Her Last Chance
Fiction
By Lauren Fencl
Lindsay has always been a great girl. At least that is what her mother and step-father would say. She never drank underage or smoked cigarettes. She also never hung around the potheads that surrounded her in the hallways of her high school, which was stuck in the middle of suburbia.
She is very involved with her high school. She’s in the club called S. F. S., also known as Students For Students, which is a club through her school where you sign a “pledge” to not do drugs, drink alcohol, or smoke cigarettes.
She also plays on the girl’s tennis team. Her friend Jessica is her tennis partner and they completely dominate on the court. Their talent and athletic abilities blow other teammates and parents out of the water because their chemistry on the court is phenomenal.
And lastly, she is a part of Orchesis, which is a non-tryout dance club through her high school. She signed up for one dance that has practice ever Thursday afternoon right after school. In May her friends and Lindsay give a huge performance on a Saturday night in front of tons of people in their high school auditorium.
She seems pretty involved with her school and her friends, but why was she “kicked out” of her house by her own mom and step-dad?
Her parents had an extremely hard time trusting her due to the fact that she had lied to them repeatedly throughout her life. The Saturday previous to the Tuesday she was kicked out of her house, she had lied to her mom saying that her boyfriend’s parents would be home while the two of them hung out that say. When the truth was that her boyfriend’s parents were out of town.
Her idiotic but loving boyfriend dropped her off at her house on Saturday (earlier than they planned) to simply greet and make small talk with Lindsay’s parents. He then told her step-dad that he had been bored out of his mind because his parents were out of town and that he had the house all to himself! What a smart boyfriend she picked out. Right.
Bill, her step-dad politely told her boyfriend that Lindsay needed to get ready for church that evening. Her boyfriend said good-bye and she knew how much trouble she was in.
After a “screaming/yelling fest” between her mom and step-dad versus her that lasted about twenty minutes, they then left the house for church.

The following Tuesday…
Since she didn’t have the best relationship with her mom and step-dad because she lied over and over again, she had limited time on the computer.
She was on her Facebook while she was supposed to be looking online for information for her history paper. Then her step-dad walked into the living room where he saw that Facebook was minimized on the screen.
He absolutely lost his cool… he yelled like he had never yelled before. He was so enraged as his step-daughter that he swung and hit her with his fist.
She started crying as he mom walked in, who was wondering what she had done this time to get her husband mad.
Then, after the three of them talked, her step-dad ended the conversation with,
“This was your last chance… you need to find someplace else to live.”
She started crying as she nodded and walked away, heading for the stairs. As she approached her room, she grabbed the phone and dialed her father’s cell phone number.
Just my luck, she thought. He was on the way to the Chicago Bulls game and could not turn around to come and pick her up. He told her on the phone to call her Aunt Mary, his sister.
She then proceeded to call her Aunt Mary but all she got from her was advice.
The final call she made was to her Aunt Nancy who lived just five minutes away in the same town. Her Aunt Nancy told her she’d be right over…
It was at least fifteen minutes until she arrived to pick her niece up because her step-dad and his sister, Nancy, had a conversation on the phone.

Later that night…

After arriving at her aunt’s house, she was greeted by her aunt’s dog, Nestle, a chocolate lab that was so hyped up to see a kid who might want to play fetch with her.

But she wasn’t in the mood to play around… and on the other hand, it was a good idea to get her mind off of what had happened earlier that afternoon.

Her cousin, Jason (who lived with her Aunt Nancy was upstairs playing some type of online war game,) aunt and her all ate Barones delivered pizza. Barones pizza is not only delicious but it was a town “legacy” to the people of her town.

The three of them ate and talked quietly amongst themselves around the dinner table. Then her Aunt Pat, Nancy’s sister walked through the front door with an appetite. The three of them all exchanged hugs and hellos with her Aunt Pat while Jason got his aunt a glass of water and then proceeded up the stairs to probably return to World of War Craft, his online war game.

The three of them talked about what had happened earlier between their niece and their brother, Bill, and many other things. The two aunts gave her advice and a mother’s perspective that related to what she had put her mom through. From the lying to the dishonesty and everything else, it was enough. She was seventeen years old. No more lying. Period.

Even though Bill told his step-daughter to find another home, he wanted her back home for the night. She thought he was sort of a hypocrite for telling his sister to drive her home, but under one condition…

The deal was that her Aunt Nancy would drive her home if Bill and her mom promised not to lecture, yell, etc. at her for the rest of the night. Bill promised on the phone and it was about 9 o’clock at night… she was ready to pack up the car with her school bag and duffel bag of clothes and go home.


Wednesday morning at about 6:45 a. m.

After she took a shower, got dressed, and finished eating her breakfast, her step-dad and mom wanted to “solve” the problem or discuss it with their daughter before she left for school.

After about a ten minute talk between the three of them, Lindsay walked out the front door towards her bus stop.
Finally, she thought. Some time away from their constant nagging and want to talk to me.

Things between Lindsay and her mom and step-dad, Bill, slowly improved. And one day, far from that one Wednesday, her parents will finally have 100 percent trust in their eldest daughter.
A little over a year later, Lindsay and her mom took a trip to London for about two weeks. Just the two of them. It was Lindsay’s graduation present from her family and a few family friends.
Sometimes, your last chance is just your second to last chance. And no matter how mad you are towards your parents and vice versa, they still love you, no matter what.

~ THE END ~