Emerald Summer

Chapter 1

                                                                    Late May
I watch as a butterfly floats past my seventh period window. How wonderful would it be to go wherever you wanted? How wonderful would it be to have no one know where you are, who you are, or where you're from? How wonderful it would be to not be stuck in Algebra with grouchy Ms.Wright? I would never know. I'm just glad it's only thirty minutes until I'm out for summer.

As I watch the butterfly land on the window sill, the shrill voice of Ms.Wright slices through my thoughts and brings me back to cold reality. "Sheri! Stop daydreaming and come work out this problem!" She glares at me as I reluctantly move from my slouched position in my desk to the whiteboard.

I stare at it blankly for a couple minutes, then write down the answer. "Thank you," she grumbles, "that's correct. You may sit down now." I shuffle over to my desk and resume my slouched position.

I continue to stare out the window. The butterfly is gone, I can't help but feel a little sad. Ms. Wright's crackly voice fades as I doze off. I dream about the time Serena and her mom took me to the beach in Corolla. I can smell ocean. "Come on Sheri," Serena laughs as she runs to the water. I run after her but stop at the edge. I'm scared to go in. Serena grabs my arm. As I step into the water the last bell pierces my dream.

It startles me so bad I almost jump out of my desk. I grab my messenger bag and run out the door into the hall. Finally I'm out of here! As I round the corner of the eleventh grade hall, I ram straight into Jade. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry," I say as I bend down to pick up my stuff.

She doesn't really seem to be affected, "It's cool." She bends down to help me. We finally get my stuff together. We stand up and our eyes meet, hers are red. Of course she's high on the last day of school. She giggles.

We walk out onto the sidewalk in front of the school. People keep staring at us as we walk by. I was the only goth and she was the only emo in the whole town.
I suppose it was a sight, because not only did goths and emos typically not get along, she was short and I was a couple feet taller than her. I hear footsteps quickly approach behind us and turn around. It's Mikael. "Hey guys," he says as he falls in step with us.

"Hey," we say back in unison. It falls quiet for a few minutes. I find myself staring at Mikael. He's so hot, I think. I can't help it. He is.

"So," he asks sarcastically, "how was your last day of Algebra?" I glare at him and Jade laughs. I'm sure if she is appreciating his sarcasm or if it is just because she is high.

I raise my eyebrow, "How do you think it was? She made us do work on the last day of school. Who does that? It's crazy!" They both laugh. His light brown hair is outlined by a blonde glow in the sun. So hot.

"Yeah," he says. We continue walking to Mikael's house. His phone vibrates, he pulls it out of his pocket and starts texting someone. He starts to ignore us.

Jade looks over at him, "Who ya textin'?" He shrugs and keeps on texting. My heart sinks. He probably has a girlfriend now, just in time for summer. I think about how just a few weeks ago he had friend-zoned me. Who could blame him? I'm a Freak.

"Nobody," he finally responds. Jade rolls her eyes. Mikael put his head back down and starts texting again.

I smile at him even though he isn't looking, "That's a weird name. Is it foreign?" He laughs without looking up. I feel like smacking his phone out of his hand. I decide to ignore him completely and just talk to Jade.

Apparently Jade had the same idea I did because before I can think of something to say she starts talking. "Hey, do you think Missy will let you come over tonight?" I tense up because I don't really feel like going anywhere, but I don't want to tell her no either. She has been so good to me.

Even though it isn't that big of a deal, I still decide to lie in attempt to not hurt her feelings. "No, Missy already said I can't go anywhere this weekend. She's in one of her bitchy moods again." Well it's not a total lie, Missy is in a bitchy mood. She's always in a bitchy mood. I try to convince myself to not feel bad, but it doesn't really work.

"Oh," she looks down, "well, I'm going to the park later if you want to meet up." I nod. We finally got to Mikael's house. Mikael's mom doesn't like him to hang out with us so we stop at the edge of his driveway.

He finally put his phone in his pocket. "Are you still going to Minnesota?" I ask in a last-ditch effort to keep a conversation. I don't want him to go home. I enjoy Jade's company, but I really enjoy Mikael's.

"Yeah," he says, "actually I'm leaving tomorrow." He looks at the ground. I can't figure out why he did that. I get excited. He's leaving the same time we are. We'll be there at the same time. I hide a smile.

"So are we," I say excitedly, "maybe we'll run into each other!" By the expression on his face he doesn't like that idea very much. I have a sick feeling in my stomach. Why would he be embarrassed of me? He's never been embarrassed of me. His mom must be making him take her. That's the only person he gets embarrassed around. Come to think of it I've never even seen his mom.

"Yeah," he says half-heartedly," that'd be cool." I watch as he walks up his driveway and disappears into his house. Maybe he would be in Minnesota the same time as me. Maybe he would finally fall in love with me. It isn't going to happen. There is no chance a blue eyed, light brown haired, tan, well-off hunk would ever fall for a girl like me. A trashy Freak with light blue eyes, pale skin, and raven hair. That kind of thing just didn't happen.

I look around for Jade. Apparently I have been standing there longer than I thought and she's wandered off. My face turns hot. Now I see why he doesn't like me, I've stood in front of his house like a creep for who knows how long.

I sigh and turn to walk home. I am alone. Just how I like it. Typically my walk home from Mikael's house is the only time I get to be alone. It is the only time it is this quiet. Occasionally there is the noise of a car going by, honking from drivers, or a barking dog, but overall it is quiet.

After I cross the train track I quicken my pace. My neighborhood isn't extremely dangerous, but it is still not exactly safe to walk alone in. I am used to it though. My whole life I've lived in one hood or another, some more dangerous than others. Once I lived in a neighborhood so bad I couldn't I walk had to ride the bus. I round a corner, over the horizon Aunt Missy's house appears. Home sweet home. I scowl.