On Monday, I was back in school. It felt great to be there to be honest with you. I made up for everything that I missed all the time. I did some of it during class time. My teachers told me I can bring any tests home with me. I only missed about five or six tests. That's not bad. They gave me all of the assignments and tests. Once I finished the missed school work, I was caught. I was saving homework assignments for homework so I won't get tired from it. None of my teachers blamed me for doing it that way.
At lunch, I got called down to the principal's office.
"Yes, sir?" I asked.
"This is Mr. Lynch," said the principal.
"Hello," I said shaking his hand. "I'm Rebecca."
"He has a daughter named Lily Anne starting here tomorrow," said the principal.
"Okay," I said.
"You get to show her around, bring her to classes, and introduce her to the teachers. She'll be in your classes," said the principal. "She's your age."
"Okay, great," I said.
"I'll see you here first thing tomorrow when you get here," said the principal.
"Yes, sir," I said.
"I'll see you then," said the principal.
"Okay, bye," I said as I left the office to lead for lunch.
"What did he needed you for?" asked Eliza while we were in line.
"I'm going to show a new student around tomorrow. Her name is Lily Anne Lynch," I said. "I'll bring her to our classes and introduce her to the teachers and show her around."
"Wow," said Stephanie.
"Yeah, the principal wants me in his office first thing tomorrow when I get here," I said.
"That's really cool," said Samuel.
"I know," I said. "At least I'm back in time."
"That's true," said Samuel.
After lunch, we were in English.
"I would you like to write a report on who do you inspire and you can tell us why," said the teacher. "You can choose any person in your life like a friend, family member, or anyone else. I'll give you the guidelines on the report and you'll have until the end of the month to do it."
I would choose Mary Jane. That's an easy thing to do. She gave us the guidelines about what we need to do on the writing assignment. I'll do the report after I do my homework and the tests. After school, Stephanie and I kept talking about next month.
"I can't wait for that moment to come," I said.
"Me, either," said Stephanie.
"My English class is doing a report based on who we inspire like anyone in our lives like a friend or family member," I said.
"That's cool. Who are you doing it on?" asked Stephanie.
"Mary Jane," I replied.
"She'd like that very much," said Stephanie.
"I know she would," I agreed.
At home, I was doing my homework that I missed. Then, I did the tests.
"Are you ready to go out for dinner? Miranda and Stephanie are joining us," said Dad.
"Yes," I replied.
At least I can take a break from it.
"We'll leave in a few minutes. Miranda said we can pick them up," said Dad.
"Okay, sounds good," I said.
That's what we did. We had a great time. We ate at Cheesecake Factory. It was very good. After dinner, we dropped them off at home and we went back home.
"I'm doing a writer assignment on who we inspire in our lives: a family member or a friend," I said.
"That's good," said Dad.
"I'm going to write up on Mary Jane," I said. "I want to keep her alive."
"That's a nice idea," said Dad.
"I know," I said. "I'm thrilled to do it."
When we got home, I finished the tests. I put everything in my folder. Then, I started doing my report. I decided to add a picture of Mary Jane as a book cover. That's what we're allowed to do for extra credit. I found a picture of her on Facebook, so I copied and pasted it on the word pad. I did a little bit until I went to bed at between 10:00 and 10:30 pm.
The next day, I went to the principal's office just like he wanted me to.
"Lily Ann will be here with her father shortly," said the principal.
"Okay," I said.
"I already told your teacher you might be running late with a reason, so he already knows about it," said the principal.
That was when she and her father came.
"Hello, I'm Mr. Mello. I'm the principal here," said Mr. Mello.
"Hi," said Lily Anne, who was a bit shy.
"And, this is Rebecca, she'll be bringing you to the classrooms and meet your new teachers," said Mr. Mello. "She'll be showing you around."
"Okay," said Lily Anne.
"I'll print out your schedule," said Mr. Mello.
"Alright," said Lily Anne.
That's what he did.
"Have a great day on your first day here," said Mr. Lynch.
"I will. Bye, Dad," said Lily Anne.
"Bye, honey," said Mr. Lynch.
"Here's your schedule and you have the same classes as Rebecca," said Mr. Mello.
"Thanks," said Lily Anne.
Then, we left.
"So, did you live around here?" I asked.
"I just moved here during Christmas Vacation. I'm from California," said Lily Anne.
"No kidding. I came from there, too. I came over the summer," I said.
"Really? What part? I lived in San Francisco," said Lily Anne.
"I was from Los Angeles," I replied.
"Wow," said Lily Anne. "I was born there. We moved to San Francisco when I was about five months."
"That was interesting to know," I said.
"My mom died in a car crash a few months before Dad and I moved here. He wanted to change," said Lily Anne.
"Do you think he did the right move?" I asked.
"Yes," said Lily Anne. "He's all that I got."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes. My only brother, Luke, died in the same crash as Mom. She lost her parents while she was in college. My dad's folks died five years ago. Neither of them have siblings," said Lily Anne.
When we got to class, I did introduce her to everyone. She gets to sit next to me. She felt welcome there. At lunch, I showed Lily Anne around on our way to the lunchroom.
"This is a very nice school," said Lily Anne.
"I know," I said. "Oh, yeah, I didn't tell you why I moved here. My dad worked for a hospital in Los Angeles until he got promoted and transferred here. So, now, he works for Women and Infants' Hospital."
"Wow," said Lily Anne.
"Yeah," I said. "My cousin lives here, so we were able to see each other every day now since we always stay in touch, visit each other a lot, and so on."
"Cool," said Lily Anne as we sat with the group.
"Hi, who's your new friend?" asked Eliza.
I remembered she was tardy today, which was why she didn't meet Lily Anne.
"This is Lily Anne," I replied. "She already met Stephanie and Samuel. Lily Anne, this is my cousin, Eliza.
"Nice to meet you," said Eliza.
"Same here," said Lily Anne.
"How do you like it so far?" asked Stephanie.
"I like it," I said. "Get this: she's from California, too."
"Wow. That's a small world. What part?" asked Eliza.
"San Francisco," replied Lily Anne.
"I've been there a few times before during a few school vacations," said Samuel. "That's a very nice city."
"It is," said Lily Anne. "My dad wanted to change after my mom died in a car accident. My older brother, Luke, also died in that same car crash."
"Sorry to hear that," said Samuel.
"Thanks," said Lily Anne.
"No problem," said Stephanie.
"I didn't mind the change to be honest with you. At first, I didn't want to leave California at all because I had friends there, but I realized Dad would be happier to move. He decided to come here because his parents lived here," explained Lily Anne.
After I had lunch, I did some of the report in the school library because I had enough time to do so. I had a lot to write about Mary Jane. We have to do about two pages. I had one page done when it was time to head for the next class. I'll finish it after school. At this rate, I'd be done before everyone else again, which would be good because I'd have free time.
After school has ended for the day, when I got home, I did my homework first before I moved on to finish the report. I completed it an hour later. I read it over to make sure I didn't make any mistakes. Then, I printed it out and put it in my folder. I'm glad that was done.
That night, I was reading when Dad came by and said, "Dinner's ready."
"Okay," I said as I put my book down and went to the table. "I already finished my report. It was an easy thing to do."
"I bet," said Dad.
"Yeah," I said. "I know Mary Jane would've liked about what I wrote about her."
"I know she would've," said Dad.
"I still think of her often. It's a good thing I got the scrapbook to help me remember all the good times that we had before you and I moved here," I added.
"That's true," agreed Dad.
"Sarah and Janet still miss Mary Jane, too," I said.
"I believe it," said Dad.
"I told them we got each other and that's what matters," I said.
"I agree with you," said Dad.
"They also agreed with me, but they added nothing would be the same without Mary Jane," I continued. "So, I told them to make a scrapbook to help them remember any good times they had with her. They actually liked my idea. They asked me to help them the next time I go there with Stephanie in two weeks. I told them I would help them out."
"That's a good idea," said Dad.
"Oh, Lily Anne started today. She was very nice. Like us, she moved from California. Only, she was from San Francisco," I said. "Her dad wanted to be here after his wife and son died in the same car accident a few months. They came during Christmas Vacation. She liked the high school."
"That's good," said Dad.
"I know," I agreed.
After dinner, Stephanie called me and said, "Guess what? I get to have a kitten."
"That's good. I remembered you had two cats," I said.
"Yes, they're still with my father. They're always happy to see me," said Stephanie.
"When are you getting one?" I asked.
"The day after tomorrow," said Stephanie. "And, I would have it when Mom and I move in with you and your dad. Do you think he would mind?"
"No. We used to have a cat when I was younger, but it died before I started second grade. She was sick and had to be put down so she won't suffer anymore," I said. "Her name was Snow White. I named it after a Disney princess and it was white as snow."
"That was a cute name," said Stephanie.
"I know," I said. "It was about four years old if I remembered correctly."
"I did remember Snow White," said Stephanie. "I even remembered how upset you were because you were attached to her."