*Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter!!! YAY!!! This is going to be a lot of setting up for the musical! This is published on April 21, 2021. If you guys like this chapter, don't be afraid to vote and spam the comment section. That will be greatly appreciated. The songs used is called "Hooked" by Why Don't We and "Kingdom Dance" from Tangled. Enjoy!*

While the auditions were happening, Meena had her headphones on and watering the plants at the kitchen window sill while humming along with the music she's listening to.

She didn't hear a knock from the front door and her mother's announcement in saying that she'll get it. But...she did hear the door open.

"What are you doing here?" She heard her mother growl, which was odd because she would never growl at anyone coming to the house.

Meena took off her headphones to hear the conversation.

"I need your help," a voice of a desperate man pleaded.

"Oh, now you need my help," her mother snarled at someone at the door.

Meena witnessed her grandfather approaching the front door.

"Who are you talking to, sweetie--? You!" her grandfather barked while raising his cane to attack whoever was at the door.

"Dad, calm down!" her mother tried to calm her grandfather. "You better go before Dad hits you with his cane."

"Look, I'm in a huge debt--"

"You darn right you're in huge debt! You just left her with another woman, ace!" Meena heard her grandfather snarled at someone.

This was becoming odd to Meena as she peeked out of the kitchen to see her grandfather and her mother standing at the front door.

"It wasn't like you think--"

"While she was pregnant!" her grandfather finished his sentence as Meena approached behind her grandfather and her mother.

"What's going on?" Meena asked innocently as both her mother and her grandfather turned to look at her, giving her a better view of a stranger at the front door.

He's an elephant just like her, his suit torn like he's been jumped by a gang member, and his green matched hers.

Meena glanced at both her mother and her grandfather while hiding in her ears.

The elephant tilted his head. "Who's that?"

Her grandfather turned back to the elephant with a glare. "I'm not surprise you didn't even know who she is."

"Dad," her mother calmed her father.

"She's your child, ace!" her grandfather blurted out angrily at the elephant.

Meena had her eyes widened in pure shock. "Dad?"

Meena's mother and her grandfather had their eyes broadened suddenly. They quickly turned to Meena, who just stared at her 'father' in shock.

However, the elephant outside of the door arched a brow in confusion. "That's my daughter?"

In a fit of rage, Meena's mother slammed the door at the father's face, locking the door with a growl, not intentionally at anyone.

"I'm sorry you have to witness that, sweetie," her mother responded soothingly.

Meena glanced up at her mother and her grandfather in confusion. "Why is he here?"

Her grandfather rolled his eyes. "Bah, who knows. Maybe some money from us." Her grandfather trudged towards the living room.

Meena glanced up at her mother. "He sounds desperate, Mom."

"Honey, you don't know your father. Your father left me while I was pregnant with you and never came back. He went with another woman and...that's it," her mother responded sadly. "Your father doesn't deserve to be heard from after what happened. It's best if you be careful around him, sweetie. I don't want him to hurt you the same way as he hurt me, okay?"

Meena pondered about it while nodding her head softly. "Okay."

"Okay." her mother gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"I-uh-gotta go to the theater," Meena informed her mother.

"Okay, baby. Be back for dinner," her mother instructed while hugging her. "And be careful out there."

"I will, Mom," Meena uttered while exiting the house.

Meena exited the house, finding the same elephant sitting on the edge of the curb, away from the house. He appeared to be sad but Meena wasn't sure if she should go up and talk to him. Out of all the times that she has never seen her father, there he was, sitting right in front of her, his back to her.

Meena was debating whether she should go up and asked him where he's been for her entire life but based on what her mother told her...she already figured it out. The young elephant decided to walk past him, just to avoid him as best as she could.

"What did your mother name you?" Meena turned to the elephant asking her, who looked up at her with his weary green eyes.

"Meena," Meena answered shyly.

Her father smiled softly at her. "It fits you perfectly."

Meena nodded her head as she immediately hid in her ears. "T-Thank you."

The young elephant turned away from her father as fast as she could while walking down the street. Someone got up and walked beside her, which Meena noticed her father walking beside her.

There's a brief awkward silence between both of them.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there when you're born," her father finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence between the father and daughter.

Meena was silent, wasn't sure how to respond other than 'it's okay' or 'don't worry about it'. But she couldn't say anything at the moment.

"I know your mother thought I abandoned you and her...as well as the rest of the family. But...I--I couldn't get to you and your mother, in all honesty--"

"Where were you?" Meena was able to utter, tears stinging at the side of her eyes and looking at her father.

Her father lowered his gaze down at the ground. "I was with the other woman but it's not like what your mother thinks."

"Then, why are you with her instead of us?" Meena was able to question almost angrily at her father.

"I had a contract with her...I mean...I owed her money...and I couldn't afford it," her father uttered with a sigh.

Meena blinked her eyes in disbelief. She wanted to walk faster, or even run away from this elephant who claimed to be her father. She wanted to go to the theater where she felt safe from the pressures of the world. Why did her father appear now of all the times he could've appeared to her? She would've been absolutely fine if he appeared to her at a young age or when she's a baby...but now...as a teenager? It didn't convince her that he even thought about her.

"What is the contract?" Meena was able to ask.

Her father frowned while lowering his head. "There's a rich snake called Serpent...he's one of the assistants for the mayor. I used to be a part of that until she killed one of my friends...Kobra. I assumed that this assassin came after people who were in a position of power...I stepped down for the fear of my life. While I went to look for a job...this cheetah came to me and told me that I was lucky that I was able to step down before he's next on the list. She started fiddling with my tie...not sure what's getting into her before I put my hands on her just to push her away...and then...your mother walked in."

Meena listened to the conversation, debating whether she should believe him or not.

"I think she was about to tell me the news until she saw me with...that woman and just left."

"Why did you leave her?"

"I thought that she didn't want to see me anymore and the cheetah hired me to work for Serpent...he paid good money so I left to work for Serpent. It has nothing to do with you or your mother. I didn't know that your mother was pregnant with you until too late. But I was already far enough away that I couldn't see you. If I knew sooner that your mother was pregnant with you...I would've been able to drop everything just to see you...but I didn't know. And I'm sorry that I didn't know. I'm sorry if what it looks like or what you've heard. I'm sorry."

Meena blinked, having a hard time believing him. "I gotta go."

She walked faster away from her father to the point where she gave him the cold shoulder. He didn't chase her and watched her strode through the streets without acknowledging him watching her.

~.~

Eddie gulped the whole bottle of water in a matter of minutes while Buster and Milla watched him with eyes widened.

"That's a long gulp there, Eddie," Buster replied with a laugh.

Eddie sighed heavily. "You have no idea how many miles I've run."

"How many?" Johnny joined the conversation with a bright smile.

Eddie groaned a bit. "Like freaking ten miles."

Milla leaned over to whisper to Buster. "He only ran a half a mile."

Buster let a small chuckle.

Eddie furrowed his brows. "I heard that."

Both of the half-siblings laughed at Eddie's comment.

Buster noticed the otters with sunglasses sitting behind Eddie. "New guards?"

Eddie nodded his head. "Yeah...Nana didn't know what happened to the polar bears."

"Hmm...interesting," Buster pondered as they heard doors busted open.

The theater group noticed Meena pacing quickly down the aisle of the auditorium.

"Meena!" Buster exclaimed excitedly but Meena stormed past the koala without any acknowledgment, eyes red and puffy from holding in her tears.

Buster arched a brow at this strange behavior from a usual sweet elephant as the group witnessed this as well.

They heard Meena sobbing from backstage, causing them to look over in concern.

"Is she okay?" Nancy uttered a question.

"I don't know...she seems fine a few days ago," Gunter added.

Rosita blinked for a moment. "I'm going to check on her."

"I'll come with you," Mike determined as both the mouse and the mother pig followed the elephant.

Rosita and Mike reached backstage, hearing Meena sobbing in one of the audition rooms.

Rosita knocked softly on the door. "Meena...are you okay, sweetheart?"

"I'm fine," Meena lied through her sobs while isolating herself further.

Rosita and Mike didn't believe it as Rosita tried to open the door to find that the door was unlocked.

"Meena, sweetie, could you unlock the door?" Rosita requested politely but Meena only responded with whimpers and sobs.

Mike twisted his mouth into an unsure frown. "You know, I can squeeze the answer out of her."

"Uh--Mike--"

Mike squeezed himself underneath the door and approached beside Meena. For a good moment, he let the silence fill the air while the elephant's sobs were the only thing that ruined the silence.

"What's eating you, jumbo?" Mike asked in a tone that came out nonchalant.

Meena looked down at Mike. "Go away."

Mike pondered for a second while staying in his spot, letting her sob more.

Meena glanced back at Mike to see if he went away but saw that he stayed in his spot.

"You know, kid, I'm having a feeling like you're going to need someone to say whatever you're going to say that caused you to be crying. So...might as well let it out," Mike responded, trying to sound like he didn't care but his tone came out soft.

Meena wiped the tears away while trying to gather her thoughts. "I-I saw my dad."

"What did your dad say? Does he need to be jumped by Johnny's gang?"

"No...no...I...I met him for the first time."

Mike arched a brow. "You haven't seen him when you were a baby?"

Meena shook her head while wiping the tears away. "No."

"Oh." Mike was silent for a moment. "Well...that sounds awkward."

Meena nodded her head while sobbing quietly.

"Did he say something terrible--?"

"No...he just said that...he said something about working with this cheetah girl and my mom thought that he's cheating on her while she's pregnant with me...he didn't even try to convince my mother but...then again...my mother is probably too stubborn to listen."

"I would be too if I thought someone was cheating on me...but...why come back now?" Mike asked Meena with a brow raised.

"He said something about being in some sort of debt with this cheetah girl and some rich snake named Serpent," Meena explained, clearing her throat.

Mike began to have his eyes widened. A few days ago, Eddie talked about the incident where Milla owed a debt to Serpent while Buster had a problem with this cheetah girl.

Something's not right.

Mike glanced up at Meena. "And this cheetah...wouldn't happen to be an assassin, would she?"

Meena arched a brow, tears drying up. "Well...Dad said something about signing up for a contract and...this cheetah girl...I don't know...why?"

Mike gasped. Almost everyone knew about Buster's problem except Meena. How could they all forget to tell this shy elephant about this problem? The white mouse sealed his lips. "Uh, kid, we have a problem."

~.~

Ms. Crawly bought groceries, getting more orange juice for her sad mood. The old lizard wasn't watching as she's deep in thought. About Buster's mental health and more about the secrets that she had kept hidden from him for a long time. There's more to Buster's father than his suicide...however, Ms. Crawly had debated in her old feeble mind whether she should say it to Buster. His father was dead...so, there's no point in hiding all of those horrible sins from his sons anymore.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she bumped into someone, her glass eye popped out of her socket and fell right into the open sewer. Ms. Crawly gasped in shock while scrambling towards the open sewer to see her eye floating in the sewer water.

"Ugh, watch where you're going!"

Ms. Crawly turned her head to see an unfriendly woman koala, eyes narrowed with a withering glare. She was given an irritable glare as the old lizard's lips were trembling.

The unfriendly woman koala stormed towards the sidewalks as she knocked on the door of the house nearby them.

"Maya!"

Ms. Crawly gasped at the familiar name as the woman koala entered the house. Ms. Crawly almost wanted to scurry away but...when she heard Maya's name...she decided to eavesdrop on the home life of Maya Hart.

"Hello, mother," Ms. Crawly heard Maya's voice from the front door, ears pressed against the wood. "Welcome home."

"Ugh, it's been a terrible day. This old lizard just pushed me aside. Such a rude old thing," She heard from what could be assuming of Maya's mother groaning. "There's no such thing as nice people, Maya."

Meanwhile, Maya had her eyes widened in surprise.

"Old lizard?" Maya gasped.

Ms. Crawly?

"Yeah...ugh, how rude. Such a terrible day. Tell me about yours?" Maya's mother responded while relaxing on the chair.

Maya sat next to her in the living room. "Um...it's actually been good."

She was tempted to say so much about Buster and his sweet personality. How she found a new group of people who encouraged her to sing. Speaking of singing though...

"Um...mother, how would you feel if I'm in some kind of a musical?" Maya asked with a small smile.

"A musical?" Maya's mother laughed at her daughter. "Sweetheart, you're not that great of a singer. You sound like a dying goat. Besides, those roles were already filled."

"Yeah...but I thought that it would be worth a try--"

"Worth a try?"

Maya nodded her head. "Yeah...I-I think I sang well."

"And who told you that you sang well?" Maya's mother interrogated.

Maya gulped. "No one, mother."

"Don't lie," Maya's mother growled. "Who told you?"

Maya blinked for a second. "Well...I-uh-made a friend...his name is Buster...Buster Moon. He's really nice and sweet--"

"Buster Moon?"

"Y-Yeah...he let me audition and told me that I--"

"Audition?!" Maya's mother shouted with a growl. "You went out and auditioned!"

Maya played with her hair. "I thought it would be worth a try...and he told me that I did well...I mean...he did hire me to--"

"And you did all this behind my back?!"

Maya began to sweat. "I didn't take his offer."

"Where did you meet this...friend?"

"Um...outside of this house."

Maya's mother glared at her. "Honey, you should never trust someone like this...Buster Moon. He's only telling you that you sang great just to spare your feelings. Honey, the world is never honest. You know that, don't you?"

Maya lowered her gaze on the ground. "I know, mother--"

"Don't let their masks fool you, darling. Because they're all fake. The only people real is you and me."

"Yes, mother."

There's a brief silence as Maya sighed deeply.

"But...Buster didn't seem fake," Maya blurted out.

"Oh, believe me, honey, he's fake."

"But you haven't met him--"

"Enough about this Buster Moon, Maya! He doesn't care about you! No one does except me!" Her mother yelled with a growl, causing her daughter to winced back.

Her mother sighed heavily. "Great, now I'm the bad guy. Look, sweetheart, boys are fake just like everyone else. Trust me...it's best if you stay away from him."

Maya lowered her gaze down on the floor. "Yes, mother."

"Good girl," her mother replied.

Unbeknownst to the mother and daughter duo, Ms. Crawly overheard every single word used from outside of their front door, eye teared up from this display.

The old lizard stood back, lips trembling again as an idea came to her mind, setting off away from the house.

~.~

The next morning, Maya didn't feel like going to work. She didn't feel like going anywhere, her mood soured since yesterday. Buster seemed like a nice guy but she believed her mother...he's wearing a mask just like everyone else in this world. The only person real is her...and her mother.

Her mother already headed for work, which caused the daughter to look out of the bedroom window, bored out of her mind. Maya was tempted to go to the theater but she didn't feel like facing Buster's fake smile...or was it really fake?

Buster's gaze lingered in her mind, her heart melted every time she heard his soft encouraging tone, his optimistic personality...he didn't seem fake. Maya shook the thought out of her head.

Of course, he's fake. Mother says so!

Her thoughts vanished when she noticed a familiar old lizard coming by her doorstep with a small box. She placed it in the doorway and turned to see her with one eye. She gave a friendly wave as she headed in the opposite direction away from the house.

Maya arched a brow as she came out of her room and down the stairs to approach the front door. She opened the door and grabbed the small box left behind by Ms. Crawly.

Maya shut the door and headed back upstairs into her bedroom to open the box. It's a...phone...a smartphone that her mother claimed to be junk. She examined the screen while noticing a sticky note that read:

"Passcode: MoonTheater001"

Maya turned on the new phone and entered the passcode. The phone opened up to the main menu as she saw a text message. She glanced at the message to notice it came from Ms. Crawly.

"Take a look at your contacts," Ms. Crawly's text read.

Maya looked through her contacts to see she's got everyone's number from the theater. She had her eyes widened in shock as another message popped up on her notifications.

Maya looked at it to see that it came from Ms. Crawly again.

"Don't show your mother this phone," her text read.

"Why did you give this phone to me?" Maya asked through her text and sent it.

She waited for a couple of minutes as a text responded back to hers.

"Johnny will pick you up in his car in twenty minutes," Ms. Crawly texted her back. "Be ready by then."

"How will Johnny find me?" Maya texted with an arched brow.

There's a pause until the response came up.

"He has your address."

Maya began to panic, breathing in and out heavily.

What's happening?

Maya began to organize her hair and adjust her glasses, trembling in her body. For one, she didn't know Johnny that well and, for two, she didn't know if Ms. Crawly or Buster planned this...wait, did Buster plan this?

She heard a car rolling by at the front as she peeked out of her bedroom window, seeing a familiar ape in the green truck, examining the house.

Despite her mind telling her to stay, her heart was ready to fly out of this house. Maya opened the front door while approaching the green truck.

Maya climbed up onto the truck, on the passenger side next to Johnny.

"Morning, Maya," Johnny greeted.

"Sup?"

Maya turned to see a familiar girl porcupine sitting at the back of the truck.

"Um...did Mr. Moon plan this?" Maya uttered nervously.

"Plan what?" Ash asked with a brow raised.

"You know...picking me up and giving me this phone--" Maya took out the smartphone that Ms. Crawly gave to her.

"Ms. Crawly told us about what happened yesterday. Don't worry, we'll help ya with everything," Johnny informed Maya with a soft smile as he began to put the truck in drive while speeding through the streets to get to the Moon Theater.

Maya had no idea what the thrill of this was going to become but she enjoyed it. She still had no idea what's going on and she could only assume that this was all some master plan.

They finally arrived at the theater, Johnny and Ash getting out of the car first with Maya behind them.

Maya followed them into the theater, still confused as they saw Buster talking with Rosita and Gunter on stage, making plans about places and designs they should go with.

"Hey, Moon!" Ash called out, gaining Buster's attention.

"Hey, guys! Maya! You're just the person I was looking for!" Buster replied excitedly while approaching the three of them and guided her on stage with a soft grasp on her wrist.

Johnny and Ash climbed up on the stage with her as Buster showed her the designs.

"So, Maya, we need your help with these designs," Buster replied, igniting the conversation.

"Yes! Because we were thinking of having a broader scenery that represents the Northside of Catalonia," Rosita pitched in with a bright smile on her face.

"Ya!" Gunter added excitedly.

Johnny pulled out a picture book. "I found this in my dad's old collection and this is what our area looks like from day to night."

Maya gasped in fascination as she noticed the dim lights and the sun setting that painted the skies orange and pink. "It's beautiful."

"We got the paint!" Ms. Crawly announced while coming with buckets of different color paint with the help of Meena, Milla, and Eddie.

"What's this play called again?" Maya asked meekly.

"Northside Story," Ash responded with a smile.

"We got plenty of work to do!" Buster announced. "Let's go!"

~.~

https://youtu.be/0X0sLw63KLU

With the exciting music in the background, the group was more motivated to work on the stage first.

The cardboards were bought from the hardware store by Eddie as both Milla and Eddie were painting one of the big cardboards of a setting sun that Johnny was showing everyone for the background while Mike and Nancy were working on the smaller cardboards to paint clouds and birds flying through the sky.

While doing that, Mike turned to Nancy while sprinkling black paint on her face playfully.

Nancy gasped a bit while turning to see Mike looking away, pretending like he didn't do it. But he knew he couldn't fool her.

She got out her small brush and flung the white paint back at him, earning a laugh from the mouse.

Then, the female mouse pulled him by his suit and kissed him on the lips, getting white paint on his white buttoned-up shirt.

Mike instantly melted into the kiss as she broke away continued painting the small details needed for the background.

Meanwhile, behind the theater outside, Johnny and Ash had their spray cans that the gorilla obtained from his father's garage and with bandanas over their mouths so that they wouldn't breathe in the paint. Johnny shook the can and was able to add graffiti and gang signs to make it look more authentic while Ash was painting the brick gray walls for a castle.

Meena, Rosita, and Gunter were cleaning up the stage and organizing the ropes and gadgets used to give backgrounds. They even made the stage sturdier so that Meena could perform without knocking down the stage as she did five months ago.

The half-crescent moon was touched upon by a couple of hammers to break it down so that the group could rebuild it and make it look nice.

Rosita invited her husband and her twenty-five children to help carry stuff back and forth through the stage. Norman got the power tools to help his wife and Gunter build the full moon while Meena was helping the children by painting the night sky with twinkling stars.

Maya and Buster were in Buster's office as Maya drew out a blueprint of where everything must be at with Buster watching her in fascination.

Maya noticed this out of the corner of her blue eyes and turned her head to look at him while Buster looked right back at the blueprint, pretending to be looking at the blueprints this entire time. Maya blushed while explaining the plan of where to put certain cardboards and backgrounds

Ms. Crawly carried more of the paints so that the group could use them.

Eddie and Milla were done with painting the buildings while Milla helped the sheep check the sound system. The otters guarding Eddie were watching the whole time without even helping.

Ash and Johnny were painting the buildings for the pop-out, as Ash sprinkled blue paint on Johnny. Johnny gave her a playful glare, earning a giggle from Ash.

Johnny dipped his finger in purple paint and booped her black nose with it, causing Ash to wipe the paint off immediately and Johnny to chuckle at Ash's reactions.

Gunter helped Rosita and Norman with placing the now full moon onto the rope as Meena lifted the moon up by the rope, which was stuck on it perfectly.

Maya and Buster were helping the others with painting, which Buster enjoyed Maya painting for some odd reason. She glanced up to notice his hand making a print on the box she's painting. Buster quickly noticed this too while drawing his hand away from the box, leaving behind a purple handprint.

Maya giggled and placed her painted red hand into the purple handprint, leaving behind a red-painted hand in the purple hand.

Buster chuckled a bit with an embarrassed blush.

Hours went by as Johnny was assisted by Meena and Milla to carry the pop-outs of the buildings. There was more than one pop-out building as the others were carrying them into the theater one by one from outside.

After they were finished with the background settings, Ash used her quills so that she could tie a thread on it and sew the dresses with Ms. Crawly, being taught by Rosita on how to sew them together. Gunter helped draw out the dresses and showed what they looked like to the ladies.

Nancy invited the monkey tailor from the tailor shop the boys went to earlier to help out with the men's costumes and suits that they will be wearing during the play.

Buster was carrying a heavy dark blue fabric as he felt a pair of hands. He glanced around the pile of fabric to see that it's Maya helping him, causing him to grin happily.

Both Maya and Buster carried the heavy fabric in while Norman and Meena took down the old red curtains that had been through series of damage over the years.

Milla and Eddie were in the piano room with Johnny, who played the music and sang the songs from the musical with the help of Mike playing the saxophone. Eddie was able to record it while Milla implemented her female voice to help sing along with Johnny for the musical.

Eddie couldn't help but be in awe of her beautiful voice but he tried to think about the play rather than her for right now.

When examining the backgrounds for the theater, Maya noticed something a bit off while dipping the brush into the blue paint and tried to reach for it, which Meena happily oblige by lifting her up with her trunk and let the female koala fix the minor issue.

The piglets were sitting in the front row of the theater, looking in awe at the work the adults were doing while the otter bodyguards just looked around the theater.

Norman stared at his beautiful wife and her coworker dancing for the music that they will be performing, looking at her in awe that he could've sworn that died out a long time ago. This time, he's determined to keep it forevermore.

After everything was set up, Maya noticed something...a bit different than what she's used to. For a long time, her mother had told her that people are dangerous and rude but...today, she found it to be the exact opposite of that. Everyone was helping, building each other up while tearing down used cardboards. She noticed a couple of the animals playing with one another temporarily before going right back to work while smiling.

She had never seen this kind of community before and she certainly had never been a part of it.

Everything was set up and ready to go for tomorrow as Johnny and Ash drove Maya home and dropped her off by her house, so that she could get inside and waved to them goodbye.

Maya smiled to herself as she entered back into the house, vacant and lonely but she didn't mind. She hid her phone and the box under the bed and took a bath to get the paint off of her.

She sighed deeply in relaxation, her eyes closed in deep thought.

Was this all fake?

Maya wanted to ask this since her mind has been invaded by the thoughts of today, with everyone helping each other and working together like they were a community. And she was a part of it...without begging them to join or even forced herself to participate. She was included, she was cared for...something that her mother claimed that she will never have.

Then, her thoughts were ambushed by the thought of Buster. His gentle eyes peeking over her shoulder. A small smile formed from his thin lips and his encouraging voice that made her smile every time she heard it. She never felt so eager to see anyone again, including her own mother. She didn't remember ever being eager to meet someone again just as much as Buster Moon. It's not even just Buster but her new friends, who made her feel like she belonged. Johnny, the gorilla who drove her to the theater. Ash, the porcupine who let her watch her play guitar. Meena, the soft-spoken elephant who gave her pointers and advice on how to handle the stage. Even Ms. Crawly. There were other names that Maya has forgotten about but they also made her feel special.

She felt like she wanted to fly out of the nest her mother built so lovingly to keep her daughter safe and soar through the skies into the Moon Theater.

When she's done with her bath and the paint was washed off of her fur, she began to dance and hummed to the music, sweeping the floor and dusting the wood in the huge house. Music was played in her mind while her humming made it come out of her brain. She twirled and danced with a broom.

"Maya!" She heard her mother called as she opened the door with a bright smile.

Maya's mother entered the house while Maya shut the door.

"Welcome home, mother!" Maya replied to her mother with a bright grin.

"Ugh, today was horrible, darling. There are a group of protesters outside of the mall and they all stormed into the mall! Such rude customers!" Maya's mother groaned while sitting on the living couch to relax. "People are horrible. Don't ever forget that, Maya."

Maya's smile didn't fade for a second from her mother's discouragement, which her mother immediately noticed.

"What got you so chipper today?" Maya's mother asked with a small smile.

"Oh, nothing, mother. Just having a good day here," Maya lied and her mother bought the lie.

"I'm glad you're enjoying your stay. Are there any bothersome counters from Buster Moon?" Her mother growled at the name of Buster Moon.

Maya shook her head. "Nope, he's no longer bothering me."

"Good. And you turned down that job?"

Maya nodded her head. "Yep. I did."

"Good girl. You don't need people like him in your life."

Maya smiled at the thought of Buster. "Yes, mother."

To Be Continued...