Chapter 2- Just a Blur
Due to my expulsion from school, my parents hired a home school teacher so that I could finish the two weeks I had left to complete in the eighth grade. Those two weeks passed quickly and I aced my exams. It was now summer, and today was the day that my parents are leaving for Australia and the last time I will see them until my high school graduation; that is, if they aren't too busy working to show up. This would not be a reluctant and tearful goodbye as I'd seen in many films. No, this would be a cheerful event for me; I was one step closer to my new life and I was leaving Mother and Father in my past, which I'd soon gladly forget.
I didn't drive to the airport in the town car with my parents; we had already said goodbye in the foyer of our house this morning. At noontime today, my "nanny" would arrive to be my guardian for the next forty days before I will be shipped out to boarding school. So far, this summer vacation looked like it was going to be the most awful one I have ever experienced.
Exactly at twelve noon, the doorbell rang and I got up off of the couch to answer it. My appearance made me look sloppy because I had spent the morning on the sofa reading brochures from my new school and checking out the boarding school's website, so I hadn't bothered to get dressed yet. When I opened the door, there stood a tiny old lady who was furiously trying to open the retractable handle on her suitcase. No way! This lady was NOT who I wanted to spend the summer with, she must have the wrong house, I would rather leave for boarding school right now than spend my last summer in Washington with her! However, I asked her what she was here for, and she replied, "I'm here because of some rich person's kid who got kicked out of school and needs a babysitter for the summer." Wow. Guess I was stuck with this grumpy old lady for the next five and a half weeks. This was possibly the worst news I have been given in my entire life.
Throughout the week, I avoided the old lady. I soon learned that her name is Sarah, and that she absolutely has a grudge against people with a lot of money; this made me a target for her snide remarks about how "spoiled and ungrateful" I am. We, for the most part, ignored each other and barely acknowledged the other ones existence (which I'm 100% okay with).
With just 31 days left before I leave for good, I decided to go down to the nearest store to buy some munchies for the rest of the week. So, I shouted to Sarah that I was going to the store and would be back in thirty minutes. Then, I grabbed my wallet and left. I walked down to the store at the end of my road and bought all sorts of goodies; bubble gum, sour worms, gummy bears, two bags of chips, every color available of Mountain Dew, a box Oreo Poptarts, and a quart of cookie dough ice cream. This is being a teenager. This is the life I'd longed for; to be able to go down to the corner store by myself, to buy all the junk food I wanted, and to just be care free and enjoy being a kid.
The rest of the summer flew by, and before I knew it I was packing all of my most important possessions and loading up the airport taxi before taking one last look at my house. Sure, my house was big and fancy, but it never felt like home to me. It was just a building where I ate, slept, and spent my weekends in. It held no sentimental value to me, it was just a part of my past now. I got into the cab and watched trees and houses pass out the window as the car drove me away from my past and brought me closer to freedom.
Three hours later, we arrived at Seattle National Airlines, where I would catch the 11:00AM flight to Tennessee and I'd arrive at Nashville International Airport around 3:00PM. From there, I would take the 3:35PM flight to Providence International Airport and arrive around 5:25PM. I would have a town car waiting there to take me to my "new home". They were expecting me around 5:40PM in the administrative office.
Although I can't stand traveling, I'm glad to be getting far away from Washington; I had always felt trapped in the small town of Forks and longed for an escape. It was then that I was interrupted from my thoughts as my flight was called. I walked down the corridor and onto the plane to first class, where I sat and pulled my IPod Touch out of my purse, put the ear buds in, and buckled up. I took one last fleeting glance out the window at my hometown, and closed my eyes as I hit "shuffle" on my IPod.
