My Last Year

School

      The next week was a fast blur of nothing. I mostly sat in my treehouse thinking. Staying away from my family who didn’t seem to want to ever see me. It was painful, watching them quickly look away as if they couldn’t bear it. Dinner was rarely eaten together and if it was, there was little talk. Finally I had had enough.

       It was Sunday, the last day of summer vacation. School started the next day and we were having Chicken rice casserole for supper.The only noise in the kitchen were forks clattering on plates and glasses setting down on the table. Everyone was avoiding eye contact, looking down at their food.

       “Good dinner Mom.” I said.

       “Mmm, thanks, Hon,” She replied softly, thrusting us into more silence.

       I slammed my fork on the table, causing everyone to look up. “Why are you all like this? Do you want to look back in five years and ask yourself why you didn’t do much with me? Because quite frankly, when I’m lying in a hospital bed—DYING—I want to remember good times. Times with my family. When we’re all having a good time. When we’re all laughing. I don’t want to look back and watch what a gloomy last year I had.”

       Mom’s face had gone pale, Dad’s was stiff, and I could see Peter was struggling with his composure, his fist clenched around his fork. His knuckles were turning white.

      I took a deep breath. “I know what’s coming and so do you. Let’s make the best of it…”

       Peter got up from the table, his chair clattering to the ground, and stormed out of the kitchen, heading to his room. Mom was still as white as snow, her eyes as round as Frisbees. Dad looked as though he’d just recovered from a heart attack.

       “You’re right.” Mom finally said. “We shouldn’t waste a single second!” It dawned on her face, as bright as day, I could see it. So beautiful—her realization--as the color pinkened her cheeks, she smiled slightly, and that was that.

       So then school started the next day, I saw my friends, smiled for ‘before’ pictures and exchanged phone numbers with some new kids. One of those new kids was a foreign exchange student from China. His name was Jack. He was shorter than most guys, but still managed to be taller than my 5'4". When I asked him if he had any siblings he nodded, but with a frown.

       “Yes,” He said. “Lena is my little sister. But my parents threw her out on the streets. I took her to an orphanage, but now she’s fourteen and it’s getting harder and harder to get adopted…”

       I told him I was awfully sorry, and wrote about it in my blog the following day.

       Hi all,

No one knows how much they are loved until that love is taken away. I learned that the other day. My brother still hasn’t spoken to me and I’m getting the feeling that he may never speak to me again.

 I met a boy at school, his name is classified, but he told me that he has a sister in China, and his parents didn’t want her so they threw her out onto the streets! Luckily, her brother was loving enough to bring her to an orphanage.

 This story gave me an idea…my parents are going to have only one child and they were used to two, so what if they adopted her?? I’m a genius! Haha! So what do you think?

 I posted twelve pictures of myself and hope that no one comments on them because I’m afraid of what you’ll say…

 Anyway, my first day of my last year of school turned out fantastic…I guess.