Enemy

No, I'm Not Alright.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my doorbell. I figured no one was up, so I went downstairs to check who was out. It was Mara Melanie herself standing outside my door with her crew. "No talking about Dad," I told myself before I opened the door. "Miss Meadows, have you seen your Dad recently?" Mara asked. Of course that was her first question. No "Good morning.", or "How are you?". Just straight to the point. "Good morning, Ms. Melanie," I said. "Come back at a later time, please." I politely slammed the door in her face. Knowing, Mara Melanie, she wasn't going to give up so quickly. I heard yet again, another ring and Mara pleading for me to come out and speak. I just ignored her. I have places to be. Like school. I dressed in my red and brown skirt and vest. Arlord Academy has no space for play. I woke my Mom up as Chris ate some cereal downstairs. "Mom!" I said as I shook her awake. "There's an angry mob of reporters outside our door, and Chris and I need to get to school." Mom sat up. "I'm coming. You and Chris just get your bags." She said. I nodded and left. 

Chris and I sat in the Benz waiting for Mom. She finally came out and into the car about 10 minutes later. She sped out of the driveway. Just quick enough for the reporters to see. She dropped us off and we got inside. Arlord is a school for the kids of superstars such as Yale Carver, Christina Lloyd, and Arabella Fortune. Chris and I stepped into the hall. Kids shuffled around opening lockers and grabbing egg sandwiches. Chris and I separated. "Yo, Tyler!" Chris said as he dapped up one of his friends. I grabbed an egg sandwich with tomatoes and onions and put my stuff in my locker. I met up with my best friend, Havyn Torres. "Hey!" She said. I waved. "I was looking for you last night! Your Dad got the Grammy! Can you believe it?" Her Louis purse jingled. I shook my head. "Oh. Well, where's your bag? We were supposed to match." Oh, shoot. I had forgotten that Havyn and I had agreed to match with our silver bags on Friday. "I forgot," I said. She poked me with her elbow. "You alright?" Havyn asked. I shrugged. "Fine." She would've asked more if the bell didn't ring. "See you in 2nd period?" She asked. I nodded. "2nd period." 

I got to my first-period class. English. I'm more of a math girl. Ms. Anya, my teacher started to explain the R.A.C.E.S method. Restate, answer, cite, explain, summarize. Just then, there was a banging on the window. Ms. Anya opened the blinds to see Mara Melanie and her crew. "Not again." I wailed. I shrank down in my seat. Ms. Anya called the office. "There's a crazy mob of reporters out here! Can you call security?" She asked. "Will do." The secretary, Mr. Jones said. Soon, our security guard Mr. Crawford led the reporters out. "Now, let's get on with our lesson." She said playfully. "Take out your notebooks." I was too scared to do anything. How could the reporters follow me here? "Meadows? Are you doing alright?" I shook my head. "Can I, can I see the counselor?" I asked. Ms. Anya shook her head. "You know I'm not allowed to send you unless it's serious." I stood. "It is serious." Ms. Anya wrote me a pass and I ran out of the class. I could hear murmurs coming from behind me. I barged into the counselor's office. "Meadows? Sit down." Ms. Ellis handed me a fidget, and I handed her the pass. "Are you alright, Meadows?" I gripped the fidget tightly. Then I let my feelings out. "No! I'm not alright! Everyone keeps asking me how I'm doing. But how am I supposed to feel alright when my Dad won his 1st Grammy and wasn't there to receive it? How am I supposed to feel alright when I don't even know where my Dad went? So to answer your question, no! I'm not alright!" I yelled. I felt bad for Ms. Ellis. She didn't deserve to be yelled at like that. "Meadows, calm down. Sit please." She said. I hadn't even realized that I stood up. She took her pen from behind her ear and opened her notepad. "Explain the situation to me, please," I explained to her, and the whole time she kept nodding like she understood how I felt. "Well, Meadow. I've had lots of situations like these. This is perfectly normal. You'll be fine. I bet that once you get home your Dad will be waiting patiently for you." Lots of situations like these? My case wasn't "normal". Where could my Dad possibly be? I got up. "You don't understand. No one does." I left. I didn't feel like going back to my first-period class. Or even going outside for fear that the reporters would find me again. "Your Dad will be waiting patiently for you." Ms. Ellis had said. That couldn't be true. I ran to my locker and grabbed my phone. I scrambled a text to my Mom. Pick me up. Now.