The Soundtrack of My Life

"What Hurts The Most"

MAY 2007

Dad, Irene, and I were furiously painting the kitchen a deep red. He said that red was a good color for a kitchen because it made you hungry. I didn't understand his logic, but I still wanted to help. Although, he was pretty matriculate on how he wanted the kitchen done. He loved that we wanted to help out, but we caught him going over our brush strokes when we took breaks. Who knew there was a correct way to paint a wall? I sure didn't. 

My phone rang, the familiar country twang letting me know exactly who it was before I even checked caller ID. I flipped it open with dry, painted hands. "Hey, Eloise."

"Hi Pen," she said quietly. "Uh, do you have time to talk?"

"Sure," I replied. I put down my paintbrush and Dad looked relieved. I walked into our living room and plopped down on the couch. "What's up?"

"Well..." Eloise grew quiet, but I swore I could hear her sniffling.  

"Eloise," I said. "Are you okay?"

"No."

My stomach dropped. "What's wrong?"

"My family got some bad news today," she replied. "We have to move out of our house.  We're being evicted."

"What?  Why?" I asked shocked. The house they lived in held a lot of fun memories between Eloise and me. We had created a mini skit for one of our classes and had laughed about how ridiculous we looked. We had pulled all nighters watching Youtube and hopping around on Stumble-Upon. We told each other secrets, cried, and laughed in that house. I even had a nickname for it: Bear in the Big Blue House since it looked just like the one that was on that TV show. 

"I don't know," she said as she burst into tears. "But we have to be out by the end of the month."

"Holy shit, dude. I had no idea you guys were struggling that bad."

"Neither did I," she answered. "My parents didn't let anything on. Everything has been so stressful ever since we had that break in a couple weeks ago."

I had completely forgotten about that. Their house had been broken into while they were out and a lot of valuables were stolen. They lost their big screen TV, their DVD collection, and other electronics. I knew that break-ins could happen, but I never knew anyone that had that happen before. And they lived in such a nice part of town, too. There was a lot of construction in that area; it was said to be the next big neighborhood, especially since it was in walking distance of the new high school. 

"I can imagine," I said. "Where are you guys going to go? Do you guys have a place to stay?"

She sniffled yet again.  "Yeah, I think we'll be staying at my grandma's for a while."

"Mom's or Dad's side?"

"Mom's."

"At least we'll get to walk together from school for a bit though," I said, trying to find the silver lining. I hated that her family was going through this. Over the couple years of knowing each other, we had gotten extremely close. Her family was like a second family to me; as was mine to her. We'd even call each other's parents Mom or Dad whenever we were around.  

"Yeah, you're right," she blew her nose. "I'm sorry to call you about this. I've just been a mess and didn't know who to talk to."

"You know you can always call me about this type of thing, Eloise," I replied. "I'm so glad you called, even if it was to tell me the bad news."

"Hey, I have to go though," she said suddenly. "Mom made dinner and wants us all to sit together. We only have a few more nights of this."

"I get it," I said. "No worries. Will you be at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah." 

"Good. Be ready for a huge hug when I see you."

She chuckled. "Okay. But before we hang up, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

She took a deep breath. "Can you not tell anyone about this? My parents don't want the word spread around. I asked them if I could at least tell you, and they said yes."

I felt honored. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks for being such a great friend, Pen," she said. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." I repeated. 

I closed my flip phone shut and sat on the couch for a moment. Eloise had trusted me, over anyone else, with her family's secret. I couldn't believe it. I smiled and shoved my phone back into my pocket before standing up and heading back into the kitchen. Dad was still painting over the spots where Irene and I had "helped."

"How's my third daughter?" Dad asked. 

"She's okay," I lied. "She just wanted to make sure that I was going to be at school tomorrow. We're learning some tricky stuff in math and she promised to help me."

"Well that's nice of her," he said as he dipped his paint roller into the tray. "You definitely need the help."

I glared at him playfully. "Hey, you're not good at math either."

Dad laughed. "You're right, but I'm also not in school anymore. Go get your study on."

"But I want to help you paint some more." I whined. 

He shook his head. "Nah, I think we're done for tonight. Irene, will you help me make dinner?"

"Absolutely!" she said happily. 

Dad and Irene put away the paint and washed their hands, along with the brushes. I grabbed my backpack from the living room and sat at the table, ready to "study."  I felt so special that Eloise had chosen me, not Amanda, to be the person she told her family secret to. I knew that was petty of me, but I couldn't help it; it made me feel good. 

I snuck my phone out of my pocket and tapped furiously on the T9 pad, Thx again 4 sharing that w/ me.

Minutes later I got a response, Thx 4 being an awesome friend :) 

"Penelope!" Dad shouted from the kitchen. "Put your phone away and get to work!"

I jumped at the sound of his booming voice. Quickly, I slapped my phone shut, stuffed it into my right, front pocket, and took my math folder out. I sighed heavily at the algebra that sat in front of me, not wanting to do it out of sheer frustration of not understanding. Being good at math wasn't important to me; what was important was being a damn good friend, and that was just what I was for Eloise. I smiled and pulled a pencil out of my pencil bag and got to work.