CHAPTER 1

Dear diary.

Today was not quite a good day for me, like literally. I mean, can you imagine being scolded while still trying to get out of a hangover? Well, that is exactly what happened. It was horrific! I have known my mom all my life, but honestly, I have never seen her that angry in my entire life. Can you actually believe that I was grounded afterwards? Yep! My mom believed that the only discipline that was suitable for me was to ground me. Really, at 21? And that’s not the worst part; I was grounded on my best friend’s birthday! I mean, how do I miss my own best friend’s birthday party? I couldn’t even think of the possibility. I hated having to miss it, and I could have asked that I get grounded after the party. Although I had never been a very good girl, she had always controlled herself when she was about to lose herself in uncontrollable anger. Today though, it was as if a lion had been unleashed – that I didn’t even know existed. I so knew it was not a good time to be talking about parties when a more important matter was at hand. Even my dad looked pissed. And I always thought he had a softer spot for me than mom did. What did I do that was so bad? Well, you don’t want to know! Nevertheless, since you never tell anyone my greatest secrets, I will tell just you. This is how it all occurred…
* * *
“Meredith!” My mom screamed from the living room with such a high pitch that no matter how much I didn’t want, I was forced to wake up from my sleep. I had only gotten home around 3 a.m. and my bedside clock told me that it was only 3 hours 7 minutes ago. I groaned and buried my head under my pillow, hoping to completely shield myself from all the noise, but that didn’t work out so well. My 1 bedroom door swung open without even a knock. That hardly ever happened. If it did, it could always mean one thing, mom was very angry. Just that thought caught my attention. As I got out of bed, I met her angry gaze as she stormed towards me, looking like she was going to strangle me. “You young lady, have a lot of explaining to do.” “What did I do this time?” I asked weakly, with the back of my hand rested against my forehead. My head was aching and I closed my eyes against the throbbing pain, I guessed I must have had a little too much wine the previous night. “Look at me when I am talking to you.” My mom said angrily and I figured one had to forget about the hangover for just a little bit and listen. “What is this?” She held up a letter that had our school logo on it. Oh no...! That could only be one thing and it was. I slowly took the letter out of her possession as if I wasn’t already aware of the contents, “Mom, I can explain.” “Well, Meredith! Why don’t you explain to us what this is all about?” I noticed my dad for the first time behind my mom. The atmosphere was so heated that I didn’t even notice him walk in a few moments back. I chocked on my response and couldn’t form any words to make a sentence. “Just as I thought…” she didn’t seem the least surprised. In fact, she sounded victorious as if she already knew that this was exactly what was bound to happen. “You can’t explain yourself.” I looked to my dad hoping to find a glimpse of sympathy in him but came out with nothing. My dad had always had a soft spot for me but from the look of things, I had crossed the line today. He didn’t look as angry as my mom, but rather disappointed in me. “Well, you know what? I am tired of you young lady. As of today, you are grounded.” “What? You can’t ground me, I am 21.” I cried out. “First of all, you haven’t displayed any behaviour that proves that you are a worthy adult. Secondly, you live under my roof, which means that you follow my rules. Either that or you can find your own place. So hand 2 them over…” “What?” “The car keys…?” “What?” I asked, surprised, and looked from her to my dad who had been completely silent the whole time and seemed to be very stern in his emotions. “Dad, please say something.” “I am sorry sweetheart, but your mom is right. You have gone too far this time.” I had hoped that my dad would come to my rescue but when I realized that he agreed with my mom, I knew I was doomed. My dad had always had my back but not around this time, the pampering was over. My mom still had her hand stretched out towards me, leaving me with no option but to unwillingly hand her the keys to my car which I retrieved from my headboard drawer. She took the keys, staffed them into her free hand and stretched out her hand again. “Your cell phones too.” “Dad!” I begged. “You have no one to blame for this but yourself so hand them over.” This was the true meaning of doomed. I gave her both my Huawei P20 and my Samsung J7 smartphones angrily. She went over to the corner to disconnect my landline. “Mom, please, not my landline too! At least let me make a call to Rosie, please. Tonight is her birthday celebration and you got me grounded.” Rosina Piletso was my best friend. She and I had been friends for more than 15 years. Well, 17 years to be precise. We met at kindergarten and it was like love at first sight. We were partners in crime. We vowed when we were 4 years olds that we were going to be BFFs and we were still honouring that vow. You could also guess that I was with her last night when I got drunk, and you are absolutely right! Rosie and I had been inseparable from kindergarten, even at primary and high school. Our friendship didn’t just go on school only, even outside. We never missed even a single one of each other’s birthday parties since then. She was even there for my 21st birthday party, which was about 5 months back. I was looking forward to hers until the current situation, of course. My mom had mixed feelings, but she finally took a deep breath. 3 “Fine. One call you hear me?” “Yes I hear you. Just one.” “Use the land line.” I got out of bed and over to my landline as I expected my parents to leave my room, but that was a far-fetched idea as they just stood there and watched me settle on a chair next to the landline. The look I gave them was more than enough to make them realize what I wanted. “We are not going anywhere…” my mom said. “So I can’t have privacy either?” “Come on sweetheart she is probably right.” My dad finally came through for me for the very first time since the beginning of the conversation. “Fine. 2 minutes.” My mom said unwillingly. “Five.” I negotiated “Three… take it or you can just hand me the land line right about now and not call your friend at all.” She challenged... My deep breath was no mistake that I had finally accepted defeat and it was probably obvious to my mom. With that they both left me in peace. I quickly dialled up Rosina’s number and she answered after just the first ring. “Hey Darls. How is that hangover coming?” Rosina asked cheerfully. “Not so good I am afraid…” “Well for your information, the best treatment for a hangover is black coffee.” “The hangover is the least of my problems right now.” “What do you mean? What’s wrong...?” “I kind of can’t make it to your party tonight.” Rosina laughed at the sentiment; probably because she thought I was joking. “Don’t worry. The hangover would have wearied off by evening.” “No Rosie that is not the reason why I am saying that I can’t make it. I told you the hangover is the least of my troubles.” “Well then you have nothing to stop you from coming…” she said 4 dismissively. “Come about an hour early, okay? There is something I want us to do before the party…” “Rosie I’m grounded.” There was no easy way to say it so I interrupted her chattering. “Grounded? What do you mean?” confusion was obvious just from her voice. “The letter from school came today. My mom is spitting smoke through her nostrils since she saw it.” “The expulsion letter.” My silence gave her enough answer to continue. “But that doesn’t justify you being grounded. You are 21. You are an adult now.” “Try telling that to my mom. She took my car keys and my phones. I had to beg to make just one call before she takes away the landline too.” “You are seriously grounded. So you are not coming to my party tonight?” she asked sadly. “I would never miss your party for the world you know that. But I am kind of in a difficult situation right now…” “All right, your 3 minutes is up.” My mom re-entered my room without even bothering to knock again. “I have to go. I hope you have fun tonight. Bye.” I hung up before Rosie could respond. Maybe because I was afraid what her response might be. As if she didn’t notice how sad I was, my mom disconnected the land line and didn’t say another word before leaving my room. I threw myself on my bed and slammed my head so hard against my pillow, that if it had been a wall my head would have shattered to pieces. I was clueless how I was going to get myself out of this uncomfortable situation.
* * *
Rosina paid and thanked the driver, who had delivered her right to the Seaton’s doorstep. Without so much another glance she advanced towards the family house carrying a container in both her hands and a plastic bag hanging from her right wrist. She straightened herself up before knocking on the door, to ready herself for her best friend’s parents’ reaction. She was thankful when a moment later the door swung open and revealed Viola, their house keeper instead.

“Ms. Viola…how are you?” She smiled innocently. “I am fine Ms. Rosina, how are you?” “Well, honestly I have had better days.” She paused and then… “Are the Seaton’s in?” “Of course. Well Mrs. Seaton is not home yet, but Mr. Seaton is in his Library. I can go get him for you.” She said turning away but Rosina quickly stopped her. “Oh no, there is no need. I just came by to drop this for her.” She said lifting the container as if Viola hadn’t already noticed it. “My mom just thought that since Mer couldn’t make it to the party, I should bring her home some cake. I heard that she is grounded though, so I have no plans of staying any longer.” She handed the plastic and container over to Viola. “Thank you. I will make sure Meredith gets this. “Oh actually, that’s for the whole family. The plastic is for Mer. Tell her I am sorry I couldn’t save chocolate cake for her. I hadn’t even noticed it was diminishing until it was too late. That is all I could save.” “I will tell her.” “And could you please give it to her first and don’t make an announcement of it. I’m afraid it might not sit well with her parents since she is grounded and all.” “Okay. I will give it to her right away.” “Thank you.” She said inside feeling very victorious. “Well I suppose I should get going then. Thank you again viola.” She said and immediately turned and left. Viola gently closed the door and then headed to Meredith’s bedroom.
***
I sat in my room bored to death. It had seemed like an eternity for evening to come. I looked at my bedside watch, which told me that Rosina’s birthday party was probably out by now. Now what remained was the parentless birthday bash scheduled for the Youth’s Hotel in the next 2 hours. If there was any treatment more unfair than this in my life, then it was surely abuse. A knock on the door awoke me from my thoughts and at my command, our housekeeper Viola peeped through the door. Viola was like my second mom. She literally raised me up. You 6 see, I grew up as my parents’ only child. My parents tried to make me siblings but the two attempts before and one attempt after me proved fruitless, and left them devastated, so they decided to be grateful for what they had, me. I was a miracle and therefore I grew up as mommy’s little miracle and daddy’s little girl. My mom was an air hostess and my dad was a pilot and that was a little too much money coming into the home for a single child. So growing up I had the best life; that meant that I went to the best schools and got whatever I wanted. I was always given excess money to spend at school every day, which was always too much. I had saved up and my money box was already full. Due to the fact that my mom and dad were always working; this meant that they would be home for one week and be gone for 2 weeks, I became lonely. Of course Rosie was there, but I still ate dinner alone most nights and slept alone in our big house with no one but our staff…this was where Viola came in. She had been hired when I was four. My nanny from birth decided that she wanted to further her education. She had been my mom through all that. She had been the one to cleanse my wounds when I was hurt, she washed, cleaned and cooked for me. She was like the mom I never had. “Ms. Seaton…can I come in?” “Oh hey Viola . Of Corse. Come on in.” “I have something for you. A special delivery…” “Special delivery you say?” More a question than a statement. “From whom?” “Rosina was here just now. She said to give you this.” She handed over the small container. I received the container, not even bothering to try and hide my surprise. “She brought me cake. What did my parents have to say about it?” “Well, she asked that I don’t make an announcement of it since you are grounded and all, and you might not be allowed to eat it for punishment’s sake.” I didn’t mistake the pity in Viola’s voice. “So my parents don’t know?” “No. I brought you your delivery before I could give them theirs. They don’t have a clue.” 7 “Thank you Viola…” I said sincerely but she just simply smiled as if it was no big deal. She was about to leave but turned back for one more declaration. “Oh, and Rosina said to apologies for getting such a small piece, she hadn’t realized it was diminishing until it was too late. That is all she could save.” “Okay. Thank you Viola.” She smiled. “Well, she said this was for the whole family so I had better deliver it to your parents.” She said lifting up the plastic she held on to so firmly. “Oh okay!” I tried my best to hide my surprise while Viola turned and closed the door on her way out. I knew Rosie was up to something. Otherwise why would she separate my cake from my parents’? I shrugged at the thought, whatever it was, I knew she was planning on getting me out of this freaky place and one thing was for sure…into deep trouble. I couldn’t care less, as long as I could get out of here, even if it be for just a few minutes. I smiled at the container before I could open it. My best friend knew my flavour; chocolate. “Oh I am I going to take my stress out on you.” I said to the cake as if I was taking to a human being, and almost immediately pincer griped the corner for my first bite. I closed my eyes as I swallowed and enjoyed the sweetness of the cake. As soon as I opened it, I noticed a small piece of paper folded inside. Puzzled I retrieved it and unfolded it and started to read it silently. “Sorry to hear that you are grounded…” the note said, “I could almost close my eyes and wish that it was just a dream. After 17 years of continued attendance you can’t attend the most important birthday of my life…” I closed my eyes once again, but this time not to enjoy my cake but to imagine how Rosie must be feeling under the circumstances. Rosina and I had been friends since kindergarten and never missed each other’s birthday parties. Today was history in the making. “Lucky for you though; you have such an understanding friend who 8 would bring you things that have a sweet ring to it under the circumstances. Anyway I also treated your mom and dad to some vanilla cake so enjoy yours. Love Rosie.” There is one thing you should probably know about my best friend; she always spoke in parables. A sweet ring to it? Whatever that was supposed to mean? One thing was for sure; sweet as it can be it couldn’t be compared to the bitter feeling I had to endure for the next, well only God knew how long. Well, the least I could do for myself right now was to enjoy the cake even if it was just for a few minutes. I tried to pinch again in the same area but felt something hard beneath the cake. Puzzled I used my index finger to uncover a small box. Curious to know what the box is all about I removed the rest of the covering cake and realized for the first time that it had a lid. I removed the lid. Upon peeking inside, I discovered a phone. “Rosie you dare devil; I knew you were up to something. I should have known it would be something like this.” I smiled to myself. I put the cake aside, took out the phone and immediately punched her numbers from my memory. “I supposed that this call means you received my gift with a sweet ring to it.” “I should have known you would pull something like this…” I said almost proudly. “So you think you can allow me to help you escape to my party tonight? I mean the ‘all in’ is over and done with. Now it’s time for the elders and kinder to go to sleep so we the youth can enjoy ourselves. I don’t know if you want to miss that…” “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” “Well, later then. Bye!” “Bye sweet.” Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it did overpower the bitter feeling of being locked up in here for so long and unable to make it to my best friend’s party. Well at least I knew I was going to be there for the after party. Honestly, I couldn’t wait for tonight. It didn’t matter if I got caught as long as it was after I had my share of fun. I wouldn’t mind if they grounded me after that; provided I had been there for my BFF’s 21st birthday party.