A Life Less Ordinary

End of the world as I know it

            I hit send and pushed away my laptop. I was done. The last of the summer reading list book reports had been submitted. Now to figure out what to do for the next three weeks. Father insisted that summer was for extra educational work. I'd finished all the required reading and all the optional readings, now that my last report on the final book had been submitted, I was officially out of summer work to do. Most of my classmates would still be trying to finish the required reading and hoping to do well on the placement tests for the fall and here I was trying to figure out how to track down more work to get me through the rest of the break.

I dropped my head to my desk. I was so tired. Sleep was hard to come by in this house. Mother and Father fought a lot. Mother had been sick for the last few years and resented the fact father was gone for work. Father seemed to hate all of us; mother for being sick, Marie for her very averageness and me for keeping him tied to mother. I tried to be the perfect daughter just so he would have one less stressor, but it never seemed to make him any less angry.

"Sang, get your ass down here!" father's yell echoed up the stairs. I jumped to my feet and did a quick check of my clothing. Smoothing out my pleated skirt I was ready to face whatever had triggered Father's ire. I came to a halt in front of father and stood quietly eyes lowered and body rigid.

"Do you know what you did?" father asked, his voice ominously quiet.

"No sir. I've been in my room finishing the last of my summer assignments." I answered softly. I knew my voice irritated father, so I tried to keep it as low and quiet as possible.

"I received a letter informing me that you had been accepted into The Academy for the fall term. If you did not apply how did they know about you let alone attain your academic records?" Father asked waving the letter in my face.

"I do not know sir. Our school has mandatory placement testing at the end of sophomore year. There were a number of girls in my year talking about how the tests were used by elite academies to select new students. That may have been how they got my information." I answered as truthfully as I could. I had no real idea of how my name could have gotten on an application for an elite prep school otherwise.

"I see. Upon further reading it looks like you have received the Millicent Blackbourne memorial scholarship for academic excellence, a medallion of honour in English literature, five academic bursaries and a partial scholarship for athletic excellence in field hockey. Basically, you would be going to school for free." I could see the gears turning in his head. Marie and I went to the best all-girls boarding school in Illinois, tuition was incredibly steep. The only reason mother allowed me to go at all was that it was a closed campus with very rigid rules of conduct. I'd been on academic scholarships there since second grade, it allowed my parents to spend very little on my education while keeping me out of the house and away from mother. If I went to a school across the country, they would no longer need to see me during school breaks and if the school was paying for me to attend, they wouldn't have to spend money on me at all. Suddenly I felt both hope and sadness. Hope that maybe I could get away from my mother's oppressive rules and sadness at the further proof that my parents didn't want me.

"Very well. I will allow you to attend this school on the understanding that once you leave the state you are no longer welcomed here. We have put up with your disruptive presence for sixteen years. This gives both you and us a clean break. Anything you cannot take with you to school will be sold in an effort to recoup some of the costs of raising you." Father informed me.

"When do I go?" I asked. While I didn't have much, it would still take time to pack my treasures. Then there was the problem of where would I store my extra things while I was at school. That would be a problem for later, now I needed to focus on packing everything I wanted to keep.

"Your plane ticket is booked by the school for tomorrow. I'll drop you off in the morning on my way to work. I do not have the time to take you later in the day. Your flight is scheduled to depart at 11:30 tomorrow morning. We leave here at 6. The school has made arrangements for you to ship one large box of personal items, two pieces of checked baggage and the standard carry on items. You have the rest of the day to pack." Father turned away dismissing me.

I walked back upstairs in a daze. Walking back into my room I looked around. I needed to pack up sixteen years of living in this room. I pulled out the large suitcases I used to carry my school supplies back and forth. I started packing my clothes. My uniforms were still at school as mine were rented unlike Marie's that my parents bought each year. My closet held only the outfits father approved for home; a handful of pleated skirts, polo shirts in pinks and white, a couple of more formal dresses and one lonely pair of dress slacks. I added my one pair of school appropriate Mary Janes and a pair of dressy flats. I added my underclothes and pajamas. My clothes were completely packed, and my suitcase was only half full. I opened my practice bag and folded my field hockey equipment into the remaining space. I folded the bag and placed it on the top of my clothing. I wasn't sure how I was going to transport my hockey stick on the plane.

I opened my laptop and checked the regulations regarding sports equipment. Rats I would need to refill my equipment bag and tape my sticks. There went one of my checked baggage slots. Fortunately, I still had the rest of my suitcase to fill and the shipping box whatever that meant.

Just then there was a knock on my door before Marie pushed it open. "Dad wanted me to bring this up for you. I guess that fancy school sent it for you. I will miss having you here. I hope you find yourself once you escape the stupid rules mom and dad have for you." My sister placed a large, unfolded cardboard box on the floor and a roll of packing tape on top of it before turning and leaving. I assembled the box and cringed. It was going to be heavy once I got all my books packed. I started filling the box.

I finished packing the last of my keepsakes just before midnight. I checked my email before packing my laptop. I had a welcome letter from The Academy. It included a list of items that the school would supply each student as well as information about the monthly stipend each student received. I dragged my suitcase downstairs then came back for my equipment bag. The last trip was the worst. I had to carry the shipping box downstairs alone. Finally, I was done my room was empty. Sixteen years contained in one box and a suitcase. I pulled on the pajamas I'd left out for the night and prepared for bed. Walked back into my room I set the alarm on my phone and collapsed onto my threadbare blanket. Morning would come too soon.