Tears of Sad Happiness Chap. 1 {EDIT}

by Paige in my world of make-believe

Author's Note: I have chapters 1-10 typed and I am going through and editing it all so I can post it. Enjoy! You'll notice I changed names.

Tears Of Sad Happiness
What it would be like to have a life of innocent romance tangled up in a whole lot of tragedy.
By Clarice

CHAPTER ONE
The Confession In 7/11

It was dark, dark everywhere. Lauren was cold, freezing. As the scene around her became clearer, her heart pumped faster. She could see a small gathering of people, huddling over a figure lying on the ground. As Lauren got closer, she saw that the body was her own body. Lauren gasped as she saw the blood all over her body. Her head was all bloody and she had scratches everywhere on her body, pieces of her clothes ripped. Was she dead? All of the people around her were sobbing and calling out her name. That was all she could remember…

Lauren blinked and shook herself out of the memory of her horrible dream of the night before. She stared out of the abandoned 7/11 window, music from her MP3Player blasting in her ears. She was lounging around in her favorite hangout place with two of her best friends, Nicole and James, when she had started to daze off and the dream came back to her. She then remembered that and her crush/friend, Michael, had started talking to her by text.

The old 7/11 (also referred to the Club House, and many other things) was an awesome place for her and her five closest friends, and more, to just sit and chat. Lauren and her friends were only in their early teens, but in the year 2015, a lot of things had changed for the youths. They were given much more freedom, and not by parent’s choice, but by force.

About four years ago a large group of teens at ages ranging from fourteen to eighteen rebelled against the government and some of its laws. Millions of teens all around the USA had joined together and rebelled against new and old laws that were made for teens. Most of these laws were involving ages; such as, “no smoking until the age of 18” and “no riding bicycles without helmets until the age of 18” and also, “you must be 21 to buy alcohol.” There were other laws, too, some laws such as laws that parents have for their teens. Yes, teens even rebelled against their parents.
Teens also rebelled against schools and their laws. Such as “kids must be in school unless they have a note from a parent” and “kids are not allowed to leave school campus without a note from a parent.” As you can see, this would cause much trouble for the adults, but when you have millions of teens around the USA all rebelling, you will have much bigger problems. These rebellious acts were believed to have started and were planned over a world-wide website known as, “MySpace.” Though this site would normally be easily accessed by the government the teenagers on this site have their own codes and own way to keep the government from reading what they don’t want them to see.

This “war” is still going on today, though many laws have been changed. Both laws, “wear a helmet until the age of 18” and “no smoking until the age of 18” have been changed to “wear helmet until the age of 15” and “no smoking until the age of 16.” The alcohol is still considered an “issue” between the government and the youths, along with trying to lower the “cannot have sex if one person is 18 and the other is younger” and “must be 18 to get married.” One of the many other laws that were changed was the law stating that teenagers “under the age of 17 cannot drive without an adult.” This law was changed to “under the age of 16.”

School rules have been changed as well. Now, students are allowed to leave school whenever they please without a note, as long as they notify someone. Students are also allowed to miss three days of school without an excuse, and if you’re seen on the streets, a cop cannot stop you unless it’s a Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

So yes, a lot has changed. Teens still go to school, because the parents who still have authority over their kids usually force their kids to go to school, like Lauren’s parents. Lauren didn’t really care, though. Even with these new laws, she didn’t want to smoke, or drink, and she was still too young to drive (by one year next month). Lauren still loved school, and with all the problematic kids gone most of the time, it was even better for her.

Lauren had five best friends. Her closest was Madison, age 15. Madison couldn’t say she liked school, she only went to see her friends. Madison was like Lauren in other ways. She didn’t want to drink or smoke, but she did have a reputation for stirring up “trouble” with boys and she couldn’t wait to be able to drive.

Marie, Madison’s younger cousin, age 13, would follow Madison’s lead. Marie was also a trouble maker when it came to guys, but not interested in drugs or alcohol. She had seen too much trouble come from those two things.

Then there was Jacob, age 14, and Lauren’s closest guy friend. Jacob was a “be-happy” type of guy who couldn’t really relate when it came to sympathy, but he sure could try to make you feel good by always having uplifting or funny things to say. He also enjoyed school, but like Madison, only went for friends.

Nicole, age 13, had been Lauren’s friend since they were at the age of two years old. Yes, Nicole could be annoying sometimes, but that’s one of the things Lauren is talented at; putting up with all types of people, including the annoying ones. Nicole didn’t enjoy school or the students at all. She only goes about three days a week. What would she do on her spare time? Hang out with her boyfriend, Bill, at the movies. No, she wasn’t a “trouble maker” like Madison or Marie, but boy did she love her boyfriend.

And last, but not least, there’s James, who was 15 and more like a brother to Lauren than best friend, but not quite the brother figure Lauren always wanted. James loves Madison to death, he would do almost anything for her, except feel sympathetic when a guy breaks up with her. He goes to school for his friends, but usually only goes about three times a week since his friends are usually strolling around the malls or fishing at the nearby lakes.

Lauren and Madison were the ones who had actually claimed the old 7/11 as their own. Seeing as another group of ten people had claimed the 7/11 farther down the street, Lauren and Madison got a lot of their friends together one day and made sure every teen in the area knew that the second 7/11 was their hang out. Lauren, Madison, Marie, Jacob, Nicole and James had all engraved their names into the door in big, red lettering for all to see. A few other friends of theirs were allowed to enter, though they had to be approved first. Each of Lauren’s friends called the 7/11 a different name. For instance, James called it “our store” while Madison and Marie called it “the Party House.”

In this day and age, it is all about acceptance. If you don’t have a lot of friends in the city you live in, then you don’t get to go a lot of places without getting thrown out, or treated badly; such as, the nearest Dairy Queen. If you hadn’t made friends with the owners or the workers, of the people who hang out there the most, then you wouldn’t always get the best service. The same goes for other stores and restaurants.

In this day and age, it is all about respect. If you don’t show others, especially teens older then you, the respect they deserve, then you will lose many friends that you could’ve gained. It’s tough living for the youths, even with the laws that were changed, but the hard living teaches many teens lessons that they might not have learned any other way.

Back to Lauren and the old, run down 7/11…

As the next song, Broken by Seether, came blasting into Lauren’s ears, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Flipping it open, she read Michael’s message. ~So Lauren who do u lik?~

Lauren laughed and typed back, ~No way can I tell u!~

~Y not?~ His message came back instantly.

Lauren swallowed hard. Should she tell him the truth? Should she tell him how scared she was? ~I cant tell u becuz it may hurt our friendship.~ she texted back. Shutting her phone quickly, Lauren breathed in deeply.

“Because I’m broooken when I’m ooopen and I don’t feeeel right when-” The phone vibrated again, shattering the song’s meaning as Lauren quickly opened up her phone.

~Wait… do u lik 1 of my friends?~

Lauren swallowed hard again. ~No.~

The reply from Michael took a while. Lauren had begun to get worried. Suddenly there was a *buuzzz*, she flipped open the phone quickly.

~Does this mean… you lik me?!~

Lauren let out a small squeak. The old store echoed the noise.

“You alright, Lauren?” Nicole asked, looking up from the GL magazine she was reading.

“Uh, yeah, everything is… fine.” Lauren said, breaking out into a cold sweat. She looked away from Nicole and watched the cars pass by on the street.

Should she lie to Michael and grow a big nose like Pinocchio? Or, should she confess to him once and for all? Breathing deeply, Lauren replied. ~Yes, Michael, I lik u. OMG I cant believe I just told u that!~

Lauren turned up the volume on her MP3Player. This was so embarrassing! Lauren hadn’t wanted to tell Michael that she liked him until sophomore year! And Michael was already a Junior! What would her parents think? Worse yet, what would the people at school think?

There it was again, *buuzzz* Lauren flipped open the phone and read the new message. ~R u serious?~

Lauren’s jaw dropped. Michael didn’t believe her?! ~Yes im serious. C, this is y I wanted to tell u in soph yr, cuz I knew you mightve not believed me if I had told u sooner… so, wut do u think?~ Lauren was glad she could text so quickly.

~Well, personally, I think this is great!~

Lauren’s jaw dropped, again. ~Wait so u lik me?!~

~lol yeah I was debating wether to tell u or not cuz I thot u likd some1 else.~ Michael replied. Lauren could picture him laughing and blushing on the other side of the phone.

~O…M…G!! Im like flippin out ovr here!~ Lauren typed.

“Oh–my-gosh! Nicole, James! Michael knows that I like him and he likes me!” Lauren yelled, turning off her MP3Player. Her cry echoed loudly in the old store.

“How did this happen?” Nicole asked.

“We were just texting and he bugged me about who I like and he guessed that I liked him and I told him yes. Then he told me that he likes me, too! This is… oh my gosh I’m flipping out so bad!” Lauren cried, happily.

“Like we couldn’t tell.” James replied, sarcastically.

“Well, I’m not surprised.” Nicole replied. She had always thought that Michael liked Lauren.

Another text from Michael came. ~Im txting West rite now, I had to hav 1 of my friends tokin with me. U think youre flippin out? Ha, ya rite!~

~James and Nicole both know.~ Lauren texted back, her stomach felt queasy. She couldn’t wait to get home and talk to Michael from there. She thought about calling him right now, but since they were texting and since he was also texting West, she thought that she should just wait until email at home. Michael and Lauren both loved email and texting much more then actually talking on the phone.

~Wut do they think?~ Michael asked.

~Well, James doesn’t really care and Nicole is… happy, I guess. She said that she wasn’t surprised that you like me.~ Lauren explained.

~Interesting. Im not sure when I will tell Daniel or Cliff.~ Michael replied.

Lauren glanced at her cell phone’s clock and noticed what time it was. She was past her curfew, which was 6:30pm. It was now 6:40pm. “Crap! It’s past my curfew. I’ll see you two later, ok?” Lauren grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

“Why do you even have a curfew?” James asked. “I mean, seriously, why even follow it?” James asked.

“James’s is right, you should totally ditch your curfew. I ditched mine in sixth grade.” Nicole spoke up.

Lauren just ignored her friends and said goodbye, letting the door slam behind her. Unlike most of her friends, she still held respect for her parents.

~Hey, Im heding bak 2 my house from my hang out. I will tlk to u l8r on email, kk?~ Lauren texted Michael.

~K, my stomach feels weird.~ He replied back.

Lauren smiled. ~So does mine… but in the good way.~