This Is England » Freddie Highmore

22.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, MOM?" I asked, "I thought you were coming in three days?"

She blew out the cloud of smoke and flicked the cigarette to the ground, not caring if an officer was there watching. She looked at me, disapproval written all over her face.

"I wanted to surprise my daughter," she said bitterly. "but then I find out that she's out with her boyfriend at a concert and is now in jail." She looked over at Freddie, her jaw clenched.

"How do you want me to react to this?" She asked, "That I'm supposed to be glad you were out smoking dope with this thing you call a boyfriend?!"

"He's a person, Ma, not a fuckin' robot."

"He isn't much of a boyfriend if he puts you in jail. Amelia, you have a reputation to uphold, and here you are, smoking, drinking and skipping class with this fool.

"I don't even know you anymore."

She rubbed her forehead, then turned to the officer and handed him the money. I was leaving the cell with Freddie, when my mother had stopped us.

"I bailed you out, not Grand Theft Auto over here." I turned to Freddie, who gave me a sympathetic look. It broke my heart, knowing that I couldn't get him out of jail.

"Let's get the Hell out of here." I nodded, quickly following my mother out of the building.

-

Despite the fact I was angry at Freddie, I missed him terribly. I wanted to go with Max and the others, but my mother would go to S.W.A.T and request they come and find me if that ever happened.

We drove for what seemed like hours, an angered silence filled the air. I didn't speak to my mother, I only looked out the window.

"I want you to stop seeing that boy," my mother spoke after thirty minutes. "I am not going to have my daughter mess up her education over some boy who only wants to get into her pants."

I sharply turned to face her, clenching my fists.

"You don't know him, Ma!" I shouted, "You haven't even met him properly and already you're telling me who I should date and who I shouldn't d--"

"Do you honestly think he loves you?" she asked, her eyes never leaving the road. "He doesn't Amelia, because if he did, he wouldn't have gotten you both in jail."

"Like you never done this shit?!" I snapped, "You were addicted to cocaine for three years and you're telling me how to live?!" my heart was pounding by the second, I could feel my blood boiling.

"That's not the point Amelia!" she turned to the campus parking lot, unbuckling her seatbelt as she then faced me. "You have a life to live, and I don't want you to fuck it up like I did. Look at your father---he's a drunken bastard that doesn't even wish you a happy birthday."

"At least Dad loved you, not like Victer." I sighed once more; running a hand through my frizzy, auburn hair. "Thanks for getting me out of jail, Ma, but I can't stand another minute being with you."

Her eyes began to water, and that's when I knew that I hurt her. I opened the passengers' side door; wished my mom well and closed it shut.

She started the car, pulled out of the campus, and drove out of my view.

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