Art class is my favorite class of the day. It's my favorite, because I actually know about art. I don't know much about painters and what kind of art they painted. I just know that if you give me a pencil and a sheet of paper, I can make my wildest dreams come to life. I'm not sure if being able to draw is a positive thing or a negative thing amongst my peers, so I try not to let it be known that I can draw pretty well.
Yesterday in art class, all we did was go over the rules and stuff. Today, we're starting on our first actual project. Aside from math class, art class is the only class we have assigned seats in. I don't sit beside Selena in art class, but we sit fairly close. She's three people away from me, and if we wanted to, we could talk over the people that sit between us. I sit next to Bitch Amanda on my right side, and on my left side, I sit next to a light-skinned boy.
I don't know the boy's name, but I think he's extremely good looking. I think he's half black, which honestly doesn't matter to me. His skin is lighter than a black person, but darker than a white person's. His hair is short and cleanly shaven. I like how he has waves in his hair. It's kind of a turn on. He has light green eyes and shaven facial hair. I also like his outfit. He's wearing a bright red Hollister shirt with dark blue jean shorts. His shoes are white and they are Nikes. He's so good looking that I bet he's a jerk.
"Our first major art project will be of melted crayon art. Some of you probably know about it. If you don't, I'll explain when we actually start melting the crayons tomorrow. For today, I want each of you to take a canvas and pick some of the colors you want to use. I strongly recommend you using various shades of the same color, it always looks nicer. But it's YOUR artwork. Do whatever you please." The art teacher is cool. She says to call her Mrs. W. She has grey and black hair, but she's young. I think the grey was added artificially. She's kind of on the chubbier side, but she isn't fat. Her hair is always spiked up, and I can tell that she's a lesbian.
"Any questions, just come over to my facilities and ask." She returns back to her desk after handing us out the heavy canvases. At her desk, she turns up the radio and starts on her own artwork.
I grab the big crate of crayons she put in the middle of me and the light-skin's table and sift through it. I love the color yellow. It's my favorite. So I think I'll use the different shades of yellow.
"…So how do you like mainland?" Light-skin boy talks. It's obvious he's talking to me, because we're the only two at our table. I like his voice. His voice is deep and it matches the way he looks.
"I like it." I lick my lips and talk back.
"It's good that you like it. You seem to fit right in." He grabs a red crayon.
"I do?" I grab the brightest shade of yellow and keep looking through.
"Yeah. With the hair and the clothes and stuff."
I look down at my outfit for today. I'm wearing a dark blue and light blue plaid flannel shirt that I got from Hollister. The shirt has quarter sleeves and it buttons up. I don't have the buttons buttoned, because it's hot. I have a dark blue tank top on under it and blue jean shorts with a bunch of rips in them. The shorts are kind of short, but they don't expose much of anything.
"So do you miss it back in… wherever you're from?" He continues to talk to me.
"…Yeah. I do. But it's not so bad in Florida." I have about thirteen different shades of yellow in my hand.
"Where are you from again?"
"Texas."
"That's cool. I'm Cody by the way. You can call me Code." He puts all his blue crayons down and holds out his hand to me. I like the fact that his fingernails are very clean.
I shake his hand. "Demi. " I smile softly.
Interrupting our little conversation is the loud, annoying, buzzing bell. It rings, and everyone puts their canvases and crayons in the cubbies Mrs. W. gave us yesterday. I grab my purse and head out of the class.
"Where are you headed to now?" Cody walks fast to catch up with me.
"Um…hold on." I grab my schedule from the pocket in my purse and unfold it. "I'm headed to Spanish class."
"Mmmm. Well I'm going to French. I guess I'll see you at lunch or something?"
"Yeah, of course." I run my hands through my hair and smile at him again.
"Alright. See you around…Demi."
"See you." He walks off in the direction of French class and I walk off in the direction of Spanish class.
"DEMI YOU LIKE HIM!" Selena exclaims as she catches up with me. I can't help but smile.
"I don't like him, Selena. I just think he's cute!"
"You two should totally date. I'll set you guys up!"
"Is he even single?" We walk up the ramp to get to Spanish.
"Cody? I don't really know. I know him and Lacey had something going on during the summertime, but I think they broke up."
"Then no! I hardly know anyone here. The last thing I want to do is hit on someone's boyfriend!"
Selena laughs hysterically. "Okay, okay. Maybe it was a bad idea. But I'm determined to get you a boyfriend."
"Don't beat yourself up about it." We both round the corner into the Spanish room and take our seats. She sits beside me.
The bell buzzes again and the Spanish teacher doesn't waste any time. My Spanish teacher is named Senora Lewis. She has really long, blonde hair and bright blue eyes. I think she's pretty. "Buenos dias, clase." Her Spanish accent is really thick, which is strange because aside from myself, she's the whitest person I know of.
"Buenos dias, Senora Lewis." The whole class says in unison.
Senora starts babbling on in Spanish, like she did yesterday. If I listened, I could understand a little bit of what she's saying, but I don't bother listening. Instead, I fold my arms on my desk and rest my head on them. Selena reaches over and tugs on a strand of my hair.
"What do you want?" I ask her.
"Nothing. I just love your hair." She shifts herself to face me and continues to play with my hair. "You wanna go to the beach this weekend or something?" By the tone of her voice, I can tell that she's reluctant to ask. I'm glad she did, though.
"Sure. I'd love to." I'm just happy to be invited somewhere. I'm so happy now.
"Okay. Um… Saturday? I would say Friday, but a bunch of us are supposed to go to the first football game. I don't know if you'd like to come to that or anything…"
"Oh… um…sure. I'd… come to the football game. What… time is it? And is it here?"
"It starts at 7:30 and yeah, it's here. At the stadium. I'll meet you there or something so that you're not lost."
"…Thanks for inviting me, Selena." I look down at my blue notebook and pick at it. I don't know what else to say or do.
"Seriously, it's no problem Demi. I just… I feel like I've known you for years. You're really cool." She flips her long, pretty hair and smiles at me. She's so pretty it makes me hate myself.
"Me too… I'm just…glad that I made a friend." I put my head back down on my arms.
"…Weren't you popular in Texas?"
"Me? Popular? Pshhht." I roll my eyes playfully and laugh.
"But you're like…. Super pretty."
"You're like… the only one that thinks so."
"I can guarantee you that I'm not the only one that thinks you're pretty. I bet you have guys here that think you're hot. Like Cody… for example." She chuckles.
"Yeah, but he has a girlfriend. Or at least he might." I giggle too.
"…So why'd you even move to Daytona? Dad get a new job down here?"
Ouch. That just stung a little bit. I had finally taught myself to forget about it, and she just brought it right back up. "No… it's not that easy…" I hear the tone of my voice drop immensely.
"Oh. I don't mean to be nosy. You don't have to tell me. I was just wondering."
I feel really, really sad now. I just want to go home. I feel like I'm going to cry, but I don't want to do that in front of Selena. Somehow, I muster up enough strength to hold back my tears.
I don't know what else to say, so I keep my head rested on my arms. I think I'm doing a good job of looking like I'm okay, but my mind is racing with thoughts of why I moved here. It all happened so quickly, it seems. One minute, we were all so happy. And everything was good. She'd sing in the shower, sing while cooking dinner, dinner was ALWAYS made, we'd have fun nights where we'd all crowd around the TV and watch reruns of Law & Order. Or we'd play Candyland. Or Chutes & Ladders. And it was fun. And it was right. And we weren't poor.
Then one day, the phone rang. And that was it. After the phone that day, everything changed. Instead of new clothes, the extra money went to doctors. Instead of crowding around the TV, she spent most of her time in bed. Instead of taking us on trips to the zoo, daddy would yell, spank us and cry a whole lot. She was never home anymore. And the only time we could go visit her was when there were doctors around. She hated for us to go see her, because she didn't have hair anymore. But I still thought she was beautiful. Her singing voice was bad now, because it was raspy. And dinner started to go unmade. And we were hungry, because daddy can't cook and the takeout food money ALL went to doctors.
Then one day, that was it. We went back to the doctors, and she told me that she loved me. She was bald and hooked up to a dozen monitors. She told Dallas about the time she was born. And me about the time I was born. And Maddie about the time she was born. And Daddy about how their wedding day was the happiest day of her life. And we all hugged her. And even though it hurt her, she hugged us back. And then the monitors went off with beeping loud. And I passed out. And besides in the casket, that was the last time I ever saw her.
I'm thankful that the bell rings when it does, because I think I was getting ready to cry really bad. I get up from my chair and gather up all my stuff for Spanish. It's time to go to lunch now, and maybe I could just have a little fun talking to Selena and stuff.
"Hey, Demi…" Selena grabs her stuff quickly to match my pace. "Wait up…"
I can't wait up. I have to go wipe my face off from all the tears I just wasted. So I act like I didn't hear her, and I go to my locker to dump my books. I turn the lock on my locker and put all my Spanish books in there. Quickly, I sweep away the tears that trickled down my cheeks, and Selena ends up right next to me. Her locker is one locker away from mine.
"You sure do walk fast…" She comments, out of breath.
I fake a smile. "Sorry. I just don't like getting caught in the hallway traffic."
She giggles. "But are you okay? I mean, you seemed a little…off. Did I say something?"
"I'm fine." I lie. I still feel completely horrible.
"If you're sure. Let's go to lunch…I miss Nick." She grabs her purse from her locker and we both start walking off to the cafeteria.
"How long have you and Nick been together?" I've been wondering this since yesterday, but today seems like the appropriate time to ask.
"Since we were fourteen. So about two years. Off and on." She smiles proudly.
"That's cool. I wish I had a boyfriend that long term." We both sit down in the same seats we sat in yesterday. All of Selena's friends that sat with us yesterday join us.
"Have you ever dated anyone?" Selena asks me as she sits down right next to me.
"Yeah… I had a boyfriend. Oddly enough, his name was Cody too. But he broke up with me and now he's gay."
"Well that fuckin' sucks. Huh?" She cracks up and I end up laughing too.
"Yeah." I'm laughing still.
Nick walks over to the table and greets Selena by smacking her on her butt. "Hey."
Selena turns to him. "I thought I told you about doing this in school."
"It's just an ass-slap." He chuckles and sits beside us. "What's up guys?"
I don't want to sound all weird or anything, but I really do envy the fact that Selena has a boyfriend. Don't get me wrong, I do NOT envy her. I'm in no way, shape or form jealous of Selena. I'm just jealous that she has a serious boyfriend. And it's blatantly obvious that they have sex. I mean yeah, Selena basically confirmed the fact that they have sex yesterday, but I'm saying that if she didn't tell about this, I'd know now because of the way they act with each other.
"Demi, are you gonna come get something to eat with us?" Selena and Nick have already started to walk a little towards the lunch lines.
"Yeah, I'm coming." I take my wallet out of my purse and catch up with them.
Getting lunch here is a lot different than getting lunch back home. Here, they have a dozen lunch choices every day. And you go get in whichever line for whichever choice you want. There are seven lines. I think I'm leaning towards the nachos today.
"What are you getting?" I ask Selena.
"I'm going to get pizza and French fries." She walks into the pizza line and Nick walks with me into the nacho line.
We both go our separate ways.
Softly, Nick slaps me on my arm. "Sup?"
I chuckle slightly. "Nothing." I watch as the lunch lady piles the nachos and the cheese on my tray.
"So you and Selena seem close already." He grabs my lunch tray and hands it to me nicely.
"I mean, I'm trying. I need a friend." I slide my tray down to finish up getting my lunch. I grab an iced tea and a bag of chips.
"You're gonna get a little more than a friend while you're here, chick." He grabs his own lunch tray.
"What makes you say that?" I grab a chocolate chip cookie.
"A couple of my friends—and I'm not gonna say which ones—but a couple of them think you're hot."
"…Which ones?"
"I'm not a snitch. I said I wouldn't tell and I'm not gonna tell. But it's obvious if you'd just open your eyes, chick."
Nick and I both walk back to the table. Is it possible that I'm so used to not being attractive to boys that I don't notice when I actually am?
I take my seat beside Selena, and Nick sits on the other side of her. Out of nowhere, Cody comes and sits right beside me.
"I said I'd see you at lunch…didn't I?" Why does it sound like he's flirting with me?
"Yes you did." I smirk a little bit. I glance over at Selena and see that she's giving me a thumbs up. I shake my head slightly.
"So how was Spanish class without me?" Cody turns and talks to me some more.
"…Boring."
"I would've entertained you if I were there."
I guess I should flirt back? "Oh really? How would you have done that? Because I'd LOVE to know."
"I can't tell you that now." He smiles and pops a French fry into his mouth.
I sigh dreamily. "Guess you're just all talk." I eat a nacho.
Selena looks over at me with a smile. "Demi, let's go to the bathroom. I have to pee."
I look at her, confused. "But I don't have to…"
"Yeah, but I HAVE TO. So you come with me." She sneaks a wink in at me.
"….Okay. I'll be back." I say to Cody. I get up and walk away from the table with Selena. We don't go to the bathroom, we just go off to a corner of the cafeteria.
"He's totally hitting on you!" She gushes to me. I love how she's happy for me.
"I know! I don't know whether to flirt back or not! What do I do?!"
Selena puts her hands on my arms and holds me. "Why wouldn't you flirt back?!"
I put my hands on her arms too and smile. "I thought you said him and Lacey are an item!"
"Who cares!? He's totally cute and he's hitting on you!"
I laugh and smile. It honestly feels good to have a friend like this in just two days of being here. "I wonder why he's hitting on me. I'm like…. Not that pretty. And he's GORGEOUS."
"Demi, you're pretty. Why do I have to keep telling you that? You're so skinny. And you have a real nice butt. I think you're super gorgeous. And I really don't think that about just anyone. If I thought you were ugly, I wouldn't lie to you."
"…Do you treat all your friends like this?" I smirk again, holding back a laugh.
"…Just the special ones!"
I laugh at her again.
"Seriously though, Demi. You're… different."
"…How different?" I look at her confused again.
"….Can I tell you a secret?"
I nod.
She speaks again, "A lot of my friends…annoy me. I mean, some of them, I'm not really sure if I like them or not. That's why outside of school, all I basically do is hang out with Nick. But you're different. I know that I like you. You don't annoy me. And I feel like I can tell you anything…even though I've only known you for two days. I think you could potentially be my best friend."
I smile, but I don't show any teeth. That's seriously the nicest thing anyone has EVER said to me.
I've never had a best friend before, besides Melby.
I really hope me and Selena can be best friends eventually.
"So how was school TODAY?" Aunt Kathy asks when I get in the car after school.
"It was better than yesterday. And yesterday was pretty sweet."
"Make any new friends? Any cute boys?" She drives out of the parking lot of the school and drives the way home.
"Friends, yes. Cute boy, yes." I smile and wait for her reaction.
"CUTE BOY?! WHAT'S HIS NAME?!" She gasps. She smiles too, genuinely happy for me. I decide not to tell her about the breakdown I had today in Spanish.
"His name is Cody. And he's super, super cute. We flirted a little bit today." I feel myself blushing.
"No kidding?! What does he look like?" She tampers down the radio so we can talk without talking over it.
"He's… light-skinned. Like… half black, half white. And he has green eyes. And his hair is all shaved and stuff. He's really… really hot."
"Ooooh. He sounds attractive. Keep flirting."
I nod and keep smiling. Aunt Kathy really makes me happy whenever we talk to each other. I feel like she's one of my best friends.
"So what about your friend? Is it still that girl you told me about yesterday?"
"Selena? Yeah. She's… awesome, Aunt Kath. Like… she keeps telling me that I'm pretty and stuff. And she said that she feels comfortable around me. And she invited me to hang out with her this weekend."
"That's amazing, Dems. I'm really glad you're liking school, kid."
I look over at her, still smiling. I realize that my aunt is extremely young and pretty. She has dark brown hair that rests on her shoulders with blonde highlights. Her eyes are really bright blue and she always has on the best makeup.
"So here's the deal for dinner tonight." She starts. I noticed that she skipped the turn to go home. "So, Jason has to stay on base tonight. He'll be home tomorrow morning. Which means it's just you and me for the night. I don't want to cook dinner for just the two of us and let it go to waste. So we can eat out tonight. And I have to go back to the mall to pick up a couple things from Macy's, so we can grab a bite to eat in the mall, if that's okay with you."
"Yeah, that's fine. I was kind of feeling Chinese food tonight, anyway."
"You wanna go straight there? Or do you want to go home first?"
"We can go straight there. No need to waste gas."
"Alrighty." She takes the same exit we took the first time to go to the mall. "Is there anything you want from the mall, girly?"
"Um… no. But I got invited to go to the beach on Saturday, so I do need a bathing suit."
"Alrighty. We'll grab you something. You can go ahead and do your thing while I'm at Macy's. I'm just furniture shopping, so it'll probably be boring for you."
"Okay. Do you want to meet somewhere before we leave?" I twist a strand of my hair around my finger.
"You just go and do your shopping. Pick up anything you want. And before you go off to eat something, just call me." She circles the parking lot, finds a parking space and parks the car.
We both get out and walk to the entrance of the mall.
"Okay kid, I'm going to the furniture store. You go do what you want. Here's a couple bucks. Call me up if you need any more." She fishes three $50 bills from her wallet and hands them to me.
"Okay, Aunt Kathy. See you in a little bit." I walk off in the direction of the stores. She walks off in the direction of the furniture stores.
Okay, so where can I find a bathing suit? I guess I'll just go to Victoria's Secret and look for one. I walk over to an escalator and ride up to the second floor to go to Victoria's Secret.
I walk into the store and go over to the bathing suit section. I don't even know what kind of bathing suit I'm looking for. Whatever's cute, I'll get.
I look through the racks. No, No, No… maybe. No.. ew, this is ugly. No, No, No.
I pick up the best one I can find. I just need a bathing suit. It doesn't have to be extravagant. I pick up a two piece one with straps that go around the back and the neck. It's white with red polka dots and in the center, there is an anchor charm that dangles between the boobs. I look at the price. It's $60.00. I'll get it.
I go to the checkout and hand the cashier the bathing suit.
"Did you find everything alright?" She asks me as she rings up my bathing suit. She doesn't have big boobs, which is weird because I always thought that you had to have giant boobs to work in Victoria's Secret.
"Yes." I say softly and hand her two fifties. She puts my stuff into one of the pink and red striped bags and hands me the silky, satin handles. I hold the bag by the handles and take my change.
"Have a nice day." She says nicely.
"You too." I grab my phone from my pocket and check the time. I've only been gone from Aunt Kathy for ten minutes. There's no way I gave her long enough to pick out new furniture, so to be fair, I'll go browse around for a half hour.
I walk next door from Victoria's Secret and go into a store called Steve & Barry's. There was a Steve & Barry's back at home, so I know what they sell in here. They sell lots of things, from phone cases to jeans. They sell everything.
It's pretty bare in here, though. I guess not a lot of people come here, because it's extremely cheap. That explains why I always came here back in Texas.
I go over to the electronics part, to see if they have cell phone cases or anything for my phone. I just need to kill time.
Aside from these two elderly couples, I'm the only one in here.
If it's anything like the Steve & Barry's back at home, there's a food court inside. They only sell hotdogs and pretzels and drinks, though. I don't want to get food. I just want a drink.
I walk to another part of the store in search of the food place. Sure enough, there it is. I think I'll get a blue raspberry Icee.
I approach the worker that's behind the counter of the food station to place my order.
He looks very, very familiar, but I don't think I've seen him before.
"What would you like, ma'am?" He asks me.
His voice seems familiar too. I find myself staring at him. I swear I've talked to him before.
"Um…a… blue Icee, please." I shake my head to clear my thoughts. I know him. I know I do.
"Certainly." He turns around to make my Icee.
He turns back around with my Icee and hands it to me. "That all?" His voice is gravelly and his muscles seem to be busting through the shirt he's wearing.
OH! I KNOW WHERE HE'S FROM!
"…I thought you worked at the pizza place in the food court?" I can't help but say. I feel like I need to clear this up.
"I thought you looked familiar. You were here just last week. And yeah, I do. I have two jobs here." He shows off his set of pearly white teeth. He has really nice teeth.
I must say, he looks a lot better than the first time I talked to him. His hair seems shorter, but still curly. Not disgustingly curly, though. It only curls at the ends. The majority of it is straight. And it looks like he shaved. And I can see his eyebrows now.
"Yeah, I was. And you were working at the pizza place." I pay for my Icee with the change from my bathing suit. "Keep the change."
"Thanks. You're pretty observant. To remember seeing me." He puts the money in the cash register.
"…I'm new to Daytona. So… I kind of… notice everyone I talk to." I pull my hair over my shoulder.
"I thought you were new. I usually know most of the people that wander into the mall. I didn't know you."
"Yeah, I just moved here."
"So why were you here the first time? Just to scope around?" He hands me a long, red straw to drink my Icee with.
"School shopping." I sip my Icee.
"You still in school? You don't look it…" He wipes the counter with a dishrag.
"I'm only a junior." I shift my weight off my back leg and sway.
"I miss high school. Best days of my life. You go to Mainland or Sea Ridge?"
"Mainland…"
"I graduated from Mainland." He chuckles.
Wow, he's super old. "That's cool." I don't know what else to say, but I like talking to him.
"Yeah. Do you like it? I loved it." He leans against the counter.
"I like it. Everyone is really nice. And the school's nice too."
"The school is nice. My brother goes to Mainland. He's a junior too. But he's a nobody, so you probably don't know him."
"I don't really know much of anyone yet."
"I see. Well, if you ever see a curly headed little idiot, that's my brother. Name's Nick. Nick Jonas."
"THAT'S your brother?!" It's a small town after all. I feel myself flushing bright red, which is strange.
"You know him? Curly headed little Nick?" Pizza boy/Icee guy smiles too.
"Yeah… he's my friend's boyfriend. I sit with him at lunch."
"Your friend's name Selena?"
I nod. "Mhm."
"That's Nick. He's always with her. He nice to you?"
"Yeah. He's really cool. And he helps me out with lunch and stuff."
"Good. I'll have to tell him that I met one of his friends. What'd you say your name was?" He flips his hair. My god, why are his eyebrows so bushy?
"Oh, I'm sorry. I never did say my name. But it's Demi." I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. My tongue is probably blue, I just hope my lips aren't.
"Nice to meet you, Demi. I'm Joe." He holds his hand out to me.
I take it in my hand too and we shake. "Nice to meet you too, Joe." I look at him again.
He isn't ugly, despite my first impression. He must've been really sweaty the first time I saw him. He looks a lot better this time around. He looks like he shaved and he got a haircut. I think he's really cute. But he's much, much too old for me. I think I'll stick with sexy Cody.
"I have to go now… My aunt is probably waiting for me." I throw the empty Icee cup in the trash.
"See you around. And I'll definitely tell Nick that I met you."
"Sounds good. Bye, Joe."
"See you… Demi."
Why do I feel all tingly when I leave?
August 28, 2008
Dear Mom,
Today was better than yesterday, which is really great. I think me and Selena are going to become very good friends. She told me today that I have potential to be her best friend. I'd like that a lot. She also invited me to hang out this weekend. I think I'll go to the school football game with her and then we'll go to the beach on Saturday. I don't care where we go. I'm just glad she invited me.
Today in Spanish, I got really sad thinking about you. It just bugs me how different everything is, but maybe it's changing for the better. Anyway, I started to cry a little bit, but then we got dismissed to lunch and I felt a little bit better when I talked to my friends. I still miss you so much, and I don't think I ever will NOT miss you.
So on a lighter note, I met two cute boys today, one named Cody and the other named Joe. I'm leaning more towards Cody, because Joe is much too old. Me and Cody flirted a little bit today, and I think I'm going to dress really cute tomorrow to impress him. I don't really see myself dating Cody yet, so I'll let you know what happens. But I want a boyfriend, so I think Cody would do. I'm not going to force anything though.
I'm sorry that this letter is so short, but I'm really sleepy. I had a very long day today. I just wanted to tell you about everything that happened today. I don't want you to miss anything in my life. I miss you and I love you so much.
Until next time,
Love always,
Demi.