"MAIL CALL!" I hear my dad shout from downstairs.

I race downstairs to get to the mail. I have anxiously awaited for my college acceptance letter to Rhode Island College. It is my last chance to get the hell out of this town. I have been denied by almost every school in the state, and I don't know what I'll do if I get rejected. Rhode Island College has an 87% acceptance rate, so there's no need to worry, right?

"Mail for Brian, Lois, Chris," my says as he passes everyone their mail.

"Is there anything for me," I ask excitedly.

"Geez, relax, Meg. It's only mail, "my mom says as she reads through her mail.

"Yeah, why are you so excited?" Brain asks me.

"Oh, I think I know why, "my dad says as he holds up an envelope. "It looks like someone's boyfriend wrote them a letter."

"OO!" my family says, teasing me.

"Is that for me?" I ask annoyed, trying to snatch the envelope from his hands.

"READ IT! READ IT!" I hear Chris chanting as my dad blocks me from reaching the envelope.

"Ahem," my dad clears his throat as he reads my letter. "Dear Ms. Griffin," my dad begins.

"This guy is very formal, huh?" I hear Stewie babble something to Brain. Sometimes I wish I could understand what he is saying.

"After carefully reviewing your application, we regret to inform you that we are not able to offer you admission to our university."

"What?" I ask my dad now that I have successfully retrieved the letter from his hands. I can't believe it; I didn't get in.

"Ouch, those breakups are tough." My father starts, "I know what will cheer you up. How about we all go to your favorite restaurant?"

"MCBURGERTOWN!" Everyone shouts as they rush to the car.

Not only is that NOT my favorite restaurant, but my family doesn't even check to see if I'm in the car before driving off. Once again, another family outing that I am not invited to. I'm used to the treatment by now, but it would still be nice to know that someone in my family cares. I take my letter back upstairs to my room, still rereading the letter, hoping that the words on the paper will magically change and provide me with instructions on the next step to enrolling into college.

Now that I won't be attending a four-year college, I wonder what will happen next. I graduate next week, and I have nowhere else to go. I could always attend the local community college, but then I would still be stuck in Quahog until I could find a job and move out. But that could take forever, and I'm ready now.

I pull out my phone and scroll through my Facebook timeline. Well, this definitely isn't helping to take my mind off of my family or my rejection letter. My timeline is full of my friends, well, people I know, who are posting their college acceptance letters. One thing I can't help but notice in most of their posts is the family members and friends commenting on or being featured in their posts, congratulating them. It must feel nice to be shown that kind of affection, even if it is through electronic communication. As I continue to scroll through my timeline, I see a post from my mom. They're all at McBurgertown, sitting down and eating their food in a picture-perfect family moment. Dad looks like he is sharing a laugh with Brian and Chris, Stewie is sitting in a highchair enjoying a kiddie meal trying to show off the toy that came with his meal, and Mom is taking the photo with one hand as she attempts to clean Stewie's face with a napkin in the other hand. And no post on Facebook is complete without a caption.

"Nothing more important than spending time with the people you love."

Glad everyone is enjoying themselves at my expense. Wow, this picture could easily be plastered on a billboard if I didn't know my family. Oh, and look, my mom has received 58 likes and 20 comments. Out of all the twenty comments that include my grandfather, grandmother, aunt, and neighbors who have known us for years, no one even bothers to ask, "Where's Meg?" Okay, that is enough sulking for the afternoon. Might as well call it a day, wait. I have a friend request? That's odd, it's very rare that I get a friend request.

"Beth Bethany." Oh my God. I haven't seen Beth in years. She was one of my best friends until she moved away in tenth grade. Of course, I'm accepting her friend request. Damn, she still looks good. I look over her profile picture and noticed that still has light blonde hair, now styled into a choppy bob, and is still wearing her traditional pink lipstick. She was always the prettiest one out of my friends. I can't believe she even used to hang out with us. I'm surprised Connie D'Amico never tried to recruit her. Just before my thoughts of cringe being to flood my brain at the many failed attempts I had made to get Connie to notice me, I see that Beth has sent me a message on Facebook.

"Remember this?"

It's a picture of Me, Beth, Ester, Patty, and Ruth at my first sleepover. I remember this. That was my first and only sleepover. That was also the same week that my dad found out that he was mentally challenged and put my mom in the hospital when he accidentally caused hot grease to splash on her. Social services had to intervene, and Cleveland temporarily took my brothers and me in.

"Yeah, I do, lol. We spent the night with one of my neighbors after my dad accidentally put my mom in the hospital."

"That was a fun night, except when your other pervy neighbor with the big chin was spying on us from behind the couch….or when I woke up to find your brother watching me sleep."

"Who else but Quagmire?" I chuckle to myself while continuing to message Beth.

"I had fun that night too, sorry if my brother and neighbor freaked you out."

"LOL, it is okay. I'm going to be in Quahog next week for my cousin's graduation, and I wanted to know if we could link up afterward."

"I would love to."

"Can't wait to see you. I just thought about it. I'll probably see you at graduation, too. You still attend James Wood High?"

"Yeah, only now it has been renamed Adam West High."

"Oh yeah, I forgot they renamed it. I guess a lot of things have changed since I moved, huh?

"PETER GRIFFIN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU EMBARRASSED ME LIKE THAT!" My mom screams at my dad from downstairs. Great, my family is home.

"Lois, you're making a big deal out of nothing; it was just a game." my dad says, trying to defend himself.

"Who plays a game called, GUESS HOW MANY GRAY HAIRS ARE DOWN THERE!?"

"There's no need to be mad you were disqualified for cheating."

"DISQUALIFIED!? CHEATING!? YOU PANTS ME IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!"

"I was told by a credible source that you may have been waxed two days before, and we needed the judge to look into it."

"Sorry, Mom, rules are rules," I hear Chris say.

And some things never change. I try to tune my family out and continue to message Beth.

"I wish I could say the same for my family. I can't believe I'm stuck with them."

"What do you mean?"

"I just found out today I got rejected by Rhode Island College. That was the last college I applied to that rejected me. I was really looking forward to being able to get away from my family and do my own thing. No more butt of the jokes, being excluded from family events, embarrassing me in public, or having to live in fear of the possible repercussions that may come every day from the stupid shit my father gets up to."

"I'm sorry to hear that Meg. But just because you got rejected doesn't mean you have to stay there with them. Why don't you apply to Eastern Meadows Community College? That's where I'm going in the fall. They even have dorm rooms."

"I didn't know community colleges have dorm rooms."

"It's rare, but some do, and lucky for me, this one does. I can't wait to be on my own. I love my family and all, but it'll just be nice to be out on my own. I'll send you a link if you decide to apply."

"Okay, thanks."

"I need to get going, but it was nice talking with you. Can't wait to see you next week."

"Same."

"Eastern Meadows Community College," I mumble to myself as I begin researching the school. It's in Eastern Hills, almost four hours away from home, and the tuition is reasonable if I can get approved for financial aid. As I look over the school's website, those "what if" thoughts race through my head.

"What if they don't accept me?"

"What if I can't afford it?"

"What if I miss my family?"

I guess I never stopped to wonder if I would miss my family. I mean, yeah, they have put me through so much shit over the years. Still, they are my only family…the same family that left me at the hands of robbers, escaped from South America and watched me get shot with spears, shot me in the chest with a gun for saying "hi", made out on the couch with my boyfriend, attempted to abandon me after birth at the fire station, almost let me drown in a house flood to get beer, had to debate on whether or not to save me from a poltergeist, farted in my cereal, lite my scalp on fire, sold me to Neil Goldman's father as a slave, and even gaslighted me to believe that they have to fuck with me because I am the so-called "lighting rod" for their dysfunction after finally standing up for myself.

Before I go to bed, I think about something my father said about having my own spinoff.

"Like anyone would even bother watching that."

I can't keep letting my family's verbal…and occasional physical abuse get to me anymore. I'm eighteen years old, and it's time to start a new chapter in my life. And it will begin as soon as I submit my application to Eastern Meadows Community College.

_Author's Note_

I'm going to leave a poll in my bio that pertains to Meg's career path. What kind of career do you think Meg would be good at? Please click on my bio and vote. Thanks for reading.

Episode references

"Petarded"-S4 EP 6

"8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter" S4 EP 8

"Jungle Love" S4 EP13

"Untitled Griffin Family History" S4 EP 27

"Road to Rupert" S5 EP 9

"Peter's Daughter" S6 EP 7

"Seahorse seashell" S10 EP 2

"Ratings Guy" S11 EP 2

"Eastern Meadows Community College" is a fictional school.

"Eastern Hills" is a fictional city.