Valhalla High (A Magnus Chase Fanfic)

Father of the Year Award

March 10

      Despite the fact I wanted to go back to sleep, I called Alex. I noticed I was trembling and I took some deep breathes as I waited for her to pick up the phone. "Magnus?" she said.

      "It is I," I replied.

       "Oh good," she said. "I don't really want to talk to anyone else now."

    She didn't sound her usual cheery self and her voice was hoarse as if she had used it too much. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

     My mind whirled with possibilities. Perhaps she had not gotten accepted at Asgard University. Maybe she wanted to break up with me. Perhaps she'd discovered I was in therapy and was doubting my mental stability. "It's my father," Alex answered. "He kicked me out."

     "He did what?" I said.

       "He kicked me out," Alex repeated.

      "He cannot!" I said. "You're his child."

       "Not according to him," Alex said, her voice full of bitterness and I realized she was crying.

     "Do you need a place to stay?" I asked. "I'm sure my mother would welcome you here."

     "I'm with my grandpa now," Alex said, "but he sleeps in so I'll have to walk to school."

     "What if my mother picked you up?" I asked. "Or you stayed with us on weekdays and your grandpa on the weekend?"

      Alex was silent for a bit and all I could hear was her sniffing. "Do you really think your mother would do that?"

     "Of course," I replied. "If I believed in saints, my mother would be one."

I could practically hear Alex frowning on the other end. "Magnus, saints do exist. It's just a title. There are saints for everything from television to pregnancy."

"Wait really?" I asked.

"Yeah," Alex said. "I grew up Catholic. My grandpa practices and he's good, but my father is the kind of man who only acts pious for his public persona."

I knew so many people like that. If I hadn't been raised secularly, I think I would have become an atheist anyway because of the hypocrisy. Then again, hypocrisy wasn't exclusive to any group; it infected everyone to varying degrees. "My father told me I couldn't live under his roof if I continued to masquerade as a girl," Alex said, her voice as sour as curdled milk. "He said what I was doing was sinning against the Lord. I replied that I only existed because he broke one of the Ten Commandments."

"I bet that went over well with him," I said.

Alex snorted. "It sure did. His entire face went rigid and my stepmother turned to him and said, 'I don't know why you've forced me to raise the deviant child you had with a —.' While, I'm no fan of my mother, but it was my father's choice as much as Loki's. I think my stepmother is as angry that my father never gave her a child as having to deal with me."

I tried to wrap my head around that. I thought my family situation was complicated, but Alex's family was ten times more messed up. "I'm sorry your life resembles a soap opera," I said. "What happened next?"

"Ehh," Alex said. "He said I could pack one suitcase of things and take my backpack. He told me I wasn't welcome back in the household anymore after how I'd spoken to him and he was going to write me out of his will. So I packed my stuff and flipped off my father and stepmother before I left."

I whistled in appreciation. "You are gutsier than I could ever be."

"Nah," Alex said. "I was just angry."

I checked my bedside clock and was surprised to see it was now past six. "Hey Alex," I said. "I have to get ready. Do you want me to ask my mother if we can pick you up?

"If you're sure," Alex said.

"Alright, I'll text you her response," I replied. "Spoiler alert: I think she'll say yes."

We hung up after that and I got ready for school. The entire time I kept thinking of how bad of a father Mr. Fierro was. Here he had an amazingly talented, kind, and beautiful kid to call his own and he decided to dump her on the street. Why? Because she was gender fluid? Was that how it was that the gender of a child could make their parents cease to love then? If so, maybe they weren't that good of parents anyway. There were parents who loved their children despite them turning out to be crooks, drug dealers, and even murderers. If people could accept that from their offspring, then why couldn't they accept something that hurt no one?

      When I asked my mother if we could pick up Alex today she said yes, but we'd have to leave early. When we were heading over to her grandpa's place I texted her. We met her standing at the front door, looking smaller than usual in a muted green tank top, a creamy pink cardigan, and dark green leggings. Her green hair looked faded and I wondered when was the last time she dyed it; it usually looked more vibrant. "You okay?" I asked.

    It was a dumb question, but she gave me a watery smile before we fell into silence. My mother turned on the radio and we listened to some 90s rock songs until we got to school. The entire day I thought about Alex's situation. I couldn't concentrate in any of my classes, but when I tried to talk to Alex about it, she would change the conversation. She was more sullen than usual and it seemed like being kicked out had diminished her somehow — as if the realization that her father wouldn't even provide for her physical needs had broken her spirit.

    I caught up with Alex again after school. "Why don't we hang out in the library?" I suggested.

    She shook her head. "My grandpa is going to pick me up soon."

     ""You shouldn't have to deal with this," I said. "It's wrong. If you want, we could talk to a school counselor. Maybe they could help you find a foster home."
  
    Alex cut me off with a look. "I'm eighteen and besides, it will only be like this for a few months."
  
    I blinked at her and she raised an eyebrow in response. "Sometimes I forget how dense you are, Magnus. College, remember? I'm going to college in the fall at Asgard University."
  
    For the first time all day, I smiled. Then something amazing happened: she did the same.