Home is where your Heart is

Adjusting

     I returned home in time to take a shower, dress in a nice top and skirt and eat breakfast. I grabbed the lunch my mom made for me, stuffed it into my backpack and got into the car. My little sister Jamie reluctantly climbed in next to me and complained the whole way to the high school, scared of starting her first day at a new school a couple weeks in.

Dad and I got out and Mom blew us a kiss before driving off to take Jamie to the elementary school. "Are you ready?" Dad asked me. I sighed and nodded. He chuckled and we went into the school together.

I went off on my own to find my locker and my classes. Thankfully, they weren't that hard to find. I wouldn't spend a good portion of my first day lost. I was just putting my backpack in my locker and taking out what I needed for my first class when Thomas and two other boys came running into the school. All three of them looked dirty and sweaty from the few hours they spent working in the fields and then the three miles they had to run to get to school. Thomas caught my eye and gave me a friendly nod. I smiled in return.

Throughout the day, we didn't see much of each other. We passed each other in the halls and we had one class with each other, but that was about it. However, it was enough for me to see that at school his friendliness quickly vanished and it didn't take me long to figure out why. The other kids spoke to each other mostly in Spanish. I had taken Spanish as a language class at my old middle school and high school so although I wasn't very fluent, I understood enough to hear the rumors that were flying around. Apparently Thomas' younger sister, Lola, had gotten pregnant. Thomas was very protective of her. First period had barely even started when one kid called Lola a whore. Thomas went off and attacked him. He was promptly sent to the office and returned ten minutes later still fuming, his eyes dark with the same troubles I guessed was plaguing him earlier that morning that drew his focus and caused him to run into me.

I felt sorry for them and wished there was something I could do to help them, but I was a stranger and the situation was a sensitive one. I especially connected with Lola. I met her before I realized she was Thomas' sister. She was a sweet girl. She was kind and generous and went out of her way to make me feel like I belonged. I was included in conversations with her friends which included Sonia Rosaldo, granddaughter of Sammy Rosaldo who owned McFarland's corner store. Lola also invited me to sit with her at lunch. She definitely didn't deserve the nasty things that were said about her behind her back. I was grateful for her friendship, but it also hurt because I understood what she was going through and it reopened scars that had only just healed.

At the end of the day when Mom picked me up and asked how my day had been, I told her it was good which was the truth. My teachers were nice and I gained a few friends on my first day. I didn't tell her about Lola. I didn't want to have to answer the questions I knew would follow about how I was dealing with the memories and the feelings that Lola's problem might have made resurface.

For the next few days things went on basically the same way as the first day. I went on my run and if Thomas and I crossed paths he would wave, but he didn't stop again. Then I would go to school, Thomas and his friends would arrive just in time and school was school. Strangely enough I found myself looking for Thomas all the time. I was hopeful when I went out running that he would stop and talk. When passing in the hallways I hoped he would catch my eye. Sometimes I wondered whether he noticed me at all. Then I would kick myself realizing I was turning into that silly girl I swore I would never become.

But then one day when he and his friends were running into the school laughing and goofing off, one of the boys bumped into me while passing and my notebook and history textbook were knocked out of my arms. Before I could crouch down in my summer dress and wedge sandals, Thomas was there picking my stuff off the floor for me.

"Is there something about you boys never watching where you're going or am I always in the wrong place at the wrong time?" I joked as I gratefully took back my things.

"I think it is you." he replied teasingly.

I felt a blush creep into my cheeks as I said, "Gracias,"

He chuckled. "Your welcome," My heart fluttered as he flashed a smile and headed off to class. Even with my resolve to not act so ridiculous whenever Thomas was around, I couldn't stop the stupid reactions to him being near. I still felt nervous and my heart still did that infuriating fluttery thing. I barely knew him! It didn't seem to matter.

After school that same day, Dad was driving me and Jamie home. We were on a straight dirt road and beside us was open land. A boy was running, kicking up dust from the dry dirt. He was going just as fast as the car. "Do you know who that kid is?" Dad asked me curiously.

"Yeah, that's Thomas Valles." The sun was at an angle in the sky that cast him in shadow and he was some distance away from us, but I knew it was him.

"What do you know about him?"

"Nothing,"

"You like him!" Jamie piped up from the back.

"No I don't." I said a little too defensively.

"She likes him. Go closer."

I shrank a little in my seat. "No, Dad, don't." After a few minutes of awkward silence I asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I'm sure you heard that I am no longer the football coach." I nodded. "All I am doing now is teaching Life Science and gym. I would like to be involved in some kind of sport again so I was thinking I could start a Cross Country team."

"Really?" I was really excited about the idea. I always wanted to run for the Cross Country team at my last school, but for some reason I never did.

"Yeah, I mean, why not? These kids wake up early and run to work in the fields, then they run to school and then they run back to the fields. There are kids just like Thomas Valles who seem like they could run forever. What do you think? Do you think a Cross Country team would be a good idea?"

"Yes, do it!"

Dad laughed. "Okay, I will. I just need to get permission from the Principal first."