It's weird to not have to expect a snowstorm a day after we just had sixty degree weather.
Weird but not unwelcome.
The seaside warmth of California makes it hard to be stressed here, but not impossible.
I walk into my grandmama's quaint kitchen, the cool stone of her floors comforting against my bare feet. I grab a teapot from the wooden cabinets, fill it with water and leave it to heat up as I gather chamomile tea bags.
Anticipating my baby brother's awakening, I help my mom out and prepare his bottles. A high pitched whistle reminds me to grab the teacups and pour the tea.
I hold steady the cups of tea as I make my way through the small home to my grandmama's room. Stepping over plants as I go.
The sight of her looking so frail squeezes my heart. She's out cold but it's time for her to take her medicine. "Grandmama," I say gently and lightly shake her body. She stirs awake, disoriented. "Here," I reach out to set her tea on the nightstand and grab her set of pills.
This has become our routine. I make us tea and she takes her pills. It won't change because of school starting.
I watch as she takes them then peer inside the container to make sure that was all of them. "Baby, you don't need to watch me like I'm a child," my grandma mama fixes me with a stern look and sips her tea. If I had any thoughts that her being sick would change her personality, they were quickly diminished. My grandmama is as stubborn and sassy as always.
"I know. I just wanna make sure you didn't forget," I tell her. She shakes her head at me. "Don't let these wrinkles fool you. I never forget," she exclaims. I hold back a retort because I can name quite a few times she's forgotten.
Muffled cries bring me to my baby brother's room. I open the door and see him fussing in his crib. He's all unraveled in his yellow swaddle. His face contorted in a frown because this whole sleep thing is still new.
"Hi baby," I say. He continues to cry, the volume lowering to little whimpers. I walk into the kitchen with him bundled in my arms. "Is this what you want," I dangle his bottle in his face. "You don't need to cry, it's alright," I feed him his bottle and check the time. 7:35 AM. I got a few minutes.
The creak of the door echoes down the hall. "Sunny," the voice of my mom calls out. "Yes," I respond. "Did you grab him for me?" She asks. I walk towards her room. She sighs in relief when she sees me. "Oh you are a godsend, sweetheart," I put Sabeh in her arms. My mama grabs him and then looks at me. A small smile on her face.
"You look beautiful on your first day," she praises. I do a little spin. My floral skirt flutters outwards.
"Are you about to leave?"
"Yes."
"Okay, let me get a few pics," she gets out of bed and grabs her camera my dad bought for her birthday last year. She loves that thing. I fight an eye roll and follow her as she makes her way outside, Sabah still in her arms sucking away on his bottle.
The sun shines down on our home, and casts a warm glow of light around us. My mom lets me pose freely as she snaps some photos. I check the time again, 7:47.
"Okay, this is good," I stop her and grab my brown satchel. "C'mere,"my mom held out an arm for me. I hug her and she kisses me on the cheek. "Have a good day, baby," she gives me a warm smile, like she can transfer the confidence of a good day waiting to be had into me. "I will," I smile back and kiss little Sabeh.
I see my mom watch me as I walk ahead on the trail to school
"Bye," she waves. I wave back.
꙳ ✩ ꙳
School was a five minute walk of wavy grass and pretty flowers. I see other kids weaving through the trees. Different paths to different homes.
My school was lined by palm trees. Many kids in shorts, dresses, and skirts hung out in front of the massive courtyard of the school. I walked past them all and went inside.
The cool air of the school welcomed me. I put on my Sony's and began to explore my new school. Just because I'm new doesn't mean I need to walk around lost.
The short, tropical melody played throughout the school marked the start of my first class. I watched students jog to class already late on the first day.
When I got to the study hall, synonymous with the lunch room, a man who is most likely a gym teacher gave the thirty other kids and me the option to sit inside the lunchroom, or go out to the courtyard.
Without hesitation, I chose outside.I found a big tree, with thick green grass and tucked myself beneath it. I sat and people watched. A favorite pastime of mine.
One girl had a ukulele and was playing some happy tunes for her friends. Another kid was laid out on the lawn asleep. His backpack laid open, I could see his airpods from yards away but no one took them. Strange.
My next class was biology. Within a minute of class starting, I knew that I would not like my teacher. After she read the syllabus as if we couldn't read it ourselves, she assigned us a welcome back project where we have to examine bugs, and it will take two weeks to complete.
On top of that, the partner she assigned me was absent. It's the first day.
The class began to separate into groups and chatter filled the room. I rose out of my seat and went over to my teacher. She hadn't even realized her mistake.
"Ms. Hughes," I called. She looked up from her laptop. "My partner's not here," I say, dryly. "Oh, that's too bad. How about you join a group until Noah gets here?" Her smile looks a lot like a grimace.
I heave a sigh and look around the class, searching for the people who look either kind, or don't know their partner. All the groups seem to look happy and chatty. An asian girl catches my eye. She looks up from her partner and smiles at me.
Well, that's an invite as ever.
I walk towards her. Plastering a smile on my face, I held the attention of her and her lab partner who had been talking away.
"Do you mind if I work with you guys?" I ask. I feel so lame. My hair feels hot under my wrap. "Yes, of course," her partner perks up with a bright smile. He pats the table, and I sit opposite of the pair.
"So, are you new to the school?" He asks, shaking the cup of his iced drink. "Yep," I reply, not in the mood for small talk but when his smile falls a little I add, "Is it obvious?"
"It's not," he quickly reassures me, patting my hand. "I'm familiar with a lot of people here and I've never seen your face," he tells me.
There must be a bunch of caffeine in this guy's drink. I try not to frown at his cheerfulness.
"This is the first time you've been in a school?" The girl asks with wide eyes, she'd been listening intently but I guess she missed a few things. Is she for real? The boy side eyes her. "No, Ipo. She's been to school before. She's new to this school, sweetheart," He assures her.
I look at the two friends. The boy's floppy, blond hair. Ipo's intricate blue eyeshadow look with a pure white bob. They're an interesting pair.
The boy looks back at me, his eyes squinting. "Where's your partner?" Wish I knew. I shrug, "Not here." He frowns.
"What was his name?" I pause to think. Something with an N. Nick? No. Oh. "Noah." His forehead crinkles. "Interesting kid."
"You know him?"
"I could tell you at least one thing about almost everyone in this school. Maybe I'd heard something, or I've talked to them. But Noah, I know nothing about the kid," He says.
Isn't that helpful. I don't know what to do with that information, so I just nod my head.
"Well, I'm just hoping he shows up tomorrow," I say. I glance at the syllabus and the project description on the paper. One instruction catches my attention: Must take real photos of insects.
"Did yall know about this?" I hold up the sheet, pointing. Ipo breathes out a sigh looking relived. Her hand rests atop her head.
"That's much easier than having to catch all of them." She smiles and shakes her head.
I'm concerned if she really thought we'd have to catch thirty different insects and bring them here. The boy shakes his head. Ipo just chugs some of her drink. They both have the same dark iced beverage. "Okay, I know your name is Ipo," she nods enthusiastically, "What's yours?" I look at the boy.
His eyebrows raise then a seductive smile adorns his face. "The name's Cai," he purrs. I don't know why but that shook a laugh out of me. "I'm sunny," I giggle out. Ipo sets down her drink and claps. "That's so cute," her dark eyes crinkle.
"Are you sunny all inside," Cai asks. His eyes were roaming me up and down. This sets me off again as I laugh. Cai chuckles too.
"No, probably not," I answer. Ipo slaps him on the shoulder.
"What Cai forgot to tell you is that he's a slut. The school slut." Cai gasps, his green eyes wide. "No, that is not true. I just love love," he says. "It's okay. I'm not here to judge, but maybe we should talk less and work more," I say, grabbing my notebook from my satchel, and a few pens.
"Yeah, yeah that's smart," Cai looks down reading the project handout.
I discreetly checked him out. His full pink lips and pretty eyes have to be what lures them. Although the shaggy blond hair is doing it for him. I look over at Ipo. She's typing something away on her laptop. Loud clicks giving her away.
"Here," she slides her computer over to me. "Type your number and email. We'll all work together until your partner comes back." I smile grateful.
I do as she says, and we get to work.
꙳ ✩ ꙳
I was the studious loner in all of my other classes. No other random projects were given. Only long syllabuses which I have carefully tucked away in my folder.
I see the odd two again at lunch. Ipo and Cai found themselves a booth close to the windows that go along the cafeteria wall. I don't want to be a leach but I felt comfortable with them, so I walked over there.
Cai sees me immediately and waves me over. A rush of warmth comes over me. This day has been good. Experiences with people other than my family have been weird the past few months. I didn't know what to expect today.
I slide into the booth. Taking off my bag and pulling out my lunch. I eat as Cai tells me about the many special things of this cozy town.
One thing that caught my attention is the farmers market. Every Saturday morning, close to the beach, there's a farmers market with local vendors. They sell fresh fruit and homemade products. It reminds me of back home. There was a farmers market every Saturday morning there too. Me and my family used to love this pie place. We'd buy little pies every week, and eat them all the next day after church. I'll have to tell my parents later.
I pop a grape into my mouth. "Do you play any sports?" Cai asks. "Yeah, volleyball," I say.
"Are you any good?" I scoff. "Yes, I was ranked in illinois. I'll probably be ranked here too," I tell him. Cai leans back into the booth. He lets out a whistle in reply. "Volleyball is popular here. Those girls are intense."
Something burns in my chest. I don't mind a little competition. "I know some of them train in the cities around here."
I've been looking for a trainer, although the season doesn't start till December out here. I need somewhere to workout until then. I need to get my rankings back up, if I want to be a five star.
"Do you guys play any sports?" I ask, looking to Ipo. She'd just been listening. They both look at each other then laugh. "We're more of a look cute, do cute things type of people," Cai jokes.
A rowdy group of kids knock over a trash bin and a few chairs. "Are they okay?'' I look at Cai. His face gets serious. His eyes seemed trained on someone in the crowd. I glance back at the group, wondering who he's looking at. "I almost forgot," Cai brings my attention back to him. "There's a party tonight. It's in a place away from the town, we call it Vodka beach." I frown. "Is that the real name?"
Cai shakes his head and smiles. "No, it's an unnamed beach, but people go there and usually get drunk. It's mandatory to drink Vodka," Ipo explains, twirling her white hair.
"Are you gonna go?" I ask. The two look at me as if I'd grown a third eye. Ipo giggles and Cai pops up out of his seat, sliding in on my side of the booth, he hugs my shoulders. "Sweetie, we're all going."
.˳⁺⁎˚ ꒰ఎ ★ ໒꒱ ˚⁎⁺˳ .
Author's Note
✧ Hi!! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter :)
✧ I have one question for you:
If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
For me, I'd rather be in Carmel by the Sea. It's so beautiful there. Although there has been some talk of a flood covering California and neighboring states; so, to be safe I'd like to visit Bora Bora which is also very beautiful!
✧ Another quick question:
Were the paragraphs too long? I'm wondering if I should break them up a bit. Let me know :)
-Misahh ₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊