To Be the Best

Jason Creed is 17 years old. He lives with his mom Abby and his little sister Kelly in Erie Pennsylvania and goes to school at Erie High School. Jason is in 11th grade and is a good student and gets mostly all good grades. He has short brown hair, brown eyes, about 5 foot 10 inches tall, and lean. Jason has a lot of friends and is on the soccer team. I’m his best friend Kyle Mercury. Jason and I have known each other since we were five years old. Ever since then we’ve been inseparable. I have no clue where things went horribly wrong and took a turn for the worst. We are both on the soccer team. Jason is an incredible player and I’m pretty good myself. We both start on the varsity team. We didn’t play a lot as freshmen but now we hardly ever come off the field. Unfortunately Jason may not be playing this year. I think this is where it all started. I just don’t understand why he would do it and how I didn’t even know about it. I’m his best friend I thought he’d at least talk to me about it. I’ll start from the beginning which was almost three years ago. I just can’t believe it.
Just only a few weeks into the summer Jason broke his leg when he wrecked his quad. He was riding through the woods and it was almost dark and a deer jumped in front of him and stopped right in the center of the trail. Jason was going way too fast to stop; he hit the deer head on and went flying off of his quad. He hit the ground hard and rolled about 20ft. before he finally came to a stop. He was in excruciating pain and when he looked down at his right leg he saw his foot was turned completely sideways. He laid there screaming in agony. Luckily his dad John had started to get worried and came looking for him. When he found him it was completely dark. His dad picked him up and put him on the back of the quad and drove back to the house. They went to the hospital and they put a cast on his leg and told him that he wouldn’t be playing soccer any time soon. Jason spent the rest of his summer on the couch watching TV and playing video games. He was depressed about not being able to play soccer. He knew he could always come back in the middle of the season but he knew he would be out of shape and slow. Jason had been going to rehab almost every day of the week trying to recover faster so he could get back on the soccer field. The doctor said it would be risky if he even played this season because his leg probably wouldn’t be strong enough take the abuse of playing in a game and all of slide tackles and collisions. That didn’t matter to him he just wanted to play. He worked as hard as he could in rehab to recover. Jason knew all too well of how much running he would have to do to get back into shape and actually see the field this season. His parents helped him as much as they could by supporting him. All of his teammates helped him out as well. Some of them would work out with him just too kind of say “hey man you’re not alone.”
After almost two months of rehab they told Jason they had helped him as much as they could and now it was up to him. It was the middle of August and the soccer team was practicing five days a week. On Monday Jason went to his first practice of the summer. Everyone was happy to see him and glad that he was back. He figured that he could practice with the team as part of his recovery. Every day the team ran two miles. Jason was ready to run this familiar course again. After only about ten minutes of running he wasn’t even done with the first lap which was one mile and he couldn’t breathe and his leg hurt extremely bad. He ended up walking the rest of the lap and stopping when he got back to the school. Jason quickly realized that he was more out of shape than he thought. He spent the next four days going to practice and doing the best he could. He was last in everything which he was not used to and this really upset him. He tried to keep up with everybody but his leg just would not let him it wasn’t strong enough. His coach was afraid that he would hurt his leg if he continued to practice so would not let him run or do anything .Jason stopped coming to practice after a while and started to work out on his own which took even more dedication. But he was determined to get stronger. The school year started and Jason was still weak and out of shape. He tried everything and nothing worked every work out failed to produce results. He was starting to give up and just let his body get better on its’ own. Jason decided to ask some of the guys in school if they had any ideas but he had already tried doing everything they suggested. His coach let him come back to practice but he still had the same restrictions, only running. So while everybody else was doing stuff with the ball he went to the weight room and lifted. He started to see a difference everywhere except for the only place he wanted to see it, his leg. The team was doing well this season they were 8-1 and first in their section, they had a playoff spot locked in. Jason continued to do well in school and hang out with his friends and try to forget about not being able to play. Unfortunately it just wasn’t working he constantly thought about soccer. The team was doing so well everybody was talking about them which made it even harder to not think about it. Since he wasn’t playing soccer he had a lot of free time. It gave him more time to complete his homework and just relax. Jason also went to a lot more parties this year that he wasn’t able to go to in the past because he was playing soccer. Most of the parties were wild and crazy with alcohol and other stuff. Jason always stayed away from that stuff at the parties he knew he wasn’t allowed to do that stuff nor did he want to. One night he decided to go to a party and he knew there would be drinking and people smoking weed. But he went anyway he trusted himself not to do that stuff. He was sitting around talking with a couple guys about how he had broken his leg and now he couldn’t play soccer because his leg wouldn’t heal and he was too slow. The kids weren’t the kind of people Jason usually talked to but he thought maybe someone had a solution to his problem. Two of the guys didn’t know what would help him but one guy did. His name is Tom he was kind of a bad kid and did what he wanted and used drugs. He had longer hair; he was about 6feet tall, and very muscular. Everybody knew he took steroids. Jason knew talking to the kid was a bad idea from the beginning but he did it anyway.
“Tom said I can get you some steroids just to help you out a little. You’ll get better faster then; when you back you can take them and be faster and stronger than everyone. You’ll score more goals than you ever have.”
This all sounded really well to Jason but he knew he couldn’t afford them. He told Tom this and he said
“Don’t worry about it the first few doses are on me just try it can’t hurt you.”
Jason was still unsure he knew that if he got caught he would be kicked off the soccer team for good. But he wanted to play again so bad. He sat there for a few minutes and thought about.
Finally he said, “Alright when can you give them to me?”
Tom said, “Tomorrow after school, come over to my house. I’ll show you how to take them and how much to take.”
Jason said, “Okay sounds good, you sure this stuff will work?”
“Yeah trust me man.” said Tom
“Alright you can’t tell anyone about this my coach will kill me and so will my parents.”
“Don’t worry I won’t tell anyone.”
“Okay, thanks. I only want to take them until I get better then I’m done.”
“Yeah, okay, that’s what everybody says before they try it.”
“I’m not like everyone else said Jason.”
“You may not be but you like to win right?”
“Yeah of course I like to win, who doesn’t?” said Jason.
“That is how you’re like everyone else and the steroids will make it easier to win. You’ll be bigger, faster, and stronger than all of your opponents.”
“But I’m already fast and strong.”
“Yeah I know but this will make you even faster. It works, just look at me it made my muscles are huge.”
“Yeah I see that but can’t steroids damage your body?”
“They haven’t affected me in the least bit.”
“I heard they can hurt your liver and kidneys.” said Jason
“Stop being such a little girl about this Jason. Do want to get better or not?”
“Yeah I do but I just don’t know.”
Tom said “Well you better make up your mind soon before I decide not to get them for you at all. So what’s it going to be?”
Jason thought for a few seconds. Then he said, “Okay, I want them.”
“Good” said Tom; “I knew you’d make the right the decision. Now remember come to my house after school.”
“Okay, I’ll be there” said Jason.
Tom said “Alright, I’m going to head home now it’s getting pretty late. See you tomorrow man”, said Tom.
“Yeah bye” said Jason.
While he drove back to his house Jason thought about what had just happened. Before this night he never even imagined that he would be taking steroids. He knew how bad they affect your body but that still didn’t stop him. His parents had always told him to never take them no matter what. When he got home it was about twelve o’clock. His parents were already in bed. He took a shower and went to bed as well. He laid there wide awake unable to sleep the entire night. He kept replaying his conversation with Tom over and over again in his head. In shock that he had just told him he wanted to take steroids.
When the alarm went off Jason was still laying he hadn’t fallen asleep at all. He got ready, got on the bus, and went to school. He tried not to think about last night but it was inevitable no matter how hard he tried he still thought about it. The school day finally ended and Jason left feeling no better. He got in his car and drove to Tom’s house.
Jason had never been there before. It was a small old house that needed some work done to it. The paint was peeling, shingles were missing on the roof, and the weeds were taking over. But he was there now and he had to go in. Tom was sitting on the front porch waiting for him. Jason got out of the car and walked up onto the porch.
“I’m happy to see you said Tom. I thought you weren’t going to show judging by the way you were talking last night.”
“Yeah I wasn’t so sure myself, but I’m here now” said Jason.
“Come on in” said Tom
He opened the front door and walked in. Jason followed him.
“You want anything to drink?”
“No thanks, I’m good” said Jason.
Tom went back into his bedroom to get the steroids. When he came back out he had a small plastic bag full of syringes and the steroids.
“Alright now there is a specific way that you have to take these for them to actually work. You have to inject them into the area you want them to affect. Now only take a little bit at first, let your body get used to it.”
“Alright I don’t want a lot I just need enough to get better.” said Jason.
“Yeah I know” said Tom
“Okay good. Well I guess I’ll just take the stuff and go.” said Jason
“Yeah that’s fine; just remember you didn’t get them from me.” said Tom
“Yeah and you didn’t give them to me either. Okay sounds good.”
“Yeah I guess I’ll see you next Monday said Jason.”
He walked outside and got into his car. His mind was going a million miles a minute thinking about the fact that he had just received steroids from a kid he barely knew. He didn’t trust Tom at all he figured that he would probably go and tell everyone that Jason took steroids. He was so confused and scared he didn’t know what to do. If he told his parents they would flip out and do god knows what else. He didn’t want to tell any of his friends because that was just one more person he had to worry about and try to keep quiet after he told them.
Jason went home and hid the steroids in his closet. He took his shoes off and crawled into bed. When he woke up it was about 3am. He looked at his phone; there were a few missed calls a text message. They were all from Kyle. The text message said “Hey Jason are you okay? I haven’t seen for a while what’s wrong?” Jason ignored the message. Kyle was the last person Jason wanted knowing about the steroids. He closed his phone and went back to sleep. He slept till 7:30am and when he woke up he felt a little better. But that feeling was short lived, he was hit with reality once again and it was not pleasant. Jason walked over to his closet to make sure the steroids were still there and no one had found them. They were still in the exact same place untouched. He went downstairs and ate a bowl of cereal. His mom was up making herself breakfast.
She said, “Jason where have you been lately you haven’t been home much?”
“I don’t know me and Kyle have been hanging out a lot at his house doing homework and stuff. We went to the movies last night.”
“Well okay, just be careful.”
“I will mom I always am.”
“I know you are but I still like to remind you sometimes.”
“You worry too much mom.”
“It’s my job Jason I have to worry about you you’re my son.”
“Yeah I know.”
Jason finished his cereal and went back up to his room. When you got in his room he locked the door and opened up his closet. He took the steroids out and laid them on his bed. A million thoughts were racing through his head he was so confused. He couldn’t believe what he was about to do. He opened the bag and took out a syringe and one of the small bottles of steroids. He filled the syringe and rolled up his right pant leg. His hands were shaking he was so nervous. He pushed the syringe into his skin and injected the steroids into his leg. He took the syringe out and put it back in the bag. He got up and put the bag back into the closet.
Jason went outside and got into his car. He wanted to drive down to the lake. It was about 10 minutes away. It always calmed him down ever since he was little he liked going to the lake. He would ride his bike down and just sit there for hours watching the small waves roll up onto the beach. The road to the lake was a small and windy road through the woods. It was about 9 o’clock in the morning and the air was brisk. When he got to the lake he parked his car and walked out onto the beach. He walked closer to the water and sat down in the sand. He tried to clear his head of everything and just listen to the sound of the lake. He lay back and looked up to the sky. There wasn’t a cloud in sight and it was a clear blue. Before he knew it he had fallen asleep right there. When he woke up it was almost dark, he couldn’t believe he fell asleep for that long. Jason walked back to his car and headed back home. While he was driving Jason felt sick to his stomach and light headed. He pulled off to the side of the road and got out of his car. Jason felt like he was going to vomit and he did just that. After he was done he got back into his and went home. When he walked in the door his mom was sitting on the couch waiting for him. His mom said where have you been Jason? I was starting to get worried. Oh I went down to the lake for a while. I fell asleep without even realizing it. Okay, just let me know where you’re going next time. Alright I will, said Jason. He went upstairs and took a shower. He still didn’t feel any better even though he had thrown up just a little bit ago. He got out of the shower, dried off, got dressed, and went to bed. He starred up at the ceiling and felt like he was spinning in circles. He ran to the bathroom and vomited. He couldn’t figure out why he was so sick, he thought maybe it was something that he had eaten but then he realized that it must have been the steroids that were making him sick. He went back to bed and felt sick the rest of the night.
When he woke up it was Sunday morning and the sun was shining bright right into his room. He squinted his eyes as he sat up and got out of bed. He took the steroids out of the closet and took another dose. He decided to go on a run to see how his leg was. Jason put shorts and a t-shirt on and walked downstairs. He grabbed his shoes from the garage and sat down at the kitchen table to put them on. He tied his shoes and walked out the door. He was abruptly woken up by the cold air. He went out into the yard and stretched before he started running. He did this for about two minutes and headed out to the road. When he reached the road he started to jog slowly to warm his legs up then he increased his speed. His leg was feeling quite well to his surprise. He thought maybe the steroids did help. As he was running he felt a little nauseous he ignored it thinking he was probably just hungry. After he ran to the gas station which was a mile away he turned around and jogged back home. He was still feeling sick when he walked in the door but it was a lot worse. Jason lifted his right leg up to untie his shoe and he almost fell over he had become so dizzy. He started to walk over to the couch but he collapsed on the floor with a loud thud. His mom, who was asleep upstairs heard the noise and went downstairs to see what it was. When she walked onto the living room she saw Jason lying motion less on the floor. She ran over to him and tried waking him up by shaking his shoulder and calling his name but it did nothing. She grabbed the phone and dialed 911. When the operator answered she told her what was going on and the operator said
“Ma’am please try and stay calm. We’re sending an ambulance out to your house right now.”
“Okay, thank you said Abby.”
When the ambulance arrived the paramedics came in and put Jason on a stretcher and carried him out to the ambulance. They drove to the hospital while Abby drove behind them. She was crying so much she could hardly see the road. When they got to the hospital they carried Jason into the emergency room. They performed C.P.R. but he still didn’t wake up. Then they tried using a defibrillator but it still didn’t work. The doctors put Jason on life support he was on it for a day and his mom couldn’t stand to see him like that. She told the doctors to
“Pull the plug and just let nature take its course and see what happens.”
It didn’t take long for Jason’s heart to stop and for him to stop breathing. When they did the autopsy they discovered that the steroids had been the main cause in Jason’s death. The doctor came in and told Abby why he had died.
Abby said, “That’s impossible Jason doesn’t do drugs he’s never even been drunk before.”
“We’re sorry but he was taking steroids.”
“I can’t believe he would do something like that.” said Abby
“Well he did said doctor Parks. Do you know why he might have taken them?”
“Maybe so that he could get play soccer again and heal faster.”
“Unfortunately that was the cause of his death Ms. Creed.”
She sat there in the chair for a long time crying. Then she went home.
A week later they had Jason’s funeral and all of his friends and family came, especially me his best friend Kyle. I was completely shocked and couldn’t believe what had happened. I never knew anything about it. Tom heard why Jason had died and he felt so terrible about giving him the steroids. Its three years today since that awful day when everyone was shocked to hear that Jason Creed had died because he had taken steroids.
I still can’t understand why he didn’t come and talk to me about it. I partly blame myself for his death even though I had no control over what he did. But I guess that’s just how life works. When you make bad choices bad things will happen to you. I still miss Jason and think about him every day wondering why he had taken the steroids. I lost my best friend since kindergarten to steroids all because he was pressured in to taking them. Thinking they would make him play better.