Mia pulled back her dark blonde hair, wincing at the tight pinch of her tugging.
Today was the day she was going back home. Back to that small, little town, she had been missing for eleven years. She was never meant to live in the city, but until now, she was under her mother's thumb, who primed and polished her into the woman of her imagines.
Her chest tightened. She loved her mother, truly, but she never accepted her wild side, a side she sadly only shared with her friends. She craved for space, somewhere to run and explore.
Maybe she can explore the woods when she arrived.
Mia has been waiting for her eighteenth birthday ever since her mother had dragged her to the city. She had gotten her driver's license at the age of sixteen and had scored a job just a few days after, already having gathered some spare cash from little jobs she did throughout the years.
She was ready to leave the 24/7 hustle and bustle of the city and ready to welcome the calm, silent hours of her forever-missed small town.
She looked around her room, her hands on her hips as she surveyed the barren room she had called her own for eleven years. She would miss this, even if slightly.
Sadly, she didnt have any memories to reminisce about.
Her mother never let her friends into the apartment, she never let her go to parties, she never let boys anywhere close to her room.
"Proper ladies do not allow lower beings into their home."
All she cared for was Mia's change.
Mia sighed. Staring towards the door, she was more than ready to exit the suffocating room and head out onto the dirt roads of her hometown.
The only problem was her mother.
Her mother never talked about her hometown. She never talked about her father. Whenever Mia brought up the old home, she would snap and howl her displeasure, throwing herself into a fit and ordering her to never speak of that place again.
"Proper ladies never ask questions."
Mia scoffed. It was times like that when she would wonder how she was her mother. She and her were nothing alike. Because of her fits, Mia never told her mother about her plans of moving back home.
Until today.
Mia huffed. She was going to throw a fit, but nothing she said would ever make her change her mind.
Mia walked from the room, noticing the time. It was nearly time for lunch.
"Proper ladies are never late."
Another scoff. Her years of nagging have finally come to an end. Today, she would have one more lunch with her mother, and then she would be gone.
She stepped into the kitchen, nodding her head in greeting to her mother, who was already at the table.
"Hello, mother." She said politely, taking her place at the only other seat.
Her mother looked up, her heart-shaped face covered in wrinkles, her hair streaking grey, her lips pulled into a tight frown, as tight as the bun on her head.
"You are late dear." She said simply, taking a disapproving sip of her tea.
"I was right on time mother, you were just early." Mia hummed calmly.
Her mother huffed.
"A proper lady is always early, no matter the occasion."
Mia's hand curled into a fist, already her temper flaring. 'A proper lady this', 'A proper lady that'! That is all she thinks about!
"I'm sorry mother." She hummed, her tone turning sharp.
Her mother huffed again, pinching a roll of sushi between her chopsticks. Mia poked her salad with the appropriate fork, popping it into her mouth, keeping her posture straight, her face passive. She'll tell her when lunch is over.
Lunch passed silently, awkwardly, as every meal had for the last eleven years. Finally, no more awkward lunches, no more disappointed side glances.
"I don't like those friends of yours, Mia."
She sighed. Here we go again.
"Why is that?"
Her mother snorted.
"Those ridiculous, horrible excuses of humans are below us, you should be spending your precious time with people worthy of your stature, not those wastes of space. Who don't you spend time with those nice people I introduced you to?"
Her fist curled tighter. Those pompous, slimy worms she called 'nice' were worse than her.
"Because those 'people' as you called them, are not my type of people." She explained simply.
Her mother tutted.
"And my friends are good people." She continued, reigning in her temper. "They are more worthy of my time than the ones you introduced."
"Good people or not, I dont want my daughter playing with mud. A proper lady sticks to her kind." Her mother huffed.
Mia bit her tongue to choke back the words clawing at her lips.
"Anyway, one of my close friends has a son your age, a very good-looking man, I want you to meet him."
Mia grit her teeth. Now or never.
"No, I won't." She stated, placing her forks onto her plate.
Her mother paused, her fingers brushing the handle of her teacup. Slowly, they curled around the fragile glass.
"What do you mean 'no'?" She hummed, raising the cup to her lips.
"Because I'm moving back home."
The cup shattered against the table, translucent liquid splashing against the expensive carpet. Her mother's eyes bulged wide, her fair skin pale.
Mia gathered her plate, heading towards the sink.
"I'm done living under your control, and I hate it here. I am moving back to where I was born." She placed the plate into the sink. "I'm moving back to the home that you took me away from."
She walked past her frozen mother, twisting the knob to the front door.
"Goodbye, mother." She said, slipping past the door.
She rushed down the stairs, hoping to get outside before her mother regains her senses. The slamming of her door and her shrill voice said otherwise. She had reached the lobby when her mother caught up, the large room surprisingly empty save for the receptionist.
"Mia Jane Forest!!" Her mother screamed. "Get back here now!!" She stomped over, grabbing Mia by the arm. "I forbid you to go back to that rachid place!!"
Mia pulled away her arm.
"I am eighteen mother, I am legally an adult, you have no right to order me around anymore."
"I am your mother and guardian!! I will do as I please!" Her tone softened, fake with sweetness. "Come back upstairs dear, your father will not want this--"
"Liar!!" Mia snapped. "Father will be ecstatic that I finally left! Besides, you couldn't give less of a care of what dad wants! All eleven years I lived under your thumb, you never once suggested visiting!"
"Because he is a weak man!" Her mother snapped, her eyes hardening. "He was pathetic! When I brought up the divorce, he agreed willingly!"
"Probably because he wanted to get away from your pompous self!!"
The room echoed into silence, Mia panting after her first outburst in years. A bead of pride swelled in her chest at her mother's shocked expression.
"Nothing you say is going to change my mind mother. I will leave, and go back to where I truly belong," She fixed her with a hard glare. "Away from you."
Mia turned on her heel, storming to the exit, sending a small apology glance to the receptionist, who only shook her head.
"Please Mia," Her mother whimpered behind her. Mia rolled her eyes, now she resorted to begging. "Please stay, I'll be better, just meet this man."
Mia placed her hand on the knob.
"Goodbye, mother."
With that, she twisted the knob, walking free for the first time in years.