Downfall of the nation's hero

Chapter 3

"Audra Silvija Matonis, you better explain yourself, young lady!" I have my phone's sound settings on as low volume as possible but I bet even Sophie can hear my mom's strong accent when she begins to lecture me.

News spread fast I see. They always do. Ren was right, my mother's call proves that the video of our little fight has gone viral and it's 'ruining' my reputation. Why else would Mom be calling and screaming my full name furiously?

"Mom, it's nothing, really." I have to fight the urge to roll my eyes. She won't notice, of course, but I hate being rude towards my parents.

"Nothing you say?" Mom doesn't let go of the argument. Her accent's getting stronger, which means one thing - I'm fucked. "It's your first day away from home and you've already caused trouble. It's everywhere, Audra!"

I don't have the time nor strength to look at the socials to see the video, or the comments underneath it. Not like it matters. It's already out there and there's nothing that can be done to change this. Reporting won't do shit and I bet several accounts have already reposted it - nothing new for the world-renowned troublemaker Audra Matonis.

I do have to make sure mom trusts me with my life decisions though, or else she wouldn't hesitate and she'd walk into the campus to drag me out of here herself.

A sigh escapes my mouth at the thought of that. "You know how Ren Martin is, Mom." It might be a low blow, but I desperately need to divert the fault at someone else. "I wasn't prepared to see her at the campus on my first day here after what happened in Japan."

Playing the sympathy card feels like admitting defeat, and the last thing I want, but if there's one thing mom's willing to accept, it would be how much of a touchy subject this year's Worlds ending is because of Ren. Also, the video cannot be that bad. I managed to control my anger pretty well since I didn't punch her right in her stupid face.

"Audra..." Mom's tone goes from furious to tired and her accent slowly leaves her sentences. "What happened in Tokyo is a justified reason to be mad at that girl, but you have to maintain your composure. It doesn't look good when your temper gets the best out of you."

And by it doesn't look good she means for them. I couldn't care less about the light in which the media tries to portray me, but my parents? They for sure do care. They're living their American dream through me and every single inconvenience is a huge deal for them. Don't get me wrong, I understand them. Before I was famous, our lives weren't necessarily easy. Both mom and dad were considered immigrants at their offices and were treated according to those statuses. Their salaries didn't match the hard work they put into every single project, which was extremely tiring. I'm not saying we lived in poverty, I had a happy childhood. We just couldn't afford many of the things other people could. I guess it left some marks on my family that I'll never understand because I was too young at that time.

"I know, Mom." It's the only logical thing to say, even though I don't necessarily agree with it. "I'm trying."

Mom takes a deep breath. Oh, here we go again.

"You're just like your grandmother." She doesn't mean it in a bad way, I know mom loved her mother deeply, but there's a reason why it's not a compliment either. "For your own sake, I hope her genes always skip one generation. Once you have kids, you'll understand, trust me."

Once you have kids. It might seem like a perfect opportunity to tell her I don't want to have my own children and that my future partner won't be a man. When else am I going to tell her? It's not like I'll be able to watch her smile drop with disappointment.

I gather all of my courage. My stomach gets heavy and I swear my legs begin to shake. "Yeah, about that..."

"Audra Silvija Matonis, don't tell me you're pregnant!" Mom's scream echoes throughout our room, making Sophie flinch. We then lock eyes and my best friend starts giggling at that.