Finding the Wisest

Chapter Two

The smell of fresh bread permeated the atmosphere as the baker opened the windows of his posh bakery. The sun was at its full height now, and it was with its faint glow that people could be seen walking, jogging.

Cries of distraught mothers trying to make their children move faster were heard. They didn't want them to miss their school buses. 
Colorful houses lined the sidewalk of the little town in Arizona and in one of those houses lay a girl in her room.

She was still asleep, had wrapped the covers all the way over her head, maybe to prevent the thin stream of sunlight that had sneaked its way in through her window.

Tough luck for her. The sun shone on her face until she had had enough.
She hissed like a wounded cat as she finally sat up after trying to ignore the sun and realized that it wasn't working. Duh.

She was awake now and she knew she'd have to get up and start her day..
She yawned and stretched leisurely as she passed her tan hand through her large brown curls.
That was Maya.

Now Maya Ford had about three months left before she left home for college and she was more than excited. It had always been a dream of hers to go out to the world and do something other than live the pampered and secluded life she lived.  Her mother had become so overbearing over the past months.
It was even more than usual and she just couldn't take it anymore.
I mean, it was possible crime rate had gone up but it was utterly unreasonable for a mother to prevent her eighteen year old child from going to the mall because it was 'very dangerous' and 'highly hazardous.'
Like seriously?! Her mother had used those very words.

Maya had already made up her mind. Nothing would stop her from going to the  college of her dreams, which was far far far away from Winslette, Arizona. The cute little town they lived in.
Nothing at all.

With that thought firmly established and branded in her mind, she stood up woozily and made her way to her bathroom and started to get ready for the day. She had to rush back to the room multiple times because she kept forgetting items.

Finally she was done.
She was almost out of the room when her eyes fell on the sleek black watch sitting in front of her dressing mirror.
Her mother would give her serious grief if she didn't wear it. She didn't see the big deal actually.
It was just a simple watch but time and time again her mother had demanded her to wear it, especially when she was going out of the house.

She grabbed the offending item and strapped it around her wrist quickly as she padded barefoot to the living room.
The TV was on and the volume was very loud, causing Maya to cringe.
She hurriedly looked for the remote, found it and muted it.
She glanced at the TV.
It was some show about some celebrity or the other but her mother wasn't there, so who was watching?
Also where was the woman?

Maya shrugged and turned, planning to make her way to the kitchen. She was hungry, food first.
She stopped short.
There, seated on a stool was a tall and thin woman using her phone. Her mother.

"Mom!"
Her mother's head moved up slowly as she gave her screeching daughter  a sly smile.
"What's the matter sweetheart, everyone's doing it now-a-days"

Maya's mother had dyed her hair. No longer  dark brown with regal streaks of grey but now a darker shade, almost black.
And it was shorter too, edgier.

When did she even do this?
It wasn't that she looked bad.... It was just a surprise to Maya.
The shocked girl took a seat next to her mother and swiped some bacon from her plate. "Oh, I didn't know I raised a thief. "

The offhand comment made Maya roll her eyes "It's just bacon, mom and besides, I need it for the trauma you've just caused me."

She paused and tried to stifle her laughter as an outrageous image popped into her head.
"Next time I come out of my room, you'll probably have a tattoo on your face or something "
The taller woman laughed.
"Now now, don't go giving me ideas young lady"