Down Down We Go

17 1 0
                                    

The next morning felt like I woke up in a different house. The air stayed tense all throughout the morning, and when Monica and I got dropped off at school, the farewells my mom said did not feel as warm. I knew something bad was coming up, but I decided to enjoy the time I had with Monica and to save the worries for later.

Monica and I got to school just in time and went to our classes. I headed to my first class, AP European History. Our middle school is one of the few schools in the district that offers AP classes. It was by far the most challenging class I've ever taken in my life, and it was the first time I actually have a B in any of my classes. I've worked so hard to be valedictorian, I can't let my father down because of a stupid history class. He's been pushing me to be the best of the best since day one.

I walked into class, ready for our lesson on the Hundred Year War, but it came to my surprise that we were being led into the auditorium for an awards ceremony.

"Oh my goodness! How could I forget it's Award Ceremony Day. I'm not even wearing my nice clothes" I thought internally.

I followed the rest of my class inside and saw families waiting to see their kid get an award, seeing that most of my friends' parents were there, and I started to wonder where mine were. I scanned the large room while I walked in and eventually spotted my mom sitting on the right side of the room.

My class and I were standing in the backstage behind some dark red, velvety curtains

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

My class and I were standing in the backstage behind some dark red, velvety curtains. The auditorium speakers were calling the names of the students, and each student walked up with a smile to receive their award. Their names echoed loudly throughout the room, and I started to think about my parents, and how proud they would have been of me as I received my Principal's Honor Roll award. I noticed that my parents were sitting at the opposite ends of the room so I just assumed that they probably came at different times.

My name was finally called, "With Principal's Honor Roll I present Joy Yamazaki!" and the sound of applause traveled through the room. I walked up to the stage and the principal handed me my certificate. I glanced around the room to find my mom with the camera, and I smiled, proud of my achievement, and walked off the stage.

In my head I thought about how that was not good enough for me nor will it be good enough for my dad. My thoughts came true because when I walked out of the auditorium my dad was not smiling his wide proud smile, however, he did congratulate and was somewhat proud but I can tell he was not satisfied. I tried to let this ruin my day but it was bound to happen.

The drive home with mom was oddly silent, what was even weirder was that dad didn't join us in the car. He must have taken his own car, I thought. When we got home the air was thick, something was definitely up, and I had a feeling the beans will spill tonight and I'm not sure if I'm ready.

We came through the door and I release a sigh of relief, that say came too soon because my mom directed me to the couch and told be to sit down. "We need to talk," she said in an upset voice, thought started running through my head of what it could possibly be, my senses were certain on one but I was hoping from the bottom of my heart that what I had in my was not true. "Honey your father and I are getting a divorce." I felt a pang in my chest. I was right, and that's when it all came crumbling down.

The Irony of JoyWhere stories live. Discover now