(Oct. 21)"People will let you down in this life, promises will be broken, you should expect less of others and trust more in yourself." - Leon Brown
I should have expected it, but I didn't. I know, really short of an ending, but that's really all I have to say.
~<3~
(Song ~ 7 Years - covered by Leah Guest)
Because of budget cuts Music Class, which had been made an elective class, was every other day. So, some days I did Music and some days I did Art. Our assignment this week was to write a song based on ourselves, then play it. I had worked on it during the weekend, and had really worked on making it 'me'.
"Miss Huxton, why don't you go." Our Music teacher, Mr. Francis suggested. I grabbed my guitar, walked to the front, and started to sing my song. (The lyrics will be later in the chapter) When I finished the song with a final strum, I immediately received claps. I blushed a bit, sitting back down in my chair.
After class ended, Mr. Francis pulled me aside. "There's an art show coming up Makenzie, and I wanted to have a musical piece in it. I want you to consider playing your song." He said.
"Umm... I'm not sure, I'll have to think about it." I replied shyly, and he nodded.
"Just consider it."
~<3~
At lunch, I had filled the gang in on the offer I got in Music I was still unsure about it though. Career Day was tomorrow, and my dad had promised to come. He didn't have anything on his schedule for work that day, so he definitely could come.
"Promise me you'll be there," I said, sitting at the dining room table.
"Cmon Kenz! When have I let you down." My dad told me. I tried to hide the frown on my face.
"OK, just promise me."
"I promise." He said, holding out his pinky so I could loop it with his. I did so and smiled. It was the first time in a few weeks that we had really gotten to hang out. Too bad it didn't last long.
~<3~
"All right, future history makers. Welcome to career day. Now there are a lot of ways to make your mark on the world."
Topanga walked into the classroom. "Hi, Riley."
"Oh great, Shakira is here." Riley said sarcastically, before turning to Maya and I. "Where're your parents?"
"My mom won't be coming," Maya said.
"But she told you she was coming."
"Yes, she did."
Riley then turned to me. "What about you, Kenz?"
"He's coming. He promised." I said, looking towards the front of the room.
"Okay, guys, our first guest today is a lawyer, and I likes her. Hey, lawyer lady, how's about we go out sometime? I get off work every day at 3:15... Except Tuesdays. I got playground." I giggled a bit at Mr. Matthews' outburst.
"So I am an attorney. I got here through a lot of hard work in school. By the time I was your age, I had 350 'As." Suddenly someone knocked on the door.
"Your mom, or your dad-- There they are."
Mr. Matthews opened the door to reveal Mr. Minkus, someone I had seen once at my mother's funeral. "Minkus," Matthews said.
"Topanga." He said in a weird voice.
"Stuart." She replied.
"Topanga." He repeated, before walking over to Farkle. He turned to me first. "Mini Gianina."
"Sup, Minkus Sr," I replied back.
"Father." Farkle greeted.
"Farkle." His dad replied.
"Wait a minute," Lucas said, staring at the two.
"Yes?"
"He's your father?"
"Look at us." Stuart Minkus got down to his son's height and they both posed.
"Your name is Farkle Minus?"
"Don't wear it out."
"I don't know how you could," Lucas said, amused, and I hit his arm lightly for being insensitive.
Minkus got up and walked to the front of the class. "Sorry I'm late, everybody. I had helicopter problems, 'cause I have a helicopter. Do you have a helicopter, Cory?"
"Nope. Do you have a Topanga, Minkus?" Ooh, burn.
"No, because she chose you. I run Minkus International, I have a helicopter, and she chose you."
"Stuart, please. Aren't we a little too evolved to still be competing with each other?" Topanga reasoned. Uh oh.
Stuart laughed. "Of course."
Topanga laughed. "Of course."
Then in unison, they both said. "Go."
"Between the two of us, Riley and I have 1260 'As. Ha!"
"That's remarkable, Topanga. Between the two of us, Farkle and I have 1261."
"Ha!" Farkle screamed
"Ha!" His father mimicked.
"Between my Mom and I, we have 1266," I stated randomly, causing the three adults to turn to me, before going back to their feud.
Topanga looked at Cory intimidatingly. Cory shrieked. "I-- I had to, Topanga. He's a lot smarter than I am." Well, that's true.
Stuart interrupted them. "But what's more important to me than anything... is that I have this guy. Come up here, son." Farkle walked up to the front.
"Come up here, daughter. Look how tall she is. She's been taller than me since the day she was born." That must've hurt.
Stuart pushed Farkle a bit higher. Cory interrupted. "Well, very nice. Good for you guys. So this is what Career Day is really all about."
I looked down, and Maya sarcastically said. "Yeah, I love it every year."
"I'm sorry, Maya, Makenzie. Maybe your parents just got a little busy."
I rolled my eyes. "He's always busy."
"Are you guys okay?"
Maya nodded. "I'm always okay." I just shrugged.
"I'm fine, Riles." Riley then grabbed our hands and pulled us up to the front next to Stuart and Farkle.
"Yeah, thanks," Maya said.
Mr. Minkus cleared his throat. "So, these are the three ladies you tell me keep chasing you, huh?" He turned to me. "Your mother was obsessed with me in school." Somehow, I highly doubted that. Farkle looked at us.
"Please." He whispered, begging.
"Yes sir, it is us," Riley answered.
Maya shook her head. "I'm not doing it."
"Me either."
Riley elbowed us. "Yes, sir, it is us," Maya said.
"We hope that one day one of us will be lucky enough to become the future Mrs. Farkle Minkus," I added, before Maya and I turned to one another, recalling a conversation we had had once.
"And have a lot of baby Minkii." We said in unison.
Pretty soon everyone left the class, and I was about too when I heard Mr. Matthews' phone ring.
"Hello? Yeah, hold on." He waved me over. "It's your dad, Makenzie..." He said, causing me to grab the phone.
"You didn't come," I stated immediately, causing him to sigh.
"Look, Kenz... I really wanted too-"
"Then why didn't you?" I asked, cutting him off. "You promised."
"I had a meeting scheduled." He said simply, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Tell me if I'm wrong. You realized you had a meeting, didn't you? So instead of rescheduling it... which you could have done since you don't have anything else today! You just skipped on me. " I said frustratedly. He didn't say anything. I took a deep breath. "You know if you weren't going to come, you shouldn't have promised," I said sadly, my eyes starting to water.
"Makenzie! Come on, it was just Career Day!" He exclaimed.
"That's not the point! The point is that you promised me something, that you told me you would never let me down, then you completely ditched it! Without telling me!" I yelled, forgetting that Mr. Matthews was in the room. The bell rang. "I have to go. I'm sleeping over at my friend's house tonight." I said.
"Maken-" I hung up the phone, wiping the tear from my cheek. I fed handed it to Mr. Matthews.
"Thanks, sorry for the yelling..." I said softly, before walking out.
Things were definitely getting hard.
~<3~
Riley Maya and I sat in the bay window, we had just told each other about what happened in Music class, and how something similar happened to Maya in Art. Riley sighed. "Maya, why won't you show your art? Kenz, you too."
Maya sighed. "Because I'm-- I'm fine believing that nothing much is going to happen for me. Otherwise, I'm full of hope. You hope for things, you get disappointed."
"That's true," I said softly. I hadn't told the girls about my call with my dad.
"What reason could your parents have for not showing up, girls?"
"A dumb one," I muttered.
"You're right; I did expect them," Riley admitted.
Maya nodded. "And I didn't. See? Only one of us is disappointed that my mom didn't come."
"And only one of us will never let this go. You know that." Riley said, causing me to nod my head. She had the Topanga controlling genes in her.
I sighed. "Riles... Maya and I, we don't expect out of life what you expect."
"What do I expect?"
"You expect... good things," I said slowly.
Maya nodded. "You expect people to keep promises and people to show up."
"You don't?"
I shook my head. "Not really anymore."
"Riley, I'm not one of those dreamers like you."
"If your mom saw your art, Maya, doesn't it make sense that she'd be proud of you? Kenz, your dad would love your music!"
"Yeah, it makes sense to you," Maya said, shrugging.
"Would he really?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders.
"Riley, you need to be okay with this. Do you understand that finally, something is beyond your control? Look, I know you can't control your twisted need to fix people's lives."
Riley stared at us before she quietly reached over and fixed Maya's jacket.
"We're begging you," I added. She stared at us again, before looking at me and tucking my hair behind my ear and my her hands on top of one another. This is hopeless.
~<3~
"The Korean War."
"Genghis Khan," Farkle said.
"The Huns," I added.
"What?" Matthews asked us, confusedly.
"I just wanted to see what would happen. Farkle said, shrugging. All of a sudden, Maya's mom walked into the class.
"Hello, Cory Matthews. I am so sorry for interrupting."
"Oh no." Maya groaned.
"Nothing to forgive, Katy. Class, this is Maya's mother, Katy Hart."
"Mom, what are you doing? It was yesterday."
"Yesterday I was unable to attend your little job fair."
"Career day." Maya and I corrected.
"Yesterday I was trapped... in my vehicle... in the rushing floodwaters of the mighty Colorado river! To make matters worse, I just found out I was about to have a baby any second. So I crawled myself through the sunroof and I said, 'Let's do this thing.' Then I commenced to deliver my own baby until finally, I heard that wonderful, magical sound. (makes popping sound and mimics baby crying) 'Mama? Are you my mama?'"
"Maya?" Riley asked.
"Soap opera. She was auditioning for a soap opera."
"Can you believe I didn't get it?"
"Yes!" Everyone but I groaned.
"No!" I said, confused. Honestly, Katy wasn't that bad!
She laughed. "Yes. I am an actress. Are there any questions I can answer for anyone?" Farkle raised his hand. "Ah, yes, the Farkle."
"Why are you wearing a waitress outfit?"
"Anyone else?" Lucas raised his hand. "Yes, the pretty, young man right there."
Lucas smiled. "Yeah, thanks. Um, why are you wearing a waitress outfit?"
Sarah, a girl with brown wavy hair with glasses, cut in. "My dad says actors are a bunch of people who never grew up." Well, that's rude.
Miss Hart chuckled. "What does your dad do?"
"He's a director."
"Is he? Well, I'm sure your father never gave me a job either, which is the real reason I wear this outfit every day. Well, I'll just be going now." She said, walking out of the classroom. As she passed by me, I gave her a sad smile. Maya may have been frustrated that her mom was late, but... at least she cared to come.
~<3~
Riley was being drawn by our whole Art class. Ms. Kossal was touching Riley's face while explaining. "Drawing a woman's face is different than drawing a man's. Look for subtle differences. The lips are different."
Riley turned to Maya and I. "No matter what, don't get mad at me, okay?"
"We could never." We replied as we usually did.
Ms. Kossal cleared her throat. "To paint a young woman's lips, she needs to stop flapping them."
Riley continued. "Because if I have any talent at all, it's this, so don't get mad at me."
"We could never." We repeated.
"Because when the mouth is moving, it will affect all the sketches. And they all come out like this." Ms. Kossal held up two sketches of Riley with her mouth opened enormously. "Except for this one. You don't listen to a word I say, do you?" She said, coming over to Maya.
"Uh, it's not because I'm disrespectful."
"It's because you're an artist. I'm glad you decided to display your work. I got both you and Makenzie's notes in my teacher's box. Mr. Francis is excited for you, Makenzie."
I turned to Riley with my jaw dropped. "That's the thing you're not supposed to get mad at."
"The exhibit starts at 6:00, Makenzie you go on at 6:15, but be there early for prep. It's thrilling seeing your art displayed and hearing your music, you won't regret it." Then, she walked out of the classroom.
Maya and I stood up, walking over to her. "You don't listen to a word we say, do you?" Maya asked, smirking.
Riley shook her head. "I-It's not because I'm disrespectful. It's because you're both artists."
Maya smirked, looking at me. "Yeah?"
I grinned. "Then let us paint you something." We each grabbed a brush and threw green paint at Riley's face. The class ran out.
Riley gasped and sighed. "Okay. Girls, I am your best friend and I will always do my best by you, no matter what you..." She grabbed the red paintbrush and dabbed our faces with red paint, catching us off guard. "say."
Maya laughed. "And who made you the king."
"Or Queen," I added.
"Of friendship?" We painted her face again.
Riley chuckled and painted our faces red with one long swipe. "I did, I made myself the king of friendship. And this would be my first act as a king." She grabbed the whole pail of red paint with her hands and threw it at us, covering us in the paint.
Then all hell broke loose, we began throwing paint at each other. "Why won't you leave this alone?!" Maya yelled.
"We told you it was fine!" I added.
"I don't know how!" She yelled back.
Ms. Kossal walked into the classroom. "Whoa! Riley... This is the most authentic piece you've done all semester. Now clean it up. See you tonight, Maya, Makenzie." Then she left the classroom.
"One other thing-- I invited your parents." We grabbed a bowl of purple paint and handed it to Riley. She took the bowl, sighed, then dropped the paint on top of her head.
I was nervous about tonight.
~<3~
It was time. I stood on the small stage they had set up for me. My dad had actually come. I was shocked. I grabbed my guitar and sat on the stool. "Hi everyone," I said into the microphone, and a few people turned to me. "I'm going to be singing a song that I wrote. It's called '7 Years'." I started the song with a strum.
"Once I was seven years old and my mama told me to be the kindest girl that I could be
Once I was seven years old
This is a scary world, I didn't let that phase me
We put our brave face on from the morning til the evening
And by eleven I learned words that hurt more than bruises
Life is a restless game, we're tryin not to lose it
Once I was eleven years old, my daddy told me - my heart had to be the prettiest thing about me
Once I was eleven years old
I've always dreamt so big, and I'm a keep on dreaming
And in a hopeless world, I've always kept believing, I've always kept on breathing, always kept achieving
Despite the sticks and stones, I will not be defeated
Soon I'll be twenty years old and my mama told me to hold the ones who love me most so closely
Soon I'll be twenty years old
I wanna make a change, make this place a little better
We need to live within a world where everybody matters
No, I don't wanna see anyone's sons or daughters cryin, cause they don't fit in with what society has taught them
Soon I'll be twenty years old and my friends have told me to keep my chin up when my tears are streaming
Soon I'll be twenty years old
Soon we'll be thirty years old, what will our lives hold? Will I be satisfied with all that surrounds me?
Soon I'll be thirty years old
No matter how old we are age is just a number
It's never too late to love
To reach or care for each other
To forgive a brother, or to find a lover
Life is a mystery waiting to be discovered
Soon I'll be sixty years old, my life will be a story
Where my children tell their children about me
I'll watch a generation rise up to change the nation, the past lays down foundations for future celebrations
Soon I'll be sixty years old, will I be all alone cause I never valued what was all around me?
Soon I'll be sixty years old
Soon I'll be sixty years old, and God will show me that he was by my side through my every heartbeat
Yeah
Once I was seven years old and my mama told me to be the kindest girl that I could be
Once I was seven years old
Yeah
Once I was seven years old."
I finished, causing the room to erupt in applause. I watched as my dad walked out of the room with his girlfriend, but I didn't care. He had come, and that's all that mattered to me.