ashyme, when you get a pet you are committing to be responsible for its care for the rest of its natural life. You are all it has in the world. You are like its parent. This really is a serious responsibility and you need to understand that. If you can't be responsible for all of the animal's needs, the responsibility then falls to your parents, since you are a minor. If you have done years of research on guinea pigs then you should know that they are NOT low maintenance. They are social animals that will suffer without a friend. They need space to run around. They need fresh veggies every day. They need YOU and/or your parents to provide all of these things. And if you can't or won't, that is not fair to the guinea pig(s). It's irresponsible.
I had a guinea pig when I was in high school, in a pet store cage. I didn't know any better, but I loved that pig and she loved me. When I moved away, I (having by now done research) wanted to adopt a pair of guinea pigs and keep them in a C&C cage. I already had the grids and had found a sign store to get the coroplast from. Up to this point I had just assumed that having them in an apartment wouldn't be a problem, because they're small, right? They live in a cage, right? I knew that people were allowed to have cats in the complex, and cats are WAY more potentially destructive than caged pets, right? But I wanted to be sure, because it would be irresponsible of me to bring a pair of pigs into my home only to make them homeless again. So I checked with the rental office and they said NO. Apparently it was a policy from corporate! Cats OK, birds OK, fish OK, any other pet NOT OK. Weren't expecting that, were you? I wasn't. I had related this to other people and the first thing some of them said was, "Well, why don't you just get them anyway? Why did you even ask for permission in the first place?" The answer to that is that I took my responsibility as a potential pet owner seriously. The rental office would have found out. What was I going to do, hide a C&C cage under the bed?
So I waited. (And I'll note at this point that the reason I didn't just get a cat instead is that I'm allergic to them. Birds and fish don't really appeal to me.)
I waited for three years!
Eventually the time came to move out (they'd decided to hike the rent up just a little too far) and when I looked for a new place I specifically looked for one that would allow guinea pigs. I specifically asked about guinea pigs. A lot of places say "pets ok" but as with my old landlords, they ONLY mean "cats or dogs" and consider other animals "exotic". Eventually I found a place and I moved in August of 2012, and got my piggies the next month.
Now I'm thinking I might want a rabbit.
I'm not getting a rabbit.
Know why?
Because I have done research about rabbits and I understand a number of things. They are also social animals, so I would probably be looking at a pair. They need a LOT of space, that I currently cannot provide. They should be kept probably in a separate room from the piggies due to the risk of pasturella/bordatella. I just can't do it right now. Too bad, so sad. This is the reality of being a responsible adult.
It may not make you or I happy, but sometimes you can't have everything you want.