Kelly's first love broke her heart. He seemed a nice enough guy at first - cute and smart, a year older. She adored him. Kevin was her first real boyfriend... and as the months went on, they seemed like they would be a long-term couple. They lost their virginity to each other, despite efforts by both sets of parents to make that as difficult as possible.
About a month before their one-year anniversary, he unexpectedly broke up with her over the phone. He wanted to do it in person, but she made him tell her. She happened to be grounded for poor grades, and his excuse was that he wanted to be with someone with whom he could spend more time.
Kelly was devastated. How could he do this to her? That night he went to a party hosted by someone at a rival high school. Word came trickling back that he was "all over" a girl at the party. That, of course, only added insult to injury.
Nearly a year has passed. He has since been dating Hannah, a girl that Kelly knows and likes. By the time Kevin and Hannah started dating, Kelly had mentally decided to move on, dating here and there, although nothing serious. I don't think she was ready to open up her heart to anyone else.
The other day Kelly said, eyes wide, "Kevin and Hannah broke up! You'll never guess why!"
"They broke up? Why?"
"Remember that girl that Kevin was all over at that party he went to after he broke up with me?Turns out that the girl from the other high school had an STD. Herpes. Hannah had asked Kevin if he had tests to prove he was 'clean' before they had sex and he lied and told her he was fine. Now Hannah has herpes!" And the entire school already knew.
I could see it in her eyes - sweet karma for Kevin, an unfortunate situation for Hannah.
"Well, I gotta do homework. But I was debating if I should send Kevin a text? It's his birthday."
I asked, "What would you text him?"
She grinned. "'Herpe' birthday."
We looked at each other and shook our heads at the same time. "Nah, I didn't think so either," she said.
Friday
A Rough Year for Kelly... Part I
This past summer, my daughter Kelly got her first "real" job at a pizza shop. She had earned money before, washing cars and sweeping driveways and babysitting... but this was the first job where she actually was on a time clock and got paychecks with taxes taken out.
She was thrilled one night to be chosen to man the cash register at the front of the store. It was much more exciting than bussing tables and wiping down the salad bar. It was her first time doing the register on her own. She called me about 15 minutes before her shift ended to tell me that she was doing well and that she would be ready to be picked up at 9 p.m.
There were flashing lights bouncing off the glass and concrete as I pulled into the parking lot. Police cars surrounded the pizza shop. Through the glass I could see Kelly talking to two cops, who were listening intently to what she was saying. Oh geez, I thought. Is she in trouble? Did she try to take money out of the register?
A few minutes later, she walked out and got in the car. "What's going on in there?" I asked.
"Oh, about 10 minutes ago some guy came into the store, pointed a gun at me and told me to give him all the money," she said calmly.
Her demeanor was so ... unruffled. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to be held up at gunpoint. I quickly realized she was in shock and had not fully absorbed what had just happened.
"Weren't there customers in the store? And other employees?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but it all happened so quick that it took people a few minutes to figure out what was going on." The robber had told her to get the manager, who cleared out the safe and put it all in the getaway bag - a Nike backpack.
When a crisis happens, some people instinctively become very calm and are able to keep their heads in order to get through the incident. I never thought Kelly, who can be a typical high-maintenance teenager, would be this way. But she stayed quiet, following orders, doing what she needed to do to keep herself and her fellow employees safe, all the while taking close notice of everything about the man, from his clothes to his physical description (tuft of blonde hair peeking out from underneath the ski mask) to his exit strategy.
I don't think they ever caught the robber. It was a ballsy and well-coordinated theft. Kelly worked at the pizza place just a few more weeks before giving notice.
She was thrilled one night to be chosen to man the cash register at the front of the store. It was much more exciting than bussing tables and wiping down the salad bar. It was her first time doing the register on her own. She called me about 15 minutes before her shift ended to tell me that she was doing well and that she would be ready to be picked up at 9 p.m.
There were flashing lights bouncing off the glass and concrete as I pulled into the parking lot. Police cars surrounded the pizza shop. Through the glass I could see Kelly talking to two cops, who were listening intently to what she was saying. Oh geez, I thought. Is she in trouble? Did she try to take money out of the register?
A few minutes later, she walked out and got in the car. "What's going on in there?" I asked.
"Oh, about 10 minutes ago some guy came into the store, pointed a gun at me and told me to give him all the money," she said calmly.
Her demeanor was so ... unruffled. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to be held up at gunpoint. I quickly realized she was in shock and had not fully absorbed what had just happened.
"Weren't there customers in the store? And other employees?"
She nodded. "Yeah, but it all happened so quick that it took people a few minutes to figure out what was going on." The robber had told her to get the manager, who cleared out the safe and put it all in the getaway bag - a Nike backpack.
When a crisis happens, some people instinctively become very calm and are able to keep their heads in order to get through the incident. I never thought Kelly, who can be a typical high-maintenance teenager, would be this way. But she stayed quiet, following orders, doing what she needed to do to keep herself and her fellow employees safe, all the while taking close notice of everything about the man, from his clothes to his physical description (tuft of blonde hair peeking out from underneath the ski mask) to his exit strategy.
I don't think they ever caught the robber. It was a ballsy and well-coordinated theft. Kelly worked at the pizza place just a few more weeks before giving notice.
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