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Mike had no idea why on earth he was here. Honestly, he didn't. He had never even heard of Denver's Youth Outreach. He could be going on a date right about now, the dating website had plenty of women he could choose from. But no, he was at a fundraiser for a kids outreach he had never heard of. His best friend sat next to him at the table, "It shouldn't be that long, two hours tops."
Mike turned to Jimmy, "It's 8:00 now."
Jimmy nodded, "It'll go by, Sofia was excited we were coming."
"What's gonna happen tonight?"
Jimmy sighed, "Someone is gonna talk about their history with the outreach and how it improved their life then it's just talking and donating and drinking."
Mike smirked, "Hmm my favorite combinations."
Jimmy laughed, and they talked for a few more minutes until the lights dimmed and Sofia and another woman came up to the stage. He didn't recognize the woman, he couldn't take his eyes off her. She was without a doubt gorgeous. Sofia thanked the crowd, "I would truly like to thank all of you here. It means so much for all of us and for the teenagers who hang out at the Outreach. We figured that since you carved time to be here you would want to hear from someone who the outreach has helped.
"So I asked my good friend Kayla." Sofia gestured to the woman next to her," If she would share her story, and she said yes. So the floor is yours." Sofia left the stage and Kayla waited til Sofia was off the stage.
Kayla stared at the audience for a moment, she took a deep breath, "When Sofia first asked me to share my story, she told me I was an inspiration and more people need to hear my story." Kayla scoffed, "My story? She didn't know what my story was or is for that matter. I get into discussions with the teens here, listen to them talk about their lives, and offer them advice and prayer. I don't tell my story much."
Kayla paused and cocked her head to the side, "My story begins on a cold night in New York, a young woman is walking from a strip club, a man comes up to her and they get into a conversation. Two months pass and now she is pregnant. She is courthouse married to this man. That's how my parents met and how I came to be." A picture came up of a woman that looked like Kayla. "That was my mother before she met my father. I didn't know that woman, my mom? She was very thin, she didn't eat a lot. She was addicted to cocaine, heroin, and any drug she could get on the street. My dad was an alcoholic when he drank he would get violent. He would beat my mom until she was on the ground sobbing. I didn't exist in my father's mind. He never once looked at me."
"When I was fourteen was in so much pain I began cutting. It got too much for me, I wasn't suicidal but I needed an outlet to put my pain somewhere. My family was dirt poor, we lived in a small apartment with one room and a very small, I mean small; barely bigger than a bathroom really and that was my room. The walls were so thin that I could hear my mom crying herself to sleep at night or my dad saying horrible things to her."
Mike leaned forward and watched how the memories affected Kayla. It was like how in movies when everything goes quiet and the focus is on one thing and one thing only. It was as if Kayla felt his eyes on her and her eyes met his. And just like that her attention was no longer on him, she began talking again. "I was not a good student, I had trouble reading, which made me not want to do anything that involved reading in school. I was not the teacher's pet."
"I went to the school counselor, I didn't want to, it wouldn't have done any good, so what was the point? But I did, and she looked at my record and did this heavy sigh and asked me what I am doing? Where do I want my life to go right at this moment? Because of the way I was going I was going to end up on the street. And I was like: Don't you think I know that?! I hate the road I'm going but no one will help me! Someone, please notice the pain I'm in. Notice the cuts or that I really do try but I can't do it."
"But they didn't. No, I was just dismissed as the troubled kid who acted out for no reason. They never saw my pain. Well, that was the case until my sophomore year of high school, my English lit teacher, noticed how my work was either done incompletely or not done at all. He asked if everything was ok at home." Kayla's voice cracked at the moment. "I didn't know how to respond so I just sat at that desk in silence until he knew I wasn't gonna say anything because it would change anything."
"After a test, he sat on the desk next to me and asked me the questions about the material we were reading and I answered them, my friends would read the book out loud to help me understand so I knew it pretty well. When he was done asking the questions, he handed me the paper he was holding, my test. He asked me to read aloud the questions and I tried. After ten minutes of trying, he asked me what the problem was and I said I don't know I can't read. A week later I was diagnosed with dyslexia."
"My dad left soon after and my mom walked out and would come back sometimes, I soon struggled to keep up the facade that everything was ok. I was done pretending I was ok. Because I wasn't and I was tired of acting like it. So I walked to the teacher's room and I told him I wasn't ok, my parents aren't there for me. He asked if he should call social services. I told him it wouldn't do any good. He did anyway and they didn't say much except they could only do so much."
"He went to his desk and grabbed a flyer, and handed it to me. It advertised the Denver Youth Outreach. And he told me to ask for his friend Sara Young. So I did, I sat in a chair in her office and she asked me questions about my home life and my parents. I told her about my depression and self-harm. She listened to everything and introduced me to teenagers just like me who needed someone to talk to and believe them."
"Denver's Youth Outreach saved my life, if I hadn't gone there I would have committed suicide. I know it is hard to hear. It's hard to talk about believe me. But if my story touches at least one of you. It's worth it."
"Never in my life did I ever think I would share my story you all of you. My story is messy and painful. But so many people have stories like mine who feel alone. That is because it feels like they are all alone. But they're far from being alone. I thought I was alone. I was wrong. No one is alone in this messy thing called life. Thank you for letting me talk to you tonight."255Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHUI3zyLJn
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