Chapter 162: A Parent’s Fears
Edrick
When Moana brought up the idea of sending Ella to school all of a sudden, I felt my blood run cold. The thought of sending Ella away every day, where anything horrible could have happened to her, made me feel sick. Throughout the entire eight years so far of her existence, I had done such a good job of keeping her safe and away from the public eye. Even when I announced her existence to the news, I knew that I would eventually have to start bringing her to public events along with Moana, but I still didn’t think that I would ever send her to school. I had plenty of money to hire the best tutors for her, and her education so far was excellent.
But, at the same time, I knew that Moana was right to an extent. School wasn’t just about learning; it was also about children being given the chance to socialize, form bonds with other children, and get exposed to different types of people and different environments.
Even then, I still wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to let her go. Between my father, Ella’s mother, and the paparazzi, I was terrified about the idea of sending her to school.
I initially tossed Moana’s pamphlet down on my desk and chose to ignore it. And I did a good job of ignoring it at first as I got some work done on my computer, but after a while it was almost as though the pamphlet was inching its way closer into my field of vision, taunting me, begging me to look at it. And finally, with a sigh, I decided to flip through it. What was the harm in that, right?
As I flipped through it, it immediately became apparent that Moana had put quite a lot of work into her research. She had pictures of each school, their locations, the names of their principals, reviews taken from the internet, and a lot of other information. That alone was what kept me flipping, and soon enough I looked up at the clock to realize that I had spent almost half an hour thoroughly reading through information on fifteen different schools without even noticing how much time had passed.
However, none of the schools piqued my interest. They were all either too far, not good enough for my daughter, or didn’t have the right extracurriculars. Maybe I was just being too harsh, and I was just looking for reasons to hate the schools. Either way, I decided not to choose any of them. Moana and Ella would be understandably upset, but I could make up for it. I could take Ella to a summer club with other children, or find her some friends who could come over for playdates…
But that wouldn’t be good enough. I knew that, and I only ever wanted Ella to be happy and healthy and to have plenty of opportunities in her life. I didn’t want to be the reason that she felt cooped up all her life, and I especially didn’t want her feeling bitter toward me about it when she grew up. So, biting my lip, I decided to give the pamphlet yet another look.
As I scoured the pamphlet for a second time, it turned out that there was actually one school that piqued my interest after all.
It was an all-girls private school. When I looked at the address, I realized that I recognized the street it was on; it was only a few blocks away, so it was within walking distance and was still in the nice part of town. In fact, I recalled having passed it quite a few times since living here, and I knew how nice it was. It was an old building with tall windows and plenty of space outside. I remembered walking past on multiple occasions and seeing the children playing on a fenced-in playground while teachers watched them. Not only that, but it offered pre-kindergarten all the way through high school, which meant that Ella would never need to switch schools so long as we continued living at the penthouse.
Honestly, it was the perfect school.
But I still didn’t want my daughter to go.
Suddenly, as I sat there with my head in my hands as I tried and failed to come up with an alternative to sending Ella to school, I heard a knock on the door. Before I could even answer, the door cracked open and Selina’s head popped in.
“You didn’t eat your dinner.”
I glanced up at the clock; it was after nine o’clock at night. I simply shrugged. “I wasn’t hungry.”
Selina frowned and came in, revealing a tray of food in her hands. It was a cup of tea and a slice of toast with jam, and as she came closer, I realized that I was actually hungry now. I thanked her when she set the tray down and expected her to leave after that, but, to no surprise, the old housekeeper looked down at my desk and made a hmph sound.
“Schools?” she asked, picking up the pamphlet before I could snatch it away. The old housekeeper was always like this; she was more like a mother to me, or maybe an aunt, than an actual housekeeper. Not that I ever would have admitted that to her.
“Uh, sort of,” I replied with a shrug as I took a bite of my toast, trying to act nonchalant. “I doubt I’ll pick one.”
Selina’s frown deepened as she looked up at me. “Why not? Ella would love to go to school.”
I froze for a moment, unsure of what to say. Selina looked back down at the pamphlet with the page open to the school that was down the street, and suddenly smiled.
“I went to this school!” she exclaimed. “I loved it here. Oh, I wonder if the headmistress is still there. She’d be too old by now, I suppose.”
I hated to admit it, but the housekeeper’s excitement made my heart beat a little faster. Hearing that she went to that school, and that she loved it, relieved some of my anxiety and softened me toward the concept of Ella going. I chewed and swallowed my toast, then looked up at her and watched as she set the pamphlet back down and made her way back toward the door.
“Do you think she’d like it there, too?” I asked.
Selina stopped, thinking for a moment, then turned back to look at me with a smile on her aging face. She nodded. “She would love it,” she said. “And I would love to see her finally going to school. Every child deserves to go.”
Without another word, Selina walked out of the room after that and left me alone. I felt awful now for not giving Ella the chance earlier to go to school, and that made me come to a conclusion. Moana and Selina were right; Ella did deserve to go to school if she wanted to go. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt just to go and take a look, I thought to myself.
And so, the following morning, I found Moana and Ella sitting at the breakfast table.
“Get dressed, both of you,” I said. “We’re going to look at a school today.”
