I Promise

Chapter 2

"Can we get popcorn at the movie?" I ask, bouncing in my seat with excitement.

"Ya sure. Anything else you want, Maggie?" My Dad asks me from the front seat.

"Iced tea?" 

"Sure. Anything you want."

We sit in silence. I'm so excited for this movie. about five minutes away from the theater, I hear Mom scream. Then Dad. I don't realize what's happening until I hear the crash.

I sit up in a cold sweat, shaking. Max is on the bed beside me, who was trying to wake me up. Mom Alex and Zach are outside the door with angry faces. 

"Maggie?" Max whispers as Mom Alex and Zach head back to sleep. I look over at the clock. 3am. Great. I woke everyone up.

"Sorry, Max. Go back to bed. I'm fine."

"Okay." Max gets out of my bed, Picks up his bunny and walks out the door. I don't try to sleep at all for the rest of the night. Just thinking.

Beep. Beep.

Somehow I must have fallen asleep. I climb out of bed and walk over to my dresser. I pull out my dark blue jeans and my light gray shirt and I walk over to the bathroom. I pull my long auburn hair into  half-up half-down. I head downstairs, and start to make sme toast.

"Hey! Stop!" I hear Alex yelling.

"That's my car!" Zach. What are they doing awake? I walk into the other room and I see them fighting over a blue car. 

"Guys! It's 6:45! What are you doing up to early?" I ask, a little angry. If they wake up this early, they get to be so annoying in the afternoon, which is not what I need today.

"We wanted to play cars!" Zach complains as he yanks the car out of Alex's hands. 

"Go back to bed. Mom's going to wake you up at 7:45."

"Fine..." They walk up the stairs, stomping louder at each step.

"Max is sleeping! Shhh!" I snap. I go back over to the kitchen, and the toast is burnt. Great. At least it didn't catch fire. I put in some new bread and throw out the old ones. Do I really have to go to school? Could I just not show up? It would make everything easier. Then again, it wouldn't because the school would call Mom and they would ask why I wasn't there and Mom would have to leave work and she would yell. I dismiss the thought as I eat my breakfast. It's 7:45, so I run upstairs to wake the boys. I knock on Zach and Alex's door. They weren't sleeping. They were playing with the trains they kept in their room.

"Time to get ready" And they start to put the trains back as Mom walks into their room to help them. While she helps them, I go to get Max. 

"Hey Max, time to get up." I whisper into his room. He stirs, then looks up at me.

"Okay Maggie." I walk in and set out his clothes for him. He gets himself dressed as I go to brush my teeth. When I'm done I head downstairs and make a peanut butter and jam sandwich for Max.  I play on my phone until Max walks down.

"I'm so excited to start school!" Max comes bounding down the stairs.

"That's good." I'm not, so it's good to see him happy. It's time for me to head out, so I give Max a hug, grab my bag and walk out. 

"Bye Maggie!" Max waves from the door as I walk down the street to the sidewalk. I get to the bus stop and there's a new kid. He's tall and has dark brown hair.

"Hey, I'm Carter." He says to me.

"Maggie." I mutter, and that's the end of our conversation. At least, until we get onto the bus.

"Hey look, the new kid is sitting with Maggie! Does he not realize she's a complete idiot? May whispers to her friend Anna, just loud enough so we can hear.

"What's her problem?" He asks me.

"Every single person in the school thinks I'm stupid." I state, and then we're silent for the rest of the ride to school. I get off the bus and head straight for my first class

                                                                                         ***

At lunch, I head into the line for food with my head down. Spaghetti and meatballs. I walk over to my usual table, but I don't make it all the way there without bumping into May and Anna. They Bump into me so hard I drop my food on the floor. Great. I only brought money for one lunch. As May and Anna laugh, Carter walks into the cafeteria and sees what happened. 

"What's your problem? Seriously." He says confidently, but May and Anna ignore him and walk away. I pick up the fallen water bottle and walk over to my table.

"Thanks." I mutter to him as he walks with me to the table. 

"We can share my lunch if you want." He offers. I'm not really that hungry anyways, so I say no.

"Why do they bully you like that? He asks me. Because my parents died and now I'm depressed and get bad marks so they just feel like making me feel even worse.

"I don't know." I lie. My eyes start watering up.

"You want to talk about it?" He asks me. I think he really cares. I think I can trust him.

"Not here."

"You want to go on a walk after school and you can talk then?" He suggests.

" I guess."

"Okay. Meet me at the front of the school at the end of the day." He says. The bell rings, we say goodbye, and we head to our next class. I'm going to spill my guts to a stranger. 

                                                                                                ***

I head to the front of the school, and Carter's waiting for me. We start to walk, and I think he's heading for the little park near the woods. When we get there, we sit down on the swing.

"Ready?" He asks me. 

I take a deep, shaky breath, and start to tell him the story that I have kept hidden since I was 13.