I am currently sitting in a holding cell, bored out of my mind. My mom is supposedly on her way to come pick me up, but I wouldn't be surprised if she keeps me here all night. She will say something like it will teach me a lesson. That is if she isn't too busy to come pick me up from jail. I'm sure she doesn't even remember she has a daughter sometimes.

"Nikita Susan Avery," My mother shouts over the clicking of her heels on the tile floor. I cringe at the sound of my full name. I despise it with a burning passion. Apparently, my father picked my first name while my mother chose my middle name. Of course, my father disappeared, so I got my mom's maiden name. "We are going home, and we are talking about this. I can't believe you managed to get arrested."

"It's a total misunderstanding," I try to reason with her.

She breathes, "Hmph."

"I'm serious, Mom."

"Not another word until we get home. Do you understand?" She says, ending the conversation, for now. I sigh and nod as she hands me my backpack and skateboard. Together we walk out of the police station and keep our heads down from the paparazzi. The joys of my mom being a famous lawyer. Usually, they leave me alone, but I guess getting arrested was enough to come out of hiding.

As Mom drove, it was total silence. She refuses to look at me, let alone speak to me, and there is no way that I am going to start the conversation. I can't even turn on the radio with the fear that she will snap at me. Instead, I just stare out the window. There isn't much to see, but it was better than focusing on the rage radiating off my mother. I messed up this time for sure. This was the final straw.

When we finally get to the apartment building, I follow my mom in complete silence. Robert looks at me with a frown on his face. He probably heard all about it from my mother already. I have always been her biggest disappointment, even if she will never admit it.

"What the hell were you thinking?" My mother asks the second the apartment door closes behind me. Here we go. The monster has been let loose. "Out of all the things you could have done, you got arrested."

"I told you. It was a misunderstanding," I said.

"Not only did you get arrested for threatening to kill your English teacher with a pocket knife, but you got sent home early from school today because you punched and kicked the school's quarterback. When did you get so violent?"

"They didn't find a pocketknife on me when they did their search, so how was I supposedly threatening to murder Mrs. Dodds? Also, Johnny deserved it. He touched me without permission."

"That's just how boys are."

"That isn't an excuse. He can't treat me like I'm some toy that he can play with just because his dad is one of your top clients. And that is if he is just your client."

My mom sighs, "I have had enough of this. No matter what, I can't get through to you. I make sure there is a roof over your head. I make sure the bills are paid. I make sure there is food in the fridge for you to eat. What else can I do to help you?"

"I don't know. Maybe try and be home for once instead of spending all your time at work. Maybe try and spend some time with me, so you know something about me. You might actually learn a thing or two if you did."

"Nikita, you know I can't just drop everything for you. I have a job to do so we can live the life you have. A life of safety and security. You don't have to worry about a single thing."

I scoff, "Yeah, a life where my dad abandoned my mom before I was born, my mom is too busy being known as New York's scariest lawyer, and I have to raise myself. What a wonderful life that is."

"Enough with the attitude. You are already on thin ice," My mother said. I roll my eyes. She's the one trying to make it sound like we live a happy life. "Everything I have done has been for you."

"Really? Because it seems like it has all been for you."

"I promised your father before you were born that I would protect you, and that is what I have been doing. I just can't do it anymore. After today's incidents, I am sending you a camp for the whole summer. It should help with everything."

"Oh, great. I got arrested once, and now you are shipping me off to some camp?"

"Your father told me about it when we were still together. It is for people who are like you. Kids who struggle to fit in because of who they are."

"Even better. A camp that the man that isn't a single part of our life anymore suggested before he up and left. What could go horribly wrong? Then again, I can't get much worse, can I?" I say, dripping in sarcasm.

Mom shakes her head, "This is why I didn't want to have kids, let alone a kid like you. I was young and naive when you happened. I was just finishing law school when I went out with your father to celebrate. He is the only man I have ever loved, and I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. However, I got pregnant with you, and the second you were born, he was gone. It is your fault that he is gone. If I didn't have you, he would still be here. You were my biggest mistake." Ouch. Some things are worse than being arrested. Like being told that you are your mother's biggest mistake.

"Yeah, well, I guess I won't be around much longer either. Then you won't have to look at the biggest mistake of your life every day," I say before storming off to my room.

"Niki," My mom shouts after me, but I close and lock my door. There is no way I can ever face her again. I always knew she hated me, but she never actually said it before.

I take the necklace that I am wearing and throw it across the room. I can't have a reminder of him right now. After all, it is his fault that my mom hates me. She blames me for his abandonment. I wasn't even born yet; how is it my fault? I didn't tell him to leave. How could I have? It wasn't like I could speak.

I collapse onto my bed and start crying. I hate myself for crying over this. Why was I even crying over it? I already knew she didn't want me because she is never around. She takes every opportunity to avoid me. She takes on cases that she knows will take weeks, maybe even months at a time so that she can avoid seeing me. I mean, how much more obvious about it can she be?

I move to sit down at my windowsill and stare out there. It is dark, so it isn't like I can really see anything, but I need to clear my head. My eyes are currently burning, but not because I am crying. It is something else. I have only felt this once before, on my thirteenth birthday. When I saw the necklace, my eyes started burning, and my irises were a bright red instead of their usual orangish amber color. I still don't know what caused it to behave like that, but I bet if I look in the mirror, they will be the same bright red as before.

"Niki," My mom says as she lightly knocks on my door. I don't say anything and keep staring out the window. "I didn't mean that. I was angry, and I took it out on you."

"That isn't an excuse."

"Nikita, please. Try to understand what I am going through here."

"Why should I?" I ask. She can't act all innocent now. She has no right in playing the victim. "You never tried to listen and understand me. You also made it pretty clear on what you think of me. Why should I try to understand you?"

"Because Nikita, I am afraid of losing you. You are the only thing I have left of your father. I may not have been ready to become a mom when I had you, but you are the best thing that has happened to me."

"Really? Because not even five minutes ago, you said I was your biggest mistake."

"Nikita, please."

"Until I go to this stupid camp, we can be roommates. I won't be your disappointing daughter that the world has come to know. You won't be my mother, who thinks her job is more important to me. We won't have to communicate until you drop me off. This way we don't keep hurting one another, since that is the only thing we do to one another," I say. I hear my mom choke on a sob on the other side of my door. It takes a few minutes before she walks away and to her own room. As I said, some things are worse than being arrested.