Teenage Antichrist Book Two: A Journey of a Brother's Hatred 1990 - 1991

Chapter Forty: The Tough Singing Teacher

Michelle had no hand in choosing her singing teacher. That was left entirely to Mrs. Slater. She assumed her mother was going to select someone cheap but that didn't prove to be the case. As Mrs. Slater drove towards her new singing teacher's house that day she was very serious.

"I asked around and I've been told that Ms. Mathis is the teacher with the best reputation," Mrs. Slater said.

"You mean she's really nice?" Michelle asked hopefully.

She really wanted to sing but the last thing she wanted was to be dealing with a bitch. Mrs. Slater sighed at her daughter's naively hopeful question because she wanted her to be mature about it.

"I don't know how nice she is if she's nice at all," Mrs. Slater said. "What you need to do is pay attention to what she says so she can get the best out of you,"

Michelle didn't like the sound of that but she knew it wouldn't be smart to argue with her mother.

"Yes, mum," she said.

Mrs. Slater drove down two more streets until they arrived at Ms. Mathis' house. It was a typical suburban house and Michelle wasn't impressed because she thought Ms. Mathis would have lived in a house that was bigger and more impressive. Mrs. Slater unfastened her seatbelt and opened her door while Michelle just sat there looking at the house.

"Michelle, are you getting out or not?" Mrs. Slater asked impatiently.

Michelle answered her question by unfastening her seatbelt and getting out of the car. As they walked towards the front door Michelle thought Ms. Mathis would have been waiting out the front to greet them. Mrs. Slater didn't take that into consideration as she rang the front doorbell. A moment later Ms. Mathis opened the front and Michelle found her to be intimidating straight away.

"Yes?" Ms. Mathis asked.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Slater," Mrs. Slater replied. "We spoke on the phone. I made an appointment for my daughter to take singing lessons with you,"

"Of course," Ms. Mathis said.

"Hi, I'm Michelle," Michelle said nervously.

She instantly felt like an idiot for saying that but she couldn't think of what else to say. Ms. Mathis looked at her and sized her up for exactly what she was. A teenage girl with naively big dreams of fame and fortune.

"Hello, Michelle," Ms. Mathis said as politely as she could.

"So I'll be back in one hour," Mrs. Slater said to Ms. Mathis before she turned her attention to Michelle. "Behave yourself now,"

Michelle was embarrassed that her mother was talking down to her like a little kid in front of someone she didn't even know.

"Of course I'm going to behave," Michelle said trying not to sound defensive.

It was obvious that she was defensive and trying to hide it. With the way she knew her daughter, she wondered if Ms. Mathis was going to welcome her back next week.

"Okay," Mrs. Slater said. "I'll be back in an hour,"

"I'll do the best I can with your daughter," Ms. Mathis said.

"Thank you,"

As Mrs. Slater turned around and walked away Michelle was relieved. That was until Ms. Mathis cleared her throat which she found to be unnerving.

"Come inside," Ms. Mathis said.

She opened the door and walked in but didn't hold the door open for Michelle. For her that wasn't a good sign. So she opened the door and walked in the lounge room where Ms. Mathis was waiting for her.