The car ride is short, maybe only seven minutes or so. To Rowan it was one of the longest rides of her life. Rowan's mom pulls up to the drop off circle. Rowan grabs her phone out of her pocket and squirms around in her seat before reaching for the cold handle. She pulls the handle and slightly pushes. The door doesn't budge. Rowan jiggles the handle once more. She comes to the quite obvious conclusion that it's locked. Rowan stares at her mother for a few minutes before turning around to the handle once more. She takes the cold metal and furiously shakes it back and forth. This action is to clue in her mother subtly that she would like to get out. Rowan does this while giving her mom the death stare. Her mom sits there and smiles a villainous smile.
"The more you struggle, the longer it's going to stay locked." Her mom says this while releasing her full, motherly power on her daughter happily. Rowan glares at her mom. Rowan stops jiggling the cold handle. Her hand slowly and cautiously slips away onto her lap.
"I just want you to know that I love you the way you are. I just want you to keep being you." Rowan's mom smiles at her sweetly. Rowan gathers her bag in her phone in one hand. She shifts around uncomfortably while looking at the goldfish remains and the stale pretzels on the ground. Her mom continues her sweet smile. Roman slowly lifts her head. After a few minutes of staring Rowan slowly curls her lips to make a small smile back at her mother.
"Now you better get going, you're going to be late." Romans mom says with a different tone of voice. Rowan looks at her mom and nods. She goes open the door and it doesn't budge. She quickly looks over at her mom. Her mom presses a little button on the door handle in this car that makes a little satisfying clicking noise. Her mother chuckles quietly as Rowan opens the door handle and walks out of the car with her bag.
