Even worse was the fact that I knew she was right about my friends. They were changing — not for the better

“Just because the mall has late opening hours, doesn’t mean I want you hanging around there at night,” my mother said.

“But all my friends are going,” I protested. Avital’s sister had just gotten her license and since driving was still a novelty, she didn’t mind chaperoning her younger sister and friends if it meant more time behind the wheel.

“I honestly feel bad for you to be the odd one out,” my mother sympathized, “but that doesn’t justify me giving you permission to go somewhere I don’t feel is appropriate. And a group of teens hanging out in the mall on their own — at night — definitely fits into that category.  I don’t like being the one to say no,” my mother continued, “but lately it seems more and more that the things your friends want to do and the places they want to go are not the things Daddy and I are happy for you to do. I know the four of you have been friends forever and I don’t know what’s changed, but maybe it’s time to start exploring new friendships — girls who are more in line with our, and your, standards.”

It wasn’t what I wanted to hear right then, and I exploded. It was bad enough that she didn’t let me hang out with my friends in the mall. Even worse was the fact that I knew she was right about my friends. They were changing — not for the better — and sometimes even I wondered if I was headed down a slippery slope together with them. Still, my friends were my life, and at this stage in high school I didn’t have the courage to start over. In my opinion, I was old enough to make my own decisions and I wished my parents would give me the freedom to be like the rest of my friends, instead of constantly rejecting the clothing I wanted to wear, the activities I wanted to do, and the places I wanted to go.

It was all Becky’s fault, I thought angrily. She had joined our class at the beginning of this year and had slowly wormed her way into our little group. My three other friends loved her spunk and charisma and it seemed like only I recognized the negative effect she was having on the rest of us (not that I would ever admit that to my mother). Ever since she joined, standards had definitely sunk and some of the topics she raised for discussion made me feel very uncomfortable. I wished Becky would leave our school, or at the very least find other girls to be friendly with, but right now it seemed she was here to stay, and my social life seemed to be conflicting more and more with my home values.

“It doesn’t work out for me to come,” I told Avital on the phone when she called back to see if I was joining.