"Today, however can change things for better or worse. The outcome depends on you."
When a marriage fails the residue trickles down to everyone in the family. Sixteen-year-old Daya Nicole Johnston must fight to understand what is happening in her li...
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* Michelle Harrison *
When I walked into the school building, a distressed Michelle hurriedly walked up to us. It was before we could start the event I dreaded almost every day: my junior year at Deering High School.
"Daya, have you seen Dennis? After this morning, I just can't be with him anymore, but he's not answering. When you see him, tell him to call me, okay." She looked even more worked up than me.
Before my reply, Michy took notice that Jay and I's hands were intertwined. She winked at him, causing us both to blush. Jay slid his hand out of mine, never taking his eyes off Michy.
"Um, I'll be sure to let him know," I goaded as I threw daggers into Jay with my eyes.
She leaned into me, "Hey, Daya I know this is weird to ask you, but did you know what he was doing? It seems like everyone knew but me, and I should've been the first to know he was cheating."
I opened my mouth to say something, but I just couldn't get the words out. Jay said, "We'll talk to you later," and pulled me into the building. Away from that awkward conversation.
We were met with immediate shoving and pushing around by the hustle and bustle of the hall. Behind me, I felt Jay's hand contact my shoulder, which generated a slight jump that consumed my body.
"I guess we're late," I heard him say as the students hastily going to class pushed us around.
I whispered over my shoulder, "We need to get to class." The inharmonious sounds of my peers erupted throughout the hallways.
"Tell me something I don't know," he faintly spoke back to me, causing an unwanted giggle to abscond from my lips.
Putting our hands back together, Jay walked me to block one. When we arrived at the door, he looked at me with joy, "Have a good day."
I slid my hand through his roughed-up hair and hugged him before saying, "Thank you!" To which he reciprocated, "I do it because I love you." A simple reply that I undoubtedly believed and would forever continue to believe. No matter what happened.
I put on a brave face, as I did every day, and walked through the crippling expedition that was my existence. School was the dwelling place for the worst of my anxiety or at least it was.
Genuinely, it had the power to destroy every aspect of my day if I succumbed to it. The power it could have over me allowed it to send pain reeling into the depths of my soul, for no apparent reason at all. I'd gotten better at dealing with it, but if I stopped fighting, it'd shut me down completely.
Sometimes, I allowed my mind to focus only on sounds: the tapping of pencils, the voice of my teacher, and the vibration of my phone in my pocket. Throughout my day, I wondered if school was the place I should be. My family needed me, and I felt like I failed them. Taking these thoughts out of my mind, I did my English assignment and waited for better to come and save me.
