Have a Nice Day

Father's Opinion Doesn't Really Matter

The next day, I found myself in my black room being filled with light so suddenly, I jumped up so hard I hit my head on my bedside lamp and it fell off my nightstand. I winced as I saw a man standing next to my large window. The drapes were pulled away from the window, letting the light in and straight into my eyes.

"Dad!" I yelled.

"You should really keep these drapes open, they let in so much light." He replied, turning back to me.

"That's the point." I said, flicking my hand and the drapes closed. I plopped my head face first into my pillow. "That's why I keep them shut."

"Meep, you need to stop acting like a villain." My father said.

"Dad, you need to stop acting like Dorothy." I muffled into my pillow. Though I was laying on top my covers, I wiggled my hand underneath them and pulled them over my head.

Suddenly, they were yanked from my grasp and off of my body.

"Dad! I'm trying to sleep! It's, like, five in the morning!" I screamed, looking up at him.

"It's 11:45. You skipped breakfast and it's almost lunch." He said. He looked over me. "And you should stop going to bed in the clothes that you wear during the day. I think that's the third time I've seen you in that leather jacket this week."

"They're just clothes. It doesn't matter." I said. I still had the white tank top and red jeans on from yesterday, with the leather jacket over my shoulders. 

"What are these?" My father asked, going over to the other side of my bed where my feet were hanging off the side. I had been sleeping diagonally so my head was practically on my nightstand and my feet were suspended in the air behind me.

"What are what?" I asked. My father grabbed my ankles and picked them up.

"I don't remember buying you these red high heels." He said. Sure enough, the red pumps were still on my feet.

"Uh, I borrowed them?" I offered. He grabbed the price tag and showed it to me. "I consider it taking them for a test walk."

"You stole them?!" He yelled. I winced at his temper.

"Fine! Fine! If it'll make you feel better I'll send the cash to Jaci's." I said, putting my face back in my pillow and lifting my hand up in the air, my red magic swirling around them. When it cleared, I put my hand back down.

"You didn't do it, did you?" He asked. I ignored his question, but after a second, I felt a cool breeze on the back of my neck. I sprang my head up and glared at my father. "Tell me the truth." He said. I saw his own green magic swirling around me and waved it off. He didn't stop once my attempt to reject his magic failed. I shut my mouth as hard as I could. "You didn't do it."

"I didn't do it." I finally said, exhaling softly. My father's face twisted into a frown and yanked the shoes off of my feet. "Hey!"

"If you didn't pay for them then they're not yours. I'm going to send these back to Jaci's and you, my friend, are grounded." He almost yelled.

"Dad! That's not fair!" I screamed.

"What's not fair is that my own daughter would steal something as common as shoes!" He shouted. Taking the beloved heels with him, he slammed my door and I heard a click of the lock.

I smiled and got off my bed. Being a master criminal and all, I knew a thing or two about fathers, and what they didn't know. Reaching underneath my bed skirt, I pulled out the real red 3 1/2 inch pumps and slid them on my feet. I pulled the tag off and threw it in my trash and plopped back onto my bed.

My father had taken an old pair of rubber boots I had charmed to looking like the red heels, and I had charmed the red pumps to look like those exact boots only to my father, so that he didn't know the difference. I gazed around my black and red room smiling to myself.

It's fun to mess with your father, and have his opinion not matter. I thought.

--------------------------

About an hour later, I got a text on my poison apple phone.

Hey, where were you today? Crimson asked. My friends were at the movies watching The Man-Wolf.

Grounded.

Red pumps?

Yeah.

What are you doing to do now? Crimson sent with a crying emoji.

I sent her a picture of the pumps, which looked exactly like the red heels that they were to everyone but my father.

Dude! How did you do it?

A little charm here and there. Shh! I sent with a laughing emoji.

She sent a thumbs-up from the whole team.

Suddenly, my door swung open and my father came in.

"No phones, Meep." He said, pointing to the poison apple phone in my hands. I groaned and clicked it off, slapping it on my bed.

"What's up?" I mumbled to him. He sat down on one of my trampoline chairs and I giggled at his reaction when the chair caved in around him. He hardly seemed to notice, but I saw a glimmer of surprise in his face.

"I am having guests over tomorrow night." He said.

"Okay, so? What's that got to do with me?" I asked.

"They are going to be discussing some things about Oz back home and I want you to be on your best behavior."

"Oh, I'll be a perfect little good witch for once." I said, putting my hands to my chin and resting my head on them, fluttering my eyes.

"I'm serious. These are important people. We need to respect them." He looked straight at me with the most sterness I have ever seen on him.

"Yeah yeah yeah!" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Meep, knock it off!" My father yelled, getting up from the chair. I was shocked at his reaction and didn't say a word. "Give up this evil stuff! There are enough villains in the world, why can't you choose to be good?"

"What do you expect Dad?" I screamed back. "My full name is Mephistopheles, which means devil! What do you expect me to be like? If my name means devil, then what's stopping me of being one?"

"Your mother-"

"My mother is dead!" I shouted. The room went silent, and my face changed from angry to regretful in about a second after what I had just heard myself say. I bit my lip.

My father's face was shocked and hurt. So was mine. I couldn't stop.

"My mother is dead, Father. So stop bringing her up." I demanded. My father stood frozen in place as I stood my ground. I saw the fear and sorrow in his green eyes, and I knew that he could see the same thing in my red ones.

After a while, I turned away and walked out of my room, leaving my father standing alone. I didn't really know where I was going, but I couldn't stand another moment with my father in the same room, looking at me like I had ripped out his heart.

Which, I kinda had.