The Same

Chapter 3

{Sam's POV}

I wasn't mad at her.

I was mad at myself.

I was mad at myself for looking like a wimp, and a fool when she was talking to me. I was mad at myself for running away from her. But most of all, I was mad at myself for letting her think I didn't want to be her friend.

The rest of the day had been a blur. The only thing I remembered was seeing April in all of my classes. Every single one of them.

It's going to be a long year.

"I'm home!" I called into the house.

"Sam! How was your day?" My grandma Jackie smiled, giving me a warm hug. It felt good, after everything that happened today.

"It was great, Gram," I lied, forcing a smile. "My teachers are really nice." Not a lie. Mrs. Olpidudski (was that her name?) basically acted like a lost puppy being forced to educate children about stuff she thought was relevant to life, but, nonetheless she was nice.

"That's great Sam!" She finally released her death grip, holding me away so she could get a good look at her grandson. "You're getting so big." Her eyes began to well up.

"Oh, come on, Jackie!" My grandpa rolled his eyes, making me laugh at them.

"Okay, fine, I'm done. Sorry," Grandma finally let go of me and smiled again.

"That's ok Gram," I laughed.

I could still hear Papa Roy laughing behind me as I climbed the stairs to my room.

Now what? I had homework, (yes, homework on the first day of school) but I knew trying to concentrate would be pointless. I couldn't get April off my mind.

I needed to talk to her. I needed to tell her that I wanted to be her friend, and I wasn't just an annoying crybaby. And I needed to tell her now.

But this would've been a lot easier if I actually had her number. Instead, I had to pull out the heavy phone book and flip to the "W" section.

Watkins...Waver...Waymond...

Wait what?

I checked it again. No Waxler.

I was sure that's what she said her name was. With a puzzled sigh, I tossed the phone book away. Not quite as neatly as Grandma had had it there, but close enough.

How could her name not be in there? We just got the new phone book last week! Could she really have moved here less than a week before school? I guess it's possible, but still...

Something wasn't right.