I survived another day. As of now, I was packing up all of my things, ready to get home. All I wanted was to crash out on the couch, Nutella® and a remote in my hand, but I knew it would be another late night, full of homework, stressful situations, and bad thoughts. I slam my locker, not wanting to think about what could happen tonight when I’m home alone.
“Hey, Ro,” says Shay, whom was smiling ear to ear.
“Ugh,” I groan to myself, “Hi,” I reply, with a simple wave. I walk away, quick enough to try and loose him, but not so fast he knew I was trying to get away.
“Jeez, Ro, you’re fast. Too fast,” Shay wheezes. He’s been running to keep up with me, and it’s kind of freaking me out.
“Okay what’s with calling me Ro? And I just want to get home. Why are you following me?”
“I don’t know it just seems like you should have a nickname. And I’m going home too.”
We walked, this time at a normal pace, to my flat. “Well this is my stop,” I smile, hoping Shay would finally leave me alone.
“Woah no way!” he shrieks in a high-pitched, girly voice. “This is where I live too!”
You’ve got to be kidding me, I think, my hope deflating like a whoopee cushion.
We step into the lift, both reaching to press the button for the third floor. He’s on my floor? I think. This is beginning to get annoying. He presses the button first, illuminating the circle. We stand by, as I tap my foot to the elevator music. The ride was awkward without conversation. I chewed on my lip and Shay adjusted his snapback. With a ding, the doors open, and I step onto the familiar floor.
As Shay and I turn to walk opposite ways down the hallway, Shay shoots me one of those glistening smiles, and says, “Bye, Moon! Can I call you that?”
“Why would you call me moon?” I ask, praying that it’s not my pale skin.
“Part of the moon is always hidden. I can see through your smile. I can tell there’s a part of you that’s hiding. And I intend to find out exactly what that is.” He turns and skips down the hallway. “Bye now! See you tomorrow!”
Shay left me alone in the hallway, pondering what exactly he meant by that statement. Could Shay be the first person who actually cared enough to see straight through my smile? It’s said that smiles hide secrets, and that is without a doubt true. The thing is, how could Shay, a boy who seemingly is carefree and unhurt, know that my smile is hiding my darkest pains?
I shove the thought to the back of my mind, turning the handle on the door to my flat. As I step into the door, my stomach grumbles, seeing as it hasn’t seen a crumb of food in three days. I rush to my refrigerator, and chug an entire bottle of water in a matter of thirty seconds, satisfying my stomach for the time being.
I grab another water bottle, and begin my homework on the kitchen table. I spent two hours here, and still had barely gotten a thing done. My stomach was crying out for food, my head was done memorizing all these dates and rules of grammar, and what Shay had said kept popping up in the back of my mind.
I browse my mind to come up with some sort of recipe I could prepare for my mom to eat when she gets home from the doctor. I begin making her favorite, poppy-seed chicken, when the door opens, revealing my defeated-looking mother.
“Mom?” I ask, before seeing her tuck her defeated face behind a smile, “Are you okay?”
“Of course, love,” she smiles, although it was obviously fake, “I’m just fine.”
