The Girl From the Gang

A Wager

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. I didn't see Jack for the rest of the day, and I didn't see him after school out by the bike racks. I rode my bike back to the house and opened the garage. I realize that I'm kind of hungry, so I go into the kitchen and make myself a bowl of cereal. Not wanting to sit at the dining room table, I bring my bowl of cereal into the living room and sit cross legged on the floor. I turn on the news in New York and watch to see if there's anything that pertains to me going on. There isn't much, and I begin to tune out the newscaster on the screen. I look over my textbooks and try to catch up a little to the other kids that are in my grade. I realize that I am really behind in some areas because I never showed up to school. The newscaster drones on in a monotone that is so unbearable to hear that I almost turn it off. I'm about to pick up the remote and press the power button but then I hear the words "Italian Mafia". My head whips around toward the TV screen and begin to watch intently, not caring about how boring the anchor is. "Today, a member of the Italian Mafia was apprehended in downtown New York City. We still have no word what his name is but we do know one thing, he definitely has murdered multiple people. His facial structure matches those of a killer that has been running rampant through the streets for about a decade. Police are hopeful that his capture will aid in the capture of other Italian Mafia members." I look at the guy's face on the screen and I gasp. I know him. I don't remember his name, but I do know him. He's pretty high up in the social order, so I never really knew his name. I only knew that he was better than me, and I couldn't do anything about that.

I get up and go to put my bowl in the dishwasher. While in there, I decide to clean up a little. I want to keep my house for the time being clean, because my old house wasn't. In my old house, there were drug needles scattered everywhere. In the bathroom, there were bags and bags of drugs. Some were to sell, others were for my mom to use. The floors were caked in dirt and dust, and the kitchen had fruit flies in it from fruit that had long since gone rotten. I was in the middle of washing the counters off when the phone rang again. I almost ran to go and get it, but I restrained myself and casually walked over to the phone. I didn't want to seem too eager to talk to them, as they were kind of holding me prisoner. "Hello?"

"Good evening Emma. How was your second day of school?"

"It was fine, nothing really too spectacular." Except for Jack, I thought in my mind. They know everything that was going on in my life, they didn't have to know about this one little part.

"Good. I expect you have heard the recent news today."
"Yes. I did. Does that mean I'm leaving from here soon?" I ask with hope soun

"No. The man that I got refuses to say anything. We still need a couple more guys before we can bring you back in. Because of this new piece of information, we are pushing the trial date back another three months. This will put the date at about the end of this year, right around New Year's. Does that sound okay?"

"Yes sir. That will be fine. Does that mean I don't get to go home for Christmas?"

"It was my understanding that you don't have any family left."

"Oh, right. Well, goodbye." I clank the phone down back into the receiver and sit down on the floor. What am I going to do. I can't keep up this lie for so long. I can barely hold it together around Jack and Adeline. There's only so much I can say before I have to start making up lies. They only know the bare truth, but what will happen with Jack tomorrow? We will be spending maybe a couple hours together and we will probably be talking to each other the entire time. This is a nightmare.

The tears start rolling almost immediately. I try to stop myself, but I can't. In the past, I was told crying was a weakness and it should be held in at all cost. Crying showed the others that I was weak, and the weak aren't kept around for very long in the Italian Mafia. But I wasn't with the mafia anymore, I was in the Witness Protection Program. I was in North Dakota, and I wasn't going by my real name anymore. I cry until I'm pretty sure I can't cry no more, and then I cry so more. No matter what is going on at school, I'm still really lonely. I have all of these feelings that I keep bottled up inside me, and I have no outlet for them. I miss my home, and I miss my old self.

After I finish crying, I pick myself up off the floor and dust myself off. I can't go on like this. I must be strong for my mom, and the city of New York. It sucks, but it's something that I have to do. I go into the kitchen and wipe off my face which is caked in tear marks. After that, I decide that I need to go to bed. It's been a long day and I need to get some rest if I'm going to be on the top of my game when I hang out with Jack tomorrow. He will be asking some questions that I need to remember the answers to.

I wake up the next morning and get ready to go to school. I go outside and see that the normally blue North Dakota skye is now a dreadful gray. It looks like it's about to storm, so I quickly ride my bike to school. I'm just in time at school, as the moment I get underneath the cover of the school it starts to pour down droplets or rain. I stand there and watch the rain, not noticing someone walking up behind me. "Hey Emma!"

"Oh, hey Adeline. How was your night?"

"Oh, it was fine. I did hear some juicy gossip yesterday though."

"You do know that rumors are hardly ever true." I sigh. "The gossip you heard was about me wasn't it?"

"Yes!" she screams "I heard that you have become really good friends with Jack."

"Yeah, what about it? We're just friends."

"To the outside eyes it seems that you are becoming more than that." She wags her eyebrows at me and winks. "You are a lucky girl Emma."

"I am not dating Jack. He just stood up for me in the lunchroom. That's it."

"Fine, if you want to say that. But I do know better. By the end of the year, you two will be the school's it couple."

"Do you want to make a wager on it?"

"Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"Fifty bucks says that we don't end up dating by the end of the year." I stick my hand out.

"Deal." she shakes my hand and the bell rings. I walk into class and try to learn, but my mind keeps wandering towards Jack. I try to get him out of my head, but I can't. The rest of the day is like this. During lunch, he is stuck in his crowd of popular friends and doesn't come over to me. Adeline does come and sit over by me for the first time during lunch, but the table seems to feel empty without Jack there.

When the bell rings to finish school, I rush out and grab my bike. I pedal as hard as I could to get back to the house. It's Friday, and Veronica said that maybe she would come to pick me up and we would go shopping for some more clothes. We realized pretty quickly that all of my clothes were dressy, and I needed to have some jeans and t-shirts for casual wear around the house and whenever I'm not pretending to be Emma. In my house, I grab a carrot and head out to the patio to watch the rain. It feels good on my feet, as I stick them out from under the cover. I feel relaxed, like the most at peace I have ever felt in my whole life. I wish I could live like this all the time, but I know it's just a mirage. This won't last. I'm just about to come in when I hear the phone ring. I pick it up and hear Veronica on the other end of the phone. "Emma, I'm so happy to hear your voice!"

"I'm happy to hear yours too! To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"Do you want to go shopping tomorrow in the morning?"

"Sure. I do have something going on later in the day. Can we be back before then?"

"What do you have going on girl?" You've only been out there for less than a week."

"I made a friend and he wants to hang out this weekend. He wants to get to know me."

"Well, that's wonderful darling. Just remember to not let him inside the house. That's against the rules. Other than that, go have fun. I doubt you did much of that back in New York."

"That is true. I didn't do much fun back home, I'm just excited I'm making some new friends."

"Me too darling. See you this weekend. I hope you come to shop until you drop!"

"I've never done that before, so this will be a new experience."

"This will be so much fun! Goodbye! I will be there to pick you up a seven tomorrow morning bright and early. On time! I am never late to shopping!" she hangs up the phone, and I am left standing there with the phone in my hand. Tomorrow will be an adventure, that's for sure.