I couldn't remember how long it took for me to fall asleep. My mind just wouldn't shut off as I was weighed down by my own thoughts and secrets. After what felt like a second, I woke up to Mr. Atkins knocking at our bedroom door.
"Dad?" Noah asked, groggily, still half asleep like me. "What is it?"
"It's time to wake up." He stated. "Get dressed and come eat breakfast."
"It's too early. Let us sleep a little longer." I could hear Noah flip around in his bed.
"Noah. I won't repeat myself." He left and I could hear him knocking on the twins door and having a similar conversation.
Noah and I both got up; him in his pajamas and me still in my clothes from last night.
"Do you think he knows?" I asked, worried. Mr. Atkins used his 'strict' voice and sounded like he was controlling his anger.
Noah shrugged and started to pull out some clothes for the day. "Maybe. He sounded like he did. We should hurry."
I grabbed some clean clothes and took them to the bathroom to change. By the time I made it to the kitchen table, the three boys and their dad were already there. Yet, they didn't start eating yet.
"Have a seat, Jake." Mr. Atkins pointed to my usual seat.
I did what I was told and sat next to Noah. The twins, who sat across from us, weren't exactly giving me looks of comfort. Instead, they looked as nervous as I felt.
"Funny story. Last night, I pulled into the driveway and out of nowhere, a police officer greeted me." Mr. Atkins frowned. "Imagine my surprise in the middle of the night, being approached by a cop. And then, he asked me if I knew that my boys broke curfew. I was stunned. Not my boys. It couldn't be. Then he kindly informed me that he followed them home, to this house, and even gave me a description of all four boys."
A heavy silence fell upon us. I refused to look up from my plate and I'm sure the other boys were the same.
"Well?" Mr. Atkins raised his voice a notch higher. "Is anyone going to tell me where you four went last night?"
"A friends house." Dave offered up weakly.
"Who is it? Someone on the team?"
"A girl on the softball team." Kyle softly replied, omitting Leslie's name.
"You went to a girls house? All four of you? For what reason?" Mr. Atkins didn't even pause. "Ah, no need to answer. It was obviously a party, am I right?"
He stood up from his spot at the head of the table. "I can't believe that I leave you alone for one night, and you guys go out like that. Were you thinking about the consequences at all? Was there alcohol at this party?"
"Yes, but we didn't drink!" Dave said.
"That doesn't make it okay." Mr. Atkins sounded upset. "What if you boys got hit by a drunk driver in the middle of the night? Coming from a party is dangerous. There could have been a fight or an accident and I wouldn't even know."
Is he upset that we went or that we didn't tell him? I peeked up and saw him looking at me with anxiety in his eyes. "Jake, did they force you to go?"
"Dad!"
"We wouldn't do that!"
The twins spoke up for a second but they were shut down with a single glare from their father.
"I wasn't forced." I said, meekly. "It was just suggested that this could help with my social anxiety."
"And who suggested that?" Mr. Atkins tone became strict again.
"Well-technically, Dr. Moore." I responded, trying to shield the twins and Noah. "He said I should reach out more and try talking to strangers." I looked at Noah. "At first, I didn't like the crowd, but Noah helped me find a more spacious place to hang out." I looked back at Mr. Atkins. "We didn't drink at all! And I promise that we were good!"
Mr. Atkins saw my remorseful face and let out a heavy sigh as he sat back down. "Jake, I'm glad it wasn't awful for you, but you boys should have known it was a bad idea to go. Especially without permission."
"But if we asked for permission, you would have never let us gone." Dave pointed out.
"Well we won't know now, will we?"
Dave sat up straight and looked his dad in the eye. "I know it. And you know it too. You and Mom would never let us go to a party, even if we didn't drink, cause trouble, or stay out too late. Zeke may follow your rules blindly, but I won't. You're taking away our freedom."
"Freedom?" Mr. Atkins faced his son with a cold expression. "We give you children plenty of freedom and choices. Until you're 18 though, you will follow the rules of this house set by me and your mother."
"He's just saying that we feel a little trapped, Dad." Kyle defended. "All we do is school and baseball. Even our free time is taken up by baseball. Shouldn't we be able to cut loose and have fun every once in awhile?"
Mr. Atkins shifted his gaze to the other son. "Cut loose? Okay, you were able to go out and have fun last night. I hope you enjoyed it. From now on, all of you are grounded until Zeke's graduation. That means no going out unless it's to school or practice. Anything else will require me or your mother present."
Oh? That's it? I perked up, happy not to be physically punished.
Noah caught sight of my happiness and shook his head. "That means we can't go to the cages unless Mom or Dad isn't busy. And so much for extra practice this week. We'll be trapped here."
Oh. I slouched. That doesn't sound as good as I thought. I looked up at Mr. Atkins. "So we can't go to the cages today?"
Mr. Atkins shook his head no. "Absolutely not. You boys have broken my trust. I can't be sure that is actually where you'll be. I have a few open houses to show today, so you four will be staying here. And cleaning. And studying. Midterms are coming up this week. I better not see any C's on anyone's progress report."
"But Dad-" Dave started.
"There is no 'but dad.'" Mr. Atkins cut him off. "These are the consequences of your own actions. I haven't even figured out how to tell you mom yet. You're lucky that her flight was late and that she's still sleeping. I'm sure she'll want to speak with each of you about your decisions last night." He looked around, nodding at our depressed expressions. "Very good. Let's eat now. I won't be home for lunch, so you boys will be stuck with making your own. I'll bring dinner home. My choice."
We slowly started to load up our plates. None of us felt like eating, but our stomachs disagreed and needed food to produce energy.
"Does this mean…that if Kyle wanted to go out on a date…he would have to take you or Mom?" Noah brought up.
Mr. Atkins dropped his fork on his plate, surprised.
