Who: Rhode (Narrative) What: Telling Her Parents About her Divinity - Sort of. Where: The Calder Home When: Thursday, 2/20/2020, Evening Warnings: None
"Paige Calder, where have you been?" Her mother's voice was sharp and it was the first thing she heard when Rhode walked through the door of her family's home.
"Oh, mommy. Hi! I was at Cyrus's. And work. I texted you... like multiple times a day. And you texted me back. So you knew where I was." Her voice was perky, especially when she talked about Cyrus, well, Helios. Rhode didn't like lying to her parents about things, but how did you reveal that you were an ancient and forgotten goddess to two people that went to a Temple of Kronos each week?
Tammy Calder gave her daughter a firm look and crossed her arms. "You are spending too much time with that boy. Your father and I are worried about you." She sat down on the sofa and looked directly at the chair across from her and then at Rhode. Rhode took the hint and sat down, dropping her bag at her feet. "We think, your father and I, that you should not see him anymore." Standing behind her, Brian Calder joined his wife, putting his hand on her shoulder in support of her statement.
Blinking a few times, Rhode took what her parents said. Well, what Paige's parents said. Her parents. Her head was hurting and her eyes were stinging. "He's my -" She had to swallow back the word husband. That wouldn't go so well. "He's my boyfriend. And we like spending time together. It's not like I'm missing work or not paying bills or doing drugs!"
Paige's father - her father - cleared his throat. "You are over there far too often. You've only known him since January. We are in agreement, your mother and I, that you should not see him anymore." He crossed his arms and looked down at his daughter firmly.
It took Rhode a minute to collect herself, but she wasn't very successful. She didn't realize that the water glasses sitting on the coffee table had started to vibrate with her anger. "I'm twenty-three years old. If I want to spend some nights with my boyfriend, I can. I'm not hurting anyone or anything and he's a good man."
"That's just it. Cyrus Fletcher is a man. You're just a little girl, Paige." Her mother tried to sound kind, but instead, she sounded condescending.
On the table, the glasses began to tremble like they were experiencing their own private earthquake. "I'm. Not. A. Little. Girl." Rhode sounded staccato in her upset. Standing up abruptly, the chair she'd been sitting on fell over backward and the glasses on the table exploded in her parents' faces.
She yelped, but the water was feeding off of her. The puddles lept from the ground and burst onto Tammy and Brian, soaking them. Both of her parents looked at Rhode in shock. "And... And my name is Rhode. I'm a goddess." Holding out her hand, the water leaked off of the clothing and whirled around in the air. It was a little dramatic, but she had to prove it somehow. It also didn't last long. Rhode's powers came back in little waves, but she couldn't control it for long. The tiny hurricane splashed down, once more on her parents' heads.
Tammy's eyes went wide with shock and ire. "You're... One of them? I'd heard rumors at the Temple, but I never thought it would happen in my own home! I won't have such a vile creature under my roof! Get out!" She pointed at the door. "Get out now!" She sounded so fierce that Rhode didn't even consider fighting back. Her father, dripping wet, just stared at her, unspeaking.
Rhode grabbed her bag and just ran. It didn't matter that all of her things were in her room. That she had no car and no idea where to go. She just slammed the front door behind her. Rhode ran down the street, tears stinging her cheeks. She didn't stop until she reached the park a few blocks away. Gasping for breath, she sat down on a bench and whimpered. Taking out her phone, Rhode called Helios. He was the only person she could think of at that moment. "I..." Whimpering a little, she couldn't get out the words because she was crying. "Can... pick me up... Park..." This night sucked. And that was not how she wanted to tell her parents.