I stood there blood rushing down my face like a waterfall. It was the latest incident in a line a mistakes. It was only about three weeks ago, and it happened to be at Rockin Jump trampoline park, in Buffalo Grove. I stood in front of what used to be a completely white sink that was now painted red from the blood from my crooked nose. I was wearing what used to be a plain black shirt that was now covered in splotches of blood. I stood in the now blood covered bathroom on our day off of school, and regretted the last 15 minutes of my life.

I could hear my friend Camden laughing hysterically at what had just happened. Camden had been watching me the entire time. I ripped off some paper towels and began to stuff them rapidly in my nose. This all began about 15 minutes before this, when I had attempted a new flip. Camden had begged me to try a gaynor, which was a flip that consisted of a backflip while your motion is forwards. I had never done this before, and was scared out of my mind. It was 15 minutes past the time we were supposed to leave, and I had told myself that this was the last flip I was going to do.

Moments after my courageous attempt at the flip, I felt a horrible pain that came from my nose, for I had failed, and my knees slammed into my nose. It had felt as if I had just been smacked in the face with a baseball bat. I watched as my hands filled with blood and I started walking steadily towards the bathroom. My nose was a fire hydrant, but instead of water, it was blood.

I watched, I laughed at the sight of my now crooked nose, and the blood drops spread throughout the bathroom. Camden was laughing, as I joined along with him.

Camden and I stood looking into the mirror, “Oh ya, that’s crooked!” Camden stated in a state of hilarity.

“What’re we going to do?” I exclaimed in worry. I stood there wiping the blood off my face. He stood there laughing.

We walked out of the bathroom, leaving the mess, without saying a word to anyone, and waited for Camden’s mom.

Camden’s younger brother Carson had seen pictures of my nose on snapchat, and spoke the first words, “Jeez how did you do that?”

Camden’s mom drove home as the conversation continued about my now crooked nose. The real trouble is when I had to tell my mom what happened…

I got home before my mom had. I walked inside to a dark house, a quiet house. My house always seemed so warm, and familiar, but today everything was different. The feeling of anxiety rushed over my body, awaiting the scouring from my mother. I had to relax.

“It’s not going to be that bad,” I asked myself, “will it?”

Time moved by as slow as molasses in January. I sat there watching the clock, every tick. I had to do something; I couldn’t just sit there. I had to relax.

I turned on the T.V. to try and calm myself, but as soon as the word was spoken from the television, I heard the sound of the garage door opening. The shaking and shuttering or the garage door had never been so terrifying. It sounded louder than usual, like some evil accompaniment to the terror that was about to unfold. My mom was hesitant to let me go to the trampoline park that morning. She won’t even let me have my own trampoline!

Maybe now I see why.

The laundry room door creaked open, and the sound of our home alarm system went of. I knew she would notice, there was no point in hiding it.

“Hey Mom!” I shouted from across the house.

“Zach,” I heard her exclaim, “is that you?”

“Ya, um Mom,” I started to speak and my word started to shake, “I, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?” she asked hesitantly.

“I may have broken my nose today at the trampoline park…” I stated quietly, and honestly it sounded more like a question than a statement.

“WHAT?” My mother ran across the house furiously.

“It wasn’t my fault!” I quickly responded, “Okay… maybe it was.”

“I can’t believe you!” she yelled, “I told you not to go there! UGH I should’ve trusted my gut!”

She walked over to me. I was face to face with her now. The pressure was high. I didn’t know whether she would hug me or hit me. I wanted to run, but I knew I couldn’t. Her eyes glew almost a red color, as if the devil inside of her came out. We stood there for what felt like an eternity, the room was silent, and my heart pounded a million beats per minute.

I thought she was going to yell at me… but… she hugged me!

“You aren’t mad?” I exclaimed.

“Just happy you’re okay.” my mother calmly spoke.

So we stood there, hugging. I had never felt more relieved in my life. Suddenly, a cool sigh of relief just flowed throughout my body. She let go, and we talked about what to do for dinner. But, she never really mentioned the nose until we planned to go to the doctors. The night was calm, and simple, simpler than most. The only problem for the entire night, was avoiding mirrors. When I couldn’t avoid them, I would just look, and stare, at what used to be straight, but was now… crooked.