A Blessing in Disguise

Narrative Essay

A Blessing In Disguise

"That's rock bottom," the chorus from his favorite Eminem song played through the speakers in his Subaru while he negligently drifted through the snowy turns on his way to school that morning. Sam recited every lyric in the song like he was the borderline psychopath telling the story. His life was decent to say the least, not at all resembling his favorite music. But as bad decisions and fate would have it, he too would soon understand the meaning of that song. He would grasp it as well as someone stuck in the rock bottom of a well. The only thing on the mind of that person is getting out of that dark, cold subterranean hell. Thinking of every possible way to scale the slippery damp walls of the well towards the light, back to reality. Through this comparison, he began to realize that he might have needed something drastic to happen in order to alter his current path and help drive him over his own obstacles.

Mornings and lunch were the most enjoyable times of the school day. He would begin the day by going into the cafeteria where all the other seniors would gather before the first bell rang, spending time at each of the circular tables his friends were sitting around. Today, Sam and his friend Andrew decided they would leave and get breakfast at a McDonald's that was five minutes away. "Let's go around the parking lot first," said Sam, who was eager to show off a little and get his own adrenaline rush in the process. He pulled out of his spot and made his way to the big loop at the front of the parking lot. He jerked the wheel to the left, downshifted and accelerated in almost the same instant before turning the wheel back into a drifting over-steer. Around the loop they went, in an almost-sideways semi-controlled drift, just like always. Everything from that point on went into slow motion. Sam felt the direction of the car dramatically change after the over-steered front tires hit a dry patch of pavement, launching them towards a parked car that was in a spot on the loop. They careened diagonally into the side of the parked car, peeling off the right fender and headlight like a can of sardines before bouncing off and trickling to a wobbly stop. How could this be happening to him? This is by far the lowest he has ever been. What would happen to him? Sam was in shock. He knew he wasn't getting away with this one.

He felt nothing as he walked past an on looking teacher, making his way into the school to meet his doom. By now, several people were aware of what had happened, and watched him as he walked alone towards the vice-principal's office to face the consequences of his bad decision-making. It only took a few minutes in the office for a verdict to be found. This was the third time Sam had been in trouble for something serious. He was being expelled from high school and charged with negligent operation of a vehicle. He left quietly without saying goodbye to anyone; angry with himself and ready to forget everyone forever in order to spare them the burden of affiliation. Thoughts brought on by his emotions were racing through his head. He would not be able to do anything with his life making it impossible for him to be happy for the rest of his existence. People would think he was a low-life for being expelled from high school. His favorite teachers would be let down and disappointed in him. His parents would still love him but even they would be left wondering where their son was going to land at the end of this downward spiral.

Those thoughts would drive him crazy. Not only was he expelled from school but he was also scheduled for a court date to receive his punishment for the felony driving offense. Things couldn't possibly get any worse for him. He was going to lose his license for sure. For all he knew, the prosecutor may even want to make an example out of him and put him in jail for a couple weeks. His father urged him to study for his GED diploma as he waited for his court date to come. He didn't see the point in any of it. Even if he got his GED, he wouldn't be able to get to CCV every day from thirty minutes away now that he didn't have his license. But on the other hand, he didn't want to spend the rest of his life staying up late and sleeping until noon or later like he had been. He didn't want to be a waste of space using up his family's money and patience. He was terrified of these things and yet all he could do was lock himself in his room, shutting out everyone and everything so he could drown in his own sea of sorrow. Another week of quarantined darkness would go by until Sam was forced to come out of his whole, at least for a few hours. He had a court hearing that could make or break this entire phase of his young life.