Please Make My Life More Interesting (Anna)

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High school. Another day of it. Would this torture never end? I put on my costume and set out anyway.

Underwear? Check. High white socks? Check. Black tank top? Check. Thin blue jacket? Check. Pleated black skirt? Check. Doc Martins? Check. I stepped out of my room, and walked through the hallway to the kitchen. A few darkly colored paintings did nothing for the gray wallpaper, and a thin layer of dirt from out treks in and out covered the ground.

In the kitchen my father was sitting with his coffee in front of the most popular news station. In the faded living room through the other doorway my mother and sister were watching morning cartoons. Their mousy brown hair blended together on the ripping yellow couch, and Malia's bowl of cereal tipped to the side.

"Malia! Your cereal!"

"What? Oh thanks Anna." She turned her head back to the animated princess dancing around the screen.

I sighed. It seemed I do quite a bit of that. Breakfast options were set out on the small wood table. Those frozen pancakes that you could microwave, slightly melted now, and a box of the sugary cereal that my sister'd just almost spilled. Might as well take the pancakes. I'm not as in love with drowning in sugar as the rest of my family. I picked up a few and walked out the door.

"Goodbye!" Nobody answered.

It slammed behind me with avengance. I'm actually pretty sure that door hated me for denting it a few years ago when William and I rode our bikes into it. It was always trying to chop pieces of me off. Of course, everyone except William thought I was just being dramatic. My heavy shoes clomped on the sidewalk, and I pushed through a few overgrown bushes, and kicked an empty soda bottle.

All the houses in this neighborhood were in pretty bad condition. Peeling paint (most of the time lead) and falling ceiling beams were probably the least-dangerous of the defects. I kicked the bottle again and walked on. I passed the cold and bare houses of many people, but none of my fellow teenager's yet. Soon I only had half a pancake left, and we were passing into the kids' district though. It was much nicer here, where parents made warm homes for their lovey-dovey children.

"Anna!"

"Hey Luna."

"I like your shoes! It's a great twist on this terrible school uniform."

I forced a smile. "That's what I was hoping." I'd known most of the people here as long as  I'd known William, but he was the only one that really got me. Most of them were as media focused as my parents. None of them wanted to see the world, or even just play around outside like we did. I continued the rest of the way to school conversing fakely with Luna.

The building came into veiw. Old, crumbling bricks and empty windows peered out of the enclosed parking lot where the school had been built. It sometimes reminded me of a mean old lady, biding her time until she could kill us all. That shows my opinion about school off very well. The teachers inside were just as bad as the building that they became recluses in. When you get a job at our school, you want to keep it. It's one of the highest paying jobs in this filthy town. But there are some strict consequences that come with taking the job. You have to dedicate your life to it. You're punished by the mayor if you don't. So the teachers cower inside the school, grading papers and enjoying their daily opportunity for child abuse. Eventually, inavoidably the teachers moved into their offices, and stayed there until they died. Despite the outcome though, people just kept on taking the job. Stupid greedy idiots.

************

"Annabelle! Are you with us?"

"Huh?"

"Snap out of it you worthless child! I asked you if you knew where planet KY48 was!"

Gulp. "Yes I do. It's nine days away, to the north."

Ms. Brinkley gave me an evaluating look, then went on in her lecture. I continued to gaze down at my desk, doodling pictures of hills, and valleys filled by lake water. I want to see the world away from this town some day. William and I were going to do it together.

Hmm. . . maybe a little color? I'd never dared to go full out and color with markers on the desk. Might as well try though. What's the worst that could happen? I added swirls of aqua blue and purple to my lakes, and turned the hills into white capped mountains. Then the bell rang, and I left Social Studies feeling very dangerous and important. I mean really, drawing on a desk is no mean feat. I chuckled to myself and went to grab a bagged sandwich for lunch.

Ham and cheese. Again. But I was too lazy to pack myself a lunch, so whatever. I stomped over to Luna, holding a smile on my face. We sat together and chatted, gossiping about the latest rumors of what the kids in our opposite school were getting up to. We did everything in compitition with them. Sports, theater, academics, you name it. Apparently their star quarterback was caught kissing the assistant principal. Not that I really gave a dang.

The rest of classes dragged by slowly, until I could run all of the way home. Too bad I  couldn't actually do that. Instead I ran to pick up Malia at the elementary school.

"So, how was your day hon?"

"Fine."

"Any details?" We were completing the usual routine on our way home.

"No."

"Really? You didn't do anything?"

"Brendon broke his arm by falling off of the play structure."

"Sounds like him." We walked the rest silently.

**************

"You have mail madam." Malia giggled, not at her own words, but at how well she'd immitated the words of a butler in one of her favorite tv shows. I played along just to make her happy.

"Thank you Mrs. Butler, that was most generous of you to deliver it personally."

"It's not Mrs., it's Ms., moron."

"I'm sorry if I was just trying to be funny!" She stomped away. Stupid brat. Why do I ever bother to try to relate with her?

I picked my mail up off of the floor where she'd thrown it. A letter from William! I tore it open and read through quickly. Apparently he was doing awfully, but had just happened to find a new best friend! Then I jumped a few times to shake it off, and told myself to stop being so selfish.

************

                                                                                                                                                             2/9/53

Dear William,

I miss you! I'm glad that you found someone to hang out with though. Being good at school and dodgeball is pretty good, isn't it? What else do you need? Liking one teacher is better than none, like here, but that still sucks. Good luck with all that school, sports and family stuff! Are the other kids there all rich like you are now?

That's so cool that you get to live in a place like that! I'd be grateful to live anywhere but here. I so wish that I could visit! Is your dad still being a jerk? I still have my picture tacked right into the wall where you put it.

Do you want a news update from around here? You can't answer righ now, so I'll just give you one. Today I spiced up our boring uniforms with Doc Martins (dun duh duh duh). Awesome right? Also, I decided it was finally time to add some color to my drawings on the desk in Ms. Brinkley's room. It made me feel like a bad girl to do that. Just goes to show how incredibly obedient I normally am. My sister's being a meany-pants too. Yes, that is the technical term.

As for news outside of me, that Formers quarterback was caught kissing their assistant princible. Brendon broke his arm in a stupid way again. They added a new tv channel. And your house is for sale. The realter is having an open house tomorrow. It's so sad.

All in all, life's the same as it was for me whenever you were sick or something. So, give me some new info to make it more interesting! How's life going?

Love,

Anna

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