Devil's Eyes

Chapter 19: Dollhouse

Song recommendation: Cry Baby by Melanie Martinez "You seem to replace your brain with your heart, you take things so hard and then you fall apart"
She was sure she was ready. All she had to do was go to her parents and have a civil conversation with them. But knowing how her father is, she could predict things weren't that simple.

Showing up in front of his office door and waiting outside almost made her give up. Her stomach churned and her palms began to sweat. If all the other times she didn't stick up for herself this was the time to do it. Except it was more than just defending herself from the wrath of her father, it was taking a big step closer to something she wanted for a while. Her freedom. And if it meant moving the hell out as a senior in high school, then so be it. She'll just have to trailblaze then.

She knocked on the door, listening to her father and mother talk about whatever business venture they were moving on to next. "Come in!" She heard her father's deep voice exclaim.

She took a deep breath before sauntering in the room. Her mother was sprawled out on the couch with a magazine in her hand and her dad was sitting on his desk with a glass of scotch in his. "Gege, what a pleasant surprise!" Her mother's voice rang out.

That greeting alone almost made her drop the whole thing and hide away in her room but she continued. She took a seat on an armchair facing them. "Hi," was all she could say.

"Hi, mi figlia," Donati replied. He raised an eyebrow because he's known his daughter to never really visit him in his office, it must've been important.

"I need to actually speak to you guys." She began but for some reason the words weren't rolling out as easy as she thought they would. Its like it was stuck in a mice trap.

"Your grades?" He assumed, his face full of curiosity. His accent came out stronger with each word. "Your pictures?"

Sage shook her head, rubbing her palms together. Her mother was still reading the realtor magazine intently.

"I've decided...I'm moving out. Of the house." Once she said that, the room absolutely stopped. Everything came to a halt and all that was heard was white noise. Ezra dropped her magazine and Donati dropped the glass of scotch. Whatever she did, she couldn't take it back now or it would be very hard to.

"You're what?" Ezra spoke first. She looked like she saw a ghost. Her face became very pale and her eyes were as wide as saucers.

"What is this nonsense?" Donati asked rhetorically. He couldn't even come up with anything else to say. He thought being open-minded towards her art was a step towards a better relationship with them, but it didn't seem like it.

Sage gulped and held up her hands in defense. She took another deep breath, "I know what you guys--"

"You're making a grave mistake! You idiota!" Donati roared. "How could you? After everything your mother and I have done for you?"

"Do you even have a plan?" Her mother spoke up. This whole time she was in a daze. She felt like this was coming but she still didn't wanna believe it. "Donati, you can pretend to be blindsided all you want but this was coming!" Her voice cracked with the last statement. She was on the verge of tears.

If this is so right, why did it feel so wrong? She was too ashamed to look at her parents but she pushed herself to. She had to be confident and stand in what she just announced.

"There has to be someone involved...I refuse to let you just leave!" He cried out. Despite what his wife was saying, he didn't foresee this. All he could do was wonder what went wrong because back in his day you listened and respected everything your parents told you, no matter what.