Davina

“Davina, it’s your first school dance. You’ve never wanted to attend any of the other’s. Please let me help you pick a dress” my mom urged as I was getting ready for school. It was Friday morning and all I wanted was to get school over with so I could relax for the weekend. “No, mom! I already have what I am wearing picked out. I wouldn’t even be going if you hadn’t threatened to ground me.” I barked in response. School dances weren’t my thing. School just wasn’t my thing in general.

I never really fit in. Not in school, church, or at home. I was an outcast. My mom was always disappointed because I wasn’t the Prom Queen or captain of the cheerleading squad. Just the thought of myself in a pink tutu waving around white pom poms made me want to vomit. I had a total of zero friends because everyone seemed fake and I refused to date any of the dickheads at this school. They all seemed to want one thing and I wasn’t going to give it to them. I am promised to another family anyway.

I am promised to The Verlice’s. They are a very powerful family who paid my family a large amount of money for me. I am going to be eighteen in two weeks and when I turn eighteen I am to be married to Mikel Verlice. I have never met this family and I have never met their son. We live in modern times so it is unheard of for families to arrange marriages. For some reason they wanted me. They gave my father $950,000 for me. That amount of money means I am special in a way.

I do not like the idea of being married off to a total stranger. The thought of it scares me and not much can scare me. I do not get along well with my “normal” family. By normal I mean we are the typical family that lives in the suburbs and my siblings and I attend a private school where we gained a decent education. I have two brothers and a sister. Of course I am a twin but my twin brother and I look nothing alike. My siblings and I do not resemble each other at all.

That Friday I went to school like usual. Math class was first. As Mr. Smith was giving his lecture, I had fallen asleep. He startled me awake by yelling my name. “Ms. Walsh, could you please tell me the answer to the question I just asked?” he asked with a snarky attitude. “No sir” I responded, embarrassed at the fact that I had fallen asleep. “I didn’t ask a question. Class take this as a well learned lesson” he continued “If you fall asleep in my class you will get absolutely nowhere in life.” I felt like curling up in a ball and dying because of how sick he made me feel.

The rest of the day at school went okay. I sat with my twin brother and his friends at lunch. They were acting like disgusting pigs like normal but I didn’t say anything. Nobody really speaks to me unless I speak to them which isn’t something I do. My last class of the day was gym class. Coach Liz had us running the track. It was cold outside but the coach thought discipline like that was going to teach us some harsh lesson. The only lesson that taught me was that they wanted us all to die. The end of the school day approached and as I closed my locker the school “weirdo” said hello to me and I left.

The weirdo of the school, Ryder Delvin, wasn’t really weird. Everyone just thought negatively of him because he didn’t quite fit in, like me. Nobody dared to call me weird, though, because my older brother was captain of the football team. He beats up anyone if they look at me or my siblings the wrong way. Ryder didn’t really talk to anyone unless he had to. Not that I have seen him talk to anyone. If you ask me, Ryder wasn’t weird. He was just extremely misunderstood.

After school I headed to the library. I go to the library everyday after school to do my homework where it is quiet. If I finish my homework early enough I help the librarian and her assistant by organizing the returned books on the shelves in which they belong. This kept me away from the people I call my family. I don’t like being home because when I am, I am criticised. My mother is set on teaching me how to be a proper wife and my father is set on my grades being perfect. My siblings just don’t seem to like me much except my sister, Trinity.

Trinity is sixteen years old. She doesn’t understand the many problems I have with being married off to a wealthy stranger. She would trade places with me in a heartbeat. I love Trinity but she has a lot of learning to do. She, however, is my parents' favorite daughter. I am their least favorite child. I am okay with that, though. Trinity is the sibling that is most like me and the only thing we have in common is our similar taste in music.

Cameron is my oldest brother. The captain of the football team. He is who most girls at school call “Mr. Dreamy”. I don’t see it but then again he is my brother. He is also the most overprotective sibling I have. He gets into a lot of fights at school because most of the guys won’t take no for an answer when it comes to Trinity. They harass her and that is one reason I do not date. Again, the guys at school are pigs. He can be scary sometimes. I guess that’s why Dylan looks up to him.

Dylan is my twin brother. Again, we look nothing alike. Dylan has blonde hair like Trinity and Cameron. I have fiery red hair. Dylan is the nerdy sibling. He’s won every award possible just for being the smartest kid in our entire district. Some people take his intelligence as a threat. My parents tell him that it’s his superpower. In a way, I guess it is. Questions have come about whether or not Dylan and I are actually twins. Our birth certificates and pictures of us in the hospital together are proof that we are.

Friday evening when I got home from the library my mother was setting the table for dinner. My father was working in his office as usual, preparing for some big meeting he had Monday morning. Both of them were busy but that didn’t stop them from noticing me walking through the front door. “Where have you been?” my mother questioned, seemingly worried. “I was at the library doing my homework,” I responded. I was tired and just wanted to change for dinner. “It is too cold and dark for a young lady like yourself to be wandering about outside,” my mother continued. I rolled my eyes and went to my room.

At the table everyone sat silently. I didn't have anything to say to anyone as usual. My parents are usually chatting about the weather or work. Sometimes they talk about donations they’ve made to our school or hound us about our grades but tonight they haven’t said anything. I decided to break the silence. I placed my fork on my plate, adjusted the napkin in my lap, and said “Dad, how was work?” He responded sharply, “Good.” That was the end of it. Everyone sat in silence for the remainder of dinner. Did I do something wrong? Did my siblings? I didn’t know.

After dinner I took a shower and decided to read a chapter of my favorite book. My father knocked on my door and barged in before I could tell him it was okay to enter. “We need to talk”, my father demanded, looking furious. I guess it was me that did something wrong. “Mr. Verlice called today and he is demanding your marriage to Mikel be moved to Monday.” He continued. Confused, I stood up out of my chair. I walked to the window, turned around to look at my father and I stuttered as I said the word “No”. “Your mother and I have decided that you will be married Monday. Mr. Verlice thinks it is best and so do we” my fathers words rang like a bell in my head. I started to scream and cry. I threw my book and hit the glass vase holding flowers on my dresser. My father left my room.

I was beyond pissed. I was supposed to have more time. I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t ready to give my life away just yet but I was being forced. I had less than three days to prepare myself to enter a new family who didn’t even know me. I don’t know them! No, I wasn’t going to do it. I wasn’t going to marry Mikel Verlice. I didn’t want to. My mind was made up. I packed my clothes, my favorite book, and my MP3 player. I left my phone on my desk and I jumped out my second story window. No note, no way for anyone to find me. I disappeared in the night.