My Little Secret

Chapter 2

My Little Secret

Every night I had to fight the urge to sneak out of my room and grab my phone from the drawer my phone sat in.

When I had just gotten my phone, I had gone on an adventure to find it when my parents were out. I searched every small space I could found.

Ever since I had found where it was hidden, I had lost count of the amount of times I had wanted to get it back. But knowing what my parents would do stopped me.

Ground me, punish me, lock me in the house forever.

I had once gone to the school counselor to get out my feelings about having controlling parents. I left out a lot of parts, but she seemed to sense my struggles.

She asked me why I thought they were so controlling. It was a question I asked myself every day. I knew part of it was that they wanted to keep their only child safe, but was that the only reason?

I had a feeling it wasn't.

Did my parents realize how much I was missing out on? Did they realize that keeping me sheltered from the world made me want to misbehave more?

All thoughts of Rowan were gone the next day, because the guilt I usually felt just seemed a bit heavier. Keeping my best friend from living her teenage life with me honestly made me feel like the worst friend on earth.

She had the choice to go anyway, but she chose not to. It was my fault.

It's your parents' fault, my brain whispered.

I shook my head, launching off my bed to grab my backpack. I would have to grab a quick breakfast, as I had spent way too much time drowning in self-guilt.

When I tried to sneak out with an apple, my mom stopped me, shoving her homemade granola in a baggie into my hand. I tried not to give the bag a stink eye.

"I told you, honey," she said, looking at me with disappointment. "You need to wake up earlier so you can have a nutritious breakfast."

I nodded with a tight-lipped smile. "Yep, I know. I just...forgot to set my alarm."

At this point, I was surprised my mom still bought my lies. She gave my a kiss on the cheek nudging me towards the door. "Bye, Marley. Have a good day." She slipped something into my backpack pocket. "Don't forget this."

Thank the Lord, it was my phone. The weight of it was a relief. "Yeah, can't forget that. Bye, mom." 

I left the house as quickly as I could. The fresh air hit my freckled cheeks, blowing the stray strands of hair across my face.

The first breath of the outside air always made me feel calm. It was a feeling of being free; of finally feeling like I can be a normal person.

When I got to school, I was met by Vera. She was leaning against a stone post outside, her phone in her hand and her thumb scrolling. I walked up to her.

"Hey."

She looked up. "Oh, hey! Why didn't you text me when you got your phone back?"

I winced, reaching back to pull my phone from my backpack pocket. "I left the house late." I reached around her and chucked the granola from my mom into the trash.

"Your mom made her granola again, didn't she." It was more of a statement than a question. Vera didn't looked surprised as she tried not to laugh at my disgusted face.

"It tastes like literal cardboard!" I exclaimed. "But if I ever told her that it would break her heart..." I paused, glancing at the trash. "I just throw it away instead."