Charlotte's Journal

Chapter 4: Zuckermann High: The Dungeon

Willow's POV

As I grab one piece of cupcake from the fridge, I see Mom and Dad whispering about something. They seem really uneasy. I walk to them. I don't want to sound uneasy as well, so I immediately make my voice higher in a more bubbly tone.

"Hey, Mom. I think I got some cupcake in my teeth." I take the frosting out. "Yup. Turns out I did. Mom, I know this is going to sound really cliche and cheesy, but..." I take a deep breath, "homeschooling is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my lifetime. And I can't wait for my sophomore year aka in a few days."

Mom looks at Dad with fear in her eyes. And with no ease. Again. I sigh.

"Mom? Dad? Is there something you're not telling me? You look really sad," I walk to her, just a little closer, and crawl on the couch. This signals Dad to move, "you need to tell me or at least let me know," I whisper.

It was Mom's turn to sigh--this dilemma that I don't know about is really getting to her. Mom breathes in and out five times before she thinks she's okay.

"Look, honey. We think that your education is getting better and more advanced, but some o f the stuff I have been teaching you is kinda repetitive, so instead of teaching you at home," she mumbled, then trailed off, "or even teaching teaching you at all-"

"Oh, no. Are you putting me back into public school?!" I ask frantically. I fiddle with my hair when I get anxious.

"Yes, but-"

"Mom, I thought you said that you would never leave me alone! I thought you would protect me! You know what happened in first grade, mom! Were those eight years of homeschooling and fifteen years of my life all just a lie?!!"

Mom is suffering, but I honestly think that she doesn't know what I want.

"I know that you're mad at me, and I know you want this-" she chokes.

"Then why are you bringing my biggest nightmare back??!!!" I interrupt.

"It's for the best, Willow-"

"'It's for the best?' Really, Dad? Are you serious right now??!!" I snap.

My tears come running down. Even though my being home-schooled isn't going to stay for long is bound to happen, I never thought it would actually happen.

I upstairs to my bedroom, trying, but failing miserably gulping down my sobs.

I don't want what happened to me in the first grade happen to me again.

I have too much anxiety for myself to go the dungeon called High School, I think to myself.

I sigh quietly to myself, wondering if I can secretly lie down on my bed, while chewing another cupcake I have wrapped up in tinfoil in my pocket, and "accidentally" choke on some of the flour, eggs, milk, butter, and all that other good s**t.

But even doing that won't allow me to leave this wasteful planet. Because God is too nice and protective to let me be away from all this crap.

While staring into space aimlessly, I am distracted by the envelope lying flat on my nightstand. The front cover reads, Zuckermann High.

My stomach churns.

The letter reads,

Greetings, Willow Franncys Arable. We are here to welcome you to Zuckermann High, where our academic, arts, and athletic rates are high, and our disappointment rates are low. This is the year when you can get used to the school, make big decisions of your choice, and become--drum roll, please--the Zuckermann Pigs. "We oink-oink to the end. We are humble, terrible-

"Wait, hold on!" I stopped. Did it say...

I read that sentence again.

"We oink-oink to the end. We are humble, terrific, and we are radiant." Homer Zuckermann, founder of this school.

I want to sigh, but if I do, I'll cry again. I repeat, I don't want what happened to me in the first grade happen to me again!

I lose control of everything in my body. My arms move up and down. My arms are very sweaty and sticky from the frosting of the cupcake that I just ate three minutes ago. I hiccup uncontrollably. I feel like I've lost ten percent of oxygen.

Then a few minutes later, I sigh slowly and very deeply. I personally do not like sighing deeply, or even sighing in general, but I feel like I'm having a big heart and anxiety attack, so I feel like it's necessary at the moment. I repeat the inhaling and exhaling, and it surprisingly helps.

To help encourage myself, I whisper, "It's okay. I just have to remember Mom's words to me when I was 7. It's going to be okay."

On my watch, it reaches to 2 pm. I walk downstairs, grab my wallet, and head to the door. But, of course, unfortunately, my dad stops me.

"Willow, where are you going?"

I don't answer him.

"Willow, again, where are you going?"

I ignore him again.

"Willow Franncys Arable, where the hell are you going? And why are you ignoring me?" he yelled.

"I'm going to Monquetti's, Dad! Just leave me alone!" I yelled back, intending to mock his quick-temperd personality.

Now I definitely know I'm leaving the house, and staying at Monquetti's longer than usual.

There's no fricking way that I will be enrolled in Zuckermann High. I see it as a prison cell, when there's no one to depend on but yourself. Where there are s**tty people, aka classmates, or in a dungeon, would be called cellmates. Ugh! Just the thought of that idea makes my skin crawl, and cringe nonstop. And worst of all, just like a dungeon, there are cellmates or prisoners that mistreat the small, the different, the naive and insecure ones like me. Well, I'm not small, but you knwo what I mean. Which is bound to happen. Zuckermann High is a dungeon, I swear.

Zuckermann High: The Dungeon.