“So, how was the mall?” Sarah whispered.

“OMG, you will never guess what happened.”

“What?”

“Mom was at the mall. I had to hide from her in the Gap. It was the most insane experience ever. I really thought I was going to get caught, but she didn’t catch me.”

“Shut up! That’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, and then I beat her back to school by like a minute.”

“Amazing!” Sarah said with a smile.

“But I don’t know what to do now,” Rachel said.

“What do you mean? You’re back. You’re fine!”

“No, I mean about tonight.”

“Oh,” Sarah said. “What’s tonight?”

“Well, I want to go to the movies with all my friends. I hear like the whole school is going to be there and I don’t want to miss it.”

“I’m going to the movie, too!” Sarah said. “Why don’t you just come with me?”

“But how? I’m grounded. Mom and Dad will never let me out.”

“Eh, don’t worry about them. I’ll sneak you out. It will be fine.”

“Really? You are the best big sister in the world,” Rachel said as she gave Sarah a huge hug.

“I’m leaving at 7:30pm, so be dressed and ready by then, K?”

“You bet! Love you, Sarah.”

Rachel skipped out of Sarah’s room and back into her room. The burning question of what to wear popped into her mind as she rummaged through her closet. She had so wished she’d bought that cute sparkle scarf and hat from the Gap.

As she looked through her closet she came across a magenta pink satin Betsy Johnson dress that she’d picked up at the Salvation Army in Pennsylvania with Dana. It was unlike her to have designer clothes, but she’d bought this dress used, and it had a big stain on the sleeve. It only cost $7, and she’d bought it to wear for Halloween one year and couldn’t part with it afterwards. It had been hanging lifeless in her closet for the past three years, but it brought back fun memories for her, so she vowed never to throw it out.

Seeing her pink dress made her miss her friends back at her old school. She hadn’t spoken to them much in the past week, but knew they were still friends. Rachel prided herself on having the types of best friends that even if they didn’t speak to each other every day, or hang out all the time, they were still very close— and when they did hang out; it was as if no time had passed.

A buzzing noise coming from inside her jacket pocket interrupted Rachel’s nostalgic thoughts. She fumbled around until she found her phone. She looked down at the screen and saw Emily’s number pop up.

“Hey, Em! What’s up?”

“Just wanted to see if you were coming tonight?”

“Oh yeah, I am coming!”

“We will pick you up at 7, ok?”

“Well, actually, I’m going to catch a ride with my sister ‘cause she’s going to help me sneak out. It will be easier that way.”

“Look at you, sneaking out all the time!” Emily said laughing.

“I know, it’s terrible! I feel bad, but I didn’t do anything to deserve this punishment though.”

“Yeah, totally.”

“So, then, I’ll meet you there. I’ll text you when we pull in.”

“Fab! Can’t wait. Should be a fun night.”

“Oh and by the way, Evan is bringing the vodka, should I put in an order for you?”

Rachel stopped, and silence filled the line. She didn’t like the taste of alcohol and didn’t want to sneak out of the house, and drink. Things were going too far, she thought to herself. She really didn’t like that her new friends drank all the time, but she figured that’s just what kids did in Westchester.

“Rachel?” Emily asked. “Are you there?”

“Oh, sorry! I’m here.” Rachel said, realizing she’d gotten lost in her thoughts.

“So? Whaddaya say?” Emily asked again.

“I’m gonna pass, Em. Not feeling so hot.”

“Ok, if you change your mind, text me.”

“See ya later!”

As they hung up the phone, Rachel continued her search for the perfect outfit for her night out at the movies. As she pushed the hangers across the bar in her closet one by one, she took a mental inventory of all the clothes she had. She didn’t realize how many she’d accumulated over the years. Many of her clothes, she realized, probably didn’t fit her anymore. She remembered wearing many of them in middle school.

Then, she spotted it: her most favorite Urban Outfitters, black Sparkle and Fade boyfriend blazer with her old beat up Gap corduroys. Now, all she needed was a cute tee to wear under the blazer. She opened up her drawer and pulled out her MTV worn in t-shirt that she’d bought on eBay.

Now that her outfit was complete, all she had to do was execute the plan she’d come up with to get out of the house. She walked downstairs and saw both of her parents in the kitchen preparing dinner. She could tell they were still very angry with her by the way they looked at her. “Rachel, what are you doing down here?” her dad asked.

“Oh, just wanted to see if you needed any help.”

“We’re fine,” her mom answered. “Only five more minutes until dinner.”

“Ok, I’ll come back then.”

“Actually, could you set the table for us,” her mom asked.

“Yes, absolutely,” Rachel answered.

“You’re in a good mood today, Rachel,” her dad said as he looked at her with questioning eyes.

“Eh, no different than usual, and actually I’m not feeling so well tonight.”

Rachel set the table and then purposely started to cough loudly so her parents would hear.

“Are you coming down with something, Darling?” her mom asked.

“I don’t know, I’m really not feeling well.”

“You look pale,” her mom said as she came over to put her hand on her forehead.

“You feel OK, but you don’t look so good.”

Rachel coughed and let out a wine, “If you don’t mind, I think I will take my dinner up to my room and go right to bed. I could use a good night sleep.”

“That’s a great idea, Honey,” said her mom. “Please bring your plate down in the morning.”

“I will Ma,” Rachel said as she began to fill a plate full of chicken and rice.

“Thanks for dinner, Dad. It looks yummy,” Rachel said as she carried it out of the kitchen.

“Feel better darling and get some rest.”

As Rachel walked upstairs, she could hear her parents’ whispers coming from the kitchen. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she heard the words “too harsh,” come from her mom’s mouth. She wondered if they were discussing her punishment.

Either way, she was ecstatic that she was going to the movies tonight with her friends. She felt numb to the feeling of remorse and guilt, as it related to lying to her parents. She did feel bad, but felt that she was being treated unfairly in this situation and thus didn’t deserve the punishment handed to her. If she’d done something wrong to deserve the punishment, she would follow through with it, but since she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, she didn’t feel that she deserved this.

As she got to her bedroom, she saw her sister’s door open. She waited for her to exit and then gave her a thumbs up signal.

“I told them I’m sick and am going to bed,” Rachel said.

“Perfect,” said Sarah.

“Come get me when you’re ready,” Rachel whispered.

“Will do. We’ll be leaving in about thirty minutes,” Sarah replied.

At that moment Mark came out of his bedroom and saw the two whispering. Rachel and Sarah stopped speaking and looked at him. The three siblings stood there staring at each other for a moment and then Rachel said, “I’m going to bed guys, I’m sick. See you in the morning.”

“Feel better,” Sarah said as she winked at Rachel.

“Ditto,” said Mark as she bolted down the steps for dinner.

Rachel went into her room, scarfed down her dinner, and began getting ready for her night out.

She went into her bathroom, put on her Urban Decay powder blue eye shadow and curled her eyelashes. She then used her Volum’ Express Maybelline mascara and batted her eyelashes. She couldn’t believe how good she looked, especially for being “sick”

She put on her outfit and sat on her bed waiting for Sarah to let her know it’s time to go. A few minutes later she heard a knock on her bedroom door. Rachel’s heart stopped as the doorknob opened. She was hoping it wasn’t anyone but her sister as she sat there perfectly coiffed and ready to go.

“Hey! You ready?” her sister’s voice rang through the door.

“Oh yeah,” Rachel answered.

Sarah opened up her door and waved her to come out. Rachel turned off her bedroom lights and closed the door firmly behind her. She didn’t want to accidentally leave it open just in case her parents came upstairs.

“OK, I’m going to distract Mom and Dad in the kitchen and you go out the front door and wait on the side of the house. I will come out in a few minutes when my friends pull up.”

“OK,” Rachel said as she grabbed her jacket and converse from the foyer closet.

“Sarah, is that you?” her mom called out from the kitchen. “Can you come in here?”

Sarah dashed into the kitchen so her parents wouldn’t come out and see the two of them standing there. Now that the coast was clear, Rachel slowly opened the front door to the house, pulling it ever so softly so it didn’t make any noises or squeaks. She squeezed through a small opening and shut the door quietly behind her. She ran tiptoeing down the walkway to her house and hid to the side of the house and waited.

Rachel heard the front door slam and the sound of her sisters Steve Madden heels walking down the walkway. At that exact moment, she also heard the revving engine of a Mercedes G500 pull down their driveway. Rachel saw Sarah motion to her, to stay where she was as Sarah hopped into the car to make sure the coast was clear. Sarah gave her a thumbs up and she ran into the back seat of the car and slammed the door shut as she squished her way into the back seat, which already had three other AHS seniors in it.