Growing up in my family there was always that number one rule, “be honest.” I can’t remember how many times my mom would tell my brother and I to be honest with her and it would make things a lot better. I didn’t think she knew what she was talking about, considering if I lied I thought it was a good thing because I wasn’t hurting anyone. Well I was incorrect, my mom knew exactly what she was talking about.

About three summers ago when I was making my entrance into sophomore year I started hanging out with friends who I normally wouldn’t hang out with outside of school. They partied every weekend and were considered the “cool” kids. They hung out with the upperclassman and were friends with them as well. Two of my friends and I planned to hang out with them one weekend and find something to do.
I told my friends Shyanne and Lexi that they could stay the night, and that they both wanted to go to a mutual friend’s house to a birthday party. Of course I wanted to go and this was my very first actual high school party and I was excited. I texted my mom after I got ready and told her I was going to hang out with Shyanne and Lexi, she said alright. Not once did she ask exactly where I was going, so I didn’t bother telling her.

Around 9:30, 10:00 Shyanne, Lexi and another mutual friend picked me up and we were off for the night, I told my mom I was leaving and she replied back with a “K.” Before we got to the actual party we made a quick pick up stop to get another person on our way. We finally arrived to the party.
When we first walked in, there were a few people standing around the kitchen, and on the right side of the family room there were a few more people sitting down. All of us got offered a drink and we took them and sat down on the couch and socialized with the other people there. I opened the can and took a drink, it was a horrible taste. It felt like I was drinking poison, but everyone else was doing it so I thought it was the cool thing to do. After I finished about half the drink I started getting more friendly and talking a lot more, my shy personality went out the window for the rest of the night.

A few hours went by and it was 12:00, by this time I was pretty crazy and a little on the intoxicated side. Somehow my phone fell out of my pocket and ended up getting lost. I was so scared, freaking out because I didn’t know where it was and I knew it was getting late. People were telling me my mom was calling me and I couldn’t exactly call her back because I didn’t know where my phone was. A few of the people there, including my friends, told me to calm down everything would be okay. I had to sit and wait a while before I could actually go home to my mom. I was ready to leave and I didn’t feel good at all.
Eventually I found my phone and calmly returned my mom’s phone call and the first thing she said was “Where are you?” I couldn’t tell her where I was because I didn’t even know where I was. The call lasted about 5-10 minutes and in that time frame my mom told me to get home now or I was grounded. I pretty much ignored what she said, and stayed a little longer. In my mind I was beyond ready to go home, but I couldn’t show it on my face because it was still “early” and the party was getting fun.

An hour later I calmed down a little bit, I looked at the time and it was 12:30am already. I looked at my phone and had a lot of missed calls from my mom, I knew I was in trouble. I told my friends I had to go home right away, but no one was coherent enough to drive me home.
We finally found someone to take me home and Lexi rode along to make sure I got home safe. My mom was waiting up for me. I could see the anger in her eyes and I knew I was in the worst trouble I have ever been in. I stumbled inside and as soon as my mom closed the door she instantly started yelling at me.
“Where were you!?” she screamed, “I was worried sick, I called you hundreds of times and you didn’t answer my calls, do you know what time it is?”
I actually didn’t know what time it was, according to my mom it was around 2:30. An hour went by and my mom finally stopped yelling at me. I had a huge headache and all I wanted to do was go to sleep.

The next morning my mom woke me up at the crack of dawn to go help out at a family yard sale. Being at this yard sale was the last place I wanted to be. I was so tired and felt like I got hit by a 3000 ton truck. By the time I got there my whole family knew about what happened hours before. I quietly sat down, put my glasses on and stayed to myself. I felt like everyone was looking at me and judging me for the mistake that I made. Doesn’t everyone make mistakes? I’m still a kid and I’m learning my right from wrongs still.
It seemed like this yard sale lasted all day long, I couldn’t be more excited to go home and go back to sleep. I felt the awkwardness with my mom, I knew she was very disappointed in me. I knew that I made a mistake and this was a lesson I’ll always remember learning from.

I learned that I should communicate with my mom a lot better than I did in this situation. Anything could have happened to me and I simply didn’t tell her where I was going, or who I was going to be with. This was a big mistake. This experience made my mom and I a lot closer when it comes to party’s, alcohol, boys, etc. Never have I lied to my mom about where I’m going or who I’m going with since that incident happened. She did end up forgiving me and accepting my apology, but I know she hasn’t forgotten this story and neither have I. Like my mother has always said, “Be honest.”