We know that in life we make mistakes, but never did I think this would end up one of my biggest mistakes. It was my favorite time of year, in the town of Bristol. It was sunny but it wasn’t too hot. The weather made me happy and the end of the school year was nearing, so life wasn’t as stressful. It was a good time of year. I enjoyed my days day in and day out. Until the thing to make my life go full spiral came. 
His name was Chad. He was silly, but also serious. He was charming, you’d say. He was tall, with long blonde hair, and blue eyes. All the girls wanted him, he was like super popular. The hard part is, in order to be with a guy like that, it seems you have to “be all that.” One day I was sitting with my friends during lunch at school, and he came prancing into the cafeteria with his friends, Jeff and Ron. I knew he didn’t have first lunch, so who knows why he’s in here. Probably skipping class. He seemed like that kind of guy.  
I looked up from my phone, to see him walking towards my table. He must’ve been going to talk to Shelly, the girl voted “most popular” for superlatives. Surprisingly, he walked past her and came and took a seat next to me. “Hey,” he started, “I’ve seen you around a lot lately...and was wondering if I could possibly get your number?” My heart fell, and I hesitated to speak. “Um, yeah. Here, its 678-999-8212.” I said softly. “I’ll text you later” he said, jumping up to join Jeff and Ron in walking back to where they came from.  
We talked a lot that night. We even somehow ended up on FaceTime. Fast forward 3 weeks of talking every night, after seeing each other everyday...he finally asked me to be his girlfriend. I’ll never forget that night. We’d gone to my favorite place to eat, Toots. On the way back to my house, he asked. That’s when I thought that this would continue to be the biggest blessing.  
Chad and I hung out almost everyday, except for when I had to work. We did everything together. Ran errands, mainly. He came to church with me a couple times, and that was one of the coolest things I think we’ve ever done. He came to my house for dinner a lot, and I would go to his house sometimes to just hang out on my day off. We became so close...it was bittersweet.  
He asked me to prom, and we danced the night away. After prom, my best friend and I went back to her house while he went and got us food. We literally sat in Jami’s garage until 4am just talking, laughing, and having fun. I was so happy. The happiest I’ve been in a very, very long time. I felt overjoyed, that nothing would ever get me down. Little did I know...this would let me down. 
After about 4-6 months, Chad started being sneaky. “Lori, stop worrying so much about what I’m doing and worry about the stuff you have to do more” is what he would say to me when I would question his actions. He was mean, manipulative, sneaky, and untrustworthy. It seemed like the world was crumbling around me, that I was failing myself...but the thing is that I was never the problem. He was. He was the reason I was hurting, he was the reason my heart was breaking. After a month of dealing with everything he put me through...I cut ties. To be a better me, I didn’t need him bringing me down. I’ve been amazing ever since. 
 
My name is Lori Province, and that is the story of the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.