A Chapter Of Her Life

2nd Chapter

The weather was almost perfect on the third day of September. The sun was warmly shining and the cool wind was calmly blowing. I was sitting in my chair, scanning my notes while waiting for my best friend to come. After a few minutes, I heard a lively "good morning!" coming from a very familiar voice in the hallway. I instantly knew that my best friend, claudine, has arrived. As she entered the classroom, she greeted everyone happily. She has always been this lively kid that gives off a positive aura. She was wearing her favorite black sneakers, baggy pants and an abstract printed shirt. Wearing men's fashion was really her thing. Her shoulder-level hair was still a little bit damp. Her round face was fair and her smile was wide, showibg her perfect teeth. She approached me and said that there are lots of things she wanted to tell me but she suggested or pretty much insisted we study study for our quiz first then talk later at lunchtime. She's obviously a girl with priorities, self-discipline and hardwork. She's a full academic scholar. She's really smart and studious.

At lunch time, we sat on a table in the corner of our school cafeteria. We talked about the results of our previous quiz, in which she got the highest score, while eating our packed lunch. We laughed about any jokes that we could think of, it's like our custom every time we're together. She normally laughs loudly and contagiously but I noticed she's somewhat only forcing a laugh. I knew her so well that I could tell if there's something wrong. She's a kind of person who tries hard to hide her pain. She wants everyone to see her happy side only, but she knew she can't hide anything from me for so long so I just looked at her as if my eyes were saying 'spit it out'.

She faked a smile at me and told me everything. She told me that it has been almost a month since her father became addicted to alcohol, that at first it was okay because her father said he can control. Of course, Claudine and her mother believed in him. As she continued her story, she said that her father became worse recently. He goes home drunk and beats up her mother almost every night. Her eyes started to water but she must have felt the concern and bit of pity I had for her so she smiled to me and said "It's okay, I'm getting used to it anyway". I placed my palm on her back and patted her for comfort. I know it's not okay. She's not okay.

We remained silent for a moment, until the school bell rang. We went back to class but during the whole afternoon, I couldn't really focus on the discussions. I kept on glancing at Claudine and I could tell that she wasn't focused as well. She's. Definitely bothered by her family problem.