Under Pressure

Chapter One

Chapter One

It was dark when Mandy woke up. Still asleep, she rubbed her hands against her eyes and watched the opened window in front of the bed. The voil curtaing fluttered with the morning breeze, allowing her to have a glimpse of the sky, which slowly changed its tone, becoming clear gradually. The orange and yellow rays mixed itselves with the midnight blue, making the clouds look like a big Renaissance painting. Bit by bit, nature made its magic, the daylight came up with a shining sun and made the girl`s heart to race.

Mandy had always been an introspective girl. She always thought a lot about everything, since each small decision she made, to her role in the world. That day, it was no different. Althought she had barely started her day, she thought about how relative was the concept of time, while she curled a lock of the dark brown hair on a finger.

With a soft smile on her lips, she remembered when she was a child and how much she kept her fingers crossed for the time to pass slowly, specially on vacation, when she enjoyed funny moments with her best girl friend, jumping in the river, playing ball games and climbing on trees, hoping for the Summer to last forever. Now that the childhood times were over, the expectation for the arrival of the future wrapped her, making her wish to enjoy everything life had to offer her.

Still smiling, she rolled over and looked away from her watch. It was still very early, but she could barely contain the excitement when thinking about the great adventure that awaited her today.

A big change would happen in her life.

In a few hours, she would take the first step into adulthood: follow May, her best friend, to university. It was the first time she was going to be on her own, living in a city other than Gloucester, a small town on the Northern coast of Boston, where she lived for a lifetime.

Mandy had finished high school at Gloucester High School in July and even before graduation, she got a scholarship, as she would be part of the institution's ballet corps. She had applied to several universities across the country, but when she received the admission and welcome letter from Brown, which was only about two hours away from her home, she knew she would have the opportunity to make two big dreams come true at the same time: to get out of Gloucester and join a real ballet corps. Not that she didn't like living there, quite the contrary, but she knew that she would hardly have the chance to become a professional ballerina, which was her big dream.

The mother was a great supporter. Having taken care of Mandy on her own since her father left the family to live with the secretary who was fifteen years younger and never came back, Mrs. Summers did everything possible for her daughter to achieve her dreams. After her husband left, she got her first job as a service assistant at an event company and was quickly promoted to event organizer due to her commitment to the job. Her mother never missed anything and Mandy knew that she would need to dedicate a lot to achieve her goals.

Although they love each other very much, Mandy and Mrs. Summers were very different from each other. Perhaps because of the job requirement and, in part, as compensation for her husband's departure, Mandy's mother became a woman obsessed with appearance. Their house was always shining, and so was she, who never went out in public with a hair out of place, the opposite of Mandy who was the typical teenager who loved wearing jeans and a T-shirt. The discussions about it were constant and, despite knowing that she would miss home a lot, the girl believed that a break would do both good. That way, she would have a chance to discover what she liked or disliked on her own and the mother - she hoped - would have the opportunity to have romantic relationships, something Mandy suspected she avoided because of her daughter.

With a sigh, the girl picked up the book on the nightstand and concentrated on the beautiful love story between a TV star and his manager. She loved to read novels about romance and always wondered if what she read in books would ever happen to her. I need to lose my shyness first, since I feel embarassed for everything, she thought to herself and laughed.

Turning the last page, the girl closed the book with a smile on her lips and turned on the bed, looking up at the clock. Finally! It was time, she thought and widened her smile.

Jumping out of bed, Mandy went straight to the shower, took a long bath and washed her long hair. She knew she should have done it the night before, as the strands took hours to dry and she would have to restrain her impatience to tie them when they were still wet, which would make her regret at the end of the day. After bathing, she returned to the room wrapped in a fluffy towel and put on the clothes she had left separate for the trip. The torn jeans at the knee and the worn T-shirt from Nirvana matched the blue Converse perfectly. After looking in the mirror, satisfied with her bare appearance, she picked up her backpack and ran down the stairs towards the kitchen.

She was opening the refrigerator when she was surprised by her mother's voice:

"Amanda, my daughter, where are you going with that awful outfit?" - Mrs. Summers asked, looking her up and down and Mandy had to control herself not to roll her eyes.

"To travel, mom. I thought it best to wear comfortable clothes." - Mandy's mother's annoyed expression turned to sadness, with the memory of her daughter's departure. - "What's it?"

"My little girl is growing up," the mother said, pulling the girl into her arms.

The two were embraced for a moment and, when they separated, prepared breakfast together. As she took the last bite of the toast, Mandy looked at the watch again, looking concerned.

"May must already be arriving to take the road to Providence."

Ms. Summers nodded and took the last sip of coffee. A few moments later, they heard the horn sound outside and got up to leave the house. While picking up the bags, the mother asked a series of questions, making sure that the daughter had not forgotten anything.

"Be sure to call me when they arrive."

"Okay, for sure," Mandy replied, opening the front door.

As they left the house together, mother and daughter looked at each other and, for the first time, Mandy saw her mother, who have always been a very strong woman despite everything that happened, looking fragile, with tears in her eyes.

"Ah, my daughter..." - she murmured, pulling the girl in a tight hug. - "Take care of yourself. And don't forget to always call home. I will deeply miss you."

"Me too, Mom." - The two hugged each other even tighter. Despite the differences, they loved each other very much and Mandy's departure would be difficult for both of them. When they left, they had tears in their eyes and the girl thought she would never imagine that her heart would feel so tight because she was leaving home.

Picking up their bags, the two went to May's car, which opened the trunk already full of luggage.

"Watch out on the road, girls" - mrs. Summers said when she saw the two getting in the car to leave. Leaning over the passenger side window, she pulled the two girls in for another hug.

"For sure," they replied in unison, making the older woman smile and rub her daughter's face.

Suddenly, her expression changed and she became very serious.

"Amanda, promise that if you have any problems over there, you will call me? No matter what, I want you to know that I will be here to support you."

"I promise, Mom," Mandy replied with a smile and the woman nodded.

With goodbye shrieks, May started the car and Mrs. Summers finally pulled away, allowing them to leave. Looking in the rearview mirror, Mandy saw her mother nod and responded, excitedly.

"What's up, friend? Ready for the adventure?" - May asked as she left the garage at Mandy's house, smiling broadly.

"For sure!"

"Oh, my friend, I'm so excited. I'm sure it will be an unforgettable phase of our lives" - May said and Mandy smiled, turning on the loud sound as her friend went down the way to get on the road.

"I have a feeling that this trip will completely change our lives" - Mandy said to May smiling and then they started singing, following the pop ballad of the Australian band 4you2, which sounded from the speakers.

Mandy was right. That trip would be truly unforgettable. She just didn't realize how true that would be.

For good and for bad.