In Lakewood, a small town with a reputation of crime, gangs, outcasts and violence, Lana Takumi is an orphan and a gang member disguised in ripped jeans of her late mother and old flannels of her late father. She feels stuck in an endless cycle of b...
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E V E R E T T
I GENUINELY THOUGHT COMING home from school would be easier once I moved to Lakewood, but it was the same crap all over again. I had lived in this new house for two days and the absence of Emma had already left this place gloomy and overflowed with an eerie silence.
"That school is messed up," I said after coming downstairs and slumping down in a chair by the dining table while watching mom and dad prepare dinner.
Mom seemed disappointed about what her old high school had turned into. The plan of running away from what killed Emma backfired because we ended up at a place that was even worse than what took my little sister's life. Not just drugs but tons of violence, crime, and gangs.
However, she did a good job of pressing out an optimistic smile and tried to point out the smallest of positive things about Lakewood High. Like the fact that I made a friend named Ali, and unlike at my old high school, the cafeteria's lunch didn't taste like the food had dishwasher soap in it.
"So if the place looks like it needs a change, and the student council is a fail, why don't you run for student body president?"
My head jerked up and I met dad's warm brown eyes.
Is he...serious?
"No. No, I don't want that."
"Just think about it. You loved being on the council back there. Why don't you give it a try? Get back into the groove?"
"First of all, don't ever say that groove thing again. Secondly, it's not the same thing, dad."
"Of course it isn't. I know that. This school will definitely be a challenge but I think you can do it," dad argued, smiling positively.
That's not what I meant. It wasn't the same thing because back when I used to be student body president, Emma was alive. Things were good and normal, but nothing was normal now. Emma was gone, I was in a totally different town that actually seemed like being on another planet, and mom and dad were acting like these positive energy balls trying to radiate some of their light through the gloomy cloud I head clearly turned into. I hated being like this and feeling like this, but nothing seemed worth it anymore.
Honestly, I just wanted to keep my head low, get through my senior year, apply to some random college, and leave this place, and never come back. But on the other hand, I just simply wanted to stop caring about everything and just sleep for the rest of my life.
Instead of forming the storm going on in my head to some decent words, I just pushed my chair back and muttered, "Forget it. I'm not joining the council."
