Daydream Believer

lxi. meeting shonali and getting ready for school

lxi. meeting shonali and getting ready for school

The first day of school was tomorrow. I was incredibly nervous, even though I had already walked my schedule with Justin's family. Mom was running errands, but Noah and I had figured out that it was just her excuse to get away from Dad. She had been doing that a lot lately, even when it seemed like we couldn't possibly have room for any more groceries.

That evening, I was trying to get my backpack packed for school. There was so much stuff I had to cram in there. Some of the stuff of the school supply list seemed kind of useless. The glue sticks took up a lot of room and I knew that we would never use them. Then again, maybe there would be some random art project and then we would need them. I decided to stuff them into the front pocket.

Someone knocked on my door. I opened it and it was Dad. "Hi Dad," I said.

"Hey McKenna. I'm just letting you know that we have a guest coming over."

"Who?" I asked.

"Just a friend of mine," Dad said.

"Which friend?" I asked.

"Shonali Nambiar," Dad said. "You don't know her."

Wait, was that the lady that I saw Dad talking to from the treehouse? Then I did know her. "Okay," I told Dad. I stuffed the last box of pencils into my backpack and headed out into the living room. Noah was playing video games again.

"Noah, please turn that off," Dad said.

"Just one more level," he said.

"No, turn it off. We have a guest coming over," Dad said.

"Fine," Noah said. He turned off the TV. I noticed a car pulling into the driveway. That must be Shonali. She parked the car and stepped out. That was definitely the lady I saw from the treehouse. Shonali walked up to our front door and knocked. Dad opened the door for her.

"Hey Neil," she said. There was a girl next to her. She looked a lot like Shonali and she looked like she was around three or so. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Brooklyn along."

"Of course not," Dad said. "My kids are here too."

"I'd love to meet them," Shonali said.

"Mommy!" Brooklyn shouted. "I'm hungry!"

Dad crouched down to Brooklyn's level. "What would you like to eat?" he asked.

"Cookies," she said.

"I'll go get some," Dad said.

"Wait, can I have one too?" Noah asked.

"Sure," Dad said.

Dad went into the kitchen and came back with a plate of cookies. He handed one to Brooklyn, Noah, and I. Wow. Dad was never this nice. He also seemed a whole lot happier than usual.

"By the way Shonali, this is McKenna and this is Noah," Dad said.

Shonali smiled. "You have such beautiful children, Neil."

I wasn't exactly a child anymore, but okay. "It's nice to meet you Shonali," I said.

"Nice to meet you too," Shonali said.

"Dad?" Noah asked. "Can I go back to my video games?"

"No," Dad said. "Would you like to see our house, Shonali?" Shonali nodded and they headed off. I leaned against the door to my room. Something felt weird. It was like Shonali was Mom's replacement. Not that I minded. I always felt like I was a disappointment around Mom. Still, I barely knew Shonali. Maybe things would get better though.