Double Vexation ( A Harper's series. book 11)

Stranger Danger

This wasn't like most Saturday night's spent with friend's hanging out and partying. No, tonight there was excitement in the air. The temperature was warming up as winter fell into spring. The tree's were beginning to bud with life again and the crickets and frog's chirped in the background adding a spunky beat to the mix matched music that blared from different car's. Summer was on the way.

But along with summer much more was on the horizon. Most of us standing here tonight knew that our time was nearing an end. In just a few short week's we would be graduating high school and embarking on new adventures. Many of us would go our separate ways spanning out across the map and eventually losing touch. Some of us would go straight into the working world trying to find our place in life while other's were off to college with dreams of becoming the next politician or brain surgeon. Then some of us like me will stay at home and attend the local community college. Either way you put we all were about to go through major changes as we left our childhood behind and slipped into our adult shoes.

These people that now surrounded me I had known most of my life. Some I liked and some... Well it's my practice not to speak bad of other's so I'll just say that some are less appealing. So many memories flanked these cliffs where we hung out every weekend night. So many stories to tell, some good and other's not so good. I took in every face, laugh and smile as I realized that soon all of this would over with for all of us. Senior year was nearing it's end and even though I'm joyful I'm saddened at the same time.

My best friend Petra will be heading off to travel Europe soon and my long time boyfriend Blaine will be going off to college in Texas. As for me I'll follow the path that my parent's expect of me. My father is the preacher at a very prestige church so I always have to be on my P's and Q's. That's right, I'm a preacher's daughter so I'm always under scrunity. My parent's expect me to obey the word and live a righteous life. There's nothing wrong with that however they forget that I'm growing up and have my own desires. They are very strict and set a lot of rules I must abide by. However they are my parent's and I must respect them.

It's not as bad as it sounds. They love me and take great care of me and I know that they just want what's best for me but sometimes I feel suffocated. All of my friend's are allowed to stay out until midnight but I have to be home by ten. During the week I'm not allowed to go anywhere besides church or a school event. They refuse to let me pick up a part time job or even get me a car. If I go out I must ask to borrow my mom's mini van and I hate it. Do you know how embarrassing it is to scoot around town in a older soccer mom van? But that's not the worse of it. My mother still dictates how I dress. No tank tops or short skirts for me or skinny jeans with holes. Nope, I must always be covered in a non revealing way. Sure, occasionally I'll borrow something from Petra to sneak out in but it's too much worry. Everyone knows who I am and will report back to my father.

But please don't think that my life is miserable because it's not. I'm blessed and probably a bit spoiled. I have a abundance of friend's, I'm this year's valedictorian and the cheer captain. I'm involved in many school socials as well as a leader at church. My life is busy and I do have fun even though my idea of fun doesn't match that of my friend's. I'm not a drinker nor do I get high but I don't need that to have fun. Hanging with my friend's and cheering for my school is enough for me. Many might consider me lame or a bore but to each their own. Trust me I have other plans. One day I'll break free from this town and live for me but for now I'm content.

Blaine and I have been together since our freshman year. He's the high school football captain. Yea, I know so cliche and all American but I really do love him and my parent's adore him. In fact my mother has questioned me on a few occasions about our future plans. I'm thinking she's hoping to hear wedding bells soon but I'm not ready for that. I want to live a little first before I begin my own family. Sure, Blaine would be the perfect husband and my father would approve but marriage isn't for me yet. I want to discover the world as well as myself. I want to work and I'm certain Blaine would prefer me to stay at home but I'm too social and motivated to just stay at home and keep house. This is why my father likes him so. Blaine shares the same values as my family and is quite into church. I guess you could call him a golden boy. His parent's live on the higher end of town in a new, fancy neighborhood. No, I'm not poor but my family believes in living modestly. Our home is small but decent. My mother doesn't work so all we have is my father's income from the church. Whereas Blaine's father is a top exec at a major chain restaurant corporation and his mother owns her own salon in town. Mostly the richer women visit her. I'm still proud of my mom though. Even though she doesn't have a paying job she still work's very hard. Our home is well kept and she's an amazing cook. She takes the best care of us.