Before they could remember Rachel cleared her dishes, put away the cereal and milk and headed upstairs. If she sat there any longer she was sure they would have remembered her cell.

Rachel unplugged her cell phone, charging on her nightstand, and looked at it.

1 New Message:

Hoping it was Rob texting about their date tonight, Rachel opened the phone.

Dana: Hey Rach, went to the movies last night, we missed you.

Reading this, Rachel felt sad. She remembered how simple her life was back in Pennsylvania. She rarely got in trouble, and hanging out with her friends never turned into a crazy ordeal either. She wished she could be back with her old friends now, doing the fun things she used to do: but now she was thrust into this different world she knew little about.

Rachel didn’t feel up to rehashing her whole night over a text message, but she didn’t want to be rude and not text back, even though Dana had been remiss about contacting Rachel the past few days.

Rachel: Hey! Sounds so fun, wish I could have been there, I went out, too. Let’s chat later.

Rachel had hoped that Dana’s text was Rob texting her instead. She was anxious for Rob to text her about the party, but she also didn’t know how she would respond. Could she really tell him that she had been grounded for staying out past her 11pm curfew? She couldn’t bear to do that. She knew that if she told anyone that she was grounded, her friends would think she was lame. Not to mention, they would hate her parents, and Rachel didn’t want that.

Rachel pondered her options. She had to find a way to get to Jordan’s party and to see Rob, but she didn’t see how that would ever fly with her parents. Rachel knew if she tried to reason with them, they would get angrier and might ground her for longer -- so she knew that wasn’t an option.

She wondered if she had Rob show up and ring her bell, that maybe her parents would feel bad and let her go out. But she didn’t think that would work because she knew she wouldn’t get the sympathy card tonight.

Suddenly, Rachel had an idea. Today was Saturday, and she knew her parents always went out on Saturday nights for dinner. Rachel could sneak out. She had never snuck out of her house before, but tonight was not just another night out with the girls -- this was her BIG date night with Rob, and she couldn’t miss it for the world.

The one hiccup in the plan was that Rachel wasn’t sure if her parents were going out this Saturday, because it was their first Saturday in the new house and they might still be unpacking, or have other things to do around the house. They might also be too tired after the craziness she had put them through last night. She had to find out.

But how?

Rachel knew that if she asked them straight out, they would know something was up; Rachel never inquired about their plans before, so why would she start doing it now? Especially when she was grounded?

Suddenly, a stroke of genius entered her brain. She figured out the perfect way to find out their plans, while not letting on that she was really trying to find a way to sneak out.

Rachel felt torn about her idea. She knew if she went forward with it, she would have to tell a lie -- but if she didn’t go through with it, she may let the love of her life slip through her fingers. The battle in her mind went on for a few minutes, and then she decided she couldn’t miss her date with Rob, she had to lie to her parents.

Rachel left her room and headed to find her parents. They were sitting in the living room, sorting through boxes. As she entered the room, her parents stopped and looked up at her.

“What are you doing down here?” asked her dad.

“Well, I was going through my homework and then I realized that part of my science homework was to watch an episode of Planet Earth.”

“You’re grounded. No TV,” her dad replied.

“But, how will I do my homework? I can’t go in without it and it’s due Monday morning, 3rd period.”

Rachel’s mom looked at her, then turned towards her dad and said, “I think we need to make an exception, Dear. She isn’t watching it for pleasure -- it is her homework. We can’t let her grades slip because she is grounded.”

“What time is it on?” her dad snapped.

“It starts at 8:30 tonight.”

Rachel knew that there was a Phillies game on tonight and her parents were huge fans: arguably, their number one fans. She knew that if they were not going out for dinner, they would be sitting in front of the only TV they had in their house, watching the game. They wouldn’t let anything get in the way of their beloved baseball team.

Rachel knew her plan was working. Here parents looked at each other and looked at the clock hanging in the corner of the room.

“That will be fine,” said Rachel’s dad.

“The show is two hours though, is that OK?” she asked, looking at her parents.

“It shouldn’t be a problem,” her mom interjected. “We’re going out to dinner tonight at 7 o’clock with the new neighbors. They said they might want to go to the movies after, so we probably won’t get home until around then anyway.”

“Oh, OK,” Rachel said, trying to sound indifferent. She didn’t want them to hear any excitement in her voice.

Rachel knew that Sarah was still at Skidmore and Mark was having a sleepover with one of his friends so she would have the house all to herself.

Rachel had done it. Her plan worked. She figured out all the information she needed. She felt a little bad for lying, but she couldn’t think of any other way.

Rachel headed back upstairs to her room. She looked at her watch. 1:15pm. She checked her phone.

No New Messages

Rachel knew the party started at 8 o’clock, and she only had a few more hours to go. She wondered why Rob hadn’t texted her yet. Maybe he forgot? Maybe he was standing her up?

Many options crossed through her mind.

Should I text him?

Rachel continuously checked her phone thinking that maybe Rob had texted and she didn’t hear the buzz. Still nothing.

She began to like him even more and let her mind wander, thinking about their date. She wondered what the party was going to be like and who was going to be there. She wondered what she and Rob would do together -- she even let herself think about kissing him.

Rachel had only kissed one guy before, and that had been a random guy at one of her sleepaway camp socials. It was more of a peer pressure kiss, and meant nothing to her: she didn’t even remember the guy’s name. So this would be Rachel’s first “real” kiss.

Another hour went by with no text from Rob. Rachel’s hopes of them getting together begun to fade. She was a little annoyed, too, because she had already lied to her parents and had come up with an elaborate plan to get out of the house. She started to feel that maybe she liked him more than he liked her.

All of a sudden, Rachel heard a buzz. Her heart leapt into her throat as she reached for her cell.

1 New Message:

Rob: Hey Rachel, psyched for tonight. I’ll pick you up around 7.

Rachel waited a few minutes to reply, so she wouldn’t seem too eager. She didn’t want Rob to think she had been sitting by her phone all day waiting for his text, and she wanted to play it cool. Having never had a boyfriend, she had many years of analyzing and overanalyzing her friends’ relationships and guy drama.

Rachel: Great. Can you come around 7:45 instead?

Rachel didn’t want Rob to accidentally run into her parents as they were leaving the house, and she also knew that her parents were chronically late for everything, and they probably wouldn’t end up leaving until after 7.

She was also a little puzzled that Rob wanted to pick her up an hour before the party started. She knew it was only a five minute drive to everything in Bedford, so 7 was way too early. Then she thought maybe he wanted to take her somewhere first, so they could be alone. She loved the idea of, but realized tonight was not a possibility. If she wanted any shot at sneaking out, it would have to wait until her parents were long gone.

Rob: Yeah, that’s fine. See ya later babe!

BABE! Did he really just call me babe? Rachel had never been referred to as babe before, or for that measure, any pet name or term of endearment.

She felt awesome. It made her even more excited for her night. Now the thought of lying to her parents and sneaking out all made perfect sense. This was going to be the love of her life. Rachel daydreamed about her and Rob dating, and then becoming boyfriend and girlfriend. She thought that this was going to be her high school sweetheart, and she hoped that the two would get married. She could see them going to college together, or at least to schools close to one another.

Rachel’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard her phone buzz again. Was it Rob again? Rachel wondered what he could have forgotten to say.

1 New Message:

Emily: So crazy last night Rach! Glad you came out. You have fun?

Rachel: Yup! Totally. What are you up to?

Emily: Figuring out my plans for tonight, want to see that movie?

Rachel: Oh, I can’t. I’m going to Jordan’s party with Rob.

Emily: YOU ARE? Why?

Rachel: Rob’s cute, I kinda like him.

Emily: Yeah, but he hangs out with the worst people. You are going to hate it.

Rachel: Want to come?

Emily: Never.

Rachel: Ok, well, I’m going to go for a little bit. Let’s see the movie next weekend, K?

Emily: We’ll see. If I haven’t already seen it by then. Bye.

Rachel: Cya

Rachel worried that maybe Emily was mad at her. She liked Emily a lot: she was her favorite of the group, but she didn’t like how Emily was so opposed to Rob and his crew. Rachel didn’t like being told what to do or how to feel and she resented this about Emily. Even though Emily had been in school with them forever, Rachel still wanted the chance to figure things out on her own. She didn’t want Emily to tell her she was going to hate the party or put a damper on her excitement. Rachel knew she was going to go to the party and have the best time. She couldn’t possibly have a worse night than last night.

Rachel looked at her watch; the time had crept up on her; it was nearing 5 o’clock, and she had to start getting ready for her big date. She felt glad that Sarah wasn’t home because she wouldn’t have to fight for the shower, and she could even borrow her cute Gap denim skirt.