- Hi I'm Kristen McAtee and this is a story
of how I landed in jail in eighth grade.
So, I was in eighth grade it and it was
almost the end of the school year.
Me and two of my friends were walking out of school
and we noticed the little marquee,
and I think it said like you know,
we'll miss you eighth graders, whatever.
For some reason, we just thought let's go mess with it.
One of the two locks was open so we were able
to fit our hands up there.
And we just wanted to rearrange the letters
to try and say something.
I think we only ended up getting the word the,
and just like jumbled up the rest of the letter
and went on with our day.
We went to the mall, just walked around, did mall things.
So the next day I was in class
with one of my friends that I rearranged the marquee with.
An office assistant walks in with a little slip
and hands it to our teacher.
Our teacher reads it and says,
"Kristen and so and so, go to the principle's office."
So part of me was like, is this about yesterday?
Like rearranging the marquee, but then I was like,
no it can't be it has to be something different.
So we walk into the principle's office,
she's just sittin' at her desk.
She does not look happy.
Our other friend was there, her eyes are so red and swollen
like she'd been crying for hours.
Then we see that there are also
two police officers there.
So now I'm shaking, cold sweats,
I'm like holy (bleep) I know exactly what's happening now.
And the principle goes,
"Do you know why you're sitting here?"
And we're quiet.
And then she goes, "I'm going to ask you again,
"do you know why you're in here?
"If you're honest your consequences will be a lot less.
All at the same time, the three of us were just like,
"The marquee."
The principle goes, "Yeah we have it all recorded,
"we got some word from a couple parents
"picking their kids up from school,
"that three girls that fit your guys' description
"were messing with the marquee.
"So then we looked into it and the video
"tape proves it's you three."
So with every word she's just getting
way, way more angry, she's turning into a monster.
She's just like, "This is a violation,
"this is vandalizing, do you understand
"how much trouble you can get in?
"There's officers here, you guys are just
"handling this way too calmly."
Freaking out, and we're just sitting there,
like, I, I, I, I.
So the two officers reach behind their back
and they grab two pairs of handcuffs.
In my head I'm like why are they only grabbing two,
are we not all in trouble?
Then, they ask me and my one friend to stand up,
and they handcuff us.
May I remind you, we were in eighth grade.
My third friend didn't get handcuffed
'cause she was only 14.
She was like 14 and a half, technically,
but I guess you have to be 15
to be handcuffed or arrested at all.
And all I'm thinking is like,
"Sir I am innocent, I mean I know I did something,
"but you are a handcuffing a 15 year old.
"I barely have gotten my first period."
Like holy (bleep)! I (bleep) my pants.
So, it goes, my school, then a little grass field,
and then the police station.
They could've easily just waltzed us
across the like, hundred yard field into the police station.
But no, they want to scare the (bleep) out of us.
They throw us in the back of a cop car,
they drive us around the block,
full light show, full sirens and everything.
( Mouths Siren Noise)
Students are staring, I'm so embarrassed.
So we walk into the police station,
we get mugshots, we get fingerprints.
So then they throw us in a cell together,
and it's cold, we're scared,
we're like trying to shoulder each other
'cause our hands are behind our back.
So then the officer's just like,
"You two sit here, your parents are going to pick you up,
"we're not going to call them yet,
"I think you guys need to think about what you did.
"Sit here, be quiet."
And just walks away, and we're like, "What?"
So we sat there for probably like an hour
but it felt like years,
'cause sitting in a jail cell for an hour
at 15 is insane.
All of a sudden I hear my step dad's voice
in the distance and I'm like why is he laughing,
what's going on?
And then I hear him say,
"Yeah I'm here to pick up my juvenile delinquent."
So they open the jail cell, I'm just sobbing
and I'm just like hobbling up to my step dad.
They un cuff me, he puts his arm around me,
we're walking to the car.
And he's just like, "Well that was stupid."
He gave me a half hearted little lecture,
he told me he wasn't that mad.
He said it was dumb, but my mom, was pissed.
So I wasn't sure what was going to be in store
for me when I got home but I feel
like the worst was yet to come.
So later that night I'm having dinner
with my mom and my step dad,
and I'm kind of nervous 'cause she's being kind of quiet
and that's never a good sign with her.
But then we're laughing about it a little bit,
so I'm like, maybe I'm off the hook.
But then my mom looks up from her plate and goes,
"I've decided your punishment."
What?
I'm holding my breath and I'm thinking like,
I'm going to be grounded for the rest of my young adulthood.
And she goes, "We're going to chop your hair off."
I am shook.
My hair, at that age was my prize possession.
It was my security blanket,
it was long, it was jet black,
I had like the scene bangs, all that.
All I'm thinking is you're cutting off 75% of who I am.
So then the next day my mom and I march
down to the salon and I get my hair chopped
off to my shoulders.
I swear my hair never grew back the same.
Like it used to be so thick and voluptuous,
now I have like five hairs and it randomly got curly.
So you're probably thinking, oh that's the end of it.
But no, I had to do community service,
and vandalism classes.
Like classes that taught you about how bad vandalism is.
And all the consequences that come with it.
Like I'm not already experiencing them.
So it was an hour every night,
and I 'member just going in with my little pencil
and my notepad minding my own business,
when I'm sitting next to a person
with like full blown face tats.
Honestly, I don't know what the moral of the story is.
I guess just don't do dumb stuff in junior high.
Save that stuff for college.
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Thank you.