I remember when I was close to my 18'th, a friend asked me (she was the first new friend I had after we had moved into this new city 2 months ago), if I wanted to come with her the followig day. To a little gathering/party of a few friends of her, in a open barbecue area.
I was very happy at first, after all I didn't make new friend that easily. Since we (and the majority of the rest) worked until 4pm, yes I worked at the age of 17, the 'party' wouldn't start before 5pm. After all you first had to go hom, eat, change into new clothes at least & then go to the place you would meet with the others.
It woul be a friday.
She told me, that wouldn't be a problem, after all we could sleep in the next day(a saturday) if it got too late. She dind't know my family, especially my mother.
Mentally I cringed.
It was so embarrassing because I knew how the other teens my age would laugh, the moemnt the found out that I had to be at home at precisely 6pm. Even if it wasn't dark outside.
Besides, who would go to a party for one hour, no matter how small the numbers attending would be.
But I also felt, that i could trust this new friend. Which I really could! So i told her of my problem. She just smiled & told me, that she would drag an extra hour out of my mom.
I told her, that it wouldn't make a change, since I would need at least an hour to get warm with people. She grinned and told me that she would rather have me there for 'only' 2 hours than not at all, which made me smile.
Coincidentally she had been at my home for a few minutes, a week before. We had been on our way home frome work & it was scorching hot outside, so I asked her to come in and drink something cool before she had to walk another few minutes.
So she went home with me the other day (friday), we had hurried up & were home 10 minutes earlier from work. I asked my mom, while my friend was standing beside me, if I may go to the party.
Of course her first answer was NO!
But my friend, wo was one & a halfyear older than me, therefore 19... told my mother that she would be there, too. Looking after me, so to speak.
After a few minutes my mother agreed, to my amazement, but only until 6:30pm, then i would have to stand in our door.
But my friend, as promised made my mother agree, that I could stay out until 7:30pm. Argumenting, that some of 'our' friends wouldn't come earlier than 6:30, since they also had to work longer. Which was true for two of them.
And so my mother accepted it, 'generously' letting me out until 7:30pm. But not a single minute longer. AND that I had to sent a text message at 6:30pm with my cellphone if everything was still being ok there.
Which still makes no sense to me, a text message wouldn't help me if someone really decided to rape me, seduce me or make me drunk so as to fuck the shit out of me... this woman was, is & will always be silly!!
Then she had to embarrasse me further, asking who would come. As if she could possibly know anyone of them, we had just recently moved 180km+ after, so no. And how many of them would be male.
I knew that moment, I had to speak. If my friend answered honestly, I wouldn't go anywhere.
Therefore I claimed, that everyone would be around 16 to 17, and only one would be 19 years old, and that one would be freinds boyfriend. Which wasn't really a lie. But I also claimed that it would be 6 girls & 2 boys on that party. In truth we were 5 girls & 4 boys if I remember correctly.
So we meet at my door later, and arrived at the barbecue area at around 5:05pm. The others attending were all living a few feet away from the open place. For me it was something around 5-10 minutes per bus.
There my friend ws so nice to introduce me to everyone & I believe they all liked from the very first moment.
They all talked & I said a few words here & there, not too much & nursed one small bottle sparkling mineral water I had brought with me, while everyone else was drinking cheap beer en masse.
At 6:30pm i wrote the text message like a good puppy, telling her how nice evryone was and stuff...
At 7:15pm I was on my way, my friend was with me, her boyfriend had slipped on the grass & hurt his back earlier so he had to go to the hospital & she didn't want to stay without him & me.
The bus which should have arrive two minutes or so later, would drive 7 minutes, because in the evening that line wasn't used so frequently. And I would have been in the door at 7:28pm, more than punctual, early!
Soemthing I always like. Being punctual, has always given me a sense of control! It was the only thing I really had in control, in my life.
But the bus was 7 minutes to late. The ididotic driver ha taken the wrong turn, and then another wrong turn, which made him drive through a long one-way street. And when he came back, 7 minutes were gone!
After we arrived at my door at 7:35pm, 5 minutes to late. My friend waited with me, telling me she would explain it to my mother and such. I had made it clear that my mother woul make a huge argument out of those 5 minutes.
And just that way it went. I was opening the door to my home when my mother heard me from the kitchen. She came towards me and tugged at my shoulder, closing the door, or at least she almost succeeded in it, and in hitting my friends face, who was on my heels. I was trying to tell her that my friend was there & that she had almost hurt her.
As soon as we all were inside, my mother started yelling so loud, that everyone, in their apartments could hear her, each word.
What with being 5 minutes too late. That she was trusting me, and what had I done? coming 5 minutes too late... as if I had slaughtered a child or rpaed a dog!
My friend calmly tried to make my mother understand that the bus was late. And that we even would have been early home if the driver hadn't been that incompetent!
First my mother didn't believe her. but then my friend told her in clear words, that she was hoome in this city, not us(my mother & me & the rest of our family) and that things like that happened often enough with the buses.
It still happens, because this line has twice a day another course. Even these days it happens every now then, while I go by bus to the GP.
Still... my mother, in her self-righteous rage, kept raving at us for about 10 minutes. Until I had enough & told her that I was tired / needed sleep, after all I got up at 5am in the morning, while she being a house-wife who would be alone all day with my father, didn't get up before 10 to 11am.
I didn't even care that i said that in front of my friend, even though she wasn't part of our family, which didn't matter to me at that moment.
After that evening, I didn't go out again with this friend, we met in the morning to go to work, but in the afternoon we parted, and every weekend I had another reason/lie to not go with her.
A few weeks after, the company we worked for, had to close a few postion, and since both were young & without own kids they threw us out.
We saw twice or thrice on the street afterwards, but half a year later she moved to the other end of the city and I didn't care anymore.
I haven't been out since then, except those two times when I did sleep overnight (I was already 20 at that time) at a friends. She was nice too, we made pizza both time & watched movies on the tv, because she didn't like going out. so it wasn't really like going, just staying at some elses place and sitting on their couch.
I dislike parties, I always did. And I hadn't been many bfore that evening either. But it would have been nice to go out every now & then, meeting new friends & acquaintances, nothing more.
But that one evening, it was the last party I went to, 10 years ago.
