Bad Boys

It was a beautiful summer day in Amarillo, Texas; not one to be lazy, inside all day, nope- Austin was fifteen, restless, and bored. Venturing farther from home, he roamed the neighborhood, looking and searching for anything or anyone who would give him the feeling of worth and he was on a mission to accomplish his journey, since age eight.

I knew that more likely than not, he would, at some point, come across the 'bad boys', the delinquents, who thrived on drama and created chaos. They were, sort of, bullies who didn’t show any shyness to attention, even when it was negative, it was still attention. At first, they teased him and called him a loser. Everything would soon change! Austin started filming and recording ‘hangouts’ and posting videos online, hoping to go viral, while, giving the ‘bad boys,’ attention, they desperately craved and sought after.

The boys met at the same hour, minute, and spot every day, just like clockwork, a routine, that was the topic of neighborhood gossip, at the barber- stories of the crazy trends, viral challenges, and celebrity status.

“Dude, you should post this!” Herman exclaimed after a reckless stunt. Austin hesitated, thinking to himself, I’m not sure if it would be a good idea, someone will get hurt if they do this, then, thinking about fitting in, he uploaded the video. The next day everyone was talking about it, it had become a sensation, overnight.

Suddenly, Austin was the guy that everyone knew! He had followers for the first time in his life and friends also. Austin wasn’t aware that having friends and being popular came with its own consequences or how much pressure he would feel just to have friends. He also didn’t know things he would be asked to do to keep them new friends. The bad boys kept pushing him to do more and more crazy stunts, some even started being risky and dangerous to.

“Just do it for the views, dude!” Herman and the other would tell him, every time Austin hesitated to do a stunt, their eyes fixed on Austin excitedly yet fearless and intoxicating.

The fear of being called a loser and a coward was stronger than the embarrassment of the stunts going wrong. It wasn’t too long after the video posting that made Austin so popular and a viral celebrity that, once again, everything would soon change!

“Jump from the roof into the pool”, Herman and the other bad boys yelled, daring him to make another video that would go viral, teasing him, Austin stared at the pool, his heart racing, he climbed up to the roof top of the house, looked down at the pool again, took a deep breath, and leaped off into the pool.

It felt like it was in slow motion, and like he was light as a feather, but then he splashed into the water and everything went dark. He felt an indescribable pain go through his entire body. He is gasping for air while barely coming afloat. The crowd that had gathered around because of the live video was whistling, loud, and the bad boys cheered, but Austin wasn’t cheering! He realized he almost just died, like really died, he was hurt and for what reason, to be famous for a moment in a stupid and risky stunt?

Everyone scattered when they heard sirens, but nobody tried to make sure Austin was okay. He struggled to get out of the pool, making his way home, he goes in and lays across his bed thinking about the stupid things he was doing, just so people would think he was cool.

It had been almost a week since Austin got lucky in pulling off the stunt and still hadn’t seen the bad boys either. He has stayed in the house, in his room, laying in his bed, wondering why he was willing to die for a few friends, the ones who dared him to do it, but hasn’t even checked up on him to see if he was okay.

It was Thursday, and Austin had been at home for five days now, in his room, thinking about the stunt and how his so-called friends never even asked if he was okay, they all just scattered right after. The video, of course, had become more popular than other videos that had gone viral, it blew up, but it came with repercussions nobody ever thought about.

Austin was home alone again. Mom was working, and he nor anyone ever knew where Dad was, when he heard a loud and startling knock at the door, it was the Amarillo Police, looking for Austin and his parents. Afraid, Austin told them his mom was, as always, at work again and he didn’t know where his dad or his brother Austin was, maybe they could tell him what this was about. They agreed to tell him why they were there and said it was very urgent that he give the message to his mother right away, he nodded. Not realizing that they were already speaking to Austin, proceeds to tell him the reason for their visit to his residence.

Austin was now facing serious charges because of the video. He was in big trouble and was under investigation by the Amarillo Police, his heart sank, as he and his mother left the police station. The consequence he is now facing, alone, the bad boys not anywhere around, because he had made a video that caused danger to others and himself.

Several months had passed since the life-changing stunt had occurred, but Austin was still in a bad storm, and he couldn’t get out, all of his friends had ghosted him, they acted as if they didn’t even know him, leaving him depressed and feeling like a fool. Everything seemed cloudy and Austin had met with attorneys and appeared at many court dates, keeping him too busy to think about performing any more stunts.

He was able to get community service and ordered to do all his community service at his local youth center. There, he met other kids like himself, lost souls just trying to fit in. He decided to tell them his story, realizing as he spoke that he had found his purpose and made a couple new friends, real friends.

Austin was lucky, he almost died that day, but now after several months of community service at the youth center, he learned that for a few minutes of fame and having fake friends was not something he was willing to risk his life for ever again.

Austin emerged from the guy trying to fit in creating chaos and trouble into a person, a young man, that took responsibility and life seriously. As he stood in front of a group of kids, he shared his story, expecting to prevent or help them from making the biggest mistake of their lives, as he had before. They listened to him, eyes fixed upon him, analyzing every word he spoke. He felt compassion and understanding and had a sense of belonging and self-worth. He had found something better than popularity and fame, he had, finally found himself, and he didn’t think it was a bad thing to find in being yourself, learning how to stand out instead of fitting in!