Our Differences

Chapter 9

Felicity's POV

I was so sick of Chloe I could puke. Seriously, I thought I had done a good thing by promising to keep her secret a secret even after all those times when she was so mean to me. 

"She's just too stuck-up. No amount of sense would ever get into that thick skull of hers." I muttered under my breath while walking home from school after a horrible school day. 

Actually, horrible is an understatement. It's been a terribly horrible day. I looked stupid, disgusting and awful (and I forgot to bring an extra shirt just when I needed it the most), the entire school laughed at me and I got yelled at by the teacher in front of my entire class for smelling like chicken soup and marinara sauce. Not to mention I got an B for my portrait in art class. And I bet that's just the beginning.

I entered my home and dashed straight to the bathroom without wondering where my mom was because I didn't see her. But I shooed the thought away for a little while as I grabbed a plain white T-shirt and black high-waist jeans from my wardrobe. I had to take a bath ASAP. I just couldn't bear the food stains on my clothes or the smell of my recess food clinging onto me like superglue. 

After a nice, hot shower, I finally went to search for mom. At this time, she should be in the kitchen but I didn't see her. 

I noticed a note on the kitchen counter. It read: Off for an appointment. You gotta cook for yourself. If you want to eat  leftovers, they're in the fridge (pretty obvious one, aye?). Love ya, bye. -Mom

I didn't want to eat last night's leftovers so I cooked myself some ramen. I was actually really glad mom wasn't home yet. That'll give me time to burn up my art paper with the B on it. Just kidding. But I will find a way to dispose it. I'll probably just snip it up into tiny bits and then throw them away. Easy. But it didn't quite work out. 

After lunch and cleaning up, I headed upstairs to put my plan into action. However, just as I was about to climb the first step, the lock on the front door clicked open and mom appeared in the doorway. 

"Oh, hello, dear." Mom greeted cheerfully. 

"H-Hi, mom," I greeted back with a fake smile on my face. "What a surprise. I didn't expect you to return home so soon." 

"Me neither," mom said, hanging her coat on a hook. "But the appointment went faster than expected." 

"Well, that's great. I got to go do my homework. Got to stay productive, you know what I mean? Catch ya later. Bye!" I scurried up the stairs and made my way into my bedroom.

I emptied all the contents of my bag onto my bed. I found my paper and snatched it up. I was looking for my scissors when my bedroom door opened. 

"Hey there, sweetie," mom said. "I just-" Her eyes caught sight of the paper in my hand and the enormous B written on it. 

She folded her arms and eyed the paper. "What's that?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"N-nothing...." I said lamely. 

"Let me see that." Mom commanded. I handed her the paper as slowly as I could. 

She snatched the paper from my hand and examined it carefully. Her dark black eyes stare right into mine.

"Explain yourself." She said, pointing at the B. 

"Okay, so I may have messed up a little...." I admitted. 

"A little?!" she exclaimed. 

"Okay, fine. A lot. But it's just a B. I'm only 9 marks away from an A. It's not that bad." 

"I expect better than this," mom said. "You could have at least gotten an A-. If you think 9 marks makes so little difference, then why can't you get them? I'm disappointed in you, Felicity. You'd better get me that A next time. You're lucky I'm in a good mood today. But you're not going off the hook. You have to do the laundry and wash my car. I could give you more but I'll go easy on you. You have to step up your game, honey." And with that, she left. I finished my homework and set to work doing the laundry.

Mom's car wasn't too dirty (and thank God for that) so I managed to finish cleaning it in, like, 10 minutes. I wrote a my story some more, expressing myself through it. It really got off my chest and I felt just a wee bit better. 

During dinner, we all sat together and ate as usual. At night, I pondered a little more about what happened earlier that day. Everyone had laughed at me, Chloe had betrayed me and the day had been downright awful. That was when I heard loud voices again. 

Oh no.... I thought. 

"You're becoming so harsh on our daughter!" I heard dad shout. "She's already doing the best she can!" 

"SHUT UP!!" Mom yelled. 

"I will not shut up!" dad yelled back. "I'm just doing what's best for our family. And that means putting my foot down for those who can't or won't." 

"And I'm doing what's best for us too!" Mom argued. "I'm pushing Felicity so that she'll be successful in the future. Isn't that what you want, Mr. Bloom?!"

 "Everyone has their limits! You should know Felicity's!"

 "Whatever I expect of her isn't even near to the things she can do! That girl has potential and I want to bring them all out for the world to see!" 

"Look, I've had enough. We can't keep fighting forever." Dad finally said. 

"Well I can," mom said. "I will not let my guard down." 

"That's enough!" Dad bellowed. Dad had never been so fierce or so loud before. I nearly fell off my bed. A short silence followed. 

"A-alright...." mom finally gave in. "Let's go to sleep...." Then I heard the sound of a light switch going off and that was it. 

I fell asleep too after soaking my pillow with tears. 

Why must this always happen? I thought sadly as I cried myself to sleep.