Firsts

First Friend

After gym class, a few of the popular girls sashay up to Julia and I. "Hey," one says in a completely unamused voice. "I'm Amber. You're, like, a total dodgeball ninja."

"We're just, like, inviting you to, like, have lunch with us," another girl adds, also a monotonous robot.

"Yeah," the third squeaks.

Julia frowns, her head hanging low. I look over at her and smirk.

"Actually, I already have a friend to eat with. Her name's Julia."

"Oh," the first girl, Amber says. With that, she, the other robot, and the squeaky pixie saunter off. Julia grins at me and I smile back.

"Wanna get some lunch?" she asks, once again chipper and chatty.

I nod and she starts in on a conversation. On the way to the cafeteria, she asks me a question I was not prepared for, but I had to know it would come up eventually.

"So, why weren't you allowed to leave the house?" When she sees my face, she adds, "Not to pry or anything."

I sigh, but start in on my story.

"When my mom was twenty two, she thought she had found the love of her life. They dated for two years, but when she was twenty four, she got pregnant. The night after she told my dad, he left in the middle of the night, only leaving twelve bucks and half a carton of milk. She always swore she would make sure I didn't grow up naive and impressionable like her. Everything was fine until one day, when I was four, my best friend convinced me to swallow a worm." I gulp, hearing her voice in my head as I tell the story.

"It was then she realized that I was just as naive and impressionable as she was, so she took it upon herself to keep me in the house for my own protection. That's why she kept me locked away. She wasn't cruel or horrible or anything. It was necessary, for my own good."

Julia scoffed. "I can't believe she's got you believing that load of crap! Man, she was right about you! You are impressionable! I mean, come on. She's your mom! She's supposed to raise you up and help you when life get's tough, not lock you away forever."

I flush and want to get defensive, but some part of me knows she's right. Instead, I just follow her.

"What class do we have next?" I ask

"Well, I don't know about you," she says grabbing my schedule. "But I have Drama." She eyes my schedule, a huge smile spilling across her face. She grabs my arm and pulls me toward a large, wooden door, and I enter the room with my new friend and lunch buddie, Julia.