A week later, on Friday, I was at the doctor's and I talked to Dr. Duarte about going on birth control.
"I just stared dating with my neighbor, Samuel, and I decided to start taking birth control as a precaution," I said.
"I don't blame you," said Dr. Duarte.
Then, we talked about birth control options and I decided to do the pills. She wrote the prescription and I called it at CVS near me. I thanked after that and we left. We picked it up on the way home. I already told Samuel about it and didn't mind since he feels we'd be too young to be parents. So do I to be honest with you.
At home, I took the pill right away and I decided to continue to do so every morning when I get up. I have been going out with Samuel twice a week since it's only summertime. That was the other deal that I made with Dad: twice in the summer and once during the school year. It has been working for the past two weeks or so. I haven't forgotten taking the birth controls.
Other dates were a baseball game, a few picnics, dances that Eliza attends, and more. I liked Los Angeles Dodgers and I still do. Now, I like Pawtucket Bay Sox. It's nice to do something different. We still do dinner and a movie often. Some of those dates were Dad's ideas, too. I like it when he gives out ideas. Sometimes, Samuel and I hang out at each other's houses.
We like going to the mall, too, but when I do Providence Place Mall, I go different restaurants where I won't see Mom. I told Dad I'd be worried about where she would be on her lunch break. I don't want to go back to Dave and Buster's unless we eat there. Dad gave me advice on how to handle that by just saying with either hi or I'm too busy to see her. The second option would make more sense to me. That's only if I bump into her. I told him I'll see her when I'm ready to do that. Right now, I'm happy what I'm doing: dating Samuel, hanging out with Eliza, and call or email my best pals. I'm not ready for Mom to come back into my life yet. Besides, Dad and I are making out just fine on our own at this moment- especially he just started to accept I was growing up.
In August, Central High School had an open house for incoming freshmen. Samuel, Eliza, and I went there together. We all liked the school. It was huge. We were told they'd send us schedules to us a few days before school begins. I told them that I'm new and gave them the address along with our house number and Dad's work number. He told me to do so in case of emergency although he works for the final shift. He told me he would let me know if has a meeting, needs to go work early, school can call him there depending on what time a meeting begins.
After the open house, I said, "That high school is so cool."
"I know," said Eliza.
"Yeah," added Samuel.
"I know I'm going to like it there in no time," I said. "I'm never nervous for the first day of school especially when I had best friends in California. I have three of them: one since preschool and two of them since first grade."
"I always make new ones. I still see them in the summertime," said Eliza.
"Same here with me," said Samuel.
Later, at home, Dad wasn't home from the meeting yet. It had just ended ten minutes ago. He's probably on his way home now. We'll be going out for dinner at Cheesecake Factory, which is located at the Providence Place Mall. We never been there. We didn't even have that in California. Eliza went there before and likes it. It's one of her favorite restaurants.
Thirty minutes later, I spotted Dad's car and I went out there as we took off.
"How did it go at the open house?" asked Dad.
"I liked it. The high school was very nice. The school library was huge," I told him.
"That's good," said Dad.
At the Cheesecake Factory, the food was great and the service was fast. I even had a cheesecake for a dessert. Thank god I already took lactid pill that morning. I don't know if Mom saw me because I acted I didn't see her so Dad and I can enjoy ourselves for dinner. After that, we went back home. At 10:00 pm, Dad told me he was leaving so he can grab coffee again on his way to work.
"I'm going to bed anyway. Night, Dad," I said.
"Night, peanut," said Dad as he left for work.
That was when I turned off the lights and went to bed. The next day, my stomach was starting to bus. I was afraid to get sick, so I wanted to wait to take the birth control and the lactid pills. Dad didn't mind when I told him that. In the meantime, I'll avoid the dairy products until I take my lactid pill when my stomach is better.
I panicked when I noticed I missed a few doses. But Samuel and I didn't have any sex anyway, so I was lucky. I felt stupid. Dad told me it was alright.
"I didn't notice that until now," I said.
"It happens," said Dad.
Later, my stomach was better enough for me to take those pills. I decided to use those doses that I missed. Dad told me it was fine. He even mentioned I was responsible enough for noticing that. At least he didn't get mad at me for that. From there, I kept taking it every day, making sure I didn't skip one.
A month later, it was two days before school begins. I asked Dad if I could get a trim for school like I do every year. He always lets me do that. Then, I went to Providence Place Mall where they have a hair salon. I had a trim. I have a long hair and it was cut about an inch or two. And, I decided to get it curled as a perm. I liked it. Dad was with me and let me to have the perm. It was only $20. That wasn't a bad price. I don't need a new backpack yet, mine is still in good shape. However, I got a few notebooks and binders for school. I also got a few clothes. After all that, I was ready to start high school the day after tomorrow. I get everything done by Labor Day.
Two days later, it was the first day of school. I felt excited about it. Samuel and I plan to walk to and from school together. It's only a block away from us, so it's a walking distance. School begins at 7:40 am, so we'll leave at 7:15 am to give us time to enter school. When the bell rings at 7:40 am, we'll go to our lockers on our way to our classes. I have Samuel in a few of my classes. I hardly have Eliza except for two of those classes.
The first day of school actually went well so far. I liked all of my teachers. I have Gym before lunch. Gym's okay, but I'm not good at playing sports except for baseball and dodgeball. I even noticed high school have a bowling club that would start in a few weeks. That's another sport I'm good at. My best pals and I would go bowling once or twice a month.
At lunch, Samuel told me his family are going to Roger Williams Park Zoo on Saturday and he invited me to join them.
"I'll check with Dad. I'm sure he won't mind though," I said.
Later, after school, we didn't have any homework yet. They wanted us to get what we need. I got everything a few days ago, but I'm all set. We'll start getting homework tomorrow.
"Perhaps you and I can study together. Mary Jane and I would do that all the time. It helps us to get As in every tests. We would let Sarah and Janet join, too. We would pretend to be on a game show like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy. That was fun," I said. "We would use hangman to study, too."
"That sounds like a fun way to study as a group. I don't mind if we study together. The only subject I struggle the most is Science although I get Cs. My parents don't care since it's a passing grade. Otherwise, I get Bs in the other classes. You just can help me with Science unless we do it for every subject," said Samuel.
"Okay," I said.
At home, Dad was in his work clothes and said, "My boss called me and needed me for a double shift. How was your first day of high school?
"Great. I have no homework until tomorrow," I replied. "Samuel invited me to go to Roger Williams Park Zoo on Saturday, so is it okay if I can go?"
"Sure," said Dad. "Well, I have to get going now, so I'll see you tomorrow morning before you leave for school."
"Okay. Bye, Dad," I said.
"Bye, sweetie," said Dad as he took off for work.
That night, I made a peanut butter sandwich for dinner. Samuel was over, so he had it with me. Dad said Samuel is still allowed to come over on a school night whenever he's needed for a double shift so I won't have to eat supper alone. I liked that idea.
"Oh, yeah, Dad gave me permission to join you and your family to the zoo," I said.
"Okay, great," said Samuel. "We might eat lunch there. We would spend about two or three hours there often."
"Sounds good to me," I said. "It would be my first time going there."
After we had dinner, Samuel had to go home to get things ready for school tomorrow. And, he goes to bed at 9:30 pm. I go to bed at 10:00 pm on school nights. I laid out my clothes for tomorrow morning like I always do during the school year.
The next day, at school, we started taking notes. Teachers were impressed that I did everything before school started. In the study hall, I did homework for math and History. This was before Gym. At lunch, I put math and History books in my locker and getting textbooks for Science, English, and Spanish. I remembered taking a Spanish during middle school and I did it fine with As in that class. I help my best friends because they didn't know a thing about Spanish. Even Mary Jane had no idea what her late parents spoke. But she made it out okay with a help from me and had Bs. They know Knowles is English. Mary Jane emailed me and she wants to learn about her birth parents. I believe that's a good thing.
After school, at home, I did homework for Science and English. We get to do Spanish exercises for classwork. I actually finished the last one before the bell rang so that I don't have to do for homework. Dad didn't speak Spanish, so he wouldn't help me during middle school, but that's okay. I can do that on my own and it's not very hard. It would be good if a job requires Spanish, I'd already know it. I may take up Spanish when I go to college, depends which major I want to study for.
I told Dad about the bowling club the high school is doing in two weeks and he thought it would be good for me to join.
On Saturday, I went to the Roger Williams Park Zoo on and had fun. We did had lunch like Samuel mentioned. They had a snack bar. I saw a lot of animals. We saw a few shows, which was the best part being at the zoo.
"We come here a lot on a weekend. And, it's not too far from us, which is why we like coming here," said Samuel.
"That's cool," I said.
"I know," said Samuel.
"Eliza told me she comes here, too," I said.
"I came here on field trips twice. Once during grade school and once during middle school," said Samuel.
Later, we were at his house for a few hours. We were our own that evening and Samuel decided to try to have sex. Luckily, I had taken birth control earlier.