Away from the past

Home visit

Liana's POV

January 20

I haven't completed a full week here yet but this week is officially over. Fridays are different at this school than any other day of the week. Yesterday, the energy was different and I could feel everyone's excitement. I experienced my first pep rally which I have to admit, was pretty fun. For the first time in months, I didn't want to go home from school.

I guess I will be spending these next few weekends making my room how I want it to be. It's a nice size which I really appreciate. I've already chosen a spot that I will use for painting. I have tons of canvas' that I used to paint how I feel in the moment.

Mom says my paintings are a gift and I never let that leave my mind. It's something that I really take pride in.

"You have company." Dad sticks his head in the door with a surprised smile on his face.

"What?" I am confused and tired of working already.

"Come." He motions to the door.

My bedroom is on the main level while my parents are upstairs in one out of the two other rooms in this house. We go through the kitchen to get to the front door.

The two people who've actually shown interest in me thus far are staring me down with huge mischievous smiles.

"Dad, this is Ellia and Jordi from school." I refrained from calling them my friends because I don't want to get ahead of myself and I feel like it's their call.

They exchange words and I show them to my room, mainly so I can find out how they found out where I live. The house is in no condition for company so I'm kind of glad mom is out at the store, she would not have been happy but of course, she wouldn't let them know that.

My bed is put together but that's pretty much it. I stare until I get an explanation out of them.

"Well, we decided to stop by and see how you're settling in. Ellia and I never really got your number so of course, we couldn't call." Jordi stops talking because of the look on my face.

"What?" Ellia asks.

"How'd you know where I live?"

"It wasn't that hard to figure out. Most of us in this neighborhood lived here for years and years. When Mr. Wynn and his family moved out a couple of months ago, this was the first place we checked.

This definitely didn't sound safe to me but they are their own people. I find it sweet that they went out of their way to find where I live even though most would find it creepy. I'm still trying not to get attached but Ellia and Jordi make it super hard.

Back at Silverleaf I basically had an assigned best friend. No one there was a friend of mine that I made on my own. Since Theo's friends were my "friends" too, he didn't like me having friends he didn't know, I had no one who truly related to me. Kasey Morris was my so-called right hand back in private school. She was around all of the time and the only girl who I would hang out with.

Kasey was the mean girl that everyone feared. In this case, no one wanted to be like her or be friends with her for that matter. I wasn't like her and it was obvious but nothing I could have said would have changed the situation. I know a lot of people disliked me just because I was basically glued to her at the hip. Plus all of the horrible things she would say to the younger girls and even the ones in our grade. I would always go back and try to clean her mess. I am guilty of laughing at whatever she would say just so I wouldn't hear about it from her or Theo.

To all the girls she would call fat or worthless, I tried to fix that by telling them not to listen to her and they have so much to look forward to in their lives because they're so special. I did mean what I said to them but I knew I should not have had to fix their feelings because Kasey should not have beaten down their confidence in the first place.

"Fair enough." I shrug. "What do you guys need."

"We just wanted to see how you're settling in. You're very..." Jordi pauses. "Introverted."

Ellia shoots him a look.  Introverted is not the word to describe me but I'm not gonna start that conversation with them.

I snicker. "I'm doing okay. The house is our number one priority right now and that's what I'm going to focus on."

"That and softball?" Ellia says gently.

I cock my head.

I've made up my mind about playing but I've never told her yet. Mom and dad think it's a good idea for me to get out there and get involved. I owe it to them to at least try, so I'm going to do it. They're extra cautious with me these days. Mom always checks on me and asks how I'm feeling and dad is more so worried about any guys who try to come around. He was suspicious of Jordi, I could see it in his face at first but I will definitely fix that.

"I'll do it but if I'm not as into it in the end, you have to be okay with me stopping when the season is over."

She squeals with excitement. "Deal."

I used to always do things because someone else wanted me to. I will admit I am doing softball for Ellia and my parents but a small part of me is doing it for myself as well.