My Summer Trip...

Chapter 1

"Well, Dad I'm going to Mom's place already, bye", a girl with brown thick hair came out to say her farewells to her father who she was going away from temporary. You see this girl's parents got divorced years ago so she's somewhat used to being at her father's place only. She has never really visited her mother's place since she was an awful person who smoked everyday, apparently she was in rehab and had just recovered so this was about the time that she called her daughter who she rarely even knew existed to come stay over for the summer. This girl is Gretchen, Gretchen Owens.

"Why am I forced to see a woman i barely even know anymore?", Gretchen asked her father through her cellular phone. She was on her way to California from Nevada. Nevada was her hometown, where she grew up for the most part. Although she was in California for some time before her parents divorced. "Because, it's important for you to go see your mother! She just got out from rehab and she's a mature woman now!", her dad screamed through the phone almost killing her. "Alright, alright I guess i do need to see her, bye", she clicked on the phone and ended the call.

Gretchen arrived after long hours of torture on taxi. She had a phobia of heights and was extremely scared of airplanes. She thought she might die in a plane crash like in movies She noticed the neighborhood was a little on the poor side, well it is to be expected from her mother. "Woah, this place looks kind of worn down", Gretchen told herself while getting off the car and paying the guy shortly after. There was kids playing around in the streets and some other ones riding bikes while teenagers hung out in their porches talking. There was not much to say about the place, it looked dirty, messy and the houses could use some renovations, a lot.

She walked over to the house with the same number on a paper she wrote down while talking to her mother over the phone. "Guess this is it..", she knocked on the door and waited patiently. She heard some footsteps and some people hollering something, then more footsteps were heard. The door opened and a boy appeared and chuckled. "Oh I see..let me head out just wait a sec", he closed the door and Gretchen heard everything that was going on inside the tiny house. "Hey man another girl? What she came here to confess? What! I don't get that much love man, you're so lucky!", apparently a teenage boy was heard laughing. While the other laughed too. "Yeah I know they just can't get enough of this", another boy was heard.

They really need to get some new walls or something, because I just heard everything and that was not cool at all! Is this even mom's house?, Gretchen thought irritated by the boys' conversation. Then she heard footsteps coming closer, the door opened again and this time the boy had his shoes on. He stepped outside onto the porch and smiled. "Okay, you see I'm not intereste-", Gretchen got angry this time and laughed. "Gee really? You think you're so good huh? Well I wasn't here for you, is there a lady here by the name of Isa?", she said keeping calm and relaxing her facial expressions. The boy was surprised. "Oh, that explains a lot, yeah she lives next door not here, I'm her neighbor Alex", he reached out for Gretchen's hand but she threw him off and thanked him instead."Thanks, and don't get too cocky next time", she said taking her leave.

This time Gretchen knocked on the off-white colored house. This time her mom opened the door and hugged her tightly. "Hey I'm so glad you're here!" Her mother said embracing her. "Yeah, it's nice...", Gretchen lied the house smelled a bit like cigarettes and wet wood and she wasn't used to her mom being around so she didn't really know her too well. "Take a seat honey make yourself at home go unpack upstairs", her mother said clasping her hands together. Gretchen did as she was told and went upstairs to the guest room. Thank God she had at least two rooms!, she thought to herself happily. She unpacked her clothes, mostly fashion designers, and her picture of God, The Virgin, and some Saints. She was a true catholic and loved her religion so much. "Dinners here!", her mom hollered from downstairs. Gretchen thought about it and didn't know whether to holler back or just go downstairs to eat. She decided to just go downstairs

Gretchen grabbed a slice of pizza and ate along with her mother. She wondered how she got the money to even pay for it, more over her whole house. It wasn't so bad to stay over at her mom's place. Sure the neighborhood was dirty, some neighbor was a bit annoying, and her mom's house was not decent but she was getting along with her mom. She wasn't as bad as before and this might just be the beginning of a new friendship.

The next morning Gretchen woke up to the sound of her mom knocking on her door. Some stuff were still left in boxes and some were left on the floor waiting to be organized. "Come in", she said yawning. It was eight in the morning. Why this early?, she thought. Her mom opened the door and sat down on the bed beside her. "Do you want to come with me to summer classes?", Gretchen looked at her mother confused. She was still barely finishing high school?, Gretchen thought to herself. "Um sure and I'll clean this up later..", this was a good time to bond with her mother.

"Alright lets go", her mother closed the door from the house and locked it. "So how long is it from here to there?", Gretchen asked following her mom's direction. "Well it's just around the corner you'll see", Gretchen was confused, what does she mean by 'just around the corner'? It turned out that 'just around the corner' actually meant a block away. "I'm so tired but we're finally here!", Gretchen said huffing and leaning down to catch her breath. She never knew walking this much could kill her. She usually went to stores and school by car, the easy way.

Gretchen and her mom arrived at Greentown's High School. It was just a decent size for about one thousand teenagers to fit in there. Back in her school there was about a total of five thousand teenagers. They went inside and went to a portable classroom with a sign saying 'Summer School Teaching DO NOT DISTURB'. The classroom was populated by about twenty students some adults and some teenagers. "I'll just wait outside..", Gretchen said nervously. Her mom looked sad, "Why?" Gretchen looked for an excuse and found one. "Because I don't want to be a disturbance you know..", then her mother agreed and let her go out.

A couple of boys passed by and were talking about some kind of practice for a sport. At that time Gretchen needed to go to the bathroom but she couldn't find one any bathroom near. She walked around the school and finally found one probably behind the gym. She went into one of the stalls and rinsed her hands afterwards. When Gretchen came out she noticed the same boys walking around the school. She was actually afraid of them since they looked like trouble makers. She past right by them and they snickered.

Hey wait a minute it's that guy who's my mom's neighbor, she thought. She also noticed that they were laughing at her. She ignored them and went back to the portable to wait outside. It was about that time that she noticed she had some toilet paper stuck to her waist it was about seven inches long. Crap! That was embarrassing, she thought with a red face printed on. Now he would notice her only because of this incident and laugh every single time he sees her..."This is just great, I hope this ends soon..", she said with a sour face on.