Dad's hands were spread out on the counter in a display of angsty contemplation. His face was beet red – I knew I was fucked.
"I honestly don't know what to do with you, Teddy. Your mom and I try to go out and have a nice night…" He drifted off. I could see he was attempting to maintain control. It pissed me off – he had no right to be so ridiculously angry.
"Both Phoebe and I know all you guys do is go to your old apartment so you can get away from us," I jabbed. I knew I was touching boiling water, but the sooner the pot spilled over, the better. "Don't pretend like I ruined some fancy million-dollar dinner or something."
"It's none of your business what we were doing! I mean, Jesus, look at you, you're even drunk! Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you could have gotten in?"
Whoa. Dad was raging even more than usual. I must've hit a button. I dropped my hands in frustration. "Oh come on, are you seriously going to tell me you never snuck out when you were a teenager?" I knew I had him there.
"That's completely beside the point. You were grounded. And in our house, grounded means no going out – and definitely no drinking. How on earth do you expect us to trust you if we can't leave you alone for even one Goddamn evening?"
Mom stepped in. "Teddy, go down to your room now. Your dad and I will decide your punishment." She folded her arms and sighed. "I'm very disappointed. I know our happiness doesn't seem that important you right now but parents need to spend time together alone. And your selfish move tonight makes that impossible. We clearly can't leave without hiring you a babysitter."
I really wanted to tell her I'd love a babysitter – a skinny, blonde one – but I held back. She really did look pained like I'd ruined something really special.
What on earth do they do at that apartment?
I slunk downstairs and tried to ignore the mumbled murmurs I could hear coming through the vent. Something told me the next couple of weekends were going to be very boring.
I lay on the bed and pulled out my cell phone, feeling pretty lucky they forgot to take it from me. Maybe if I had this sucker on-hand, I could survive at least the rest of this weekend.
I turned it on to find a text message. It was from an unrecognized number:
"Did your parents flip out?"
I looked at the number – it was local. My first thought was that it must be Emma, but there was no way she was texting me after that whole charade we went through tonight. But the only other person who knew I was grounded was…could it be Athena?
I texted back:
"Who is this?"
There was no response at first. I began to worry.
Did I scare her off? Maybe I should have said 'please'?
I switched over to my browser to distract myself with sports news while I waited for an answer. Five minutes later it finally came:
"Who do you think?"
Oh, she wants to play games, does she?
"If it's Lindsay Lohan, I'm going to be very disappointed."
I smiled to myself. This had better be Athena or this conversation is going to go downhill fast.
The familiar text tone chimed.
"Are you saying you don't like plaid skirts?"
Score! It was Athena. She was referencing Mean Girls.
I'm just a little ashamed that I know that reference. But hey, if it gets the girl…
My energy returned and suddenly I didn't give a damn what horrific punishment my parents were upstairs planning. I had a game to play.
"I like them very much. In fact, I was sad I didn't get to see one tonight…"
Ding!
"Well unless you know of a magical clothing store where you can buy clothes that clean themselves, you're going to have to settle for the awful black skirt every now and then."
Oooooooo. She was digging for compliments. Good sign.
"I liked the black skirt very much too. I wouldn't mind seeing that again."
Crumpled up on my bedroom floor…
Before I could respond, I sent her another message.
"How did you get this number?"
Ding!
"Wouldn't you like to know"
"Why yes, in fact, I would. I don't like stubborn women."
Ding!
"Lol – I doubt that. Let's just say, I'm much smarter than you think."
"I doubt that."
Ding!
"Excuse me, dickhead?"
"Before you get your panties in a twist, I just meant that I think you're very smart. Sheesh."
Ding!
"Oh…one of your friends at the party gave me your number before I left. I guess he thought I might need it lol?"
"That's very anti-climactic."
Ding!
"I hope that's unusual for you."
Damn! She's bold too.
"Teddy! Come back upstairs for a few minutes, please."
Why is their timing always terrible?
I texted Athena one more time:
"I have to go, parents want to pronounce sentence. I'll text you in the morning."
Ding!
"Not if I text you first."
I entered her number into my phone under "Red Plaid Skirt" and ran upstairs to face the music.
How do you like it so far? Ana and Christian still have their apartment - what does is this mean? And what will Teddy's punishment be? I love feedback so tell me your thoughts in the comments!