ONE SHOT

"Walking home, I didn't have a clue that soon I would have to commit a robbery at gunpoint in order to prove myself even further. I would have to get jumped on by multiple homies that were already in the gang, or that I would get brutally beaten twice for at least thirteen seconds-once for induction into the South Side like any other Southern gang from California, the other time to get into an actual gang. I didn't know that I would soon be selling drugs, stealing and learning how a drive-by shooting is done. I didn't know that I was going to come face-to-face with death and almost get killed only one hundred feet from my own apartment." - Brayan Hernandez

FLY AWAY ANGEL BABY

"She gets even madder when I look her in the eyes again. She must think I'm testing her. She gets up, grabs a handful of my hair, pulls me to the bathroom and then pushes me inside. I think that this might be the only physical thing coming from her, but I am mistaken." - Angel Seumptewa

IT'S BECAUSE WE LOVE YOU

"I explain how I had drunk a little, and that I didn't remember falling asleep. How I woke up with my pants down in an area that I didn't recognize. How I found the couple and called them as soon as I could. After I explain my night, they go silent." - Kristina Edgar

NEVER TOO LATE

"I read the message. I reread the message. My body turns to stone and my hands become clammy as I hold the cold metal phone, which is slowly becoming warmer as my flesh turns to ice. What is she thinking?! I push the chair away roughly so that it bangs into the desk behind me. I briskly walk to the teacher's desk. My best friend is thinking about ending her life and I'm stuck in this tedious class, is all that is swimming through my mind." -Jacquie Lampignano

MAN-MAN

"The first message reads, "Man Man's unconscious." The second one reads, Man man's dead." I feel my stomach churn and knot up. Why hadn't I answered the phone? Why had I been so selfish? I wasn't thinking that if I answered my phone that would be the last time that I would have a brother. I wasn't thinking about all the things that I had yet to talk to him about, the places around the world we had yet to travel, or riches and fame we had yet to achieve as thespians, models and entrepreneurs. Not me. I was thinking about myself." Ladawn Harris

STREET LIFE

"The third time I ran away from home was for only a month. Of course I went back to the same place where I had been caught the time before, but this time I was determined not to get caught. I was there for about a week and a half before the cops come again-right when I was trying to roll that cigarette." - Christopher Milbrad

AAABDAD

"I looked at my phone and opened it to my dad's message. I had not yet responded. My heart was broken. There was so much I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to know that I wasn't angry that he left and I wanted to say that I needed him. I needed him to know that no matter what, I'd still be his daughter, a daughter who loved and appreciated him even if he didn't live with me." - Delanie Higbee

(Y)OU (O)NLY (L)IVE (O)NCE

"Just then we heard sirens from a police car. Fear hit me in the back of my spine. Now I had much bigger problems to think about . If I get caught, not only would it be over. The vision God gave me earlier that night flashed through my mind, but it was too late to make any changes. What hadn't I listened to my instincts and God?" - Natanael Santamaria

REPLACED

"I want to burst into tears, but I don't want to make a fool of myself. So I walk out, kind of bumping him. I need a place to be alone, a place to cry. I head to the bathroom and lay in the tub-fully dressed-for a half an hour, just thinking and crying the whole time. Why am I not a good enough daughter for him to love me for who I am? Why would he just take all my stuff and pack it away like I had passed away or went off to college? I am only ten years old and already he has forgotten my existence?" - Tattiyanna Fernandez

WHAT SHE SHOULD HAVE SAID

"My mother continues to pull me down the short hallway. There are no sounds, no talking. Why isn't she saying anything? The sound of her heavy breathing makes me even more nervous. She should be yelling, screaming, but it's like her anger is just built up inside. I am afraid that all that built up anger will be released with such power that she will lose control. The not losing is what scares me-the unpredictable future." - Maggie Higgins

CRUSH

"It finally hit me what had happened; she had told him. I couldn't believe she could stoop that low. She knew how much he meant to me. Hatred burned through my chest like fire." - Summer Cooper

MY FIRST DATE

"I could feel my feet getting numb, the sweat dripping from my body. I couldn't move. It was almost like I was paralyzed. My vision started going fuzzy, but I could still see Jeremiah sitting on the other side of the bed loading a pipe. He didn't even notice there was something wrong with me. All he cared was smoking the rest of the shit and getting high." - Deanna Tittle

HE WAS MY HERO

"I felt a stinging and burning as he whipped my thighs with the heavy, black leather belt he always carried. I opened my eyes in time to see him fling his arm behind his head to increase the force of the blow each time he hit me. Was I having a nightmare? This couldn't be real. It had to be a bad dream. He couldn't be doing this. Is that you, Dad? It's me, Isabel. Do you know you are hurting me?" - Isabel Cordova

LIAR

"What I don't know is that I have been lying to them about my whole life. I want to tell them the truth. But how do you tell your parents that they aren't there for you? At least not in the way that matters..... I hate being an only child, coming home to this huge empty house every day. Why do we need such a big house when no one but me is ever here" - Ethan Elliot

GONE

"The numb sensation in my fingers and face caused the memory to fade. But it was immediately replaced by a sudden, burning realization: I no longer had a dad. My dad was never a father figure or somebody I could look up to, but now I would never get the chance to have a good relationship with him." - Destiny Allison

TAKE A BOW

"That's when it really hits me: I've been replaced. My best friend has replaced me with drugs. I suddenly begin to think about what I've replaced me with alcohol. I'm no longer listening to the voices around me; instead, I'm trapped inside my thoughts." - Kelly Peterson

A STRIFE IN MY LIFE

"To most people, I might seem like an idiot with a death wish or something. But when I am up there, I feel like an angel or god of some sort watching over the world from above. That is the one way that I get to feel free and powerful. When I am up in a high place, I have no regrets about anything-no worries, no pain, no anger, no sadness, no fear. I feel at peace with myself and the world." - Caleb "Joey" Reed

HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW

"I felt the tears gathering in my eyes. I stormed out of the room, crying from sadness and anger that I would have to leave behind my life behind. Just like that, no goodbyes or anything." - Elizabeth Tapia

MAYBE I COULD HAVE SAVED HIM

"We didn't make the trip this past summer because my mom and I didn't have enough money to drive to Brewster. Now, just months later, Blake is laying in a casket before me. I can't shake the regret I feel. I should have visited him. My mom had enough money, I know she did. I should have kept in better contact with him. Maybe I could have saved him." - Nina Hogan

MY JOURNEY TO ALICE

"I get to the doorway and have my hand on the cold doorknob when he pulls me back. I find myself on my back, staring up at the man who has caused me to choke on the blood pooling in the back of my throat. I hear a voice in my head say, Go home Corinna. It's not safe here anymore" - Corinna J. Flaherty

FRI(END)S

"I sat on my bed and cried. I felt so alone, so hopeless. I'm useless, retarded, I can't do anything right. No one cares about me. What can't I just be perfect? Why do I even exist? I wanted to cut myself until the last and final drop of my blood was gone from my body. I snapped out of it and lay on my cold bed crying." - Lupita Ruelas