Daydream Believer

lxviii. shonali and curiosity

lxviii. shonali and curiosity

Noah got home early one day. Apparently the elementary school had an early release and we didn't. I never quite got why the middle schoolers had to wake up earlier than the elementary schoolers. Noah was always up early when all I wanted to do was sleep. Oh well. There wasn't anything I could do about it.

"Hi McKenna," Noah said. He was sitting in front of the TV playing the Super Mario Galaxy game he had gotten for his birthday.

"Hey Noah," I said. I tossed my backpack onto the floor. I didn't have any homework since I had finished all of it during lunch.

Noah kept playing. "McKenna! Can you help me with this level? It would be way easier with two players."

"I don't know how to play," I said. It was true. I would probably make things even harder for him. Besides, I didn't want to play.

"It's not that hard," Noah said. "Please?"

"No," I said. I started to head back to my room when I heard a knock on the door. Dad had told me not to answer the door when I was home alone, so I didn't. After a few knocks, Shonali opened the door.

"Hi Shonali," I said. I looked down at Brooklyn. "Hey Brooklyn."

"Kenna!" she shouted. It was the closest she could get to actually learning my name. "I brought my dolls," she said, showing me the dolls that she brought.

"Cool," I said, even though I honestly didn't care. Brooklyn was so easy to please though. I could do practically anything, and she would be happy.

"Where's your dad?" Shonali asked.

"He's still at work," I said.

Noah briefly looked up from his game. "Shonali?" he said.

"Yes, Noah?"

"Are you...you know...Dad's girlfriend?" Well, that was a question we had all been wondering.

Shonali smirked. "You'll have to ask your dad on that one, Noah."

I wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but I took it as a yes. So that was why Shonali had been around so much lately. Honestly, I didn't care that much about Dad's love life though. At least Shonali was nice. I went back to my room. What I needed now was to just relax. I had been telling myself that a lot lately. Just relax, McKenna. Just relax.