Under the Influence

Ben and Ellen notice that Aubrey has stopped complaining but has also begun copying Erica's hair, clothing, interest in spiders, and darker accessories. Ellen finds a skull-shaped earring in her room. Aubrey claims she persuaded Erica to stop wearing the jewelry and accidentally kept one after intending to discard both. Her parents recognize the lie but decide that rules about appearances cannot repair what is changing inside her. They resolve to pray, remain available, and let her face some of her choices.

Erica invites Aubrey to a party during another school activity. Aubrey agrees to visit briefly before work but becomes uneasy when she discovers that no parents are present. As she tries to leave, police raid the house. She and Erica escape through a window, but Aubrey loses her purse.

At Whit's End, Todd returns the purse and nearly reveals where he found it. Aubrey arrives late with a false story about falling and changing a torn blouse. Connie confronts her with the truth. Aubrey argues that the party occurred during a pep rally rather than class and reminds Connie that she never technically promised not to skip again.

Connie sees that Aubrey used carefully chosen words to gain protection without changing her behavior. She refuses another plea for secrecy and orders Aubrey to tell her own parents. After consulting Whit, she also visits the Timothy Center and fires Aubrey. An employee who skips school, attends an unsupervised party, and lies about it sets a harmful example for the younger children at Whit's End.

Aubrey accuses Connie of betrayal and says a real friend would continue shielding her. Connie replies that Aubrey has exploited their friendship just as Erica has exploited Aubrey. Friendship requires honesty and trust, not using another person to escape consequences. Aubrey angrily insists Erica is the better friend and refuses to listen.

By the time Aubrey confesses at home, her parents already know more than she expects. The student forging excuse slips has been caught and named her, and the school reports that her grades have fallen to C's, D's, and an F. She has broken the conditions under which she entered public school. Ben and Ellen return her to home schooling, forbid further contact with Erica, and restrict her activities.

Aubrey describes the rules as a prison. Ben agrees that she is trapped, but says her own choices have built the prison. Her parents can limit her movements, yet only Aubrey can change her heart. Ellen tells her that she must follow either God wholeheartedly or her own way. Aubrey believes she has already chosen her own way.

Erica secretly visits Aubrey's window and supplies a cell phone so they can continue talking. She then proposes that Aubrey run away to an aunt's vacant house for a week. Erica claims the disappearance will frighten her parents into granting more freedom, a method she says has worked for her before.

At 1:30 in the morning, Aubrey prepares to meet Erica and Todd near the Timothy Center chapel. A light inside draws her to Ben, who is praying alone and crying. He is not asking God merely to make her behave. He misses the daughter who once trusted him with late-night kitchen conversations and admits he does not know how to reach her. Aubrey asks for time and leaves without telling him that she plans to run away.

She attempts to call Connie but reaches an answering machine. Then she joins Erica and Todd. During the drive, Aubrey begins reconsidering and suggests returning home. Erica forces a decision by making her take the wheel of Todd's powerful car, even though Aubrey has no license and has driven only a lawn tractor once. Caught between demands to speed up and slow down, she runs a red light and attracts a police officer.

When the officer discovers she is unlicensed, Erica and Todd falsely claim that Aubrey insisted on driving and lied about having a license. The friend Aubrey trusted above everyone abandons her the instant truth becomes inconvenient. Police take all three into custody, and Ben and Ellen collect their frightened daughter.

Aubrey apologizes but cannot immediately explain how completely her beliefs and relationships have become confused. Ben is too upset to talk that night. Later, her parents discover her bedroom empty and fear she has run again. Ben notices the chapel light and finds her there.

This time Aubrey has not gone to Erica. She wandered to the place where she had seen her father pray because she needs her thoughts to settle. Erica's advice always sounded attractive, but deep down Aubrey knew that disobedience could cost the friendship. She may disagree with her parents, yet their love makes them trustworthy.

Aubrey asks to resume one of the old kitchen conversations. Over cocoa, she tells Ben that she tried praying and wishes she could know God as personally as her father does. Ben explains that meeting God does not depend on a chapel or kitchen; he can live within her if she invites him. Aubrey says she wants to invite Jesus into her life and asks her father to help. Ben embraces the answer for which he has been praying, and together they begin the new relationship Aubrey has finally chosen for herself.