Teen Ink

Get it Signed or Don't Go at all

After school I rode the bus home and went into my house quietly. No doubt that my stepmother was probably passed out on the couch . I peeked in to the living-room, and to find my stepmother snoring like a bear on the couch. I stayed away from my stepmother so she wouldn’t be grouchy when I told her I need three hundred dollars for a camping trip. So instead I went into the kitchen to make my hard to pros-wade stepmother a snack. After at least twenty minutes of redoing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich five times I finally got to perfection, or at least an OK looking sandwich. I walked into the living-room to find my stepmother watching TV. Good shes awake I thought to myself.

“Hi mom! I just made you a sandwich!” I said brightly plastering on a fake smile.

She looked me, then took the plate. Between bite fulls she said:

“OK whats up? I know you hate me, what do you want now?” she glared at me.

Wow! I thought. She is good! She like knows me inside and out! CRAP!

“Well you, there is this camp, and I really wanted to go” I replied, putting on another fake smile.

“OK first of all you can cut it out with the smiles because I know that your faking it and it’s starting to get really creepy” she said meanly. “Second of all, how much is?” she asked.

“Huh? What” I said distracted that she actually got this far and not just saying no right when I said I wanted to go to camp.

“How much is camp?!” she said annoyed.

“Oh um. . . three hundred dollars” I said. I expected to her to scream no way in my ear and smack me silly, but she just said: “Let me see the sheet”. So I gave it to her.

She read it over twice, so she wouldn’t miss anything. After she looked up at me and gave me a look over, think if I deserved to go or not. Shes probably going to say no! I thought to myself.

“Get me a pen so I can sign” she ordered.

Oh my gosh! I screamed in my head. Shes letting me go! Wait a minute! shes letting me go! there’s probably some sort of catch! She would never let me go for free! I thought angrily to myself.

I gave her the pen, and she signed. I looked at her.

“OK, so whats the catch?” I asked annoyed that I hadn’t thought about it before.

“The catch is. . .” she started.

I new it! It new! she won’t let me go for free! I thought again.

“That you will be away so I won’t be stressed about you being in my life!” she said fixing me with a glare.

That’s it?! Wow that’s nothing! I don’t even care that what she was mean! I get to go to the camp! I thought to myself so excited that I was practically hoping up and down.

You may think that me going to camp is a good thing but, . . . It was the worst mistake. . . EVER!