emery

self esteem issues

199-something

the radio blared a monotonous song, which according to my ears, was probably the same beat used in all music everyday.

"girls, i just want you to know your mother and i realize it's not easy moving to a whole new town, especially for you, emery," stated dad, whose vision was focused on the road ahead of us.

"we moved?" i asked sarcastically. dad chuckled forcefully, while i rolled my eyes.

"i'm just saying. you don't make friends as easily as, um, some people," stuttered dad, while penn twisted the radio dial and amped up the annoying music.

"he means me, emery," explained penn, turning her head back to face me. we may have been twins, but that didn't mean that penn didn't luck up with the ability to avoid any subtlety in a situation.

"now penn, don't think i'm saying that you have better social skills than emery. that would inflate your ego," replied dad, who was beginning to look genuinely scared from the sight i had of him in his rear view mirror

"dad, her ego is like a tire. it's gonna pop eventually," i commented, causing penn to whip her head quickly to face me.

"at least i have friends!"

"at least i don't have friends who stab me in the back. literally," i retorted, remaining emotionless.

"d-daddy! emery's making fun of the incident!" screeched penn, causing dad to sigh.

"emery, don't bring up the incident," warned dad, his voice still laced hints of cheeriness. by the grace of a nonexistent god, the car pulled up to the school. a group of a kids already stood near the sign, all adorned with trendy clothes and slumping backpacks.

"all right, girls. have a good day," as i stepped out of the car, nearly in sync with penn, who immediately caught the eye of the kids near the sign. dad drove off quickly and i was left alone on the crunchy grass of the new school.

"hey! you look cool! wanna join our group?" shouted a lanky boy with brown hair and sunglasses.

"sure," replied penn, walking towards the group and away from me. i began walking to the entrance of the school, which was named "rchs". i trudged through the grass on finally onto the pavement, where students in groups inadvertently made a pathway for me to walk through.

                                      ------

"welcome, penn, emery, to rutherford cleveland high school," introduced an uptight woman, her blue pantsuit top buttoned tightly around her neck.

"rutherford cleveland? that's my favorite president!" exclaimed penn, oblivious to how stupid she sounded. the horde of popular kids surrounding her only moments earlier had either scattered off to class or to wherever they went to avoid class.

"no, no, sweetie," began the hillary clinton lookalike. "rutherford cleveland was the found of this town and-,"

"that's a really cool light fixture. i wish i could touch it!" blurted out penn randomly, taking the fake hillary clinton by surprise.

"uh, can you just get on?" i asked, to the horror of the fake hillary clinton. "she's not going to listen."

"er, anyway, you two shall have your psychological exam to spot any cloudy thinking on your bright horizons!" said fake hillary clinton, pretending the previous moment hadn't happened, while a smile stretched onto her face.

"exam? but i didn't study!" replied penn, a nervous look gathering in her eyes.

"don't worry, penn. you should pass this. i think," i reassured with uncertainty.