Vandalized | Teen Ink

Vandalized

September 18, 2009
By MeganAnne PLATINUM, Niskayuna, New York
MeganAnne PLATINUM, Niskayuna, New York
24 articles 0 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
All my life I've looked at words as if I were seeing them for the first time. ~Ernest Hemingway


I blinked, squeezing my eyes closed as I tried to wake up. But no, I wasn’t asleep, as much I wanted to be, I knew I wasn’t asleep. I wasn’t in dreamland, wasn’t floating on the mystical clouds of slumber, I was locked in a bathroom stall as my vision remained dark. I could feel the weight of the tester in my hand, weighing down my world, my other arm swathed around my waist, as if I was going to be sick. My eyes opened. I knew I couldn’t bear to look down, couldn’t bear to glimpse at the fate of my future, couldn’t even look past it, at the toilet, so instead I began to stare at the stall door. Dark green, ancient paint was chipping away as my gaze rolled over it. Scrawlings of vandalism littered the door, telling different tales of different people, different gossips, different scenarios of lives lived through these hallways. I read them over and over again, fighting back the reality as long as I possibly could.

“Susie loves Rob.”
“The stupid b**** named Caitlin had to go and steal my boyfriend. Keep your claws to yourself, girl.”
“Just stuck my finger down my throat. My body is the weight of today’s French fries lighter.”
“Not a virgin anymore. Not after last night, anyways.”
“Susie hates Rob.”
“Just got my heart broken by the guy who told me I was his everything. Does he have anything now?”
I reached into my bag, pawing for my pen, uncapped it, and began writing on the door.

When I was done recording my very own tale, tears were finally streaming down my cheeks, and I looked down at the tester in my hand. The tip was still wet, and the screen had long pronounced the results. I put my other hand back to the wall, the pen already etching, scratching away the paint as I finished writing down my words.

“And the test was positive.”
I picked myself up, wiping away my tears, getting back up because I knew that falling doesn’t mean that you should just stay down. I slung my bag over my shoulder, wrapped the pregnancy test in layers of paper towels, covering it up and erasing it from the world, threw cold water on my face, tossed out the destroyer of my future, and walked out the bathroom door, hearing it swing closed behind me as I strode down the hallway. The moments of high school were going on around me, and I stopped. Awareness came into my horizon as I paused smack in the center of the hallway.

I was just another girl there. Another girl who had determined her fate in the bathroom stall, having made the wrong choice many nights before, only coming to terms with it moments ago. Another girl who had signed away her life on the vandalized door, flawing the smothered green cubicle as essence drew on around her. I was just another girl here at the place called high school, walking again, only this time not back to class, only out the doors now, into the early spring air. I didn’t stop until I was in my car, the engine spitting as I forced it to go faster than it could, racing away from the life I had known. When I finally faltered, I made myself turn back around, to go back home. It was dusk when I pulled into the driveway. The porch light flicked on and I slumped forward against the steering wheel, my mind evoking the vandalized door, the words I had written, and how I had signed my life away. When my mother’s hand opened my unlocked car door, I pulled myself up to look at her. I knew that she saw the look in my eyes, the look that said I had been vandalized. And there was no way to erase the ink.


The author's comments:
This is a piece I wrote all in one sitting. I was very deep in thought, wondering if I would ever falter in the eyes of my parents, how it would go down, and what I could have possibly done. This idea came to me, and it is how I think I would react if such an event ever happened to me. Thank you for reading.

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This article has 11 comments.


on Jul. 31 2010 at 6:18 am
Wolf_Warriorz SILVER, Belgrade, Montana
5 articles 0 photos 15 comments

Okay: The writing: fantastic. Wonderful. Delicious. 

But I disagree with the essence of this piece. The gal didn't think about how bad it would be for the baby. Not once. Goes to show that's she's well... full of herself. Baby comes first. It sounds mean, but that's just what I believe : /


on Dec. 16 2009 at 7:42 pm
~*TheDreamer*~, Clinton, Mississippi
0 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You do some things. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is doing something else." -Leonardo da Vinci

I love how you added just a touch of comedy in the stall etchings (Susie loves Rob. ... Susie hates Rob.) Even though it was over all an emotional piece I love to see people lighten the mood in simple ways such as that. Fantastic writing!

StarsMoon said...
on Nov. 26 2009 at 8:35 pm
StarsMoon, Lehi, Utah
0 articles 0 photos 49 comments
WOW

that was REALLY good

i like reading things like this, sad enough to make u realize that it can happen to anyone.

i like the way u wrote it..

some people give u all the details in the beginning (not a good idea!) and expect u to finish reading it.

if it makes u just curious enough, then u've found a good read. :)

thats exactly what this was.

thnx! :)

:)*KaItLyNn*(:

RLJoy DIAMOND said...
on Oct. 24 2009 at 11:52 am
RLJoy DIAMOND, Glen Rock, New Jersey
56 articles 0 photos 86 comments
This was written very well! I love the details! ur such an amazing writer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

on Oct. 13 2009 at 6:14 pm
MeganAnne PLATINUM, Niskayuna, New York
24 articles 0 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
All my life I've looked at words as if I were seeing them for the first time. ~Ernest Hemingway

Thank you! I love to hear about how I hook people in; it's one of the main things I strive for.

on Oct. 12 2009 at 8:29 pm
JerseyLiar9 GOLD, Warrenton, Virginia
16 articles 5 photos 51 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You've got to learn to move on, because life will move on. If you don't move on, you'll just end up in over your head."

"Never regret anything because at the time, it was exactly what you wanted."

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

great job. you hooked me. and i like how the focus was mainly about the bathroom stall sprawlings, but the girl was still the main character

on Oct. 6 2009 at 7:19 pm
MeganAnne PLATINUM, Niskayuna, New York
24 articles 0 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
All my life I've looked at words as if I were seeing them for the first time. ~Ernest Hemingway

thank you!

on Oct. 6 2009 at 7:18 pm
MeganAnne PLATINUM, Niskayuna, New York
24 articles 0 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
All my life I've looked at words as if I were seeing them for the first time. ~Ernest Hemingway

thank you!

on Oct. 4 2009 at 7:09 pm
Fredwardness SILVER, Romeo, Michigan
8 articles 6 photos 211 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun" -The Killers (Read My Mind)

"If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there." -George Harrison

i think u did an excellent job

on Sep. 26 2009 at 9:55 pm
MeganAnne PLATINUM, Niskayuna, New York
24 articles 0 photos 157 comments

Favorite Quote:
All my life I've looked at words as if I were seeing them for the first time. ~Ernest Hemingway

Hello, thank you for taking the time to read my article. Please leave a comment, telling me what you think.

Thank you!

sara said...
on Sep. 26 2009 at 8:40 pm
This is really good

You're a talented writer