Saying No

This is a short story that I wrote for health class about saying no to alcohol, drugs, and cigarettes. We had an assignment to explain what we would do if someone offered us one of these things, and I chose to write a short story. This, I think anyways, still needs some editing, but if you guys could give me as many suggestions as possible, that would be great. It could only be one page, so that is why it is so short. Enjoy!

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“That was so much fun!” I said as I exited the dance. The dance ended, and I was walking out with my friend Paige. People were all over the place, and it was hard to see past everyone.

“I agree!” Paige said as she pulled her messy ponytail out and put it back in. I couldn’t see my parents anywhere.

“Oh, there is my mom. See you on Monday!” Paige ran off to her mother, who was across the street.

I was getting nervous that my parents had forgotten to pick me up, so I walked around to the back of the building to call my parents. To my surprise, I saw my best friend, Hope. She wasn’t alone; she was with another girl and two other guys.

“Oh. H-h-h-hello S-s-s-Sophia!” Hope said, her voice slurring when she talked. I saw a case of beer sitting at the base of the building, and I could tell that Hope had been drinking. One of the guys had pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket, and was now lighting it.

“Um…hi, Hope. Um, are these your friends?” I asked her. I was hoping that she would be smarter than to be hanging out with these people.

“Y-y-yes. This is S-s-s-Skylar,” Hope said, sloppily pointing to the girl with long blonde hair, who had a beer bottle in her hand. “This is C-c-Clayton,” she said, pointing to a tall guy with jet black hair who was the one that lit the cigarette. “And this is F-f-f-Fernando,” said, pointing to the last boy with bright red hair, who was sitting at the base of a tree with empty beer bottles surrounding him.

I was nervous around these kinds of people, so I said nothing. I think Hope got the idea.

“D-d-do you want some b-b-beer? We also have c-c-cigarettes and d-d-d-drugs.” Hope asked, pulling out a bottle of beer out of the case. “Clayton, get S-s-s-Sophia a cigarette!”

“Hope, I don’t want any. I’m not interested,” I was getting nervous that she was going to force me into drinking or smoking.

“It’s c-c-cool! I w-w-won’t be your f-f-friend if you don’t d-d-drink or s-s-s-smoke.” Hope said as she just about to fall off her own feet, when nothing had pushed her.

“It’s not cool!” I snapped at her, “People die from this stuff! 100,000 people die from alcohol abuse every year! 3 million people die each year from illegal drugs, and tobacco use will kill 1 billion people in the 21st century if current smoking trends continue! If you keep doing this, you could get addicted and never be able to stop drinking or smoking! Do you still think it’s cool?”

I stood there for a couple more seconds, to see if they would say anything. Of course, all four of them were quiet. I walked away, called my parents and went home. I was never going to turn into the person that Hope had turned into.