Parker's Island (6 page)

“I didn’t get a message
,
”
m
y dad said, hinting that I was lying.

“I didn’t leave one!  I thought the note would be sufficient.”

“Delaney, it’s not that we don’t trust you…it’s just that, well, you have to be careful.  Boys don’t always have the best intentions
,
”
m
y mom said, trying to calm my dad down a bit.  “Are you dating one of those boys in the car?”

“NO!  I’m not dating anyone.” 

“Okay, if you say you were at the movies, then fine.  What movie did you see?”
m
y dad asked.

Oh GREAT!  I almost lied, but figured I had done enough of that lately,
and it would only make things worse
.  I
took a deep breath and said,
“We saw Beyond Eternity.”  I was hoping they wouldn’t know anything about it since they weren’t movie-goers.  But my hope was futile because my mother had heard all about the movie from one of
the
ladies in
our
congregation.

“You saw what?  Delaney, that movie is TRASH!  How could you see that when you know how we feel about R-rated movies?  Mrs. Jenkins said that movie was full of sex, nudity and foul language.  I can’t tell you how disappointed we are in you!” 

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I spent most of the time in the lobby.”

“You shouldn’t have gone to see it in the first place!  You shouldn’t have left the house without permission and you certainly shouldn’t have been out seeing that movie with a boy!”  My mom was furious now.
             
“Mom, I told you, I didn’t go with a boy
.  W
e all just went as a group.  I didn’t know that the movie was going to be that bad.” 

“Well, it’s too late now.  Delaney, I think you need to spend some time at home for a while
,
”
m
y dad said.

“What, you’re grounding me?  Are you serious?”
I asked, stunned.

“You’re darn right we’re serious.  You have been very di
sta
nt lately. 
We’re worried about you. 
You’ve been moody and tearful, with no explanations and now you’re sneaking out to films you know we don’t approve of, and with boys on top of it.  You’re grounded!”
m
y mom added.

“I can’t believe this!  I’m grounded for doing absolutely NOTHING wrong.  GREAT!”

“You know what you did wrong
,
”
m
y dad said, looking thoroughly disappointed in me.

“The only thing that I did wrong was to tell you anything at all about what I did tonight.  I’m 17 years old, not a baby! 
I can legally walk in to any R-rated movie that I want to see.  Yes, there were boys there, but none of them were with ME! 
Besides, I am old enough to date if I was so inclined. 
This
is ridiculous!”

“The fact remains
.  Y
ou’re grounded until further notice
,
”
m
y dad said, pointing his finger toward the stairs, letting me know our conversation was over and I was to go to my room.

“Well, since I don’t have a boyfriend or even a life, I guess being grounded is no big deal!”  I said, and stormed off to my room.

Chapter
Two
:
Graduation
-
Countdown…to M
isery

I spent
my
entire spring break in my room, which gave me plenty of time to think abou
t the dwindling days that I had left with Logan.  Twenty-eight school days left, to be exact.  In twenty-eight days, my life would be over!  “Oh, stop being so melodramatic!” I told myself.

It was the end of spring break
.
I’d been locked up in my room for six days now and I felt more and more betrayed by
my
parents each passing day.  I had never once in my 17 years done anything wrong.  Nothing!  I see one R-rated movie with some friends and suddenly I have no morals
and deserve to be locked up.

Conversations were strained at best
at my house over the
break. 
Although we shared a nice Easter Meal, there wasn’t much chatting at the table. 
Even
my little brother
Seth
felt the tension and
kept his opinions to himself.
 
I can’t ever remember feeling so uncomfortable in my own home.  I hated feeling like I had disappointed them, even though I felt I had
been falsely accused.

I was really looking forward to going back to school the next morning
;
n
ot only to see Logan, but to get away from
the disappointment
I kept seeing in
my parent
’
s
eyes.  I couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t listen to reason.  Did they honestly believe I was hiding a boyfriend,
and
carrying on behind their backs? 

Molly picked me up the
next morning,
and a
s I was heading out the door, my Dad said, “
Just because school’s back in
,
doesn’t mean you’re free to…”

“To what
,
Dad
?  J
ust what exactly do you think I’m going to do?” I asked incredulously.

“I’m just reminding you that you’re still grounded
,
”
h
e said,
and
then went
back to reading his paper.

“Fine
!” was all I could say a
s
I
slammed the door on my way out of the house
.

I got into Molly’s car, threw my backpack on the floor and said, “I’m still grounded!  I guess ‘until further notice’ means indefinitely!”

“I’m so sorry
,
Delaney!  I had no idea that stupid movie would get you into so much trouble.”

“It’s not your fault.  Besides, it’s not just the movie.  For some reason
my parents have it in their head that I have a boyfriend that I’m keeping from them.”

“Boy
,
have they got it wrong!”

“No kidding.”

“So they think one of the guys in my car was this mystery man?”
s
he asked, looking guilty.

“
I don’t know.  They just have it in their heads that I’m in an inappropriate relationship,
and
head over heels with some guy.  I can’t seem to convince them otherwise.”

“That sucks!  I can’t believe they grounded you for NOTHING!  If you’re going to get grounded, then you should at least be able to look back and say, ‘Yeah, that was worth it!’”
s
he grinned, trying to lighten up the mood, but I was already focused on the guy standing under
a
tree by the gym.  I sighed and Molly followed my gaze.

“
You’re parents are right
about one thing
,
you know
.  Y
ou ARE completely head over heels
,
” she said, shaking her head.

“I know, I just…”

“You just what?”
s
he asked, looking at me with sympathetic eyes.

“I just can’t help it.  There’s something about him, and I just can’t let it go.”  He looked up and met my gaze.  For once, I couldn’t look away
.
I just stared at him until Molly smacked me
on
the shoulder.

“O
h,
for Heaven’s sake
, g
o talk to him
,
already!”

“You know what
?  Yo
u’re absolutely right!” 
My undeserved week of solitude
had
actually instilled a little courage in me and
I grabbed my backpack and jumped out of the car.  “Thanks
,
Molly
,
” I smiled and turned to follow my heart. 
But, a
s I
made my way
toward the gym, I realized he was already gone.

My new-
found courage
slowly
crumbled as I
walked
to class.  “So the countdown begins
,
” I thought to myself as I walked into first period and saw him shuffling through his notes.  “Only 28 days left
.
”
I took a deep breath and
slowly
made my way to my seat, watching him intently with every step.

Resigned to being alone forever, I sat down next to him and
warily
said, “Hi.”

“Hi
,
Delaney.  How was your
week
off?”

Oh
,
please stop smiling at me.  Why did he have to be so PERFECT?  “It was fine
,
”
w
as all I manage
d
to say.

“
So did you enjoy the movie?” 

“What?  Oh yeah
,
the movie.  Well, it wasn’t really my kind of movie.”

“What did you see?”

Suddenly I was too embarrassed to admit
that I had seen that particular
movie, so I lied
, once again
,
“I don’t remember the name of it.”

“Who was in it?”
h
e pressed.

“I thought you weren’t in to movies?” I snapped, irritated that he
was reminding me
not only
of
his rejection, but my
undeserved punishment
.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to snap at you.  It was
just
a very long week
.  How was your spring break?”
I asked, feeling horrible that I
had
lashed out at him. 

“It was fine.  Why was your week so…long?”
h
e asked.

“I was grounded!”

“What did you do?”
 

“Nothing!  That’s the problem.”

“I’m not following you
,
”
h
e said, looking confused.

“My parents think…”

Just then our teacher welcomed us all back from spring break with a “pop quiz.”  Once again, our conversation was interrupted.

Much to my surprise, Logan walked with me to our next class and asked me again what I did to get grounded.

I was embarrassed to tell him, but
I really didn’t want to lie
again
,
either
.  “My parents didn’t
approve of
my choice of movie.”

“I’m still not following you.”

“I went to
the
movie with
my
friends and I left them a note.  Evidently, a note wasn’t good enough. 
Then I saw a movie they didn’t approve of. 
I’m 17 years old
.  Y
ou’d think I wouldn’t need
explicit
verbal
permission to go to a movie.”

“Were you out late or something?”
h
e pressed.

“No.
  In fact, I was home an hour before I said I would be.
”

“
You
r parent’s
seem pretty
strict.”

“They didn’t use
d
to be.  At least I didn’t think they were.”

“There must be something…more.
 
I can’t believe they’d ground you for a
n entire
week
just
for that.”

“Oh, I’m grounded ‘until further notice,’ whatever that means.
  They think that I’m…”
I sighed
, feeling frustrated
.

“
That y
ou’re what?”

“They think I’m in a relationship with someone and I’m hiding it from them.
  The whole thing
is
ridiculous!
”