Jennifer Owens, that's a name I'll remember for the rest of eternity. She always hated me, for reasons I don't know, and she always went out of her way to make my life miserable. I didn't know her until sixth grade, and as I remember, she didn't like me then. We really didn't have contact until seventh grade, when we both ran for SGA president. She went to such extremes to make sure I didn't win. The worst she did was plaster posters around school that said "Sadie Phillips is a whore," with my head on some trashy models body. The final insult was I was suspended on the grounds that I put the posters up to black mail Jen so I could run unopposed. But the real reason I was suspended was Jen's Godfather was the assistant principal, dictatorship, isn't it a lovely thing? When I returned to school, things calmed down, and Jen basically left me alone accept for an occasional evil look.

High school came soon enough and Jen's new found popularity gave her a sense of supiriority. I actually think her head became bigger. Jen looked down on anyone who didn't dress or act like her, but if you did dress or act like her, she called you a poser (like she was a high priestist of fashion). Don't get me wrong, most popular people are nice, and that's usually why they're popular, but Jen's popularity came from sleeping around and drug and alcohol abuse. Every monday morning, one could hear stories of how Jen got drunk and passed out at a friends house, or how she yet again celebrated the pregnancy test not turning blue. I just couldn't understand why people liked her.

During junior year, I ran for SGA Vice President.... and so did Jen. I beat her by a landslide, but I never expected her to be such a sore loser. The day after the officers were announced, I found my white car with the word "SLUT" painted in big red letters on both sides. I just got in my car and cried while Jen and her friends laughed across the parking lot. I wished she would die, and I soon found out that I would regret those five words for the rest of my life.

The end of the school year came quickly, sending everyone on summer highs, but the high Jen tried to get took more than her bordom. One day during last period, I went to the bathroom to wash my hands after an SGA meeting. When I turned around to leave, I saw someone sitting in a closed stall. The first thing that crossed my mind was, "Some is sick," so I asked, "Do you want me to get the nurse?" There was no answer. "Maybe she passed out," was the next thing to cross my mind. I nudged the door, it was unlocked. I flung it open and there, on the floor, lay an unconsious girl, Jen. Her eyes were closed and a trickle of blood ran from her nose. To her side was a small bag of white powder. I paniced, I was too scared to scream, to scared to cry, so I ran to the nurses office.

Everything became a blur to me, the next thing I remember was a black body bag being put in a coroner's car. The police asked me questions, but I couldn't believe she was gone. I just asked myself why? Why did she leave? I thought, "If only I had gotten there earlier, if only I hadn't run for Vice President, she would have been at the meeting... and if I'd only made ammends, I could make peace with myself, and my anger."

© 1998

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