One-Eighty

This was the happiest she had been in a while. It seemed like everything was finally clicking into place after the past few months where her life had seemed to fall apart more and more as the days went on. However, this is how it had started off before, she reminded herself. Before her life fell apart, it had been stellar. She was accepted socially by everyone, gaining friends by the days. The boys had also started taking more of a notice to her. She was also doing well in school and her future was looking clear.

Unfortunately, this new exciting life of hers was also the beginning of the fast one. She started experiencing everything her parents had warned her about: drugs, alcohol, crime, and the nights that she could not remember. And that’s where the beginning of the end could be found.

Drunken hookups had become a regular thing for her on the weekends; she stopped caring about her morals or pride and just racked up the numbers. Though that all changed one night, her fun was about to come to a screeching halt.

It started off with her meeting her usual group of friends, sharing a few beers, cigarettes and joints. The weather wasn’t too cold since it was only the beginning of November and the weather had been unusually warm. Because of this, everyone gathered at a local park that was somewhat secluded. As the night carried on, everyone went along and did their own thing. Fearing having the police being called on such a large group of people, she went off with several friends to one of their houses. The drinking continued and good decisions became a rarity. Hours passed before all of her friends left, leaving her alone at one of the boys’ houses with only him. He suggested things; she went along with them and would later regret them in the end. But at that time there was enough alcohol flowing through her body to make anything seem like a good idea, even giving up her innocence to a guy who was only going to use her for the night.

With that one poor decision followed a stream of consequences. It started off with her two best friends, one of which had a major crush on her, refusing to speak with her, the guy ignoring her for a month, and a brief phone call from the doctor telling her that she contracted an STD. That news had taken the greatest toll on her, even though she didn’t show it. Her grades dropped, her self-esteem plummeted, her dreams changed, and her old ways worsened. She felt completely alone. There was no one she could comfortably tell; she had to hide it from her family.

Months had passed and things had slowly fallen back into place—it was never going to be the same or feel the same again, she knew that, but this was as close as it was going to get. She stopped smoking and drinking, focused more in school, got back into sports, and focused on becoming a better person. During this process, she began to date the boy who had been her best friend and despite their numerous stupid little fights, she was happier with him than she ever was before.