Z passed through the front doorway, her hand gently brushing against the protection symbol she had carved into the wood when they first moved in. As was usual when she entered her home, many candles lit up the dim rooms which was followed by the scent of burning vanilla incense. Carefully walking through the living room and into the kitchen, she found her mom meditating by the back sliding door. The sound of trickling water came from the miniature waterfall that adorned the dining table added to the peaceful surroundings.
Z knelt beside her mother, trying to decide whether it was worth disturbing her or not. She took in one more deep breath then tapped her mom on the shoulder. The dark-skinned woman opened her steel eyes, that matched Z's, and looked at her daughter. "Back so soon, sweetie?" Her mother asked in a deeply tranquil voice.
The teen tried to explain to her mom that her, Lukas, and Brand were going to go on a camping trip to hike in nearby places. Her mother, being the impossible woman she was, did not like the idea of her only daughter traveling, alone, with two guys.
"What makes you think I would ever let you do something like this?" Her mother scorned, glowering at Z. "Remember the last time I let you go somewhere by yourself, Zendaya?" Her mother grabbed Z's jaw and wrenched it open to prove her point by showing the missing tongue from the young woman's mouth. Z twisted her mom's hand off her jaw, glaring at her and flipped her off, which is something Z tended to do a lot even to her parents.
"Stop acting like a child," her mother snapped, returning the bird. Z threw up her arms in exasperation and stormed upstairs. While she was angrily shoving things into a duffel bag, clothes, essentials, and a few items she needed for her practice, she heard the lock of her door click. Her mother had locked her in her room. Z jumped to her feet and pounded on the door. No response.
She stood, looking at the door, for a moment before deciding. She was going to go anyways. She shoved the last few things into her bag, scribbled a short note for her mother, then went over to the window. She had snuck out before so doing it again was no big deal. Z managed to secure of cloth bag and the duffel, then jumped out the window. Unfortunately, she saw she was about to land badly on the ground. Out of the blue, something caught her just as she was about the ruin the ankle she had just recently gotten fixed.
Z quickly looked around as she let onto her feet, but saw nothing other than an unusually dark spot on the ground. Thinking nothing of it, she carried on, back the way to Brand's house and the coffee shop.