Spectrum Rebellion

iv.

iv.

My homework was complete, my room had been cleaned yet again, my books were organised and all my chores were complete. Mentally, I checked off everything on my list to do. I had cleaned the dinner plates, I had cleared the table, stripped it down and cleaned the wood and then cleaned the rest of the kitchen. I then made sure everything was organised and put away. Everything that I had to do had been done. My parents were now stood over me, looming above my quite small height. Just asking them to go out in the evening was such a big deal, as if I had just asked them if it was acceptable for me do drugs. They glared down at me, their eyes burning their way into my soul. I had wanted to go out on this Friday evening, trying to conquer how shy I actually was outside my 'comfort zone', and my parents seemed to have to run a test that I would have to answer and pass before I was allowed anywhere near the front door, let alone out of it and into the street.

"Mother, father. Please. Can't I just have one night out?" I asked. My father's eyes narrowed. "I know it doesn't seem abnegated and, and...and you may be worried about my safety because of the, er, bench incident. But I promise. I want to prove to you that I am fully abnegated by going out and doing some good for the community." I said, looking up at my parents. My mother put her hand on her hip, her eyes narrowing like my father's. They had always seemed to mimic each other.

"And how are you going to show abnegation when it is dark outside?" She demanded, her voice cold. This bothered me - the fact that their teenage daughter was just asking to go outside, have a night out of the house, and this caused such a big deal. I didn't need to be interrogated. But it was possible that I only thought that because I hated the abnegated way of life, and they were well aware of that.

"I'm going to clean graffiti. I choose to do this at night because no one will see me and mistake me for a you-know-what." I replied. I hoped this worked. My parents scowled at me and exchanged looks, looking more fierce than before.

"Do not say the g-word in this house." My father said, bluntly. It wasn't even a proper swear word!

"We do not approve of this, and you know that. Josephine, you are not abnegated in the slightest and we both know you will not be cleaning away vandalism, and that is for sure. So. What do you really want to go out tonight for?" My mother demanded, taking a step forward. My confident demeanour crumbled, returning me back to the girl who was afraid of her own parents. "Are you meeting someone?" Her suspicious face turned into one of anger. I hadn't even done anything...and I knew I was in trouble.

"Well?" My father snarled, "Answer your mother!"

"Are you meeting someone?" My mother half-shrieked, her voice high and the arteries in the sides of her neck starting to poke out, stretching her tight, pale skin. I moved backwards a couple of paces. I had hoped I would run into Thomas, I wanted to see his green hair again, but technically - technically - I wasn't going to meet somebody, especially in the way my parents seemed to believe I was.

"No!" I cried, "Never!" My voice had come out in a strangled cry, nervous. My parents had always been almost too overprotective of me in such a way that it was cruel sometimes. They once locked me in my room because I had been given a felt tip pen by a stranger and had written on my arm. I was left in there with only water until it had been rubbed off of my skin completely. I had been in there for just under a week. It had been one of my worst 'punishments' or, as my parents seemed to view it, means of protection. "I'm not meeting anybody! You know I would never do that!" I shouted as both of my parents approached me, forcing me to back up. I stumbled out of the room backwards, not wanting to take my eyes off of the ones who had raised me. I also knew that, if I did, they would seize that moment and 'put me to sleep', as so to speak.