Whisper in the Dark

“As you know Petunia,” my father started very formally. Yeah, they named me Petunia (they thought I was going to be a boy so they didn’t have a girl name for me.) The flower was the first thing they saw in the hospital room, “you do not have very satisfactory grades at school. This is a problem because we must withhold our social standings and cannot afford for you to bring down our importance.” Yeah, that was all they cared about. Shallow? You bet they are.

“What your father is trying to say sweetheart, is that we are worried that this is just not the lifestyle that you can handle.” Again, the shallowness was almost unbearable. I did not fall for the sweetheart crap. “We feel that it would be more beneficial for us- I mean you- if you were to leave the society alone for a while.”

“Wow mother, those are some pretty sophisticated words you just used there. Are you sure you didn’t hurt your brain trying to use them?” I asked in a mock innocent voice. Sure I was being a huge bitch, but if I didn’t bite back at them then they were bound to rip me apart.

“Young lady! That was completely inappropriate and uncalled-for!” my father bellowed, obviously trying to be intimidating. Let me tell you, so no intimidating. “We are doing this for your own good so you should be very grateful for the opportunity we are giving you.”

“Okay, just cut the shit would you please? You know that I have no choice but to succumb to whatever it is you are going to make me do. So just tell me what the hell you are talking about instead of talking in riddles so that we can all just get on with our lives. How does that sound? Good? Good, I thought so; now tell me so you can leave me alone.”

The incredulousness was evident plainly on their faces. Of course they were not going to take my crap but for the time being it didn’t matter because it was obvious that they were going to throw me out of the house in some way shape or form.

“Petunia, we will not stand for your constant defiance. That is part of the reason we are sending you to boarding school. It is a school for little ungrateful miscreants such as yourself, but it has a very good name for itself so no one will know that it is the last step before a juvenile detention center.” My father stared pointedly at me. Yeah, I had gotten myself into my fair share of trouble. That shouldn’t be a surprise. “The academic excellence is outstanding despite the…well, the students like you. See, we all win in this situation.” He smiled as if the issue of world peace had just been solved with one steady swoop of his hand instead of this stupid little issue. “You leave in five hours so I would suggest that you start packing immediately.” He pulled out a wad of money. “Go to the mall and buy yourself whatever you need, but be sure to come home with enough time to pack up all of your things.”

I knew that I was dismissed because they turned around curtly and exited my room leaving me in, it must be stated, shock. They really were throwing me out because I did not coincide with their societal duties. As if I would ever want to, but I did not believe that they would really send me away to boarding school. I was wrong before; the news was good for all of us. They were able to get rid of me and still not make it seem as though I was being sent away to juvie or the like and I also could get away from them. It really was a win-win situation. Who would have thought?

So at the mall, there were about four stores that I went into- Hot Topic, Journey’s, Vans, and Claire’s. My father must really have been anxious to get rid of me because he gave me nearly five hundred bucks. Normally, that amount of money was reserved for the children he actually liked. But I took advantage of this and blew a lot of money on about a thousand band shirts, studded belts, and Converse shoes. Then I got my hair died black with electric blue chunks in it even though he told me to buy things that I needed, but who says I don’t need a new hair style? There is a strict no unnatural hair color rule at the stupid school I no longer went to so I figured, why not go crazy?

Arriving home, I had two and a half hours to pack up all the stuff that I needed to start a new life that I hoped would be so much better. Before I got home I went to the Office Depot to get notebooks and all that stuff that I actually liked not that looked like they were made for the princess of fairy tale land. Lots of blacks and reds and blues and skulls, the whole nine yards. I knew my parents would have a fit; I loved it.