Page 192 - The Life of A Teenage Girl (Stories About Finding Your Way)

THE LIFE OF A TEENAGE GIRL

But the thing is—we didn’t shoplift. Yes, we left school without
permission, but we bought everything with our own money.

My mom looked at us for a while and said, “Uh, no, I don’t want

any charges.”
The policeman nodded and said everything was settled. But we

wouldn’t be going to school for three days—because we were
suspended.

In the car, I could feel Mom was very angry, even though she
didn’t show it. I was really mad at Alexa, though, because she got the

police involved in this. All she could have done was tell the principal,

and then the principal would’ve called my parents, found me, and taken
me home.

I looked at Mom and said, “Mom, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know

what I was thinking.”
“Gigi, this is the second time you’re doing this! Why?”

“I… I don’t know! I’m just sorry.”
“Sorry, can’t fix anything, and you can’t make this up.”

I started crying. Mom was right—I couldn’t make anything up for
this.

She kept going. “And I can’t believe you dragged your best friend

into this. She had to watch you almost get arrested. Is this how you treat
your friends, huh?”

Then she turned to Alexa and started apologizing for what she had
dealt with. I couldn’t even speak. I was setting such a bad example for

my family.

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