Personal Narrative

I was assigned to write a personal narrative for school, so here it is!

Something needs to Change

            Screech . . . CRASH! What had just happened? It was hard to see clearly and the smell of gasoline was strongly in the air. I looked around and saw the crushed heap of what used to be my car; a crushed brown Pontiac Trans Am. I look ahead and see a black Ford Focus with the back bumper smashed and falling off.  I have to escape! I don’t know how bad the damage is! What if my car is on fire? BANG! I kicked the door open and fall out onto the street. I start hugging myself wishing I would have brought my coat. What was I going to do now?

            Two weeks ago, my senior prom was the only thing on my mind. Prom was in three weeks and I had plans on going alone with the guys from my swim team. It was going to be a night to remember. “You can’t go alone! It’s your only senior prom!” There’s nothing that bothered me more than my own mother nagging me through her thick Hispanic accent.

            “It’s my prom! I can go alone if I want.” I argued.

             “Not when you are my only son and you live under my roof!”

            Why was I arguing with her? It seemed futile because she always got her way. Maybe I can persuade her and turn things in my favor. “Okay mom. I’ll take someone to Prom, but you have to pay for both of our tickets.” It was a genius plan in my mind because I could just take my best friend and not have to worry about paying for an expensive ticket.

            “All right, if you take a date to Prom, I’ll pay for both of your tickets.”

            I just won a war. It was an amazing victory against my mother, but now I was dealt with the aftermath. I had to find a date.

            Finding a date was harder than it looked. My best friend went to another high school, and it was too late to turn in the stupid forms for someone from another school to attend. I had to ask someone from my school. It seemed like everyone already had a date. Who could I ask?        

            “Kristopher! Are you listening?” my teacher yells at me.

“Sorry Mrs. Gardiner, won’t happen again.”

Hmm hmm hmmm! I look to my left and see my friend Haley chuckling at my misfortune. Haley is a pretty girl with long blonde hair. She is very nice and fun to be with.

 “It’s her!” I thought. I was going to ask her to Prom! I know I can have a good prom going with her.

After class ended, I caught up with her. “Haley. I was wondering if you had a date to prom yet. If you didn’t, would you want to go with me?” My hearth was racing. I didn’t know if I could take it.

     She finally responded. “I was going to go with my friends, but sure! It’ll be fun!”

     “That’s great!” I finally responded. “I’ll pick up the tickets after school.”

     “Oh, I already bought a ticket, so just buy one for you.” She interjected.

     Coming back to reality, I could feel goose bumps all over my body. There was all this flashing around me. A police officer must have showed up and was looking at the scene. Next thing I knew, he was giving me a ticket. It was for reckless driving, but it was only for $50. I could tell the officer was taking pity on me. At that moment, my mind started to race. How was I going to drive my date to prom now? Was this happening because I lied to my mom about the prom tickets and pocketed the change? How could I ever earn my parents trust back? If only I didn’t waste the money earlier, I could have still made it right.

     POP, POP, POP! I was hidden behind a tree with my enemies circling around me trying to shoot me. I could hear them stepping on every leaf and every twig on the forest floor.  POP! I hit one of them square in the chest. POP, POP! I hit another on their side.

“Kris! Do you have any more paint balls? I’m out!”

I swing my bag over to my friend Alex, but he’s taken out before he gets the chance to reload. The game finally ended with my team winning. It was a fantastic game. In that moment, I was glad I spent the excess money for Prom on paintball. If only I knew what would happen later that day. If only I knew I wouldn't have a car to drive to prom in anymore. Would I have lied to my mother and taken her money?

My father came to the sight of the crash to pick me up. He was happy that I was okay, but as the hours passed, his attitude towards it changed. “HOW COULD YOU BE THIS STUPID!? DIDN'T WE RAISE YOU BETTER!?” I have never seen him that angry. His face was redder than a tomato. It looked as if his head would erupt at any second. “YOU’RE DONE DRIVING!” I was heartbroken. With prom coming up and I had a job to drive to, I didn’t know how I was going to handle it all. My world seemed to be tumbling down.

If I never lied to my parents, would I have been in that accident? Would prom have turned out better?

“Kristopher . . . Kristopher!”

I was brought back to reality. I look up at my mother. She’s laying on the couch with our new puppy reading the newspaper. Can you go to the grocery store and pick up my tea?

Was I hearing her right? I haven’t driven in weeks.

“Are you sure? Is it okay with Dad?” I respond.

“Of course I am. Take the twenty from my purse and go.”

 “Okay mom, I’ll bring you back the change.”