The Flower Children

Chapter Five

Maia up stiffly in the front seat of her mother's car, not daring to bat an eyelash in fear that it would set her mother off.

Theresa Anderson did not breathe a single word to her two children when she arrived to pick them up from Athalone Prepatory. In fact, her face was as blank as a fresh sheet of paper, completely void of any emotion and that scared Maia more than she would've liked to admit. In fact, all the bravado that Maia felt when she confronted Principal Jenkins evaporated into thin air when she saw her mother's expression.

Even Micah looked terrified and his regular facial expression was one of tiredness. As the car moved at a relatively normal speed, Maia wondered whether her mom was really mad or trying to scare them. However, Maia gulped when tilted her head slightly and noticed the vice-like grip in which her mother held the steering wheel.

After an agonizing drive home, waiting the moment in which Theresa would finally explode, the three finally pulled into their  driveway. Once the handbrake was up and Maia was reaching for the door handle, Theresa finally spoke.

"Both of you, pack your stuff."

"What?" Maia asked confusedly while whipping her head to the side to look at her mom, who refused to look at either of them.

"You heard me Maia. You have five days to pack up your stuff. Your clothes, books, toiletries... whatever. Say goodbye to all your friends," Theresa responded in a steady, calm voice.

"Why?"

This time, it was Micah who spoke.

At the sound of his voice, something in Theresa must have snapped because she began to raise her voice when she said her next few words.

"Why? Why?! Because I am tired of having to move you two around! Tired of having to cough up some extra money so that the school I try to get you into overlooks the fact that you have issues Micah! I'm tired of trying to talk to you and you barely look at me! I'm tired of feeling like I'm trying so hard to be a good mother and all I get is disrespect and lack of appreciation in return! I mean, yelling at Principal Jenkins Maia? Seriously?! I thought I raised you better than that! Do you know how embarrassing this is for me? That I now look like I've raised two ungrateful, violent spoilt brats? Imagine what people will say about me? About us as a family?"

Theresa took a deep breath from her rant before she continued in a slightly reserved manner.

"That's why, I'm done. You guys are going to your grandparents' house. Hopefully, they'll be able to discipline you better than I have."

Suddenly it was deathly quiet in the car and Maia felt her throat tighten and blinked furiously as her eyes began to blur with unshed tears. Of course her mom had to blame Maia for this. Somehow she always found a way to. What hurt the most was the fact that Maia thought she was doing the right thing by protecting Micah. But, no matter how much her mom shouted at her, she did not once regret what she did. Consequences be damned.

"Okay," Micah said and the rear door clicked open. "I understand why you'd be mad at me. What I don't get is why you're mad at Maia. All she did was stand up for me. Plus, she was  against the fact that the school was corrupt - and if I remember correctly, you and dad taught us to stand up for what we believed in. But I guess things change huh? People will do almost anything these days to get ahead in life, right mom? Anyway, I'll start packing right away." He added bitterly.

With that, the door slammed closed. A few moments after he left, a red-faced Theresa Anderson quietly motioned for her daughter to leave. As Maia watched her mother drive off for the second time that day, she wondered if she had missed a deeper meaning to the words that Micah had said.

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A/N:

So this was a bit of a filler but it kind of needed to happen because the real action is about to begin 👀. I didn't really edit this, so please let me know if there's any errors and what nots.

Also, thanks so much for reading. If you're enjoying the store please please please comment, vote, share it etc. etc. If you'd like me to read your stories too, don't hesitate to let me know 😁.

Thank yoouuus. Much love ❤️
Wen ✨