If You Would Only Believe

Notes and Welcome Emily

 I woke up the next morning feeling kind of quite the opposite of last night. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and got dressed. "Morning, Kenny." Aunt Sandy said when I came downstairs for breakfast. "McKenna. Call me McKenna. I hate being called Kenny." I said bluntly.

After breakfast I got on the bus. I think I have Aunt Sandy and Uncle Abe quite confused. They didn't know half of what was going on in my life right now. When I got to school I went to my class. I was determined to ignore Ida and Miley no matter what they said. Fortunately for me they didn't say anything. At lunch I sat down by myself to eat. That's when they came over.

"Kenny. We are sorry about your parents." Ida said in mock seriousness. "Well you're about nine years late." I replied. "Look, you humiliated me yesterday. Can we not make it two days in a row?" I asked. Oops. I just spoke to them. "Oh, Kenny, Don't be like that." Miley said sweetly. "Good bye." I said. I got up and moved to another table. They can find someone else to torment. Not me.

I went back to class after lunch. Mrs. Flanders met me at the doorway. "Come with me." She said firmly. Oh boy, this doesn't sound too good. We walked to the principle’s office. Aunt Sandy was there. What a welcoming committee. "Um...did I do something?" I asked uneasily. "Look at this note." Mr. Dance said as he handed me a piece of paper. I scanned the lines quickly. It was a note full of curse words and insults directed at the school

"Who wrote that?" I asked as I put the paper down. "We were hoping you could tell us." Mrs. Flanders said. I looked up at her quizzically. "Why would I know?" I asked. "Because it's your handwriting and it was found under your desk." Mr. Dance told me. I stared at the paper. It did look a lot like my handwriting. "We know you don't have a good opinion of a lot of things, McKenna, but this is unacceptable." Mrs. Flanders said. "And the language, McKenna, why in the world?" Aunt Sandy asked. "I didn't write that! I wouldn't even think that! And if I did, would I be stupid enough to let it lay around?" I defended myself. "So it is sort of like my handwriting, so it was found under my desk, does that make me guilty?" I asked. I knew who did this. Either Miley or Ida. Why? They don't like me but I haven't tattled on them or anything. I did sort of insult Ida last week. Is she still sore about that? "Who wrote it then?" Mr. Dance asked. "And how should I know? It wasn't me. I promise!" I sounded like a winy kid and I knew it. "We will discuss this further later on." Mr. Dance said.

I left the office with Mrs. Flanders and tried to sort out the jumble of confusion in my mind. "You didn't write it, but you have a notion who did." Mrs. Flanders suddenly said. I didn't reply. "Ida? Miley? One of their friends?" Good guesser. "I don't know." I said. "But I don't believe in trust and I don't think anybody else believes in trusting me." I wouldn't say anything more. One thing I was eager to do, go to the woods right when school was over.

When I got home later that afternoon, Aunt Sandy tried to talk to me about the note but I remained silent. If Ida was that sore over a small insult what would she do if I told on her? I simply shook my head when Aunt Sandy asked me again if I wrote the note. I don't expect her to trust me and anymore than I trust Ida or Miley. "I want to be alone. I'll be outside." I said.

I ran through the woods with a sullen look. At least I had someone to talk to that would believe me. "Adam?" I called as I stepped into the clearing. Adam was busily cutting some greens by a fire. I saw a few frogs nearby. "Making those frog legs?" I asked as I sat down next to the fire. "Yup. You got here just in time." He handed me a frog and I helped him cut the legs. We were silent until the food was cooking. "You're upset." Adam pointed out. "You're not telling me anything I don't already know." I said stubbornly. Adam looked at me with a strange expression on his face. "Who are you staring at?" I asked. "Oh, just thinking on how quickly you change moods." Adam said. I knew he was right but he didn't want to know or need to know what happened today.