I shook my head, trying to process everything. “Why would he make me do that?” I wondered aloud. “Was he trying to teach me a lesson about trust? Or was there some other reason?”

Jake sighed, “I don’t know, but I think you need to talk to them. Maybe there’s a reason, or maybe it’s just a misunderstanding.”

His words gave me a measure of comfort, and I knew he was right. I needed to confront my parents and get to the bottom of this strange, unsettling situation. I couldn’t continue to live in the dark, blindly following instructions without understanding their purpose.