10…9…8…7…6…
“DEBRA!!!”
“Ok…I have like five seconds to get out of the house.” I ran as fast as I could towards the front door. I wasn’t in the mood for a lecture. And God knows that my dad is the perfect man when it comes to lectures. I stopped in front of the door. Something didn’t feel right. I looked down at my feet.
5…4…
I had no shoes. (So that was the problem!!! Thank you God for enlightening me. No wonder it felt so chilly.)
“I should go back and get some shoes” I said to myself.
“DEBRA!!!”
“Or maybe not.”
I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. Finally…freedom!
3…2…1…
“Stop it right there young lady!”
Too late…I was already outside running like crazy.(Fortunately I found my snickers in my backpack.) This is how an ordinary day starts for me. By the way I’m Debra. A normal teenager with a normal boring life. Ok maybe not always normal…or boring. Actually I was quite content with my life. Just one little thing bothered me.
I hated that my own father didn’t trust me. But I was getting used to that feeling. Sometimes I thought it would have been better on a mountain with wolves. (Maybe I should think twice).
I stopped in front of a nice boutique. Gazing at the mysterious antiquities through the shop window was always relaxing for me. I lifted my eyes and…wait a minute…
“That guy is staring at me …no wait I must be imagining things.”
I started to slowly walk. I turned my head and…surprise…he actually was following me. (Oh joy…well at least I wasn’t crazy).
I began to walk faster until I was almost running. And guess what…he was running too!!! He was an eighteen years old boy…or so he seemed. He had black jeans, a leather jacket and a cap on his head. (HA! I always knew that men with caps are freakish!)
“Ok Debra…don’t panic. Somebody will surely help you if something happens…yes that’s right. Just act normal.”
Now the guy was really starting to run as he said:
“HEY YOU!!! Wait a second!”
“Oh my god…who am I kidding? I’m going to die!!!”
I could almost see the news next day “Innocent teenage girl murdered as she was walking towards her school. Her parents barely recognized her because of the injuries.” (So encouraging right?)
“Where should I go? What should I do? Oh look!” I said as I saw a building that looked abandoned. Ok I knew it wasn’t a good idea to get in an abandoned building when a strange guy was chasing you but what could I do? None of the shops were opened so early in the morning. So I decided to go in.
“Hey miss! Miss, wait a minute! You…”
“Please God don’t let me die!!!” I yelled as a entered the creepy building.
“…dropped your keys…”
I slammed the door behind me. I felt my heart beating like crazy and sweat covered my face. I closed my eyes trying to breathe normal.
“It’s ok….inhale…exhale…inhale…”
“You must be Anna! Welcome!”
Anna? Who’s Anna? I’m no Anna.
I opened my eyes and saw a little blond woman starring at me.
“Huh…excuse me?” I said looking puzzled at her.
“You’re the pregnant teenager right?”
“PREGNANT??”
“Aren’t you here for the A.A. meeting?
Her voice sounded rather harsh now. I looked around and saw at least 20 people standing in a circle. They were all looking at me confused.
“I’m afraid you have to leave if you’re not Anna.” said the tiny woman interrupting my thoughts.
I had to leave? Outside? No way! (Outside equals stalker…stalker equals danger…danger equals….well…not good.)
“I’m Anna!!” I said without breathing. The woman looked carefully at me for a second.
“But you don’t look pregnant” she said looking at my abdomen.
“Nonsense” I said waving my hand.
“Ok Anna…have a sit. Everybody, this is Anna. She is pregnant and she has alcohol problems. Since you are new here what about telling us your story?”
“My story?” I asked horrified. What am I doing here??? I don’t have a story. And I don’t even like alcohol. Well I guess I have to use my imagination…I’m not planning to get kicked out were that guy waits for me. “Ok…I guess”.
“Well start telling us since when do you have alcohol problems?”
“Five years.” I answered without thinking.
“Jesus how old are you…15?” said a grumpy old man.
“Well, well…lets not judge the others Mr. Smith. Don’t forget how you were when you first got here.”
The man grumbled something looking nervously at me. Poor guy.
“Please continue Anna.”
“Well…”
“What about you’re parents? What do they say about you being pregnant at only 15 years old?”
“Actually I’m 16.” I said trying to avoid answering the woman’s question.
“Did you thought about the baby’s name?” asked a young blond girl.
A baby name…baby name…MY KINGDOM FOR A NAME!!!
“Armageddon.” I said smiling.
Oh god….I really am stupid. This is exactly like in that book I was reading a couple of days before. The main character always got into difficult situations and made a complete fool of herself.
“What an…interesting name.” said the girl without smiling. Ok I got to get out of here until something really bad happens. (I was starting to believe that the stalker was nothing compared to this)
“Hmm…excuse me…I got to go.”
“But you’ve just arrived.” said the tiny woman.
“Well I have…yoga classes! Goodbye everyone!”
Yoga classes???
‘Take care of little Armageddon!” said the blond girl waving her hand.
Oh God! I got out as fast as I could and started to run. Suddenly I felt someone grabbing me by the hand. I turned around and saw the stalker!!! I began to hit him as hard as I could.
He tried to say something but he was talking so fast that all I understood was “crazy girl”, “keys” and “here”. Oh, I know! He said : “Crazy girl! Here are your keys!”
Oh no…I stopped hitting him and realized that all he wanted was to give my keys back. I repeat: I really am stupid. I apologized a million times. Poor guy…trying to help someone and ending up getting beat up.
After that the day continued normal…I went to school (I never thought I would be so happy to be there) and then hurried home. I was hoping that at least the dinner will go on well. I got in and heard my dad say:
“Oh it must be Debra! Honey, come and meat Mr. Smith!”
My father came and grabbed my hand and dragged me into the kitchen. (literally)
In the kitchen was a 50 years old man standing at the table looking preoccupied at some papers. It was the grumpy old man from the A.A. meeting!
-Debra, meet Mr. Smith, my boss.
Great! Just great!
He got up and looked surprised at me.
“The Armageddon girl??” (oh joy…I could always imagine everybody calling me “The Armageddon girl)
“Hmm…hello…” I said trying to smile. My dad looked at us confused.
“You know each other?” he asked.
“NO!” we both said.
“I think I’m going to get some wine…” he said raising his eyebrow.
As soon as he got out Mr. Smith said:
“Look, let’s make a deal. I won’t tell your father that you’re “pregnant” and your name is “Anna” and you won’t tell him about…my little problem.”
He looked really desperate so I agreed. In the end the evening was quite nice…my dad even got promoted! He was waiting this for five years. So I was happy for him.
And forget what I said about having a boring life.
If I learned something that day it was that life continues to surprise you so try to be tolerant and ready for anything. And remember one thing. Never, but NEVER name your baby Armageddon.