CLARA kept mute for a while, her spoon hovering above her cup as she processed Amelia’s words. She slowly set it down and lifted her eyes back to her friend.
“A weekly boarding school?” she asked carefully.
Amelia nodded. “Yes.”
Clara leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms.
“That is… that's a big decision, Ame. Hazel isn’t a child anymore. She is old enough to understand what this means.”
“That is exactly why I’m considering it,” Amelia replied. “She is old enough to understand consequences. What she is doing isn’t normal teenage rebellion anymore, Clara. It is calculated. It’s deliberate.”
Clara sighed.
“I hear you. I really do. But don’t you think she will see this as punishment? Or worse, abandonment?”
Amelia’s lips pressed together.
“She already treats me like the enem
