Shannon SumEnglish 30-1Due: Friday, Feb. 11th, 2011Assignment: What does “Shooting an Elephant” suggest to you about the role that self-preservation plays when individuals respond to competing demands?

Title.

One, two, three, four, turn, one, two, three... Every day I've woken up to the same routine. Eat, read a book, talk about my feelings, and now, pacing around in this miniature hole they call a room. It's been three months since I've been admitted into Morning Side rehab centre. It took five months to get in here and now a year or more to get me out. My name is Claire Johnston. I'm sixteen and had everything a girl could ever want. Until now. Eight months ago, I moved to New York from a small town called Millstone in New Jersey. I was enrolled in St. Valentin Academy. I didn't know anyone and people didn't seem to care much for the new girl. Everyone except one. Alexia Greene. She was the only one that made an effort to get to know me. The moment we became friends was the beginning of the end.

Lexi is from a very elite family in New York. Her father is the owner and boss of three major companies. I didn’t even know why Lexi was attending St. Valentin Academy when she could be at a much more prestigious school. It wasn’t until later when I realized she wasn’t a normal rich girl who strived to have a perfect image and good education so she could one day take over her father’s company. Instead, she would do all kinds of drugs and get wasted every chance she got. Lexi was the complete opposite of me. Back in Millstone, a party would consist of chips, pop, and music.

At first, Lexi never showed that side of her to me so I wrongly assumed that she was just another nice girl like me. It wasn’t until we became better friends when she’d start to drink and do drugs around me. I was a bit shocked when I found out that she did drugs and drank alcohol, but then I started to drink as well and I didn’t find drinking so bad anymore. In the beginning I only had, at most, three beers or coolers. Then I started getting wasted with Lexi. It seemed to me that the more things I did with her that I've never done before, the more she liked me as a friend. I, of course, did my best to please her even though I never realized how much I was changing. I always thought she had my best interests in mind and that I should let loose once in a while. " Throw some hot sauce on your taco and spice it up!" she would say. I wouldn't complain. Just when I thought everything was going well, it got even better. Lexi introduced me to a boy named Max. Max was probably the prettiest boy I have ever seen in my life. I had a crush on him the moment I saw him. A few weeks later, he asked me out. I thought Lexi was the best friend I ever had, and for many many weeks, we partied hard and had the best time with one another.

Then one day, it seemed like Lexi wasn't too happy around me anymore. My first thought was that she got bored hanging out with me all the time, but then I realized that it was because I still haven't done any drugs yet. Lexi did it all the tine and she would always call me a buzz kill for being the only sober one. She never said I had to do drugs otherwise she wouldn't talk to me, but on some level I knew that she didn't like it when I didn't get high with her. Being the push over I was and in an attempt to make her happy, I caved in and accepted the drugs that she offered me the next day. Things seemed to be fine between us again and then we decided to plan a big pool party at the school at midnight.