「故事·听力」I Became A Father At 16. I Was So Naive!
I Became A Father At 16. I Was So Naive!
Hi fellas! My name is Louis, and I have something to tell you. Ok. My girlfriend got pregnant. There is nothing unusual about that, right? But the thing is that I'm 16 years old. So… Hurray?
I don't remember when I met Jasmine, because I was just a baby! Her parents were our neighbors, so, as my mother used to say - Jasmine and I have known each other since we were in diapers. We grew up side-by-side. When we were kids we literally did everything together. So until 16, we were the best of friends. But then I ruined it. Not on purpose! I was just growing up and becoming a man, you know… Yeah, so I told Jasmine that I wanted to be more than just friends with her. And of course, she said those standard words - that she didn't want to ruin our friendship and all that kind of stuff that girls usually say. So I got trapped in the friend zone. Or more precisely, we created this friend zone 16 years ago.
It`s Ok, I could've handled that. I would have suffered a little and my feelings would have gone away, but then I found out that she had started dating a guy from school. Mike. Freaking Mike, from drama class. He looks more like a peacock than a man. And she would rather date him, than me? C’mon, everyone knows that Mike has dated half the girls at school! How did Jasmine even agree to go on a date with him? I was so mad. I tried to tell her that he was just gonna use her, but she wouldn`t listen. And after a few months passed, it happened.
I saw her near the school crying. You don't have to be a detective to figure out what happened. So I went up to her and hugged her without saying a word. I took her home and she told me everything. As I expected, Mike had broken up with her. To be honest, I had to bite my lip to not say "I told you so." And thank god I didn`t say that. She seemed so grateful for my compassion that when we said goodbye, she looked directly in my eyes… and kissed me. Oh, boy… I had dreamt about this moment, and now it was happening! That's how we started dating. Oh, these were the happiest moments of my life. We spent our days and nights together, and I didn't want to leave her even for a second!
For three weeks I just glowed with happiness, until one morning someone knocked on my door. Jasmine and her parents were standing in the doorway. They came into the house, and shocked us with some news: "Jasmine was pregnant!" Wow, I just froze. I sat in a daze, and I couldn't even hear everything that our parents were saying at that moment. All I could do was to look Jasmine in the eyes and see her empathy. She could barely hold back her tears. But at some point she stood up and interrupted everyone: she said "I'm going to keep the baby." Our parents were silent for a second. Then I got up and said: "I'm old enough to take responsibility, and I promise to do everything I can to take care of Jasmine and the baby." Of course, these words meant nothing to them. In their eyes, I was just a 16-year-old boy who did something bad. After that, we had a lot of conversations and discussions, but the decision was final - I would become a father.
I understood that most of all we needed money, so I started looking for work. Unfortunately, people at my age can only earn money by delivering pizza or working at a fast food restaurant. But I needed a job. So I worked as a courier until the evenings, and then worked the fryer at McDonald's. Yes, it was very hard, but in my head there was always one thought that pushed me forward - soon I`ll have a child. And it gave me the strength to work 24/7.
Jasmine was also having a hard time. She was pregnant at 16, so everyone around her was judging her. Even her parents. They never fully accepted that we were having a baby, and mostly just blamed her for the mistake. On the other hand, my parents supported us and even told me that Jasmine and I could live with them and turn one of the rooms into a nursery. This support was more than necessary, and I was very grateful to my mom and dad.
Things were improving. I had gotten accustomed to hard work, and I started to make some time to spend with Jasmine. But she was so upset all the time. Something was worrying her more than her parents and she didn't want to talk about it. I figured out a way I could cheer her up. I was able to dedicate a few hours a week to set up the nursery. I painted the walls, put down soft carpet, put together a crib, and bought a lot of toys. I even painted different animals on the walls. Yeah, I know they're drawn badly, OK? But I put my heart into it. So the room looked pretty good.
文本并非一一对应，且不完整，仅供参考阅读