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“It wasn't a question, Kendra.”

Luckily, she couldn't see the grimace I was making at the moment. Which even caught the attention of some people who walked by me, but I didn't care.

“Mom, I train and study. Do you want a daughter with no future?”

“It's the weekend, youdrama queen. Besides, I already bought your and Colleen's ticket.” I wanted to scream. I wanted to throw the cell phone on the grass. But I ended up not doing any of that.

“That's great, mom, always so practical...”practical, I wanted to laugh. She wasn't practical, she was just fucking controlling.

“See you next week, Kendra, darling. Let Colleen know about it. I will send you flight information via message.”What if I just didn’t go?, I thought, but like a powerful entity, my mother added: “And don’t even think about not coming, unless you want to be transferred from this shitty university to a decent university.” Decent, in free translation: Ivy League.

I took in as much air as possible before exhaling and answering my mother: “Okay, mommy… I can't wait to see you.”

She didn't respond. She knew I was making fun of her, so she just hung up on me. God, how I hated her sometimes. She was always hovering over me, demanding me, surrounding me. It was suffocating.

I put my cell phone away and threw away the lollipop stick before heading into the gym for the day's workout. I walked through the doors and found most of my teammates already warming up and stretching. I left the bag on the floor and tied my blonde hair into a high ponytail, walking over to Sidney and Veronica. The two seemed to have started a lively conversation, so I just sat in silence, I didn't want to disturb them.

“Hey, Ken!” Sid was all happy that morning. “How were the classes?”

“Boring as usual...” I stretched my legs and pushed my torso forward, in order to hold the tips of my feet. “Learning state history in college is outrageous, but it is a mandatory subject. There isn't much to do.”

“I hate this class!” Veronica almost screamed as her forehead touched the floor and she grabbed her heels with her legs spread wide apart. “It's the worst!” And it really was, that was pure torture. “And my teacher is a lady who speaks very slowly andcalmly. I have to fight against sleep. Not to mention, it’s useless in my opinion.” Veronica added: “But worse than that, just programming. I swear, I want to kill myself every day that I have to see that sequence of numbers and letters that make zero sense to me.”

“Aren't you guys taking any good classes this semester?” Sid asked, curious. “I love art history and philosophy, as well as contemporary literature.”

“Contemporary literature?” I looked at her. “I didn't even know that existed. I mean, like a college subject.”

“I refuse to read any more classics with racism, xenophobia, homophobia or misogyny. I don't know, there are so many good books these days, it's unfair that we don't discuss them too.” My friend had an excellent point. I was never a big fan of literature, it was easier for me to get along with mathematics or physics than with literary books, so I never read them. And when I had some quiz about a book, all I had to do was watch someone else's summary or a very faithful film adaptation. It was the most I did about this segment of subjects at school. Was it wrong? Maybe, but I didn't care at that point.

We finished warming up and then Karlee started calling some people and asking them to perform what she requested. The rest of us just watched, talking quietly or getting bored.

“Hey...” Veronica came over and sat next to me, leaving her legs crossed. “I don't know where we are in our relationship...”

I interrupted her.

“We're fine, aren't we?!”

The open lips moved upwards minimally.

“Yes, we are..., but this isn't about the two of us.”

I grimaced and turned my attention forward.

“And is there anything more important to talk about?” I mocked.

Veronica looked at me for a moment, in silence, and then I realized the possible second interpretation of the sentence. I felt my cheeks wanting to catch fire, but she didn't pay attention to that detail.

“Ha-ha. Pay attention, Kendra!” Her fingers touched the exposed skin of my arm, forcing me to look at her again.

The short, unpainted nails brushed lightly there and a shiver came over me, but I tried to hide it as best I could. I hugged my own knee and rested my head on the top, facing her.

“What?”

“I think we need to get Derek and Colleen together.”

I laughed weakly.

“Yeah… no…”