I stare quietly at my hands as I sit outside the headmaster's chambers. Mum has been inside for nearly forty minutes and I can already tell that she's going to be livid.

I'd chosen to keep her in the dark about the several detentions I'd got over the span of the last year. I told her that I had to stay back for extra language learning classes.

She has enough on her plate already, without me burdening her with my stupid high school problems.

The door opens and Mum walks out, her expression eerily calm. Far from the furious, red face I expected. She was still in her light gray-blue hospital scrubs that meant that she had rushed to the school straight after a surgery.

"You've been let off for the day, Ariya. Let's go home." She says stiffly, before making her way towards the exit.

I follow silently, my lips curving downwards into a frown.

The ride home is quick and no words are exchanged except when she asks me to check my seatbelt.

When we reach the foyer of our house, I'm surprised when Mum still does not start a cumbersome lecture about trust, honesty, diligence and the like.

She simply makes her way to the kitchen, washes her hands and pours herself a glass of water before sitting down at the dining table and pinching her temple between her thumb and index finger.

I stand near the door, utterly perplexed. Is there a simple guide to approaching your parent when they're fucking pissed at you?

I'm probably daft because I'm actually waiting patiently for my mother to lecture me, a predicament that teenagers normally choose to avoid like the plague.

And it's not like I'm enjoying the dead silence either.

Our house is moderately large for just the two of us. We have three spare rooms for guests who we rarely have and Mum and I stay on separate floors to give each other space. She stays on the ground floor and I stay on the first. But despite the size, I feel trapped in the kitchen. Suddenly, it feels like the tension in the air will swallow me and I'd disappear.

I simply want to make sure that Mum is okay.

"Mum," I whisper quietly, standing a safe distance away from her, "I'm sorry?"

"Are you?" she asks simply.

I let out a quiet sigh. Honestly I wasn't sorry about the detentions I got, at least I had company. Staying home alone absolutely sucked.

I did feel sorry about the fact that I'd broken Mum's trust, though. But I don't need to elaborate.

"Ariya, I understand that you had a hard time readjusting when Izzy moved out of your school, but such behaviour is unacceptable." She looks at me calmly, her eyes swirling with sadness and fatigue, "It hurts me to think that you didn't feel I could understand your problems."

"It's not that..." I want to clarify but Mum cuts me off.

"What else can it be?" she sniffs, "You've such a good child ever since you were born, so mature all the time. And I'm so lucky to have you, Ariya. I'll always be there for you."

"I know that, Mum." I choke back my own tears.

I could handle a little shouting and a lecture but watching my mother cry helplessly was making me feel like terrible person. Here I was, trying to prevent her from finding out about my moodiness in school to ease her already existing problems and instead I'd made her cry.

Being a single mother was difficult and she was a strong woman. My parents separated mutually when I was eleven- Dad because he wanted to excel in the army and Mum because of great ambitions to become dean of the teaching hospital she worked at. Dad had offered to take me and raise me at the base as an army woman but Mum had refused, saying that I deserved to have the autonomy to choose the direction of my career, and had decided to take care of me alone despite her crazy work hours and everything.

Wiping the salty water with the back of my palm, I pulled a seat beside Mum and hugged her.

"Mum I am sorry, I truly am." I mumble into her shoulder, "It's just that the last year has been mentally exhausting for. You were busy with work at the hospital and I didn't think I needed to annoy you with my crap. Although I have a lot of fast friends in school, I haven't been that close with anyone after Izzy. I was starting to get lonely and....I don't know."

"And what about the Harpers' boy?" Mum asked quietly, the anger emanating from her had considerably reduced now, "What's your excuse for bloodying his face?"

I pull away and hide my face in my palms, wiping my tears hastily before straightening up.

"It was a mistake, I swear!" I shake my head, "I was already running a temper and Brett just wouldn't get the hint that I wanted to be left alone. And then he tried kissing me when I didn't want to so I just exploded, I think."

"Oh my God, sweetheart?!" Mum exclaims, "Are you all right?"

I flash a smile at her, "Yep. But I feel like it's kinda my fault. I think I've been leading him on for some time now and..."

"That doesn't matter." Mum cuts me off, "In any situation, consent is what matters the most."

"Ok."

I untangle myself from my mother's embrace and make my way to the refrigerator. I take out a tub of mint and chocolate chip ice cream and grab two spoons from the kitchen cabinet drawer. It's clear that Mum has no plans of going back to the hospital for the next few hours at the very least.

Everything has been so awfully tense, since we returned home and I don't like it. I want to have a few hours of fun, just Mum and I, before we have to dive back into our responsibilities.

I needed to salvage my school file before it was too late. I couldn't afford to let my stupid series of mindless detentions get in the way of going to a good university. But that could wait until tomorrow.

While I'd been lost in my muddle of thoughts, Mum had taken out her phone and was already deep in conversation with whoever ws on the receiving end.

"I'll send her day after tomorrow then." Mum nods as she speaks with the phone pressed to her left ear, "Yes, that would be great."

I squint my eyes in an attempt to figure out who she talking to although the squinting does nothing to enhance my hearing capacity.

"Thank you so much Martin, I'll have her ready by nine. Yes, bye."

Martin? Wait, that's Dad's name. Was that Dad she was talking to right now?

"Who are you sending and where?" I ask, eyebrow raised out of suspicion.

"You, of course." Mum chuckles lightly, relief painted over her features.

My jaw drops.

"What?" I shout in surprise, "No you can't fucking do this!"

"Language, Ariya!" Mum exclaims condescendingly. I shake my head.

My ice cream sits forgotten in front of me, it's beginning to form a melted goo in its box.

"I messed up once!" I assert holding up one ringer, my voice sounding squeaky because of the weird ball of emotion forming inside my throat, "And you're just going to send me away? That's not fair."

"Ariya..."

"No, hear me out first." I interrupt, "He's going to make me wake up at five every morning and make me do burpees and planks. I could have managed pilates to some extent but now you're just heartlessly sending me to a slow death. And the food at the army base is tasteless. Imagine living on cabbage soup all the time. I need a moment to empty out my lacrimal glands."

"Gosh! Shut up Ariya!" Mum flicks my shoulder, "You are not going to the base so you can calm down. And I'm not kicking you out because you got a couple of detentions."

"Right." I scoffed, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"I figured you needed a change of environment to clear your head before you go to university next year, and some time with your father would be nice." She clarifies, "Besides he called me last week asking for you. He's taking a break from overseas peacekeeping service and is going to be staying near the base near the coast for a few months. I was going to refuse his offer of having you go down there for the next few months but now I think it's a wonderful opportunity."

I stare at my mother, utterly dumbfounded. Did she seriously think that switching schools one month into senior year was as simple as changing tampons?

"And I have no say in this?"

"I'd say this is your best option at the moment, sweety." Mum pulls her mouth into a thin lipped smile, "It's a win-win situation. You get a new start and your father gets to spend his break with you. Weren't you complaining about not having seen him for months just last week?"

"But..." I start skeptically.

"Stop overthinking this Ariya!" she says exasperatedly, getting up from her chair and slinging her stethoscope around her neck, "You will go stay with your father, and you need to start packing now. I already dropped a hint about this arrangement to your headmaster so you don't need to worry about that either. Now shoo! Patrick just called me in for an emergency."

I gurgled something incoherent in response as she rushed towards her car and sped off.

I was no longer in the mood for ice cream. The gooey mess could go fuck itself for all I cared.

•><•

Ok so this was kind of a filler chapter before diving into the main plot. Do you want me to publish the next chapter tomorrow?

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