Kidnapped

I was 15 years old and I never wanted to be home. I stayed at my friend Nichole's house almost every night of the week. Her parents were like second parents to me. Nikki's house was always a happy place to be. I never felt judged there. I could tell them the things that I was struggling with and they would not scold me or make me feel bad, but instead would give me solid advice to move forward with. All you really want as a teenager is to feel like someone understands you. 

I thought that if I could just live with Nikki and her parents but I would be happy. My mom agreed to let me stay with them. Then one night she asked me to please come home for dinner because my sisters and brother missed me. I didn't want to go. I didn't want to be home, but I went against my gut and agreed to have dinner with them. She cooked my favorite meal stuffed bell peppers which she typically only made on my birthday. I felt an extreme sense of uneasiness. I went to my room after dinner and paced back-and-forth wishing that I could teleport myself back to Nikki's house. I finally was able to let myself relax enough to fall asleep. 

At 4:00 AM I was woken by a man and a woman barging in my room, telling me to get up and get dressed. They said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." What the hell is that supposed to mean? I wondered... They hurried me down my stairs and into the back of their car. The door handles in the backseat had been disabled so that I could not attempt to escape. They then handcuffed me and told me not to try anything. I was so angry that I could not even speak. Who are these people and where were they taking me?

Bleacher Smokers

From the ages of 13-15, I can honestly say I was no angel of a child.

A combination of family issues, drama at school, the loss of all of my childhood girlfriends, and lack of a support system at home proved to be a disastrous cocktail. I was never that great at the whole communication thing. Especially when it came to emotions. I just couldn't quite figure out how to ask for help in a productive way. When you're angry and lash out and give attitude to people, they tend to just get pissed off. It reminds me of that quote about children 'asking for love in the most unloving of ways'.

I wasn't the kind of girl that was on the cheer squad or student council. I wasn't homecoming queen or even popular for that matter. I was in fact a self-conscious, socially awkward teen who would rather ditch class and smoke weed on the bleachers with the boys than sit in a room full of kids I felt I couldn't relate to. Did I get mixed up with the wrong crowd? My parents would have said so but in all honesty, I don't really know that to be true. In fact most of us bleacher smokers turned out to be pretty damn successful! (You guys know who you are)

Bottom line, I drove my parents so completely insane that they resorted to doing something most could never fathom... They shipped my ass off to a lockdown boarding school in Mexico. Yep, you read that right, MEXICO. I spent the last two years of my childhood in that God-forsaken place.