Typical

Chapter 4:Hello Goodbye

After an hour of cleaning the gum from all the desk Mr. Schutter walked back and told us we could leave. I grabbed my bag and ran to my car, ignoring whatever Dylan had to say to me. It took me only three minutes to get to my car and I jumped in it heading towards the hospital.

When I stepped through the doors Alice rushed to me.

"Where have you been?" She frowned at me placing her hands on her hips.

"I got detention, am I too late?" I walked to the changing room and went to my locker. Alice followed me while I got changed into my candy striper uniform. I threw my bag in my locker and rushed out of the changing room while putting my hair in a ponytail.

"No, I stalled for you but a heads up would be good next time." She huffed as she sat back down at her desk. "What did you do anyway? It's not like you to get detention."

"I gave back to the earth and Mr. Schutter called it littering." She just shook her head while turning to work on her computer.

"So what are my duties today?" I asked as I leaned my elbows on the counter.

"You are on magazine duty." She handed me a clipboard that told me what rooms I could go in. "The cart should be by the elevator." I nodded and walked to cart, here goes a new day at the hospital.

I have been coming to the hospital since I was eight. My parents practically lived here, working crazy hours, taking care of patients 24/7. I knew most of the staff by now and considered them my family. They took care of me when I came to the hospital after school, waiting for my parents since they didn't trust me with a daycare or baby sitter. Daycares are too dirty and are crawling with disease and baby sitters are careless. At the age of eleven they made me take a home safety test to see if I was capable of taking care of myself, I got a perfect score so I have been alone a lot more since. My mother signed me up for the candy striper program without telling me but I started to actually like after a while and this will be my second year in the program. I'm not considering being in the health system as a job and quite frankly I have no idea what I want to do after high school, I know I want to help people and that is it. My parents put so much pressure on me to join them as doctors but I don't want to be them. I put Ms. Higgins' People magazine on the cart, she's still keeping up with the actors' and actresses' drama which I gave her props for since she was a ninety year old woman on her death bed.

"Any day now." She pushed through her fragile mouth as she tapped her fingers on the edge of the bed. I gave her a small smile and sat next to her on the bed.

"You will be in a better place and I'm sure your family feels the same way." She gently took my hand in hers.

"That's sweet dear but I'm afraid that my family doesn't care for me." I frowned slightly and looked at my shoes. Her sons never came to visit her and she was always upset about it. They were always too busy with their law firm in New York to come down and visit even if it was only for an hour. "But at least they can pay for my bills. I would not be in here if they didn't pay for them."

"They should still come to visit you and it breaks my heart that they don't." I looked over at her sweet face and she smiled at me.

"It's ok dear at least I met you." I smiled at her and got up from her bed and fixed the striper apron.

"And I'm glad I met you." She chuckled at me and I walked to the door. "Have a good night Mary."

"You too Mallory and next time follow the rules." She scolded at me as she wagged her finger and I chuckled as I opened the door.

"Alright next time I will." I smiled at her one more time before I left. It was 7 p.m. and I needed to get home and eat before my stomach scares the shit out of someone. As I was taking the cart back to Alice I walked by the meeting room. I stopped to see who was it since the door was slightly ajar and most meetings didn't happen on Thursday. I peeked my head in and saw about seven people sitting in a circle and they looked around my age. On the white board behind the leader of the group read "TWDP Meeting" which was a group the hospital put together for the teens with troubled parents. TWDP stands for Teens With Disordered Parents and they told each other about their parents and help each other out. A shorter girl stood up and the group turned their attention to her. She was a nice coffee color and had black hair that went a little below her shoulders. She wore a plaid shirt, dark skinny jeans, and black worn out converse, the outfit looked good on her. She cleared her throat and rocked on the heels of her feet.

"Hi my name is Brooke." The group all told her hello back and she quietly laughed back. "Um well my mother became blind in an accident I don't have time to explain."

"You can tell us next meeting." The group leader told back to her and she nodded her head.

"It's hard for me and her to get her comfortable. She is very self-conscious on everything she does and I try to make it better, but I don't know if it works. Every morning while we eat breakfast I tell her she is beautiful and the world is so happy to have such a thing of beauty. I love her so much and I want her to feel loved." She sat down clearly shaken and I put my head down and walked back to Alice.

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"Get dressed bitch!" I pulled the phone away from my ear as Hollie screamed in the other end.

"Why?" It was 9 o'clock at night, what did she need me to get her from Starbucks now?

"We are going to Will's party." I groaned loudly back at her. Will was one of the football players who was known by the whole student body. He can charm any girl and I'm pretty sure he has slept with dozens. The main reason I didn't like him, was that he was friends with Dylan.

"Why?" I whined into the phone as I spun in the chair at my desk.

"Because you need to let loose and have fun for once." I sighed. I don't remember the last time I went to a party I think it might have been in the summer but I have been busy plus the girls went to really crappy parties. "Fine I will go but I'm not drinking." Hollie screamed on the other end and I pulled the phone away from my ear until she stopped.

"We will be at your house in thirty minutes be dressed when we get there."

"Ok I will, see you soon."

"Bye."

"Bye." I got up and went to my closet looking for something that wasn't sweat pants and a tee-shirt.

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I opened the door revealing Hollie and Jamie, smiles plastered on their faces. Hollie was wearing a green shirt with a see through pattern on the top with black skinny jeans and a pair of black heals. Jamie was wearing a nude flowy shirt with a floral skirt and black flats with bows on the end. I felt so out of place wearing my skinny jeans, maroon crop top tank top and combat boots.

"Its ok Mallory we just wanted to get dressed up." Jamie reassured me and I finally smiled.

"Speak for yourself, you are just wearing that because Jake is going to be there."

"Why would I not want to dress up for my boyfriend, oh, you wouldn't know because you don't have one." She smirked back at Hollie and I laughed as I squeezed in between them and to Hollie's car.

"Come on you two, we have a party to go to." I smiled back at them as I opened the back seat door.

Hollie muttered under her breath "low blow," as she walked to the car. I squeezed into the very back of the Ford Explorer and plopped down on the empty seat.

"Hey guys." I called as I crawled over Sage, they both called back as I buckled into the seat. Coraline was wearing a crop top that barely covered her chest that read 'stay weird' upside down and overall shorts with white lace vans. Sage was wearing a plaid shirt, booty shorts, and black converse. At least we dressed similar or else I would have felt left out.

We arrived at the party and you could hear the music from inside the car. This was it, another party for another year. The thing that stood for everything that I have ever learned not to do in one simple place. The thing that started habits, that caused pain, that caused failure in life, the one thing that can determine who you are in the social ranking. The thing that my parents told me if I went to I would be punished severely. The thing that was fun, but under the surface made you judged by many.

"Mallory are you coming?" Hollie called at me as I stared at the thumping house. I nodded my head and exited the car, leaving the remains of my dignity behind.