Filmed [complete]

Covers

Today. Today was the day that the newspaper was going to come out. Whales did not tell me who got the front cover, neither did she tell Riley. A couple of the people on staff knew who got the cover, but they would not tell any of us until the yearbook staff passed them out during first period.

Whales told me to stay home so I could not see who was on the cover until I got to school. She told Riley the same thing. She also told us that if she saw any of us during the first half of the period, she would give us a zero as a test grade on a random quiz (we never do quizzes in class, we just call them quizzes when they are actually just grades for working on something).

Alice and Laura left, taking Oliver with them so that they could drop him off at school. Mom and dad left right after them, leaving me alone in the house. Letting me ponder and wonder if I had got the front cover.

If I got the front cover, I had bragging rights with the entire school. A first time writer getting on the cover. Colleges are going to love that. Even though applications were already due a few weeks ago... I will let them know what happened some way or another.

I stayed down at my pajamas, picking at a stray string.

There was absolutely nothing for me to do in the house except for wait for Whales to text me that I could come in.

I grabbed my phone and went through my messages until I found Evan. Are you in class?

He replied back almost immediately. You shouldn't be texting me, school has started. I could get my phone taken up and then I would have to pay $15.

Then why are you texting me?

Evan: Because I know how nervous you are right now. He sent me another text message. Have you heard if you got your story on the cover yet?

Nope. And I am not suppose to found out who got the cover until I actually get to school.

Evan: Do you know what the other girl wrote about?

I don't know anything about her story. Wait a minute, don't you have a test this period?

Evan: I do, but the teacher decided to not give us a test without a a few minutes of studying.

You should be studying.

Evan: And you shouldn't be worrying about the article. Just relax, you got this in the bag.

I'll leave you alone so you can go study. Good luck.

Evan: You too.

I now had nothing to do. The anticipation for waiting to see if I got the cover is killing me. What am I suppose to do?

Taking my camera off of my desk, I opened up the window and stared outside, trying to take my mind off of the article. The only thing that was interesting was the oak tree that I spent most of my time climbing through the limbs to get to the other side.

I raised the camera up to my eyes and began to photograph the tree. One day, when I live out on my own with my own kids and a job, I would want to remember this tree. The tree where I would escape my house and go to someone who I cared about. Sneaking out at night, using the front door to get to another place that almost ruined my brother's life.

I want to remember my first love. Who knows how much longer I have l left here; spending time with my family and friends. I want to remember the good times, because all we ever focus on are the bad memories. I want to be able to remember the times where I could forget life a little bit and experience the life of a teenager. A teenager with a perfect social life, grades, and friends. I missed the times where the hardest thing to do was how to spell pandemonium. Now the hardest thing to do is getting enough sleep, keeping up with a job, and maintaining grades. Life is not what I remember what it used to be, and I just want to remember the meaningful parts of life.