If they have been claiming you as a dependent up til this point (presumably they have), you're probably going to have to talk to them about having a job of some sort. I feel like you might be able to get away with telling them you got some sort of other online/work from home type of job, but if you file yourself as a non-Dependant, and they claim you as a dependant, you're going to run into some problems.
As for how to file, I've had no problems with using FreetaxUSA, and it's pretty straightforward. Many of us don't make enough for itemized deductions to make sense, and if that's the case for you, it's basically just grab your 1099's and fill in from the boxes on the paper to the boxes on the online form.