“Hello, the Lasdon residence.” Ms. Lasdon chirped. I giggled, playing with her locks. I was braiding her mouse-brown hair that had little white streaks forming. It was smooth and shiny. I didn’t take my eyes off her hair, very concentrated on the braid I was making. I heard her gasp, but I didn’t think much of it. I continued to finger her hair and separate it into little strands. I was immediately disrupted when Ms. Lasdon tore from her seat and ran to the computer, dropping the phone in the hurry. I accidentally, not knowing she was going to leave, pulled some of her hair out. I took it and threw it in the trash, yelling, “Sorry, amiga!” and picked up the phone from the linoleum floor, placing it on the countertop.
She didn’t reply. I heard sobs. Shuddered gasps. My brother ran over, his sneakers dirty from the mud outside.
“Hermana, look at the slug I found!” He shoved it into my face, a wet, slimy trail forming on his hand, my face crinkling in disgust. He immediately took it away when he heard the crying. He glanced at me in surprise.
“What happened?” My brother whispered. I shrugged, walking over. He started to follow me, but I motioned for him to stop. I shook my head, and peered around the corner.
I came face-to-face with a screaming Ms. Lasdon.
“GO AWAY! DO NOT COME OVER HERE, DON’T YOU DARE!” Ms. Lasdon shrieked. She retreated and held a tissue to her face. I sprung back and ran to by brother, grabbing his arm and sprinting to the sunlight outside and the pleasant, worn-out bench that had been sitting in the grass, embedding itself in the ground...
“Hey, Zoie, it’s ok. Try not to think about it…” He patted my back. One tear rolled down my cheek. He wrapped his arms around me, and I hugged him back.
“You know, this is probably the first time we have hugged. You know, in a long time.” I pull away and grab my phone, deleting the video. I smiled lightly, sniffing.
“You recorded it?! I thought I could trust you!” He jokingly put a hand to his heart. A laugh rumbled in my chest, but came out weak. I rested my head on his shoulder.
“Ok, I’m all good. Thanks.” My head is lifted, and I see Mrs. Lasdon walking in with the groceries.
“Well, I see the sibling-bonding went well. Who wants more pasta?!”
“We had pasta this morning!” My brother whined profusely. I giggled. He looked down at me and smiled. He was a looming shadow of 5’10” and I was only 5’1”. Imagine the difference. My head was up to his elbow, practically.
After eating the rest of the chocolate (Oh, Jaison) and heavenly spaghetti for dinner, it was time for the one thing that haunts all teenagers and their pasts. Schoolwork.
I sighed and unpacked my bag, pulling out pencils, binders, notebooks, the black leather agenda I literally never use. My pencil started scratching the flimsy, chalky paper with numbers and equations. It didn’t last long, though. My mind...and my pencil...both drifted to the margins; I started drawing snowflakes with intricate designs and sunflowers that rose out of the ground, towards the cartoon sun I had scribbled. I looked over to my brother, who was actually doing his work. He got the smarts of the family. I stared at my math homework. Page 245, Chapter 9: read chapter, take notes, complete #1-10, 15, 17, 25-30, 31, 36, 38.
Blegh. I start to finish off the problems.
I was never the best student. Sure, I got a couple A’s now and then, but my main grade was probably B or C. Not that I really cared. I wasn’t the ‘studying’ type.
But I wasn’t stupid. I could figure out anything if I had too.
After finishing my math homework (took too long anyway), I packed my bag and called to my family.
“I’M GOING UPSTAIRS! SEE YOU LATER!” I yell, trotting up the stairs. I walk down the hallway to my room and throw my backpack on my bed.
I stand in the middle of my room, considering two possible choices.
One. I could do my homework, be a good little girl, and prepare for tomorrow.
Two. I could play around with my new phone, ancient computer, drown myself in music, and read read read.
HERE I COME, CHOICE THREE! I have decided to my homework decently, maybe a little less than decent, and then drowning myself in music and reading. I think I’ll enjoy science, let’s just look to see what that is. I spread the flimsy piece of paper on my desk and read in my mind.
Please write a paragraph on constellations, as that is our first unit. Do your best!! Good luck!
Phhhh. Easy. I grab my computer and punch into Google, “The basics of constellations” and hit the enter key. Millions of links pop onto the screen and I click on the first one.
I will not describe the painful experience I went through. I already hate homework.
Finally, on the way to english! Excited about being done soon, I looked at the assignment on the weak white paper I had copied it on. Write paragraph about yourself-interests, hobbies, personal information, life before this, etc. Personal life?! I don’t want people to know about me! I frown and start tapping away on the keys. Hobbies: photography, drawing, reading; Life before this: different, different, different.
After I finished, I looked back at the assignment: Be prepared to present this to the class.
I give the assignment a death glare. I lay on bed and sigh annoyingly, rubbing my eyes. I look back at the text I had typed and made some edits to it.
“Not personal,” I mutter to myself, deleting anything related to my life as a child. I don’t need anyone to know about that. Except myself.
I ended up on YouTube for the majority of the time, watching videos that probably meant as much as that pile of dust in the abandoned janitor’s closet at my school.
“Zoie, come down here right now!!” Ms. Lasdon screamed, making me jump. I grimaced, knowing what this probably was about.
“Uh oh.”
YOU ARE READING
I Don't Really Know...
Teen Fiction~ "Ｙｏｕ ｍａｙ ｂｅ ｄｅａｄ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｏｕｔｓｉｄｅ, ｂｕｔ ｎｏｔ ｏｎ ｔｈｅ ｉｎｓｉｄｅ. Ｔｈａｔ ｂｅａｔｉｎｇ ｈｅａｒｔ, ｉｔ’ｓ ｇｏｔ ｔｈｅ ｌｉｆｅ ｏｆ ａ ｄｒｅａｍｅｒ, ａ ｂｅｓｔ ｆｒｉｅｎｄ, ...
