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My parents and I had never really gotten along.
They didn't understand the way I dressed, the music I listened to, and the way I acted all around, basically. Although it wasn't constant bickering, my parents and I were constantly sending each other over the edge, and it was only a matter of time before we did some real damage.
The one thing my parents had the most trouble with was my friends. They were really different, and my parents could not accept that. I would come home from school late after soccer practice, and my mom would be standing on the doorstep, waiting to yell at me on what strange character had showed up looking for me today. It was always like this. Long talks, discussion, and fights, but my parents were wrong. If Mom and Dad would look past how my friends looked, they would see what amazing, bold personalities the people I hang out with have. And how much we care for each other, above all.
I remember it like it was yesterday. I had had a truly horrifying spat with my mother over two of my buddies she had seen at the mall that day. Her ignorance sent me boiling. I left the house in a rage, and ran out the back fence into the alley, not really looking to go anywhere, just away. The tears had been blinding my eyes, but suddenly, I heard a kind, familiar voice near my shoulder. "What's wrong, Em? Are you okay?" It was Keanu, and hearing the other comforting murmurs behind him told me he wasn't alone.
Suddenly it hit me. The gang and I usually hung out in the alleyways and Danny's fence at this time, after dinner in the summer. It wasn't planned; we just all slowly sauntered together, laughing. A few of the guys brought rails and skateboards, some just hung out and talked, others brought trick bikes, and since we all lived in a tight circle, spectacles were usually watched form garage roofs. I realized I hadn't been out here with them for a long time (parents' punishment). From the corner of my eyes, I saw a few of the guys set down their skateboards, and although I was gasping for breath, I managed to let out a weak smile, at all of them. Keanu and Miles guided my arm, and I sat down against Danny's large garage door, about six of my friends crowding in around me. None of them asked what happened, they didn't need too. They had just set down whatever they had been doing at the time, and huddled around me.
My crying had stopped, and I was engulfed in warmth, one of my best friends Tashina by my side, whispering things in my ear. I wasn't listening to the words particularly, I was just sitting there, numb. Nobody spoke for a long while, the eight of us sitting there, breathing in the cool night air. Strangely, after all that happened, I had never felt so happy, so free, such a feeling that I belonged.
After about an hour of sitting in silence, my best friends close around me, my parents came. They, neither said a word, just looked at me, enclosed in coats and people, and quietly walked off. I knew at that moment that my parents had accepted partially who I was, and why I chose to hang out with the people I did. Behind the face, they had something I had never seen in people before, and I respected them for that. Long into the night, Keanu and Danny walked me back into my house. I thanked them, and walked silently up the stairs to me room.
As I sank into my bed, I realized for the first time that what my parents or teachers thought didn't really matter. All I knew is that this group of cocky, strange, lovable people I called my friends really did care about me, and wanted me to be okay.
I still love them now as I much as I did that cold October night, and they are still here for me like they always had been. No matter what goes on with the gang of us in the future, I'll always remember that night, and know deep in my heart, that I really was where I belonged.
Glitsygrl
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