When She Found Me Digging Through the Trash

The day my mother pulled up to school in a Cullinan, I was digging through a trash can for stale bread. She was furious. She snatched the bread right out of my hand and crushed it under her heel. "I give you a living allowance and you're out here going through the garbage? Are you trying to make your own mother look like a joke?" I was about to explain when Ms. Laura grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear. "Don't talk back. Your mom's been a CEO her whole life. She can't handle being challenged in public, especially not by her own daughter." Ms. Laura was my mother's best friend. My living allowance went from my mom to her, then to me. Two hundred a month. When I stayed quiet, Ms. Laura went over to my mom's side. "Elsa's just trying to experience what a tough life feels like. That's the mindset of someone with real grit. Don't crush her spirit." The suspicion in my mother's eyes didn't fade, but the edge softened a little. "This dedicated to roughing it? Fine. But she can't keep this up. People are gonna think my company went under." "Go swipe your meal card and bring me a school lunch. I want to see what they're feeding you here." I lowered my head. Quietly. "I don't have any money." My mother exploded. "No money?! I transfer twenty thousand to Laura every month for your living expenses! I send you the most advanced suppressants and nutrition supplements straight from the company lab! It's only been five days into this month and you're telling me you're broke? Where is all that money going?!" The entire courtyard went dead silent.