Then, she decided to tell the truth, at least parts of it.

"Okay, Mom, I…I tried to do it, honestly, I did, but it just didn’t work! I didn’t get any of it…"

Her mother looked a her for a while and Angelica could see from her expression that Tina did not believe a word.

"So why didn’t you come to me and ask me to help you?" Tina asked.

Angelica blushed slightly.

"I, uhm…I didn’t wanna bother you…" she murmured evasively.

"Yeah?" Tina asked, "Or is it that you were just too lazy again and instead preferred to make plans for the evening?"

Angelica looked away, not responding.

"Well?" Tina probed.

"This whole maths stuff is just so fucking boring…" Angelica finally admitted in a small voice.

Tina shook her head and glared at her.

"That’s no excuse, miss, and you know it!" she said in an irritated voice, "God, Angelica, we’ve been through this so many times! If you keep being that lazy you’re never going to succeed in maths. Don’t you think that for once you should set your priorities straight and start learning?!"

Angelica looked at the floor. "I guess." she mumbled.

Tina sighed. "You guess, mhm…Well, guess something else, you’re not going to that party tonight."

"What?!" Angelica’s head flew up and she stared at her mother in shock.

"Yeah, you heard me right. No party." Tina repeated, unimpressed, getting up from the sofa to leave her daughter sitting there, close to tears.

"But…" Angelica started, desperate "Mum, that’s not fair! You can’t do this…"

"The hell I can’t!" Tina turned around, looking rather angry. "Now, you listen to me very carefully, young lady, okay? This is the deal from now on: no homework, no fun. And if you keep complaining, you’re gonna lose some more privileges like TV or computer; now, I really can’t imagine you would like that very much…?"

Angelica swallowed hard, her head sunk low and she was fighting with tears.

"No." she said quietly.

Tina nodded. "Then, instead of going to the party, tonight, you are going to do these homework now, understand?" Tina looked down at her, waiting for an answer.

Angelica just nodded.

"Pardon me?" Tina persisted.

"Yes, I understand." Angelica said.

"Allright, then, go to your room and come down here when you’re finished."

"Yes, mom." Angelica answered, getting up from the sofa and hurrying towards the staircase. Tina shook her head once more, exhaled deeply and returned to sit on the couch, continuing to read her book.

tbc