Dirty Laundry | Teen Ink

Dirty Laundry MAG

April 2, 2009
By Zero_K DIAMOND, Moosic, Pennsylvania
Zero_K DIAMOND, Moosic, Pennsylvania
83 articles 0 photos 435 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life's no fun if you're not insane, otherwise you grow up to be an accountant." -Moi


He is your world. He is the one you would live and die for. You love the color of his skin – different from yours – the perfect balance between light and dark, day and night. You love the way he tells you he loves you. He says he'll marry you someday.

But your mom does not approve. You wonder every day how anyone can be so bigoted. Has she not felt the way you do at some point in her life? She doesn't understand, just rants and raves about your “taste in men” in that nasally voice you hate – the one she only uses when she's angry.

Later you sit on your bed, and turn up the volume on your iPod. “All the Same” by the Sick Puppies blasts through the ear buds.

Wrong or right … black or white … if I close my eyes … it's all the same.

Your mom has forbidden you from seeing him again, and Dad's taken to keeping a shotgun in the living room.

In my life … the compromise … I'll close my eyes … it's all the same.

You remember telling him you were afraid but that you wouldn't stop seeing him. He asked you to run away with him, just drop everything and run, figure it out as you went. But you said you wanted to wait and see if it would blow over. The look in his eyes was sad, as if he knew your parents would never accept him.

You hop off your bed and start shoving clothes into an duffel bag, making a trip to the bathroom for your toothbrush. You head to your desk and stare blankly at a piece of paper, pencil in hand. You write a quote that has been in your heart from the minute your parents told you that you were making a big mistake. It's short, but it's all you need to say.

You head down the hall to the laundry room. Your mom has piles of clothes on the floor, organized by color. You grab bits from every pile and toss them to the middle, creating a mound no longer separated into lights and darks.

Green, yellow, red, blue, black, white – all heaped into one huge pile. You lay your message on the top. It doesn't say who you're with or where you're going, but it wouldn't be hard to figure out.

“Laundry is the only thing that should be separated by color.”



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This article has 455 comments.


on Jan. 12 2010 at 6:53 pm
YeseniaG SILVER, Livonia, Michigan
7 articles 1 photo 122 comments

Favorite Quote:
Life is what happens when you're busy making plans.

Great concept. I love the last line; it's really important for people to understand this.

KerAnn BRONZE said...
on Jan. 2 2010 at 2:55 pm
KerAnn BRONZE, Stanton, Michigan
4 articles 0 photos 17 comments
This is wonderful. :] I loved how you wrote this.

on Jan. 2 2010 at 10:54 am
onehandoneheart, San Marino, California
0 articles 0 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
"In Paris they simply stared when I spoke to them in French; I never did succeed in making those idiots understand their language." - Mark Twain

Wow I loved that last sentence! Congrats, and keep writing! :)

Kylie13 BRONZE said...
on Jan. 2 2010 at 12:13 am
Kylie13 BRONZE, Peoria, Arizona
3 articles 1 photo 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
Where you see risks, I see opportunity.

Wow. I love the way, just overall how you told the story. It kept drawing me in. Keep up the good work!

OneChance GOLD said...
on Dec. 26 2009 at 4:41 pm
OneChance GOLD, Westland, Michigan
18 articles 8 photos 55 comments

Favorite Quote:
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥be who YOU want to be, not what OTHERS want to see. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

wow i love this!! i love quotes and have started my own love quotes book, and im adding this one too it!!did u write it?

on Dec. 26 2009 at 12:25 am
Jayla163 BRONZE, Boca Raton, Florida
2 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Binder your Life"

Yes i love it.

Zero_K DIAMOND said...
on Dec. 17 2009 at 4:14 pm
Zero_K DIAMOND, Moosic, Pennsylvania
83 articles 0 photos 435 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life's no fun if you're not insane, otherwise you grow up to be an accountant." -Moi

This is good! Have you thought about making a profile and submitting this?

on Dec. 13 2009 at 3:00 pm
OnyxDivine PLATINUM, Scarborough, Other
22 articles 0 photos 18 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Take chances"
"never regret something that made you smile"
"Forever isn't infinity. It's the time two people spent together, be it a few seconds, five minutes, an hour, days, months, or more."

its kind of like the situation im in right now, not as extreme, but with the colours.<br />
amazing.

on Dec. 11 2009 at 8:08 pm
Mykindapeopledontcarewhatyouthink BRONZE, Gueydan, Louisiana
2 articles 0 photos 124 comments
OMG beautifully written. Nobody could've written better

DEMON said...
on Dec. 11 2009 at 5:53 pm
"RAZED EXPECTATIONS" continues...<br />
Her lovely green eyes shifted into hard emeralds. <br />
“What do you know about me, Dare? And what’s so wrong with having dreams? And why are you talking to me like that? I was simply commenting on the sunset.” She tossed her red curls, clearly miffed. <br />
I lifted my chin, and blew smoke in her face. It was easier on me when she was angry. I don’t know why she bothered with me. Why she was brave enough to confront me. Why she didn’t follow the laws of the superficial high school we both attended. Why she didn’t stay away from me, like everyone else. <br />
“You’ll die from that smoking, Darian.” She glared at me. We’d had this argument a lot. I lifted my eyebrows, and turned away from her, signaling that the conversation was over. <br />
She didn’t obey, and I sighed. <br />
“You know, Dare, you could let yourself feel. You could understand it.” Her voice was soft, a whisper in the darkening air. She was air. My air.<br />
I reviled the potency of the emotions I could feel pulsing through me. I ran a hand through my black hair nervously, my body skidding with strange, unfamiliar energy. I didn’t want to answer her. Why didn’t she leave?<br />
I made a fatal mistake when I looked at her. Every nerve inside of me screamed, as though my body and internal organs were recharging hurriedly in the rare moment of my awakening. <br />
I think I felt my heart beat hesitantly.<br />
My voice seemed like that of a stranger. It had a rich, deep tone to it. It had color.<br />
“Understand what?”<br />
Something in my expression changed the way she was looking at me. It may have mirrored the arrangement of my own features. She became vulnerable in that instant. <br />
“Kiss me.” She whispered brokenly. <br />
Surprise jolted keenly through me. God, I wished I was numb again. Everything felt electric-too intense and too vivid. Emotions scattered across my being, a mutinous invasion of the raging war against myself. I was defenseless and an easy prey to her request. I breathed jaggedly, and there was a husky vibe to it. Want. I recognized it more clearly as it bloomed vibrantly through me. <br />
And she was waiting. For me. <br />
I destroyed the walls I had so warily built as I leaned towards her. She lifted a creamy hand and laid it tenderly against my cheek, the expectation making her bold. I moaned, and closed my eyes. My own hands loosened, and reached for her face greedily<br />
Something hot-burning-ignited against my skin. I wrenched myself away, dazed by the unpleasant sensation. Had a spark traveled through our bodies? That’s when I noticed the cigarette kindling like a faint ember beside my marred hand. It had burnt me. The throbbing pain brought a wave of consciousness through me. Reality. And I stared at her face, inches from mine, and something clicked inside of me. Gears that began humming smoothly, like a tuned clock. I pulled back, and tossed her hand away like it stung. I grimaced as the vitals within me slowly resumed their state of nothingness, and shook my head to clear it of its nonsensical ideas. <br />
She watched the change take possession of me, and tears began to collect in her eyes.<br />
I found that I could care less.<br />
I grinned at her, and mocked, “I taste of cigarettes, Clara.” <br />
She got up shockingly to her feet, and backed away as if understanding for the first time what I was. Tears stained her nondescript face. <br />
I smiled, that careful replication of a smile, and said acidly, “Did I humor your silly fantasies well?” <br />
Her face crumpled entirely, and she pivoted away and ran sobbing from my scathing ridicule.<br />
The sun died, and all was dark.

on Dec. 4 2009 at 8:28 pm
Babygurl_101 SILVER, N/A, California
8 articles 0 photos 118 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Angels are the quiet girls that just havent been noticed yet"
"The past is the past, and i am your futuer." (<3<3<3<3<3)

WOW! that was amazing!!! u did really good. and it was really nice. it defentaly gets ppl thinking bout judging.

on Nov. 27 2009 at 7:20 pm
Megan_Massacre BRONZE, Metamora, Michigan
1 article 1 photo 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"In our endeavors to recall to memory something long forgotten, we often find ourselves upon the very verge of remembrance, without being able, in the end, to remember." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

"But as in ethics, evil is a consequence of good, so in fact, out of joy is sorrow born. Either the memory of past bliss is the anguish of today, or the agonies which are have their origin in the ecstasies which might have been." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood ~ Edgar Allan Poe


A sombre yet beautiful and peaceful gloom here pervaded all things ... the shade of the trees fell heavily upon the water, and seemed to bury itself therein, impregnating the depths of the element with darkness." ~Edgar Allan Poe

They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."~Edgar Allan Poe


"And then there stole into my fancy, like a rich musical note, the thought of what sweet rest there must be in the grave." ~ Edgar Allan Poe

this story was absolutly amazing! It kinda reminds me of how my life is with my parents. My parents do not approve of my boyfriend because he is "emo/goth" and they won't let me be with him or see him, and it does hurt to know that they will never accept him. This story was full of emotion. What inspired you to write this piece if you don't mind me asking?

on Nov. 26 2009 at 6:02 am
marii816 BRONZE, Dipolog City, Other
1 article 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
"we take what we have"

while reading this, I listened to the song "All the Same" ... it has so much depth and meaning...I love it. The last line is simply AMAZING.

jatz318 SILVER said...
on Nov. 24 2009 at 7:25 pm
jatz318 SILVER, East Brunswick, New Jersey
6 articles 0 photos 24 comments
This is really an amazing story. I love it!

E.Lee GOLD said...
on Nov. 24 2009 at 10:07 am
E.Lee GOLD, Akron, Ohio
15 articles 0 photos 168 comments
that last line was my absolute favorite. ur an amaaaazing writer. i love this:)

on Nov. 24 2009 at 10:03 am
XOXOhaloXOXO GOLD, Ellsworth, Maine
13 articles 1 photo 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'm the author of my life and, unfortunately, I'm writing in pen=]

This was simply incredible! I loved every bit of it!

EdytD SILVER said...
on Nov. 23 2009 at 9:45 pm
EdytD SILVER, Livingston, New Jersey
6 articles 0 photos 258 comments
Fantastic; the last line truly leaves the reader thinking. Even though it seems a bit over-exaggerated w/ the gun, it definitely portrays the racism that, unfortunately, many feel. Great job!

dule05 BRONZE said...
on Nov. 21 2009 at 7:46 pm
dule05 BRONZE, Kraljevo, Other
1 article 1 photo 102 comments
Love this...I was also wondering when you commented on my story 'Restless soul', you said you have a story The Faceless girl and I can't find it xD

on Nov. 21 2009 at 1:02 pm
Ethershine SILVER, Dublin, Pennsylvania
5 articles 2 photos 6 comments
Simple and straightforward, short sentences, not too much work on the reader's part, but you give your message beautifully and powerfully. Nice job.

on Nov. 19 2009 at 8:13 pm
firstsnowfalls DIAMOND, Marcellus, New York
51 articles 6 photos 105 comments
Great job and great last line!