Even Angels Fall

Chapter 16

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Christina~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two days later, when Valentine's Day arrived, I was still fuming.

Mike was sweet and accepted what Daddy said, like he promised he would. He told me not to worry about it because we would have our very own Valentine's Day on Saturday, and that it would be even more special because we'd be the only ones in the world celebrating that day. And he still managed to make the day special, despite not being able to do anything later.

He greeted me in the morning with a single red rose and a coffee - which was way better than chocolate in the morning.

In every one of my classes, Mike got someone to surprise me with a white rose and some other little gift. Nothing big or expensive, just sweet little things like a white teddy bear, heart-shaped Resee's peanut butter cups (which is the best candy in the world), and a mood ring with a heart on it because "mood rings are just fun". I laughed when I saw it. I'd always loved them when I was a kid.

Along with all of my little gifts, Mike gave me one of those cheesy little valentines you exchange in grade school that say things like 'bee mine' with a picture of a bumble bee on it.

He also gave me another red rose at lunch, so that by the end of the day I had a bouquet of white roses and two red ones.

When we met after school, Mike gave me a final red rose and a little silver heart to add to my charm bracelet. I tried not to read too much into the fact that he had given me three red roses.

It was by far the most perfect Valentine's Day I'd ever had, but I was still feeling pretty miserable about not being able to go out with him later. And I was still furious with Daddy.

He told me that leaving the table the way I did was understandable under the circumstances, but that kind of "attitude" wouldn't be acceptable in the future. Which of course, didn't make me any happier with him. Now I wasn't even allowed to be upset?

After that, I endured dinner only because I couldn't get out of it. I had almost no appetite and I didn't say anything unless I absolutely had to. Even then it was one-word answers to direct questions I couldn't ignore.

I did the dishes and my other chores, but other than that I stayed in my room, sulking.

I suppose I was acting a little immature. But if I was going to be treated like a child, I may as well start acting like one, right?

By the time I normally went to bed, my anger had had two full days to fester. I was so worked up at that point that I couldn't even hope to go to sleep. I couldn't remember being this mad about anything in my entire life. How could Daddy be so unfair? It wasn't just that he was being that way. It was that he didn't think he was being unreasonable at all. In his mind, he was doing the right thing and I was just throwing a temper tantrum because I didn't get my way.

To my dad, the solution was to ignore my behavior unless he needed to reprimand me like he had about "my attitude" and eventually I'd get over this and appreciate that he was doing what was best for me.

I was just so angry. Why couldn't he at least give me a little respect and treat me like an adult? I would have accepted it if he told me I couldn't go, but I couldn't accept how he was treating me. I was being punished for absolutely nothing! He even went as far as threatening to forbid me from seeing Mike anymore - as if he could! He might be able to keep me from "dating", but he'd never be able to take Mike away from me. And anyway, I'd be 18 this year, so what he said wouldn't matter anymore. I'd do what I wanted then.

In fact, maybe I'd start now. If I was being punished, I may as well do something to actually earn it.

I stood up, feeling a rush of adrenaline, not quite knowing what to do with it. All my life I'd been so careful. Careful not to get in trouble at school. Careful to keep every one of Daddy's stupid rules. Careful to always get perfect grades. Careful to do everything everyone expected me to do. Careful to think everything through to death.