The alarms are going off, flashing lights of blue and red with money scattered around the floor. We thought we had this planned out, but once the alarm went off, we knew we messed up. “Put your hands in the air,” is the last thing we heard when we were rushed to the ground. What was supposed to be a fun, adventurous weekend ended in a catastrophe. In the summer of 2016, a group of my friends planned to sneak out for a weekend to visit the wonderful waters of California. We had saved over $200 each in six months to make sure we had enough for the trip.
The trip to California lasted as long as the grace we say at Thanksgiving dinner. Finally we made it to the Hollywood sign where we were supposed to meet up with the guy to give us our fake IDs. After asking him for some directions and taking pictures of the Hollywood sign, both parties went their separate ways.
The whole reason for fake IDs was to be bumping to the latest jams at Sound Nightclub, where all the famous rappers go. Just a couple friends trying to vibe to blaring music that could make your ears bleed. Once we got to our hotel we were getting ready for a night out on the town. I had an indescribable feeling that I couldn’t hold in because of all the excitement for tonight. Once we got into the club, Adrian and I made our way to the bar. He bought me a light up snow cone margarita which lit up the way Adrian was admiring me.
In the corner of my eye, I see Evelyn and Gaby talking to a group of guys and having the time of their lives. As I was walking around to look for Kolton, this guy came up to me and asked if I knew a girl with long brown hair wearing a dark red bikini. That was exactly what Gaby was wearing, so I responded very skeptically asking him as to why he was asking me. He told me that she was drunk and needed help. I ran to the restroom and found her throwing up nonstop. I sat her up and waited by her side until she was better.
When I walked outside the restroom Kolton approached me and said, “We need to go now! Go get Gaby and let’s get out of here. I’ll explain later.” It turns out Kolton was hitting on this guy’s girlfriend. In a blink of an eye, he pulled out a gun, but before he could fire the gun Kolton made a run for it. We hadn’t come all the way here for nothing so we decided to stop at the beach. Adrian and I sat in the water just looking at the moon’s reflection. Evelyn, Kolton, and Gaby came into the picture and tackled me and Adrian. We were all splashing in the water and having a good time. As the late night rolled in we realized we should start heading back to the hotel. Before we could reach the hotel, Adrian came up with this insane idea that we should rob a bank. Everything was awfully sudden but something told me he had this planned all along. We all have friends in low places, so we called up our buddy Miguel to meet us.    When we got there I felt my adrenaline kicking in. Miguel told us that we had to wear gloves so we would really be thieves in the night. When we got inside the bank, Kolton showed us a hacking guide to get into the safe. Miguel was reading it and telling Adrian to write down the numbers. All we heard was the sirens outside the bank, and it was over. When we got to jail we were ordered to tell our parents everything. Looking at my father and the disappointment in his eyes, all I could think about was the mistakes. I cried so much my clothes were soaked in my own sorrow. We were all being impetuous and just trying to live life on the edge. However, the consequences outweighed the experience.