Chapter One

       When Kaila made the decision to teach classes abroad, she knew that there would be a hurdle that she'd have to get through first; her parents. Being that she was their only child, they were extremely overprotective and tried all they could to shield her from many of the dangers the world had to offer. Knowing this, though, she still wanted to pursue this desire of hers and go for it. So, she braced herself in preparation of telling them her finalized decision.

       She already knew that she'd been accepted to teach abroad through the English Program in Korea, EPIK, but had yet to inform her parents about it. She didn't want to let them know her plans of applying to the program only for her to get rejected, so she opted to wait until she knew for sure that she was accepted before revealing the acceptance. Her parents were the type of people who, if they told her not to do something and she went against them, would never let her live it down if things didn't go as she hoped they would. She wouldn't set herself up for failure with them if she was rejected by the EPIK program. So, until she was certain, she had to keep it a secret. 

       After finding out that she was accepted was accepted, of course she had to go through the stage of trying to find out exactly which part of South Korea she wanted to teach English in. But, that wasn't quite as difficult of a decision. Ever since Kaila was in graduate school, she knew that teaching abroad was something that interested her. She wanted to travel and experience much of the world - and using her degree to travel freely didn't sound too bad, either. From that point on in graduate school, she did her research to figure out many of the requirements needed in order to teach in foreign countries and she based she career off that. She needed about two to three consecutive years of teaching experience in English if she wanted to go abroad. Upon the completion of graduate school, and the two to three years of experience in the field, she applied and, thankfully, was accepted by EPIK.

       The drive to her parents' house seemed as though it took forever. She dreaded the upcoming conversation, her mother's stern look, her father's questioning, and both of their disapproval. She gripped the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles turned white and her hands nearly turned numb. She sat there, biting her lip and remaining in their driveway for what seemed like an eternity gathering her thoughts and preparing herself. She had to constantly remind herself that this was something that she wanted to do, and whether or not they approved of the decision would not hinder her from boarding an airplane and flying directly to Korea within the next month or so.

       Her mother had been peeking out the window, anticipating her arrival. Every Sunday night Kaila usually went to her parents' house to eat a lovely dinner her mother prepared. It was almost like a family tradition - one that would end with her travels to Korea soon. Her mother opened the door and slowly made her way to the car, the look on her face confused as to why Kaila hadn't excitedly exited the vehicle and burst through their front door. Plastering on a smile, Kaila hugged her while attempting to avoid any questions that would be thrown her way, and hurried into the house to greet her father.

       Luckily for Kaila, and her ever-growling stomach, dinner was prepared and placed beautifully on the dining table. Her father was sitting at his usual spot, looking at the food for a moment before his gaze went to her. He stood, wrapped his arms around Kaila, and motioned for bother her and his wife to sit. His eyes went back to the food and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. Her mother probably didn't allow her father to touch anything until she arrived, and she’d been sitting in that car for quite some time. She laughed, though, and quickly sat down as they both did the same.

       "What took you so long to get here, dear?" Her mother asked as she reached for both her hand and Kaila’s fathers’ hand. "We thought that we were going to have to call you. I felt like you had either gotten lost or ran into a bit of trouble on your way here." Her concern look told all and Kaila quickly shook her head to let her know that wasn't the case.

       "I was just doing a bit of thinking..." Was all she told her mother before her dad shot the both them a look that told them he was too hungry and that the conversation could wait until after prayer took place. Kaila smiled a bit, thankful his look had bought her a little more time, and bowed her head as her mother said a lengthy prayer that would shock most preachers in the community. As soon as she was finished, she father let go of their hands and his utensils went directly to the food placed before him. Kaila’s mother must’ve deprived him of food for so long that there were no sounds coming from him except for the sound of his chewing.

       All her mother did was shake her head and gracefully began to eat. Kaila did the same, wanting to stuff to keep herself from having to answer any questions. Her mother was great at reading her and from the moment she'd arrived her face revealed her inner thoughts. Kaila was a bit worried – she was nervous beyond all recognition because there was nothing she could do to keep them from being fussy over her. This would just be the highlight of their lives for sure.

       Dinner was going smoothly, and though Kaila could feel her mother's gaze shooting in her direction, she forced a smile that seemed, for a moment, to work against her. But, as dinner was coming to an end, she knew there was no use in avoiding the subject anymore - especially since her mother placed her fork down and crossed her arms – glaring harshly at her only child.

       "Okay, Kaila, spill it." Her statement caught her and her father off guard. Kaila was expecting it, but not in this way.

       "Spill what?" Her father looked at his wife for a second before wiping his mouth with a napkin and turning his attention to Kaila. "Is there something going on?"

       "You can't see it?" Her mother pointed at her. "Your daughter is hiding something, Kevin." Kaila bit her bottom lip and looked down at her slightly eaten plate of food. "See? That's all the more reason for me to believe that she's hiding something from us." Her mother leaned back in the chair as she crossed her arms, her gaze locked on Kaila. Kaila felt like she was under pressure.

       "Well, are you going to spit it out or are we going to have to force it out?" Her father asked simply. He always acted a bit too calm whenever there was something he was trying to get out of Kaila growing up. It frightened her so much that she would tell him. Something about a calm parent in situations like this didn't seem normal. It was as though it was his secret weapon - his way of getting her to talk, and it never failed. Now was no different. So, Kaila swallowed harshly the lump that made its way into and reached for the glass of water before her to force it out. She proceeded to speak.

       "I'm going to South Korea..." She said flatly. If looks could kill she would be dead right now. Her mother's look was something of pure sickness, disappointment, surprise, and anger. "...to teach children how to speak English."

       "How long have you been thinking about this?" Her father asked. Her mother was still in too much of a shocked state to question her right now.

       "Ever since I was in graduate school I've wanted to travel abroad to teach. I was presented an opportunity recently, so I went for it." She could barely look at either of them. She felt that if she did, they would feel as though she was challenging them, their authority, and that was far from it. However, in this family, it was rude to avoid a parents' gaze - it signaled guilt, and she was far from guilty. She just wanted to do something that she’d waited so long to achieve.

       "No." Her mother replied, finally coming out of the shock she'd been in for more than a few minutes. With that answer, she stood up from the table and began gathering the plates. "There is no way in hell I'm going to let my child, my only child, go away to teach. And it's in Korea of all places!" She disappeared into the kitchen but Kaila knew it wasn't over. It would never be over.

       "But, mom--"

       "There are no buts, Kaila!" She suddenly reappeared, standing a bit too close to her. "You're not going and that's final. You are doing fine in America so you'll be staying here." She locked gazes with Kaila and Kaila looked at her father.

       "Calm down, Lauren," Her father grabbed his wife’s wrist gently. "There is no need to get worked up over something that won't happen. It's just foolish talk." Kaila gulped. She knew this was going to happen. She knew her parents would doubt that she actually took steps to make it to Korea. That part bothered her the most, but she had to let it go - for now, at least. 

       Without a word, she reached into her bag that she brought in with her and pulled out the letter of acceptance into the program. She placed it onto the table and slid it towards her father for both of them to see that she was serious about this - that her going to Korea was going to happen whether they liked it or not. "It's not just foolish talk, dad – I’ve applied for the program, and I was accepted." She whispered. Her tone was soft, she didn't want them to have more reason to fuss if she spoke to them as though they weren't her parents, even though many times she have been tempted to do so.

       Her father looked down at the paper but before he could read it, her mother snatched the letter off the table and began scanning it. She mumbled most of the content to herself and every so often her eyes would cut at Kaila. Of course, Kaila did all she could to avoid her mothers’ gaze.  She hated the looks that she gave her. As a child, she could understand why she gave those looks, but now Kaila didn't think that it was called for. She didn't commit a crime or a felon, she was simply taking her teaching to the next level and she was allowing her degree to take me to other parts of the world. Did that call for her to get scolded right now?

       "So you went behind our backs and applied to this program without talking to your father and I first? We taught you better than that, Kaila." Her mother said as she forced the letter into her father's hands. "This is a decision that not only affects you but us as well. Did you think about that?" As her mother spoke, her father took the time to read over the letter, taking longer than his wife had, but the disappointment was evident. They'd never let her live this down. 

       "Why would you choose Korea of all places?" He questioned. "Why not teach in another state? Why would you want to leave the country?" He placed the letter back on the table and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong with teaching in America, so why did you actually do it?" He asked. Her mother was fuming as though there was more she wanted to say, but she held it in. She was glad for that, because her mother could snap on her and it would only cause broken bridges.

       "I've always wanted to travel. This seemed like it would be a great opportunity for me." She played with her fingers for a bit. "I didn't want to pass up the chance to go back to Korea, dad."

       "Is that what it's about, Kaila?" Her mother interjected, stopping her father from responding. "You want to go back to that place after I was so happy to get us out of there?" Her mother threw her hands in the air in frustration. "It was hell living there for the first three years of your life. Do you know how hard it was for our family to survive there? Of course, you were too young to remember." Her mother stepped closer to her and Kaila flinched. She hadn't been disciplined since she was younger, but she knew that at that moment her mother wanted to hit her. Kaila’s father sensed this and stopped her.

       "Even if it was hard, I don’t remember. I was three years old when we moved from Korea, mom!" She grabbed the letter and stuffed it back into her bag, not caring that it'd been crumpled in the process. "Besides, it doesn't matter what you have to say about it. The program accepted me and my credentials and I am going to be leaving within the month for training." She slowly stood to her feet. 

       "It does matter because you're going to call this program and tell them why you won't be in Korea." Her mother was out of her mind. After all of the difficulty it took for Kaila to apply for the program and the length of time it took for her to hear back from them her mother thought she was going to abandon the acceptance? Kaila had already prepared herself mentally and half-way packed for the trip - all she had to do was get confirmation of her approval and then she was ready to go.

       "That's not fair! If it's something that she wants to do, then you two should just support me instead of talk me out of it." Kaila yelled as she placed her bag onto her shoulder. "It's not something I can just back out of, either - like I was going to do that anyways." She scoffed. Her mother had some nerve telling her that she shouldn't be doing this. If teaching is something that she loves to do and she’s going abroad to teach then what is the problem? She was not going abroad to play around – she was going on business.

       "Look, it's been a long day. Your mother and I are just a bit shocked that this was suddenly sprung onto us. We had no time to prepare ourselves for this topic, Kaila." Kaila started to speak right after he did, but he held up his hand rendering her speechless. He wasn't finished. "Right now isn't the time to discuss this. We don't need to get more worked up about things and I certainly don't want you leaving this house in a bad mood, either, Kaila." She nodded. He was right. If her father hadn't spoken up when he did, she would have left them both at the dinner table. She was becoming so overwhelmed with their disapproval of her future that her eyes were becoming misty. She quickly reached up to wipe them. She didn't need to cry. She was too old for this.

       "I'm not saying that we approve of this, Kaila. We need to think about this and figure out what is really going on before we can actually say what we think."

       "Mom apparently made up her mind. It was a definite no before I could explain the situation." She shook her head and looked away. She was suddenly tired and wanted to sleep. She knew that there would be obvious yelling, but not like this. She knew they would disapprove, but not before hearing her side of things. This was worse than she expected, but it wouldn't be over, her father made that much very clear.

       "She's just worried for you, as I am." He stated. His voice was calm, relaxed. Kaila was confused. One minute he was obviously disappointed in her decision and the next he was trying to calm the situation down. "We want the best for you - we're just not sure that going back to Korea is." Her father let her mother's hand go and she rubbed it lightly. She shook her head but remained quiet against her husband’s words. Kaila’s father walked towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders before he pulled her in for a tight hug.

       "We'll talk about this later, Kaila. For now, you head home and get some rest. You need to be at school early in the morning." She nodded as he placed a kiss on her forehead. He lightly thumbed her cheek and, although she was still uneasy about this situation, the gentle touch of her father was calming. Her mother sighed audibly and walked towards Kaila for a hug. It was tighter than usual, a slight squeeze, but she let go after a few moments and turned into the kitchen to clean the dishes without speaking. Saddened by this, Kaila looked at her father for reassurance, only to get a head shake from him. Kaila didn’t want things between her and her mother to become uneasy…she needed her – she needed both of her parents now more than ever.

       Her father noticed a stray tear attempting to fall down her cheek and he wiped it. Here she was, a twenty-six year old woman, and she was crying over her mother's obvious coldness and disapproval. "I'll be going now." He nodded and let her go, his smile slightly a sad one as she turned to walk out the front door.

       They had one month to talk about this, but for Kaila, they had one month to come around. It didn't matter that they had to say about her decision - it was set in stone and it was only a matter of time before she would be boarding a plane and heading to South Korea to begin teaching students there.