Stolen

Sunny Days

The end of Summer was approaching, it put sadness on my heart. I knew the crisp, warm air would soon turn into bitter, cold air. That wasn't something I was looking forward too. I knew the days with my friends at the park would soon end. I knew that our late night movie nights would come to an end as well. Everything I loved about Summer would soon be over in just a few short days. I knew that I would soon have to go back to school and that I would be starting my seventh grade year at Forrest Middle School. Though, I was excited because my best friend Emma would be returning from summer camp very soon and I missed her dearly. It was her first summer at the camp and the first summer without me so it has been very lonely here without her. We made a pact to stay best friends all summer even though all we could do was send letters to each other in order to stay in touch. I wouldn't see her until the first day back at school so in a way, I just wanted the next few days to hurry up.

Before I knew it, it was the night before the first day of school. A few weeks ago, I went shopping with my mom to pick out some new school clothes. I laid them all out on my bed to pick what I wanted to wear. As soon as I chose my outfit, I heard my dad yell from the bottom of the stairs that dinner was ready. Me and my two little brothers, Jayden and Michael, came flying out of our rooms to race down the stairs, its a habit. We've done that since we were really young. They are both younger than me though.  I am thirteen, Jayden is six, and Michael is nine. But ever since I could remember, we've been very close.. like best friends. Given we are siblings, things weren't always great. Michael beat us both down, I was second and Jayden was third. We sat in our usual dinner table seats. We had meatloaf and talked about our days one by one. One thing about my family is that we are very, very close. We aren't broken in any way, we love one another very much. My parents are high school sweethearts and have such a pure, real kind of love. And their strong love has had an effect on me and my siblings. We love hard because all we've known is love from my parents and everyone else in my family. My parents say we are a lucky family because not all families are like us. I was a very happy kid in a very happy family. We continued our yummy dinner together, my mom was such a good cook. I help her in the kitchen sometimes, I want to learn as much as I can now in hopes to be good cook like her one day.

My parents asked me and my brothers to start clearing the table since we were done eating. My parents continued to sit at the table and finished their wine over their conversation. As I was putting dishes into the sink, I glanced at my parents, with smiles so wide spread on both their faces. They had their foreheads resting together, laughing a deep belly laugh. I just admired them, I could only hope that one day I would love someone like that.

We finished up, said goodnight and all headed up to our rooms for bed. I was anxious about school in the morning but I was very excited too. But all in all, I was exhausted for some reason so I couldn't wait to fall asleep. I got into my bed, under the covers and I was off into a very deep sleep.

The next morning I was awoken to a familiar smell, French toast and bacon. My mom cooked often but she always cooked this specific meal on the first day of school each year. I was rushing around to get ready. "Ava, breakfast!!" my mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I finished getting ready and went down stairs. I sat down at the table alone with just my mom. My dad had already went off to work and my brothers were still sleeping. Elementary school started an hour later than middle school. I was nervous about my first day like everyone is. But I was excited to see Emma, it had been 3 long months without her. After a quick breakfast with my mom, I grabbed my lunch and headed out of the door. On the way out, she told me she would see me later and loved me very much. I walked out of the front door and began to walk to the bus stop, which is about a 5 minute walk from my house. My dad used to drive me on his way to work but he got a new job so he goes in very early now so I can't catch a ride with him anymore.

I walked alone thinking of my upcoming school year, all the stuff I would learn and all the memories I would make. I couldn't wait for it to get cold so we could go into holiday season. Halloween and Christmas were my favorite. Ahh, it was the best time of the year. Me and Emma decided to go as zombie cheerleaders this year. We dressed up the same every year, it was pretty corny but we didn't care. As I was trailed off into my thoughts, I approached my bus stop. As I walked up to it, the yellow school bus started to come down the street. I got on and there was only a few kids on because my house was the 3rd stop and Emmas was the 7th. I anxiously waited as we stopped at each bus stop until we were just 1 stop away from Emmas. We came up to her stop and I saw her standing there in all pink, giggling with a group of girls. I saw her out of the window, she was smiling, waving and jumping up and down. She was just as excited as me. As soon as she came into view after walking up the bus steps, I ran to her and we hugged each other so tight until the bus driver asked us to sit down. We sat down and talked, laughed and gossiped. We talked all about our summers and in those moments, I knew this year would be great and all my anxiety for the school year disappeared. We arrived to school and stayed together until the class bell tore us apart. We had no classes together this year unfortunately but we did have lunch together. The day went by pretty quickly and we met again on the bus. We talked about our day and just enjoyed each others company. Before we knew it, we were pulling up to my stop. I was the only kid who was at the stop because my house was pretty secluded. I hugged her good bye and went on my way.