Metamorphosis

I ran as fast as I could to get to my house. Its 9 p.m and I’m surely going to be grounded! I rang the bell. Dad opened the door and slapped me on the face at once.
“Where have you been?!” he shouted.
“I told you I had dinner at Daniel’s! I know I’m late home, I’m sorry.” I said sobbing.
“Do you know what time this is? It’s NINE!! You’re one hour late!”
“Dad, I had to wait for the rain to stop, and I had to wait for the bus! It would have been easier if I brought my car, but you didn’t allow me to drive at night! Besides, I sent you a text message telling you that I would be late,” I feel sad and angry at my dad. For goodness sake, I’m 16 years of age and my Dad still treats me as a 5 year old girl! “I’m going to take a hot shower and sleep,” I said walking away.
“You’re grounded for a month!” Dad shouted again. It’s really scary hearing him shout like that.
“Whatever.”
         After having a long hot shower, I lie on my bed and turn the TV on. I reach for my cell phone and dial Daniel’s number.
“Hi honey...” Daniel picked up the phone.
“Hi... Why aren’t you sleeping?” I said, almost whispering.
“Nuh..I’m still watching TV. What wrong with you honey? Is it your dad again?”
I sighed, “Yeah... I’m grounded for a month!”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. But you told your dad you were going to be late, didn’t you?” Daniel sounded as if it was his fault that I got grounded.
“Yeah, I did. But you know how my dad treats me! I just don’t understand his way of thinking. I hate it!” My tears ran down my face.
“Sophie, listen. I know how it feels to be sixteen. That happened to me too, three years ago. My parents couldn’t trust me. I got grounded so often just because I would rather hang out with my friends than stay at home doing homework. One day, I returned home late at night and they didn’t open the door for me. So I slept in my car.” Daniel is surely trying to calm me down.
“Oh, my god! What happened the next morning?” I asked, listening to him carefully.
“My parents, especially Mum was very mad. She kept shouting at me and I got kicked out of the house because I walked away from her and slammed my bedroom door so hard. Mum cried and Dad started to get mad at me too,” Daniel stopped for a big sigh, “I had really tough times back then. I decided to look for a little flat to rent and moved in. Fortunately, I had already had my part time job so I didn’t really have to rely on my parents about money. Knowing that I have to be responsible for myself, I started to live more mature. My grades were getting better, I don’t come home late, and I began to save my money for university. I felt my life was starting to get better and everything fell into place. My parents visited my flat one day and they were amazed at how neat it was. They were also surprised at the fact that I could cook! Since then, I was allowed to live at home again. I realized my parents were just simply worried over me.”
“Wow! You never told me about that!”
Daniel laughed, “I’m telling you now! Well, we’ve only had a month of relationship. There’s still a lot we need to know about each other.”
“You’re right. But I’m more convinced now that I’ve chosen the right guy,” I said wiping my tears. Daniel did a really good job on calming me down. He made me feel I’m not alone.
“Thanks. Sophie, I really want to take care of you. If you have anything at all, don’t hesitate to come to me.”
“Thanks. But what am I going to do now? A month grounded!”
“We can still see each other. I can pick you up after school. Just give me a call.”
“Alright, I think I’m going to sleep now. Thanks for the night.”
“My pleasure.”
         Since that incident on Saturday night, I hardly had spoken to my Dad. Mum wasn’t as angry as Dad. But I thought it’d be better not to talk a lot to both of them. Most of the day, beside school I just stay in my room. Lucky that it’s a very comfortable room. I decorated it. I chose pink-white-purple vertical stripes for my wallpaper, there’s a bookshelf in one of the corner of the room, my bedcover is white with lots of cute pillows on my bed, there’s a table beside my bed with my laptop on it, and the TV is a 21 inch flat TV in front of my bed.  I used most of my time to read books, listening to music from my laptop or write stuff, watch TV, and do my homework. It’s really boring. I wish I could hang out with my friends after school. We usually go to the movie, play ice skating, ride our bikes or just simply go to the coffee shop and chat.
         Someone knocked on my door which I hung the ‘privacy’ sign, I was doing my homework while listening to instrumental music. I read on one of the magazines that it’s important for the brain, so that we can learn effectively or something.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“It’s me. Daniel’s waiting for you in the living room. He’s with Jess and Kate.” It was Mum’s voice.
“Ok. I’ll go downstairs in a minute.” I quickly put on an appropriate shirt and pants.
“Hey there!” I greeted them all.
“Hey!” They all replied.
“Sophie, they wanted to talk to you and they asked me to drive them here. Lucky that I’m such a nice person,” said Daniel laughing.
Jess and Kate laughed too. I just smiled wide.
“Yes, you are such a nice person, Dan! Sophie’s lucky to have you!” Jess said, hugging me, “How are you, girl?”
“I’m alright. Well, not really. But it’s not that bad,” now I hugged Kate and Daniel. Daniel added a kiss on my forehead.
“We didn’t see you at lunch today. Where were you?” Kate asked, looking as though she knows how I’m feeling.
“I was at the library. I just felt I wanted to spend my time alone.”
“Look, Sophie. We know that you’re grounded and you still feel bad about your dad. But who are we? We’re your friends! And if one of us got a problem, we all share it! So that none of us would feel lonely. We’re here for you, Sophie,” Kate is holding my left hand while Jess holds my right. I’m sitting in the middle of them on the living room couch. Daniel is sitting in front of me.
“I know that. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to avoid you,” I sighed, “You should have seen my dad that night. I feel really bad since then.”
Jess and Kate are now hugging me, “You don’t have to feel bad all the time. Stand up to yourself, Sophie!” said Jess supporting me.
“Look. Erica’s throwing her birthday party next Sunday night. Here’s the invitation for you. She said she hasn’t seen you around,” Kate handed me the envelope.
“Oh. I can’t...” I said before opening the envelope.
“I said we’re here for you. We’ve already planned something,” said Kate, looking excited.
“What is it?”
“We’re going to ask for your parents’ permission. We’re going to talk to them. The three of us! This is the chance for you to convince your parents that you’re trustworthy and you’re no longer a little kid!”
“I will drive you home, therefore I will also talk to your parents,” Daniel spoke up.
“Jess and I will explain them where the party’s going to be held and why you should come.”
“Really? Are you guys brave enough to do that? I mean, it’s my parents we’re talking about! My dad! You know how strict he is!”
“If we gain our forces, anything could be done! Hopefully…” Jess tried to convince me.
“Yeah…”
“We don’t want you to suffer from this parents’-trust crisis, Sophie! We understand that it doesn’t feel good. That’s why we want to help you. Now, please let us help you,” Jess said, making me cry. I felt really thankful that I have them as my friends.
“Thanks a lot you, guys! I’m really thankful I have you by my side.”
“That’s what friends are for…”
         For the rest of the day that week, I spent more time with Jess, Kate and Daniel who kept on reassuring me and supporting me.
         Sunday has finally arrived. Jess, Kate and Dan came over to my house at 3. Mum and Dad don’t know about our plan yet. The four of us had snack in my backyard.
         At 5, I asked mum and dad to come to the living room because I have something to talk about. Jess and Kate looked a bit nervous, I could tell. Daniel stayed calm. He’s always like that. Always look calm and good at calming people down.
“What is it you want to talk about, Sophie?” Dad asked, curious, looking at the four of us.
“Um...Mr and Mrs McVeigh,” Jess started, “We know that Sophie’s been grounded for almost two weeks now, and there’s another two weeks before she’s allowed to hang out again.” Dad looked as if he knows where this conversation leads to, “Um... Well, our friend Erica is throwing her seventeenth birthday party tonight. Here’s the invitation,” Jess put the invitation on the table between where we and my parents sits; “Erica is a good friend of ours, and we think that it’s really important if Sophie could come too.”
“And I will be very happy to drop her home at ten, Mr and Mrs McVeigh,”  said Daniel.
“Ten? That’s an hour past her bedtime,” Dad said. I almost rolled my eyes at him.
“Well… Um... We know that. But it’s not often that Sophie go out until late at night, is it? Besides, Sophie’s sixteen. She knows how to look after herself and we’ll also be at the party with her,” said Kate trying to convince my dad.
“I personally don’t like girls to hang around outside their house until late at night. It’s dangerous out there. But this time, because you guys are going to look after her, I think it’s not a problem,” Mum said very wisely. We all smiled.
“You’ve still got two more weeks of punishment, Sophie! You know that!” said dad, frowning. Here we go again!
“I know, but dad… You know how important it is to come to a party when someone is invited!” I tried to give my point of view.
“Oh…Is that really that important? Can’t you just call her and say happy birthday?”
“I did.”
“Well, that’s it! Case closed.”
Mum bit her lip, “Andrew, don’t be too hard on her.”
“Eliza! What’s wrong with you? Do you want our kid to be out there in the middle of the night? Playing with her friends at a glamour party?! She’s a girl for goodness sake!” Dad’s shouting at the top of his lungs now, “Besides, there’s still two weeks of punishment.”
“Dad! It’s not a glamour party! And I’ll arrive back home at ten! I promise,” I felt like I’m almost crying. Jess and Kate also looked scared.
“No!” With that, Dad went to his room and slammed the door shut.
“I’m sorry girls. I don’t think Sophie can come.”
“But mum… You allowed me to go.”
“Honey, you must respect dad. I will talk to him about this problem. I’m afraid you must wait until your punishment days is over to be able to hang out with your friends again.”
I just nodded trying hard to hold my tears. Mum went to where dad went in and closed the door softly. Then I burst into tears. Jess is ready with a box of tissue in her hand. They all hugged me, “See? Did you see that?! Now you know how scared I was!”
“Calm down, Sophie. I’m sure you’re dad will allow you after your punishment days is over.”
“You guys better go now, otherwise you’ll be late for the party,” I said to Jess and Kate. They both nodded.
“I’ll be back as soon as I’ve dropped them,” Daniel said to me. This time, I nodded.
“Tell Erica I’m really sorry.”
“We will. Take care of yourself, will you?” said Jess.
I smiled, “Yes, I will. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me today. I owe you guys a lot.”
         After Dan’s car couldn’t be seen. I went inside my room and closed the door. I didn’t bother to lock it like I usually do. I threw myself on my bed and stayed in that position until I heard Dan’s car honking in front of my house. I ran and open the front gate.
“Feeling better?” Dan asked.
“Yeah… Hardly did anything since you left.”
“How’s your dad?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know. He hasn’t come out of his room.”
         Daniel and I sat in front of the TV in the family room. I turned on the TV.
“Hey, do you want hot chocolate?” I asked. He likes my hot chocolate.
“I’d love that! Can I come, and see how you make it?”
“Sure.”
         We ran to the kitchen and I started to boil some water and prepared chocolate powder and chocolate pasta.
“You don’t look that bad anymore,” Dan said, helping me with the cups.
“That’s because you’re here,” I smiled at him.
Daniel laughed, “I’m glad.” He said, watching me pour the hot water into the two cups and add chocolates to them, “You don’t have any problem with your grades, do you?”
I looked at him, “Well, some of them weren’t as good as they were last semester. Why? It seems like you’re trying to read my mind.”
Dan laughed again. I like it when he laugh, or smile, which he does a lot. They make him look really cute. “Well, I don’t want you to be disturbed with all these things going on in your house. You said you’re aiming for a scholarship, right?”
“Yup! Just like you,” I said stirring the hot chocolate.
“There’s a lot to do to get that aim. Make sure you’re doing your best. I really support you on that. University isn’t cheap.”
I smiled, looking at him straight into his eyes. That’s what I like about Daniel. He’s cute, smart, and calm, he seems to know what to do in every situation and he always supports me in everything that I want to do as long as they’re positive. And in times like this, when he’s there for me, I’m glad that I have him and love him, “I know. Thanks for that. You know what? I really fell in love with you,” I whispered. With that, I put a soft kiss on his lips.
         We both spent the rest of the night watching DVD. I also made dinner for the two of us. Mum and dad are already asleep, I guess. Their lights are out. It’s one of the longest nights I ever had.
         For the next two weeks, I tried to take it easy and I already get used to it, anyway. I had more time to concentrate on my studies. Jess and Kate are the ones who balance my life. There’s a quote that says, “Many people walked in and out of your life but only true friends will leave footprints in your heart.” I agree with that!
         It’s another Saturday night and I’m in my room watching TV. My punishment is supposed to be over by now. But I don’t really care. Then there’s a knock on my door.
“Come in.”
Mum opened the door, “Dad and I would like to talk to you downstairs.”
I sighed and got to my feet. Put on my slippers and walked downstairs. Dad’s sitting on the family room couch. Mum sits next to him and I sit in front of them.
“I know it’s been really hard for you, Sophie. But I’m glad you did well,” Dad started, “Mum and I have talked about it. She made me realized that you’re no longer a little kid. Do you know why I was so worried, Sophie?” he asked me.
I wanted to shake my head but somehow my mouth started talking, “Because I’m the only kid you have. And I’m a girl.”
“That’s right! I know its very cliché. But it’s true. As a parent, especially a dad, I feel I have the responsibility to take care of the family. The one that I’m most worried about is of course you, Sophie. I know how wild it is out there. Parties, drugs, free sex, they’re just a few. I don’t want you to get involve in those!”
“I understand,” I said looking at the red carpet under my feet.
“But now I understand. I realized I shouldn’t be too hard on you. I should have guided you, not telling you off like that. I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright… I understand.”
“Well, I guess right now, you must decide everything on your own,” he said, smiling.
“Really?” I asked, not believing.
“Yes. But that will mean, you have to be responsible for every decisions you make. Don’t worry, your mum and I will still be here for you,” said my dad grinning to mum.
“Thanks dad!” I said hugging him and mum
         Since that night, I started a completely new life. I feel like I could appreciate life better and best of all, my best friends are still there and my boyfriend of course. The best I ever have! They’ve been watching the metamorphosis of me, an ordinary girl, who have grown mature and is free to fly.