Life is a Soap Opera
By: Ryan Hudson

This story is about five teens and how their choices and lives in Jr. High
affected their decisions through Senior High School.
Matt- Drug Addict
Tai- Sports Fanatic
Joe- Over-Achiever
Mimi- Boyfriend Addict
Sora- Abused Child

My name is Matt Ishida, and I'm a fifteen-year-old 8th grader at Odaiba Intermediate High. As I walk slowly home after school, I cut through a bad section in town. When I round a corner, I bump into five seniors smoking cigarettes. "Hey twip, wanna stick?" one of the guys laughs, blowing smoke in my face. Oh man, I think. "Yah better take it or we'll kill you!" one of them ,a bald punk, barks in my face. I choke under pressure and snatch it out of his hand. One guy throws me a lighter and I light the stuff. The first inhalation is mortifying. I spit up the poisonous fumes and the guys laugh. I then take another smoke and it isn't so bad. I actually like it, allot! "Ha. Kid you okay. Just don't get on our bad side or we'll have to be done with you." the bald-headed one grins. "Hey, by the way, my name is
Casey." "My name is Matt," I reply coolly. Casey hands me a pack of Marlboro's and a lighter. From here on I know I'm done for. As I walk pass
them, I pray that the smell of cigarettes will fade before I get home.

Hi, I'm Mimi Tachikawa. Over the past year, my body has begun to change, catching every guy's eye at my school. With my great body, I figure that I could get any guy at Odaiba. I was, as always, right. Matt Ishida was my
first boyfriend. My parents were not too thrilled with him, but gave me some slack. We've been going "steady" for six months. I really like him; he's funny and is friends with my best friend's boy friend. As I walk out of class, my best friend in the world, Sora, runs up to me. "I can't give you a ride home because I have soccer. Sorry." "It's okay Sora. I'll walk home." We part ways. I start home, catching every boy's eye I could. I'm at the end of my street when I notice Matt, walking towards me, his head down. "Matty!" I exclaim, as he walks over in my direction. "Oh hey Meem's," he smiles sadly. The faint smell of smoke is clinging to him. "Wanna come to my house?" I ask softly. He looks up and smiles his sexy smile. "Yeah I guess." We both walk home, seizing the eyes of other kids from our school. As we open the door to my house, a tingle goes up and down my spine. "My parents aren't home so....." I smile. We walk in and I close and lock the door. We go up to my second floor room. I dump my books on the floor. "So
what subject do you want to work on?" I ask, putting an emphasis on
"subject". I think that he gets my message, as he kicks off his shoes. "Biology," he says. I lie on my bed, as he touches me. That shiver comes
back as he takes my shirt off.

My name is Sora Takenouchi, though it should now be phony. I lied to my best friend just because I didn't want to go home. "Hey Tai, can I go to your house?" I ask my boyfriend. "Yeah sure." he says sweetly. As we wait
for his "soccer" mom, Tai asks me, "Why can't I ever come over to your
house, Sora?" "Oh you know, my parents aren't home till' late and don't like kids there without adult supervision." I smile weakly. Another lie to
another person. I sigh and get up to get a drink from the nearby water
fountain. As I walk back, Tai's mom is parked by the curb in her Toyota Sienna. I step up the driver's window. "Thank-you Mrs. Kamiya," I smile. " Oh you're welcome dear." I hop in the back and close the door and we drive
to Tai's house. I'm so glad I don't have to go home.

My name is Joe Kido and I'm an honors student at Odaiba High, even though I'm only twelve. It's amazing how far I've gotten. I have a ton of homework every night. I guess you'd call me an overachiever. As I walk home, me and
my friend Izzy, an eighth grader at Odaiba Jr. High, talk about nuclear particles. My schedule falls out of the calculus book I am carrying. Izzy
grabs it for me and gives it a look over. "You have nine classes!" he
exclaims, knowing that the regular seven is already a lot. We walk home
slowly, and go to our house, right across from each other.

After leaving Mimi's, I walk home hoping to escape the wrath of my folks.