I like to think about planes- wait no, helicoptors. I imagined myself piloting a a giant heli over the Great Lakes. "Vroom Vroom." I was having the time of my life. "Felix! Come down for dinner!" My mom's voice broke me out of my daydream. I walked down the stairs slowly. I would have ran before, when we had good food, but not anymore. Not after the lawsuit. We lost almost everything. My dad, well my biological dad, sued my mom for "not helping with the bills" and "trying to put poison" in his food. I know all of that isn't true, he just wanted to get out of here with a bang. And of course the genderist judge and jury went in favor of him. Now its just my mom and I, living from paycheck to paycheck. I used to go to a private religious school cause my mom thought it was the best option for me. I agree it was a nice place with nice people. Now I go to a public school and nice people are quite rare. I learned this on my first day of 9th grade.
I walked past the giant main doors of the school and into the hallway, wearing a short sleeved plaid shirt and tan shorts with my favorite blue Converse shoes. Everyone stared at me. And I knew why. Every other guy was wearing dark jeans and a t-shirt. I didn't dare look at the girls once I noticed one of them in a low tank top and short shorts, and I looked away quickly. I just kept on walking to my locker, ignoring the stares, like always, because I like dressing up nice. Fancy is fashion. "Who knows where Turkey is located?" Ms. Peppers, my world history teacher, asked the class. My hand quickly shot up along with this one girl. "Felix?" I quickly answered, "Turkey is in the Middle East I think." "Correct." I always feel awesome when I answer something right. "What about Austria?" My hand went up yet again along with the same girl. "Katie?" "I believe it is in Europe," she said. "Correct." Katie looked at me and sticked her tongue as if saying "Ha. I'm smart too." I smirked. The bell rung and I quickly walked to lunch. I like food. I sat with my good buddy named Buddy, I've known him since 3rd grade. "Can I sit here?" Katie came up to the table and asked us. "Sur-" I started to say but Buddy interrupted with, "YEP! Sure!" I gave him a look. But he didn't notice. He was too busy watching Katie eat. Katie chewed on some fries when she asked, "Felix right? And what about you?" Buddy widely smiled and replied, "I'm Buddy!" Katie giggled. "Ahem! So Katie do you like.. going to the mall?" She looked up and smiled, "I love the mall!" "Yeah me too!" Buddy budded in. "Alright wanna go on Saturday Katie?" I asked, really hoping inside that she would say yes. "Sure you come take me, we can walk together," she said with a giggle. "Sure Felix, I'll come too," Buddy said looking at me wide-eyed. "Dude you're busy with that thing right? Right." "What thing-" The bell rung which interrupted Buddy. Katie and I stood up before Buddy could say anything. Saved by the bell, I thought.
Saturday morning I woke up and smiled in the mirror. I combed my hair with my hand and put on a nice Aero shirt and grey jeans. I sat on my bed, about to put on my shoes, when I started daydreaming about myself being captain of a great ship. I navigated the seas like no other, and I was well-known for being risky by getting too close to land. I snapped out of the daydream to see that I was late. "Shiza! Holy guacamole, she's gonna hate me." I ran as fast as I could to Katie's house and rang the doorbell. A man who seemed to be her dad opened the door. "What do you want young man?" "Uhm well you see I was just gonna pick up Katie." He studied me carefully and nodded. "Alright then. Katie!" She walked to the door, "Bye dad! Hey Felix." I'm not sure if it was the sun, but I felt hot. She hooked her arm in mine without warning and started walking. "Which store first Katie?" I asked when we arrived at the mall. "Hmm.. Macy's!" We walked around the store, mostly looking at clothes for her. After about an hour, she had a handful of fancy clothes. "Crap. I think I forgot my purse," she said looking at me. I opened my wallet and found $50. All of the clothes costed $50 in total exactly. "Thanks Felix!!! You're the best!" Katie said with a huge smile. "No problem." That $50 took me 2 months to save up from mowing people's lawns. But it felt good making Katie happy. I walked her to her house and then walked home myself. "Felix.. our landlord has just raised the rent by $50," Mom said during dinner. I sighed. Mom sighed as well and said, "I'll have to get a third job." I looked at her, "No, don't mom! You're doing enough, I'll find a job." She smiled at me, "Thank you Felix.. you've been very helpful recently." I smiled back, but deep inside I knew I could have at least paid off this month with that $50 I spent on Katie.
