Finding Joy

Chapter 7

        I stood up and ran downstairs. I caught up to my Mom because she was walking in the living room and said "Hey hey Mom!" My Mom said "Hmmm yes sweetheart what's going on?" I said to my Mother "Okay Mom... why do we have to see them tomorrow? Why can't we see them on Friday?!" My Mom said "Nope! We are seeing them tomorrow! They are coming over tomorrow!" My Mom walked to the kitchen and I followed and said "Tomorrow is Wednesday! That's strange and the house is a complete m...." I was about to say the house was a mess until I looked around and saw that everything was polished and neat. Nothing was out of place. I sighed and said " Oh the house was cleaned.." My Mom was excited and said "Yes it was! And today I went out and bought you this!" She held up a dress. It was purple and very casual. I didn't know how I felt about it. I haven't worn a dress in a while.

            I said "Uhhhhh...." My Mom said "Ha ha that's what I thought you would say! That's why I got you these!" She put down the dress and held up a Aerosmith shirt and a black skirt. She smiled brightly and said "Oh and there's more! I got you some matches converse sneakers! They are seriously cute and I know you will love them!" She took out the shoes. I had never had a pair of converse that was band related. I was in shock and then I smiled. Then I said "What should I do to my hair? Should I take off my glasses?" My Mom laughed and said "Sweetheart you know you can't see without your glasses." She put her hand under my chin and said " And honey you will be beautiful no matter what you wear or what you do to your hair." I smiled and said "Thank you Mom... but seriously what should I do to my hair?" My Mom realized what was going on and gasped. She put a hand over her mouth. I said "What? What's happening?" My Mom jumped up and down and laughed. I was so confused. She grabbed my hands and continued to jump. She stopped jumping and gave me a big hug.

              I then said "Mom what's going on?" She laughed and pulled away from the hug and said "Honey you like Elizabeth! Do you like Elizabeth?! I think you like Elizabeth!!" She let go of me and started to walk off and I followed as she said "Yes yes it all makes sense now! What you said in the car! Why you are freaking out about her coming over! And and why you want to look your best!" I then said "No wait Mom! You are right about most of those things! Except the entire her coming over thing. What if she thinks we think we are better than her?" My Mom then said "Honey that's not what I'm trying to do at all no no no no." Then I said "Then okay. What if they have a bigger house and they think they are better than us?" My Mom then said "Oh I'll do everything to prevent that. James! Make sure everything is ready for tomorrow check over everything to make sure it is perfect!!" My Mom was upstairs and said "I'm already on it honey!!" I heard him drilling holes in the wall. I had no idea what he was doing.

              My eyes widened and I looked back over at my Mom and said "No Mommy you can't be serious." I hugged her and stopped using my legs. So when she walked I was hugging her and my legs were dragging on the floor.  She said as she walked "Honey this is happening and there is nothing you can do to change it!" I put my head up and said "Where did I go wrong Mommy! What did I do to deserve this?!" My Mom laughed and said "Honey... calm down! It's not the end of the world! Everything is going to be fine!" I whined and said "No no it won't!!" My Mom said "Joy Lucile O'hare get off of me and get ready for bed! This is happening tomorrow deal with it!" I whined and said "Please Mommy noooo." My Mom sighed and said "Honey... it's okay to be nervous... but if you don't get off of me and go to bed I swear I'll take away your violin for a week!" I almost immediately got off of her and ran as I said "Yes ma'am no problem goodnight!!"

              I ran upstairs to my room and closed the door. I sighed and said "Oh well.. there is no way out of this...it'll be fine." I got ready to bed. I set my alarm, took my glasses off, put them on my night table, and went to sleep.  My alarm woke me up and I groaned. I got out of bed and rolled my eyes. I turned my alarm off and put on my glasses. I walked to my closet and saw that my Mom put my new outfit in my closet. She must have done it when I was sleeping. I picked it up and took it with me to the bathroom.  I took out my phone and played some classical music. I took a shower and got dressed. I then brushed my teeth. I didn't know what to do with my hair. I too at how it looked down. I wasn't used to it but it didn't look bad. It also strange to be in a skirt. But hey I looked alright. I put my headphones on and looked at myself one more time in the mirror and said "Okay... you look fine... no you don't." I picked up my phone and went to the camera. I took off my glasses and took a picture of myself. I put my glasses back on and looked at the picture.  I thought to myself "Hey.... I look a lot better..." I took the glasses back off. I could hardly see anything. Everything was very blurry.

               I tried to leave the room and I hit the door. I fell on the floor. I put my glasses back on and crawled out of the bathroom. I went back to my room and got my backpack. I walked downstairs with my head down.  When I got downstairs my Mom noticed how sad I looked. My Mom said "Hey baby... you okay..." I said "Yes.... um... no" My Mom sat down and told me to sit with her. My Mom said "Honey." I sat down next to her and said said "Honey.. now... I understand that you don't like your glasses.. and you can't wear contacts... so why don't you wear a different pair." She handed me this street fighter glasses case. Inside the case was a pair of glasses that I wouldn't mind wearing. They weren't as big as the ones I was wearing.  I handed her my glasses and put on the new pair. I looked at myself with the camera on my phone and nodded. I then said "This is something I can live with... thanks Mom you are the best." I gave her a hug and and stood up. I stood up and put my backpack on. She smiled at me. I then said "Dad are you ready to go?"

             My Dad said "Yes hon I'll be a minute! I'm just warming you something up for breakfast!" I then said loudly back so he could hear "Oh okay! Is it a.. honey bun?!" My Dad said back "Yes honey it is! Or something like it! It's a cinnamon roll!" I said "Oh okay!" My Dad walked towards me and said "Yep here you are sweetie. And your coffee and!!..." I sang at the same time as him " Four spoon fulls of sugar, my favorite creamer today which is french vanilla, and the most important thing of them all is a cup that keeps the heat installed! Oh yeah!" We all laughed. I took a bite of my warmed up cinnamon roll. My Dad then said "Alright come on sweetheart let's get to school." I smiled and stood up. I chewed on my cinnamon roll and said "Bye Mom I love you!" She laughed and said "I love you too honey see you later!" My Dad and I left the house and went in the car.

            My Dad pulled out of the drive way. I took another bite of the cinnamon roll and took a sip of my coffee. My Dad said "Honey you look great today... I know today is going to be great.." I finished the piece of cinnamon roll and said "Oh Dad every day this school year has been a great day! When lunch comes around we go to the music room and sing! Her voice is beautiful and and.." My Dad laughed and said "Honey... you are falling hard already... I can tell you really care about Elizabeth... now tell me... where is she from? what does she look like? I said "Oh she's from Syria... and she has beautiful dark brown hair.. and her eyes are a gorgeous.... I need to stop... I am getting... okay let me try this again..." My Dad laughed. I then took a deep breath and said normally "Alright um... she likes to wear dresses and flats...  she likes to wear matching sweaters... and she likes to wear skirts too and... I bet she twirls around... oh I bet it's sooo cute when she does and! ... dang it!!" I was frustrated with myself and my Dad laughed.  I face palmed myself repeatedly as I said "Oh come on!! Snap out of it! Why can't I talk about her normally!!" We were pulling up to the school. I took my last few bites of my cinnamon roll. I grabbed my coffee and put my headphones back on. My Dad parked and I opened the door and got out. My Dad said "Honey don't forget your lunch box. My Dad was holding it and I took it and said "Thank you Dad... see you later." I smiled and walked away. I walked into the building. I turned on my music. The secretary at the front desk smiled at me and said "Oh a little different! I'm liking it Joy!" I smiled and said "Thank you." I walked upstairs to my locker. Douglas was in the hall. As soon as he saw me he ran the other way. I laughed to myself and kept walking to my locker. I went to my locker and opened it. I grabbed the supplies I needed and put away the things I didn't. I put my lunch box in the locker. I closed the locker and put my backpack on. I picked up my coffee and took a sip as I walked down the hall. I walked to my first class of the day thinking "it's alright.. today they are going to come over.... and we are going to have a great time." I smiled at the thought and walked into the classroom.