It Happened So Fast: The Diary of a Teen Mom

Chapter 1

16-year-old Lily Carson is a free-spirited teen who, along with her best friend Jesse, wishes she never had to grow up. She would much rather trade her controlling, over-protective mother for her friend Suzie's sweet and down to earth mother, Amy. As her friends begin to date and have sex Lily wonders if she'll be able to hold onto her childhood. But soon, Lily discovers that she must make the most adult decision of her life.

June 17th, 3am

I am writing this sitting on the floor of my friend Suzie's bathroom. It's the middle of the night and everyone else is asleep, but I'm still wide awake. Suzie's mother, Amy, heard that I was still awake and gave me this diary to write in. She says it will help me become a better writer, which is what I want to be someday. I told her I didn't think my life is interesting enough to write about. She says all lives are interesting and at the very least I can practice describing people. I guess I'll start by describing Amy. She has honey colored hair, warm, brown eyes, and is one of the nicest people I know. She is much younger than most of my friend's moms because she was only 17 when she had Suzie. She has never been married, because she says no one will ever replace Sam, Suzie's father. When Suzie was two months old he was hit by a drunk driver and killed instantly. Amy still talks about him a lot. Sometimes I wish she were my mom instead of my own mother. Not that I don't love my mom, because I do. I just wish she would let me have more control over my own life. For example, she has had my entire life planned out for me since I was born, maybe even before. She used to tell it to me like it was a bedtime story. First, I will graduate from high school first in my class. Then I will attend a prestigious four year college of her choosing and graduate summa cum laude with a degree in finance. After establishing myself at a respectable company I will meet and marry the man of my (well, her) dreams. He will be rich, tall, and handsome. Our children will be two years apart each, two boys and one girl. This is usually around where the story ends, with it only occasionally going all the way to retirement. I guess mom plans on allowing me more of my own decisions after my third child is born. I didn't know my dad well, but I like to think he'd have been the opposite of my mom in a lot of ways. He had a heart condition and died when I was five. My little sister Hannah was still a baby. Not many kids have lost parents in kindergarten, so I think that's why Suzie and I became friends. We've been close ever since. She and I are different in a lot of ways, but I think we compliment each other. She is very outgoing while I have always been shy. Suzie has dyed her hair bright orange every month since the age of 12. She sews a lot of her own clothes and wants to be a fashion designer when she grows up. She also loves throwing parties, which is why I'm here tonight. Last year, at the end of our freshman year of high school, Suzie decided that our friend Lori and I would have a sleep over on the last day of school before summer. Lori says she wishes Suzie would have "real" parties, like some of the people at school, but Suzie and I are content with the way things are. I'm finally feeling tired, so I'm going to try to fall asleep now.

June 18th, 12pm

It's the first real day of summer vacation and I'm already bored. Yesterday after school Jesse and I walked home together. Jesse is probably my best friend, although Lori says boys and girls can't be best friends, so I'm not sure what to call him. We took the short cut through the park to get home faster and ended up jumping in the creek and getting completely soaked. I like being with Jesse because I can always just be myself and have fun. I wished we could have spent more time together, but I had to get ready to go to Suzie's house and he had to pack for his family's vacation. Now he's gone and won't be back for an entire month. After I changed out of my wet clothes I threw some of my things into my backpack, said goodbye to my mom and Hannah, and walked over to Suzie's house. Suzie's mom had to stay late at the art gallery where she works, so we ordered a pizza and sat around talking. Eventually the conversation turned to boys. Lori wanted to know is Suzie or I liked anyone. We both said no, but I think Suzie was lying. I catch her staring at Karl, a boy in our French class, a lot. Whenever they're assigned to be partners in class Suzie's face turns bright red and she smiles the whole time. Lori didn't push any farther, though. She wanted to tell us all about her and her boyfriend, Mark, and their most recent date. They've been together almost a year now and Lori spends most of her free time either with him or talking about him. Suzie and I were about to tune out, when we noticed that Lori was starting to seem flustered, which almost never happens. That's when Lori revealed to us that she is no longer a virgin. Last weekend, after the movie they went to, Lori and Mark finally went all the way on his basement couch. Suzie wanted to know how they didn't get caught, but Lori said that Mark's parents are heavy sleepers, and with his brother and sister away at college it was almost like they had the house to themselves. In the morning, after Lori left, Suzie and I talked about it. We can't believe that our friend has had sex and we haven't even been on dates yet.