Pride & Persistence

"Sometimes the unintended consequences hurt the most," Salu said gently, voice full of the kind of empathy that said he had dealt with plenty of his own unintended consequences through the years. "But there will be another dance, another chance for you to shine."

“A junior asked me to a dance, that doesn’t just happen, this is a once in a lifetime thing.” Anjya protested thickly. Of course to her it felt like the end of it all. “That’s so unfair, she hit ME. I didn’t intend for any fight!” She insisted , knowing her father didn’t have the full say in this consequence. It had to do with the school. “I really like this boy, what if he doesn’t talk to me again because I cancel on him?” She sniffled through her tears.

"Then he wasn't worth your time in the first place," Salu didn't miss a beat on that answer. His daughter might not see it now, but she was worth far more than a fickle high school boy could give her. "Any boy so quick to dismiss you isn't worth the bullet I would use to threaten his life with," he added the tease in effort to bring some levity to the situation.

“You don’t get it, I am not one of the popular girls. It doesn’t come so easy for me like it does for girls like Em or Mama.” Aniya swiped at her eyes and looked out the window with another sniffle.

"No, Little Love," Salu's time held a hint of warning.  "Do not compare your mother and Em.  What Em does is /be/ easy, if she is so willing to betray someone like Ian.  That is the /only/ reason she is popular."  Salu didn't want his daughter to find her popularity the way someone like Em did.  "She will spend forever looking for happiness."  He stroked the back of her head through her hair with one hand as he drove.  "Your Mama was not like that.  It took us some time, too," he assured her.  "Because you are not meant to live your greatest life in high school.  Your future is so far beyond high school, and your value is so much higher than the games teens play with each other's hearts."  He cast a loving smile on his daughter, "It means your love, when you find it, will be more than you can dream.  Do not settle for less than you deserve just because you want to be like the others."  Salu switched into Greek, a language they had made sure Anjya was fluent in, "Chase your dreams and you will find your happiness.  Chase someone else's dreams and you will find your emptiness."

Anjya’s haw practically hit the floor when her father called Em easy. She stared at him in shock. “Papa.” She chastised- but her tone held admiration, a bit of reverence. Her expression smoothed to confusion, the idea that high school wasn’t the moment was foreign to her. “I thought being on the pep squad would help.” She murmured her confession, looking forward once more.

Salu chuckled when Anjya chastised him, but didn't take it back or offer so much as an apologetic look. "Being on the pep squad did help. It gave you a chance to define who you are. And you did." There was nothing but pride in his tone here. His daughter had stood up for someone she cared about, risking her own reputation and trouble. "One day, you will meet a boy who is not too distracted to notice things like that. And he will not be afraid to show your Papa who he is when that time comes."

Anjya swallowed and leaned back in her seat. “I think you made Mr. Ocley’s brain burst…” she whispered now, dropping her concern about her future for now.

"Mm," Salu made an almost dismissive sound, but there was too much judgment buried in the single syllable to be totally dismissive. "If he called you Little Lady or pointed at you one more time--" he shook his head. "Who the hell does he think he is? Calling you a liar when he didn't even bother to check the cameras? I wouldn't mind meeting him in a dark alley one night," he muttered, now being the one to vent about injustices.

“Mr. Cooper came in yelling. I bet he was scared of him.” Anjya admitted softly. “He yelled at me before Principal Jacobs came out and told Oxley to take me to another room.” She folded her arms, uncomfortable. “Ms. Cooper pours money into the school. I think they worship them.”

"Wait- wait- Emily's father yelled at you?" Salu asked, his eyes narrowing sharply as his gaze shifted briefly from the road to his daughter and back to the road again. "Oh, your mother is going to have a field day at the next board meeting. And I might just join her."

“He said I was going to be arrested and he would make sure I would go to juice and I better hope you and mom had good money for a good lawyer because otherwise I was screwed….” Anjya admitted now, wincing at the thought of her mother at the board meeting. “He said he is friends with all the cops and I better watch my back. And then Principal Jacobs came in and asked him to not speak to me, and sent me to another room with Oxley.”

"He threatened you," Salu now corrected his daughter's description. "He didn't just yell at you, he threatened you." Anger flashed across his eyes as his temper began to rise above a simmer. The principal had neglected to share that piece of information. And the principal had clearly left Anjya in a vulnerable position, even if he tried to correct it after the fact. "Your mother can go to the board meeting. I just remembered that I'll be rather busy." The growl in his words told Anjya exactly what he meant by being busy.

“I am not afraid of the cops…. I follow the law…” Anjya assured her father now, with the innocence of a child who believed in right and wrong, and cops who followed a moral code.

"No- but your fear or lack thereof does not change the fact that he threatened you. A full grown adult threatened a minor." Salu didn't correct his daughter's delightful trust in a system. That was a different conversation for a different day. "I make no promises that I won't start something myself."

Anjya gave a groan and shut her eyes for a long moment, exasperated with herself. “I shouldn’t have said anything.” She muttered and kept her arms folded.

"Now that is where you are wrong," Salu chided, finally turning down their driveway. "If a grown man ever threatens you in any way, that is the first thing I need to know. That is not a problem for you to solve by yourself, or something to be ignored." He parked the truck in front of the house, turned the engine off, and turned his body to fully look at his daughter. "You need ice for both of those, and probably a nap. Send your teachers an email asking for any work you're missing today. Do not fall behind." He softened once again, "No blurry vision or dizziness, aye?" He hadn't actually asked before, but had assumed based on the way his daughter behaved.

Anjya shook he head to his question. “I am fine.” She assured him- but she wouldn’t say no to ice and a nap. “Thank you Papa.” She sent him half a smile, “For believing me from the start… and sticking up for me.” She unbuckled then leaned over and hugged her father tightly, “I love you.”

Salu didn't hesitate to hug his daughter back with all the love in the world. "I love you," he repeated the sentiment, warmth filling him. His baby girl was growing up, but she was still his baby girl. She made mistakes, but he was always going to be there to support her. "Always tell me the truth, and I will always believe you," he promised her as he gently released the hug. He kissed Anjya's forehead, avoiding her bruised eye, and then nodded. "Email, ice, nap," he directed.

Aniya climbed out of the car and headed for the house. She wondered how bad her socials were- maybe she should check them before her nap. She gathered up an ice pack, went to her room, sent her teachers the email… and only gave the first few social sites a glance before she quickly shut the laptop. Nope. Taking down the popular girl wasn’t going good. Anjya sighed and went to her bed, giving a groan as she fell back and set the pack on her face.


Ooc skip?

OOC: Definitely. What happens first-- Tellisie gets home or Ian calls her? XD

Ooc Ooooh, hmmm… I feel like in the middle of talking to Ian , Anjya should overhear her mother yelling in Greek with Salu- not that Salu is yelling, more, Tellisie is ranting over the story he just told her- threatening to go to the school again- and I imagine she is going to go into Anjya’s room and be all “Get up, if that girl went to the hospital so will you!” Because Tellisie has worked politics for too long and knows they have to work the story XD

OOC: Perfect. XD Soooo ends of school day after whatever activity that Ian had at the end of the day...

BIC: Ian looked around the empty parking lot from his vantage point in his car. He had avoided people today until he went to his after school chess club. There, he had gotten quite the earful of a story about Anjya, a fight with Em, and each of their parents on campus with tempers. He was sure that some of the things he had heard were exaggerated, but still, the pep squad practice had been canceled... so... maybe there was also some truth? He clicked on his latest chain of texts with Anjya and then pressed the call button. He needed the truth. ... and he needed to know if she knew the whole story now like the rest of the school seemed to.

Anjya had slept for no more than a hour when her phone had begun to buzz with Ian’s call. She groggily rubbed at her eye and swiftly jolted awake as her eyes responded with a stabbing pain. Oh right, she had taken a hit. She blearily looked at her phone. She had silenced her texts that had been blowing up with questions from people ranging from close friends to random people she forgot she had exchanged numbers with. Everyone wanted to know what had happened- and she hadn’t wanted to deal with it. Seeing Ian’s scowl up at her from her phone screen though had her wrinkling her nose though. He was playing a chess game in the photo, and had looked up with that grumpy expression that always made her laugh- and usually it made her smirk when she saw him calling… but now she felt a bit of trepidation.

“Hey…” she said softly after clicking hello. For the first time in a decade she felt shy with him.

Anjya wasn't the only one who was nervous about this phone call. According to the lump in his throat that prevented him from speaking, so was Ian. He swallowed the rock of nerves down, "I guess the whole school knows now," he murmured. He didn't mean they knew about her fight. He meant that the whole school knew that Ian had been cheated on and had walked in on it. How embarrassing. "How bad was it?" He asked, switching to the topic of the fight without a segue.