The Real Life of Me

Chapter 1

I don't exactly remember when my life fell apart. I guess it's something that slowly graduated over the period of my existence. Maybe I should just start with what I vividly remember. My life was fairly decent up until just before my sixth birthday. I had just started first grade. It was only two and a half months into the year when my mom picked me up early from school. "Juliann we are going out to Bella Coola, to visit your father for a couple weeks."  At the time I never thought that would be my last day in my beloved home of little pond, Prince Edward Island for five long years. I remember my mom packing some of our belonging  after she put my brother, Marcus to bed.  That night, just before I fell asleep I wondered what it would be like in British Columbia. Mom woke us up in the early hours of the morning and got us packed into the car. My grandmother on my fathers side drove us to the air port.  The six hour drive felt much longer to a three and six year old. Just before we boarded the plane, I remember my mom hugging my grandmother and crying. If I had known at the time why she was balling I probably would have cryed to. I believe she knew we wouldn't be back. It took us close to seven hours and two planes to get to the B.C airport. After walking around for almost twenty minutes, we finally met up with my father.  Have you ever seen one of those shows where the daughter is a total daddy's girl and they have almost like a best friend relationship? Well that was never the case. As a matter of fact I never really even trusted him. "Hi guys" he said as he squished me into a fake hug. "So where'd you park, Kevin?" my mother said like a child with a belly full of candy. Once we arrived in Bella Coola, they decided it would be best if my mom, Marcus and I stayed with my mother's uncle Steven.  Kevin at the time was staying in a hotel so it wouldn't be practical for a three year old who screeched constantly.  We stayed with uncle Steven and his son Andrew for almost a year before we were moved to Williams Lake. We stayed with two of Kevin's friends Mike and Chris. The four of us slept in a tiny room on the floor with only a few blankets and a small t.v in the corner.  We were forced to sleep at six thirty, while they watched t.v in the same room. For two young children it's hard to fall a sleep in a room full of distractions.  I remembered hearing Kevin leave and I opened my eyes and asked my mom if I could watch t.v. She quickly whispered "Quick he's coming back and you know he'll be mad if your awake!". As kids we were both deeply afraid of him. Secretly I think my mother also was. We spent a few days there before Kevin moved us to a hotel were we stayed for almost a month. After that we lived in a small two bedroom apartment. This is where the story truly starts. It was the middle of winter and I had just turned seven. My mother bundled Marcus and I up to walk me to school. We had just closed the apartment door when we heard the most ear wrenching screeching coming from an apartment on the second floor. My mother quickly hurried us to the side door of the apartment were she knowtised the snow was coming down heavily. By this time a lady and her small daughter had appeared at the top of the stairs. She was going on in a language I didn't recognize. A few moments later a boy appeared next to his mother. After a few awkward minutes of having separate conversations. The mystery women spoke up "So what's your name, mine's Casstel.". My mother seemed to be a bit shocked that an adult was talking to her probably because Kevin only ever talked down to her. She quickly responded not wanting to mess up the rare chance, "My name's Terry. It's nice to meet you."  Casstel smiled before asking "where does your daughter go to school? My son, Mike goes to Williams corner elementary." My mom told her that I was starting my first day there but she didn't know how I was going to get there because she didn't want to take my brother out in the storm. Casstel quickly volunteered "We could go splits on a cab because it's too dirty out for anyone to walk.".  My mother agreed and Casstel called a cab. Mom hugged me tight and hurried me out the door. I was terrified, I was in a cab with a strange kid, on my to a new school filled with people I didn't now. When I arrived and found my class my new teacher put me at a big round table with five other girls. She introduced me to the class and gave everyone a journal. Then instructed us to write about our most memorable first day of school. The girls at my table introduced themselves and quickly started to interrogate me. Soon I realized that I had some how I already made an enemy without doing anything. She was a short girl with straw-like blonde hair. Her name was Trish and she had this prissy look on her face constantly. All I had done was sit in an empty seat by her best friend who couldn't have cared less about Trish. Her best friend was a tiny girl with golden brown hair and blue eyes. She was one of the first people to speak to me. "Hi, I'm Baylee." She beamed. Baylee was probably one of the only girls in that class that was genuinely nice to me. During the remainder of that year I made only two real friends in my class. Their names were Frankie and Jamella, they were sweet. Frankie was shy and girlie.  Jamella was covered in freckles like me and was loud. We spent every moment of our school day together.