Emma's Short Stories

A Homeschooler Story

"Sadie! Hurry! The Publics are coming!"
Sadie's head shot up at her sister Sara's voice. The oldest Wilton child leapt from her bed, her algebra left unfinished. She ran into the living room where all her other siblings were hiding themselves behind the curtains. Thirteen-year-old Sara stood at the edge of the bay window, grasping the furthest curtain and peeking outside. The third Wilton child at eleven years, Susie, sat on the arm of the love seat that was pushed against the window. Her blonde head rimmed the top of the couch with her eyes peering outside. Sally, at ten years, sat on one cushion of the couch while the first Wilton boy, seven-year-old Sylvester, sat on the other. They were less cautious of anyone seeing them and stuck their heads through the paisley curtains. Then the two Wilton twins, Steven and Stanley, were five-year-old fireballs. Their attention span was short and they ended up smacking each other with the curtains.
Sadie walked up to Steven and Stanley's side since they were already leaving the couch. Being a junior in high school, Sadie was the most curious about the Publics. Now who are the Publics? Well, the Wilton family lived close to Southlands High School, yet they decided to homeschool all the children. Every day, though, when school got out, the students of Southlands would walk, bike, skateboard, or drive past The Wilton's. The Wilton children called these students the Publics. Of course, vice versa, as Sara had pointed out, the Wilton's would probably be called the Homies. So this started the little game that the Wilton children played. Every time they could, the Wilton's gathered around the bay window around three o'clock to watch the Publics walk by. There were always the regular passer-bys. Sadie, Sara, and Susie liked to name the students with funny nicknames according to their personality. One boy they named Maximilian because he seemed like one of the school's nerds. As Susie put it, "Someday, he will make millions!"
Then another boy, came up behind Max and pushed him to the ground. The big redhead laughed and his two tan-skinned, tan-haired friends followed suit. They were given the names Butch and the Butterscotch Twins. No one in the Wilton family liked them very much.
The next collection of people included Aquamarine, most likely to compete in the Olympics; Simon The Politician, the snarky critic of everyone's opinions; and Paul McCartney, the aspiring rockstar.
Sadie's eyes kept scanning the crowds for one certain person. The boy that the Wilton's called Arthur King. He (as far as they could tell) was the most popular boy in school. He always had a fairly large group of friends. Sadie and Sara called them the Knights of the Round Table. They gave each friend a trait. Danny the Athletic, Zack the Musical, Chad the Flirtatious, Dylan the Risk-taker, and Alex the Rich.
Sadie was slightly ashamed but she had a bit of a crush on The King. He was perfect in her eyes. Tall, auburn hair, brown eyes (from what she could tell), and a dazzling smile. No doubt the other girls had spotted him too. Guinevere the Space Cadet was Arthur's queen at the moment. She was the perfect height for Arthur, with the top of her head reaching his nose. She was a redhead with an unknown shade of eyes. Sadie observed that she was actually very sweet. Just a little... air headed. Once, a few weeks ago, The Wilton girls observed Landon the "Private School Golfer" take a fall backwards, hurting his behind and his pride. Gwen didn't seem to notice the poor boy as she strode down the street beside The King. Sadie was sure that Gwen would have helped if she had noticed.
It was also clear that Arthur didn't return her affections as a lover should, yet Danny seemed to be trying to win her over instead.
Sadie wished she had the guts to walk out of the house and introduce herself. But a homeschooler in the midst of public schoolers was like a gold fish in the company of sharks. It wouldn't pan out well. Her fellow gold fish agreed with her and so the Wiltons stayed put in their two-story suburban home on Sycamore Street.
Until one day...
Co-op ran a bit late on that windy autumn day in November. Apparently, Miss Hammin the sewing teacher wanted to finish their autumn project before she left for the holidays. Sadie, Sara, and Susie sat in the sewing circle (alliteration much...) and they were starting to get nervous. Any longer and they would arrive home in the middle of the Publics journey home. This meant an awkward walk from the 15-passenger van to the house. The Wilton girls wanted to avoid that situation at all costs, but the time kept ticking on and Miss Hammin kept blabbering about needles and patterns until finally at 2:55, she dismissed the class. The sisters sprinted out of the classroom. They were successful in dodging talkative friends and found Mrs. Wilton in record time.
"Mom! We have five, maximum ten minutes to get home," Sara said rapidly.
"What are you...oh the Publics. Alright get in the van. I'll gather your siblings."
Sadie, Sara, and Susie hurried to the van and three minutes later, were joined by Sally, Sylvester, Steven, and Stanley. About one block from home, Steven thought it would be a good time to begin crying...loudly. Stanley, seeing his brother upset, joined him and the van was filled with the melody of wails and cries. This was worse. Not only would they have to make the walk of shame, but now their element of camouflage was disappearing. They were already spotting Publics including Maximilian and Aquamarine. Sadie hadn't spotted The King yet which wasn't good.
The family rolled into their driveway, the twins still wailing away. Sadie hadn't dared glance over at the oncoming group of teenagers in fear that they were who she thought they were.
"Sadie! Please get out and unbuckle Stanley while I get Steven," Mrs. Wilton shouted over the crying.
It was the worst possible thing her mom could have said. Sadie's shotgun seat was the closest to the Publics line of transportation. She took a deep breath, looked at her reflection in the rear view mirror, and calmly got out of the van. The cries filled the air of Sycamore Street. As quickly as she could, she unbuckled Stanley and turned to walk towards the house. Sara, Susie, Sally, and Sylvester had already made a run for it. Holding her sobbing brother, Sadie made big steps towards her sanctuary of safety.
She couldn't help herself, though, and cast a wary glance over at the sidewalk. And, hark! All hail The King. He had reached the middle of the Wilton's yard and she knew that he had probably seen the whole thing. The Knights were also around him. They were whispering to each other and chuckling to themselves and staring at her. God was smiling upon her today and she wished that He would stop. To make the situation worse, her eyes locked with Arthur's and held for a few seconds. It must have made a pretty picture. A nervous teenager holding a wailing baby. Sadie felt her cheeks heat up bright red which probably looked weird with her pale blonde hair and baby blue eyes. She turned her head with a flourish, to save at least some of her dignity, and hurried inside. Sadie plopped Stanley into Mrs Wilton's waiting arms and ran to her shared room with Sara, Susie, and Sally. Sara came barging in a few moments later. The girl had a bubbly personality to match her curly mid-back blonde hair.
"I totally just saw that! I can't believe you did that!"
"What else was I supposed to do? I was stuck! I'm so embarrassed!"
"You should've seen what happened after you left though. The King stood there for a while. I guess he was trying to decipher what just happened. Then he smiled! He smiled Sadie!"
"He was probably laughing on the inside. I'm such an idiot!"
"Who knows? Maybe you intrigued him," Sara said with a wiggle of her eyebrows.
"Get out!"
"But this is my room too!"
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The next few days passed with no issue. The only curiosity was the fact that The King would cast glances at the house whenever he passed by.
Sadie would hide herself, fearing that Arthur would see them peeking out at him.
Sara took this situation as a chance to embarrass her older sister.
"Ooo, Sadie! He looked again! I think he's going to profess his love this time! I'm gonna wave at him!"
She never did wave. Sara was also crushing on a Public. He was one of the Knights. Danny the Athletic. Though she knew his affections were wasted on Gwen, Sara couldn't help falling for the blonde haired, blue eyed boy. He was on the shorter side and Sadie had lectured Sara over and over on how she, herself was still growing.
"I know, I know," Sara would respond. "But I also know that height doesn't matter. Not when you're in love."
The two lovesick sisters hid themselves behind the curtains as they watched the cavalry walk by. They let out a sigh and young Susie rolled her eyes.
"You guys are ridiculous. They're just a couple of dumb boys."
"Susie, bite your tongue!" Sara scoffed. "I will not have you insulting works of art!"
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