An Untold Secret

Chapter 4

   It has been two weeks and nothing much has happened. I've gotten closer with the group, but I haven't been able to hang out very much with them outside of school. Homework has had me stuck at home at nights. Besides schoolwork, I've been helping out with mom. She finally got a job as a waitress in a popular restaurant in town, so, therefore, a lot of the cleaning and cooking around the apartment has been up to me. Which isn't something out of the ordinary. She leaves before I wake up, and comes home late at night. She has a lot of shifts, but she says she wants them, so I don't argue.

   I haven't been able to paint or draw any. Well, if you don't count doodling on my papers at school. If I get a chance I want to explore different parts of Nahbi, and maybe get some new ideas. Fall break is coming up, so that'll be a perfect time.

   Even though I still haven't been here long people have stopped staring at me. I guess I'm no longer titled as the new girl. Which I'm perfectly fine with. Lacy hasn't really bothered me either; I think she just got bored. Probably moved on to yet another victim.

   I always sit with the group at lunch now. It's the only time I'm with all of them during school hours. It feels good to have friends when I go to new places, but it feels even better when you have a whole group of friends. I don't care if they are all I get. I actually feel like I fit in, and I can be myself around them. 

   Coming out of thoughts I put the last bowl up in the cupboard. I offered to wash and put away the dishes after dinner. Mother has already done a lot for us. She's really trying to get her life together, and so it only seems necessary for me to help out a quite a bit. I can tell she's already asleep in her bed by the soft snores coming from her room. 

   I've decorated a little bit around where I sleep. Above my bed, I've hung up some of my art over the peeling wallpaper. I wanted to give the bland room some color. I have my comforter on a blow-up mattress. The maroon and grey blanket helps make the room not so gloomy. My bedroom is still in the living room. Even though we had to downside, mother and I have made it work.  

   I put on my fuzzy pajama pants and a t-shirt. I turn off the lights and crawl into my bed. I look up and stare at the ceiling. Every house I have ever lived in flooded through my mind. Small houses, apartments, and dorm rooms are all I've known. Every city, every town, I hope for a new beginning, a place where I can call home. A place where I get to stay and grow up. A place I can show my friends or my future children where my childhood home was. That would be a little hard though. We would have to make a long road trip out of it. I rolled over, closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

   I push open the doors to Nahbi High School. The smell of many perfumes, colognes, old gym socks, and rotten food fills my nose. I think it would be a great investment if the school system invested in some candles or smelly sprayers. Wait, that just might make it worse. You would just keep adding more smells to the already too many different smells, so scratch that.

   A few more months and I won't need to come to a high school anymore. This is it, this is the place where I will graduate. Where I will stand on a stage with my diploma, and look out over and see the teachers, see my friends, and fellow classmates. I can see my mother being the only one who stands up and applauds. I am not one of those people who say they wish they could do it over again. No, that's not me, I want to travel, and visit the world. That may never happen, but a girl can dream, right? It's a bit scary though, too imagine going all over, but if your dreams don't scare you, they're not big enough.

   I always love seeing the different types of people. The people who don't care what others think of them. The ones who have their own style. You still have the normal stereotypical types of people though. With moving all the time I never really put myself in any category. I always said I was a lone wolf. Don't get me wrong, every place I went I would make friends, whether it was 2 or 20. It's kind of hard to not make at least 1 friend. There is always someone who is somewhat like you, maybe with interests, or how you look.