Already Gone

The Other Side of Summer

I've always hated those words.

So tell me about yourself.

   I know there's so much you could say in response to that but that's why I always hate it. What was I supposed to tell you? Did you want to know something as simple as the fact that my favourite colour is yellow or did you expect me to tell you something deep and personal?

It was too broad.

   Now, I hated those words because I didn't want to tell people about myself. It wasn't humbly or modestly either.

   The truthful and straightforward reason would be because I was ashamed, but I wasn't going to tell them that.

"Would you like me to start then?"

   I gave a startled jump as I realized that I hadn't said anything. I quickly nodded and Mrs. Burns smiled warmly at me.

"Alright, well, let's see here," Mrs. Burns leaned back, "I've been a principal at this school for five years now. I love my job, you know, I used to be a teacher."

   I nodded, pretending to be interested in what she was saying. Honestly, though, I couldn't care less what Mrs. Burns told me about herself.

   Well, maybe it would concern me if she told me she was a serial killer. Just a little bit.

"I have two grandsons, Thomas and Henry," Mrs. Burns took one of the picture frames off her desk and showed it to me.

   There were two boys, one was probably around six and the other one was still a toddler. They wore big smiles and both had scruffy brown hair.

"Oh," I said awkwardly, "Nice."

   Mrs. Burns laughed lightly, "They're a handful let me tell you. Always climbing on something or putting something in their mouth that they shouldn't."

   I let out an uncomfortable laugh in reply, not sure if I should say something else or not.

"So, now, tell me about yourself," Mrs. Burns leaned back against her chair again and smiled.

"Um, well," I shrugged, "There's not much to me."

   I wasn't sure if Callie and Arizona told Mrs. Burns about my monster and that if they did, whether Mrs. Burns wanted me to tell her about that.

   I sure didn't though. I didn't want to talk about that.

   Mrs. Burns let me off the hook and nodded, "It's okay. Maybe we'll learn more about you when you start here."

   I nodded back and started picking at my nails again as the nervous knot started to return to the pit of my stomach.

"Well, I suppose I should call in your moms so that I can talk to them," Mrs. Burns clapped her hands together and stood up before walking to her door.

   I opened my mouth to explain that Callie and Arizona weren't my moms but then I shut it, realizing that I really didn't want to explain the whole situation. 

I didn't even really understand the whole situation.

   Moments later, Callie and Arizona came in with Mrs. Burns behind them. Mrs. Burns shut the door and Callie and Arizona took a seat on either side of me.

It felt like a trap.

"Do I have to repeat grade eight?" I asked. The question had been looming on my mind for a while now.

"So, how much school have you missed again, Stella?" Mrs. Burns inquired, taking her previous seat across from us.

   I cleared my throat, "All of this year so far."