MIddle School Christians

Chappy 2: Meeting Athena

Athena- I kept reading. The TV in the other room was drowning out my own thoughts. I ignored it, and found my place again.

"Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in..."

That was sort of like my room...

I got interrupted again by the TV. I decided to give up. I set the yellowing pages of my Bible on the nightstand next to an old, dim lamp covered in old buttons. Buttons that I'd find off of cloths, on streets, sometimes even in the hallways at school. Well, my old schools.

I kicked off my hiking boots that my dad gave to me. I knew that they were at least a decade old. They were my mom's old boots. I remember once a long while ago dad told me of the time they were on a date, and all my mom wanted to do was take a long hike up the hills and into the forest.

I always wondered if that was where I got my long leg. They both loved to walk and do sports. Right now, I guess I guess that was out of the question. Money was needed and jobs were paying less and less. My dad and I need the money.

I knew that it was sort of wrong to pray about, but we truly needed it. Not just pretty things like dolls or toys, we need it for food, and for the house.

We moved about three times in the past two years. I was in desperate need for a tutor. I had a lot of trouble with math. The concepts that were taught, I couldn't grasp. I was worried that I would get held back again.

It wasn't that I was a bad student the first time I got held back. I got A's and B's and I was on the honor roll all year. After my mom died everything went downhill. My grades dropped, almost overnight. I had almost missed a whole semester, already. Late work and missing papers seemed to be part of my day.

The teachers didn't understand. They didn't let me grieve. Right after the funeral, I went to school.

What now? Will this school be any better than the last? I wish........ I hope.

The phone rang over the blazing of the TV. I looked at the number. I didn't recognize it. Of course, I only knew my grandparent's number, so that left a lot of numbers I don't know.

"Who is it Athena?" I heard my father shout. The TV was turned down really low after he had heard the phone ring.

I looked again at the number. My jet black hair was making my neck itch. I itched it away in less than 2 seconds.

"Athena!" Through understanding, I picked up the phone. Slowly and cautiously, I pressed "talk" on the thick, large-print button.

"Um, this is the Town's household. Who exactly may I be speaking to?" My raspy voice asked.

A recorder started talking on the other end of the phone. Something about tomatoes that were out of season.... I found it interesting for some reason, so I kept listening for about 6 minutes. I hung up the phone eventually.

I sighed with relief once I put the phone down. It always scared me to pick up the phone because it's usually just the police or a company that we need to pay.

My mother dying just made everyone with a bad reason to be calling us, start calling us.

I then realized it was 10 at night and I drifted in and out of an uneasy sleep, dreaming of police calling and people taking our house away.