“Bye Belle, love you” James Anderson said as he kissed his daughter’s frizzy curly head of hair. “Bye Dad”, Annabelle said back. Annabelle Lily Anderson sighed as her dad ran out the door, running late to his job, as always. Annabelle never liked Tuesdays. Even when she was little, she always seemed to be in a bad mood on Tuesdays. With a glance at the time, she grabbed her backpack off the floor. Running out the front door and briefly stopping to lock it, she jumped onto the bus right before it drove away.
“Annabelle, what is the square root of 256?”, asked Ms. Alice, the 7th grade teacher at Jackson Middle School. Sixteen, duh. I learned this in 5th grade., Annabelle thought. “Umm...19?”, she said, trying to look as serious as possible. “I’m sorry, Ms. Alice replied, the answer is 16. Next time you can use a calculator Annabelle.” “You’re so stupid! You never get any questions right!” retorted Clarissa,“The answer was obviously 16.” Annabelle inwardly groaned.
Clarissa Rodgers. The name alone made Annabelle cringe. Clarissa had been bullying Annabelle ever since 5th grade. All because Annabelle was smarter and more popular than her. Back then, Annabelle was the top scorer in any and everything academically related. That is, until Clarissa came. Clarissa was a spoiled, stuck up, mean little brat, and everything Clarissa wanted, she got. What she wanted, was popularity, and Annabelle had it. Annabelle was the smartest girl in her class, and everybody liked her. Until one day, when Clarissa asked, no, demanded, her for her popularity. Annabelle wasn’t afraid. She knew Clarissa couldn’t hurt her, until Clarissa found out her secret.
Every day, Clarissa’s fathers went to work before Clarissa went to school, and came home at about midnight. State laws require for children under 14 to be supervised at all times when at home. Annabelle’s mother had died when she was about 8, so she was alone all day. She has been staying home alone since 5th grade. Clarissa had discovered this one day when she was dropping Annabelle’s backpack off at her house, and said she was going to tell an adult. If she did, it would force Annabelle to be separated from her father, and live with another family. “I can take care of myself,” Annabelle had told Clarissa calmly, showing her to the door. After that day, Annabelle knew that she had to protect her secret. Her father. Her family.
So here she was, in math class, listening to Clarissa giving all the right answers, while she was pretending to be someone who she wasn’t. If her mom was still alive...everything would be different. When her mother was alive, she was a genius. Every word that came out of her mouth was “absolutely brilliant” as her father always says. “Lillian Mae Anderson,” Annabelle whispered her mother’s name as she fingered the gold heart locket she wore on a chain around her neck. Inside was a picture of her, and her parents, and she vowed to treasure it forever.
Annabelle glanced at the clock on the wall. 2:55 p.m. She sighed with relief, only five minutes left of school. “Okay class, listen up, the videography team will be meeting immediately after school,” Ms. Alice announced, “And the mathletics team as well. We will be starting a new theme in videography, for those who still want to join, we will be doing a documentary of middle school kids.” Annabelle didn’t know much about videography, except for the fact that Samuel Collins was the president. Samuel Collins was a smart, quiet guy who was kind of like Annabelle. He didn’t speak much, and enjoyed math. Briiiiiiiiing! The bell rang loudly, as kids jumped out of their seats and ran out the door in absolute madness. Annabelle waited until the chaos settled a little bit, and with a brief “Bye Ms. Alice”, she was out the door. She walked towards the room where the math and science teams practiced, glanced over her shoulder to see if anyone was watching, and sprinted the opposite direction, pushing open a door with four bold, bright, letters spelling EXIT.
“...And I will always be forever yours,” Annabelle sang, trying to find the right tune for a new song she was working on. She dropped her pad and pencil, and leaned her head back against a tall, sturdy oak tree. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply the fresh forest air. She was in the woods behind her school, in a special place she liked to call her own. Annabelle came here every Tuesday, when her dad thought she was in mathletics practice. He didn’t know she wasn’t doing it, and Annabelle was afraid to tell him. She didn’t want him to be disappointed that she wasn’t proud of her talents, or using them like her mother did. The truth was, she was proud of her intelligence, but she wouldn’t use it now. She couldn’t use it now. Annabelle would sacrifice anything to be with her father. She had already lost one parent. Isn’t one loss enough? With a glance at her watch she opened her eyes, gathered her school books and supplies, and headed back to the school.
