Do Whats Best for Yourself

Boxes all packed and ready to go, Tiffany looked at her house for the last time. Her and her family were moving to a little town in Wisconsin. She’s lived in the same house her whole life; this was a big deal for her. She was excited yet nervous about the move. “Will I like the new place,” “Will I make friends,” so many thoughts running through her mind, she wasn’t exactly sure how to feel.
Looking at the house, Tiffany replayed all of the great memories she had here. From the times when she was little and would sing and dance around the house with her mother, to the times where she would just be lounging around with her friends, over the past few years.
“Are you ready to leave Tiffany,” said her father, walking out the front door to the house.
“Yeah, I think so,” she said with a sigh as she slowly walked to the car.
Hours later, Tiffany awoke from a deep sleep from the car ride, to see the new house in front of her.
The next morning was her first day at the new school; she wasn’t too popular at her old school, so she was a bit shaky about today. Walking up to the front doors where all the students were crowding in, Tiffany could feel the butterflies developing in her stomach. Walking into her first class of the day, Tiffany sat down in the front row, like she would at her old school. Tiffany was very into school and was a straight ‘A’ student her whole life. She loved to learn new things, which made her different from the other students at her old school. She always believed that’s why it was always so hard to make friends.
“Hello class, today we have a new student, Tiffany Baylor,” Said the teacher, as he searched the room for me. “Welcome to the school Tiffany, we’re glad to have you.”
“Thank you,” she said in a shy tone.
She could hear giggles from a few girls in the back of the class, assuming they were the popular.
“Just ignore them, they do that with everyone.”
Tiffany turned her head to see who had said that, she saw a girl with black hair swooped to the side. She had a plain white t-shirt with a thick gold chain hanging around her neck, with black skinny jeans and white Converse shoes.
“Thanks, but I’m used to it,” she replied back to the girl.
“What’s your name?”
“Tiffany, Tiffany Baylor,” she replied “what’s your name?”
“Ashley Lively, are you doing anything this weekend?” Ashley asked.
“Well considering I don’t have any friends I don’t think I have any plans.” Tiffany said laughing.
“Well my friend Joey and I are hanging out at my house, we’d love for you to join us.”
“I’d love to!”
“Okay class let’s get started,” said their teacher.
After school was over, Tiffany got in her car and made her way home. She stepped in the front door of her house and searched for her parents. She figured she would ask her parents about the hang out this weekend.
“Hey Tiffany, how was your first day?” said her father.
“It was great! I made a friend I guess you could say.” Tiffany replied.
“Oh wow! That’s great honey! What their name?” said her mother.
“Her names Ashley Lively, she seems pretty cool, she asked me to hang out with her and her friend Joey this weekend.”
“Now Tiff, I don’t know how I feel about that, don’t you think you should get to know them first?” her father said
“Please dad? You know I don’t make friends easily. This is the first in a long time, please let me go.” Tiffany begged
“Okay Tiff, just be careful and make sure you call me if anything goes wrong,” Her dad gave in.
This was unusual, she thought. He never gave in when she begged for what she wanted.
Running upstairs to do her homework, she threw her bag on her bed and changed into more comfortable clothes. She tied her hair up in a bun and put on a sweatshirt and shorts. Sitting with her legs criss crossed, she opened her laptop to do her homework. She couldn’t stop thinking about the upcoming weekend. She couldn’t wait to meet Ashley’s friend Joey and get to know the both of them. After saying goodnight to her parents, Tiffany got a shower and threw on her pajamas. She couldn’t wait to go back to school to see Ashley. This was a new thing to her, she was so grateful for Ashley. She was finally making friends and that’s all she could ever ask for.
She woke up at her normal time to get ready for school, which was usually around 6:30 am. She was extremely tired since she didn’t get as much sleep as usual, because of her excitement. She got dressed and did her makeup and hair, then ran downstairs for breakfast.
“Good morning dad!” she said as she sat down at the dinner table, with her bowl of cereal in her hands.
Her father smiled, “Good morning Tiff, you seem to be a bit cheerful today, what’s up?”
“I’m just really excited for this weekend. Thanks for letting me hangout with them.” She replied
“You’re welcome honey, I know it means a lot to you, but I got to go or ill be late for work. Have a great day at school,” he said as he gave her a kiss on the top of her head.
Tiffany just smiled at him as she continued to finish her cereal.
Several days have passed since Tiffany’s father approved her hang out. It was now Friday morning, most teenagers would be happy about it being Friday, but for some odd reason Tiffany woke up in the worst mood. It was one of those days where she didn’t want to talk to anyone or get out of bed, but of course she had to. Dragging herself to the bathroom to get ready, she put her hair in a bun and put on sweat pants and a sweatshirt. She was going so slow that she didn’t realize what time it was. She looked at the clock and it was 7:00 am already! She picked up her pace and ran to her car.
“My day couldn’t get any worse.” She thought to herself as she rolled her eyes.
Arriving at school Tiffany spotted Ashley over by her locker. As she got closer she noticed a boy standing with Ashley. She figured that maybe it was Joey.
Ashley noticed Tiffany coming towards her “Hey Tiffany!”
“Hey!” she said in a deep breath
“Tiff, this is my friend Joey I was telling you about.” She said as she gestured to the boy in front of her.
“Hi it’s nice to meet you. I’m Tiffany.” Tiffany said as she stuck out her hand for him to shake.
“Joey Smith, it’s nice to meet you too,” he said smiling at her
The bell rang to go to their first class, which Ashley and Tiffany had together. They sat down in their normal seats.
“You seem to be down today. Is everything alright?” Ashley asked
Shrugging her shoulders, “I’m okay. It’s just one of those days.”
“Well cheer up! We got a lot planned for tonight!” Ashley practically yelled
Later that night Tiffany arrived at Ashley’s house. After knocking on the door, she was surprised to see Joey open the door.
“Hey, come in,” He said as he nodded his head to the side.
Walking in she immediately noticed the strong smell, but she wasn’t familiar enough with it to know what it was. She looked to her right and saw Ashley setting something up in the living room.
“Hey Ashley,” Tiffany said
Looking up in shock, Ashley replied, “Oh hey, I didn’t hear you come in.
“What’s that?” Tiffany said pointing to the large glass object on the table.
“That? Oh that’s called a bong.” Ashley said laughing
Tiffany awkwardly smiled at her, “You smoke marijuana out of those, right?”
Tiffany became extremely nervous at the sight of it. She was never around something like this and if her parents ever found out she was near it, she would be dead.
“Yes, why do you ask?” Ashley said concerned
“Well, I wasn’t sure if that meant there was marijuana around, I’d rather not be around that kind of stuff.” Tiffany said nervously
“Oh come on Tiff, lighten up, I can promise you it’s not all that bad. You’ll be fine.” Ashley said with a reassuring smile.
“Okay.” Tiffany said in a soft voice.
She wasn’t sure if she should leave or stay. She wasn’t used to having friends, so she didn’t know how to act. Should she just go along with it or should she leave? She enjoyed the thought of having friends, so she decided she would stay. Things couldn’t go that bad, right?
“Alright, are we going to get started,” Joey said walking in.
“Get started? Get started with what?” Tiff said worried
“Why do you think this bong is here? We’re going to smoke, have fun.” Joey informed her
“Uh okay then.” She said convinced
Ashley took out a baggy full of marijuana, took a pinch of it and put it on a little bowl on the side of the bong. She took out her lighter and lit the marijuana up. Taking the first hit, Ashley let the smoke roll out of her mouth. Passing it to Joey, he took the second hit. Passing it to Tiffany, she finally realized what they wanted her to do. She looked at them with a puzzled look.
“Just put your mouth on it and suck in. You’ll be fine.”
Giving in, Tiffany put her mouth to the pipe and slowly sucked in. She loved it. She loved the feeling after it was all over. She felt like she didn’t have a care in the world. She loved the taste and how much fun she was having. She loved it so much that she knew she would do it again.
It’s been a few weeks since the first time she smoke marijuana. Almost every day after school, she would go to Ashley’s house with her and Joey and smoke marijuana. She would come home acting different, her parents started to notice.
“Tiff what’s been going on with you lately? Are you doing drugs? Why are your grades dropping?”
Hearing those questions everyday drove her to the point where she would yell and scream at her parents. She knew they were right, but she was to selfish to listen.
“Tiff please tell me what’s been up with you lately.” Her father asked in a concerned tone.
“Dad I promise nothing’s going on, I’m just stressed out from school, I’m fine.” She reassured him.
Weeks had passed and Tiffany wasn’t feeling that affect the marijuana had on her the first time. She wanted something stronger so she could feel that careless feeling again.
“Can we try something different today?” Tiffany asked
“What do you mean different? Like a stronger drug?” Ashley asked back
“That’s exactly what I mean,” She smiled
They got back to Ashley’s house that afternoon. They walked in the door and immediately, Ashley pulled out a baggy with a white substance inside it.
“Is that what I think it is?” Tiffany said
“You said you wanted a stronger drug, so that’s what I got.” Ashley replied
“Hey, I’m not complaining,” Tiffany said laughing
Right away they started using the drug and right away Tiffany knew she was addicted.
It was a Saturday night and Tiffany had no plans. She sat in her room alone, and for some reason she didn’t feel right. Things with her parents weren’t right. They have been ignoring her lately, they’ve been getting into fights and her grades have been dropping. She’s never been the happiest person. She felt worthless, hopeless, she felt like she was a disappointment. She couldn’t take it. For that whole night she sat in her bed and cried, trying to think of a solution to her issues. The only thing she could think of was to end it all. That has always been an option to her. She never thought she meant enough to anyone for them to care. The only people she ever had was her parents. Now she had Ashley and Joey, but were they really her true friends? That’s when she decided it was the night she was going to end her life. It was around 9pm, she wanted to do this before her parents got home, so she had no interruptions.
Finding some pain killers in the medicine cabinet and took them to her room. She knew that was the easiest way. She sat down and wrote a note to her parents, she didn’t want leave them in confusion. She knew how selfish this was, but it was her way out. As she was writing the last few words, she heard the front door open. She started to panic, trying to get the cap to the bottle open, she heard someone walking up the steps. She didn’t know what to do, she couldn’t get the bottle open. Finally, she got the bottle open, she poured a handful in the palm of her hand.
“I’m so sorry," She said in a whisper as she stood there crying.
Right as she went to take the pills, her mother opened the door to see her only daughter standing there, crying with a pile of pills in her hand. Her mother quickly ran over to her daughter, knocking the pills out of her hands.
“Tiffany, honey, what are you doing?" She said in a yell
“What’s going on up here?” Tiffany’s father said as he walked in the room.
“I don’t want to be here, I want to die, im a worthless piece of space! Let me go!” She said to her mother, who had her in a tight hug.
“Oh honey, you are not worthless, you’re the best daughter I could ever ask for.” Her mother said crying while rocking her daughter back and forth and brushing her hair back.
“What makes you say that Tiff?” Her father said with a worried look on his face
“I’m a druggy, my grades are dropping, you guys ignore me, I know I’m not wanted.” She replied
“You can get help Tiff, suicide isn’t an option, Okay? You’re better than that, we’d be lost without you,” Said her father
“We love you honey, you know that,” said her mother
“I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,” Tiffany kept repeating as she shook her head.
It’s been three months since that day, Tiffany has been in rehab for three months. She cut off all communications with Ashley and Joey. She realized they weren’t the right people for her. They didn’t want what was best for her, and that’s what she needed in a friend. She decided that she would rather have no friends than to have friends like that. Tiffany Baylor was back to her old self. She got her grades back up to all A’s, her relationship with her parents is back to its normal healthy ways. She learned a lesson from being friends with people like Ashley and Joey. She learned to not give in to pear presser, to not care about what others think. She learned to trust her instinct and do what’s best for herself.