My Teenage Decline

Chapter 3

My alarm went off, it was so loud, I made a mental note to turn the alarm volume down for when I set an alarm. It was 9am, I know I didn't need to be up this early but I wanted to pop to the market and get a case for my phone. I thought it would be a good idea as I can be quite clumsy sometimes and I have been known to drop things a fair bit. Mind made up, I needed a case.

After I turned my alarm off I looked at the notification feed, I had a Facebook add, a Twitter mention and a snap chat from Lizzie. I had completely forgotten about the pictures she had sent me last night so I opened the snap chat first, hoping to see some more. I was in luck, there she was, Lizzie her hair tied up and biting her lip, she looked amazing. She had added a caption saying let's pick this up again another night with a wink. My heart was racing, Lizzie was sending me these hot photos, me, nerdy Jared. I felt that life was on the up and things were going to be amazing.

I got myself up, showered, dressed and ate breakfast, I picked up my bag and packed everything I needed for college that day as well as my headphones for the walk to market. I trudged out the door, saying bye to mum as I left. I headed down the road towards the town centre where the market is every Friday. It was about a twenty minute walk, so I had plenty of time to listen to some music on my way. I hated walking but I also hated the bus, I chose to walk today as I wanted time to listen to music, I found music to be a great escape from all of life's worries, plus I can ignore people. People really annoy me, how rude they are, they never apologise and they just get in the way all the time.

I made my way towards the market, crossing the roads and taking turns when I needed to. About halfway to the market, my phone started ringing, I thought who is owing to be phoning me at this time of day, everyone would be at college or at work. I got my phone out of my pocket, the screen flashing at me, it was Laura. I had a sudden surge of fear, Laura was meant to be going for an interview with Oxford University, she was really smart but never let on. I answered with a wobbly hello, I heard sobbing from the other end of the phone. I asked if everything was ok and above the cries I heard Laura saying she was scared, she couldn't go through with the interview and that she would make a mockery of herself.

Laura suffers from deep anxiety and events like this interview could and usually did bring on a panic and anxiety attack. I asked her where she was, she was in Oxford, that's a good start I told Laura, you are one step closer. I switched to FaceTime so I could see Laura and do what I could to bring her out the attack and into some form of normality, whatever that is. I talked to Laura about myself and the pictures Lizzie had sent, I knew if I took her mind off the interview her anxiety would ease enough that we could talk in a calmer manner about it all. After about five minutes of me babbling on, Laura came back to earth, she was coherent again. We chatted some more about me and also about her interview, I gave her my usual pep talk, I told her that no matter what others think about her, it's what she thinks that matters. How we see ourselves is more pivotal to our well being than what others see and think.

After about ten minutes I was at the market, Laura was prepped and ready for her interview, she was calm, she was making sense and I knew deep down she was proud of herself, come on, how many people even get a chance at a top university like Oxford. Laura rang off as her interviewers arrived to take her in, she said she would let me know how it all went later and that she wanted to meet tomorrow for more details about Lizzie and those pictures. I laughed and agreed to meet, after the call ended I found the stall with the phone cases, I always thought the owner was obnoxious but it was the cheapest and quickest place to get a case from. I found what I needed to pay and left as quickly as possible, the market was always busy and full of rude people barging last without saying sorry or just grunting at you.

I checked my watch, I had enough time to get to college for my classes. I was glad it was a short day today, I really wanted to get home and just listen to music, play games and look at some pictures on my phone. I had an Xbox, a laptop and a tablet but they were all old compared to my phone, I just wanted to use my phone. I walked on to college, it was about a 5 minute walk through the park and across the river, I loved that part of town, I would always stop and take a few pictures and this time would be no different. I had my new phone with its latest technology top of the range camera to use for photos now. I walked the next corner and entered the park, I made it to the bandstand and turned towards the river when I saw the most perfect thing.

I saw Lizzie, she was in her fitness gear, you see Lizzie is a personal trainer and yoga instructor. If you could have seen her that day, her tight yoga pants and skimpy vest top left not much to the imagination. She hadn't seen me yet so I got my phone out and took a few sneaky pics, they would come in handy later on tonight. I carried on walking and brushed past Lizzie saying hi as I went past her, I told her I would message her tonight, she smiled and said she was looking forward to it. I smiled back and carried on my way walking the bridge over the river. I made it to college with time to spare, I took my seat in the computer lab and spent the next few hours learning, well mainly day dreaming about Lizzie. This is when my sex addiction started.