It wasn't even a question. He just said it. As a completely unquestionable fact."I don't care about your wise advice in life," I snapped at him, still feeling cornered.He visibly tensed. "Of course not," he confirmed, stepping away from me.I could finally breathe.At that moment, I heard Chad behind me. "Dad, wouldn't you like to come to our rehearsal today with June?  I need to fine-tune the playlist a bit, and it's been a hell of a long time since you've seen us play. I promise we've improved a lot, "he said with a chuckle. In the meantime, he walked in front of me and gave me a bright smile. "Then we could go for a beer." His tone was sincere, and I believed the offer was well-intentioned. We didn't talk for a long time—with him and the rest of the band.But I had a desire to die at the thought. And the taste definitely grew stronger as Ollie grinned in annoyance.June, on the other hand, looked like an enthusiastic dog just waiting for me to nod.I might survive one night, right? And even if I go to that concert tomorrow, I wouldn't have to meet Ollie at all. I'll just go straight to the boiler, and that's it.Plus, I was really curious about how they actually played after that time. I've always liked their music. The boys controlled their instruments precisely, and Ollie's voice was simply

Okay, that's enough.I sighed and nodded. "Oh yeah.  I'll come. " As soon as I let the words out of my mouth, I felt like I was making a mistake. Cardinal error.But June shone like a smaller sun, and she immediately told me she would pick me up at six. There was no going back. 

I stood in the bathroom, staring in the mirror at my reflection. Neither he nor I felt like what was to come today. I felt torn inwardly while he looked so outward. The long black hair, pulled down in a ponytail, already needed a fresh bottom. In each ear is a silver tunnel; the left is decorated with three more surgical steel earrings. He had ugly dark circles under his brown eyes, and the scar under his left eyebrow seemed even brighter white than ever. He wasn't ready for it. Neither he nor II let the cold water run in the sink and waited a while for it to be icy. I then rinsed my face several times. It was like a freezing slap that didn't work for me anyway.But it was worth a try.I dried myself, glanced at the mirror again, and tried to smile.My facial muscles contracted, and my reflection looked like he was having kidney colic. Oh great.I removed the strange grin from my face and left the bathroom. I returned to the room, ignored the general mess, and headed for my backpack. At that moment, I noticed that I had forgotten to turn off the computer. Damn.  I've probably been late now, but I'd rather spend a lot of time checking out and waiting for the store to shut down. I didn't need my mom rummaging through this until I got home.With a backpack thrown over one shoulder, I then flew out of the room and ran down the stairs to the ground floor. Mom was sitting by the kitchen island, which was the imaginary boundary between the kitchen and the living room. Her short black hair was trimmed into a mikada, which was shorter at the back and longer at the front; her hazel eyes gleamed strangely; and her red nails tapped into the worktop completely out of rhythm. She looked good. But maybe it was just that she applied more makeup than usual.

 "Hello, Mom!" I yelled at her, about to disappear into Bond's. "Ollie!" Her cry stopped me. She got up from her coffee and gave me a stern look that mixed a lot of things I didn't want to understand at the moment.I stopped, took a breath, and waited.Mom folded her arms across her chest, as if she needed to hold them together somehow. "Don't forget to visit the counsellor, as the headmistress recommended.""Does it really have to be today?" I snapped at her, quite annoyed.Now the phrase 'I want to be a good mom, but I know it's too late" appeared on her face. "She really has to.  You know that was one of the conditions for your admission to Discovery. "Discovery High School was an average public school and was suitable for me for two reasons. Reason number one: She didn't cost my mom a penny, and that was good because she couldn't afford more. Reason number two: They didn't want to take me anywhere else.