Next came the dream. My name is Phoebe Delany and this is my life story. I have ADHD, dyslexia, and what some would call bad luck. In the dream, a glowing figure of light was saying "Ha! Phoebe! What a clever name. She's shaping up fine, but I wish she had some real parents. I suppose that's not my area of expertise, though. And she's too skinny. And her hair's a bit... I don't know, flat? How do you fix that, Aphrodite? Oh, but you should hear her sing, she's fantastic, I swear." And suddenly I was ripped away from warm glowing voice and tossed into this dark pit, where I could feel people watching me. I woke up sweating because I was so hot.
I didn't bother to get dressed just yet. Nobody here cares that much. I crept halfway down the stairs careful not to step on the creaky wooden floor boards. Oh, crap. I could hear mom and dad arguing again, and I really didn't want to set them off on me. I scrambled back to my room and threw on some jeans and a band t-shirt and brushed my teeth. My bag was ready for school, so I grabbed it (Just in case I needed to leave in a hurry).
They were almost at each other's throats when I got back down stairs. If you've ever seen racoons fight, the way they spat, get in their opponents face, and make quick slashes at each other, that was how my parents fought. I steered clear and hoped they didn't notice me while I made myself a bagel, which was what I had every morning.
"Who do you think you are, little hussy!?"
"Maybe if you cared about me, I wouldn't go looking for people who do!"
Time to leave. I hit the road and started walking toward school. Today just felt, I don't know, different than every other day. Except for one thing I knew would never change. Jake was waiting at the intersection, but today he smiled when I walked up to him.
"Do you wanna... Talk more? Like, hang out?"
"Yeah, totally!" I finally had a real best friend.