Layla sat in her chic New York bedroom, once again rearranging her bookshelves. Today, it was by the title of the book. Last week, it was by degree of sexy of the books main guy. Oh did she ever have a thing for those time traveling Scotsman. Her mother was still in her office, finishing up on business calls and paperwork for the large, successful company she owned. Layla was so proud of the strong woman her mother was and was hoping she'd have even half of the strength her mother had. Bonnie was a ball-busting, go-get-em and grab them by the short hairs, never give up single mother and business woman, and Layla simply adored her. bonnie pampered Layla and made sure she had everything she needed a some of what wanted, but made sure to keep Layla humble and kind.

Layla finished organizing her bookshelves and looked around to make sure her room was tidy and her outfit for school was perfectly pressed, spotless, and matched for the next day. "Wherever you go, make sure you are dressed properly and impeccably. Even if you just go to the store for ice cream or tampons.". That was one of Bonnie's most steadfast rules. That, and "Don't ever take any shit from anyone.".

Layla smiled and walked out of her bedroom, stopping by her mother's home office to see if she was still working. Hearing her mother argue with someone about prices being too high for her clients to afford, Layla chuckled and made her way downstairs. Bonnie knew what it was like to live paycheck to paycheck, working her ass of and having nothing to show for it. She wasn't about to forget it and was determined to not let anybody else forget what it's like to struggle.

Layla walked downstairs to the kitchen, seeing their maid and cook straightening up. Louise was like her second mother and never hesitated to bust Layla's ass if she were to get out of line.

"Are you hungry, baby girl? " Louise asked.

"A little. But I want to cook for you and Mom. I found this recipe for copy cat Alfredo from Olive Garden that I'm dying to try out!" Layla replied. "I'm going to go to the store and pick up the fresh ingredients. I love you, Lou! "

"Be careful! Buckle up and lock your doors!" Louise said.

Layla grabbed the keys to her vehicle, an Escalade. It was a Sweet 16 gift from her mother. Layla got into the vehicle and buckled, starting it up and backing out of the driveway. She put in her Queen c.d. and headed out for the grocery store.

After getting everything she needed, Layla headed home. She was so excited that, the week before, Louise had agreed to let her use the kitchen and cook, but only on the condition that Layla get an A on her term paper from Big Bald Dr Wolfe, the harshest grading physics professor at her academy. It was few that received anything above a C. Layla had spent every free moment she has reading and taking notes and trying to fit her thesis in and make everything coherent, correct, and (hopefully) impressive by Dr Wolfe's standards.

The next week when the papers were handed back out, Layla bit her manicured nails so badly she was sure her mother would be disappointed. Layla looked at her paper and saw an A scrawled out on her paper. Under it was one word, the biggest praise anyone could ever hope to receive from Big Bald Wolfe. "Good". If it were proper and ladylike to jump up and scream, Layla would have done exactly that. Instead, she had to settle for taking a picture of her grade and texting it to her mother and Louise. When Layla arrived home after school, she was given a mini celebration for her paper (all 37 pages, excluding graphs and references). Louise finally conceded that Layla could use her kitchen. Bonnie watched proudly at the excitement and pride of her daughter.

Layla pulled back into her driveway and got out, going to the back of the vehicle to get her bags, then shutting and locking it and heading inside.

She saw her mom. Bonnie, and Louise taking in the kitchen. If her mom had an actual best friend who wasn't Layla, it would be Louise. Layla hoped one day to have such a close friend as Louise was to Bonnie. Layla started prep on dinner, hoping her mom would finish with her work by the time she was done fixing dinner. Many a night Bonnie had worked until nearly midnight and missed having dinner with Layla. She sacrificed so much so that Layla could have the best opportunities in life. She knew her mother was lonely; Layla had been on more dates than her mother. She often wondered why her mother and her birth father never married or even stayed in touch. The only thing she knew about her birth father was that he lived on the other side of the country on a reservation. From what Layla could figure, the only thing she took after her father was her straight hair and blue eyes. Everything else she took after mother. Like how short she was. The fact that if she even looked at food she put on 15 pounds. Her sarcasm.

Thirty minutes had passed when Layla finally finished making her copy cat alfredo. She called for Louise and her mother to come and try it, promising to have Pepto and Tums should it be a disaster.

After dinner, Layla walked up the stairs to finish the rest of her homework before bedtime. Ugh. It wasn't that she disliked school. She loved it. Except the whole walking up early and the overpopulation of rich idiots. Her favorite saying was "If idiots could fly, this place would be an airport. ". Layla grinned imagining most of the people in her school just taking off, very few people left on the ground. But she loved Doveslinen Academy.

Finishing up her physics hookworm, Layla set hey paper and books into her Balaam and zipped it, setting it beside the door for tomorrow. She changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth before crawling into bed.

Layla really hoped tomorrow would be better than it had been.