The bell rang just as I sat down in my normal seat in History. "All right, students, take out your essays," Mr. Gray droned. I pulled out the papers from my binder and handed them to him as he came around. "Today, we will be discussing..." I started to take notes.
Two blocks later and it was time for lunch. Alice met me at my locker, and we headed down to the lunch room. As I rounded the corner into the cafeteria, something hit my foot and I tripped, sprawling onto the ground. I looked up to see Rochelle standing there, smirking. "Watch where you're going, Penis." I got up, brushed myself off, and went to sit at my table. "I'll kill Rochelle for you," Alice said. I chuckled. "Nah, it's okay." I got my lunch and ate my sandwhich.
I walked into Geometry, dreading what Mrs. Lowe was going to say. "Class, pull out your homework." Mrs. Lowe began to call us up one by one. "Venice," she called. I walked up to her desk. "Where's your homework?" she asked. I shook my head. "Venice, this is the third time in the row you've forgotten. Please join me after class." I felt everyone staring at me as I went back to my seat.
After class, I went up to Mrs. Lowe's desk. "Venice, you're an incredible student. You really are. It's just, you don't get things done in time. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to drop this class and take the normal juniors class." I nodded, tears forming in my eyes. I walked from the room. Luckily, it was the end of the day. I got my backpack and got on the bus. I took out my first generation iPod and put in my earbuds. Music was my only escape. It was my passion, my life. I sang all the time, at school, at home, when I was mowing.
I got off the bus. I had a half hour before I had to bike over to my client's houses to mow. I mowed two lawns a day, unless the weather was bad. My dad was sleeping on the couch. I grabbed an apple, and did some homework. I was determined to do well in all my classes now. Mrs. Lowe would realize she'd made a mistake.
After a while, I hopped on my bike and crossed town. I didn't have my own lawnmower, I used the clients. The client's paid for gas, and I got 20 dollars a lawn mow. It was pretty good money. I rang the doorbell to the Baker's. Mrs. Baker answered the door. "Oh, hello Venice. I'll open the garage door for you." I nodded. Most of the people here at riding lawn mowers. I started mowing, singing at the top of my lungs, knowing that the sound of the motor would drown me out. When I finished, I went to the other house.
It was about 6:30 when I got home. My siblings were all home, and they hadn't eaten yet. We had no food. They all hugged me when I came in the door. "Vennie, we're hungry," my sister, Makenna, who was in first grade, complained. "I know, babes. I'll go get some food as soon as Mom gets home." That meant that I would be up until 11:00, since Mom didn't get home until 10. I sat down at the table to finish my homework. My other sister, Kaitlyn, who was in eighth grade, sat next to me. "I got a job," she said. I glanced up at her. "That's good. What is it?" I asked. "Babysitting. Every day after school I'm going to ride the bus to their house and stay until 6. Mrs. Kuiper will drive me home." I smiled at her. "That's great," I said, and leaned over to hug her. Kaitlyn and I were closest out of the siblings. I had always gotten along well with all of my siblings, but Kaitlyn the most.
Only Kaitlyn and I were awake when our mom came home. Dad had woken up, and stormed away somewhere. We didn't ask. "Can I borrow the car? We need groceries." Mom just nodded, and went into her room. Our mom loved us, but it was just hard. I hugged Kaitlyn and said, "Maybe you should go to bed." Kaitlyn shook her head. "I'll wait until you get back." I nodded and went out into the driveway and got into our beaten up station wagon.
The grocery store was nearly empty. Luckily, it stayed open until 11:00. I had about 50 dollars for groceries. I rarely bought anything for myself with the money I earned. It was always for my family. I picked up some pasta, crackers, bread. The deli was closed, so I picked up some pre packaged meat. After getting enough groceries, I checked out and drove home. Kaitlyn was asleep with her head until the table. I roused her and she went into our room. I put all the groceries away. My brother's door was open, so I went in and checked on them. Landon was in second grade, Jason fourth, and Mark in sixth. I closed the door, then went into my own room. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.
A/N: The song to the right is what I play pretty much the whole time when I'm writing this song. It just explain's Venice situation to me!
