I'm Here | Teen Ink

I'm Here

December 12, 2008
By Lucy Rivera BRONZE, Lexingon, Kentucky
Lucy Rivera BRONZE, Lexingon, Kentucky
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

…It was my third day here. The place people like me are sent too. The ones parents can’t control. They decide to send their kids far away for a couple of months, sometimes years. Until their back to the way they used to be. I see this place no different than an insurance company. The parents send large quantities of money each month and they promise to send you a new child and if you’re not satisfied you can send them back.

The one thing I miss is my bedroom door back home. I lay flat on my back waiting for all the crying and yelling coming from the rooms beside me to come to a stop.

….Hours later complete silence roams the halls. I’m finally able to sleep, I close my eyes counting each breath the girl who sleeps beside takes. I think I stopped at 503…I’m not sure. This was the first night I fell sleep to where I was able to dream. I woke up at my old friend’s house. Old, as in she wont talk to me anymore. She was glad I got sent away. I was wearing shorts and a tank top. The weather was nice and everything was back to normal. I didn’t want to wake up. Everything was perfect. It was before my life was ruined…according to my mom.

My mom never understood why I decided to do what I do. I guess that’s why I’m here and not at my friend’s house on a Saturday night. My mom writes me at least three e-mails a day, her’s are the only ones I get. I lie and tell her I don’t get enough time on the computers to write her back. She keeps telling me she doesn’t understand where she went wrong. She didn’t though…I did.

I feel I hand on my shoulder and someone telling me to get up. She was the first girl who talking to me on my first day. I didn’t say much, so by now she probably thinks I’m some kind of creep.

“Lets go!!” She yells close to my ear.

“….Go where?”

“Breakfast!!!...I know your not one of those girls with eating problems…so lets go”


I get out of bed and reach for my shoes. I wasn’t in my tank top and shorts like I was in my dream. I was back in my sweat pants and hoodie that were two sizes too big.


“suuuhweeet!...We get pancakes this morning, we never get pancakes!” Say said as we walked into the cafeteria. By what she said I could tell she’s been here a while.

“Pancakes are my favorite, I wont eat it unless I cut it into thousand of little pieces and bathe them with syrup” I say as I grab the tray in front of me.

“…oh..we don’t have knifes here…sorry, we’re not allowed to have anything sharp , even pencils we have to write with these thick plastic things that suck!”

“ohh…” instead of pancakes I grab a sandwich and an apple. No knifes? I didn’t think they’d be that strict here. I’d probably take one if they weren’t banned.

I walk behind the girl who sleeps beside me and follow her to a table full of girls. She starts introducing me to everyone one by one. I won’t be able to remember any of their names. So far she’s the one who sleeps by me and the one in front of her is the one who sleeps beside me’s best friend. I wonder if they really are “best friends” or just two girls who were sent here and became good friends.

I take a seat in the middle. The girl beside me was slowly putting her food under her napkin and the rest of her food was all mushed up and spread around her plate making it look like she ate most of her meal. I guess she is one of the girls who has problems with food. The girl sitting across from me was actually eating everyone else’s food. She was over weight. I guess she has a problem with food too. The girl beside her looks pretty normal to me. I wander why she’s here. I wander if there is anyone else like me, or will they all think I’m some kind of freak?


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This article has 1 comment.


Alice123098 said...
on Dec. 27 2008 at 2:42 pm
Wow....