Polaroid

Chapter 3

ainsley walked in to her house and narrowly avoided a shoe being thrown at her. “there you are! what took you so long! you were having sex, weren’t you?! you are a disappointment to this family!” ainsley walked past her screeching mother, and just ignored her stoned dad. she shut her bedroom door behind her and fell on her bed. she looked at her phone and texted iliza.

                i kind of got like a substitute grandma

                what do you mean

shes this old lady named daisy that works at a bookstore and i talked to  her for like an                 hour

thats sweet

ikr

ainsley got on her computer and facebook messaged iliza. they messaged while she scrolled through tumblr for hours. ainsley got out the slightly stale tortilla chips she had hidden under her bed. she liked to leave her room as little as possible. she worked on her homework for a while because she knew if she made a good first impression then her teachers would care less when ainsley started to care less. she learned that years ago.

after a few hours ainsley’s mom ran in, and started yelling about the condition of her room. ainsley just ignored her, and after a bit her mom finally gave up. ainsley learned a long time ago to just ignore her mom when she got manic. there was no point giving her any attention. ainsley looked around her room, thinking it wasn’t even that messy. sure, her bed wasn’t made. but her clothes were put away, and her makeup and perfume was organized. she thought her mom just wanted to yell at her.

ainsley stepped out her window and went to her car for a cigarette. the last time her mom had caught her smoking she slapped her across the face. it had stung for hours.

ainsley fell asleep late and woke up early. she messaged iliza, knowing that she wouldn’t respond until later. the school day didn’t start for another two hours, so she took advantage of the time to actually make herself up nice and put on good clothes. she knew her parents weren’t up yet, so she could actually leave her room and get food from the kitchen. she ate some toast, before getting in her car and going to the school. there were already some cars in the senior parking lot.

ainsley sat in the car with a cigarette for a few minutes before giving up and going in. of course the first person she sees is jason. he winks at her but doesn’t speak. she was so distracted walking to her locker that she ran right into somebody -- again. she went through the whole “sorry sorry sorry” thing again; before looking up at the person’s face.

“that’s alright. i’m eli; what’s your name?”

ainsley stared at the person who now had a name, and a broad grin. “i’m ainsley,” he laughed. “where’s your locker? i’ll carry some of the stuff that fell out of your bag.” she looked at him suspiciously. nobody ever helped her. but eli’s boyish face and wide smile had help and kindness written all over it. “it’s right over there.” he started walking over, ainsley following close behind.

“so are you a senior? i’ve never seen you around before.” ainsley nodded. “yeah, i’m a senior. i just moved here from florida.” his smile widened. “well welcome to maine. that’s quite the temperature difference.” ainsley breathed out a laugh. “no kidding.” she didn’t think he would ever stop smiling. they had reached her locker. she dropped her stuff off. instead of walking away, which was what ainsley thought he would do, he kept talking.

“have you made any friends yet?” she thought to the people she had sat with at lunch yesterday. “no, i haven’t actually.” he looked at her with the saddest expression ever. “really? that’s terrible!” she shrugged. “i’m kind of used to it.” his expression only got sadder. “come with me.” she followed him again. they walked into the lunch room, and he took her over to a table. “this is the table i’ve been sitting at since i was a freshman. you can sit with us at lunch.” he smiled again. that smile could convince somebody to change the world. “us?” ainsley asked.

“yeah, there’s a few of us. don’t worry -- it’s not all dudes. i’ll introduce you at lunch. we’ve always had an empty chair.” ainsley could feel her universe changing. she had never had anyone to sit with at lunch. “thank you so much.” eli’s smile practically extended into his mop of dark brown hair. “no problem, ainsley.” then the bell rang.