Not Just a Semi
By Katelyn, age 17, Canada
That is, until my boyfriend invited me to his semi. At first, I thought, sure, no problem, it will be lots of fun, seeing as my school doesn't have semis or dances. I got my dress, and I felt great and ready to go until I realized that I would be running into this girl. I was so nervous because I am the type of person who has a hard time keeping my mouth shut. I was thinking that maybe I should just skip this event so I wouldn't get myself in trouble. But my boyfriend would not let that happen. So I got ready, and away I went to the semi. It was a lot of fun at the actual dinner and dance, and although I did see the girl I just kept away. I must admit that I did give a few dirty looks in her direction. But that was the end of it, or so I thought.
Of course, when it comes to a semi there are always the after parties. This I was really not looking forward to because, once everyone has started to enjoy themselves, would she try to talk to me or something? I decided that the best thing was to stay away, so I stayed in the basement while she and her friends were upstairs. It was great. I was having a great time talking to people I hadn't seen in forever.
Sarah* (the girl who slept with my brother) came downstairs and went into the washroom with three other girls, two of whom I had never seen in my entire life. It was fine. I was minding my own business talking to my friend Heather when Sarah went back upstairs, but her friends stayed behind.
Sarah's friend Dana came up and stood in front of me with the two other girls. (To this day I have no idea who they are.) Heather went to the same school and knew Dana and how she reacted, and told her to just leave it alone. But, of course, that wouldn't happen. Dana began yelling at me and telling me that I had no right to be giving her friend a dirty look, and that I needed to leave.
At first, I just blew it off, trying to get back to my conversation with my friend. But Dana kept going, and the other two girls began yelling as well. I knew that I had to start standing up for myself. We began to get into a verbal fight and we both said things that shouldn't have been said. I decided that it was best that I just left, so I went up to my ride and told them that I really needed to leave. They saw Dana behind me yelling and realized that it was best we left.
As we were walking towards the door Dana kept yelling, "I think it's time you leave," and it got to the point where I turned around and yelled back, "Where do you think I'm headed?" I put on my shoes and left.
I am not the type of person who ever gets in fights with anyone, so to have to deal with this was really hard for me. It was just something I never thought would happen to me. I was so upset, and the worst part was that the fight I was getting into wasn't even with Sarah; it was with her friend Dana. Dana was the type who loved getting in fights and was just looking for a fight, and I was the lucky one who got to be on the other end.
I guess it's a good thing I didn't go to their school so I wouldn't be faced with seeing them ever again ... until prom came along. My boyfriend asked me to go with him, and I could never say no to him. So this time I was very much on edge because I remembered what had happened at the semi. Only this time the after party was at my boyfriend's best friend's house so I had asked him if it was okay if I invited a couple of my friends for backup. He said it was fine, and I was happy and ready to go.
Prom was fine and I wasn't really that worried till we were on our way to the after party. I was just thankful that my friends would be there to back me up. I stayed away from those girls and made sure I didn't give anyone any dirty looks, and things were going great. Then Dana and another girl Tarrah came up to me and my friends and told them it was a private party and that anyone who wasn't a date of someone from the school had to leave. I looked at the girls and told them that they were invited by the guy whose house this was at and that they were allowed to stay. They tried to get them to leave, but in the end we stood up for ourselves and they left us alone. Wow, it felt right. I was so nervous about these girls, and then I finally stood up for myself and everything went great.
I was still a little worried about having to see them again so I still tried to stay away from them whenever anyone was having a party. Then I went to someone's birthday party ... and Sarah was there. I was waiting in line for the bathroom when two people cut in front of me. I didn't realize, but Sarah was behind me, and she told them to get to the back of the line. I couldn't believe my ears - she'd just stood up for me!
So we started talking and we both apologized, and it was like everything was fine again. I couldn't believe what had happened!
* Names have been changed.
