I wasn't planning on updating this story again, it's actually more of a rough draft of "Evacuated" but I realize I had 1900 words of a finished chapter unpublished so I decided just to publish it. It isn't much but I see no point in leaving it drafted. Read it if you want, again, it's not that good. It's just a less-advanced version of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" on Evacuated. So I'd suggest reading that instead if you haven't already.
10 years young, adventurous, free-spirited, a believer, determined, helpful, encouraging, open-minded, sweet, different and misunderstood. I spent the first ten years of my life in Arlington, Virginia in a fairly large house with my wonderful and supportive parents, Bill and Judy Burke. They're writers, they write fiction. They work from home, spend a lot of time writing. They hardly notice anything that happens when they're in the middle of writing a book. People said my writing had potential as well. And maybe it does, maybe I do. But all I'm trying to do is make it through the 5th grade.
I attended Goodman Elementary School, the second highest rated school in Arlington. It was top-notch, good, no great grades were forced, horsing around was unacceptable and rules were highly enforced. Or so they said. That was the motto of the school. The students were mean, cruel and teachers did nothing about it. I wasn't one of those kids to just follow the crowd, do what everyone else was doing because everyone else was doing it. I had my own sense of style, the way I wore my hair, the things I did at recess, the way I did absolutely anything was against that of everyone else, who blindly jumped on the bandwagon train by first grade. People thought I was weird and too different and at Goodman Elementary, weird and different was defined as unpopular and unaccepted, isolated. So there I was, alone most of my days. I didn't have any siblings to play with at home, parents were always writing, so I spent most of my time alone. Which I didn't mind, I preferred it, actually. I would much rather have my nose in a good book than selling candy for twice what you paid for on the corner of the playground like the other kids did.
From kindergarten to the fifth grade, that's what life was like. I had troubles getting into a group for assignments, had no partner to skip rope with in gym class, spent recess off to the side and said hardly nothing at all during class time.
That all changed the day my parents claimed we were moving across the country to Lark Creek, Virginia. The reason we moved wasn't very valid in itself. My parents decided they wanted to think about what's important and free themselves from such an urban environment by buying a farm in a town that was so small I had never even heard of it beforehand. I knew of Virginia, but didn't know there was a town called Lark Creek, until then. I didn't mind the move, I actually supported my parents, I didn't have much to stay in Arlington for anyway.
It was the beginning of the school year, only days past the first day of school when we flew to Virginia. We arrived on our farm in the middle of the night. The house looked a little creepy in the dark, but I attempted to reassure myself that It'd look more lively in the morning. My dad set my bed up in a small room upstairs and filled it with boxes of my stuff we'd unload tomorrow after school. It was nearly two in the morning when I finally got to sleep. The next morning, I woke up and completely forgot where I was. I lifted my head, blinking rapidly to adjust my eyesight to figure out where I was. Then everything came back when I decided to get up. I opened several boxes before I found the one with my clothes in it. I pulled out my light purple rock band t-shirt and brown jeans as well as my dark green sweater I threw on top. I glanced at myself in the mirror, played with my short blond hair a bit before tripping down the stairs.
"Morning sunshine" my dad smiled, setting freshly baked pancakes on the chair in front of me. I flashed him a tired smile and sat down, immediately jabbing the pancakes with my fork and stuffing them in my mouth. "You all ready for your first day at Lark Creek Elementary?" My mom asked, slowly sipping her coffee. I nodded as I choked on my food. "Yeah" I finally spoke after I had finished gagging. "Will I be taking the bus?" I asked, peering outside the front door. "Yes, but we're gonna take you in today. You'll ride the bus home" My dad explained. I smiled as I glanced out the window and saw a small brown-haired girl, maybe six or seven, hopping on the bus. I glanced in the direction she came from and saw a smaller house than ours, with an old truck parked next to a greenhouse. I saw a boy about my height, dripping brown hair running as fast as he could while the bus honked several times. I glanced back at my parents to let them know I was ready to go.
When we got there, the buses were already gone, everyone must've been in class already. My dad introduced me and himself at the front office. A dark man greeted us and offered to take me to my class. My parents wished me good luck before leaving. He guided me down the fairly late hallway beige knocking on the door of a classroom with the name "Meyers" above the door. He opened the door and showed me in. "Mrs Meyers, this is Leslie Burke, she will be joining your class" he explained to the tall, slim, older lady standing front and center of the class. "Leslie, welcome to Lark Creek" he smiled before walking out. "Thank you" I responded before facing the class. Everyone was staring at me, most looked disapproved. I glanced over at the boy I saw running to catch the bus earlier and smiled at him faintly, he didn't seem to notice. "You'll just have to sit at my desk until we can find a place to squeeze you in" Mrs Meyers stated. I dropped my bag on the floor, books poured out as the classroom filled with laughter. I felt my face turn beat red as I refilled my backpack. The teacher seemed very strict, she didn't tolerate anything from anyone. The bell wrong for recess and classroom was almost shaking when the kids all pounced from their seats and were out the door before Mrs. Meyers could even try to stop them.
I walked around a bit outside when I saw a bunch of guys from my class lined up at a starting line. This seemed like a regular thing they did, raced to see who was the fastest. I took recognition towards the fact that it was only boys, but doubted that was a rule. I found a spot on the end of the line and prepared myself. "Hey new girl!" I heard a voice from the other side of the line. "This is just for guys!" he yelled. "What's a matter, Hoager? Afraid a girl's gonna beat you?" it was the boy I saw earlier. I smiled approvingly without even looking at him. "On your marks, get set, GO!" The boy on the sidelines yelled. We all pranced across the field, most people were going full speed by then. I paced myself throughout most of it. I saw the boy who stood up for me barely holding the lead as I pushed harder towards the end and passed him with a huge smile across my face. I felt him moving up beside me, but he couldn't catch me now. I crossed the finish line in first and began panting as the boys all fell to the ground. I turned around and saw the boy I barely beat, trying to catch his breath as he sat on the grass. The little girl I saw getting on the bus just ahead of him at his feet with her small hand on his shoulder. I bent down beside him and stuck out my hand. "Hey! Jess, right?" I asked as he glared at me. He said nothing before getting up and walking away. His little sister followed and only looked back at me once, she didn't look happy either. I sighed as I picked myself up off the ground and began heading towards the door.
The rest of the day was alright. We had a homework assignment to write a composition paper on our favorite hobby. I had already began spilling ideas in my head about what I was gonna write about, I couldn't wait to get home and start. As the bell wrung, signaling the end of the day, I picked up my bag and walked out of the classroom and found my bus. I climbed in and smiled at the driver before finding a seat by myself. I wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on unless we were at a stop and I watched each few kids get off the bus. We reached another stop and I continued to read. I looked up and saw the top of Jess' head followed by the closing of the bus doors. His little sister was in front of him, must've been. We almost drove away when I jumped from my seat and told the bus driver it was my stop. He quickly stopped the bus and let me off. "Thank you" I said politely, waving to the driver as I got off the bus. Jess and his sister turned to face me, their faces full of shock. "Are you following me?" Jess asked. "Um, no. I live over there" I said pointing towards my house. "Really? We're neighbors!" Jess' sister screeched in delight. "Got any little sisters?" she asked hopefully. "No, just me" I sighed. Jess walked short of a foot in front of us. "Oh.. Got any barbies?" she asked. "Yeah, I think I have a few" I looked up trying to remember. She then began to explain how she played with her barbies to me, when we ran into my dad. "Hey Dad!" I smirked. "Leslie! I've got a few things to get at the store, wanna come with?" he asked. "Sure!" I smiled. "See ya around" I faced Jess and his sister. "See ya!" she waved with a quivering smile across her lips. They began walking towards their house before my dad took me to the store.
When we got home, I worked hard on my composition for tomorrow. First day of school and I had a paper due tomorrow, but I didn't mind. Actually, I quite liked it. It was gonna be great, I was more than prepared for my second day at Lark Creek Elementary tomorrow.
