Sculpted

Future (O)

I came home to a cake. Unexpected? Most definitely. Was something up? Of course there was. Mæ always had something up her sleeve. I just finished tennis practice, sweaty and exhausted. My phone was ringing as I threw my tennis bag into the trunk of my Mini Cooper (ocean green and a beige interior, absolutely gorgeous). I picked up, juggling my water and my phone as I tried to open the door.

“Mæ?”

“Livvy, how was practice?”

“Pretty good,” I replied as I finally managed to get the door and got inside my car.

“Well, come home quickly. There’s a letter for you,” Mæ excitedly said. I bit back a sigh. It was probably the writing contest results I had submitted a few weeks ago. Or was it the acceptance letter to the holiday camp for robotics at Yale?

“Okay Mæ, I’m coming,” I told her, starting the car.

“Oh, and also, I was talking to your Chinese teacher, Wang Laoshī, and she told me that you’ve been struggling with the tones for Unit 72-”

“Mæ, we can talk about it once I get home, okay?” I sighed.

“Okay. God, I’m only trying to help,” Mæ laughed gently.

“I know,” I sighed.

“Oh, Jason’s calling me. I’ll see you at home, okay, Livvy?” Jason was Mæ's assistant at her firm.

“Bye, Mæ.”

I started the car, slightly pissed off at my mom. She was second-generation Asian American, a successful lawyer and had a few published books. And she was simply one of the most stereotypical Asian moms out there. Ever since I could remember, my schedule was packed with Mandarin lessons because my mom said that Chinese would be important later in the future; tennis lessons because my mom said that I would be captain of the varsity team in high school like her; cello lessons since I was three, so I could make chamber orchestra in high school as a freshman. Thousands and thousands of hours of my childhood were strictly for my future success because of my controlling mom. That's probably why Dad left.

I got home a few minutes later, parking in front of our traditional home next to Mæ's Porsche. I unlocked the door and walked inside after taking off my shoes.

"Mæ?" I called out. I turned the corner to see Mæ in the kitchen, wearing a business suit and fluffy blue slippers. She turned, beaming and holding a small cake.

"Congratulations, Livvy!"

"What did I do?" I laughed nervously.

Mæ laughed, her eyes full of tears. What the heck was going on? "There's a letter for you." She pointed to a crisp letter on the counter. I strolled over, my heart pounding. It was from Stanford.

"We are pleased to say that you have been accepted into Stanford University- Mæ what-?" I stammered.

"They accepted you! Isn't that amazing? And sweetheart, you're only a junior, oh my God this is-this is- Livvy is everything okay?" Mæ asked, stopping to look at me.

A tsunami of emotions was coursing through me as I tried to wrap my head around everything. Stanford meant leaving my friends and starting a life of more rigorous academic classes, more stress, being expected to be more perfect than I already was.

"Mæ, I-I'm not okay with this," I looked at her. She seemed taken aback.

"Livvy? What do you mean? This is a life-changing opportunity-"

"I don't want to go to Stanford, Mom!" I shouted. Tears prickled my eyes. "I want to be normal, I don't want to have to take six AP classes a day without sleeping and relaxing and just hanging around doing nothing! I don't want to take cello classes, stupid Mandarin lessons when we're not even Chinese- we're freaking Thai! I HATE robotics, I have ZERO passion for AP Stats, and I don't even want to be a doctor! You want me to be a doctor!"

Mæ looked at me, her eyes widening in shock. "Livvy, how could you say that?"

"All my life I have been expected to be the perfect A+ student; the good Asian-American kid, competing against everyone else to be the best at everything," I furiously said.

"Livvy, no. Do you know how difficult it was for me when I was in school? Do you know how many things I had to sacrifice to provide a good education for you?" Mæ shouted.

"Stop guilt-tripping me, Mæ!" I screamed back at her, tears flowing freely. "I want to live my life, not resent it!"

"And I'm trying to do what is best for you, Olivia! Can't you see that if you go to Stanford and become a doctor-"

"I. DON'T. WANT. TO. BE. A. DOCTOR!"

I shook my head and grabbed my car keys.

"Oliva, where do you think you're going? Olivia!" Mæ angrily called. "Olivia!"

I opened the door, hopped into my car and began reversing. Mæ hurriedly followed me, getting into her Porsche.

"Stop following me!" I rolled down the window and called out to her. Mæ ignored me and began to reverse after me. I rolled into the street and slammed on the gas pedal. Mæ followed me, driving quickly behind me. The sun was beginning to set. I raced out of the neighborhood and entered a main intersection. The light was red. Mæ was calling me. The light turned green. I pressed on the gas pedal, heading into the intersection. I checked my mirrors and then a car ran the red light. Mæ's Porsche got hit, spinning out of control, crashing into mine. I screamed as the airbag exploded, my head hitting something and then everything went black.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading the first chapter of Sculpted! I hope you enjoyed the read and look forward to the next chapter!