"How long are you going to keep talking about it?" Maya asked, annoyed with her mother. "Honestly, the topic has gone stale for me. I'm so fed up with you always bringing it up."

"Watch your tone, young lady," her mother said sternly. "I will talk about it for as long as it takes for you to listen."

Maya took a deep breath and said, "Mom, my grades are fine. Yes, I won't be valedictorian but I'm also not going to fail at anything. I might get some Cs, but it's not the end of the world."

"Oh, you think this is about your grades?" Her mother said, throwing up her hands. "We don't care about that. You will never be a topper and that's fine. I'm just worried about other things."

"What other things?" Maya asked, calming down a little. She had felt attacked when her mother brought up her choice of clothes, once again. She liked to stay up to date on fashion. She was girlie and owned it. Constant criticism from her mother was doing nothing for her self-esteem. "I just assumed that you were worried about my grades."

"Well," her mother said cautiously, "I think that your overall attitude is a problem." She knew how temperamental Maya was.

"My what?!" Maya didn't even know how to respond to that. This was worse than she thought. Her mother didn't understand her at all.

"You know," she said, looking at Maya. "If you spend a little less time with your friends and a little more time at home then you might see things differently."

"Now you don't like friends? I can't believe this."

"Look," her mother said, gesturing with her hands for Maya to stay calm. "I like Sarosh and Sarah. They are good girls. I just don't like that you are always out. You stay late at school, you are always finding excuses to stay at their places, or inviting them over. This isn't healthy. You should have other hobbies."

"Why does it matter?" Maya still didn't understand her mother's point of view and wondered where this was coming from.

"Anyway," her mother said, "we have decided that you should stay with your grandparents for the summer vacation. Change of scenery will do you some good."

"Do I get a say in this?" Maya asked, knowing the answer already.

"No, you should pack. Your flight is next week." With that her mother left the kitchen, considering the discussion over.

Maya was left sitting on the dining table with her very dark thoughts. It was just like her parents to spring something like this on her and not give her a choice. More than that, what hurt was the fact that she had used her friends as an excuse. Even though she knew that her friends were not the trouble makers.

Sarosh was the most intelligent person she knew. She was the topper of their class. She was a goody-goody teacher's pet. Every adult loved her. Sarah was even better. She was kind, an average student, but she was good at keeping them out of trouble.

Maya loved her friends, but that wasn't the only reason why she liked spending so much time with them. The fact of the matter was that she hated being at home. Her parents were always fighting with each other. If not then they were finding faults with her. It could get depressing. Instead of shutting herself in her room, she liked to go out with her friends. That way she wouldn't have to listen to them all the time.

Later that night, she called Sarosh and Sarah to let them know that their summer plans were a no-go since she wouldn't be in town. They understood and tried to cheer her up, pointing out all the amazing things about visiting grandparents. Obviously, they didn't know hers.