FicWad

The flickering fluorescent lights of the diner cast long, skeletal shadows across the worn linoleum floor. Rain lashed against the windows, mirroring the tempest brewing inside 16-year-old Maya. Across the booth, her father, a man whose face was etched with worry lines, stirred his coffee, the silence between them thicker than the steam rising from the cup.

"So," he began, his voice rough, "about college..."

Maya's fork clattered against her plate. "Dad, we've been over this. I'm not going to some fancy school hundreds of miles away."

"Maya, this is your future we're talking about. The best universities, the best opportunities..."

"Opportunities to be miserable? To be a thousand miles from home, from you?"

Her father sighed, the sound heavy with disappointment. "Honey, I understand you're scared. But this is what you've worked for, all those late nights studying, all those sacrifices..."

"Sacrifices?" Maya scoffed, "What about mine? I gave up my social life, my childhood, for your dream."

The words hung heavy in the air, charged with years of unspoken resentment. Maya had always felt like a pawn in her father's ambitious game, a means to an end.

"Maya," her father said gently, "I only want "the best for you."

"The best for you," she retorted, her voice cracking. "You think this is about you? It's about me! About my life!"

Tears welled up in her eyes, blurring the already dim diner. She pushed her chair back, the metal legs scraping against the floor. "I'm going home," she declared, her voice trembling.

Her father watched her go, his face a mask of pain and regret. He knew he had pushed her too hard, that his own ambition had overshadowed her happiness. As he watched her disappear into the rain, he wondered if he had lost her forever.