The wind whistles through the trees creating ghost-like howls. The sky is blue and the leaves are already turning orange and brown as I walk to school. It's the first day of school and I've only been walking for about five minutes but I already wish I could be back in bed, sleeping the day away. I'm dressed in my best blue jeans with my mustard yellow knight sweater and black and white converse. Yellow is my favorite color and I try to include at least a little bit of it in every outfit.
"Marjorie! Hey!" My best friend Amelia shouts from across the street. Amelia lives a block away from me so we've known each other our whole lives since her family moved in when she was four. I still distinctively remember running around her backyard, jumping in my pool, making fairy houses, and doing whatever else little kids do.
I jog over to Amelia, hug her, and say, "OMG Amelia, I've missed you so much! It feels like school just ended yesterday and now we have to go back to this hell hole already! I'm glad your back though." Amelia laughs and agrees with me that the summer was too quick.
She spent her summer on the beach in Hawaii with her parents and older brothers while I stayed here in Oregon, sleeping all day while Mom went to work. I was a little jealous at first when she told me that she was leaving me for Hawaii but besides her being gone, I do enjoy staying home and having a low-key kind of summer.
As we walk into school, Amelia tells me all about Hawaii and all the cute little shops she went to, and the surfing lessons she took with one of her brothers. I can tell she spent every minute outside in the sun because her light brown skin looks even more darker and gorgeous thanks to a tan. Even though I swam in my pool every day, I'm still fairly light with no sign of a tan anywhere. Curse my Danish heritage!
"So, are you planning our usual ice skating and hot cocoa birthday hang out for your 16th birthday this year?" Amelia asks me, as we head to our lockers before the bell rings. Ice skating and hot cocoa with Amelia is my birthday tradition since I can remember. She usually does something different for hers each year but I like to stick to the same thing. She also likes to invite a lot of different people to her parties whereas I am only friends with her. I wouldn't say I'm that shy but I'm not as outgoing or talkative as Amelia and our other classmates.
"Of course I am," I answer, "But my birthday is not for another 3 and a half months so I don't even have to think about that yet." We grab what we need, double-check our new schedules, and head in opposite directions for first period.
"See you at lunch Mar!"
"Bye!" I yell over my shoulder as she skips away. I head towards math which is my worst subject. Not only do I hate it, but I can't seem to ever understand it, and to make matters worse, I've heard rumors that the teacher this year is mean and sort of a pedophile. So that doesn't help.
I walk into the classroom along with a group of kids, all shouting and talking about their amazing summer. I inwardly roll my eyes. This isn't just a random group of kids, it's the popular, fake, and basic group of our Sophomore class. Amelia's had some drama with some of the girls in the past but I try to stay out of it, I'm not even sure they remember I exist which is fine by me. I pick a seat in the middle of the class, not in the back where the trouble makers sit but not in the front where the teacher's pets and nerds are.
"All right gang, settle down, settle down." The math teacher, a large, grey-haired old man says. His name is Mr. Holland and he refers to us as 'gang' a couple more times as he tries to start class. I zone out a little bit as he talks about his rules for his classroom, what material we'll cover this year, and all that other boring first day of school stuff.
Instead of listening I look around at who is in the class and spot a boy I've never seen before. Wait... is that Ian? As in Ian Zander? He looks so different I have to really study him to realize I've known this boy since 2nd grade. He has died his brown hair jet black and he wears baggy jeans and a black hoodie and at his feet, behold a skateboard. He then turns his head and looks directly into my eyes. In response, I quickly look away and blush. I can't believe he just caught me staring, that's so embarrassing! I try to brush it off and not let my humiliation ruin the rest of my day, but I can't help but think of how I felt when we locked eyes. There was a queasiness in the pit of my stomach that made my hands feel shaky and out of control.
By the time lunch rolls around, I'm starving and already done with school for a lifetime. I meet up with Amelia at our usual spot behind the trees in the field and we discuss our classes so far. We only have one class together and it's History directly after lunch. It's a big adjustment from last year when we had almost all our classes together.
"So, tell me about Ian! Is his hair actually black now?" Amelia opens a bag of Doritos and scoots closer.
"Yeah it is and he's like in a lot of my classes too, not just math. I think he's in my Chemistry and English too." I tell her about our eye contact and she freaks out.
"OMG! Marjorie! Do you like him?!" She nearly shrieks. I smile and look down at my sandwich.
"I don't know, but I felt butterfly's in my stomach when he looked at me so." This is too much for her and she literally rolls around in the grass which causes some people to look over.
"Get up Amelia," I say laughing, "People are looking." She composes herself and when the bell rings we walk to class together still talking about Ian. Neither I nor Amelia have ever dated a boy but there have been countless crushes. I'm just too shy and socially awkward and too much of a chicken to ever ask them out, and Amelia has gotten rejected her fair share, but we both still remain hopeless romantics.
After school, I head home by myself because Amelia has Soccer practice and she has to rush home and get ready quickly so she's not late. As soon as I walk in the door, my bunny CeCe greats me by running over and knocking on my legs. My other bunny Mr. Carrots sleeps lazily on my bed and doesn't even lift his head to say hi.
"Your so tired from doing nothing all day, huh Mr. Carrots?" I pat his head and set down my backpack on my desk.
I go to the kitchen where I get myself a can of Coke and some chips and for the bunnies, some lettuce leaves.
"Hear you go CeCe." I say, handing her a leaf, once I'm back in my room. She nuzzles my hand in appreciation. I lay a lettuce leaf next to Mr. Carrots for when he wakes up and then I start on my homework. I don't have much, just a paragraph for English on our summer activities which seems like a 5th-grade assignment that I can't believe we're still doing. I write about swimming every day and when Mom and I took a day trip to the beach. I also got my first job ever this summer working part-time at the same book store my mom works at. It's near our house and a really cute, small, trendy place called Books'n'Things. Lots of people came in looking for a specific book that they didn't know the name of and Mom would find the exact book 99% of the time. She's really good at that kind of stuff. I just worked the register.
Later, Mom and I are eating dinner and after she asks me about my day, she says,
"I'm going on a date tonight." I stare at my mother for a few minutes, dumbfounded. My mother has never gone on a date with anyone except for my Dad which was probably around 16 years ago. My parents had me sort of young and unmarried so when I was two, my parents broke up and I've never seen my father since. I know he's still alive because he sends child support money every month and a card from the grocery store signed, Dad, on my birthday but other than that, I forget about him most days.
"What!? Mom! With who?" I have so many questions including how.
"Well, his name is Hank and I met him about a week ago. He's a car mechanic and remember when I told you I had to jump-start the car at the mall the other day?" I nod.
"He just happened to be walking to his car when I needed help and he came over and was so polite. I asked for his number..." She trails off, probably thinking of this polite guy who started her car for her at a mall parking lot and how he's so nice and handsome. I on the other hand have not been charmed by him yet.
"Mom! What if he's some kind of serial killer that tries to kill you tonight or he's like a drug dealer or something!? How do you know we can trust him?" I am genuinely worried for my mother. She hasn't been with anybody in ages and I'm worried her guard might be down.
"Oh, Mar! We've been talking on the phone a lot recently and he doesn't sound or seem like anything but a mechanic and a gentleman." I finish my dinner and we start the dishes.
"Okay, if you say so." She lightly punches me in the arm and runs upstairs to get ready. I turn the light off in the kitchen and head to my room to Facetime Amelia, who should be home from Soccer by now. She picks up on the first ring.
"My mothers going on a date with some random dude who is probably a serial killer or something!" I exclaim in one breath.
"What!? Slow down and start over." Amelia says and I tell her everything and how this Hank guy is going to show up at my house in an hour.
"Wow, Marjorie. You and your mom finding love at the same time." She teases me.
"Shut up Amelia! This is a big deal! And I did not find 'love' today."
"Okay, okay, sorry. Good luck though, make sure to call me right after they leave and tell me all about them."
"Okay, I will." I promise. We talk for a little while more but I hang up when my mom hollers for me to help her get dressed.
She's putting on a black tank top along with dark blue jeans and a light pink cardigan.
"Do you think the pink is okay Mar? As long as I wear my pink pearl earrings." She holds the earrings up and smiles.
"Yes!" I say. "It looks really good. Where's he taking you anyways?"
"Marsha's. Do you think I should wear lipstick too?" Marsha's is a fancy diner across town, I've only been there once before.
"Eh, maybe just lip gloss."
"Thanks, Marjorie." As she says this, the doorbell rings.