The Friends

Chapter 2

Man, this particular day was crazy. It started like all the rest. My Mom was on my back as usual in the morning, screaming about me being late for class.

"Ann, ANN, listen if I have to call your name one more time, I'm gonna break that mirror in your room and the one in the bathroom, said Ann's Mom. Get from in front of that mirror and get your butt down here now. You're gonna be late to school. Your hair looks fine."

"I wasn't fixing my hair, said Ann. I was brushing my teeth."

"Well you're gonna have the whitest teeth in America, because I could swear you were in there at least an hour."

"Beauty takes time Mom."

"Beauty can wait, it's your first class that can't. I want you graduating this spring."

"I don't know. I don't think this whole academic thing is working. I can't seem to stay interested in any subject. All my teachers are boring and the material doesn't interest me."

"Listen to me little Miss, said Ann's mother, without an education you become limited in life's choices and stuck in jobs that you hate that don't even pay well. Then you are stuck in another cycle of financial struggle, trying to make ends meet. I don't want that for you. You have a good mind, if only you could just try and put a little more effort into your studies."

"Ok, Ok, you keep singing that same song over and over."

"And I'll keep singing it until I get a Grammy, said Ann's Mom."

"Oh, that's so funny, I can't stop laughing. Are you sure you never did stand up?"

"Ok, don't be such a wise guy, and get out the house already. You're going to miss your first class."

"Got it, I'm out!"

"And stop hanging out with those friends of yours. They're gonna get you into trouble one of these days."

"I don't hang with them, they hang with me, said Ann."

With that, Ann leaves her house to meet up with Karen and Tracey. Ann loved her mother, but she also liked hanging with her buddies. Although all three had different personalities, the trio seemed to fit well together. From time to time they would get on each other's nerves, but they always managed to patch whatever differences they had up and lend support to each other whenever it was needed.

Lately Ann's Mom was always breathing down her neck, looking over her shoulder and keeping a close watch on her daughter, as if she sensed something was about to happen. Ann was the only child and it had been just Ann and her Mom living alone for a few years now. Ann's Mom didn't have much luck with the relationships she had in her past, so she decided to put men aside for now and focus her attention to her daughter.