The Great Argument | Teen Ink

The Great Argument

November 13, 2022
By Anonymous

¨Sid, WAKE UP!!!!!!¨ my Dad yelled up the stairs in the early morning. 

¨Yeah yeah yeah¨ I responded snottily. 

Man, I hate Mondays. Only two weeks into school and I already hate it. Anyway, I should probably get ready for school. I get dressed, pack my bag, and go downstairs to eat breakfast with my parents. 

“Good morning, Sid,” my parents said from the dining room table almost in sync. 

“Morning Mom, morning Dad,” I said as I yawned. 

I grab a bowl from the cabinet and pour a bowl of my favorite cereal, Magic Shapes. I grabbed the remote for the TV in the living room before I sat down and turned it on. It just so happened that my favorite movie was airing, “Ill-Tempered Birds-The Movie.” It was a special made from the game of the same name. After I turned that on I sat down and finally ate my breakfast. I enjoyed every last bite of my Magic Shapes and enjoyed every second of Ill Tempered Birds-The Movie and so far was a great start to my Monday. When I was finished I got up and put my bowl in the sink. With no time to spare, I said bye to my Mom,  ran out the door and jumped into my dad’s modified 1993 geo metro ambulance.  We drove off to school. We’re lucky this thing has a top speed of 37 miles per hour because if it hadn’t, we wouldn’t have made it to school on time. We arrived at school at 8:05, five minutes before the first bell. I rush out of the car and run into the building and quickly throw all of my stuff in my locker. I’m lucky I’ve got study hall first hour and that my locker isn't that far from the study hall room because I had just made it into the room right before the bell rang.

“Wow, Sid, where have you been?! you're normally my first student to make it in here!” exclaimed Mrs. Quandalisha.

“Yes I know, Mrs. Quandalisha. I’m sorry. I was watching my favorite movie on TV, it's called ‘Ill Tempered Birds-The Movie’ It's based on a video game and I couldn’t miss it.” I replied.

“Oh no, it's okay Sid, you kids and your movies nowadays. Back in my day we would stare at the wall and create our own voices in our heads and make our own TV shows,” she said braggingly. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure you did Mrs. Quandalisha, I'm sure you also walked uphill both ways through a snowing blizzard in a tsunami sharknado in a corn maze with no exit having to dodge cars through a ten-lane highway on Christmas day walking barefoot to school 39 miles away from home” I responded sarcastically. 

“Oh yes you already know we did, and it's nothing to joke about'' she said with slight anger. 

I sat down in my seat and had no homework to work on so I just decided to study a bit for my math and Spanish. The class period felt like it took forever, but I was happy I got to study a little. Once study hall was over I had my least favorite subject which was History. I really don't like History since I just sit there and listen to boring things for almost an hour straight. Plus, our teacher for History was Mr. Tonquarious and he was always really mean to me and always seemed to get an attitude with me whenever I was around him. Although I hated the class I decided to just do my work and try to get a decent grade because it's not worth my time to give Mr. Tonquarious a hard time because it would just negatively affect me in the long run. So I sat my way through the class and got out of there as soon as possible. Next hour I had math with Mrs. Jackson and she is my favorite teacher out of all. I also liked math a lot since I found it so easy and so that also probably had to do with why I liked her so much. Math went by super fast for me which always kinda sucks. Fourth hour I have Lunch 1 which is great since most of my friends have it with me and I just get to eat earlier than everyone else. The rest of the school day went by very slowly though which sucks but it's alright.

 As per usual I've got football practice right after school gets out and I'm always anxious about that during the day because I really like football. I’m a starting running back on Varsity which I think is pretty good for a sophomore. After practice I can barely walk to the car since we did extra conditioning today and my legs felt like noodles. My Dad comes and gets me and today he decided to get dinner on our way home at Subway, I was pretty happy about that. We got home and I decide to take a shower before I ate. I guess that was just too much for my Mom.

“Sid,  you can’t be taking such long showers and leaving the house with your room looking like a jungle. You've been doing this alot lately since school and football have been happening at the same time and me and your father have had just about enough” she said in a stern voice. 

“Mom, you have to understand. I have a lot going on right now with all of the homework I've been getting and with football and school happening it's not easy doing and keeping up with all of it.” I responded with the truth. 

“Well if it's too much for you then we'll just have to take you out of football,” she responded while shrugging her shoulders. 

“Mom, I never said it's too much for me! I'm just not used to this yet. It's literally my second week of school!” I said, rolling my eyes. 

“Boy!! You better not talk to me like that or ever roll your eyes like that at me again or you will not be in football anymore!” she yelled.”why can´t that boy ever just listen to me¨ she muttered to my dad. 

I ran up the stairs and slammed my door shut, making my ears ring, before I could respond. I was angered at myself and also mad at my Mom because she just doesn't understand. I ate my sub in bed and went to sleep early that night not knowing what I could say to my mom. 

The next morning I got myself up early, got ready for school and walked straight out of the door without saying a single word to anyone. School wasn't too far of a walk but I had never done it before so it was weird and new to me. Though I did like walking, it actually kinda made me feel better after what happened last night though I was still mad and didn't know what I would say to mom. I made it to school and class early again, hopefully getting back into my daily routine. School today went by pretty slowly though. Once again I had football practice to look forward to. After practice, today dad picked me up and the car ride home was silent. He must've also been mad at me for last night and walking out this morning. When we got home I went straight to my room and hadn't said a word to anyone until my mom burst into my room yelling at me to do the dishes and that was when I had enough. I got up and yelled back at my mom though that's not a thing I'd normally do. I don't know what got into me tonight. I did the dishes in tears and when I was done I went right back to my room and went right to sleep, not having eaten since lunch early today. The next few weeks after the incident I fell into a horrible routine of constantly sleeping in and barely making it to school on time. Even football became just another thing I had to get done after school with me not finding excitement or entertainment in really anything anymore. I felt absolutely terrible for what I did that night, though, I couldn't seem to put together the words to say to mom to even remotely apologize for what I did. 

Tonight was different though. I decided to pack my school bag with clothes and other things I would need to survive on my own for a few days. That night I went to bed early with the plan to wake up early. I did wake up early and went downstairs and actually ate breakfast in what felt like years. 

“Oh wow you actually decide to get up this morning huh” muttered my dad. 

“Yup” I responded trying to keep a smile on my face. 

I felt bad for the things I plan on doing tonight because I love my parents to death, though I'm not sure what else to do at this point. So I ate the last of my favorite cereal that was still left from the last time I had it, and I got up, gave both of my parents a hug goodbye and told them both I love them, still once again walking to school. 

I get out of practice after school and even my dad seems to be in a better mood than he has been. We stopped at Subway and I decided to eat dinner with my parents as a family for the first time in a long time. Once we finished eating, I gave them both an extra long hug and told them goodnight. I go upstairs and wait a few hours until I know everyone is asleep. I get up and sneak out into the dead of night with the bag I packed last night. I walk a few city blocks and sleep behind an empty Walmart. 

I wake up the next morning and check my phone. The screen and sun hurt my eyes as they adjust to the extremely bright light. There are 34 total missed calls and 29 unread texts from my parents combined. I really do feel bad. I cannot stand myself for how I had treated my mom that night. 

After staying back here a few days a Walmart employee came back to take out the garbage. I knew this because of the rancid, disgusting, rotten egg smell after he left. But he saw me and must’ve reported me to the cops because the next morning I woke up surrounded. I guess there were multiple missing persons reports filed for me and they happened to find me now. I rode in the back of a patrol car and had to visit the police station to answer some questions and later get picked up by my parents. The relief I felt to be able to see them again was more than I could ever explain. Me, my mom and my dad stood in the police station hugging for a good five minutes. We rode home and once we got there I could not stop apologizing to my parents, specifically my mom. 

We all took a few days off of school and work and I got to work things out with my mom which I am beyond thankful for. I made sure they knew that all of this would never ever happen again.


The author's comments:

Sid is a starting varsity football running back as a sophomore in high school. He is also an only child and loves both of his parents more than anything. 


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