High School Stories

Disobeying the Authorities

Year: Junior

It was a month after my seventeenth birthday, and since my parents didn't want to have a big party, I decided to invite some friends over to go see a movie and then to the mall. Unfortunately, only two could make it since the other three had problems. Their names were Dana and Lea.

Instead of going to the mall that I always go to, I wanted to go to the one that was a little further away, since it was bigger and it was one of those malls that had an AMC built into it. My parents dropped the three of us off, and the first thing we did was see the Goosebumps movie. It was pretty good, and after it was over, we went shopping.

Around 8:10, Dana says that she needs to use the bathroom. So Lea and I followed her there and waited outside for her. When she finally came out, she looked really worried and was really anxious about finding a security guard. Lea and I were really confused, but she ran up to Cinnabon and asked the guy at the counter if he knew where the security station was. He pointed over to where it was, she said thanks, and Lea and I followed her.

I should note, that over by Cinnabon, there was this lady who was screaming at her seven-year-old son, and he was crying. Anyway, we made it to the security station, and the lady there asked what the issue was. It went something like this:

Dana: I was in the bathroom, and I heard this lady from one of the other stalls verbally abusing her son and screaming at him. I could hear him crying.

Officer: Do you know what she looked like?

Dana: Yeah, she was with a boy who looked like he was seven, and she had dreadlocks.

When she said that, I immediately thought back to that lady I saw, and then I realized that was what happened.

Officer: Okay, we'll look into it. By the way, how old are you three?

I was really confused on why she asked that, but since we didn't think it would matter, we all stated our ages honestly.

Officer: Then you do realize none of you are supposed to be here, right?

Me: What do you mean?

Officer: Oh, well, we have this rule where on Fridays and Saturdays after five o'clock, people seventeen and under cannot be here unless they are accompanied by an adult.

Seriously? First of all, why specifically only Fridays and Saturdays? Second, I was seventeen! What do you know at eighteen that you don't know at seventeen? And yeah, I was still a minor, but I didn't need any hand-holding for something like going to the mall. In fact, all three of us could handle it on our own. Sometimes, being seventeen and still being seen as a toddler in the eyes of the law really sucks. And since we went to see the movie at five o'clock, we apparently weren't supposed to be there all along. At this point, I kept thinking, "Wow, Dana, thanks a lot, look what you dragged us into!" Even though it was important.

Me: Oh...well, my parents aren't going to be here until nine.

Officer: Ok, then wait out there.

She pointed over to the nearest exit, which lead to straight outside instead of having another exit right after it. So, she wanted us to wait outside in the freezing cold for forty minutes. Like I was going to let her make us follow that rule.

Me: Ok, but first, I need to use the bathroom.

I then started running away from the security station, while Dana and Lea just stood there, asking me to come back, but then decided to follow me. I ran into Hot Topic, bought something, and then we kept running until we were all the way on the opposite side of the mall. Over here, it was pretty quiet, and there was no one else in the area. So as we waited for my parents to arrive, we just sat on the leather circular couch and talked.

We were of course worried about the possibility of the cops finding us, so Lea came up with a believable story.

Lea: If they find us, we'll just say that <my name> realized she left her phone in the bathroom and rushed back in there to find it. After a few minutes, she found it, but she was still freaked out, so we decided to come over here so she could calm down.

Thankfully, the cops never came up to us, and when nine o'clock came, my parents called me saying they were here. So we walked outside, but their car wasn't there. They then said they were parked at the food court entrance, which wasn't good because that was where the security station was. I was worried that as we were leaving, the lady would notice us, come after us and catch up to us before my parents could drive away so that she could tell them what happened and we would be in a lot of trouble.

So I told my parents that we were already waiting at the entrance we were at and they reluctantly agreed to drive other there. We were picked up, and that was that. So yeah, I disobeyed the authorities, but come on, it was a very unfair rule for someone in my age group.