Look Before You Leap by Maddie M

Once upon a time there lived the Carmichaels. They were your typical American family, except the father, Chris, was a top lawyer in California, so he and his family got to live like royalty. His wife, Lynette, was also very successful in her job by owning her own realtor business. Together they had two daughters named Larissa and Heidi. Larissa was two years older than Heidi and they were complete opposites. However, they were each other’s best friends. One Saturday morning, the girls got up and decided to go to the mall.

“Bye girls, have fun!” said Lynette as they walked out the door. And, believe me when I say the girls listened to their mother when she told them to have fun. Spending hundreds of dollars was something that the Carmichael sisters were very good at. Six hours, $3,000, and thirty-two shopping bags later was when the girls decided to head home, which was around four o’clock.

“Almost time for the party!” exclaimed Heidi.

“Heidi, I told you, in order to have the party, first, we have to get mom and dad out of the house.”

“Sorry, I forgot about that part.”

Now it was almost six o’clock and Larissa decided that it was time to talk mom and dad into going out for the night. Dinner and a movie always seemed to do the trick. After twenty minutes of persuading, they finally agreed to leave the house. And the best part was that they forgot to tell her she couldn’t throw a party.

Just before Lynette and Chris walked out the door around seven, they told the girls ‘the safety speech.’ “Don’t open the door for anyone, keep all of the windows locked, don’t answer the phone unless you know the phone number…”

“Mom, I’m sixteen years old. Don’t you think I’m a little old for that spiel? And if you don’t get a move on, you’re going to miss the movie. And remember, make sure you call twenty minutes before you come home, and please, take your time. Stay out as late as you want to!” yelled Larissa, but her parents were already stepping into their brand new fire red Cadillac.

“Alright Heidi, now we can have the party. Grab my cell phone and call everyone that we know. Have them here for like eight, and tell them to bring a friend. Just make sure that you don’t invite Chad Alby,” said Larissa.

“Okay, I got it. No Chad!”

The first people to come were Larissa’s best friend Katherine and her boyfriend, Nick. After they showed up, the rest of the school just started pouring in. It’s a good thing that the Carmichaels house was a mansion, because anything smaller than that wouldn’t have fit the forty people that were now dancing across their living room floor.

After several hours, Heidi just so happened to glance at the clock.

“Larissa, it’s already eleven thirty! Mom and Dad should be getting home soon!”

“Heidi, they just called me. They said that they were stuck in traffic, so they won’t be home for at least another hour!”

Little did Larissa know was that the phone call from her parents came in at ten forty-five, and now it was eleven thirty. She had fifteen minutes to get forty people out of her house and clean everything up. It’s a good thing she had Heidi to help out, because it wasn’t just Larissa’s mess. Some of Heidi’s friends were there too.

As soon as Larissa realized what time it actually was, she panicked.

“Everybody out!” she screamed. “I mean it, get out now!”

Nobody cared how loud Larissa was screaming, or that she had tears streaming down her face in frustration. Nobody cared that the music was off either. The guests had made up their minds; they weren’t going anywhere. However, there was one thing Larissa hadn’t tried yet, bribery.

It was eleven forty eight when Heidi saw the Cadillac headlights pour through the living room windows. Eleven fifty was when Larissa heard the clacking of her mom’s Jimmy Choo pumps coming up the porch and onto the steps of their mansion.

“Hi mom,” said Larissa and Heidi together. “We just finished watching a movie, but now we’re going to bed. Goodnight.”

“Okay girls. Goodnight.”

“I can’t believe that we got everyone out of the house in less than fifteen minutes,” said Heidi once they were upstairs in Larissa’s room.

“It’s amazing what a fifty dollar bill can do. I’ve never seen some of those people move so fast!”

“Well, I really am tired, so goodnight!” exclaimed Heidi.

Just before Heidi opened the door to exit Larissa’s room, Lynette beat her to it. Larissa and Heidi were shocked to see an unpleasant, familiar boy standing next to their mother with a look of confusion on his face.

“Chad Alby! What are you doing here?” screamed Larissa.

“I came for the party, but apparently I was a little late.”

“Haha. That’s funny. What party are you talking about? There was no party here,” said Larissa, praying that her mother would believe her.

“Larissa, enough. Chad told me everything, and I believe him. His story sounds exactly like something the two of you would try to pull off. Now, thanks to Chad here, you are both in big trouble,” said Lynette.

That night, neither of the Carmichael girls slept much. One part of them felt guilty about going behind their parents back, and the other part of them was proud and happy because if it weren’t for Chad, they wouldn’t have been caught. Neither one of their parents had any clue what had happened that night.

The next morning, the guilt over powered the joy and the girls wished that they had never thrown the party. They also remembered that it was the same day that their credit card bills were coming in the mail, and they knew that they had gone way over their limits.

Once the girls reached the dining room table, the first thing they heard was their dad yelling at them.

“You spent six hundred dollars on a purse?” screamed Chris.

“Well, Heidi and I are going to share it, so it’s like getting two three hundred dollar bags, which is a very reasonable price.” Larissa tried to sound as convincing as possible, but even she knew that she had dug her self a hole that was much too deep for her to get out of alone.

“Listen, Mom, Dad, we are really sorry about the party. We promise that we will never throw another one without your permission. And we’ll be sure to do all of the chores this week, and anything else you want,” said Larissa, trying to sound sincere while lying through her teeth. The only thing Larissa was promising was that she would never throw a party the night before her bills were coming in.

“You bet you’ll do everything we tell you to. Both of you are grounded for the next two weeks. I want your credit cards too until further notice. And I want that bag you just bought. It will go great with my new outfit,” said Lynette with a semi-smile on her face.

Heidi thought about protesting but she decided that once they were un- grounded, she would just go back and buy the same bag again .

So, in the end the Carmichael girls ended up staying grounded for the full two weeks, but they were each sick one week, so it didn’t matter about being grounded or not. Lynette waited on them hand and foot. However, they did learn one very important lesson. Never plan a party the night before your credit card bills are coming in.