“The answer is an absolute no,” Dad said and started eating again.
“I think it would be fun,” Melissa offered. “I think she should go.”
“Well, you are not in charge of making decisions in this family,” Dad said. “Mom and I are. And that is our decision.”
We lapsed into silence, and I seethed with anger. I knew everyone else’s parents would be fine with it. Why did I have to have the stupid parents? I was going to be the one to ruin it for the band. I was going to have to disappoint everyone. But my parents wouldn’t care about any of that. I had to think of an approach that they would understand. I tried to calm myself down.
“The thing is,” I began, steadying my voice, “I only have one year of high school left, and then college. I’ll have to give up the band. We all will. I just think this is probably going to be the only chance I will ever have to do something like this. Even though it really is on such a small scale.”
My mother looked up at me. “So you are thinking about college?”
“Of course,” I said earnestly. “I know this whole music thing is temporary. I have to grow up. I just wish that I could do this one thing, just to have some fun and play some shows before I really buckle down and think about my future.”
My mother and father looked at each other across the table. “What have you thought about taking in college?” Mom asked.
“Well,” I said brightly, “I think I’d like to take my interest in writing and instead of doing lyrics, maybe get into journalism or something. When school starts, I’m definitely going to make an appointment with the career counsellor and talk about a plan.”
My father nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
“Writing lyrics is my passion, but I know it isn’t practical.”
“So you are going to stop this whole band thing and look at things more practically?”
“Of course. But I would like to do just this one thing, just for the experience. It’s only four days. Will you guys please think about it?”
Their eyes met across the table once again. “We’ll talk about it after dinner,” Dad said. I smiled gratefully, glad they had bought it. There was no way I was going to give up the band, of course. College was the last thing on my mind. But I was proud of myself for having come up with that stuff, and having conveyed it so convincingly.
xXx
A few hours later my mother came into my room and sat down at the end of my bed. “So your dad and I talked about this whole idea, and we’ve decided that you can go.”
“Awesome! Thank you!” I said. Now I needed to call Socks and tell him I was in, but of course my mother had more to say.
“We have to talk about a few things first, though, Rachel.”
I nodded and widened my eyes, looking at her with what I hoped was a concerned and attentive expression. She started talking about how my future was important, my grades were important, and they had always been proud of me, and blah blah blah. She gave me some useless warnings about the dangers of drugs, of drinking and driving. I nodded the whole time, agreeing with everything. And then she started talking about what had happened at the Rosewood Café.
“Mrs. Spangler told me that you were laughing because you had gotten blood on the customer,” she said worriedly, studying my face. “Do you want to tell me what that was all about?”
“It was horrible. I was so embarrassed and uncomfortable.”
“Why were you laughing?”
“It was a horrible, totally terrible reaction to feeling so embarrassed. I couldn’t help it. And of course, I made it worse,” I said sadly. “I’m sure Mrs. Spangler thought I was crazy.”
My mother shrugged and nodded. “She said it was very odd.”