I find myself in a back alley. My head's spinning and I can't see properly. My arms and legs feel numb and my throat is sore. I just stand there trying to figure out what's going on.
When my eyes are finally able to get a clear view, I am surprised by what I see: my hands are covered in blood. I don't understand what's going on. I start to freak out and start coughing. My coughing soon becomes gagging as I realize I'm coughing up blood and unable to breathe. I feel exhaustion take over me and my legs give in to the weight of my body. My eyes begin to close and my vision blurs as I lay in the ground.
I wake up covered in sweat and gasping for air. My heart is pounding at an incredible rate. A “Night Avenger" poster comes into view as I open my eyes to my room's ceiling.
“What was that?!” I say to myself.
I had a nightmare; and a really scary one at that.
“It felt so real! It felt like I was dying!”
I get up and put on a pair of shorts and a shirt. As I'm getting ready to leave my room, my phone vibrates in my pocket. It’s a text message from Alex.
From: Alejandro Lopez
Dude, where are you? We’re all waiting for you.
I quickly put my phone back in my shorts and run downstairs.
So I’m late after all!
I pick up my backpack from the floor.
“I’m off! I’ll be back later!” I yell as I open the door and go out.
I take my bike from the garage and ride all the way to the train station. My friends are already waiting for me at the station’s post clock.
“You took your damn time!” Yuko says jokingly.
“Sorry, I overslept,” I say as I place my bike next to others and lock the chain around it. “Plus I had a messed up nightmare.”
“Oh, yeah?” Alina says as she pulls me towards her. “We’ll talk about it all you want.”
We kiss deeply.
“Come on, you guys,” Sho says. “We need to hurry up so we can get good places.”
“Yeah,” says Alex, “you guys don’t want to take the poolside chairs without umbrellas, do you?”
“Why not?” says Midori. “The weather is perfect.”
“Yeah,” says Edward, “but you never know how hot it might suddenly get.”
“It’s to be expected,” says Jessica, “it’s summer after all.”
“Calm down guys,” says Aiko, “the water park won’t open for another hour.”
“We can’t afford to be late,” says Hiroshi.
“You all have your stuff?” asks Melody.
We all nod and run over to the train heading to the water park.
Man, am I glad things are back to normal!
A few months earlier, things were very different. Things were out of control; I was out of control. If I hadn’t stopped myself back then, who knows where I’d be right now?
I managed to sort out my anger and hatred. I forgave my father and made up with my friends. Melody and I finally talked; we never really got back together, but we’re friends now. I won’t lie, sometimes it gets awkward. Alina makes everything better though. We started dating not long after I went back to school. She helped me through a lot of stuff.
I managed to graduate from high school; though I still have to retake some courses in order to attend university next season. Prom was a week ago; it was amazing. My friends and I have hung out a lot ever since.
My life isn’t exactly perfect; I still have to work at that carwash. But somehow it’s bothering me less now. So I guess that’s a good thing.
My mother and I moved to a house closer to my future university. My father changed, he’s still a jerk, but at least he’s improved (a bit anyways).
The train arrives just in time. We buy our entrance passes and head over to the park’s largest wave pool. We get changed and set our stuff on a couple of poolside chairs. Alex, Edward, Hiroshi, Sho and I go get some drinks for the girls.
When we get back, we find the girls already in the pool.
“Well thanks for waiting,” says Sho.
“You guys were taking too long,” Melody argues.
“We were only gone for ten minutes,” I say.
“It’s really hot,” says Yuko, “we needed to get in.”
“I rest my case,” says Sho.
We set the drinks on the tables between the chairs and remove our shirts. I hear Alina hoot at us behind me. We all run up to the pool and jump in.
After a few minutes, we notice the fairly large amount of people coming in.
“We should go to the beach next time,” I say.
We all laugh and enjoy the fresh water.
YOU ARE READING
Identity Crisis
Teen FictionYoung, 17-year-old, Michael Davidson struggles with the many typical problems and situations that come from being a teenager. Being the "black sheep" of the family and at the end of his high-school life, his life is pretty complicated. But his life...
