The Missing Pieces Of An All American Girl

Chapter 6 &7

Chapter 6

"Granny!" I called as I made my way to the kitchen grinning ear to ear.

"I'm in my room!"

"I've got like so much to tell you!" I blurted as I ran into her room and sat next to her on her bed.

"I can imagine you do baby girl, now spill," she said with a smile.

I happily told her about the "Jammie" events that led up to that day, leaving out certain pieces I thought should stay between Jammie and I. When I reached the part about Jammie inviting me to join him at his friend's party, I remembered that I I'd need something to wear besides the jeans and t-shirt I was wearing along with Jammie's hoodie. I wasn't ready to go home and face my parents; then again I didn't want to ask Granny to buy me an outfit. I decided to bike home, retrieve a decent outfit, bike back to my grandmothers, take a refreshening shower, get dressed, and study until Jammie came to get me. My plans were shattered when I remembered that I left my bicycle in the back of Jammie's car until I peeped out a window in my grandmother's bedroom to find it standing in the yard. "You're so mature!" my grandmother complimented upon hearing my plans. "I guess so," I replied as I stared out of the window lost in thought.

Being mature for my age as a teenager had its advantages and disadvantages. Adults saw something "great" inside of me that I neither saw nor felt and they expected me to behave accordingly. As a teenager, I never had a friend I could tell my secrets to, invite to sleep overs, or hang out with. Although adults tried their best to convince me that I didn't need friends, I felt hurt because I didn't have any. The few Muslim girls I tried to befriend thought of me as an "over mature freak" who thought I was more religious than them because I didn't indulge in the behavior they secretly indulged in which was against our religion. As for the girls outside of my faith, they thought I was "stuck up" because I was very shy when it came to intermingling with people of different faiths. I was constantly afraid of what they thought of me because of my religious beliefs. It was then that I decided that I should try befriending males. Befriending males never seemed to work because each male I befriended ended up developing relationship like feelings for me and it pushed me away because it wasn't what I was looking for. I ended up befriending many elderly women from various religious backgrounds and cultures. They all offered me pieces of advice I readily took without hesitation. My great aunts, grandmothers, and teachers were the only friends I had as a teenager, but the best of those friends was my dear old Granny. She was so dear to me because I knew I could talk to her freely and she wouldn't dare judge me no matter what I did.

Chapter 7

By the time I finally hopped off my bicycle, I was standing in front of my home. The home that brought back so many painful memories. The home in which I no longer felt comfortable. The home I knew I had to leave to save my sanity. No need in just standing here, I thought as I hopped off my bicycle and kicked down the stand so that it would support it. I have no idea of what I'm going to tell them when they ask of my whereabouts, I thought as I made my way to the door I exited without intentions of coming back.

I remember every detail about the awkward moments I spent at home with my parents and siblings that day as if it were yesterday. When my mom opened the door, she looked at me as if I was something dirty and disgusting. I could tell she didn't want me near her from the hatred that burned in her eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked angrily as she leaned against the doorway, "I know you AREN'T running back home after your little show last night."

"Well actually, I'm getting my clothes," I said coolly before I walked pass her and headed towards the stairs.

"Where have you been and who were you with?" she asked as she slammed the door shut and followed me upstairs.