What I Like About You

I sat up in my bedroom on my bed, headphones in my ears, one of my favorite songs playing, when there was a knock on my bedroom door. It was Friday evening and I was relaxing in my room after a long day working out in the warm California heat as a lifeguard at a local pool. It doesn’t pay very well but I’ll take what I can get. At least I’m earning some money during the summer to maybe save up if I want to go to college later on.

“Briella!” I faintly hear my mom yell from behind the door, followed by a knock. I don’t answer right away; instead, I just pull my headphones from my ears and sit there for a minute. I roll my eyes as I move to get up, my bare feet touching the carpet as I stand up. Another knock sounded against the hard wood of my bedroom door.

“Briella, please; open the door!” my mom says.

“Coming!” I call back to her in an irritated manner. I roll my eyes as I go forward and open the door.

“Yeah?” I ask as I poke my head around the door to find my mom standing there.

“Come downstairs, your father and I want to talk with you for a minute,” she tells me, hand on her hip.

“Why? What’s going on?” I ask as I look at her, a look of confusion on my face. What is going on and why do I have to go downstairs? I think to myself.

“Just come downstairs,” she says firmly and turns to go down the hall to the stairs which led to the main floor of our house.

I let out a sigh along with an ‘okay’ as I slowly make my way to the stairs. I take my time as I go down the stairs. As I walk into the living room, I spot my dad sitting in his usual spot on the couch, in front of the television, like he always is in the evenings, especially after he gets home from work. He looks over toward the archway where I stood, my arms crossed over my chest as I stand there. My mom took her seat on the couch beside my father.

I notice the screen go blank, which meant he just turned the TV off.

“Sit down, Briella,” my mom tells me and motions for me to come take a seat on the leather chair near the window. I don’t say a word and give her a nod before I walk over to take a seat on the chair. The room is silent for a few minutes before I open my mouth to speak what’s on my mind.

“So, what did you need to talk to me about?” I question as I look at both of my parents. I criss-cross my legs as I sit there and rest my elbow on the arm of the chair.

“Well…” my mom trails off, looking at me. She soon leans forward and reaches for something on the coffee table in front of the couch.

“I found this,” she says, holding up a piece of paper. My eyes widen as I realize what it is. Is that…you’ve got to be kidding me! How’d she find it?! I think to myself as I look back at her. I don’t understand how she found it; a plane ticket, to Australia. It was a one way ticket to Australia, which I’ve had for a few weeks now; all thanks to my friend Ryan, who thankfully bought me one with a few paychecks from his job as a medical assistant at a local doctor’s office.

“What…where’d you find that?” I ask as I look at my mom, confusion on my face.

“Was going to do laundry earlier when I came across it on your desk,” she replies and lets out a sigh of annoyance.

“When? I didn’t see you come into my room?” I question, curiously, as I look back at my mom.

“This afternoon, when you were at work,” she says, setting the perfectly crisp ticket down on the coffee table in front of her.

“Briella, I’m curious to know…how did you manage to get this, a one way plane ticket? Why Australia?” my dad questions me as he lifts the ticket from in front of him and looks at the strip of paper in his hand.

“I uh…” I begin to say. “Ryan got it for me actually!” I exclaim not too loudly with a small hint of a smile on my face as I look back at him.

“I picked Australia because it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go to and it seems really cool over there, I don’t know,” I say and shrug my shoulders. “Plus, I just want to get away from everything here,” I add. I really wanted this, more than anything.

Both my parents look at me with a blank expression for a few moments before my mom speaks up.

“Ryan Campbell? Your long time friend Ryan who used to come over a lot when you were younger?” she questions, her eyes on me.

“Yeah,” I respond with a nod, “That’s him,” I say with a small smile.

“Oh, how nice…I’ve always liked him, he’s a nice one,” she replies with a smile and a nod of her head.

“He is,” I reply with a smile.

“He uh…he has a ticket and is coming as well,” I manage to blurt out and stare down at my hands in my lap. I kind of hope they don’t suspect that I’m not necessarily telling them the truth. Growing up, I’ve always been pretty good about not spilling lies when I’m not exactly telling the truth.

“Really now? Where exactly are you gonna stay while you’re there?” my dad questions, looking at me. Great I think to myself. Here comes my dad with all of his many questions. I had a feeling this was coming. I give him a shrug of my shoulders; I really had no idea, I guess I’ll figure it out after I get there.

“So….” I drag out the word and bite on my fingernails, which has always been a major habit of mine I have yet to break in my nineteen years. “I can still go, right?” I ask softly as I look over at my parents.

My mom and dad look at one another for a minute before they glance back at me. “We’ll discuss this later and let you know,” my mom tells me.

“Okay,” I mumble before I begin to get up so I can go give Ryan a call. That’s when I realize something; Ryan booked my flight for tomorrow morning. “And there’s just a bit of a problem…the flight takes off early tomorrow morning,” I mumble as I look at my parents before I begin to make my way toward the stairs, leaving them to their thoughts. As I ascend the staircase, I could hear them talking in hushed voices to one another.

“I’ll be up in my room!” I call to my parents as I get to the top of the stairs.

After I walk into my room, I shut the door and walk over to grab my phone. It was on my bed atop my black comforter. I unlock my iPhone and go to my messages. I pull up Ryan’s name so I can text him.

Hey Ry, you busy? Need to talk to you about something! I send the message and lock my phone. As I wait for a reply, I rest my eyes as I lie my head against my fluffy pillow. A few seconds later, my phone begins to go off in a loud fashion. I open my eyes and stare at my phone; Ryan’s name on the screen, signaling he was calling. I swipe my finger across the screen so I can pick up his call.

“Hey Ry!” I say as I answer the call.

“Hey Brie! What’s up?” he asks. I can hear some movement on the other side of the phone but I couldn’t decipher what it was.

“Not too much...listen, I kind of… have a dilemma,” I mutter into the phone with a slight laugh.

“Oh, geez, what is it this time? Too lazy to get up to get your own food?” he replies with a chuckle.

“Ha ha,” I say into the speaker in a sassy tone. “No, I uh…my mom and dad found the plane ticket and I sort of told them you have your own ticket and that you’re coming with me…” I trail off and pick at the chipping polish on my fingernails, something I’ve always done when I get nervous.

“What should I do?” I ask, concern in my voice as I begin to think of what I should do.

I really hope I can go because this is something I’ve wanted to do for such a long time. Ever since I turned sixteen, I’ve always wanted to go visit another country. Also, I’ve been wanting to get out of this town for quite some time. All my friends were off doing their own things and figuring out their lives with school, work and internships, while I’m here trying to figure out what to do with my life. This is what I wanted; I needed this, a change of scenery, different people other than my parents, and new friends, aside from Ryan, obviously.

“I can check and see if I can get a last minute ticket but if I can’t then, I don’t know, Brie,” he responds with a sigh.

“Okay,” I let out a sigh.

“If you can’t, I still plan on going, because you know how long I’ve wanted this!” I exclaim, happiness evident in my voice.

“Good! I’m happy for you!” he excitedly replies.

“I…” I begin to say when there’s a knock on my door.

“Hold on,” I mumble into the speaker, resting my phone in my lap. Somehow, I press the red button and end the call on accident; I decide I’ll call him back in a few minutes.

“Briella, can I come in?” I hear my mom say on the other side of the door. I nod my head and laugh to myself as I realize she can’t see me.

“Yeah!” I call.

The door to my bedroom opens and light from the hallway pours into the dimly lit room that I’ve called my own the last thirteen years. I sit up and set my phone in front of me, Ryan still on the line, as I look up to see my mom standing there. A dark figure behind her, which I soon realize is my dad, steps forward so they’re standing beside one-another.

“Briella…I…we…” my dad clears his throat and continues, “Your mom and I have decided…” he trails off, again.

“Decided what?” I question, a look of confusion on my face as I look at the two of them.

“We’ve decided that you can go…you can go to Australia, sweetie,” my mom tells me with a smile.

“Oh my god!” I exclaim a bit louder than I intended to. I cover my mouth with my hand, not believing her words.

“Are you serious? Oh my god! Thank you, thank you, thank you! So much!” I shout as I get up from my spot on my bed and race over to hug my parents tightly.

“Your mom and I realize how hard you’ve been working and we know you want to get out and enjoy life, try new things, plus you’re growing up!” my dad mutters with a smile.

“Well, we’ll leave you be, better get packing because your flight leaves early in the morning!” my mom says with a smile and presses a kiss to the top of my head.

The two of them soon make their way out of my room and shut the door behind them. I pick up my phone and open my mouth to tell Ryan that I was actually able to go when I realize that I ended the call. Little did my parents know, I already had a bag packed and ready to go, stored in my closet, ready to grab and be on my way to Australia.