11 comments

Coming of Age Drama

Aleena was a troubled girl. It wasn’t her fault entirely just hung around the wrong sort of people. She began stealing because she can and her words exactly “Fuck Capitalism”. Which is a completely different topic for another time. She loved the sense of freedom and excitement. The adrenaline she would get when she had smuggled things out in her purse and no one had noticed. The fear of walking through a sensor and the fact that maybe she might get caught. Aleena thought this type of behavior was freeing and it was quite addictive. Other than shoplifting, you could find her in a bar with a fake ID having the time of her life. Dancing with random boys, and bringing some home. Not getting caught was her thing. Sneaking out of the house to do all sorts of things and her parents not finding out. Sneaking back in and escaping the cops when it was past curfew. This type of distributive behavior was fun and freeing for Aleena until she got caught.

Rosemary was the typical A-plus student. good grades, never tardy, never has snuck out, never had a drop of alcohol, has never done anything bad in her life, unless you count that one time she broke a window. She had a secure future and she was happy with that. She saw herself going to college, graduating, finding a job, a house, a husband, and eventually having kids. That is what her mom did and her father and they seem perfectly happy. Rosemary wanted this she was sure of it but something was still missing. A sense of doubt crept into her mind. She knew she would get this future but would she? It sounded nice but in the end, Rosemary wasn’t sure that was the life she wanted.

Aleena was walking down the street. She had just been released from juvenile detention a few days prior. She walked past the numerous shops that she wanted to go in to but didn’t. Juvenile detention was not a fun place. It was cold and many of the teenagers there were brutal. The food was terrible and the beds were so hard, she barely got sleep. The place was terrible and she knew that she did not want to go back. To achieve that she had to get rid of the terrible habits she threw herself in. She swore to herself that she would stop stealing, drinking, and sneaking out. 

Rosemary was on the same street. She was trying to find a pair of high-heeled boots she thought would go great with a shirt that she got. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going since she was looking up stores that sold shoes in her town. She and Aleena bumped into each other causing Rosemary to drop her phone and Aleena to stuttered backward.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Rosemary said while picking up her phone. 

“Watch where your going next time!” Aleena said.

“As I said I’m sorry!” The girl meet eyes.

Rosemary had realized that she had bumped into Aleena Armstrong. She had heard multiple rumors about her. A girl went rebellious and addicted to everything out there. Here she was walking about her business with an ankle monitor. Rosemary stared, she knew it was rude, but something was striking and alluring about the girl that stood before her. She couldn’t place why.

Aleena stared back at the girl she knew was Rosemary Williams. She found her quite boring just a simple person hanging in the background. She thought that the girl in front of her had never done anything bad in her life ever. With that thought “never had done something bad in her life” was intriguing. She wondered how the girl never was tempted, how she did everything right and it was so natural for her to do so. The girl in front of her was striking and she knew exactly why.

“So once again I’m sorry!” Rosemary said as she continues by and walked on. 

“Whatever,” Aleena muttered to herself and continued walking.

Aleena got home and after answering a dozen of her mother’s questions, where was she, what did she do. It was annoying that she didn’t believe that she had done anything wrong. She even had to empty her pockets, annoying but she understood why. This was the consequence of her behavior that she oh so enjoyed. She was starting to regret her life decisions.

Rosemary got home and showed her mother her new boots, with a few other things. Going to her room she thought about Aleena. That girl seemed so free and without a care in the world. She went with the flow and let life take her. Rosemary wondered how can she do that? I mean she could indeed have a plan and went off of it but why would she do that? Rosemary had her day planned, her life planned, she had everything plan. Then it hit her she was longing, subconsciously, to be that free and uncaring about what happens in life. She wanted to relax and have fun but how would she do that?

Aleena sat in her bed staring at her wall. She had no desire to get up and do something, so she thought. Her mind went to Rosemary she seemed to have her life together. So well put together, she had good grades and seemed to be wanting to go to college that she would get into without a breath spared. Rosemary seemed to have a future, something Aleena wasn’t so sure she would have. Aleena realized she wanted that. A secure future and ditch her terrible behavior. She was certain that she could stop the shoplifting and the underage drinking and sex but how would she get on track so she could have a future? How would she do that?

Now these girls had one thing in common. They both wanted to be someone else. Rosemary wanted to be carefree, live a little, and break the rules she had followed all her life and at the moment not be worried about her future. Aleena wanted to get her life back and make sure she had a future. So the girls were inspired by each other.

 Rosemary had heard from a few girls that a party was happening somewhere. She asked if she could come. The girls knew Rosemary and they thought it would haliours to see what she would do so, of course, she came to. It went exactly how you thought. Awkward at first until she was drunk and began flirting up the wall. She was the life of the party and she was enjoying it. The girls were surprised by the behavior she displayed and were even surprised when they saw her go into a room with a random boy. 

Aleena ached at the fact that a raging party was going on and she couldn’t go. She was really trying to keep her promise and stop. Plus a tracking device on her would not help and her mom put up cameras. She was stuck in her room and there was nothing she could do about it. She was glad at the same time but it was mostly bittersweet.

Rosemary woke up with a banger headache in the morning. She kinda remembers the night but really didn’t and it was nice she guesses the unknowing something new. She did remember losing her virginity and not much after that. Rosemary had a feeling and she liked it, last night was fun and it was so different.

Aleena woke up with one goal and that was not to ditch class, not a single one. She had to make it through no matter how boring Ms. Evan’s class is. She would try to force herself to pay attention, take notes, and actually learn. Her goal was to get her grades up. She had to re-do a few tests and actually learn what was on them and turn in her missing homework. It was a lot of catching up to do but she was determined to do this.

Rosemary was still giddy about last night. She could not believe what had done and she got away with it too! She was excited and it was exerting. She got a few looks from her classmates. They were to her understanding, good ones but mostly surprised, rumors do seem to fly. It felt good to begin the topic of conversation for once. She did attend class that day, she had limits.

The school bell rang and Aleena had realized that she had made it through the day. She had made it through Ms. Evans's boring math class and actually paid attention even though she was clueless the entire time. It felt good and she began to think that she could do it.

Rosemary’s day went, as usual, she went home and didn’t look her mom in the eye. She wasn’t sure she could after what she did last night. She didn’t want to spill everything accidentally she would have to work on beginning a bit of a more of a deceivable lair. Rosemary went to her room wondering when she could do what she did again.

Aleena was staying up late and working on the missing homework. She figured she would get the boring math homework out of the way since it was the hardest and she had a lot to make up for. She cursed Ms.Evans for having homework every night and if she assigned less she would not be here but if she did it in the first place she would not be here. She pushed forward her goal to get at least a fourth of it done tonight.

The girls both woke up and went to school. Aleena turned in the homework she worked on and was amused by Ms. Evans's face. Rosemary to lost in her thoughts forgot to do her homework. Not the end of the world for she would get it done she swore of it.

Aleena began to do her homework more often and she slowly worked her way to do it when it was assigned. She eventually saw her grades go up and she was happy about that. She got her first job and started saving money. Aleena was working toward a solid future and she was happy with it.

Rosemary went to more and more parties. She was barely scraping by, turning her homework just as soon as it was due sometimes after. She had become to her words a mess. She was okay with that for she liked to let go. 

So, in the end, the girls became I supposed became each other. They did what they wanted they became someone else. Now anyone can become anyone even if it’s for good or for bad.


January 03, 2021 16:20

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

11 comments

Lily Kingston
03:22 Mar 11, 2021

I like how you have an inverse negative and positive character arcs between the girls. Keep up the good work and keep writing!!

Reply

Annette Lovewind
03:23 Mar 11, 2021

Thank You!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Moon Lion
02:29 Feb 03, 2021

This was such a fun read! I loved how the story showed the consequences of being someone else, and I think you nailed the plot!

Reply

Annette Lovewind
18:18 Feb 03, 2021

Thank you!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Kemani Grey
20:16 Jan 11, 2021

Amazing honestly! I feel like I can relate to both characters but more to Rosemary in the sense that i get what she means in wanting to let go and just feel free. The title was very inviting too so Im glad i got to read your story.

Reply

Annette Lovewind
21:13 Jan 11, 2021

I'm so glad you liked it!

Reply

Kemani Grey
11:33 Jan 12, 2021

sureee!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Kemani Grey
11:33 Jan 12, 2021

sureee!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Kemani Grey
11:33 Jan 12, 2021

sureee!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 3 replies
Show 1 reply
Kaveesha Ruwindi
13:51 Jan 09, 2021

Sweet!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Annette Lovewind
16:36 Jan 03, 2021

So I'm fairly proud of this one. I wanted to go more in-depth in characters since I felt my other stories were a bit basic for characters. So we have this. Enjoy!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Reedsy | Default — Editors with Marker | 2024-05

Bring your publishing dreams to life

The world's best editors, designers, and marketers are on Reedsy. Come meet them.