Amelia's Daughter

nine

AMELIAS POV
"Wake up," Charlotte complained as she nudged me.
"The alarm didn't go off," I said.
"Yes it did it went off 10 minutes ago," Charlotte said. I opened my eyes and she was dressed for school.
"Really?" I said and sat up.
"Yeah," she laughed. I got up and got ready for work and checked my phone. I had a message from Arizona.
"Good morning beautiful," she sent.
"Good morning gorgeous," I sent. I slipped my phone into my pocket and walked downstairs.
"What are you doing tonight?" Charlotte asked.
"I don't know," I shrugged, "what are you doing tonight?"
"Well, it's Friday," Charlotte said, "so I was wondering if I could go out."
"Sure, where are you going?" I asked.
"Well Tara and I wanted to go to a party," Charlotte said. Tara has been Charlottes best friend since middle school. They always did everything together. They went to the same school, worked on projects together, did the science fair together, everything. Tara was Charlotte's person, as Meredith would say.
"What type of party?" I asked.
"I don't know some party at this kids house," Charlotte said.
"Wow you provided me with a lot of details there kiddo," I said, "what did Tara's parents say?"
"Tara's mom said that she can pick us up at 5, and her dad can pick us up at 10 on his way home from work," Charlotte said, "or you can I don't care."
"Where is it?" I asked.
"It's on Lewis Road," Charlotte said.
"Is there going to be alcohol?" I asked seriously.
"I don't know I'm not throwing the party," Charlotte said.
"Char I don't know," I said.
"Mom," she complained.
"I'll think about it and let you know before this afternoon," I said.
"Okay," she said. She was a kid. She wanted to have fun. She wanted to be with her friends. But kids are naive. They don't get it. If there's drugs or alcohol someone could peer pressure Charlotte. I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to let her go, and part of me doesn't. Ugh. I dropped her off at school and started walking into work.
"Hey," my favorite voice said.
"Hey," I smiled.
"What's wrong honey?" Arizona asked as she put her hand on my arm.
"I don't know what to do about Charlotte," I frowned.
"What's wrong? Did something happen to her?" Arizona asked.
"She wants to go to this party tonight," I said as we walked down the hall and we sat down in her office. She sat down next to me and put her hand on my thigh.
"Okay, what type of party?" She asked.
"A high school party, I guess, I don't know," I said.
"Do you know the parents?" Arizona said.
"No," I said.
"We'll do you know anyone going?" Arizona asked.
"Her best friend Tara," I said, "her parents said yes so it feels like I should but I don't know."
"Well," Arizona said, "make a pros and cons list."
"Okay," I said, "Pro I trust Charlotte and Tara, I trust Tara's parent's judgement, and Charlotte hasn't done anything to make me not trust her to act responsibly."
"Okay that's good, now cons," Arizona said.
"It's a high school party, she's only a sophomore and I'm sure there's doing to be plenty of douche teenage boys there, there's probably going to be alcohol, and I just don't want anything to happen to her," I sighed. I couldn't tell Arizona I was worried about the alcohol because of my past. She didn't know about my past. She would look at me differently if she knew. Most people do.
"Well," Arizona said, "maybe this can be a test of some sort."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well if she's never given you a reason not to trust you, maybe let her go, and see how she comes home. If she's fine, sober, no hickeys, or drugs, then you know you can trust her to go to these things on her own, and you know she's responsible enough to make her own decisions," she said.
"That is a good idea," I said, "you might be a better parent than I am." We both laughed and she hugged me.
"Don't fool yourself, I've worked with plenty of parents who think about stuff like this. You've raised an amazing daughter, and I know she'll make good choices because she has you as a role model," she said and kissed me, "you're a good parent."
"Thank you," I said. She got paged so she kissed me and ran out. I grabbed my phone and texted Charlotte.
"You can go," I sent.
"Really? Thanks mom," Charlotte sent.
"Tara's parents can drive you?" I sent.
"Yes," she sent.
"Sounds good," I sent.
"Can Tara sleep over after the party?" She sent.
"Yeah," I sent.
"Thanks mom, see you later," she sent. I needed to let her do things. She was a teenager. I trust her. I should trust her until she gives me a reason not to. I can't live in fear of my daughter becoming the teenage me, because she knows to make better choices. I just hope I'm right.