I woke up to the sun beating on my face. Ugh. I rolled over and threw the pillow over my face, hoping to block the sun. No such luck. The pillow got thrown from my face.
I sat up to find my mother holding the pillow and the string of the blinds.
"Time to get up!" she said, tossing the pillow on the floor.
"Why?" I groaned, hiding back under the covers. "School is not for another week!"
My mom laughed at me. "No, hon, school starts tomorrow." What!? "You need to practice getting up at seven again."
"It is impossible. School cannot be tomorrow. I have no supplies, or even my schedule."
My mom pulled the covers away from my face. "Your schedule came last week. I let you know and put it on your desk over there." Sure enough, my junior class schedule was printed on a bright pink piece of paper staring at me from the top of my almost empty desk. "And I told you we would go shopping today. Right after my yoga class." She walked out the door of my room with a "Get up now!" over her shoulder as she left for her daily yoga.
Oh man, I was so not ready for the first day of school. I had not called any one of my friends, even Cassidy since my dad died. I had no idea what my friend's schedules were, what lunches we had together, or anything like that. I didn't even tell them my dad had died, but they probably knew from the papers.
Whatever. I knew I was so not getting any more sleep, so I dragged my self out of bed, put on a pair of khaki capris and a lime green tank top, straightened my wavy hair and paraded down the stairs in search of the perfect cereal.
Unfortunately, I had to settle for Honey Nut Cheerios.
My mom came home from yoga happy, but sweaty, so she went to take a shower while I went in search of the list of supplies I needed. I found it under my bed, along with an old plate of cheese and crackers an old charm anklet. My eyes teared up from the fowl scent of the cheese and the anklet. I promptly threw away the food and put the charm anklet on my ankle.
The anklet was now priceless. My dad had given it to me for my sixteenth birthday and I had hated it, because it was gold and had charms of princess crowns, the saying When you are a true surfer, you live the meaning of life, a puppy, and a surfboard. Overall, I thought it was too girly, but now I would protect it with my life.
My mom called me from downstairs and I grabbed a pair of flip-flops from my closet and the supply list.
At the store, it was fairly crowded. All the older high school students doing their last minute shopping.
My mom got all that I needed except from my backpack. I left my mom looking at a display and wandered in search of the backpacks.
But I stopped mid-step when I heard two all too-familiar voices.
"So you're going to go to our school this year? That is so amazing. I can show you all the best places," said a chipper voice.
"Oh, yeah, that would be so cool," the other voice said. "I can't wait. Since my best friend and I no longer hang out, I would love to have someone to show me around."
"Ooh, I feel your pain. My best friend ditched me too," the girly voice replied.
I turned the corner into the isle that I wanted, and fate decided that it would be the same isle as those two voices, that I really did not want to run into, were in.
"Ellie!" Cassidy squealed running towards me. I hastily avoided Tanner's eyes as I hugged my best girl friend. "Oh, I'm so sorry about your dad. I totally understand. It sucks. And I just want you to know that I am here for you whenever you need it," she finished, hugging me tightly. I groaned silently. Here was another person that thought that they knew what I was going through and wanted to help me when I so did not need it.
"Hey, Cassidy!" I said back cheerfully. A little too cheerfully, but my friend was not clued in enough to pick up on it. She was too busy basking in the sunny waves of Tanner. "I'm doing fine, but thanks for the offer. Sorry I haven't called you, but I have been really busy and distracted. This is basically the first day since my dad died that I have been out and about. I gave up surfing when he died, so I haven't even been out to the beach." I was interrupted with two gasps, one from Tanner, and one from Cassidy. I glared at Tanner. "Hi Tanner," I said sourly turning back to Cassidy.
"No! Oh my god, you can't give up surfing! It's your whole life! You would always rather surf than hang out with me. You can't just give it up now! It would put all those times you declined sleepovers and mall outings to ride the perfect wave to waste! Don't throw it all away!" she protested, taking my hand and pulling me from the isle and into the store's outdoor patio display. I flicked Tanner off as I walked away with Cassidy. He snorted. I ignored him.
Cassidy sat me down on a patio bench display and finished talking. "Seriously, Ell. Do not ruin this. You are an amazing surfer. And I don't dish out compliments easily." That was true. She never gave people compliments that did not deserve them. I gave my friend a grim smile.
"Sorry, Cass, but I'm just not feeling it anymore. The joy that I got riding a wave, the adrenaline I experienced as I wiped out, it's all gone. And I don't think it will ever come back." Cassidy looked sincerely sorry, but nodded her head and just patted my shoulder comfortingly.
"I really am sorry, Ellie. About your father, I mean. And I really do know how you feel. I'm not just one of those people that came up to you and say it to make you feel better. I lost my aunt, the only one I had, when I was fifteen. She and I were so close; she was like a second mom to me. And she committed suicide when she turned thirty-two. In her suicide note, she said I was the only thing keeping her alive since she and I became close, when I was ten. But, she had finally had enough, and she was truly sorry about the pain she was sure to cause me by dying willingly. She felt so guilty, she said, that she left me everything she had. All of it, down to her puppy," Cassidy said, tears in her eyes.
"Oh, so that's where you got Waffles from. I always wondered why one day I came to your house and found a little Husky puppy sleeping on your bed," I said grinning. "But I'm sorry. I honestly did think you were just saying that, like every other person known to man," I told her guiltily.
Cassidy smiled back and held out her hand. "Come on, I've got someone I'd like you to meet," she told me, pulling back towards the backpack isle. I pulled back the other way. Oh, no you don't. Do not make me face him again.
"That's okay Cassidy. I know Tanner already. We used to surf together all the time," I said, trying to pull her hand away.
Realization spread across my best friend's face. Best friends are obviously telepathic, since she knew what I was thinking, and I knew what she was about to say.
"You're the best friend he was talking about, Ellie," she said, a little imaginary light bulb above her head going on and off, ironically enough, since we were passing the lamp display and the bulbs flickered on and off.
I sighed again. "Yeah, that was me. But it got to the point where we were considered more than friends," I confided. She gasped. "Yep," I said, answering her unasked question.
"Then I have someone else I want you to meet," she said. "I think you might like him. A lot. I know I do," she said, pulling me in the direction of the baby section.
She turned into the baby clothing isle. I saw her mom standing in front of a display. And in her mom's hands sat a little baby boy, no older than four months. He was so cute.
"Hello, Ellie. Long time no see," Cassidy's mom told me, reaching to gently pull me into a hug without crushing the baby. "But it's understandable. I am really sorry for your loss, as well."
"Thanks, Mrs. Jennings." I said, tearing up. I had always loved Cassidy's mom. She was always so sweet to me.
"Ell, I'd like you to meet Eli. We adopted him a few weeks ago. He is almost four months. I wanted it to be a surprise," Cassidy told me, her eyes shining with pure joy.
I held out my arms and Mrs. Jennings handed Eli over to me. I tickled him under his chin and he showed a tooth-less smile. "Aw, who's the cute baby?" I cooed. "He is absolutely adorable," I said to Cassidy. "But I have to go. I promised my mom I would pick out a backpack and go straight back to her. Meet me in the usual spot tomorrow?" I asked, handing the baby back to Mrs. Jennings. Cassidy agreed, sending me off with a hug.
On the way back to my mom, I grabbed the first backpack I saw- a cute, green, not too girly, over-the-shoulder shoulder messenger bag that was on sale and went to go search for my cart. I briefly saw Tanner with his dad in the sporting good isle, but I strategically ignored him, even though he tried unsuccessfully to catch my eye.
When I got home, all I wanted to do was climb under a blanket and sprawl in front of the TV for a movie. But my mom had other plans.
"Come on honey, we have to go shopping and get ready for tomorrow! It's gonna be such a big day, your junior year. Now go put all your supplies in your bag and put it by the stairs. And then meet me down here, we are going to the mall!" she cried, rushing in her room to put on make-up. I groaned. As a surfer chick goes, I hated the mall. Unless I went into one of the stores that sold Roxy items. And then I had a field day (also known as emptying my mother's wallet).
Ten minutes later, I was driving me and my mom to the mall and trying to blow the hair out of my face. I had forgotten to tie it back before I put down the top on my car and now I was paying the price. But my mom had never ridden in it when the top was down, and she had thankfully put her hair up and was laughing as I drove, trying to see where I was going.
My mom dragged me into the first shop we saw and helped me pick out a cute tank top. It wasn't a depressing black or dark red that I wore these days, but a bright yellow. In the next store, she made me try on a dark denim mini-skirt and some shoes. But I only got the skirt, so my mom had to drag me into the shoe store at the other end of the mall.
I was tired of the mall and all the giggling girls and skateboarding guys by that time so I picked up the first pair of shoes I saw- the same time that someone else did. I didn't look up as I said, "I'm so sorry, here you can have them" and I regretted it when I did. It was Stella, another one of my close friends. Not as close as Cassidy and I, but pretty close. And I had not talked to her, nor has she talked to me since my birthday on the beach. She looked up at me.
"Ellie," she said, kind of snappishly, like she would rather be diving off the Empire State Building than talking to me.
"Here," I stammered, put off at being spoken to like that by here. I handed her the shoes and took off to the other side of the store, my mother right behind me.
When I stopped to look at sandals, my mom pulled me into a tight hug.
"Honey, I'm sorry. They just don't know how to act around you. It will stop soon, I promise," she told me in my ear. I shook my head.
"Mom, it's not like that. She didn't even want to talk to me. And it doesn't matter. I have Cassidy and you. And that's all I need," I said.
"Good for you, Ellie," she said proudly.
"How about these shoes, Mom?" I asked. They were Espadrilles. Yellow high heeled Espadrilles. They went perfectly with my outfit, so my mom went and practically ran to buy them while I took the long way out of the store to avoid Stella and her boyfriend, who was waiting on her hand and foot while she tried on shoes.
My mom then took me to the grocery store to buy things for my traditional night-before-school-aka-start-of-prison dinner.
By the time we sat down to eat, it was closing in on seven thirty, so I scarfed down my sloppy joes and pasta salad like I had come out of the wilderness after a week with no food. My mom just stared at me sympathetically. I realized she was recalling the shoe store moment with Stella over and over again in her head. I did not want her pity, so I excused myself early, saying I needed my sleep.
When I woke up to my alarm at seven, I wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. But with any day of school, I knew that was impossible, so I got up and smacked my alarm to make it stop blaring pop music.
It was a new record. I was downstairs eating a bowl of Lucky Charms and a banana by seven-thirty. My new outfit was on and I my hair was in two braided pigtails that flopped cutely down my front. With no make-up, my sun-bleached-pure-blonde hair, heavy year-round tan, and slight muscle-toned arms, I looked like a surfer. With my preppy outfit I looked like a chick. Put 'em together and you got a surfer chick. Perfect.
My mom rushed in the kitchen in a business suit, her purse almost whacking my head as she ran to the refrigerator to grab a protein shake on her way out the door. She leaned over and kissed my cheek.
"Good luck, honey! I know you will have a great day, but this is my first day back at the office and I need to hurry! If you want to eat early, dinner is already in the fridge, but I should be home by six and you need to tell me all about your day and how great it was. I love you," she called behind her as she ran out the door and got in her small car.
I was all by myself for ten more minutes before I needed to get in my car and head off to school to meet Cassidy.
So, naturally, I watched TV. I loved Full House on a Monday morning. But all too soon, it was time to leave. For a split second, I considered ditching and not going to school. Mom wouldn't know until she got me report card for first semester, when it had the total of unexcused absences. But I shook it off. My dad may not be here to hug me and see me off like every other first day of school, but I could handle the first day of junior high by myself.
But things started going wrong as soon as I stepped outside my car in my pre-assigned spot.
I almost got run over by a senior in his motorcycle, driving wildly. I had to jump out of the way, hitting my kneecap on my car door to avoid getting my toes smashed by the motorcycle that would have run over them if I had not moved. My eyes got blurry with unshed tears of pain that each step now brought as I limped over to the park bench under the big oak tree on the front of campus.
Cassidy was waiting for me solemnly, in a cute pink sundress and flip-flops. "What happened to you?" she asked as I plopped down beside her.
"Brad. Motorcycle. Bad driving. Knee on door handle. Very painful," I said shortly, rubbing the new bruise on my leg.
"Aw," she said, trying not to laugh at me. She did not succeed. "I'm sorry," she said. "But this stuff happens to you a lot." Touché.
"Where is everybody?" I asked. "Isn't eight our usual spot? It has been for ten years! So where are they?" I asked Cassidy. Her face turned grim.
"That's what I was going to talk to you about," she said, lowering her voice, and reaching out for my hand and giving it a squeeze. "Stella and Britt texted me last night. They aren't going to meet us. Nobody else is either," she said. I was confused.
"Why not?" I asked. She nodded towards two convertibles- one silver and one metallic blue, both with tops down. They each held four people. One driver was the notorious Stella. The other was my old friend Brittany. They stepped out in unison, both in glittery outfits. Stella was equipped with an orange and sequined covered sundress and Brittany wore a white top with an intricate blue glitter flower design and a blue mini skirt that barely covered her rear end. Brittany and Stella were second cousins, so they were the only other close-knit pair in our old group of friends besides Cassidy and me. But Brittany was a bit of an airhead, which was probably why she tried to flip her silky black hair over her shoulder and ended up whipping herself in the face with it. I snorted and watched the other six girls follow behind the two cousins, who flounced into school as boys climbing out of their cars and off buses tried not to drool all over their preppy yet faux-shredded clothes. "So…" I trailed off.
"Yeah," Cassidy told me. "They said they didn't want to hang out with you anymore 'cuz you darkened their aura. Basically-"
I interrupted. "They don't want to be my friends or hang out with me," I said dryly. She nodded.
Great. I was practically friendless and my first day of school hand't even officially started.
