The air felt tight and suffocating in the back seat of the black sedan currently occupied by Samantha and her mother.
She dared not breathe. It would only upset her mother more.
"2 weeks! I thought things were finally going to change when you stayed out of trouble for two whole weeks! I thought you managed to grow up at last. I can't believe you, young lady!" Her mother screamed, adding to the long list of vocal rebuke that she had been voicing since she picked up Samantha from school a half hour ago.
Samantha kept quiet. There was no point in talking back, and neither did she want to.
"Aren't you going to say something?" Her mom finally snapped when she realised she wouldn't be getting any reaction from the teenager in the back seat.
"Something like what, mom? Do you want me to say I'm sorry? Because I'm not and I won't. They picked on me first, but how is it that everyone is on their side?" Samantha was starting to feel irritated as well.
"This isn't about sides Sam, it's about owning up and taking responsibility for your actions!"
"Whatever," Samantha mumbled under her breath. "I didn't even do anything that serious,"
"You put a 6-foot boy in the hospital by fracturing his knee, and then you proceeded to puncture his jacket for God knows whatever reason!. How is that not serious?"
"In retrospect, I could have done a lot worse. He had it coming. "
"Stop it this instant! I don't care what you think he did that made him deserving of such "punishment" as you put it, but you WILL apologise to him and his parents, and that's final!"
"Actually, I won't be doing that." Smanthat uttered simply. ! Almost like it was a normal thing to defy the order of your parent. Or like it wasn't her mom she was talking to, and she was just discussing with a fellow peer.
"Excuse me?!" Her mother was near exploding now.
"I won't apologise. And frankly, I'm really upset that you're brushing aside my feelings and importance because you want 'peace'. It's not a cool move. He and his friends bothered me for days, and no one batted an eye! But suddenly, because he got a small taste of his own medicine, I'm the villain? Make it make sense, mom!
This is exactly why we never agree on anything, because you don't care!"
Samantha hadn't expected to rage so much, but tue whole situation left her feeling miffed. Even her own mother didn't support her. Unbelievable!
"Look, honey. It's not that I don't care. It's just that you have a reputation for being the problem. As painful as it is, it's the truth. You can't expect me to support you just because you're my daughter even when the evidence is glaringly against you. It's basic common sense."
Samantha was speechless. She had expected too much.
"What part of 'they bothered me first' is so difficult for everyone to understand? I'm not a crazy person who attacks people for no reason, and besides, only one of them was injured. Why are they all annoyed?"
"Don't even get me started on the poor boy's injury. How on earth did you manage to flip a 6-foot male? You're barely 5'7!"
"I'm special. Also, I may or may not have been fueled by wicked adrenaline, " Samantha replied smoothly. It was obvious she took pride in her little show of strength.
"Okay, then if it was just a flip, how did he manage to get a fractured knee?" Her mother inquired, knowing quite well that her daughter would not just do things halfway.
"I may or may not have stepped on his knee, and given it a little nudge.....repeatedly"
Her mother's sigh rang through the air-conditioned vehicle.
"I knew it. I raised a gangster. "
Samantha rolled her eyes. Her mother tended to be dramatic. It wasn't all that bad, but everybody seemed to be making a big deal out of nothing.
At least she would have a little peace at school if the day's events were anything to go by. She doubted anyone in the right state of mind would bother her after this.
"Worth it," she whispered lowly to herself before turning towards the window to watch the ridiculously tall trees whizz by. She closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for the next round of ear grating that would come from her father when she got home.
"Lord, help me"