![](images/FLleft_1_P2XOLYouth2008AM.jpg)
Risa Rogers, Gleaner Writer
Text messaging
1 "One night I wrote a personal text to my boyfriend, but I entered the wrong number and ended up sending it to some weird dude who kept calling me for a month straight, wanting to 'know more about me and what I had to offer'. I would answer in different accents but he would just say 'I know it's you.' It was creepy having a stalker who would call just to breathe into the phone." Nastasia, 19.
2 "I wrote a text to one of my friends about something to do with a friend's abortion, but I sent it to my boyfriend's cousin instead, by mistake. He (the cousin) then called my boyfriend and told him I might be pregnant for someone else and planning an abortion to get rid of it. The drama that followed was unbearable and almost wrecked our relationship." Samantha, 19.
3 "I was spending some time with my family in the country, leaving my girlfriend back in Kingston, for close to a month. So when my best friend called me to tell me that he saw her out with another guy I immediately sent her a text insulting her and asking her if it was that hard for her to go one month without a man. Right after I sent it I wished I could take it back and talk to her face to face instead. Turns out this 'friend' needs to get glasses or something, because his mistaking some other girl for mine resulted in me being dropped for a lack of trust, as she put it, and ruining a beautiful thing." Calvin, 17.
At school1 "It would be in grade eight when my girl and I had an argument and I was so upset that I said some mean things to her. I used a lot of profane language and told her she was slutty. It was bad because I broke up with her in front of everyone, telling her that I never really wanted to be with her in the first place. Now, whenever I think about it, I'm really embarrassed because I insulted her and made myself look stupid." Marc, 18.
2"There was this guy at school who would get on my nerves. Everything that came out of his mouth was stupid and he always found some reason to insult me. The teasing was annoying and became unbearable. I'm much bigger than him so one of the times when he started talking crap about me I just reached out and hit him right in the face to get him to shut up. Next thing I know he runs off and comes back with around seven or 17 other guys who proceed to beat me up in the school quadrangle. My biggest regret is getting jumped at school." Eli, 16.
3"I had to use the bathroom at school really badly one day, my tummy was really upset and no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, it just got unbearably uncomfortable. To avoid embarrassment I picked an empty bathroom on an empty block so that no one would be around to hear or smell anything incriminating. After settling down in the stall I had chosen, to my horror the bathroom gets invaded by girls changing for P E class. I had to sit there for about 20-30 minutes until they all cleared out. When it got quiet I thought it would be OK to leave, but when I came out, two girls were standing there waiting to see who was in the stall. One of them even screwed up her face and asked her friend 'Yu smell something?' They made it their duty to tell as many people in our grade as possible." Lia, 15.
First date1 "The girl I really liked agreed to go to a friend's party with me, so I was really excited to show up there with her as my date. Everything was going great since we danced and talked a lot through the night. When I went to get her something to drink, I returned to see her hugging and laughing really hard with some other guy I'd never seen before. I got really upset, and went over to him, shoving him in the chest and telling him to back off, starting a fight. I lost my chances with the girl, not only because of my jealousy, but because the guy was her brother." Matthew, 18.
2 "My ex-girlfriend and I are really good friends, so when she showed up at the restaurant where I was on a date with a girl I had just met, I invited her to join us. My ex kept refusing but I insisted, so she sat down. The girl I was with kept giving me weird looks and my ex looked uncomfortable, but I didn't think anything of it because I thought the girl would admire the fact that I remained good friends with my ex, and that my ex would love meeting my new girl. I was wrong though, because the girl excused herself to go use the bathroom and never came back. My ex still laughs at me and can't believe I did that on a date." Shawn, 19.
3 "My friend and I planned a double date with her boyfriend and his best friend who I had a serious crush on. We thought Hope Gardens would be a great place, so we all met there. I really wanted to impress my 'crush', so I decided to show him some of my team's cheerleading moves. I was warming up and telling him the importance of the stretches and stuff. One of the stretches I did was bending over to touch my toes when one of the biggest gases I've ever heard escaped. For a while I wasn't sure what happened until I saw my crush trying really hard not to laugh and looking the other way, and my friend and her boyfriend laughing really hard." Shara, 17.
Phone conversation
1 "I thought my girlfriend's sister was really hot and if I had the choice I would be with her instead of her sister anytime. We talked a lot and whenever I went to look for my girlfriend we did some serious flirting whenever she was out of the room. I was at home one evening and my phone rang and I saw that it was the sister. We started talking and I was really into the conversation because she was telling me how much she liked me and how she wished I would leave her sister so she could have me. I got really excited and told her how much better she was and how I would leave her sister for her any time. Next thing I know I heard two voices screaming down my ear about how 'sick' I was, and they were crying. My girlfriend's sister had called me with her sister on the line so she could see the kind of guy she was dating." Philip, 19.
2 "The phone conversation I regret the most was the one where I called my girlfriend to break up with her. At the time I felt it was the best thing to do because I hated feeling like I was strapped down in a relationship. After I ended the relationship I realised that being single was not as great as I thought it would be, and no other girl I talked to seemed to measure up to the girl I recently broke up with. Even now I wish I hadn't made that call because I can't think of a way to get her back." Leighton, 17.
3 "I used to talk on the phone a lot with a girl I really liked, but I'd never told her how I felt. Then one day she asked me how I felt about her and so I decided to express myself in the most original way I could think of. I sang to her. I put my all into it singing 'When a man loves a woman'. When I was done the silence on the other end was deafening. Before she hung up I only heard a giggle and that was the end of our conversations." Timothy, 17.
For the most interesting teen issues and styles, get your copy of Youthlink magazine on news-stands on Tuesday.