To Stay or Go?

      There’s a rule where I live that’s suppose to be followed. It’s to not violate the social system. My name is Jane Macintire. I live in the well known north. Where I’m from, is a place of extreme wealth and fame. My parents expect two proper young ladies in their household. My older sister fits their idea of a classy young lady but I don’t.

      I’m a rebellious figure, who rather follow my own rules than the town. In this town, even wealth doesn’t save you. Truth is I’m not happy with this life that was chosen for me. My parents underestimate how smart I am, but not my sister. She sees right through me. We were raised to treat the lower class exactly how their title was heard.

      I was heading to the backyard where my older sister Kathrin was. She was such a good two shoes that it made me sick.

      “Hello Kathrin!” she hadn’t seen me coming and squealed. I waited for her to settle down.

      “Don’t ever sneak up on me again. “

I only nodded.

       “I have to know something.” I told her.

      She turned and faced me. “What is it Jane?”

      “I want to know your opinion on an American.” She gave me a long worried look as if she knew this would happen one day. Kathrin stayed silent until, I waved my hand in her face.

      “I can’t explain it to you. Why aren’t you dressed for the party?”

      “I forgot about the party. Can’t I just fake an illness? You know I hate these things.” I whined.

Every week our parents hosted a party. They were well known by everybody in town and loved to show off their luxuries.

      “You know you have to be there, they demand it of us. Go get ready and please don’t cause any trouble.”

      “Okay…” I watched her walk off. She had lied to me. She knew exactly what to say. Problem was our parents.

I heard the first of the guest arrive downstairs. I sat on the edge of my bed deciding if I should go on down to greet the guests or just go down a while later. I stood up and glanced in the mirror.

I was dressed in a the most extravagant dress known to man. It was laced on the sleeves and dropped down to the ground. It was hideous at least in my mind. I hated dresses with a passion, but most of the time was forced to wear them. I scrunched up my nose and walked away. This was so uncomfortable. The dress was tight around my waist and I could barely breathe. I sighed.

There was a soft knock on the door before it cracked opened. Kathrin walked in, closing the door behind her.

“Mother and father are looking for you. They want you to talk to our guests.” she said.

“Those are not out guests! Those are theirs. I wasn’t allowed to invite any of my friends because they weren’t allowed to come!”

Kathrin stepped away from me. She never approved of my temper which was rare. My friends weren’t in the same class as me, well at least not all of them. A few were in my class , but owned bad reputations. My parents didn’t want their bad behavior to wear off on me . Most of all there was a lower class boy named Adam. He’s been a friend of mine since we were young. I use to sneak out of the house and we would go around exploring the outside world. Once again my mother had interfered with my life. I had to beg her to not put Adam in any trouble.

I stared at my sister who was still waiting to see if I was calm. I gave her a go ahead look.

“You know why they weren’t allowed,” she whispered. I had nothing to say.

“We need to go down now before we have to face our parents.”

I nodded and followed her down to where out parents were. There was so many people here. My mom was talking to a young man close to me age. When she saw me her expression brightened.

Oh no.

“Jane this is Maximus Greyhorn. He just moved here a week ago,”

I shook his hand slowly, giving him one of my fake smiles.

“Nice to meet you,” he said. Maximus was slightly taller than me and had dark brown hair. He was partially cute in the face.

“Why don’t you show him around?” mother asked.

“Oh, I can’t. I notice that I’ve forgotten something upstairs, but Kathrin would love to show him the house,” I added quickly and slipped away before either one of them could protest.

I knew what my mom was trying to do and wasn’t going to work. Nothing would make me adapt to this lifestyle. I went to the backyard into the starry night. My parents were willing to do anything to make me be what they wanted. Maximus reminded me of Adam. I realized how much I missed my friend. I glanced around and saw my sister was still inside. So they weren’t coming to check up on me. Good.

I ran up stairs to my room and ripped the dress off. I grabbed a sweater and pair of jeans . I wasn’t staying for this party. I climbed out the window and snuck out the back like old times. Everyone was busy in the front, that they had no idea what I was doing. I disappeared into the night.

Adam lived on the other side of town towards the south. It was a big difference from where I lived. Houses were smaller and less flashy. It was also a long way from home. When we were younger we would meet halfway. I arrived at his house in no time.

Adam’s house was a one story. The two rooms were small and cramped, but simple which I enjoyed being around. I went to his window. He was laying on his bed reading a book. I gently tapped the window. His head snapped up quicker than a squirrel. When he saw me, he ran to the window and opened it.

“Jane? What are you doing here so late?” he whispered. Instead of answering him I gave him the biggest hug ever. He didn’t react at first, but then his arms went around. He was truly my best friend.

“Could you believe my mother threw a party so she could hook me up with the new neighbor down the street?” I asked after we sat down.

He gave me a weird look before answering. “Yea I could. Your parents disapprove of your choice in living. I’m surprised they haven’t kicked you out.”

“They won’t do that because they’re worried about what others will say about them, when they should just be themselves.” I explained.

Adam nodded, thinking to himself for a few minutes.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ll end up going home to keep you out of trouble.” I told him.

“Be careful Jane. Don’t be reckless.”

I laughed as I climbed out the window. When am I not reckless?

The next morning, I knew I was in a lot of trouble. It was my father who had woke me up instead of my mother. He was disappointed in me for leaving the party. My father had high hopes for me when I was older going to be older. On the other hand my mother expected me to marry well and end up just like her along with Kathrin.

After being called a disgrace, my father left room. I couldn’t stand it here anymore. I wasn’t allowed to do anything that I wanted or be whatever I wanted. I was to follow rules that were unfair and didn’t even make sense. They wanted me to treat people wrong because they were not as wealthy as me! This was not how life was suppose to turn out. People were to get along no matter where they came from. Each day I spend in this house I felt myself getting angrier and angrier with time. The parties, people, and luxuries didn’t define me for who I was, but for what I was to be seen as.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. I was just so tired of how they treated me. My sister was bound to start moving away from me and seriously following after mom and dad. That would make me the outsider of the family. One who didn’t belong because I chose to live a different path. I didn’t care…I rather stand out on my own than ever conform to such nonsense in this town. I sighed and got off the bed and went to my closet.

I was looking for a picture of when I was younger and my mother and dad had looked liked regular people and didn’t have all the luxuries they had now. The picture was hidden in a box beneath a lot of junk that was stored in here. I stared at the picture and realized a lot had changed. In the picture, we were at the beach. It was all four of us, just normal. Our parents hadn’t become rich or anything. There were smiles on all of our faces. We were happier back then. They were nicer back then before money had changed them. It seemed that money changed a lot of people no matter what. They had let go of themselves and become someone different entirely. I wanted them to see this picture and remember how things use to be before all of this had happened.

They were all downstairs in the family room talking. When I showed up, the chatting went away. Kathrin didn’t even look me in the eye. She was staring off into space. My mom and dad weren’t looking at me either. So they were going to just treat me like I wasn’t here.

“What’s with the silent treatments?” I asked.

Mother turned around and glared. “You don’t want to be part of this family then you will not be treated as part of this family.”

“I’m still part of this family if you like it or not. I just don’t agree with how you choose to live. You weren’t always like this. Your dreams and goals were different. A lot different, but now that there is money involved things just changed, well I’m not going to follow after this.” I took the picture out my pocket and threw it on the center table.

I saw Kathrin glance up at the photo and stare at it for a few seconds before looking away. It had struck a nerve, but not well enough. I knew she would never go against our parents no matter what. She was in to deep with their rules. My dad never took one glance at the picture, but my mother did.

She picked the picture up and what she did next made my heart drop. She ripped it in half. That picture was the truth. The only truth about this whole family. Everything we were now was a lie and my mother destroyed our last reality.

“That is no longer who we are. That was the past, you need to grow up!” she said. I stared at her. I had nothing to say for once. How could she be so intent on forgetting the past?

“How could you do that? We weren’t always like this!”

“Yes we were! This is how we have always been!” My mother had lost her mind…completely. I knew now that she was fixed on this lifestyle. Why go back to a point where you had nothing. She didn’t want to remember what she had. She felt secured with money, they all did. Money meant nothing to me at all, but here I had a choice. A choice that would choose where I ended up. I could either break the social system and leave my family and face the law or I could just join them and stay safe from any harm. Leaving them I could be with Adam, my friend. Joining them I would have to leave Adam behind. I knew what my mom would do. They were waiting for me to choose. This was a life or death choice. I didn’t know what I was willing to choose right now at this minute.

I suppose my mind was made up once I sat down next to Kathrin and picked up a magazine and began reading it. Sometimes you have to stay within your law just to protect yourself…