Suddenly Sunny

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" I hear the crowd of other teens shouting around me as if I'm in the middle of a cage match. The snot-nosed brat that I'm currently pounding into the ground tries to claw at me and grab my hair to get me off of him. I snapped and now I'm fist deep in his bloody nose. I have no idea why I black out the way I do, but it helps me win fights. I hear the distorted voices of Principal Regan and Assistant Principal Moore yelling over the crowd, telling them all to go home and my fists slow. I stop and take a breath with my legs straddling the unconscious boy beneath me. Suddenly, I'm ripped off of him and hoisted in the air. I'm swinging at whoever has a hold of me when I hear my dad's voice. "Sunny! Dammit, Sunny, stop swinging at me!" I stop and the cloud on my vision lifts. I can see straight and all of the voices don't sound so far away. Out of breath, and watching my dad's face, I let out one word. "Fuck." Principal Regan directs us to his office as if we haven't been there a million times. We sit in the same uncomfortable chairs and he and my dad have the same conversation. Only, it's different this time. I pipe up when I hear the word, expelled. Panic sets in and then I remember that I'm angry with my parents and they deserve the extra stress. How dare they get divorced and make me leave the house I loved and the friends I loved? "Well, you were warned before you let me come to school here. I'm a safety hazard." I shrug and pick at the hem on my jacket sleeve. As the words leave my mouth, my mom enters the room, feigning concern as always. I roll my eyes at her while I watch her stand near the wall next to me. "Are you expelling her? She can't be expelled again. No other high school in the state will take her." She sounds frantic, but I know she's faking. Principal Regan pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs loudly. "Mr. Jackson, if you would please take your daughter out to the hall, I need to discuss something with just the two of you." He gestures towards the door. I get up and walk out on my own. I shut the door behind me, dramatically and lean against the wall next to it. I stand there, bored out of my mind for fifteen minutes. Just as I'm about to start scuffing the floor with my combat boots, the door swings open. My dad grabs my arm and hauls my ass to my locker so I clean it out. Once everything's out and in my hands or on my back, he walks towards the main doors and I follow. My mother is waiting at my dad's car, ready to b***h me out. I begin piling my stuff in the back seat and all I hear is her nagging me. "You know what? Maybe we SHOULD send her to boarding school like the principal suggested." She directs that comment towards my dad and I look up from my belongings. "I'm not going to boarding school," I say in a very, matter-of-fact tone. "I'll talk to Elijah and see if he's okay with her staying with him for a while and attending the school his kids go to. Maybe a change of scenery will be good for her." They continue talking as if I'm not there and I sit in the car, waiting for them to finish. When they're done, my dad starts the car and drives to the nearest Chinese place. He gets take-out and we head home. We eat in silence and I pull out my phone to text my best friend from my hometown. He takes the phone from my hand and gives me a dad look. "Sunny, I need you to stop and listen. I'm about to call Elijah and you're gonna sit quietly while I have it on speakerphone and listen to the whole conversation. I need you to know how it will be when you move out there with him and his family." I shrug and he puts his phone on speaker. It rings for a moment and then Elijah answers. "Hey, Derek. What's up?" He sounds so nonchalant. "Hi, Eli. I just wanna confirm the game plan on Sunny coming out to stay with you." There's a long pause. "D, I'm not sure if that's a good idea." "Why? She will behave while she's there." "I believe you, but Rowan is worried about what will happen if she gets into a fight at the new school. It's not a normal school, you know." Dad sighs before answering his best friend. "She won't. I'll tell her how dangerous it is." Another long pause. "Okay, she needs to be ready by 6 am. That's the only time we can drive down and get her." Eli pauses, "And, things are different than they used to be. Not everyone is as welcoming to certain people as they were." He hangs up before my dad can get a word out. Dad ushers me upstairs and brings me two huge suitcases and a duffel bag. He helps me pack all of the essentials and then leaves the rest up to me. By the time I'm done, almost everything I own is packed up. I go downstairs to find him looking through my baby photos. He pats the seat next to him on the couch. "Dad, you only look through these when something's really hard to deal with. What's going on?" I watch my dad's face, awaiting his response. "Do you know why we named you Sunshine?" He says without even looking at me. "Yeah, because I was the brightest thing in your life after a lot of darkness," I say, quietly. He smiles at me. "Yeah, so I need you to be your usual, Sunny self. You can't keep beating up people. Not just because you put someone in the hospital today, but because the place you're going, it's not a normal town. It has its own government and it's separated from everything. It'll also be pretty cold because it's in the mountains." He stops long enough for it to sink in and looks away, slightly. "How is that so dangerous?" I tilt my head to see his face. I can tell when he lies to me. "The people there, they aren't normal. They're very strong and you could be killed if you pick a fight with them. Some of them are even stronger and could mangle you. Also, if anyone comes up to you and causes issues because of your last name, go to Elijah. Do not go to anyone else, do not fight." I nod, seeing the fear in my dad's eyes, and get up from the couch. "I get it. I'm going to sleep so I can be awake when they get here. Don't wanna miss the beginning of the end." I try to make a joke and he just keeps flipping through the photos. I go up the stairs and stop at the top. I holler down to my dad. "I love you." That's the first time I've said that in quite a while. "I love you too, good night." His voice sounds sad and tired.