Redwood Crossing (girlxgirl, yuri)

Chapter 2: Heiress Apparent

Ellie Navarrete supposed it could've been worse.

Her mother could've actually killed her. She certainly looked like she was a split second away from doing so, what with her bulging eyes and spit spraying all over the place. The vein in her neck pulsed, her face tomato-red. She paused to suck in a deep breath before launching into what Ellie guessed would be another round of screaming at her.

"What's wrong with you?" Hilda had Sunflower's leash wound tightly around her fist. The dog in question was elsewhere, forbidden from being in the house. "I told you to never, ever go anywhere without her. What were you doing?"

"She was getting a haircut and I couldn't wait."

"Couldn't wait for what? It couldn't have been school because you weren't there."

"Yes, I was." Ellie reached for the easy lie. "Ask Zinnia. She'll back me up."

Unlike Ellie, Zinnia was pursuing secondary studies out of her own free will and interest. She was a sit-at-the-front-of-the-class-and-jot-down-every-word-the-teacher-said kind of girl, you know, just in case any of his ramblings proved useful.

Zinnia dreamed of going to a northern university, in a town twice as advanced as Stockbrunn. Ellie didn't see the point in dreaming of something that'd never happen. Zinnia wasn't going anywhere. Her family obligations kept her rooted to Stockbrunn.

Neither of them were ever going to be free enough to leave.

"I asked her. She told me that you haven't been to any of Guarin's lessons in weeks. Weeks, Ellie!!"

That traitor was too honest for her own good.

Ellie flinched. She needed a new game plan. "Okay, I haven't been going. I've been getting notes from her. I study them on my own time."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not!"

"You know what our agreement was. I'd give you space, all the space you'd need to grieve, and you'd study like you're supposed to." Hilda said. "I don't make you do any fieldwork. I don't make you join me for deliberations. I don't make you help the townspeople with their tasks. I'm not making you apprentice with anyone.

"And yet, you have the audacity to skip off into the woods instead of doing the one thing you told me you'd be able to do. You said you could handle it." Her voice, hoarse from all the yelling she'd been doing, dropped to a whisper. "No, it's not audacity that you have. It's stupidity. It was stupid of you to do what you did, and you know it."

"Who cares about Gaurin's lessons? They're for people who want to go to university. I made it through primary school." If knowing more than the basics was so important, then why wasn't secondary school compulsory?

"How are you supposed to correspond with other villages in Casterne if you can't read and write at an advanced level? How can you deal with village-to-village economics if you don't have a deeper understanding of history?"

"I can hire someone to do all that stuff for me," she said.

Hilda crossed her arms. She exhaled slowly. "What is it that you want me to do, Ellie? You've put me in a lose/lose situation here. If I give you space, you lie to me. If I pressure you, you get upset. What do you think I should do?"

This line-of-questioning had to be a trap. "Keep doing what you're doing? Give me more time." Ellie tried.

"No." Hilda said. "I've let you use her as an excuse for long enough."

"An excuse?!" Ellie's voice rose sharply. She stood up out of her chair, the legs streaking the floor. Standing up made her more conscious of how much her mother dwarfed her, in both size and demeanor.