Consequence Of A Rebellious Adolesant

Crystal Hayes

Instructor Cearley

Composition 1

February 25, 2007

The Consequences of a Rebellious Adolescent

"Experience is life's greatest teacher". You may here this statement quoted by many adults who had a life changing experience during their childhood or adolescent years. I truly didn't empathize with that statement until I had a life altering experience of my own.

In 1997, I started my first year of high school. I was like your typical teenage girl; I had an interest in fashion, boys, school functions, and the eventual sentiment of being "grown". The summer prior to school started, I hung out with my best friends from Jr. High school. Everyday we would meet up at my friend Keisha's house. We sat around and played cards, watch music videos, and have comic relief sessions all day. Eventually, that became boring. Keisha's parents had an old antique car that no one really drove. Keisha, Ryan, Jerod, and I, were bored out of our minds one day. All of a sudden Keisha had an idea. "Let's go on a joy ride"! We all looked at each other with a dumb-founded look on our faces. We were all 15, and none of us had a driver's license. Without thinking of the consequences of stealing a car, we all jumped into the old, rust-colored car and went on our initial "joy ride". This became an everyday ritual for us. At night, before I said my prayers, I vowed to never steal my mother's car and go joy riding. Month's later that vow would soon be disregarded.

The feeling of fear and nervousness quickly evaporated from my conscience as water would evaporate from the hot and steamy pavement after the summer's rain. I finally gathered up enough nerves to "borrow" my mother's car in the middle of the night. I liked to used the word borrow because to me, it sugar coated the crime making it not as appalling. My friends gave me the nick name "night rider". A little after midnight I would sneak out the back patio door, put the car in neutral, and rolled to the end of the driveway, and then I would start the car up. It was a piece of cake! One night I got caught and was placed on punishment for a couple of weeks. You think that would be considered a lesson learned. Not hardly. I had the mindset that I was now invincible! Nothing tragic could happen to me! Normally I would travel the dangerous streets along, but this time around I persuaded my new best friend Moya to tag alone. The night excursions were way more adventurous with two people. As strange as it seems, Moya and I were developing a very close bond with one another.

The night of October 5, 1997 would definitely change our outlook on life as teenagers, and cause us to reevaluate and appreciate life in its fullness. Moya was suppose to spend the weekend at my house. My mom was taking us to college football game on Saturday. We were so excited that we stayed up all night. At 11p.m., I received a call from a gentleman who was having a party and beckoned us to be his guest. Without hesitation we jumped in the car and began our midnight journey. Little did we know it would be our last for a while. Before heading to the party, we deiced to take a thrilling detour through one of our favorite neighborhoods. "I'm on top of the world and nobody can hold me down," those were the lyrics that were blasted from the stereo speakers as we sang along. The neighborhood that we were driving through had no street lights and the scenery put you in mind of a classic horror movie. The only reason we loved to take this route is because of the bumps and hills on this road. If you were traveling around 50mph or greater, you would feel as if you were on a roller coaster. We were approaching our "make-believe" roller coaster when Moya looked over at me and said" If we had an accident out here, who would find us? There is no civilization out here".

In a twinkling of an eye, are lives changed forever. The car began to pick up speed. There was a little dew on the streets from the drizzle of rain earlier that night. We were up to 50mph when all of a sudden we saw iridescent -colored eyes peep through the forest-like scenery and we both panicked and screamed. I remember slamming on the brakes and sliding uncontrollably. The car began to flip. I let go of the steering wheel and placed one hand against the door, and with the other hand, I grabbed Moya. The car flipped three times. It was pitch dark outside and a cold wind draft was circulating through the car. Once I came to the realization that I was still alive, I somehow found a way to escape from the demolished car.