Hope by Katherine Churchill (popular novels .TXT) 📖

“Swinging is like the real world. You try to escape but you just keep coming back to reality no matter how high you get,” I thought, bitterly at the park. I’m waiting for Rick, my boyfriend, to come and pick me up. Normally I would wait at the house but I had such a bad fight with my parents,so I just needed to get out. I’m 15 years old, and in grade 10, basically an adult. At least I’m about to become one. I remember a few weeks ago, when I was so young and naïve, so ready to rebel. I thought no matter what I did, my parents would always be disappointed in me, so there was no point in trying to impress them. Well… they’re going to be disappointed now. I have a 17 year old boyfriend. He drives a car and loves me, he’s perfect. I love him too, so much that I gave myself up to him. I found out this morning that I’m pregnant. I hope that we can move out on our own now, we were going to wait until I finished high school but I don’t mind dropping out and working. You don’t need a high school diploma to get a job. It’s just a piece of paper. Soon he will propose and we will live happily ever…

“Hey, Liz! C’mon let’s go.”

“Rick… wait. Can we sit and talk?”

“Can’t we talk in the car on the way? Scott’s having a killer party I don’t want to miss it. I already picked up my beer.”

“I don’t think I should be drinking..”

“Why, you pregnant or something?”

“Um… well… that’s why I wanted to talk to you.”

“Liz, don’t mess around! *****, I can’t take this *****! Where are my smokes?” He punches the slide, lights a smoke, and gets in his car and the tires squeal as he takes off.

He takes off. He’s gone. He will come back though, right? Maybe he just needs some time to cool down. I lose touch of reality as I collapse to the ground. I can’t stop the tears. What happened? What am I going to do? He is the one person I have in my life. I don’t have close friends, not anymore anyways. Not since I got with Rick. In junior high I used to be on the school newspaper and in the band, but I lost all those friends too. It’s funny how life changes you and not other people. Sometimes I miss my best friend Marcy. But then I remember why we stopped being friends, she is just too sheltered. She didn’t understand what it was like living in my house. She thought I was over reacting, and she even agreed with my parents about my piercing. I got my nose pierced when I was 14. I needed to make a statement somehow, to express myself. My dad really freaked about that oneand so did Marcy. She was just jealous that I was becoming too popular.

As much as I would like to keep thinking about the past , thepresent comes up to slap me in the face. I’m pregnant. I’m going to be a mother. Where will I live? What will I do? I’m not ready for this, and why do I have to go through this alone? Whatever happened to going to university, marrying a man, and then having a family? Life is never easy though, especially for me. I’m lying on the ground, curled up. I can’t stop shaking or hyperventilating. I can’t do this... I can’t do this…

I don’t know how long I’ve laid here, time ceases to matter any- Who is that? Somebody is off in the distance walking towards me. Why do they have to be here? I just want to be alone. Maybe they will pass on by me, look over me, as I am now a pregnant teen, and therefore a societal pariah. I shut my eyes tightly, not wanting to see anyone right now.

“Elizabeth, get up off the ground this instant and come back to the house.”

Mom? What is she doing here? She always has to ruin my life.

“Elizabeth, I am not kidding around. Get up right now. Your aunt Susan is at the house.”

Aunt Sue? She’s the one person in my family that actually understands me. I open my eyes and look up at my mother. She is glaring at me, and her lips are drawn tight. Reluctantly I get up. She grabs my elbow and briskly walks me home. Aunt Sue is standing in the driveway in front of her car. Are those boxes in the back?

“I found THIS in the garbage today.”

I look and my mother is standing beside my father holding up my test. *****. This isn’t how they were supposed to find out. “I have packed up your things; you are going to live with your Aunt.” I look at my Aunt and she nods, grabs my hand and reassuringly squeezes it. I can’t believe this… I get into the passenger seat of the car and look at my parents. My mother has tears streaming down her face.

Aunt Sue gets in, squeezes my hand and says, “It’s going to be okay. It was a bad decision; you’re not a bad person. I will help you out and we will bring this baby into the world. Right now, we are going to focus on bringing it into a positive environment. No regrets. This is life. It’s all based on your choices so let’s start making some good ones. A teen pregnancy is not the end all to your life, there is still hope.” I can feel in my heart she is a girl. I will name her Hope, because she has given me hope for my life. Hope for a new life, and new beginnings. Time to jump off the swing and step into reality.

Publication Date: 10-11-2009

All Rights Reserved