His Best Friend's Sister

Chapter 15

By mid-March, my grades were improving again slightly, but mom still wasn't too happy with me.

There was another senior party being held Saturday night by Cassandra Ferguson. This girl had a habit of getting very handsy with Ricky. I wanted to go to this party for no reason other than to keep an eye on her.

It was difficult to know that Ricky was considered 'single' to everyone who knew him. It filled me with an obsessive desire to keep tabs on his whereabouts. I knew it wasn't healthy, but it was the price to pay for a secret relationship. 

When I asked my mom if I could go, her initial response was "Do you not have a math unit test on Monday?"

"Yes, but..."

"Have you not just started passing this class?"

"Yes, but..."

"No buts. You're not going to a party when you have studying to do."

"You're being so unfair!" I burst out in typical teenage drama fashion, which was surely not in my best interest.

"Why do you even want to go to this party so badly, Anastasia?"

"Because all my friends were going," I answered. That was a lie. Bianca, Brad and Zoey were not going, and as far as I knew, Robin hadn't even heard about it.

She didn't seem satisfied with that response. Mom can tell when I'm lying.

"Why is Alexander allowed to go to parties and I'm not?" I started to argue further.

"Alexander has proven himself to be mature."

That stung a bit.

She went on. "Alexander texts me whenever he is going somewhere or if he is changing his plans. He never breaks curfew. He attends all his practices while still getting good grades at school. He is a safe driver and he makes responsible choices and he doesn't lie to me."

I couldn't help myself. Nothing could have stopped me from saying it.

"He lied to you last winter. When you were in Montreal for business, he threw a huge party at our house. Plus, he drinks at parties. I've seen it."

Alexander, who had obviously been eavesdropping from the living room, barged into the kitchen full force.

"Anastasia threw a party two months ago in the house when you were in Vancouver! And I've seen her drink, too."

My mom looked back and forth between me and Alexander as if we were speaking Japanese.

"He has smoked!" I practically yelled.  It had resorted to accusations that could be shared as simply as possible.

"Anastasia!" he roared.

"Enough." My mom spoke with deadly quietness.

We tore our dirty looks off of each other and obediently faced our mom.

"Who are these people?" she motioned frantically toward the two of us. "Because they're not my children. Anastasia, I never see you studying anymore. All I hear you talk about is friends and parties. Alexander, you have your future to think about and you better stop hiding from it because it's coming up fast."

Alexander and I were tight lipped as she lambasted us.

"And the drinking? Really? Do you even have the first idea of the damage alcohol can cause in your lives? I do my best as a single mother trying to give you two the best I can, but I can only do so much. You are growing up and you need to be the ones making wise decisions for your lives."