Shining Star

Chapter 2

In the first few days, I had the feeling that I had imagined everything to be worse than it ended up being. For the first time in a long time, there was a harmonious atmosphere in the house for several days at a time. The weeks and months before were shaped by arguments. There was rarely a day when the once family harmony came back into view. Grandma avoided me from the start, which made this situation possible in the first place. And it didn't look like anything could spoil the mood. Grandpa did a lot with me and showed me around. I enjoyed spending time with him. We laughed a lot together. He even let me drive his pick-up truck. When I was at home, I would often sit in my room and listen to music or play the guitar. Mom would often come into my room and join me. Especially when I was playing the guitar. She really liked just sitting there and watching me play. Towards the evening, I spoke to Matthew on the phone as usual. It was supposed to become a routine of mine. Everything seemed too unreal. Until my first day at my new school came. I was very nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I was scared of what might happen. I didn't have the best experiences when it came to school and classmates.

Most of the teachers I had were okay. Of course there were teachers who didn't like me for some reason, but fortunately there weren't many. My mother took me to school that day. She was in a really good mood. I hadn't seen her in such a good mood for a long time. She was chatting away, as she always did when she was in a good mood. I, on the other hand, sat silently in the passenger seat and spent most of the time looking out of the window. When we arrived at the school, which was smaller than my last one, I was about to get out of the car when my mother stopped me.

"Hey Robin, have a good day at school. I hope you settle in quickly and make new friends."

I looked at her. I wasn't particularly convinced. Inside, I was dreading this day. It would be the first day without Matthew by my side. He had always made me feel safe and he seemed to be one of the only people who ever accepted me. There were very few people with whom I had formed a closer bond and he was one of them. Besides Matthew, there were only two other people who were very close to me and both of them were in an unreachable distance for me. Two years ago, my best friend Laura and her family moved to Italy and left the USA. Just a year later, my other best friend Joelle also left the USA and moved to Germany. Matthew was the only one I had left here in the USA. Of course, I was still in contact with my other best friends, even though it wasn't particularly easy. Partly because of the time difference. But somehow we managed it. We often talked about coming to visit each other. That the day would come when we would be in each other's arms again. But let's be honest, as long as neither of us earned any money, that was very unlikely. After Laura and Joelle left, I tried to make new friends, but for some reason I was never able to. I was always an outsider and firmly believed that this fact would never change.

I also didn't particularly like school. It certainly wasn't because of my grades. I never had to do much to get good grades. I always felt very sorry to see others having to work hard to get a passable grade while I hardly put in any effort and got very good grades. I talked to my father about it once. He just said that I shouldn't worry about it. There are more intelligent people and few more intelligent people. Not everyone could be as good at school as I was. I always disliked my father's arrogant manner. His arrogance often went to his head, and I was often ashamed of it. I know myself that I didn't fall on my head, but I preferred not to make a big deal of it and brag about it. Why should I? I couldn't continue my thoughts because my mother brought me back to reality.

"Come on, Robin. I know you miss Matthew and your old school, but please give the new school and your new classmates a chance. Do it for my sake."

I nodded silently before she started talking again.

"Good, and please give me a smile. I don't like it when my little girl looks sad. You know I'm very proud of you."

She often managed to make me feel better and happier for a brief moment, and that day was no exception. A smile appeared on my face.