Plot Twist

Plot Twist - 1

Chapter 1 - This Is Me. Don't Judge My Problems and Strange Obsessions. Please and Thank You.

My name is Callania Boom.

Yes, I know my name is weird, and yes, my last name is said boom, like an explosion. Well, technically it's not. In Holland, it's said bome, like a gnome, but since I'm only quarter Dutch and we don't live in Holland, my family says it as boom.

I'm gonna break me down for you real quick before I get into telling my story. I'm the type of girl who doesn't wear makeup because it's a waste of time and money, loves to read, listen to music, sing, play almost any instrument, and last but definitely not least, play any sport I can. You name it, I play it. If I happen to have any spare time, I eat as much as I can fit in my mouth and slightly more. Most of the food I eat consists of meat and popcorn. Especially popcorn. I also don't share my food with anyone. It is sacred. And usually while eating popcorn comes with another thing to do while wasting time; watching Netflix. My favourite style of clothing is track pants and huge jumpers, I don't give a snoodle about other people think about me and enjoy creeping people out, especially my family. They're quite worried about me, darling souls.
But anyway, on with the story. There's a simple question that I'm going to ask, and you should have a simple answer. Have you ever been a new kid at a school?

Well, until this year, I haven't.

See, I'm starting Year 12 this year. For the first 11 years of my schooling, I've been homeschooled. When people I meet somewhere ask about my school and I tell them this, I get asked four questions frequently. What's it like, do I do any work, do I get any chance to socialize and play sports, and do I get to stay in my PJs all day.

Now, I don't speak for all homeschoolers, but this is how I do it.
What's it like? Well, at the beginning of the year, dad buys us textbooks for each subject, and we have a set amount of work for each every day. Six pages of maths, two chapters of reading, etcetera. Once we get through this work, we're free to do any productive things until mid afternoon. That means no screens, no lounging about. We have to do things that dad approves of. Creating things? Sure. Playing music? Fine. Running around outside or doing sport? Great.

My family is freakishly smart, and many people think that homeschoolers are dumb. Correction. Some homeschoolers are dumb. Some enjoy the chance of being able to do work at your own speed, like me, and actually become smarter from it. I don't want to sound pompous of proud, but I know I'm smart.

Do I do any work? Did you even take note of my last answer? Yes, I do. More than the average school person if dad is in a bad mood. After you finish the work, it's not productive activities. When he's annoyed at nothing or everything, that doesn't count as work. Finished your six pages of math? That's nice. Do six more! There's no time limit, so we work until mid afternoon on normal work. So trust me, we do work.

Do I get any chance to socialize and play sport? Ugh... whenever people ask me that question, it's my cue to give them a special look reserved solely for idiots. This is because I would have to be at some place to meet them, either sports of some other thing which counts as socializing. But yeah, we also have a homeschool group where heaps of homeschoolers from around the area come together. We do fun things, like bowling or movies or simply a play at a park, and then we do boring educational stuff, like visit a museum or hear someone speak about whatever.

I'm just giving you a warning for this next part. With the amount of people in the homeschool group, we can play almost all sports. And we do. Like I said when I broke me down for you; I play any and every sport I can. My favourites are soccer, basketball, netball, volleyball, tennis, hockey, gymnastics, track and field athletics, surfing, archery, badminton, martial arts, swimming, and any type of rugby.