Luella's Mistake | Teen Ink

Luella's Mistake

October 23, 2010
By Anonymous

Luella is a sixteen year old girl who had a normal life like most other teens. She had an amazing boyfriend named Brandon who she planned to marry when she turned 18. She also had a best friend named Kristen who she loved like a sister she never had. They had been best friends since Luella's parents died and she was sent to the orphanage in town. Although Luella had a lot of tragedy happen in her life, she still managed to stay strong through it all. She had what she wanted in life and all that she had planned for her future. She had hope and faith that everything in life would work out somehow as long as she had Kristen and Brandon there to help her. In an instant all that was taken away from her on a dark April night that will haunt her for the rest of her life. On that night all her hopes and dreams vanished into the darkness.
Sixteen. I can't believe I've made it this far in my life. It seems like it all went by in a blur I don't know how I got here. It's like I closed my eyes and woke up and here I am almost grown. I just can't believe I'm a junior in high school. And tonight's prom. And I have a wonderful boyfriend to take me to it. I live at the orphanage in town here with my best friend Kristen, her and I are getting ready for tonight. We are both so exited. I am looking at myself in the long mirror of our bathroom in my long, strapless, dark blue dress.
"Luella?" Kristen calls from the other room.
"Yes." I reply.
"Do you think my hair looks better like this or this?" Putting her hair two different ways.
"Down." I assure her.
Just then my phone rings. It's Brandon telling me that he just left his house and he'll meet me at the school. I tell Kristen that it's time to leave and we go out to my car and drive to the school.
We didn't spend much time there, about an hour. We then left to go to "ihop". After we left the restaurant we decided to go to a party at one of Brandon's friend's houses. We had allot of fun but we ended up drinking some. None of us were big drinkers we didn't really like the taste of it. Around one or two in the morning we left to go home. I don't remember much aside from getting in the car and leaving which was probably a mistake, but did we really drink that much. I felt normal so I drove.
It was about 10 miles to Brandon's house where we'd probably all crash. It was a moonless night, dark and wet. The music was blaring and we were all singing along and having fun on the way home. I remember I was going about 70, too fast on this back curvy road. None of us were wearing our seat belts, another not very smart move we made that night. I went around a sharp curve and suddenly couldn't tell where the road went. I didn't have time to scream or cry or hope that we would be alright. I felt the jarring of the car as we hit something hard and the sensation of falling. I remember the sudden pain as my body hit the ground and then everything going black. The last thing that went through my mind was, "I love you." That was my last thought and then it went black.
I woke up three days later in a hospital bed. I saw no one. No one was there. I could hear the sudden beeping of machines. I could feel the horrible sensation of pain. I saw the nurses rush in but they weren't who I wanted to see. A string of questions went through my mind. Where was Brandon and Kristen? Are they OK? What happened? I am confused. And then the dark blackness overtook my thoughts and I drifted off into peace.
As I slept I dreamt. I dreamt about that horrific night that seemed as though it was ages ago. Though in stead of being in the car and driving it I was outside. I saw that the car flipped six times. I saw it when all three of us got thrown out. I heard Kristen's cringing scream and that's when I woke up. I was in a different room and there was someone with me. She came over and held my hand even though I didn't know this woman. She had short black hair and green eyes. She was fair skinned. She had a friendly face. She told me what happened and where I was. But she said nothing about Brandon and Kristen. So I asked her. Her face fell and she looked at me with sympathetic eyes. That's when I knew. They were dead. I had killed them. I had killed the only two people that I cared about. I began to cry. I don't think I ever stopped crying.
For the next days that I was in the hospital I was like a zombie. I cried. I did nothing but cry. I kept having dreams about the car accident and I would scream in my sleep when I saw the car flip. I would wake up always after I heard Kristen scream. I would wake up and remember that I had killed them and that I had nothing any more. I got to go to their funeral. That was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do. I walked behind the caskets on their way out and I collapsed along with Brandon"s mother whose hand I held.
I went back to the orphanage a week after the funeral. When I got there I just sat on the floor and screamed. She wasn't here and she was never coming back. I had never felt so alone in my life. I had no one to talk to. No one to share my secrets to anymore, no one to tell me it was OK when I went through rough times. I was alone. Forever and completely alone. I had known these people since I was five. I had known them more than my own parents. I had no more hopes or dreams. I had nothing to look forward to in my life. I barely had my hope left. But I had a slither of it left and that's what eventually gave me the strength to go back to school and carry on with my life. Now don't get me wrong I will never be the same.
I had everything taken away from me in and instant. It was my fault and it will haunt me for the rest of my life. I still have no one. No friends because when I went back to school I isolated myself from everyone. I am now graduating and I don't know how I did it. I am trying to move on with my life as best as I can. I will never be the same after what has happened. I can never have a normal life, not that I had one to start with. If I could have three wishes right now the first would be for no one else to ever have to go through what I've went through. My second would be to go back in time, and my third would be to bring Kristen and Brandon back. Please, never do what I've done to myself. I thought I'd never regret anything about my life but I do. I regret the night of my junior prom where I killed my boyfriend and my best friend, the only people I had left.
Luella can never go back in time and bring her friends back. She will forever be haunted by the mistake she made. Though this is not a true story for Luella it could be for many of you. Don't ruin your life like Luella did. Make the right choice. Don't drink and drive. I know it sounds cliche and you've heard it before but lets try to make Luella's first wish come true. It not only hurts you but the people around you. This is a mistake that many people make. Don't be a follower, be a leader and don't make the same mistakes. You can never take them back.


The author's comments:
I wrote this peice for English class last year.

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