Dad was late picking me up. I stood under the overhang, hoping dad would text me before he pulled into the lot. It was a mess. I would just run through the rain if I had to, just to save myself the trouble of sitting for half an hour in traffic with my dad. Traffic that didn't need to be here, with how few people actually went to this school.
There was a line of cars exiting the parking lot, an assortment of rusty beaters that were handed down from parents and older siblings.
I watched students get into their cars. I was terrible with car names and was trying to match the colour of the car to the student. Sometimes they even matched their car.
It took about 15 minutes for the parking lot to empty, mostly because people kept having conversations through their open windows. It was then that Dad texted me that he was on his way.
When Dad pulled into the parking lot, it was just in time. I was one of the last people there.
We decided to stop at the Thrifty Bear on my way home. It was the only place in town that actually sold mochi ice cream balls. I almost missed the sprawling shopping malls in Phoenix, if only for the access to Asian markets.
Dad said we were lucky anyone carried Jasmine rice here. Which explained why the Thrifty Bear was so expensive. Sixteen bucks for two boxes of chocolate mochi balls.
When we pulled into the house, I found a spot in the huge fish freezer to put the treasure.
I decided to take a shower and make myself a peanut butter sandwich. When I was done eating, I went upstairs to check my social media.
Renee sent me a message on MySpace. She asked me to call her when I had a chance.
Rolling my eyes, I called her. It went to voice mail.
She called back about twenty minutes later. She sounded drunk.
"Bellyache," Renee started. "I have some bad news. Phil got picked up by a team in Florida. We are selling the house and moving."
Oh no. How terrible for me.
"That is exciting."
"I would love for you to come with us… but…"
"I don't want to," I said. "I just got back from school, so I need to use the toilet. Can I call you back tomorrow?"
"Oh, that was all. Yeah. Love you baby."
Then she hung up.
I plugged my phone into the wall and started working on homework. I had two chapters in science, a small chapter in English, and a worksheet in my other classes. They were due at some point this week, but I would rather get it done with.
I would need to focus on the math homework, because there was no way I was passing this class without help. I put that last, especially because it wasn't due for another day. I would work on it tomorrow and then ask the teacher for help.
I hoped I could be moved into a different class, cause trig was going to kill me. I could already feel my brain melting just thinking about it.