Mathlide and the Heroes

Ch 2. Mathlide's story

After school got out that day, Mathlide waited by the pick up loop. It would be thirty minutes before her aunt got there. Clara, her aunt who she lived with since the accident, was always late.

Mathlide had been in fifth grade that year the accident happened. She lived in New Madrid, at the time, in Missouri. For some reason New Madrid was prone to earthquakes... Earthquakes scientists couldn't understand, because there were no tectonic plate boundaries in New Madrid. Her family, her and her dad, loved New Madrid. Her dad never feared the earthquakes, and always just told Mathlide to stand in a doorframe or leave the house. The town wasn't overcrowded, and when the earthquakes happened, hardly anyone ever died.

Hardly anyone.

They lived in an old brick house. It was a hazard for earthquakes. The entire thing could crumple... And that's just what it did. Mathlide survived because she was at the movies.

Her dad had come home for lunch, just like he always did.

Her father, Kenneth was his name, survived the earthquake initially, and the rescue teams found him alive. He was taken to the hospital but it was too late for him. He suffered from eternal bleeding of the organs and a broken back. Mathlide was taken to the hospital that evening. And, as a fifth grader, Mathlide watched her dad, her only close family member, die.

Mathlide was then transferred to her father's sister's house. Aunt Clara was rich- she made her money flipping, renting, and dealing with real estate. She was also married to one of the most renowned doctors in the area; Dr. Hues, or as Mathlide got the privilege to call him, "Uncle Alex." Uncle Alex had also inherited a large sum of money from his parents. When Mathlide came to the new house, Alex almost attacked her with huge amounts of graciousness. Her uncle and aunt had been married for 6 years with no kids of their own so far. But her relatives tried to distract Mathlide with parties, expensive accessories, and lately, a really nice car Mathlide couldn't remember the name of, for what Aunt Clara called "Future use- when you get sixteen I want to see you drive it!" But a car wasn't going to change the fact that Mathlide's dad gone. Later, they began to ignore Mathlide.

Mathlide came home mostly everyday to an arguing aunt and uncle. It could be something as stupid as who didn't close the garage door or something as big as who was a better business person and who made all the money. Aunt Clara and Uncle Alex never hurt each other physically. They just argued. Mathlide shouldn't have cared because no matter what, she was staying with Aunt Clara. But she just wanted some happiness in her life, and a place to belong. And she wanted a somewhat normal family.

She knew she couldn't have that, even if her dad were alive. Her father had some affair with a woman he never spoke of. Mathlide didn't even know her mom's name. Her dad had PROMISED her that he would tell her when she got to middle school. He didn't live to see her go to sixth grade.

Just then, Aunt Clara pulled up in her new Ferrari. Mathlide hopped in and her aunt immediately began talking.

"So, I got invited to this huge party-"

Mathlide droned her aunt's voice out. She let her mind wander instead of focusing.

Mathlide hated the luxurious things Clara had. Mathlide felt like rich people were too snobby and had too much power. She worried she would become such a way. Her aunt bought her too expensive of clothes and things. She wanted to just wear jeans and a t shirt, so she did. She knew Clara would probably upset that Mathlide wasn't wearing the frilly clothes and then buy her what she wanted: normal people stuff. She hated sticking out in a crowd. Her wavy red hair and short stature already made her stand out.

Mathlide's mind wandered further and further. She began to think about how the Heroes of Olympus had abnormal lives but were still happy, even with broken families. More and more, she wished she could escape to another world.

As Mathlide brought her thoughts to the real world, they pulled into their driveway of their massive house. Mathlide smelled steak cooking. The Hues had no maid or butler, but they did have a chef. Clara and Alex couldn't cook to save their life. Mathlide took off her shoes and continued up to her room.

Mathlide's room was the sole thing she really appreciated that her Aunt Clara ever gave her. It was massive, and that Mathlide liked. When she walked in, to her left was a dresser with a mirror. In the middle of the room pushed against one wall was a huge canopy bed with deep blue sheets and throws. Across from her bed was a mounted television. To the left of her tv was a small hallway that led to a circular room filled with books and a desk. Her room had a bathroom connected to it.

Her favorite part of her room was the window. Most of the time she left it closed with a window seat as long and half as wide as her bed pushed in front of the window. She would sit up against it on rainy days or roll the curtains across it and read. Sometimes she brought her pillow and slept there.

She pulled out her science homework in her miniature library. She could never answer the question as to why the plant grew so fast in the first day. She sighed and decided not to waste her time. It wasn't ever going to be explained anyway.