A Costly Decision
by Kiara Vaughn
Dear Diary,
Today was my first day of high school. It was kind of scary. I got lost looking for my fourth period classroom and people were so rude in the hallways. They just pushed their way through and didn’t say excuse me either. The good thing is that Keisha, Anaya, and Akira all go to my school. They’re all freshman too, so at least I don’t have to go through this alone. They are always there for me. Keisha and I have been best friends since third grade. We met Anaya and Akira when we started middle school and instantly clicked. My mom said that she lost some of her good friends in high school because they started to grow apart and head in different directions in life, but that’s not going to happen to us, we’re too close.
- Cashmere Jones
I went to the gray gates where we all planned to meet at lunch. Akira was already there.
“ Wassup Akira.”
“ Hey Cashmere.”
“ They are always so slow,” I stated.
“ I know I’m hungry.”
The two of us stood there and impatiently waited for our slower half to show up. Herds of people were coming out of the gates to go to lunch and I knew then that every restaurant around was going to be packed by the time we got there. If we didn’t leave soon we were not going to have enough time to sit and eat and still make it to class on time. My fourth period teacher doesn’t allow eating in his classroom, so I was going to have to wait and eat in fifth period and my food would be cold by then. If they don’t get here in two minutes I am going to leave.
Just then I noticed them coming from across the street, the opposite direction of school.
“Where are you guys coming from?” asked Akira, the same thing I was wondering.
“You can tell us on the way to get something to eat,” I interrupted.
“I’m not hungry,” said Anaya and Keisha in unison.
“ Well we are, so come on,” said Akira.
We began to power walk up the street to make up for lost time. Anaya and Keisha were walking like it was a race and Akira and I couldn’t keep up.
“ Slow down, and ya’ll didn’t tell us what ya’ll was doing before we seen you,” I reminded them.
“ Oh, well we was talking to Jamar in class today and he sells E pills. I hear my cousins talking about it all the time and I wanted to see what it was like. Plus, It doesn’t leave an odor on your breath or on your clothes like alcohol and weed, so no one will know. We got these orange juices because he said that vitamin C boosts your high. Me and Anaya split one. He said since we never popped before, we only needed half. We can get one for ya’ll too if you want.”
“ How does it make you feel?” asked Akira.
“ Right now I got a lot of energy and I’m just in a really good mood”, said Anaya.
“ What’s in it?” questioned Akira.
Anaya and Keisha both looked at each other because neither of them knew the answer to that question and they never even thought to ask.
“I’m not sure, but it must not be nothing too harmful because we’re fine,” said Keisha.
“ I don’t know about this, I’ma have to pass that offer,” said Akira.
“ What about you Cashmere?” asked Keisha.
“ No I’m cool,” I said.
“ Alright,” said Anaya, like I didn’t know what I was missing.
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Dear Diary,
I can’t believe what Keisha told me today. Her and Anaya were both off a pill. Keisha and her dad used to be so close. She saw how drugs ruined his life. I think he saw it too, but he was so strung out by then that there was almost no turning back for him. He looked like he was deteriorating until it finally killed him. How could she even think about doing drugs when that was the very thing that took her father away from her. And Anaya… I just don’t know what to say about her. I know she’s the type that likes to try new things, but that usually just consists of ordering something other than her usual at her favorite restaurant, not drugs. I can’t believe those two. Well, at least Akira is still in her right mind. Anyway, today is Friday, the day of the party. I haven’t been out too much lately so it should be fun. I just hope Keisha and Anaya don’t get too carried away with those pills. I told them they can still have fun without them, like we used to. They said hitting the blunt a couple times aint enough for them no more. So what are they gone do when popping pills isn’t enough for them any more?
- Cashmere Jones
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Riiiiing! Finally it was 3:15. A minute is much longer when you’re watching and waiting for the second hand to do a full 360 degrees around the clock. History is the absolute worst class to have sixth period. It’s a struggle just to stay awake. Then I had to make my way through that crowded hallway to meet Keisha and them outside. When I made it outside they were all already there so I didn’t have to wait for anyone.
“Was sup ya’ll,” I greeted them.
“Was sup,” said everyone in unison.
“So where we bout to go, to your house Anaya?” I asked.
“ No, my mama been trippin lately, It’s like a war zone in there,” said Anaya.
“We can go to my house,” said Akira. “My parents aint even there.”
We got on the bus to Akira’s house and just chilled there for a couple of hours watching TV, talking, eating, just passing time until it was time to start getting ready for the party. We planned to start getting ready at 7:30 so we could have enough time to freshen up, fix our hair, put on a little lip gloss and make sure our outfits were OK before we left.
“How do I look?” asked Akira, while spinning around to show her full outfit.
“You look cute as usual,” I said.
She’s the diva of the group.
“My lips look like they’re about to crack. Who got some lip gloss?” I asked.
Keisha and Anaya both handed me some, but Anaya had MAC lip glass so of course I used hers.
“Just let me go to the bathroom real quick and I’ll be ready to go,” I said to no one in particular.
“ Alright,” someone said.
I don’t know who because I had already ran halfway down the hallway. Those four glasses of water that I had consumed while at Akira’s, felt like a ton of bricks on my bladder. After I came back out, everyone was ready to go. Luckily Akira didn’t stay too far from where the party was, so we didn’t have to get on another bus. We just walked about four blocks and we were there, but we heard the party about two blocks before that because the music was so loud.
We all walked in the party and it was a decent amount of people there. Not two minutes after we walked in, some boy asked Akira to dance, but she declined. I have to admit that she is the most attractive out of all of us, but she doesn’t have the confidence to match. Since she’s so shy she usually doesn’t like to dance that much. Every time I turned around there were more people coming in and it began to get packed. One by one a boy came over and asked Keisha and Anaya to dance and they disappeared onto the dance floor. Akira and I stood there for a moment just bouncing to the music. Then Brandon, a boy that I have had a crush on since seventh grade, started walking towards me. I hadn’t seen him in a few months since we graduated from junior high. I was trying my hardest to keep my composer on the outside, but on the inside there was a little girl jumping up and down in excitement.
“Wassup Cash,” said Brandon.
“Wassup Brandon, I aint seen you in a minute.”
“Yeah you know I go to Skyline,” he said. “There’s a lot of people here that I haven’t seen since graduation.”
“Most of them go to Berkeley High now. That’s where I go.”
“Oh really?” he asked rhetorically. “Well you wanna dance?”
Back in junior high I was stuck on friend status with him and now he was flirting with me, and I knew why. I had changed a lot over the past few months. I was no longer a barely B cup, I was now a full C. My hips had also spread a little to give me a nice hourglass shape. I made sure to advertise that in my skintight Seven Jeans and low cut halter-top. I really wanted to dance with him, but I didn’t want to leave Akira alone.
“Akira, you gone be alright if I go dance with him? If you want me to stay I will, I don’t mind,” I asked.
“No go ahead, don’t let me stop you.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah I’ll be fine,” she assured me.
Brandon grabbed my hand and ushered me to the dance floor. We started dancing and a few minutes later I saw Akira dancing with some boy. I was glad to see that because I felt bad about leaving her there alone and I wanted her to have fun too. Brandon and I started reminiscing on old times and before we knew it, we had danced through five songs. I was tired so I asked if we could sit down and finish talking. I looked around to check on Akira, Anaya and Keisha first. I saw Anaya sitting on the other side of the room obviously flirting with her ex-boyfriend that she said she was done with. They were so close to each other that they could probably feel each other’s heartbeat. Keisha was talking to one of her cousins that was there and Akira was still dancing. I was surprised because for someone who doesn’t really like to dance, she sure hadn’t stopped dancing since she started. Brandon found two chairs in the corner so we sat down and continued our conversation.
“ So how have you been lately? We’ve mostly been talking about old times, and haven’t been able to talk about the present,” said Brandon.
“ Nothing really. I’ve just been going to school and hanging out with Keisha and them,” I said.
“ You don’t have a boyfriend?”
“ Nope.”
“ I don’t see why not. You hella pretty and you got a cool personality.”
“ Thank you.”
“I’m glad that you don’t though, because then I wouldn’t have a chance with you.”
I didn’t want him to see me blush, but it was too late, a huge grin had already spread across my face. He smiled at my reaction. Then right in the middle of our moment, Keisha and Anaya come over.
“Hey Brandon,” said Keisha.
“Hey Keisha,” he replied.
“ Where’s Akira?” she asked, returning her attention to me.
“I don’t know, she was just over there a minute ago.”
“ I saw her go upstairs with some dude like two minutes ago,” said Brandon.
“ That’s not like her at all,” I said. “ She’s been surprising me all night. She never dances and she was dancing non-stop tonight,” I said.
“ Well…earlier Akira had popped a pill with us. That’s why she was so energetic,” said Keisha.
“ What? When?” I said, in disbelief.
“While you were in the bathroom at her house,” Keisha said guiltily.
“Well why didn’t it effect you guys like that?”
“We took a whole one, but we’ve popped before. We told her to start with just a half, but she said she could handle it.”
I ran up the stairs to go find Akira, with the others close behind. I looked in one of the bedrooms, but she wasn’t in there. I ran to the next and the door was closed. If Akira wasn’t in there, then whoever was, was going to be mad that I barged in, but oh well. I opened the door and saw Akira lying on the bed with some boy standing over her unbuckling his pants. Hers were already on the floor, along with her shirt and jacket. I could hear her trying to get out the words “No, stop”, but she was too out of it.
“ Get off of her!” I screamed, while bursting into the room.
“ Bitch get the fuck up outta here.”
I swung and hit him right in the jaw and just when he got ready to hit me back, Brandon ran in and started punching the guy until he dropped. Keisha and Anaya came in and tried to help me put Akira’s clothes back on for her. Brandon pulled the boy up by his shirt to put him out of the room.
“Jamar?” said Anaya, in a shocked tone.
“ That’s Jamar?” I asked.
No one said anything and we just continued to get Akira dressed. When we finished, Brandon helped us carry her to his car so he could take us all home. We all got in the car except for Keisha.
“ What are you doing? Hurry up and get in the car so we can go,” said Anaya.
“ I’m gonna stay here. The party’s still goin,” said Keisha.
“ Your friend almost got raped and you’re thinking about a party?” I said angrily.
“ But she didn’t get raped, and she’s going home with you. She’ll be alright,” she responded.
I just slammed the door shut and told Brandon to go. He dropped Anaya off first, then took me and Akira to my house. I wanted to keep an eye on her at least until the next day, so I had her spend the night with me. After Brandon helped us into the house, I thanked him and promised to call him the next day.
Dear Diary,
Tonight was crazy. Akira was almost raped and afterwards, Keisha still wanted to stay at the party. What the hell kind of friend is that. I would feel a load of guilt right now if I was her. I wouldn’t even be able to enjoy myself at the party anymore. She was the one that started this whole pill nonsense and the guy that sold them to her was the one that tried to rape Akira. . I won’t be talking to Keisha anytime soon. I don’t need that type of person around me. Everything was going so well at first. We were all excited about going to the party and I ran into Brandon there. We were all pretty much just having a good time. Until we had to rush in and save Akira from what could have been a very traumatizing event. This whole time I thought I was going to have to worry about Keisha and Anaya and I let Akira slip right past me with this one. I can’t believe this really happened, but I am so glad that we got there in time.
-Cashmere Jones