I sat at the kitchen table watching Desiree search around for food in the fridge. This was her home and she barely knew where anything was, she was so absent. I listened to her rant about how long her flight was as well and how irritating the flight attendants were. I nodded when I felt she needed some approval for her rudeness. After she was done, she sat at the table and it was obvious she was about to pretend to take an interest in me.
"So how did this week go?" Desiree asked sweetly not even bothering to look me in the eye.
"Great," I said quietly, "We had a huge project in science and I'm working with Aiden on it." I quickly blanched realizing what I'd just said and how much Desiree despised my childhood friend. She had always disliked him and had tried keeping us from being friends. She would always find any excuse to keep us apart. No matter, her thoughts on the subject; he, unlike my mother, had always been there for me and always would. Our friendship could not be broken.
"Aiden?" She said coldly the hatred clear in her voice.
"Y-yes... Our teachers chose our partners.." I trailed off hoping my lie was convincing enough.
Clearly, not good enough. "Oh really? So I could call your teacher and that's EXACTLY what she would say?"
The silence felt heavy in the room. I shielded my face with my long blonde hair doing my best to ignore the question. We both already knew the truth.
"Well, isn't that so.." she trailed with mock hurt in her voice, "I've made it clear my thoughts on your so called friend."
"He's my one real friend. Can't you just leave it be?" I pleaded softly.
"He's nothing but trouble that boy." She said angrily.
"He's never done anything for you to hate him, you can't stand that he's not rolling in cash like our family." I matched her tone glaring.
She narrowed her eyes at me, not even bothering to deny it. "He's destroying the our image and he's not good enough to even speak to one of us. When you hang out with trash like that, it reflects on all of us and I will not tolerate it.."
"I don't care about our image. I cannot believe how shallow you are. You aren't even embarrassed by such an archaic ideology!" I was so frustrated with myself for letting her bait me into this fight. What was I thinking mentioning his name. I knew how this was going to turn out - how it always turned out.
She stayed silent almost proud of herself from being able to push me over the edge. "I will not have you speak to me like this in MY home. You shall face the consequences of your actions. Starting with dumping your less than acceptable science partner" refusing to even say Aiden's name. "And to make sure you do as I have asked this time, you will be grounded for the next two weeks."
"You can't stop me from being his friend. It doesn't matter what you do. This is one of those fights Mother, that you will not win." I meant ever word I said. I would never give Aiden up for her.
"Ah, a challenge!" she said with glee. "First things first, you will be transferred to St. Agatha's Catholic school for girls starting Monday morning. See how easy it will be to keep in contact with Aiden in an all girl's school. On top of that, I will be confiscating all of your electronic devices so no contacting him in any other way. Push just came to shove, Andrea, and I never lose. Now get out of my sight before I say something I might regret."
"I think it is already too late for that Mother. You might think you've just won some great victory over me but you have lost more than you'll ever know." I turned quietly on my heel and knew that my words were true. I didn't even know the extent of those words but I knew something had broken within me. Oddly enough I also felt free. Inside I hoped I could run away, escape this pathetic life; little did I know that my world was about to change and not just because I closed my heart to the woman I had called Mother my whole life.
