I hate my mom SO much right now!

Here I am, stomping down Old Elk Grove streets, passing by shops that are barely visited because they're poorly located.

"Freakin' mom, being a freakin' monster!" I growled through my barred teeth, my throat sore from holding back tears. "Why is it so hard to understand!?"

I feel a vibration in my pocket, and I slide my hand into my pocket to grab my phone. It slips out of my hand, falling to the cruel concrete sidewalk.

"Shit!" I pick my phone up off the ground to inspect it, only to see a beautifully hideous gash across the screen. "Dammit! Freakin' phone has to be a fucktard!"

I slide my phone sideways so I could text whoever had texted me. A scowl crosses my already anger face as I read the words.

To: Mësha
From: Mother

Where r u im at starbucks but i dont see u

"I'm not to reply to you after that, bitch-face!" I grumble as I slide my phone back into my pocket, making sure not to get a cut from the glass screen.

Stupid mom doesn't realize that, yes, art is very important to me! I don't want to go shopping with her! I want to spend my Saturday with my laptop, browsing fanfictions and Deviantart!

I kick a small stone out of my path, watching it skid forward with delight. As I walk on, I make sure I continue to kick the stone as well.

"Kick a stone, fall of a throne, kingdom comb, the wars be-gone," I mumble to myself my new little poem, and I nearly dodge a cat as dashes through my legs.

"Gah!" I trip, and almost fall over when the cat turns around and leaps onto my leg, claws digging into my jeans and skin. "Get off! Get off!"

Did I mention I'm terrified of cats? Oh well, you know now...

I fall onto my butt as I struggle to peel the cat off my leg, while the cat itself was still clinging, and staring into my eyes.

"Get the fuck off!" I let the panic overtake me as I tried to shake it off, and then I pick it up behind its armpits, only to have it swipe at my left wrist. "Fuck!"

I smother the cut with my other hand, clenching it as I saw blood leak between my fingers. "Dammit, demon cat!" I thwack the cat on the head, and to my joy it fell off my leg.

It hissed at me, and then ran off in the other direction.

"Oh, fuck no!" I shouted after it, and then began to sprint. "You do NOT cut my wrist and leg up and then think you can just run off!"

Several people I dashed by gave me looks of concern for my sanity, but I refused to make eye contact, honed in on the black cat ahead of me.

"Come back here!" Shouting again, I leaped over a fire hydrant, narrowly tripping over the red object as I continued to run.

Thankfully, the cat began to slow to a small trot as it turned left and started to climb up a staircase.

I followed closely behind, taking the steps two at a time, and finally reaching the cat. I bend down at my knees to a crouch as I lean over to try to catch the cat, but a pair of hands catches the feline before I could.

I stare at the empty space now in front of me, and it takes a second for me to realize that a pair of feet was now in the cat's place. With this realization, I jolt back up to a standing position to greet the new person.

It was a woman; who looked suspiciously like a fortune teller, and she stood donned in many silk scarves and clothes, her wrist covered in bangles too.

"Hola," The woman greeted with a grin and her eyes crinkled kindly along. Her voice was thick with a Spanish accent, her 'H' was silent and her 'L' elongated. All the while she stroked the head of her cat, which leaned in and purred into her hand. "Has my cat been bothering you?"

All my previous anger dissipated instantly, embarrassment flooding in to replace it as I began to fidget in this woman's gaze. I clear my throat and my hands begin to mash together in attempts to occupy my mind.

"Um, y-yeah," I lick my chapped lips as I finally meet her kind gaze. Her eyes are not symmetrical, but they do hold a nice shade of dark brown in them. "Your cat scratched my leg..."

The woman was instantly apologetic, and tapped her cat's head in her small bout of anger. "I am so very sorry, mi gatois very bad. She needs to learn to not hurt people!" Smacking the top of the cat's head one last time, the fortune teller turned back to me with a sorry smile. "Again, lo siento. Please, come in! I will give a free palm reading and 20% off any item you like!"

I'm not usually very trusting, and certainly not this brash with my decisions, but a small sense of security was always my downfall.

She opens the door to her small shop, and I follow her through hesitantly.

I had never been in a fortune teller's shop before, mainly because my parents didn't believe in magic or the zodiacs. I was usually interested in anything that promised a good story or just anything I could relate to myself. I didn't really believe in magic or zodiacs either, but I've always liked a good story and pretty jewelry.

The store was full of magical goodies, and there were several clothing racks for scarves and dresses. On the left side of the store there were shelves and a cash register: and on the right there was a continuous bookshelf that was filled to the brim with many books, probably for voodoo and magic.

That reminded me of the time in the library I had found a book on voodoo telling me that voodoo was a religion. It made no sense at the time, but maybe it was starting to connect now. Not that I planned to convert, dear lord, no!

"This way, the reading room is over here," the fortune teller guided me to a room in the corner, where it could have once been used as a staff room. It was covered in drapes and a small, low table was in the center. Instead of chairs, there were pillows and cushions, which looked alot comfier than a wooden chair. "Just take a seat and we'll begin."

With a slow walk, I strode over to the cushion she had gestured to and quietly sat across from her. I kept quiet, even as she too sat down, her eyes closed and the cat was now gone.

"Before we begin, I must know your name," The fortune teller asks as she corrects herself into a cross-legged position, and I copied her as she continued. "I have a feeling it begins with a 'M'."

I move my hand over to my arm and begin to nervously rub it, a habit I made after watching too much anime. "My name is Mësha."

"Really?" The fortune teller opened one her eyes with interest as her eye gave me a quick look over. "That's a very interesting name!"

"Yes, what's your name?" I ask quickly, still hesitant to go along with this palm reading.

"I am María Carmen," She hummed as she placed her hand, palm-down on the table. "Place your right hand palm-up."

The inner battle didn't last long, curiosity triumphing over fear, and I handed my hand over to María Carmen. (/pun!)

María Carmen had to open her eyes once more to hold my hand in hers, and she began to feel around and down the lines of my palm.

"You'll have 3 children, and you'll live alot longer than you expect to live. You'll soon change your eating habits due to a drastic change in your lifestyle. You will-" María gasped then, and retraced the palm line that started at the edge of my middle finger, down to the opposite side of my palm. "You will marry a man of great power, and with much influence on the world."

Okay, that seems really intense and not my style at all. I'm not into power or pride; she must have read my palm incorrectly.

I gulp before asking her, still pondering whether or not it could be true. "Are you sure? I'm more of an introvert, why would I be attracted to someone with great power?"

María clutched my hand slightly, but not tight enough to hurt me at all. Her eyes were wide with something akin to shock. "Would status really matter to you if you two were in love?" Her voice was barely a breath, so quite I wouldn't have heard it if I wasn't looking at her.

"What?" The question had tumbled out, unintentionally. "No-! I-I meant that, how would I fall in love with someone if they're not my type?"

"Oh," María's shock subsided, and a small gentle smile crossed her face. Her eyes were casted down back at my hands. "I take it you've had little experience with love and dating, yes?"

Oh, you have no idea. Up until half-way through freshman year, I had never had a boy tell me he liked me. I didn't like Jared like that though, so I told him I wasn't interested, plain and simple. Well, that was an entirely different story, I'll that one later.

"Not really, to be honest," I sighed to myself as I ran a hand through my hand, but not the one still on the table. "I'm really interested in dating, I'm young. And I'm more of an introvert than extrovert; I'd rather just stay home and draw."

"Yes," María met my gaze again as she released my hand. "I could tell you were a great artist, and you're alot better at making friends through your words rather than your actions."

Placing my hands in my lap and returning the smile, I finally remembered that I had to deal with my mother after this, and it wasn't a pleasant thought.

I cringe, and María doesn't let me get away with just that.

"Are you alright?" She had already gotten off of her cushion, the cat had returned to her arms. "You seem to have a cut on your wrist, let me see."

I don't complain or rebel, I just comply as I show her my wrist, which had gotten worse.

The cut was still barely bleeding, but dried blood was surrounding it like a forest would to a river.

I hiss at the sight, while María gasps in shock again. "Your wrist! Did my cat do that too?"

I nod weakly as I follow the blue vein on my arm, it was so apparent and visible, and it couldn't have been too healthy. "I'm sorry..."

"No!" María exclaimed as she caught me by the wrist and dragged me over to a dresser in the corner. "You don't apologize for other's mistakes, it doesn't make anything better. I'm the one who should be sorry, I skipped out on my cat's last appointment; she was supposed to have her nails clipped."

"Its fine, I can fix it when I get home," I mumble, more to myself than to the fortune teller, and I lick my finger. I dab the dried blood, and wiped away as much as I could before María turned around with a band aid.

She slapped my hand away from my wrist, and applied the band aide carefully, making sure to center the band aid over the cut perfectly. "Lo siento, I'll let you have any book in the store for free, no 'buts'."

"Okay," I mumbled yet again, not ready to ever turn away an offer to a free book. "Thank you, María. You've been really generous to me."

María merely waved it off as she led me back to the store's main room, and gestured to the shelves lining the walls. "Just show the book that you want to take home, and I'll make sure the alarm doesn't go off as you walk out the door."

"Thank you," I repeated again as I started to browse the shelves for a good book to take home, making sure to avoid books on voodoo. The thought of controlling others was tempting, but was a huge fear of mine. If you can control people, how can you trust others and yourself anymore?

I browse the shelves until I come across a book with no title, but looked very aged and had a small brass lock. I slid it off the third shelf and hefted it onto the front cover. It still had no words on the cover to hint me what it was, but I didn't bother asking either.

Yet, it pulled on a part of me, a strange odd feeling stirred. It felt cold, and yet very, very intriguing.

I just slid the book back on the shelf and moved on.

As I browsed some more, I passed a small stand of jewelry, some with zodiac signs, some with random signs.

"Um, María Carmen?" I asked shyly from where I stood as I watched across the room on how she had taken the time to hit her cat on the head. Not too harshly though, that would be animal abuse and such.

"Yes, Mësha?"

"Instead of a book, could I have a necklace?"

"Of course! You can have 2 even!"

"Thank you very much," I replied finally as I picked out a small disk with a tiger engraved on it, and I searched for another.

No lion, no turtle, no ducky, no doggy, no deer...

Only zodiacs and a globe necklace.

Since I'm kinda loyal to my zodiac, and tigers are cool, I grab the globe with a sigh. I walk up to the cash register where María had just finished scolding her cat.

"I'm done, María Carmen." I show her the necklaces tags and she scans them with her...scanner thingy, I could never remember what people call that. "Thank you, again. It was very kind of you to-"

"Its fine, Mësha, just make sure you wear those often," María smiled and waved good-bye as I headed toward the door. "Come visit again, and maybe the cat will be gone."

"I'll try," I call back over my shoulder as I exit the fortune teller's store, and take the staircase down.

I give myself a moment of silence to calm down, and I slide the two necklaces into my jacket pocket.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble, it's not even freakin' funny," I whimper as I begin the walk back to Starbucks, texting my mom as I walked back.

To: Mother
From: Mësha

Hey I'm sorry; I went over to a McDonalds and ate a snack. My phone died on the way over, I thought I texted you, I'm sorry. On my way back right now.

I am in SO much trouble.