To begin, it was a nice summer day. The sun was bright and it was hot. It was June 16, 2018, and summer had just about begun. My day started off good, and everything was going fine. I had my friend Sophia’s birthday party to attend too later that evening in Park Ridge. I went to pick up my friends Anna and Sylvia, and we were planning to get ready at my house for the birthday party. My friends and I were all 16. Anna lived in Morton Grove and Sylvia and I lived in Harwood Heights.

Around 3 pm later that day, Sylvia said, “Let's go get coffee.”

We then decided to go get coffee and come back to my house to get ready, and that's when the day turned tables. I forgot my keys to my house and my parents weren't gonna be home until 12 am. At that moment I was so angry because I had no way into my house and no way of getting ready for the birthday party. My friend Anna had left her clothes and makeup in my house, and she also had no way of getting ready. We had then started to panic because it was 4 pm at this point, and the party started at 7.

        “Emina, what are we going to do?” Anna said. “How could have you forgotten your keys?”

        “I’m sorry, I thought I had my house keys with me,” I said.

I was very stressed and I didn't know what to do. I called my friend Oskar and said,

“Hey, do you have $20’s by any chance so I can borrow so I can go by myself an outfit?”

“What do you need an outfit for?” Oskar stated.

“I'm locked outside my house, and I don't have any clothes now for my friends birthday party tonight,” I said.

“All right. Come to my house and I’ll give you $20’s,” he said.

“Let's get ready at my house since we're locked out of yours, Emina,” Sylvia said.

We were all very grateful at that moment because we found somewhere to get ready. Luckily, Oskar was my neighbor and he lived one building down from me. Anna, Sylvia, and I had gone to Oskar’s and got the money, and went to Target so I could buy an outfit. Anna had figured out that she was going to borrow Sylvia’s clothes, and she wasn't going to buy any. It was 5 pm, and we were running out of time because we still had to get ready. I was running around and looking for something, and I couldn't find anything for 15 minutes. I had been looking for something until I came upon a shirt and shorts. I had bought it and we had left to Sylvia's to get ready. We had arrived at Sylvia’s, and we started to get ready. It was 6:30 p.m, and I said,

   “Guys! Hurry Up! We have to get going.”

    “All right!” Sylvia shouted.

We had gotten in my car and I had realized that I needed to get gas, so I went to the gas station.

   “It's on me because you came to pick me up from my house,” Anna said.

Anna had paid for my gas, and we were running late to the party it was 6:50 p.m. and the party started at 7. As I put my key back into my car to leave the gas station, my car wouldn't start.

   “What is going on? Why is today such a bad day for me?” I said.

   “Oh my god, I cannot believe this is happening right now,” Sylvia said laughing.

I had waited two minutes and I tried turning my car back on and it started. We were so happy, and we were on our way to the birthday party. We were 5 minutes away from Sophia’s house.

   “Oh my god. Sophia is canceling her birthday party because she is sick and doesn't feel good,” Anna said.

“This night cannot get any worse for us,” Sylvia said.

“I hope Sophia feels better,” I said.

It was 7:30 and we had decided to just all go home, and just get some rest from all the things that had occurred throughout the day. I was going to drop Anna off at home first. I was turning left, and I looked to see if there were cars coming and there weren't so I turned left. I look up as I turn left and I see flashing lights behind me. I got this feeling that I never got before I was so scared. I had had my license for about 3 months, and I had more than one person in my car.

   “What the heck. I can't believe this right now. I’m literally freaking out. Tonight is such a disaster,” I said.

   “Emina, calm down you did nothing wrong. Let's see what the officer says,” Anna said.

   “Miss, Where are you going,” the officer stated.

   “I'm headed home, I have to drop my friends off,” I said.

   “Can I see your license and registration?” the officer had said.

I gave him my license and registration, and he had gone back to his car. I had started to freak out and almost cry. I had never been pulled over, and I knew I was going to get a ticket. Anna said,

   “Emina, calm down. It's going to be okay.”

I was trying to calm down because I had never experienced this type of fear before in my life before, and I had never got involved with cops anyway.

   “Do you know what you did wrong?” he said.

   “No.”

   “You turned left when you weren't supposed to,” he said.

I was very confused at this moment because I checked to see if there were cars coming, and it didn't say anywhere that couldn't turn left.

   “I checked to see if there were cars coming, and there weren't,” I said.

   “I'm gonna let you off with this as a warning. You’re lucky I didn't give you a ticket,” He said.

He went down onto his notepad and wrote me up a warning and he looks up and says,

“All right ladies, have a safe night. Your parents don't have to know about this, you can just get away with this as a warning.”

I had started to drive away, and I was shaking. I needed to pull over on a side street. I was so overwhelmed that I bursted out into tears, and had a meltdown.

   “Emina, it's okay. Don't worry about it. Everyone, makes mistakes, and it's inevitable,” Anna said.

   “Just take some time and calm down,” Sylvia said.

I had calmed down, and I realized that everyone makes mistakes, and the officer had let me off with a warning. I drove Anna and Sylvia home. As I was walking back into my house, I realized the back door was unlocked and I never went to check. My day was odd, and I had never experienced so many things happen to me in one day.