Chapter 6: The School She Chose for Me
Marcus called Rose again after reading the school inquiry.
This time, he put the phone on speaker so Nia could hear everything.
“Can you send me a copy?”” he asked.
“I already have it ready,” Rose replied.
“I'll forward it now.””
A notification appeared on his phone.
He opened the attachment.
It was an email exchange with the admissions office of a school near Rose's home.
The inquiry asked about enrollment availability for a fourteen-year-old student who might be transferring at the beginning of the next term.
Nia read the words twice.
The student's name was not included.
But the dates matched the proposed move.
Marcus leaned back in his chair.
“Did Vanessa tell you she was contacting the school?””
“No,” Rose said.
“She asked me questions about the school district, but she never told me she had made an inquiry herself.””
“What questions?””
“She asked about transportation, enrollment deadlines, and whether the school had room for a new student. I thought she was gathering information in case Nia wanted to stay with me for a while.””
Nia swallowed.
“Did she say I wanted to go to that school?””
Rose hesitated.
“She said you were unhappy with your current school and wanted a fresh start.””
“I never said that.””
“I know, sweetheart.””
Marcus scrolled to the bottom of the email.
The admissions office had explained that a transfer would require documentation from a parent or legal guardian and confirmation of the student's intended address.
No enrollment had been completed.
No records had been transferred.
But Vanessa had taken the first step.
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“This is becoming more serious than I realized.””
Nia sat across from him, her hands folded in her lap.
“Could she have actually moved me?””
“Not without dealing with the necessary school and guardianship requirements,” Marcus replied.
“And I'm not going to let anyone make decisions about your education without involving you.””
“But she was trying.””
He looked at the email again.
“Yes. It appears she was exploring the possibility.””
Nia felt a familiar pressure behind her eyes.
She had spent years at her current school.
She knew which teachers to ask for help, where her friends sat during lunch, and which library corner was quiet enough to read in peace.
She had been planning next term's classes.
She had no idea another school had been considered for her.
“What if Grandma hadn't told you?””
Marcus looked at her.
“I don't want you to have to imagine that situation.””
“But what if?””
He couldn't give her a reassuring answer that erased the possibility.
So he told her the truth.
“Then I might not have known how far the plan had gone until later. And I should have paid closer attention before it reached this point.””
Nia looked down.
Marcus continued.
“That doesn't mean you were responsible for stopping it. It means I need to do a better job of understanding what's happening in our home.””
For once, he wasn't telling her to be patient.
He wasn't asking her to give Vanessa another chance before she was ready.
He was acknowledging that something had gone wrong.
His phone rang.
Vanessa's name appeared on the screen.
Marcus answered.
“What?””
“Why are you discussing private family matters with Rose?””
“Because she has information about plans you made involving our daughter.””
“She was never supposed to be involved in the details.””
“You asked her to take Nia in.””
“I asked her to consider helping us.””
“You told her I agreed.””
“I told her you would understand once you had time to think.””
“That isn't the same as asking me.””
Vanessa sighed.
“Marcus, you're turning every part of this into evidence against me.””
“I'm trying to understand why you contacted a school before speaking to Nia or me.””
Silence.
Then Vanessa said, “I wanted to know what options were available.””
“Why that school?””
“Because it's near Rose.””
“Why would Nia need to transfer schools?””
“Because if she stayed with Rose, she'd need to attend school somewhere.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“You keep describing a move that nobody agreed to as though it were already decided.””
“I was preparing for a possibility.””
“Then why did you tell Rose that Nia wanted it?””
Vanessa's voice sharpened.
“Because I believed she would eventually agree.””
Nia stared at her father.
Marcus slowly lowered the phone from his ear.
He looked at the screen as though he needed a moment to understand what he had heard.
Then he raised it again.
“You believed she would agree eventually?””
“Yes.””
“So you decided to make the arrangements first and ask her later?””
“I was trying to make the transition easier.””
“For whom?””
“For everyone!””
The answer rang through the room.
Nia flinched.
Marcus's expression hardened.
“Do not raise your voice at me while discussing a plan you hid from me.””
Vanessa fell silent.
After a moment, she spoke again, more quietly.
“I didn't want to hurt Nia.””
“Then why didn't you talk to her?””
“Because I knew she would think I was trying to get rid of her.””
Marcus looked at Nia.
His daughter was sitting perfectly still, her face pale.
He knew Vanessa's answer had confirmed exactly what Nia feared.
“You knew she would feel rejected,” he said.
“And you went ahead anyway.””
“I thought she'd understand once she settled in.””
Marcus ended the call.
For several seconds, neither he nor Nia spoke.
Then she whispered, “She really was going to send me away.””
Marcus moved to the chair beside her.
“She was making plans for you to stay with Rose. I don't know whether she would have gone through with every part of them, but she should never have hidden them from you.””
Nia stared at the carpet.
“Maybe she thinks everyone would be happier if I weren't there.””
Marcus took her hand.
“I don't.””
“Maybe you don't know what it's like when you're not home.””
The words were quiet.
But they hurt him more than an accusation would have.
He looked at her carefully.
“Tell me.””
Nia hesitated.
She had promised herself she would stop keeping everything inside.
But speaking about it made the memories feel more real.
“When you're home, Vanessa acts differently.””
“How?””
“She smiles more. She asks about my day. She doesn't complain as much when I sit with you.””
Marcus listened without interrupting.
“But when you're at work, she says I make things harder. She says you're tired because you have to deal with problems at home. If I ask you to help me with something, she says I'm being selfish.””
Marcus's face tightened.
“Did she tell you not to ask me for help?””
“Not exactly.””
“What did she say?””
Nia looked at her hands.
“She said you had enough responsibilities and that I should stop making everything about me.””
Marcus was silent.
Nia continued.
“If I told you I was upset, she'd say I was trying to turn you against her. So I stopped telling you things.””
Marcus looked as though he had been struck.
He had believed his daughter was adjusting to a new household.
He had mistaken her silence for acceptance.
“How often did that happen?””
“I don't know.””
“More than a few times?””
She nodded.
He took a slow breath.
“I'm sorry.””
Nia looked up.
“You didn't say those things.””
“No. But I should have noticed you were pulling away. I should have asked why you stopped telling me about your day.””
She felt tears slide down her cheeks.
“I didn't want you to be unhappy.””
Marcus gently squeezed her hand.
“You are not responsible for managing my happiness. And you are not responsible for keeping my marriage together.””
Nia leaned against him.
For several minutes, he simply held her while she cried.
It was the first time in months she had allowed herself to stop pretending everything was fine.
When she finally pulled away, Marcus handed her a tissue.
“We're going to handle this properly.””
“What does that mean?””
“It means I'm going to review every document related to these arrangements. It means we're going to talk about what happened without making you responsible for the outcome. And it means your school, your home, and your future aren't going to be changed behind your back.””
Nia nodded.
She wanted to believe him.
This time, she thought she might.
That evening, Marcus asked Vanessa to join them in the hotel's sitting room.
She entered looking composed, as though she had spent the afternoon preparing herself for another argument.
She sat opposite Marcus.
Nia remained beside her father.
Vanessa noticed the arrangement.
“Is she going to be part of this conversation?””
“Yes,” Marcus replied.
“These decisions involve her.””
Vanessa sighed.
“Fine.””
Marcus placed the school inquiry on the table.
“Explain this.””
Vanessa looked at the page.
“I already told you. I was checking the options.””
“Why didn't you tell us?””
“Because nothing had been decided.””
“You had a plan for her to move in with Rose, a one-way ticket, and an inquiry about transferring her school.””
Vanessa folded her hands.
“I wanted to be prepared.””
Nia looked directly at her.
“Prepared for what?””
Vanessa seemed surprised by the question.
“For a possible change.””
“Why?””
“Because the household has been under a lot of strain.””
Nia's voice trembled, but she continued.
“What did I do that was so bad you wanted me to leave?””
Vanessa looked uncomfortable.
“It's not about you being bad.””
“Then what is it about?””
“It's about the way we interact.””
“I can change how I interact with you.””
Marcus immediately turned toward his daughter.
“You don't have to promise that to keep your home.””
Nia looked at him, then back at Vanessa.
“I just want to know what you want me to do.””
Vanessa's expression shifted.
For a moment, she seemed almost unable to answer.
Then she said, “I want you to respect me as the adult in the house.””
Nia nodded slowly.
“I can do that.””
“And I want you to stop expecting your father to take your side whenever we disagree.””
“I don't want him to take sides.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You may not realize it, but that's what happens.””
Marcus leaned forward.
“Then we need to address the disagreements themselves. We don't solve them by secretly arranging for Nia to leave.””
Vanessa's eyes flashed.
“You keep saying secretly as though I was doing something malicious.””
“I am saying you withheld major decisions from both of us.””
“I was trying to prevent a crisis.””
“What crisis?””
Vanessa looked at Nia.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she admitted, “I was afraid that if things continued this way, I would never have a real place in this family.””
Marcus's expression softened slightly.
“That is something we could have discussed.””
“You would have defended her.””
“I would have listened to you. I would also have listened to Nia.””
Vanessa looked down.
Nia watched her carefully.
She could understand feeling insecure.
She could understand wanting to be accepted.
But she could not understand why Vanessa had decided that the solution was to make her leave.
“You could have told me you felt that way,” Nia said.
Vanessa looked up.
“What would you have said?””
“I don't know. Maybe I could have tried harder to get along with you.””
The admission surprised Vanessa.
Nia continued.
“But you never told me that was what you wanted. You just kept acting like everything I did was wrong.””
For the first time, Vanessa didn't immediately interrupt.
Marcus let the silence remain.
Then he spoke.
“We need boundaries. No more private arrangements about Nia's future. No more telling other people that she has agreed to something when she hasn't. And no more school or travel plans without discussing them with her father and her.””
Vanessa nodded stiffly.
“Fine.””
Marcus wasn't finished.
“And we need to understand why you felt you had to do this instead of talking to us.””
Vanessa looked toward the window.
“I don't know.””
It was the first answer she had given that sounded completely honest.
Nia wasn't sure whether it was enough.
Later that night, she returned to her room and placed her mother's jewelry box on the bedside table in her mind, as if seeing it there could reassure her that the box was still at home.
She missed her bedroom.
She missed her bookshelves.
She missed the familiar sound of the front door opening when her father returned from work.
For the first time, she understood that being sent away would not merely have changed her address.
It would have taken her away from the routines and memories that made her feel connected to her mother.
She was about to turn off the light when she heard Marcus speaking quietly in the adjoining room.
He was on the phone.
“I need to know whether anything else was arranged,” he said.
A pause followed.
Then he spoke again.
“No, I don't want assumptions. I want the records.””
Nia sat up.
Marcus's voice grew lower.
“If she contacted anyone else about moving Nia, I need to know.””
Another pause.
Then came the sentence that made Nia stop breathing.
“Because I just found out the school wasn't the first organization she contacted.””
Nia stepped toward the doorway.
Marcus was standing with his back to her, one hand braced against the desk.
He listened for several seconds before asking another question.
“Who did she contact before the school?””
The answer came through the phone too quietly for Nia to hear.
Marcus slowly turned around.
He saw his daughter standing in the doorway.
And from the look on his face, she knew the next discovery would be worse than a canceled vacation ticket, a one-way flight, or a school transfer.
May you like
Because Vanessa might have been preparing to move her out of the house.
But someone else had already been told that the decision was final.
