Too Small Articles of Clothing
I live in a one-bedroom apartment with six brothers and sisters. My family is not exactly rich, but we aren't that bad off either. At least the rest of the family isn't. I am the middle child. Right in the middle. My three older sisters (Melissa 16, Mandy 14, and Hanah 13) are all very talented in their chosen occupations. Melissa is an actress, and the others are incredible at volleyball and basketball. My younger siblings (the twins Jimmy and Ryan 3, and Allie 4 months) are cute as can be and get attention and extra care from everyone. My family all gets special treatment. Except me, Nora. I'm 11 and there is nothing special about me.
My life was great, until about a year ago. That was when my mom divorced my dad. If that wasn't bad enough, she had a little too much to drink and went and had an ordeal with another man. She doesn't even know who he is. That's how Allie came along. Mother couldn't afford to live in the big house we had anymore, and wanted to get a fresh start. So we ended up here, in Winfield.
Now I am the laughing stock of fourth grade. Everyone else in my family fits in fine, but I hate it here. I have no friends. All of the kids here wear designer clothing, and if you wear anything else, your appearance screams MISFIT. I used to have some awesome stuff, but I had a growth spurt. My mother says we can't afford extras, so I am stuck wearing hand-me-downs and too small clothes. The rare times we do go shopping it is at the local Salvation Army.
Thinking back on it, I cannot believe I was actually looking forward to fourth grade. I was unaware of the scenario that was going to happen this morning. As I stepped onto the bus, with a beat up navy blue backpack and brown paper sack holding my lunch, the atmosphere changed. Everyone became quiet. I shuffled with my head down to an empty seat two rows back. As I sat down, everyone laughed. I didn't sit on a whoopee cushion or anything. When I got to school, it wasn't any better. As I walked across the square, groups of kids who were huddled together would stop whatever they were doing and snickered as I walked past. There were two girls who didn't laugh at me, but they didn't say anything either.
The day kept on getting worse. In music class, the teacher announced that it was mandatory that every student participated in band or orchestra. All the other kids were excited to learn a new instrument since they had taken piano before. I had no idea what I was going to do. I had never done anything that had to do with music and it didn't seem like a promising time to start.
When I got home that day, I made a resolution not to tell mother, because she probably wouldn't like the idea of having to get me an instrument. I would have to come up with some way to survive band. It would include having to find myself an instrument also. And learning how to play…