Two Mothers and Daughters (Private RP for cripmeister)

[CrimsonVagabond]

Iris was at her absolute wit's end. Since coming to America for working purposes she'd lost nearly all control of her willful daughter Laura. Laura was a creative, intelligent, sixteen year old with her future in front of her, but since attending her first American high school, Iris found she'd been sneaking off with friends, and a notable decline in her report card could no longer be ignored. She'd threatened Laura just that morning that if things didn't change she'd lose her phone privileges and Laura had rounded on her with shouts and language Iris always thought she'd taught her daughter NOT to use.

Iris was a pretty 36 year old woman with dark black hair that had a single grey stripe in it, a stripe that got thicker every year, and if Laura kept her behavior up, would doubtlessly widen as her stress continued. Sighing, Iris knew she'd need to get to the college she taught at before much longer, but decided to dial the number of one of the few friends she'd made since living London...another single mother by the name of Kate...

[cripmeister]

Kate finished filing away a last pile of papers in her home office and went through to the kitchen to make herself another cup of coffee. Her morning had already been fairly productive, and she reckoned she had time for a bit of a break before she had to make a certain number of phone calls. Kate was a fairly no nonsense and confident looking woman, stylish and good looking for her 50-odd years. Her house was similarly attractive and well kept, which was no mean feat with a 16 year old daughter living there as well.
Just as she sat down at her kitchen table, her mobile rang. Looking at it she saw the caller was Iris, a friend who had recently moved into the neighbourhood to take up a new job. The two had found that as single professional women with teenage daughters they had a fair amount in common, and with their daughters attending the same high school and quickly becoming friends, their mothers had followed suit.
"Hi there Iris" Kate said as she answered the phone, "How are you doing?"

[CrimsonVagabond]

Iris heaved a sigh of relief. She'd never been on good terms with her own mother, but she likes Kate, and felt very comfortable around the woman. She also admired how professional, yet caring the woman could be. "I'm not doing very well I'm afraid." Iris spoke in a crisp London accent that colored most of her words, but she'd adjusted naturally to American slangs and speaking styles. "It's Laura I'm afraid. She snuck out again last night, and when I tried to get on to her this morning, she brushed me off, said I'd make her late for school, like I was a pest!"

A slight tremble registered in Iris's voice as her stress came to the forefront. "I-I swear Kate, I'm frightened. She used to be an honor student back home, and I feel like she's about to throw it all away and I can't do anything about it. *sigh*What should I do?"

[cripmeister]

Kate picked up the strained tone of Iris' voice straight away, and prepared herself for some difficult issues. She listened sympathetically to her friend, knowing well enough how difficult it could be for a single mother raising a teenage daughter. Her own daughter Alex was much the same age, though Kate was proud to say that she was very mature and well balanced young woman for the most part. The sort of behaviour Iris was describing was not something she ever expected from her, if Alex had behaved like that she would not sit for a week.
"I'll tell you what Iris, I've got a bit of free time in my schedule today, why don't you come round after work?" She would have to sacrifice her break and get straight back to work now, but she sympathised with Iris and wanted to help if she could. "Just drop by and we can talk about it over some coffee. I know it's difficult at times, but I hope I can suggest something to help you two out."
She actually had a very good idea of what it was Laura needed, but she would keep it to herself, at least until she had heard more from Iris in person and heard her opinions on the subject.

[CrimsonVagabond]

Iris couldn't focus on work the rest of the day, thankfully it was a testing day, and her students were predictably sober and focused for her quizzes. She hoped Kate wasn't going to suggest a councilor. She and Laura had tried that once and it had been awkward and both mother and daughter had resented each-other for days after the appointment. Then again, she trusted the businesswoman to a fault and whatever the older woman offered she would consider seriously.

A light rain was falling as Iris pulled her small Kia into Kate's impressive driveway. Such a nice house and Kate worked from home. Iris slid out of the car as the rain intensified and rushed to the doorstep. Alex answered the door when Iris rang. Alex had deep red hair that fell in old fashioned ringlets about her pale, prominent shoulders, despite the red hair, Alex seemed bereft of freckles.

"Hi Miss Iris, mom's in her office I think, coffee's going." Iris nodded and thanked the teenager before proceeding through the well organized house toward her friend.

[cripmeister]

Kate heard her daughter answer the door and let Iris in, politely as always. Kate was very proud of Alex, who was a very mature and well balanced young lady, who did well at school and was well behaved and respectful to others. Of course she had her moments of weakness, like any teenage girl, but they were promptly dealt with and the two of them moved on with no ill feeling. Looking out the window Kate saw the rain was really pretty heavy, she hoped Iris hadn't been caught too badly by it.
There was a knock on the open door and Alex stuck her head into the office.
'Hey mom, Miss Iris is here.' The words were followed by Iris herself entering the room, looking a trifle damp, but clearly she had not been caught that badly by the rain.
'Thank you sweetie. Hi Iris how are you doing?' She rose to greet her friend. 'Why don't we go through to the lounge and we can be a bit more relaxed than in here. Alex sweetie, would you be an angel and bring the coffee things through to us?'
Kate took Iris' wet coat for her and hung it up on their way back through the hall. When they were both nestled in comfortable chairs and Alex had placed the coffee and mugs between them and gone back to her homework upstairs, Kate poured out two cups and said
'So Iris, tell me again what it is you want to chat about?'

[CrimsonVagabond]

Iris sipped at the coffee before speaking. "Well, I'm afraid somewhere between moving here, getting a new job, and starting a new life, I may have become a bad mother. I'm very busy these days, and Laura isn't handling it very well..."

She sighed and leaned back in the chair a little. "I just don't know Kate, she was honor roll in middle school, and now she barely makes straight Cs...Its not the materials, she's a VERY smart girl, but I she's going out at all hours with friends, ignoring my warnings, and I'm afraid she's going to fail this year altogether." Iris's voice catches a little as she speaks, emotion welling as she continues.

"I'm really at my wits end, and I just don't know what's left to try."

[cripmeister]

Kate again nodded sympathetically throughout Iris' account. The move across had clearly been a strain for both her and her daughter. Kate had mixed feelings about Laura - while she and Alex seemed to get on very well, she had at times been slightly concerned at the potential negative influence her daughter's new friend might have on her. On the other hand a friend like Alex might do Laura herself a lot of good, and that now seemed to be something to hope for. She had not thought Laura was a bad girl at heart, and having got to know Iris she was convinced of it.
'Oh I'm sure that's not true' she said to Iris' worries about being a bad mother. Having listened to the rest, she continued. 'It has been a lot of strain for both of you, and having her behaviour to worry about as well won't do you any good. I'm not really sure how well I can explain it either; she has friends here now doesn't she? Her and Alex are close for a start. The school is a pretty welcoming place, not nearly as cliquey as some over here. I suspect some kind of homesickness, or just missing her old life, is part of it. Hopefully that will pass before too long. I think really she may just be in need of a bit more structure at the moment.'
She paused to let Iris give her thoughts.

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A little over five minutes away, Laura arrived back home. Her mum was still out, probably working as usual. She made herself a mug of tea and grabbed a snack, and headed up to the bedroom where she spent the vast majority of her time these days. The room was a mess, with clothes and books scattered all over the floor and posters plastered erratically across the walls, but it was how she liked it. She threw herself face down on her bed with her laptop and started surfing idly. Laura herself was a reasonably tall girl, who had always been skinny but was starting to fill out, pertly as a natural consequence of her age and partly from her constant snacking. She had short and frequently dyed hair, at present platinum blonde, though she was thinking of adding a streak to it, maybe in purple. Her eyes were blue and heavily made up and she was dressed in black leggings and a purple hoody from her old school. She missed that place, although she'd complained about it enough while she was there. She had had people to complain too at least. Here everyone seemed so damn happy with everything all the time. It wasn't that she was unhappy or resented them, she just felt so at odds with them and that she somehow lived in a different world from all her friends. She was even drifting apart from her mum now; she didn't like that they argued so much now, the words just seemed to come out of her mouth.

Wanting someone to talk to, she flicked idly through her phone, looking for the few contacts she actually had who lived in this god forsaken back of beyond. Part of her wanted to call a friend back home, but it could be the middle of the night or people could still be in school for all she knew, and hearing everything about life back in the UK would probably not cheer her up right now. After a while she settled on Alex, a girl from school whose mum and hers also seemed to get on pretty well. Alex was nice, a bit quiet and nerdy but fun to be around. She was actually exactly the sort of friend she had had back home growing up, before Dad had left and everything about moving abroad had happened, and she's started to hang out with a different crowd. She was still trying to find that sort of crowd here, but Alex was a good friend to have for now. She called her up, entertaining the possibility of asking her round for a bit - she only lived five minutes away, and the rain seemed to be abating.

[CrimsonVagabond]

Iris had to admit to a certain comfort level with Kate she hadn't achieved with many women her own age, maybe it came from getting pregnant young, and thus having to grow up early, but she found she gravitated to slightly older women who'd already been through the difficult child-rearing years, or conquered the realm of single parenthood and come to the other side happy, healthy, and secure. But none of the people in her social circle had the simple calm and matter-of-factness Kate had, and Iris loved her for it.

"I must sound silly carrying on this way Kate, but I don't think you've ever had to deal with a rebel. And no offense to the local curriculum, but the school hear isn't quite as advanced as the private school she was at, so its just her own lack of steam or comfort." She sighed and sipped her tea, "this is excellent as always by the way. You say to provide her with structure, but I'm not sure how when she avoids me at every turn..."


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Alex snagged her phone of the third ring having been a little pre-occupied with her show. Seeing it was Laura, she grinned and thumbed the talk button on her phone's screen. "Hi girl what you up to?"

Alex liked Laura, and probably would have loved her even if she hadn't been British. But as Alex was a nerdy, self-professed Doctor Who fan, she loved having someone from The Doctor's native shores to converse with. Furthermore, Laura was really outgoing, something Alex, who very quickly lost herself in books and movies when she wasn't studiously studying, struggled with. They two of the fit each other's needs quite nicely. And Alex thought Laura was very pretty.

She had been sitting on the couch in shorts, trying to study and watch TV at the same time, and had pretty much given up on the homework. Laura's call was a welcome distraction.

[cripmeister]

Kate again nodded through Iris' account, trying to give her space to voice her thoughts to the full. While she certainly had her own opinions about the situation, she did not want to force them onto the younger mother straight away, it would be far better if the conversation was guided in that direction by both of them. That said, she could certainly try and give a broad overview of her thoughts and hope that made some impact. She thoughtfully sipped her coffee before giving her response.
'You don't sound silly at all Iris, I can understand completely. And I wouldn't say that I have absolutely no experience dealing with a rebel. Alex is generally a good girl, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have any capacity for the sort of behaviour you're describing from Laura. The capacity for that is in everyone, especially in girls their age; it's about how you handle it at every stage, not about if they are predisposed to behave that way, if you follow me. I can understand that the school might not be quite what she was used to, but in a way that's just another difference in life here that she'll have to learn to adapt to, no different from anything else. As for structure, her avoiding you is exactly the sort of thing you need to try and combat with it. Moving over here has been a big change for the both of you, but the way to deal with that is not to ignore it, and it isn't to try and carry on as you were before the change either. Both of you will need to make some changes and work out how to tailor your lives to your new home. That's just my two cents and is maybe a lot to take in, but there you have it.'



Laura was glad when Alex picked up quickly, she had been worried she would get no response.
'I'm not up to much, kind of had a fight with mum but no biggie. I'm just chilling in my room and fancied a chat, you busy?' She tried to be fairly non committal and casual about things, a technique she was using more and more these days with both friends and family, in spite of the turmoil of emotions she was often experiencing.