--Six time award winning novel by June D. Silver-
"Hidden truths are unspoken lies"
As a straight A student, Finnley never got himself into trouble. He goes to school, runs track, hangs out with his two best friends Cristian and Emma and studies; a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
- Saturday, January 23rd, 2016 -
"Cristian." My mom gets up the second an officer showed me the way to the waiting room, releasing me from the small cell I've spend the night in. "Drinking? And fighting!?" She grabs hold of my shoulder, dragging me outside and towards the car. "For crying out loud, you're seventeen!" She snaps. "We taught you better, didn't we?"
"I'm sorry..." I mutter, winching at the bright sunlight outside. The hangover caused a throbbing headache.
"Is this what you do every week? Telling us you're with Finnley? Is he a bad influence? I thought he was a perfectly fine young man!"
"Mom!" I groan. "He is a great friend. Normally he doesn't come with us."
"So, you do this every week?"
I shrug. "Dad told me it was okay..."
"Your dad said it was okay!?"
Maybe I shouldn't have told her dad allows me to go out and drink. I can't wait until we get home and this blows up way out of proportion.
She lectures me all the way back home, telling me I'll get community service and all. How this could ruin my chances of a good job and everything. I'm not even going to tell her that as a minor, it won't be on my record as long as I don't end up in jail for more than three times. It's just how things work with minors and minor misdemeanours in this country. It's not really the alcohol that got me in jail, it's the fighting with some guy who was trying to hit on Julia.
I hope she's fine. We lost her friends and mine during the evening and I wonder if she managed to find them after they arrested me and the other guy.
I just nod and agree on how stupid I've been, trying to not piss my mom of any further. I follow her inside, were my dad is seated on the couch, watching morning news. He looks up the second my mom slams the front door shut, making me jump in my spot.
"You allowed him to drink!?" mom shouts at him. "You allowed him to go out!? He's seventeen!"
"And we were younger when we went out." My dad shrugs. "If we forbid him, he'll do it behind our backs."
I zone out of the conversation, even though they're full on shouting by now. I turn on my phone and notice I've missed a few calls from Finn's home.
I redial the number and walk into the kitchen to block out most of the shouting.
"James Lund." A tired man answers the phone.
"It's Cris, I missed a couple of calls from Finn I think."
"Oh!" He sounds surprised. "No, I believe Eva tried to call you a couple of times. We're wondering if Finnley is still with you, since he hasn't informed us on staying out."
"He isn't with me sir." I answer, a little confused. "He was supposed to sleep at home." Is there a possibility Finnley got arrested too? But then his parents would have received a call like mine.
