Misguided

1. Happy Birthday

"MOMMY!"

I shot up out of bed with a sharp gasp, my heart pounding in my chest. I breathe heavily, my left hand clutching my chest and my right raking through my hair. I wipe the sweat from my brow and take calm, collected breaths. The sound of my bedroom door opening has me scrambling out of the bed.

"Good morning, Miss Grant, how may I assist you this morning?" the servant asks politely. I sigh in relief, thankful it's not my mother. "How many times have I begged you to, please, just call me Kate," I ask. I hate that my mother's attendants call me by my last name, especially since I'm more than half their age. Every morning they come into my room at 7:00 AM, and routinely help me carry out my morning duties: get dressed, eat breakfast, and take me down to the car so that I can go off to school. It's all about routine and ordinance around here, even the servants know it. They've also known me long enough to know that the morning schedule never changes, yet they always ask the same question in the morning. It really does get annoying.

"Ma'am, I've explained that I cannot do that," she counters.

"I thought you'd say that," I gather some fresh clothes from my bureau and head to the bathroom located on the opposite end of the room. "I'm going to shower now. Has my mother woken up yet?"

"Yes Miss, she asked me to tell you that she cannot join you for breakfast this morning. She has an early appointment to the Medic."

"The Medic?" I stop, my hand on the door handle. "Has she fallen ill? Is she alright?" I instantly fear something has happened to my mother, and start to think of the worst case scenarios.

"No, no! Not at all," the attendant shakes her head vigorously. "Just an annual check-up, is all."

I sigh in relief and step into the bathroom. "I will be out soon, thank you. You're dismissed," I say. I close the door behind me, taking a deep breath before turning the handle on the shower. I let the water run and test the temperature before undressing and stepping under the stream of cold water. I quickly scrub and rinse out my hair, and then step out. I look at myself in the mirror, and smile. "Don't let this ruin your day, Kate," I tell myself. "Mother didn't forget, she's simply busy. The appointment couldn't be scheduled for another day. That's all." I force a smile onto my face, then dry body with one of the nearby towels. I dress in the fresh clothes that I'd previously picked out. Taking one more look in the mirror, I step out of the bathroom and into my bedroom. Now empty, I grab my shoes from the foot of the bed and slip them on quietly. Grabbing my backpack, I take my time leaving my room and going down the hallway leading to the dining room.

The walls are void of any personal photos, decorated with priceless works of art instead. My shoes make no sound as I walk on the concrete floor. The concrete walls start to make me feel claustrophobic, and I quicken my pace to get to the dining room faster. The hallway opens up into the grand dining room. With the high ceiling and bright lights, it's both the biggest and the brightest room in the house. What I've never understood though, is why the lights were turned on during the day. The floor-to-ceiling windows provide enough light to illuminate every inch of the room, no doubt. Still, the breathtaking view always made me forget what I was so worried about. With a full three hundred and sixty degree view of the city below, I always had something to keep me entertained whenever my mother had me eat dinner with her and her associates. None of them ever spoke to me, and I can confirm that they probably didn't even notice me there. I snap out of my thoughts when my mother walks out from the hallway, adjusting her suit.

"Goodmorning, dear. How are you?" she asks sweetly. She takes a seat at the head of the large mahogany table, and I follow right behind her by taking a seat to her right.

"I thought you weren't joining me for breakfast? Something about an early appointment with the Medic?" I ask. I fold my hands in my lap and look up slightly, awaiting her answer.

"Yes, the Medic," she sighs. "But, I can't start the day without the proper nutrition, now can I? Besides, we haven't had breakfast together in so long. I thought it'd be nice." At that moment, our breakfast is set down in front of us. I hadn't even heard them come in. My mother and I mirror each other's movements by picking up our forks and beginning our meal. We eat in silence, the scraping of our forks the only sound echoing in the room. My mother breaks the silence first.

"How's school?" she asks.

I take a deep breath before I answer. "Pretty good. I got an almost perfect score on my scanning exam last week," I pause. "Everyone agrees that it was a relatively challenging exam. Our instructor congratulated me on my score, aren't you proud?" It really was a tough exam, but I also could've easily passed that exam. My mother looks up from her gourmet breakfast, putting her utensils down. She purses her lips tightly before taking a deep breath, and interlacing her hands together in front of her face.

"What do you mean 'almost perfect'?" she says, her voice strained. With clenched teeth and raised brows, she leans forward in her seat. I open my mouth to explain, but she quickly silences me by raising her hand and taking yet another deep breath. "Katerina, you know what I like to see. This score, is not what I like to see, and you know that. I don't want to have to tell you again that I want perfection. Every result must be perfect. You've never gotten anything less than a perfect score. What's changed?" she asks. I keep quiet, looking down at my hands, still folded in my lap. I peek from under my lashes and quickly divert my eyes to the plate in front of me when I see her intently staring at me, expecting an answer.

"I'm sorry this is how our morning has started, but don't forget what I've just said," she says. Pushing her chair back, she stands up and heads to the elevator located at the front of the room, to my left. She pushes the button, and waits no more than twenty seconds before the elevator arrives with a ding!, and steps into it. She fixes her suit once more before directing her gaze at me.

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart."

The doors close, and I'm left alone at the table, smiling in relief.

A/N:

Hi!!! I'm really excited to be sharing my book with you all. I don't expect it to receive as much attention as the other works on here do, since Wattpad is known best for fan fiction, and this isn't particularly fiction. 

I will update weekly (cross my fingers), and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I love getting messages and answering questions, so don't hesitate to PM me! 

Hehe bye!