Made in Oklahoma

Chapter 2

I sat in my car for a couple of minutes, trying to figure out who texted me. I decided that it was no one and that I didn't care. I came home and did what I usually do, take care of my brother because he's one of the few consistencies in my life. He was always there, needing to be taken care of. While I resented being his nurse and sibling. I have to realize that it's not his fault that he was born the way he was. He just needed someone to be there for him as much as I needed someone to confide in. My home life isn't at its best. My brother had to move in with all of his kids at the end of my junior year. I'm not blaming him but it definitely adds to the mess. Life has been increasingly more complicated since then. My mom is always stressed by her job so much that she takes it out on us sometimes. Never physically but verbally. She can't deal with all of the stress of her boss and come home to deal with her kids and her additional four grandchildren. It's not easy to deal with all of us at once. I don't make it easier on her, and she knows it. I'm 18, and at the end of my senior year, I'll be 19 and ready to go to college. I'm already showing signs of pulling away to be on my own. It's a constant fight between my mom and I. As soon as I can sneak off and go to bed, I do. My whole life revolves around taking care of someone else and school.

After dinner, I take a shower and go straight to bed. I've learned that some people's lives are a lot easier if I'm not in it. I always cause a mess, I make things worse for other people. As I drift off to sleep, I make a silent prayer to God that tomorrow will be different. I wake to the sound of my alarm clock at five A.M.My mom comes in to make sure that I'm up and started the laundry. I get Craig up first because he takes the longest to get ready. I give him a shower and get him dressed. I am thankful for every day that he doesn't act out or make my morning harder. I get my other brother Leon up and my nephew James up to catch the bus, then it's my time till 7:15 to get Anne up. She's only eight and needs some sort of parental vision. I know that my niece Nova does her best, but she's one person, and she needs to be a teen more than me. So I get them up, I pick up Cass, and I go to another day in the pit of despair and social anxiety.

In drama, we start auditions for the curious incident of the dog in the night-time...my first audition in compet. I now sit next to Colson, and that was forced, he only had to sit next to me because Jordan decided to do night school. I shouldn't say that all the kids in that class are evil, but... they are. No one in there shows sympathy, and I don't know how to talk to any of them. She started preparing us for the competition season, and I was excited. I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to do an Original Oratory. I plan on writing my own speech.

"Melissa, have you thought about what you wanted to compete in?"

"Umm, well...I want to do Original Oratory. I've been watching other ones, and yours was really good. I like writing an..."

"Let me stop you there, OO is hard, and I don't think you're ready. You're a first and last year; you probably won't qualify anyway." And with that, the bell rang.

I left the class mad that someone would think it's okay to tell me what I can and can't do. Everyone in compet is so pretentious and they pretend like they know everything. My goal in there isn't to make friends but to learn. From a 12 consecutive State Champion coach.

"Hey, did you get my text?"

"Oh, Nash, I didn't know it was you."

"So, do you want to get lunch?"

"Sure."

I took out my phone and texted her I wasn't eating with her,

me: "Hey, I'm eating lunch with a friend today."

Cass: "K. Is it with a boy?"

Me: "Yes, a friend."

Cass: "You're always ditching me for a boy."