Just Another American

Chapter 2

 I stare at my homework. I've finished everything except for my report on the early Native Americans. It's supposed to be about how they lived, where they came from, etc. etc. I turn to a fresh page on my notebook, grasp my newly sharpened pencil, re position myself on my chair so I'm sitting comfortably, but I still have no idea what to start off with. Any who, I begin jotting down whatever pops up- and I'm pretty sure it's coming out more like a poem and not much of a report:

Rani Abdul-Rahman  9th

8 - 12 - 16

                                                         The Harvest

| A girl stretches to the tips of  her toes

And with a reaching hand she goes

To grasp a husk of corn way up high,

Sweat beads on her forehead, the sun's

high in the sky,

She takes hold of the corn and throws it in her basket-

it looks like a bag and partially casket

The harvesting's hard, the girl's feet etched with blisters

But anything she'd give to earn the three sisters. |

The words come so fast in my head, a steady rhythm I can't resist. Once I finish, fingers cramped, my head snaps up to shoot a glance at the clock. 9:30. Almost bed time. I get ready for bed, brush my hair, pray Isha,  and sink myself comfy within a blanket. I click the switch off the lamp beside my bed stand. Everything goes pitch black- I could feel my pupils enlarging. I set my head on the pillow, and close my eyes. Whispering the dua before sleeping, I make a silent supplication to Allah that all goes well tomorrow.

***

I hurry to biology right before class starts. Notebook in hand, I review the notes I took from yesterday. Mendel's cross pollination and selective breeding. Got it. I'm busy taking in the review when I hear a familiar voice next to me. "Oh, my gosh. Rani, is that you?!?" Surprised, I quickly turn back, and now I'm excited, too. "Lorelei! Yes, it's me! OMG, you look so-" I stop. Lorelei had obviously been taking trips to the mall all summer. Wavy golden hair, fresh make up style, even her outfit- boy, I feel like a dork just by looking at her. Her smile faded. "So-what?" Realizing I stopped my sentence so suddenly, I stammered. " No, No! I'm just surprised! You look amazing!" Her smile returned. My, that movie star smile, enough to blind a crowd. She raised her eyebrows. "Rani, you're so pretty! It's no wonder why Kyle's so onto you!" Oh, drat. I knew that would come up at one point. It was my turn to raise my eyebrows. Ahem, I pointed to my converse shoes and waved my arms around myself as in a way of saying, ' Um, This? Was literally from Burlington. Haha. LOL.' Then I scrunched my eyebrows even more. "Lorelei, really, girl? You know I'm not into him, and neither do I care." She leaned over to me- as far as her chair could go- and whispered something that made the hairs on my neck stand up. Literally. "Then, I guess, you should brace yourself because my brother's planning to ask you out on Friday." I would've given a blood curdling scream if it hadn't been for the start of class.