningly evil grin as the three got in the car.
Aradia sat in the back, her knees drawn up to her chest as her father pulled up to Skaia High. Damara leapt out of the car immediately, hardly turning back to say goodbye while Aradia shifted slowly in the back seat, moving towards the door. Daniel turned backwards in the driver's seat, looking at her. The sadness and anger was clear in her eyes as she looked up to meet his.
"Dad…" she murmured. A question formed a lump in her throat, and she didn't dare say it aloud. It was an impossible request anyway. Daniel seemed to know what she was going to say without her having to say it. He wanted Rachel back too, but they both knew it was time to move on. He placed a hand gently on Aradia's shoulder.
"I know, sweetheart. I…" Daniel closed his eyes, searching for the words for a moment. Aradia moved his hands to his.
"It's okay, Dad," she murmured, hoisting her backpack up by the back handle and getting out of the car. Daniel took a moment, breathing a heavy sigh before he drove off.
Aradia wasn't more than 3 steps away from the curb before a clanking noise caused her to turn back towards the drop-off lane.
"Mr. Boxcars!" she called, watching a large, heavy-set man struggle to pull a wheelchair out of his trunk. She ran over to help, and he immediately stepped back.
"Eh, go ahead, your hands are smaller anyway," he grumbled. Aradia twisted the chair carefully out of the sedan trunk and unfolded it on the sidewalk next to the back seat of the car, smiling at Tavros through the window. After getting him out and settled in his chair, Aradia began to push him towards the school building, Tavros's brother Rufioh walking next to them.
"So what's Mr. Boxcars doing watching you guys?" she asked the Nitram boys. Rufioh scoffed.
"Mom and Dad are on another business trip," Tavros said.
"Tried to tell them, I'm 17 now and we don't need a babysitter," Rufioh added. "But they insist."
"How's Damara?" Tavros asked. Aradia's smile fell, herself and Rufioh exchanging a knowing glance. The older boy ran a hand through his red-tipped Mohawk.
"Oh, you know…" Aradia said. She had no intent of getting into the gritty details. It was difficult enough going to Sollux with them.
"Crazy as ever?" Rufioh asked with a laugh. Aradia's smile returned, and she laughed and nodded.
Before long, Rufioh was pulled away by Equius's brother Horuss, leaving Aradia and Tavros in the hall. Their lockers were near each other, the school being understanding enough to leave his on a lower row.
"So what's your schedule?" Tavros asked, turning the combination into his lock. Aradia took a moment to wrestle with one of the papers in her binder to check her schedule.
"Um, Biology, Spanish, Geometry, English, P.E., and History," she said as Tavros haphazardly shoved books into his locker. It was a basic list of what high school freshmen were supposed to take. Tavros looked at his own schedule, furrowing his brow for a moment as he muttered to himself, but then looked up and smiled at Aradia.
"Cool; we have English together!" he said with a grin. Aradia smiled back at him, glad to share the class with someone. She was sure with the sheer number of people she knew, they would share a fair number of classes together. The bell rang and Aradia ran off to her biology class as Tavros scooted down the hall in the other direction, waving goodbye as he went.
"Bye Tavros; see you at lunch!" Aradia called.
The first day of school was uneventful, for the most part. Aradia went to her first class and discovered that she shared biology with Sollux, Feferi, and Gamzee, of all people. She decided to share the lab station with her two best friends, and did her best not to mind Gamzee joining them. He was nice enough, but a bit off-putting. Maybe it was the fact that his hair looked like he'd never brushed it in his life, or the fact that he was always higher than a kite, or the fact that he called someone a motherfucker at least once in every sentence, but Aradia never got to know him well, and she kind of didn't want to, but she was now in a position where she might have to. The teacher handed out the syllabus students were required to get signatures for, and talked at them for the full hour. The rest of Aradia's classes were basically the same; discovering who she shared what class with. Spanish was shared with Terezi and Eridan. She sat between Terezi and a blue-eyed boy she didn't quite catch the name of. John Something, she thought. In Geometry, she was joined by Kanaya. She rejoined with Tavros in 4th period English, as well as Vriska, and after that, the three of them walked to lunch where they were joined by the rest of their friends. Aradia sat at the end of the bench next to Tavros, his chair turned into the table. Tavros gave a small wave to another girl from their English class as she took a seat among three others. Aradia thought she recognized one of them as John from her earlier class, but wasn't quite sure. Vriska slid onto the bench beside Aradia.
"So, Aradia, how's life?" she asked, drawing out her vowels as she tended to do. Aradia shot a sideways glare at her. They'd spent so long at each other's throats, and yet somehow managed to share the same group of friends.
"Living with Damara is just peachy compared to you sometimes," Aradia said, her face emotionless.
"What? I'm awesome and you know it."
"Mhm, mhm, and I'm sure Tavros just loves being paralyzed from your 'awesomeness'." Vriska's mouth dropped into a scowl as she turned towards Aradia.
"You can't prove shit, Megido. It was a freak accident and we all know it," she hissed.
Aradia said nothing in response, letting Vriska implode with her own anger. Had Karkat, Sollux, and Kanaya not walked up at that moment, Vriska would have spent several minutes ranting at Aradia senselessly. The three joined them at the lunch table, Sollux forcing Vriska to move to let him take his seat next to Aradia. She picked at her food as her friends made idle chatter and the rest of them arrived. Before she knew it, lunch was over and it was back to class. Aradia thought about Vriska's question as she sat through another 40 minutes of a teacher talking at the class- in P.E. of all things- with Equius and Nepeta next to her. How was life? Everything sucked, at the moment. School was a saving grace, and even then she knew Damara was around somewhere. She refused to give Vriska the real answer to the question, especially when people were around. She didn't need her friends to give her sympathy.
Aradia sat through her last class, history, sitting in the back with Karkat and exchanging complaints about how dumb it was, then made her way to the parking lot and waited for her dad to pick her up. The grass along the sidewalk tickled her ankles. He was running late. She knew this would happen, so she waited. It crossed her mind that Damara was nowhere to be seen, as she waited where they were supposed to wait for her dad after school ended. Aradia sighed, hanging her head. Things were utterly hopeless. Damara appeared next to her, a lit cigarette dangling between her lips. Aradia furrowed her brow, an overwhelming sense of doubt coming to the forefront of her mind.
"Damara, you're late," Aradia said, not even bothering to face her stepsister.
"I not late. Daniel late," she answered, blowing her smoke in Aradia's face. God, it smelt awful, worse than the weed Damara usually smoke. Aradia stood, facing Damara.
"Did you even go to school?" Damara shook her head 'no', still grinning. Aradia scowled at her, awaiting the day her father would realize what a mistake letting Damara and Hana into their lives was. Her teeth dug into the back of her lower lips as she wrestled her frustration into words. They weren't words worth saying, though, and they bounced and screamed in her head waiting for someone to listen and understand, and sat in her throat like swallowing nails. Several minutes passed in silence, and when Daniel Droog's car was spotted at the corner, Damara dropped her cigarette onto the sidewalk, squishing its embers out with her foot. Aradia threw her bag into the back of the car and got in, leaning against the window while Damara got in the passenger seat, resting her feet on the dashboard. Daniel shot a look at her, but said nothing for the moment.
Aradia didn't have many words during family meals anymore, but that evening was different. Hana, Daniel, Damara and Aradia all sat around their small, round table in the kitchen, eating soba Hana spent a good chunk of the evening making for them. Aradia picked at the noodles while everyone else ate enthusiastically.
"So, Aradia," Hana said, "you're taking Spanish at school?" Her accent was very distinct, but unlike Damara, Hana had taken the time to learn English when they first moved. Aradia looked up at her, burgundy eyes wide. She knew in her heart Hana was nice enough, if troubled. There was some involvement with Doctor Scratch in her childhood, and if what the rumors said were true, he was not one to be a parental figure. Still, Hana hardly tried to talk to Aradia, so it took her a bit by surprise.
"Uhm, yeah, I am… it's a college required thing… foreign languages," Aradia answered, her voice trailing a bit.
"It's very nice that you are learning that," Hana continued, ignoring Aradia's blatant disinterest.
"Mm, wouldn't call it all that interesting."
"Languages are useful, Aradia, and communication; important."
Aradia looked back up, her eyes glancing between Hana and her father. "I feel like you're hinting at something, Hana…"
"We want you to learn Japanese," Daniel intervened into the conversation. Aradia's eyes went wide and Damara immediately started cackling.
"Don't laugh young lady, you need to learn English as well," Hana snapped at Damara.
"Dad are you serious?" Aradia screeched. He merely nodded.
"Mama, no!" Damara screamed.
"You live in America now, you need to know," Hana answered back, remaining calm. Aradia gave up her fight. At the very least, she could hope that bridging the language gap would help her and Damara get along. As she went up to her room, she heard an argument explode in Japanese.
"Eigo wa anata ga watashi ga jissai ni gakkō ni iku koto o kitai shi, kono yobun'na, kore wa jūbun ni sono yō na kuso detarame sono warui kata sugiru? Kami no imaimashī watashi wa anata o chikau, anata ga kekkon shite kirainahito ga watashi o kirai!" Damara shouted.
"Anata wa sonoyō watashi ni hanashi o aete shinaide kudasai. Anata wa giron no eigo, owari o hanasu hitsuyō ga aru."
Daniel just sighed.
