Too YoungYou walk into the Marriot Hotel. You are at your 10 year high schoolreunion. There are beautiful chandeliers, balloons, and flashes fromcameras fill the room.

beers at the party because you had to awake early forchurch in the morning. After taking a late night shower, you lie downon the couch to fall asleep. However, you could not fall asleepbecause you were thinking about that blond-haired girl of your life. She was amazing. Countless nights you would stay up talking andlaughing with her over the phone. You went to dances and moviestogether. This was the first girl you ever kissed. Many times youronly motivation to attend school was to be with the girl you loved. After an hour of tossing and turning on your couch, the phone rang. You throw the cover off of you and answer, “Hello?” You hearwhimpering in the background and for some odd reason you know it’sher.“Tiffany, Is this you?”“Yes.”“What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”“My step-dad hit me.”“Again? This is bullshit. I’m coming over.”“No. You don’t have too,” she says.“I don’t care. I’m coming.”You rushed down your stairs, threw on a pair of jeans, and took yourparents car. You know your parents would kill you if they caught youdriving under the influence but you have to protect the girl youlove. Your hands are sweating as you soar down roads to her house. Youcan’t believe that a man would ever hit a girl of Tiffany’s beauty. However, you’re furious that her step-father did and you want to makea stand against him. You slam the breaks in front of her drive waymaking a loud screeching noise. As she walks towards the car you winddown your window.“You all right? Where’s he at?”“I’ll be fine. You should get going.”“What do you mean? He just hit you and you want me to leave?”“My mom threw him out about ten minutes ago,” she says.“You sure you’re all right?”“Yeah. I’ll call you tomorrow.”You want to stay longer. You want to hug and hold the slender blondfigure in front of you. You want to comfort the sad looking face,with beet red cheeks, and glazed eyes. But you realize you can’t. Youhave to get home before your parents find out your gone. You turnaround the car and fly down the same roads you came to her house on. As you zip by houses, you come down a steep hill and reach for yourradio. You take your head away from the road to change the station.Smack! You have just hit a guard rail. The car is spinning out ofcontrol and you clinch your fists around the steering wheel as hard asyou can. You suddenly slam on the brakes but it seems as if it takesan eternity for the car to stop. After one and a half turns, you sitthere, not moving, realizing you are doomed. How are you going toexplain to your parents that you stole and wrecked the car? You didit for a girl! They would never understand.You know you have to still get the damaged car home. You press downthe gas pedal, the engine revs loud but the car does not move. Yourluck has run out and this is the day of your demise. You let the carroll slowly to the side of the road. You get out, sit on the hood,and look at the stars chuckling. You can’t believe this hashappened. How could this ever happen to you? Your parents are goingto kill you.While standing on the street, you see flashing blue and red lightscome flying up the hill. You know they are for you and comprehendthat you can not run because you are busted either way. The cop stepsout of his car and approaches you. “What happened son? Are you all right?”“Yeah, I’m fine. But my parents are going to kill me?”“Ah, don’t worry about it. It happens to everyone.”You notice the cop lean in closer toward you and says, “Have you beendrinking tonight son?” You realize that you are in more trouble than you could have dreamedof. Right then and there, you wish you could grab the gun off theofficer and kill yourself. Being dead is better than the punishmentyou will face.After your blood test, you exit the hospital and see your parentssitting there waiting for you. The officer explains to them that youhave no injuries and hands them a report of the crimes you havecommitted. Your mother comes rushing up to you with tears in hereyes. She hugs you so hard you can almost feel bruises starting toform on your arms.“Are you all right?”“Yes. I’m sorry mom.”“Don’t ever do that to me again.”Your stomach is knots because you can see the fear and pain you havecaused her. After a moment your father comes walking up to you.“What the fuck’s wrong with you? The car is ruined. Get over thereand get your ass in the truck.”You are so scared that you can feel your whole body trembling. Youtry to take control of it, but can’t because of everything that hashappened. You are upset because your father did not ask or seem tocare that you were safe. But you are even more scared of thepunishment that awaits you.“I’m not going home with you, Dad!”“Oh, yes you are.”“This is bullshit. You don’t even know what happened.”“That’s right. And I don’t care.”You eventually get into the car because you know you are getting beateither way. After recalling the events that took place that night, you realizedmany things about yourself and life. You found out later on fromTiffany’s friends that her step-father never hit her. You realizedthat the girl you thought you loved was using and always testing you. She was seeing how far you would go for her and controlling your everythought. You were gullible. You were too young to grasp the factthat your mother would risk her own life to save yours. You were tooyoung to apprehend that your father was so tough on you because heactually did care for you and wanted to see you succeed. Ultimately,you were too young to understand life. Note: The whole story except for the high school reunion was true.It was about me and had a major impact on my life. However, I feelit has changed me as a person for the better.