The Struggles of Growing Up-Completed

Chapter 12

At the end of the day, and when Im already fed up, Markson takes me home.

"Hello?" I say as I open the door. I had almost forgotten that theres still one more issue at hand.

Maia appears out of the kitchen. I set my things down on the couch.

"Have you eaten?" I ask. She shakes her head, not speaking. Half of me thinks she's putting on a guilty girl show to cool me down and the other half thinks she's acting genuine right now. I give her the benefit of the doubt, and I try to look normal, but I'm still drained from the day's work.

"Look", I start, sitting down, "I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday. I'm trying not to crack, although I think I already did, but my circumstances aren't exactly normal, and it gets to me." She sits down on the other couch, and I notice that she took off her makeup, and has her wavy hair in a pony tail, exposing her natural face. She looks her age now, and looks way prettier. She isn't wearing all black.Granted, she's wearing black shorts and a gray shirt, but it's a substantial change from her previous wardrobe.

"I'm going through stuff too you know." She mutters, and I get a glimpse of "Mave".

"Like what?" I ask, actually interested. Could this be the first time she actually opens up? Besides, I really want to know the cause of the transition from Maia to Mave.

"You know my parents got a divorce last year, right?"

"No, I didn't."

"My mom doesn't even have time for me anymore. She got the house, the car, lots of money from the divorce, me, but she doesn't really want to take care of me. I was a mistake. She could never admit it, but I could tell, my parents got married three months before I was born. I knew she always wanted tp be a career woman anyway." She says bitterly, I don't say anything. She pauses as if waiting for me to say something though.

She continues. "I want to be an artist, but she doesn't believe in me. She just doesn't, she keeps pushing me for a career in medicine, like you wanted. You want to know so badly why I became "Mave"? I figured, if she won't accept Maia, then Mave won't be a difference. I don't care that I made her mad." I purse my lips. I see some typical teenage anger/resentment, but I see a lot of similarities between us that I've never seen before now. She literally had to peel Mave off for me to see Maia's not so bad, that she and I are similar.

Heck, if anyone knows what it means to have your mother not believe in you, to think you have to settle for something else, it's me.

"I know a similar feeling. You know, after I found out the arranged marriage wasn't really arranged, I confronted my mom about it. She told me to my face that she didn't think I could make it in college and go into engineering. She worried about me, and wanted me to marry Zach so I'd be taken care of. I felt so worthless then."

"And now?" I scoff.

"Now, sometimes I still think she was right. It's times like yesterday when I think I'm way in over my head, but then there's times like today where I feel like I'm top of the game. Either way I continue to work my ass off." I muse, thinking. I've never thought about the "now", I always seem to dwell on the past. Now thinking about it, I don't regret leaving Zach the first time at all. If I hadn't, I would be a house wife while Zach maintained the CEO position. I don't regret any of it, but I don't hold resentment anymore. I've clearly moved on.

She stays silent, either not understanding or not liking my answer. I continue, hoping I don't sound too didactic.

"Look, you can't hold resentment, it's a waste of time, but you can't give up either, you-you can't... give up who you are..." I say, trailing off in thought.