If and Only If

48 days before

................

Silence

I sit straight up from my bed. I look around. No mom. No wake up call. No NORMAL.

I start to hyperventilate. What do I do? What do I do? I've never been in this situation before. It's always been normal, the start of the day, it was a routine. I sit there, rocking back and forth. I start to shudder, feeling like I'm about to implode, if that's even possible. Then I hear mom.

I jump out of bed and sprint down the stairs. As I turn the corner I see mom by the front doorstep looking out to our front yard. "Mom," I say, breathing heavily from the rush of flying down those stairs, "why didn't you wake me up? I didn't know what to do."

"Oh I know sweetie, " she says, turning toward me and hugging me tightly, "I just heard a commotion outside and, well, I just HAD to see it. Do forgive me dear." I nod, and turn to the door. There, across the street, was a moving van. And low and behold, the commotion was a new family moving in.

"What do we do?" I ask.

"Well," says mom, "Your dad is looking through the manual right now, but I believe we just go over and say hello. Your brother is there as we speak."

Again, doing the only thing I thought was right, I nod, and head upstairs, slowly this time. I pause, and brew over the situation. "Wait mom!" I yell, glancing down the stairs, "Does that mean I have to get ready for school?"

"I guess so hun," she yells back, "your dad and I will first meet them. I bet they are some nice folks. It'll sure be nice for them to stay for more than a month, unlike the others."

I get myself all set for school in a hurry. I wanted nothing of this strange day. I race down the steps and eat the usual breakfast.

"At least this hasn't changed," I say, munching on the crunchy bit of bacon. Dad turns and smirks.

My kid brother already left for school, so I never got a chance to ask how the new family is. It doesn't matter really. I mean, who wants to know?

I grab my things, hop out of the house, and walk to the bus stop. I hope that no more strangeness will happen today. I arrive at the bus stop, and wait for the bus, balancing on one foot. After ten minutes, I start to think the worst. I check my watch and groan when I see it reads ten after eight. The bus has already passed.

I trudge slowly down the sidewalk.

..................Two hours later..............

I'm sitting at my desk in homeroom. Looking back two desks behind me is Mindy. I wave at her, and she waves back. I turn back around. Suddenly the principal walks in with a student. "May I have your attention please," he huffed, with his nose high up in the air, "This is Theodore, your new classmate. He moved in just a few hours ago."

I lean to the side to get a better look at him. biting much really, just a boy. Everyone else seem to think that as well, seeing how they all went back to their work.

I didn't pay much attention to him. Ge is new, sure, but I got more important things to do, like work. Yet, as I am working, I can't shake the feeling of being watched. When the teacher briefly strokes the board with the fine chalk, I turn to see it is none other than the boy. Confused, I turn back front, and try to delve back into my work.

-hey guys! Let me know how I'm doing. the plot thickens in the next part, which I'm working on right now.