NO ! By: Shreyasi Panthee ( Grade 9 )

He’s after me and making me regret my life’s decisions.

Oh, hey! I’m Charlotte, and right now the school’s famous jock Jake is trying to make me do the basketball team’s laundry for the rest of the school year! Can you believe that?

So, overconfident, Jake put on a bet with his teammates that he could air-ball 15 baskets in a row, and if he couldn't then he would do the team’s laundry for the rest of the school year and if he could then the est of the team would have to be his servants for the rest of the year.

But here’s the plot twist, when Jake went to the court that day to confidently win his bet and shove his victory into his teammates’ snobby faces - he threw his 12th ball and missed! He missed and the team started to cheer that he had lost and would have to do their stinky laundry for the whole school year. And that’s where I come in.

Everyone in school knows I can’t say no to anyone, not even myself! Whenever I think about saying no to someone I feel like I will break their heart and they will hate me for the rest of their lives. So, I have never said the word no in my life.

Now, back to the situation, I didn’t want to do the basketball team’s laundry for the rest of the year! And I would have said no to him but he would have probably given me those puppy dog eyes and convinced me anyway. So, I agreed to do his task and Jake was overjoyed as he spun around and hugged me so tight I could barely breathe.

However, when I got home I started to get a little woozy feeling in my stomach. I didn’t know what it was but thinking about what I had eaten for lunch that day - tuna, french fries, and a chocolate milkshake - I realised it probably wasn’t the best combination (but I was super hungry). Anyway, the next thing I knew, I was in bed, feeling like I was going to throw up all night.

But, as you know, I had some dirty laundry to do the next day and if I wasn’t there then Jake would kill me! But, how could I do his laundry when I couldn't even get out of bed?!

Well, the next day, my mum wouldn’t even let me get out of bed - let alone go to school. And so, after school ended for the day, I got a phone call. It was Jake trying to find me: “Where are you? I can’t find you! Get here fast! The guys are about to attack me”.

I told him I was sick and that I couldn’t make it to school today. And that’s when he started to threaten me, saying that he would spread rumours about me and make everyone in the whole school hate me. Well, this made my blood boil and for the first time, I finally screamed to him “NO!” for the first time in my whole life.

“I won’t do your team’s laundry, do it yourself and say whatever you want to say about me because I’m not scared of you”. I was so surprised by what I had said, and I think Jake was too because he hung up the phone.

I was so happy and finally realized that it’s okay to say no sometimes - even if it lets people down.