Diary of a Young Bride

July 16th

July 16th

After I graduated from high school, I thought I could finally have the life I’ve wanted: move out to my own apartment in Big Apple, go to university where I can finally ‘reinvent’ myself, hang out at clubs on weekdays, and other things I’ve dreamt of doing since watching  Sex and The City. No, I’m not talking about wanting to sleep around like Carrie Breadshaw. It’s the ‘self-liberating’ thing that I’m looking forward to. I want to be like Carrie, in a way that she works her dream job, has a walk-in closet full of designers’ clothes which indicates her sound financial, and is surrounded with three best girl friends who will never stab her in the back. Anyway, it’s not my favorite TV show. I just happened to read yet another book about alien abduction (the idea of ET really takes my interest) when my big sis Glenda joined me on the couch and watched two episodes of it. I got hooked and now I’ve finished season 3. You see, that’s this evil thing about TV series; they always either present this quirky but gorgeous character who gets you to have a crush for them, or cliff-hanger ending in each episode so that not knowing what happens next becomes an itch.

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, about my dream life. I could have never been SO WRONG. My family ruins the whole plan. Especially my selfish grandpa who thinks he can do anything just because he’s old (and filthy rich). My main reason for enrolling to this law school in NYU is so that I can put 4487,9 km distance between me and my family. Not that I hate them. Actually the only person I can’t stand is Glenda, because she’s verbally-abusive to me, and she always acts like a drama queen. The others (mom, dad, Zach, and Mason) are fine, but I think it’s because I’m the fourth kid so that I’m being overlooked all the time. Also, I’ve managed to stay out of trouble this whole 18 years. If I had held a super wild high school party that caused a police squad to break into our house like what Zach did four years ago, or if I had got arrested for vandalism, or if I had been suspended for being caught having sex in school’s gym like him, perhaps my parents would have kept an extra eye on me. But I’m not an attention seeker. I went invisible throughout high school that people barely knew I existed. I guess I just want more space and privacy.

Suddenly, my parents announced that I’m getting married. I’d already smelled something fishy when suddenly mom and dad approached me with mysterious smiles on their faces. They were being unusually nice to me, and when they caught me off guard, I was brought to grandpa who then arbitrarily set my wedding date (what’s with the rush? There won’t even be an engagement). I thought they were joking, but I freaked out because as long as I could remember, none of them has a normal sense of humor. I looked at my mom’s eyes, and immediately found out they were serious. Dad explained to me that our family company that produces software and stuff was going to merge with this other company that produces gizmos and computer stuff (I’m never interested in IT) and so with the companies merging, each party needed to gain more trust by merging the families as well. I saw what they did there: they were going to sacrifice me! Yes, just like what happened in that tribal who sacrificed virgins for their pagan Gods. I asked, ‘What about my study?’ and dad said ‘What about that? Your study will go as planned. You’re lucky that your soon-to-be husband lives there.’ OHMYGOD. I knew it. They had it all organized from the beginning. I was wondering why mom was okay with my decision to go to New York. Turned out it was a trap. That moment I felt like living in the empire of Thorne family conspiracy.

I asked them, ‘Why me and not Glenda? She’s more eligible for marriage.’ What I mean with eligible is of course she at least appears more mature than me due to her fast-developing body—boobs—and her jawline, which makes her look like twenty-seven although she’s only two years older than me. I refuse to say Glenda is mature in the context of maturity itself, however. To me, she’s like a little brat trapped in a woman’s body. Besides, it’s not like she has something more important to work on, compared to me. She’s an intern in a fashion magazine (which doesn’t count as a job because she isn’t paid and the company is in fact our Aunt’s) and sometimes performs as a freelance model. Most of the times she’s just hanging out with her mean clique and shopping like crazy—glad that I have separate bedrooms with her, otherwise there wouldn’t be any space left for me to sleep. So I think if my parents want to marry off their daughter with some rich gentleman, Glenda is perfect. Not me. I’m going to be loaded with college assignments and stuff, how would I balance them out with marriage life? I reasoned. My mom then said that they had discussed and Glenda isn’t a wife material the Hyland family is expecting. That’s nonsense. Truth is, they think I’m easier to control.

I was too shocked to put up a defense or say anything more. So I just rolled my eyes when grandpa said the man and his family would have a dinner with us on Friday. He took it as a yes.