To The Moon And Back

You Have Been Replaced

A few days later, Mal returned to the house. It was the middle of the night, and she climbed up the side of the house and opened the window to the room she shared with Jay. She shrugged her shoes off, and shut the window silently behind her. Out of the darkness, a lamp turned on from the nightstand. Mal saw the light from the corner of her eye and she sighed. She turned around, expecting questions from Jay, but instead she was surprised to see Zevon. "Is it true?" Zevon asked. "Is what true?" "Megan told me Jay replaced me." "Replaced you how?" "You used to always want my company. We could go barely a foot from each other on the Isle, and suddenly that changes." "I mean, after 12 years, Jay and I knew we would never get a chance to see you again. When we were told we were going to Auradon, we didn't even hesitate to start to hope we could find you. When Jay found you, I thought we were going to be a family again." Mal said taking a deep inhale. 

"But that wasn't what happened. When Mom and Dad joined our family, I thought we'd all spend time together just like we did in secret on the Isle, just we'd be able to spend time in public. I was wrong. You three left us behind, and Jay was really upset when none of his family showed up for his graduation. Jay really cares about his education, and he got accepted into a good college, which no one cared except for me. Zevon, I dyed my hair, and I was told it didn't suit me and I should dye it back to purple. I don't want to wear leather every single day of my life anymore. When Jay told me that our family didn't give two cents worth about us, I told him he was wrong. Then when we first got here, Megan planned an outing, and we weren't invited. It was a clean slap in the face, that told me Jay had been right. He told me he was right, and I told him he was right. What once was a healthy family relationship, turned into an unhealthy, pick and choose, family relationship. You all pick and choose who you want to love, and who you don't. Who gets excepted and who doesn't." 

"Mal, I-" "I'm not saying it's you personally. But, when I saw that Jay was really upset when no one showed up to his graduation ceromony, my heart broke. Everyone else had family surrounding them in love and happiness. Jay had me, Carlos, and Evie. Jay just wanted his family back, the same as me." Mal said softly. "But I'm afraid that can never happen." "So the answer to my question-" "Yes Zevon. You have been replaced. Jay and I have each other, and we've been forced to live under a radar our entire lives. The minute we try to take control of our lives, we're pushed down again. Zevon, you don't know what it's like, and you can't tell me you do. You were Mom and Dad's golden child. You could do nothing wrong, and we were expected to follow in your footsteps. Well, Jay and I didn't do that. We want to be loved and respected. I don't think anything can change what our family's done to us." Mal said, and she exited the room, without turning back once.

She quickly located Jay downstairs, and she hit him with a pillow. He woke up a little grumpy, and Mal put her hands on her hips. "We're leaving." "Leaving what?" Jay asked rubbing his eyes. "Our whole lives are crap here. You're always saying how much you want to leave, so let's leave." "Right now?" "No. Tomorrow. I'm sick of everyone treating us like crap. I'm ready for a change. What about you?" "I've been ready since the first day we got here." The two siblings smiled at each other, unaware that Zevon was watching them. Zevon went to his parents, not knowing how to stop his siblings from leaving. He woke his parents up, and told them the dilema. "They aren't allowed to leave." Maleficent said. "They're serious Mom. I honestly understand why, and we need to start treating them like how they want to be treated. They just want to be loved and supported." Zevon said. "It doesn't matter. They aren't leaving. They're part of this family, and they do as we say." 

The next morning, everyone was sleeping in since it was a Saturday. Jay had gotten a rental car ordered late last night, and they were shoving their duffel bags in the back seat of the car, and Mal leaned against the car. "You going to miss this?" Jay asked. "Heck no." Mal said. "Let's go." Jay said hugging his sister. The two siblings got into their rental car, and left their troublesome family in a cloud of dust. "My apartment is amazing. It's close to both of our schools. My college is 2 blocks away, and Auradon Prep is five minutes away." Jay said. Mal smiled, happy to be free from all the sadness that clouded around her and her brother. "I can't wait." She said with the biggest grin Jay had ever seen in his life.