Lightning flashed through the shattered windows. Jenna looked up just in time to feel the abandoned house shake with the boom of thunder. The thunder didn’t really bother the eighteen year old, in fact, she loved the sound. The abandoned house that she was standing in was dark; the electricity had been cut off years ago. Jenna ran a hand through her strawberry blonde hair and sighed, thinking about the events that had happened two and a half hours earlier. When she had little Duncan a month prior to this, her pride was sky-high; she managed to give birth and graduate in the same month. She proved everyone wrong that doubted her. Who whispered, “Look at her! She’ll never have a life now!” as she walked down the hallways.
Life with Duncan and his father, Alan, was joyous. Rather than immediately leave the country when Jenna revealed that she was pregnant, Alan surprised her when he pulled her into a hug and said, “I’ll always be here for you.”
He was there by her side in the hospital, squeezing her hand every now and again. It seemed that everyone Jenna was close to was there at the hospital that day, her best friends Lacey, Michael, Darron, Shelley, and Whitney, Mr. Hartford, her favorite teacher, and her grandmother, with whom Jenna lived after her mother left.
Her mother...

Jenna sucked in a sharp, shaky breath. Her mother was the reason that she was standing here. Her father had died when she was twelve, and her mother fell into a depression. She seemed to get better as Jenna entered her freshman year, but one day she dropped Jenna off at her grandmother’s house and never came back. She only left a torn sticky note, which said, “I can’t take it anymore. Goodbye.”
That note shattered Jenna’s heart.

To Jenna and Alan’s complete surprise, Jenna’s mother arrived one day at her grandmother’s house. Her grandmother had sent her a letter about Jenna’s pregnancy, how it went and that Jenna and Alan were completely fine and happy. Jenna had been bouncing Duncan on her knee after feeding him when her mother unlocked the door and stormed in. She glared at Jenna, who was frozen in complete shock at the sight of her mother.

“M-mom?! What are you-”

“You had a child you little whore?! I knew better than to trust you by yourself! You’ll never have a real life now!” she screamed at her. Anger and hatred sparked in her mother’s eyes. Jenna’s veins felt like they were filled with ice instead of blood. Jenna’s grandmother came tottering into the room, alarmed at what her mother was screaming.

“What do you mean ‘trust me by myself’? You LEFT me here and never came back! All you said to me was ‘I can’t take it anymore, goodbye’, and you couldn’t even say that to my FACE! You can’t just dump a fourteen year old girl off with that kind of message! I bet I’m a better parent right now than you EVER were!” Jenna exploded, handing Duncan to her grandmother as she stomped up to her mother. All of the anger she had towards her mother came spilling out in hot tears running down her face. Her mother sneered at her.

“You seem like you’re proud of that,” she snapped, gesturing to Duncan.

“That little thing right there is going to ruin your life,” her mother folded her arms and stared at Jenna.
Jenna started shaking with anger. How dare she call Duncan a thing! How dare she say that he’s going to ruin her life! With a shaking scream of rage, Jenna swung her fist forward and punched her mother square in the nose. Her mother stumbled backwards against the wall and held her bleeding nose.
Alan came running into the room. He took Duncan from Jenna’s grandmother and watched as Jenna ran past him out the door. She couldn’t handle anymore of this right now. Her pride was crushed, and now she felt ashamed. Was all that she worked for just a mistake in her mother’s eyes? Her own mother now hated her... Jenna’s mind was coursing with those thoughts, although her brain was fuzzy from everything that had just happened, and she couldn’t think clearly.
Dark clouds had begun to roll in, and a light sprinkle of rain started falling on the teen’s head. Jenna neared the old abandoned Miller place, it had been empty since 2000. Luckily the lock on the door was busted. Jenna shut the door with a click as a loud crack of thunder sounded. She shakily walked over to the dusty chair in the corner. Sitting down, she brought her knees up and hugged them. More tears leaked out of her eyes as she played the events over and over in her head. Due to the storm, she would most likely have to spend the night here. This was going to be one long night for Jenna.