Thinking about this upset Rachel, and whenever Rachel felt upset she liked to write in her diary to get her thoughts out. She reached for her diary, and then suddenly remembered she had forgotten to write in it last night. This was the one thing Rachel was strict with herself about: she never wanted a day a to go by without documenting it.
Rachel opened a page, backdated it, and wrote about her crazy first night out with the girls.
When she finished writing, she locked it up. If her parents ever saw this entry, she knew they would be pissed.
The time was 10:15am and Rachel’s stomach began to growl. She was a little nervous to face her parents but knew she couldn’t stay in her room all day. As she headed into the kitchen, her parents were sitting there, still in their pajamas, reading the New York Times and drinking coffee. They looked up at her but didn’t say anything. Their stares made her feel guilty all over again.
Rachel’s parents sat there quietly and Rachel could tell they were still mad. She went over to the cupboard to get out the Golden Grahams, some milk from the fridge and then sat quietly across from them at the kitchen table. The room was still, and nobody said anything.
She felt torn; she desperately wanted to tell her parents the truth, but feared their response. She wished she could have a more open relationship with them, but they were so overprotective, she figured it was best to shelter them from the truth.
As she tilted the bowl back to sip the remaining drops of milk into her mouth her dad finally spoke.
“Don’t forget: no TV, or radio today -- and don’t even think about going out with your friends tonight. You are grounded until Monday morning.”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Rachel said, trying to be sympathetic.
She thought about her punishment and realized they had forgotten to take away her cell phone away. Usually, when they grounded her, her cell it is the first thing they held hostage.
Before they could remember Rachel cleared her dishes, put away the cereal and milk and headed upstairs. If she sat there any longer she was sure they would have remembered her cell.
Rachel unplugged her cell phone, charging on her nightstand, and looked at it.
1 New Message:
Hoping it was Rob texting about their date tonight, Rachel opened the phone.
Dana: Hey Rach, went to the movies last night, we missed you.
Reading this, Rachel felt sad. She remembered how simple her life was back in Pennsylvania. She rarely got in trouble, and hanging out with her friends never turned into a crazy ordeal either. She wished she could be back with her old friends now, doing the fun things she used to do: but now she was thrust into this different world she knew little about.
Rachel didn’t feel up to rehashing her whole night over a text message, but she didn’t want to be rude and not text back, even though Dana had been remiss about contacting Rachel the past few days.
Rachel: Hey! Sounds so fun, wish I could have been there, I went out, too. Let’s chat later.
Rachel had hoped that Dana’s text was Rob texting her instead. She was anxious for Rob to text her about the party, but she also didn’t know how she would respond. Could she really tell him that she had been grounded for staying out past her 11pm curfew? She couldn’t bear to do that. She knew that if she told anyone that she was grounded, her friends would think she was lame. Not to mention, they would hate her parents, and Rachel didn’t want that.
Rachel pondered her options. She had to find a way to get to Jordan’s party and to see Rob, but she didn’t see how that would ever fly with her parents. Rachel knew if she tried to reason with them, they would get angrier and might ground her for longer -- so she knew that wasn’t an option.
She wondered if she had Rob show up and ring her bell, that maybe her parents would feel bad and let her go out. But she didn’t think that would work because she knew she wouldn’t get the sympathy card tonight.
Suddenly, Rachel had an idea. Today was Saturday, and she knew her parents always went out on Saturday nights for dinner. Rachel could sneak out. She had never snuck out of her house before, but tonight was not just another night out with the girls -- this was her BIG date night with Rob, and she couldn’t miss it for the world.
The one hiccup in the plan was that Rachel wasn’t sure if her parents were going out this Saturday, because it was their first Saturday in the new house and they might still be unpacking, or have other things to do around the house. They might also be too tired after the craziness she had put them through last night. She had to find out.
But how?
Rachel knew that if she asked them straight out, they would know something was up; Rachel never inquired about their plans before, so why would she start doing it now? Especially when she was grounded?
Suddenly, a stroke of genius entered her brain. She figured out the perfect way to find out their plans, while not letting on that she was really trying to find a way to sneak out.
Rachel felt torn about her idea. She knew if she went forward with it, she would have to tell a lie -- but if she didn’t go through with it, she may let the love of her life slip through her fingers. The battle in her mind went on for a few minutes, and then she decided she couldn’t miss her date with Rob, she had to lie to her parents.
Rachel left her room and headed to find her parents. They were sitting in the living room, sorting through boxes. As she entered the room, her parents stopped and looked up at her.
“What are you doing down here?” asked her dad.
“Well, I was going through my homework and then I realized that part of my science homework was to watch an episode of Planet Earth.”
“You’re grounded. No TV,” her dad replied.
“But, how will I do my homework? I can’t go in without it and it’s due Monday morning, 3rd period.”
Rachel’s mom looked at her, then turned towards her dad and said, “I think we need to make an exception, Dear. She isn’t watching it for pleasure -- it is her homework. We can’t let her grades slip because she is grounded.”
“What time is it on?” her dad snapped.
“It starts at 8:30 tonight.”
Rachel knew that there was a Phillies game on tonight and her parents were huge fans: arguably, their number one fans. She knew that if they were not going out for dinner, they would be sitting in front of the only TV they had in their house, watching the game. They wouldn’t let anything get in the way of their beloved baseball team.
Rachel knew her plan was working. Here parents looked at each other and looked at the clock hanging in the corner of the room.