A New Life

Once again Sarah was in an awful mood as she was going out of the school building. Her best friend, Laura, had said that she didn’t feel like going to school today, so Sarah was on her own again, in the company of those irritable midgets, her classmates. She could easily, without much thought on the matter, say that she hated them all. They were all treating her badly, talking behind her back, boys and girls together, and describing her as a “bitch”. Not that she didn’t treat them in a similar way. It was just that she had a different approach toward people. She had her own view on how people should behave, dress, talk, and spend their free time. Most people dressed casually at this age, studied from time to time, went out in large companies, and everybody tried to be friends with everybody. She, however, had learned that people couldn’t stay like this forever. She had once, too, dressed casually, tried to be friends with everyone, been with many people at once. But she had learned that those kinds of relationships with people were short-lived and meaningless.

She was content with her life as it was at the moment. Laura, her only friend, was just the same person as she was. They had exactly the same interests, principles, intentions and behavior. They did everything together, went everywhere together (except for occasions such as today’s skipping classes). They even went out with boys together. When Sarah went on a date with her current boyfriend, Georgios, Laura was with her, dating his best friend. And even now, when Sarah was going to see Georgios, she was going to go and pick up Laura on the way. They were inseparable. And the reason she was doing it was not because she wanted to spend more time with Laura. The truth was that Sarah was a little afraid of Georgios. He was the perfect man for her, but in the same time he was the most dangerous one. He was 27, with Greek origins (as could e concluded by his name) and with his own, prospering and a little shady business. As far as Sarah knew (and she didn’t want to know too much) he owned several clubs in the city. He was short-tempered and even Sarah was scared of his moods sometimes. Nevertheless he was a great match for her, she thought. He was wealthy, faithful and didn’t mind satisfying Sarah’s whims. Most of his friends were like him (maybe except for the short temper) and Laura had already had an affair with most of them, which put her in the very difficult situation of having to choose one of them. Otherwise she might get herself into trouble with all of them at once and Sarah had warned her that she would be able to do nothing to help her. Nevertheless, Laura was a cunning girl. She knew what and how to do and got the best of the situation, just as Sarah would do if she were in Laura’s shoes.

The entrance to Sarah’s school was situated on the sidewalk of a large boulevard. It was a dangerous place for a school, many parents thought, since cars there were passing with a very high speed, while children were crossing the street to get to school. The school’s principal argued that the entrance was perfectly situated, as to advertise the school itself to all the passing vehicles. For Sarah this location was convenient only because she had to do almost no walking before reaching a taxi to drive her to Laura’s place. Sarah had stopped using city transport ever since she had entered this school in eighth grade. That had been about four years ago. Before that her previous school had been a block away from Sarah’s flat. She had been forced to walk there. Not that she had minded it back then, but now she went everywhere with a taxi or with Georgios’s car.

Sarah didn’t go home too often. She spent at home no more than 2-3 hours every day. Every other day she slept in Georgios’s flat, which was not only much larger than that of her family: it was also in a much richer neighborhood. Sarah vaguely remembered that she had to go home tonight. Her father’s shift was during the day and he would be home in the evening. She shook that thought away, not wanting to think about the boring night that was awaiting her. The taxi stopped in front of Laura’s block. Sarah paid and hurried in to meet her friend. While she was in the elevator she called her on the phone to remind her to hurry up. She hated to wait in front of the door, so thanks to the phone call when she reached the sixth floor, the door to Laura’s flat was already open. Sarah went in, and feeling as if she was at home, went to Laura’s room and sat on her bed. Laura had just come out of the bathroom and was getting dressed.

“Why didn’t you come to school today?” Sarah inquired with en edge of irritation to her voice. From time to time they talked that way, so Laura didn’t bother to take Sarah’s irritation seriously.
“My period came,” she answered simply, as if that explained everything. Sarah frowned.
“Really?” she said skeptically. They knew each other so well that they even kept track of each other’s periods. “How come mine hasn’t come yet, then?”
“No idea,” Laura answered calmly and looked at Sarah with a slight surprise, “mine is just on time.” They both knew that Sarah’s period always came two to three days before Laura’s. Sarah shook her head and dismissed the topic. Laura was right. She didn’t want to admit it, though, so she had Laura hurry and they both took a taxi to one of the cafés near Sarah’s flat. After all she would need to be able to go home quickly when her mother called to say that her father was on his way home. Sarah didn’t suspect that she would meet one of her friends from her previous school there. She was Liz and she had been sharing the same desk with Sarah for two years. Liz didn’t spend a lot of time with them. Sarah made sure that Liz understood that she is not wanted. She kept insulting her casual clothing, short body and lack of make-up, yet those insults didn’t seem to get to Liz. She just spent a bit more time with them and left off with her friends. Sarah was watching her disappear out in the street, when she suddenly felt nausea. The air in this café was full of cigarette smoke and she felt like she was going to vomit. She stood up quickly and hurried to the toilet. She felt like she would lose her footing on the way there. Her vision was blurred and she barely comprehended what happened next. When she regained clear consciousness, she found her face buried in the sink. Laura was next to her, keeping her steady and pulling her hair back. Sarah stood up and looked at Laura alarmed. But Laura was speechless.

“It must be the bad ventilation,” Sarah said. “I don’t want to come here any more.”
“If you say so,” Laura said with a concerned look. However she didn’t say what was on her mind.

The two girls went back to the table where they were sitting. Georgios was there with two of his friends. When Sarah came out of the toilet with her face as pale as marble, he didn’t even notice. Sarah pursed her lips, hoping that she was not right.
But she was. On her way back home she was going to faint one more time. The same night she took a pregnancy test, which was positive. “Damn that Georgios”, she thought. But in the next moment she saw the bright side of it. This was her perfect chance to start a new life, one in which she wouldn’t have to deal with school, parents, classmates. All she had to do was get her parents’ permission to marry Georgios. He was not a perfect boyfriend and wouldn’t certainly be the perfect husband or parent. But for all she cared, he was exactly what she wanted – freedom from both her present obligations and from the bounds of a serious marriage.

So the next day she met him and told him. His reaction was nothing she could have anticipated. “What do you expect me to do say,” he said. “That’s entirely your problem. There is nothing I can do to help you if you want to be a teenage mother.”
Each word struck her more painfully than the previous one. What would she do now? Just when it had seemed to her that her dreams were so close, she understood that she had been wrong all along. What would she do now? Tell her parents. Of course they would have her make an abortion. Tell Laura. She wouldn’t be of any help really. They weren’t that kind of friends. Leave school. She wouldn’t be able to look at these people in the eyes after such a thing. Seeing Georgios ever again was out of the question. So what? That was a new life alright. But not exactly as she had expected it.

The picture used belongs to blackeri on deviantart.com