I remember the day like it was yesterday. Aug, 15, a Saturday morning. An absolutely gorgeous day filled with sunshine and rainbows, fluffy white clouds floating gently across the sky and cool breezes blowing swiftly through the air. As per Saturday tradition, my best friend Trina picked me up. I can still see myself going through the motions: out my front door, down the driveway, yelling to Trina, and climbing into her blue and white LaSabre.

Trina had always known about my prior coffee addiction. She knew the struggles of round-the-clock coffee. She knew that I was just recovering, yet she proceeded to introduce me to the pink monster. A different approach to caffeine. A bubbly, carbonated, thrill of juices, L-Carnitine, B Vitamins, taurine and 140 mg of straight caffeinated glory. At first, I had been hesitant. I had tried a sip or two of monsters in the past and was never satisfied. Quite almost the exact opposite. I was revolted. I had never wanted to taste that dreadful taste again, but she had promised my mind would change and offered to pay. No one could refuse an offer like that and I decided to have an open mind and try it out. 

The first sip had shot through my veins so intensely that I had gone into utter shock. A slight shiver went down my spine. A new addiction was born. Days of warm, simple, coffee were gone, replaced with a viscous competitor willing to run me out of money; and sleep. Like any other addict, I feed off of the feeling Pink monster gives me, the rush.

I find myself in class often daydreaming of my next sip, I run late to school on gas station runs, I scramble and beg for change anywhere I can find it, my friends and family are concerned. Trina herself has acknowledged my relationship with the pink monster as a problem and has repeatedly tried to cut me off. 

This is my warning to all of you. Don’t try the pink monster unless you’re ready for a lifetime of commitment and regret.