2:17 am. Still, silent, unsettling, and four long, anxious hours until the morning alarm chimed. Leanna had grown so tired of tossing and turning she defiantly laid motionless on her back staring up into the discomforting darkness that offered absolutely no consolation.
By quarter after three, she had only slept an hour, and morning wouldn’t come for another three. Now, it had been five agonizing hours since her parents took her phone away. Over three hundred minutes, more than ample time for the worst to happen. She knew full well the consequences of breaking the rules but didn’t have much choice in the matter. She couldn’t say anything to anyone – that was the ultimatum and Leanna was terrified of challenging it on any level.
When 4 am came around, she got out of bed for a drink of water – her mouth and throat dry – probably from all the uncontrollable crying. Her gentle sobbing was something her parents had grown used to, particularly when she was so emotional. Her weeping wouldn’t wake her father and her mother had learned to ignore it in certain situations. That left her alone to deal with the tortuousness of the circumstances – a state of affairs she was now powerless about.
Without her phone, she had no way of knowing what was going on and that thought terrorized her like nothing ever had before. It was far more than the usual FOMO among adolescents. All she wanted was to take a quick peek – maybe send a short message – but that was it. If only her parents understood the gravity of the situation. Still, that wasn’t possible and it meant enduring a tormenting conundrum.
Daylight finally broke just as the alarm sounded and she rushed to get ready. If she did everything that was expected of her, perhaps her parents would give her phone back after breakfast. Although, that meant having to use it on the way to school and her mother would certainly want to know what she was doing. But, she had to do her best to get it back, even if she had to fib a little about her digital interactions on the ride to school.
“You understand why we took your phone away from you last night, right honey?”
“Yeah, Dad, I do.”
“We love you deeply and just want what’s best for you – you’re our only child.”
“I know, Mom.”
“Okay, you can have your phone back when your mom drops you off at school this morning. But, that depends on your attitude.”
Leanna just nodded, hoping to catch a glimpse of the screen as her phone charged only feet away. Maybe she could tell if there were some new notifications – better yet, how many and what kind.
“This is precisely what we were talking about last night when we took your phone away after 10 pm. You can’t leave that thing alone!” Her mother snipped, flipping the phone over, hiding its screen, continuing, “It’s just not healthy to spend that much time online – whether it’s social media or talking to friends. “There’s an entire world out there but lately, you’re stuck in this thing all the time!”
“Your mother is right, Leanna. It really isn’t good for you – or anyone your age – to spend so much time on a phone, tablet, or laptop. Kids your age need real-world interaction and real-world experiences. You had a good balance until recently.”
Sure. All of those points were true and Leanna knew it. But, if her parents actually understood what was happening, they’d have a totally different point of view. She almost spoke up but decided to hold back. Practically anything she said would only exacerbate the tension and that would just make things worse between her and her folks. Still, she couldn’t wait much longer.
The moment her parents walked out of the dining room and out of sight, Leanna hastily grabbed her phone, hurriedly pushing her index finger over the scanner. But, the icing from the cinnamon bun stuck to her fingertip and before she could wipe it clean to unlock the device, her mother unexpectedly walked back into the dining room.
“Leanna!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just wanted to check to see if…”
“Young lady, what do you think you’re doing? When you break the rules repeatedly, it’s a breach of trust. Your father and I need to trust you.”
“I know, Mom, I shouldn’t have…”
“Now, you won’t get your phone back until after school!”
It was a devastating setback and way too much time to lose. Leanna would be without her phone for eight more hours, bringing it up to a total of sixteen. That was time she didn’t have and she’d have to take drastic measures – there wasn’t any way around it now. Every moment that went by could easily be one too many to be out of the loop.
The first period of school crept by so slowly, it was almost like the clock was purposely lagging. She rushed to her second-period class and logged onto her computer as quickly as she could. But, when she opened her preferred chat app, the school firewall prevented her from accessing her conversations. Frustrated and feeling hopeless, she immediately burst into tears. Her teacher took notice right away and tried to console her, along with a couple of classmates.
Such an infraction usually wasn’t a big deal. But, it meant a trip down to the dean’s office and that would surely result in a warning and an email to her parents. That would very likely cost Leanna another full day without her phone. Her parents would probably take it away until dismissal the next day – and that much time without it was simply unfathomable.
During lunch, she ate very little and only tacitly interacted with her friends. For a brief moment, Leanna thought about asking one of her friends to borrow their phone. But, if she logged onto her chat account with someone else’s phone, that person could look at her conversations. Regardless, it wasn’t a good idea, since the school’s firewall would just block it anyway.
Leanna spent her entire lunch thinking about ways to get to her conversations as soon as she could. But, there weren’t any options. The only thing she could do was beg her parents to give her phone back after school. It wouldn’t be an easy task or a pleasant experience, but she had to at least try. Any more delays could cost her a lifetime of regret.
“Did you bring my phone, Mom?”
“No, I didn’t, Leanna…it’s at home.”
“I know I’ve been spending a lot of time on it. But, if you and Dad give it back, I promise to keep it to a minimum!”
“Listen, I understand how easy it is to lose all track of time on that thing. It’s why your father and I don’t use ours at work unless it’s absolutely necessary. We couldn’t get anything done if we wasted every day on those things.”
“Mom, you don’t understand – this is completely different!”
“Oh, I understand…I understand perfectly. For the last four days, you’ve been on that phone day and night. First, you barely touched your dinner on Friday night and it was one of your favorites. Then, you did almost nothing Saturday and Sunday but stay on your phone. Sunday is a school night and we catch you using it past your bedtime? Your behavior is unacceptable. You’re not eating right, you’re not getting enough sleep, you didn’t even put on any makeup for school Friday or today. And, your room is a total mess. All of that, not to mention the fact you didn’t turn in your homework at the end of last week and you tried to log onto a blocked site at school!”
The ride home was contentious. Leanna just couldn’t convince her mother she wasn’t obsessed with being on her phone – she understood how it looked from her parents’ perspective – but could not be without it or her tablet or laptop for another whole day.
“I’m sure your mother explained to you what we’re doing on your way home from school. No electronics for the rest of the day and if there’s no more trouble, you can have them all back tomorrow after school.”
Her dad’s voice never sounded so cruel, even though he didn’t yell. It was calm and stern, but not loud or scary, just emphatic. It was also soul-crushing, causing her heart to sink deep into the pit of her stomach. Her eyes welled with tears as she hung her head and walked into her room, closing the door behind her.
“My! I don’t think I’ve seen her so upset before. And, over something so trivial, too. I know how much these things mean to kids these days, but this is just over the top. I guess it’s part of being a teenage girl in today’s world. I wonder if boys her age are this emotional?”
“I don’t know, even though I was a teenage boy. But, it was a totally different environment back then. Give her a little space, then go talk to her. I’m sure she’ll listen to her mother when she’s calmed down.”
“I just don’t understand this – it’s completely out of character for her. It’s like my daughter had some type of personality change overnight.”
Leanna’s mother gave her some time alone and then knocked on her door. “Are you all right, dear?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Well, I’m making something I know you love for dinner.”
When the family sat down to eat, her mother noticed how red her daughter’s eyes were – she had been crying the whole time she was in her room.
During dinner, Leanna only ate a few bites and constantly stared over at her phone across the room. Suddenly, it vibrated with a new notification and Leanna leaped out of her seat, ran over to it, and hastily picked it up. Her father stood up, walked over to her, and put his hand out.
“Give it to me, young lady.”
“But, Dad!”
“Give it to me, right now, please.”
Leanna burst out into tears, begging her father to let her keep her phone. But, he refused to let her have it and took it away.
“If you’re not going to eat any more of your dinner, you can go to your room and finish your homework.”
“But you don’t understand, I need it!”
“No, no you don’t. No one needs anything like this so badly.”
“Mom!?”
“Listen to Dad. Give him the phone and go to your room, dear.”
Leanna cried so hard, she began to visibly tremble and shake, gripping her phone in a desperate attempt to keep it. Her father nonchalantly and gently opened her hand and took the phone, putting it on the dining room hutch face down, gave her a hug, and casually pointed toward her room. He didn’t say a word, only motioned, and then sat back down at the table.
Knowing she couldn’t change her parents’ minds, she complied, and went to her room, slowly closing the door before plopping onto her bed and sobbing heavily, leaving both her mom and dad totally perplexed by what just happened – their daughter had never been so obstinate and disobedient in her entire life. It simply wasn’t like her to act in such a way, even as a teenage girl.
“I don’t get it. She’s never been this defiant, especially when you talk to her in your dad voice. Something is very, very wrong.”
“Maybe it’s just a phase? Or it could be due to girl drama at school. Perhaps a boy she likes?”
“No, I lived through my share of girl drama when I was her age, and that’s not it. As for something to do with liking a boy, that doesn’t seem right either. She’s going through something much more complex, much more difficult. Whatever is going on here, it’s got something to do with… Here, let me see her phone.”
Leanna’s mother unlocked her daughter’s phone with the PIN and started looking through the messages. Aside from some inappropriate talk and a few potentially embarrassing things, nothing stood out.
“Anything?”
“Nope, not really anything that would explain this kind of behavior.”
“Look in the private and archive folders.”
There it was, a lengthy back and forth with another girl named Cassy who lived across the country. Cassy was just fourteen years old and had confided in Leanna that she planned to commit suicide on her fifteenth birthday in just two days. Cassy told Leanna she wasn’t fitting in at a new school and was constantly bullied. She also revealed she tried to kill herself a few months ago and had to be hospitalized.
“My goodness! That’s why she’s been so emotional and upset lately. Our daughter has been counseling this poor little girl for the past week!”
“That’s too much to ask of any teenager – we’ve got to find out who this young girl is right away so we can get her the help she obviously needs!”
“This little girl must feel so alone, so afraid, I just can’t imagine what she’s going through.”
“Let’s go into Leanna’s room and talk to her.”
“Leanna honey? Your father and I want to say we are sorry for being so hard on you. Neither of us realized what was going on. You really should have said something to us earlier dear.”
“I know, I wanted to tell you and Dad about it, but Cassy made me promise to keep it a secret.”
“Leanna, this is something that you don’t hide from us. I understand you gave your word to this girl Cassy, but this is way too much for you to handle on your own. Can you tell your mom and me what you know about her?”
“Well, you’ve probably already read most everything… She’s fourteen, in the ninth grade, and she lives across the country.”
“Okay, that’s good. But your mom and I are going to need more than that to get her the help she needs. Do you know her last name? The name of her school? Or the name of one of her teachers?”
“No, I don’t know her last name or the name of any of her teachers. But, I do know where she goes to school, she’s mentioned it a few times before.”
“All right. We know her first name and the school she attends, but I’m not sure if that’s enough for your mom and me to find her.”
“We also know her birthday is in two days, so that should narrow it down. Your dad and I can get in touch with her school. Maybe a counselor or administrator could track her down by her grade, date of birth, and first name.”
“Leanna, your mother and I are very proud of you. What you did to try and help that young girl was not only the right thing to do, it was very brave of you to take on such a burden.”
“Your dad has a good point. That’s all true, dear. Now, you’ve done more than enough. We’ll call her school and get her help. Thank you so much for being such a good friend, Cassy is quite blessed to have someone like you to look out for her. And, we are so appreciative we have such a compassionate, loving daughter. You’ve just helped to save this girl’s life!”
