i spent my whole life being told what to
wear
how to act and what to be when i grew up
my name is sarah
and my parents were the absolute worst
they were always trying to control me
they were famous lawyers and i was
destined to be one too while they were
at work
i painted a picture of the three of us
and when they got home
my mom said what is this ugly painting
my dad tore the picture up this is a
waste of time
they went to their office and slammed
the door in my face
my dad asked me what i wanted for my
birthday i want to go horseback riding
he blew up what how dare you it's books
or
nothing but i don't want to be a lawyer
they
exploded you'll be a failure if you
don't go to law school
you'll end up just like those kids on
the other side of town
they'd shower me with fancy clothes and
expensive dinners to buy my obedience
when i was in the seventh grade my
parents started making me proofread
their notes in
court documents for smart people they
really couldn't spell
and sometimes i made mistakes on purpose
i wanted to try being a normal girl for
once
what's the worst that could happen i
came home with a temporary tattoo
came home with a temporary tattoo and my parents
and my parents
lost their minds they hated tattoos more
than anything
lawyers don't have tattoos i was just
having fun for
having fun for i ran up to my room and slammed the door
i ran up to my room and slammed the door
i just decided
to follow their rules not because i like
them or anything
it's just because i want them to let me
live in peace until i met a gorgeous boy
his name was tyler he played guitar and
loved video games
tyler was kind of a dork but in a cute
way he
even played in his own band but our
first meeting
didn't go so well he tried talking to me
one day in between classes
hey sarah was all he said i slapped him
don't talk to me i didn't mean it i felt
so bad because he wasn't popular like me
and my friends
my parents would kill me if they found
out about him
he never talked to me after that
incident i was sure he hated me
one day after school tyler was sitting
up on the bleachers and practicing
guitar
whatever he was playing sounded
beautiful he caught me listening to him
from behind the snack bar
he got nervous and stood to walk away i
yelled out
wait don't stop i swear i'm not gonna
slap you this time
but he kept going i tried to chase after
him but my high heels
made it hard to run i took them off and
ran barefoot after tyler
i could tell he was surprised once i
caught up to him why are you talking to
me
is this some sort of prank i thought i
wasn't cool enough for you
i like your music really you're such a
good guitar player
i answered and i meant it we stood in
silence for a moment
we didn't know what to say to each other
so i blurted out
can you teach me he smirked your dad is
gonna kill me you know
forget about him he's stupid let's just
go back to your place
tyler agreed and we met up every tuesday
and thursday after school for
secret guitar lessons on the bleachers i
knew my parents wouldn't approve
i told them i was working with my
history teacher to learn about
famous 19th century court cases they
were impressed and didn't question it
tyler had an extra guitar he let me
borrow for lessons but i didn't dare
bring it home
he even let me borrow a few cds of his
favorite bands to listen to for
inspiration
my parents were not the musical type
when i would sing happy birthday
my mom would cover her ears stop you're
giving me a headache i wasn't bad at
guitar
i wasn't good either but it was never
about being good or bad
it was about doing something that i
wanted to do
something that made me happy for once
one day my mother decided to call the
school
and personally thank my history teacher
for helping me with my studies
of course he didn't have a clue what she
was talking about
she drove to the school and caught me
and tyler on the bleachers
she marches right up ripped the guitar
out of my hands and
smashed it over the metal steps how dare
you lie to me sarah
she turned her attention on tyler don't
you dare come near my daughter again
i'd had enough i wasn't about to let her
treat tyler the way she treated me
get away from him i screamed and pushed
her away
to my horror she lost her balance and
tumbled down the bleachers
landing on the dirt below i felt
terrible and ran down to her immediately
saying i was really sorry but she just
brushed me aside and yelled
have fun walking home and with that she
stormed off
my life got worse after that when my
father found out he screamed
at me you're not allowed to see any of
your friends
ever again he took all my cds and
stomped on them till they were tiny
little pieces
one night after not seeing tyler for
almost two weeks i got a text from him
he asked if i wanted to come and see his
band the cadets played a house party
across town
i sent back an enthusiastic yes
and started planning my outfit later
that evening i pretended to go to bed
early
but instead i snuck out of my bedroom
window hopped onto my bicycle
and went off to the given address i got
to the party and
stuck out like a sore thumb in my pink
top
everyone was wearing torn t-shirts and
tight jeans
a rock band was playing loudly in the
living room i recognized a few kids from
my high school but
none of them wanted to talk to me it was
pretty obvious i didn't fit in
hey sarah tyler ran over tripped and
spilled his drink on my
cute top i was mortified but tyler
laughed and grabbed my hand
follow me he walked into the kitchen
where it was a little less crowded
he reached into a box and shuffled
around for a bit
finally he pulled out a t-shirt for me
to change into
i stared down at my stained pink top i
grabbed a lighter off the table and set
it on fire
burn burn burn i screamed
easy there give it to me tyler threw the
shirt in the bin
then he grabbed his guitar and hurried
out of the kitchen he got
on stage in the living room with the
rest of his band everyone was dancing
and singing along
the cadets were actually really good
they might actually make it big one day
it was the greatest night of my life
tyler drove me home and kissed me
goodnight
it was my first kiss and it was amazing
i had the best night's sleep ever but
the next morning
i was rudely woken up by my mom's
screams
what's this she had found the cadets
shirt in the laundry
where is the pink top i got you for your
birthday i set it on fire
it was uncool just like you oh yeah
she took my cadet shirt downstairs and
threw it in the oven
let's see how well this holds up at 400
degrees
i tried to open the oven door but my
mother held it shut
please please tyler gave that to me
i told you i don't want you seeing that
boy
now go to your room and study i can't
wait to go to college
i can't wait to be away from you and
this house
i stormed off and slammed my door
college was only a few weeks away
even if it meant i wouldn't see tyler
again at least i'd get away from my
parents
but i could never really get away from
them i met
all sorts of new people at college but i
only focused on my classes and didn't
make any friends
i could always hear my father's voice in
my head how is
making friends going to get you into the
country's best law program
my parents told me i wasn't even allowed
to get a job
they wanted nothing to distract me from
my studies
so they gave me a credit card to take
care of my expenses
the only thing i'd really started
enjoying was studying at a quiet little
cafe i'd discovered
but dad even found a way to ruin that
for me sitting
hundreds of miles away i didn't give you
a credit card to spend
hundreds of dollars on coffee stay in
your dorm to study
one morning i noticed a help wanted sign
on the front door of the cafe
i marched up to the counter and instead
of ordering my usual coffee
i asked for an application the job was
easy it was
fun even making my own money felt so
good and i also realized something i
didn't want to pour coffee for the rest
of my life but owning my own cafe
sounded
really cool i went to pay my family a
visit on the weekend
and for a change i was actually looking
forward to it
the minute we sat down for dinner at a
fancy restaurant
the questions started pouring in how's
school
how are your grades even grandma chimed
in
where are you going to get a job as i
cut up my steak i
casually replied oh grandma i already
have a job
at a coffee shop they stared at me like
i'd lost
my mind what are you doing wasting time
in a coffee shop
how's that going to help you become a
lawyer i look dad
straight in the eye it won't because i'm
not going to be a lawyer
dad went ballistic and smashed his plate
onto the floor
everyone in the restaurant was staring
at us but he didn't seem to care
are you crazy we spent so much money on
you and gave you
everything and you just want to throw
your life away
i'm gonna cut off your allowance i
didn't scream back
i stood up and took his credit card out
of my wallet
then i snapped it in half and walked out
of the restaurant
they would never control me again i went
back to college and reconnected with
tyler
we met up for a cup of coffee at my
favorite place
he told me that the cadets were playing
a few towns over and
needed a tour manager and even though
the opportunity to travel the world
seemed really exciting
i wanted to complete my degree and save
up for my coffee shop
so i turned his offer down but we
started dating
we got married a few years later and he
was my biggest support in setting up my
dream cafe
to this day i run the most popular cafe
in the city
even my parents eventually forgave me
and they sometimes stopped by for coffee
in between court dates
people from all walks of life come
through my doors
each with a unique dream or goal here in
my little coffee shop
i hope they make their dreams come true