Good Morning, Sunshine – prt. 9 April 22, 2008

I was reading Vogue with Annie. Well, she was actually laughing at People Magazine; but we were both on the bed. It was late Saturday—hours after I kissed him. He hadn’t called. And I was still tingling. But Annie didn’t bring it up, neither did I. I just pretended to care about the celebrity gossip Annie was telling me about. Of course, once she found I had met the guy twice, she didn’t really care about the gossip. She wanted to know about his arms. But it all seemed sort of forced. And when my phone buzzed, the world seemed to freeze. Annie eyes got wide and she stared at me, mouth opened in mid-sentence. I wanted to roll my eyes and say it wasn’t a big deal. I really wanted to have the self-control to not reach over and grab it half-way through the second ring. But I didn’t. And I grabbed it. It was Cadence.

“Hey, Brooke! Are you with Annie—she isn’t answering her cell.”

I don’t know if I was relieved or heartbroken or annoyed. I just handed the phone to Annie and went back to my magazine. She fell back on the bed and started talking tiredly to her mom about laundry or something. I just flipped aimlessly through the pages, oblivious to things that would have been ripped out and put on my “necessary” list just weeks ago. I didn’t get depressed or even giddy when I saw the new Armani handbag I’d been dying for since Christmas. Melanie had admitted that dad was going to get it in Rome. But then he died. And I don’t think that really hurt my want for the bag. But still, I didn’t seem to care anymore.

Annie tossed the phone next to me when she was done. Automatically I picked it up and slid it open. There was no text—most of Manhattan had forgotten me—but there was a message. And my heart stopped beating.

“Did someone call while you were on?” I asked, trying to play it cool.

She just flipped onto her stomach, pulling the magazine to her face. “I dunno.”

I stared down at the blinking message. The pathetic part was, I didn’t want to touch it. But I did. And I put it to my ear slowly and leaned in to hear it. Annie noticed that I was no longer listening and she looked over at me. I guess I seemed kind of struck because she caught on that someone had called and that I was now listening to something juicy. Her whole face lit up and she crawled closer, biting her lip and giggling. I just waited, listening to my voice machine and waiting for it to jump to the message.

“Hey, uh, this is Jason.” And then his voice laughed. And I couldn’t help but smile. “Wow—this is awkward; not talking to you. Not that I’m talking to you, just…being on the phone and not talking directly.” I could almost see him blushing and it made me blush. Annie just smiled, leaning closer and trying to hear.

“Yeah, well I sound retarded. I’m usually a lot more suave.” Another chuckle. “Just another side-affect to…everything, I guess—but I’ll take it. Dang. I didn’t really call for any reason. I just wanted to hear your voice—I didn’t mean that as psycho as it sounded. Jeez, this message is a mess. Does your voice mail have a delete option? I think I’ll stop now…. Man, you’ve sent me into a tizzy.” A pause. “And I can’t believe I just said that. Kay, well, if you still have any respect for me after this—I hope you do—give me a call.” He breathed out and then laughed softly, “This is harder than I thought. I–…bye.”

And then it was done. And my smile just exploded across my face; I fell on my back laughing.

Annie started squealing and poking me, asking about what he said and what he wanted. But then the garage door went up and she cursed under her breath, jumping from the bed and shouting about some chore she hadn’t finished. I just smiled and smiled and smiled.

And it was weird. I’d never been so…happy. It was like my whole past life went dim to the ‘now’ I was living. I think that’s partly why I laughed. Just weeks ago, if I had met Jason in New York, I wouldn’t have cared. I probably would have given him the same treatment I’d given Todd. Or worse. Especially if he had been as nice as he was. I would have scowled at him—a wrinkle free scowl, mind you—and told him to get out of my way. And even if, just by chance, I had decided to give him a chance, I never would have started to go out with him. My dad had been my man. But if he’d miraculously gotten by that and I had decided to kiss him, it would have been a totally different relationship. I had seen my friend’s relationships. They were never about feelings, they were about material. The girls at my school would fight for the richest, even if they didn’t like him. And the guys liked it. They didn’t try and be nice; they didn’t have to. They’d come in Rolex’s and designer argyle with a hundred dollar hair cut and stand around till a hot girl walked by and then they’d pull out their wallets and ‘flash’ the money. If that didn’t work, they’d start bringing gifts—but not out of love. It was all about lust. In my world, chances were if you could afford a personal suite, you could get a girl in bed. I’d seen girls break up with guys because they wanted what another had. Friends would destroy friends to get the other girls man. If a guy started feeling for another girl, he would drop his girlfriend and go for it—even if it means another world war or the start of a vendetta. If there was ever a place to raise gold-digger’s, it was upper Manhattan. I’d been there. And now, here I was, giggling about a completely embarrassing message and thinking about the guy who had left it. It was kind of…weird.

Here I had spent my life with this one focus, or lack thereof, only to now have it totally changed. My dad had died, but I cried more when I found out I was being forced to Florida because of it. I had met people, seen things, been places that most people only dream of—and I hadn’t cared. I was more awed by a designer’s piece than I was by a sunset in France. Sitting there just made me think how…different I was. Here I was, living in the tiniest house ever built, with two strangers who I just recently met and who were related to me and who served frozen pea’s and fried chicken for dinner. I was going to a public school and sitting on a school bus and washing my clothes in machines. I hadn’t had a manicure in a month, I had lived without starbucks for more than a day and I had kissed a guy who liked me for me; who wanted me just because. It was the total opposite of my past life and I didn’t really care. Well, I missed my fashion shows and my apartment. I definitely missed my cook and New York, but I wasn’t dying. I was a totally different person. For one, I smiled a lot more. I learned how to bite down nasty remarks. I had shared my clothes with Annie. And it hadn’t even been a month. I was still stuck in a hot January, in the sunshine state, with another five ahead of me—with it only getting hotter. But, that phone call, I could take on anything—I felt on top of the world. So I just lay on my bed—cheap paisley and all—and smiled. For the first time, life was actually good.

Good Morning, Sunshine – prt. 2 April 1, 2008

“Listen–as soon as you turn eighteen I’ll be there; not a second late. I promise.”

“You’re always late, Mel.”

She smiled sadly, looking at me as we drove to the airport. I just stared off into the heart of manhattan, ready to die right there. I didn’t want to leave. Six months. In Florida.

“Yeah, well, not this time. Besides, it’s not always my fault.”

As if to illustrate her point, she started yelling at the driver about the fact I was going to miss my plane if he didn’t hurry things up. That sounded like an okay thing to me but I didn’t say anything; just held my starbucks Mocha Frappuccino Blended Coffee and wished I was heading anywhere else. But I wasn’t. Cadence had called every day the last week to make sure I was all set and everything was going as planned; as if I had a choice. She bought the tickets for me; said they were waiting at the airport under my name. I told her I could totally take care of myself; i could even get my jet to come down. She thought that was funny at first. When she realized i was dead serious, she just said no–she wanted to get me here. So there I was, traveling through New York City traffic towards an airport where I actually had to wait in line. All so i could go live with my “mom” down in “Sunshine” Florida. I’m sure the sun was no different there than here, but Cadence made a huge deal about it. I couldn’t really argue; florida was like the only place I’d never been. I had never been to Disney world. Well, I went to Euro Disney last year for my french tour; it wasn’t all that exciting. I much preferred the Paris Fashion Week; I bought a Dior gown and coat. I was wearing the coat that day–I remember. It was a gorgeous trench. But I never had worn the gown. And I highly doubt I’d find a place to wear it in Florida; but I packed it anything. I didn’t leave anything behind. Every perfume bottle, shoe, blouse, pair of jeans, slacks, stockings and piece of jemwelry was coming with me. i made sure of it.

The apartment had been cleared out like no one had ever lived there before. Melanie had found some sort of storage space for it–the safest, most guarded one available. She wouldn’t let me take the paintings and sculptures dad had goteen me through the years; said they’d be here when I came back. but not in my home. It surprised me how fast the memories were packed. They didn’t even haunt the empty halls. I guess it was because most of my memories with dad were made elsewhere. We never really were home. But home was still home–and now I was leaving it all behind. Every high rise, every street corner. they were all staying and I was going.

I remember the day before I had burst into tears as I zipped my final case shut. There was at least five of them. Melanie had them shipped down that night so I wouldn’t have to worry about them all at the airport. I just hoped they’d be there in time. Cadence had this odd idea that I wanted to be going down there; as if I had planned this trip all on my own. every phone call was filled with high-pitched reassurance that it would be the greatest thing–we’d have so much fun. She said even at school I’d have fun. Seemed I did have to finish school and my Ivy-League-inspired private school didn’t have a second in Florida. Shocker. So I’d go to school with Cadence’s other daughter. Yeah. She had another; I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking if it was the masseuses’. She was sixteen and her name was Annie. I didn’t know anyone named Annie. It sounded so…broadway.

When I got to the airport, Melanie had to get to another meeting. So, after a quick kiss on the cheek and a hurried hug, she shoved my Burberry bag in my hands and whispered “good luck” and “text me if you absolutely die”. And then I was alone. And I had to go with the sea of people to the customer service desk. That was a new experience. When I finally got up there, I asked for my tickets only to discover they were coach. I didn’t do coach. I told the lady that and she just looked at me, then moved on to the next customer. I asked for an upgrade but she said there were no available seats. I told her that was bull and she told me she’d call security. So I left.

I got on that plane and shoved myself between some wannabe gangster and dying grandma The kid just kept eyeing me and my tightly-clad legs. I finally asked if he had a problem. He said no, he liked the spicy girls. I just rolled my eyes, put on my designer shades–I think they were my Gucci–and pretended he wasn’t there. It was a long flight. I wish it was longer. Too soon I was off and heading towards my florida exile. I had to switch at the Miami terminal to head to some middle-of-no-where town where the closest airport was thirty miles from my new “home”. That was a distance that made the difference between a prison and a claustrophobic psycho’s ward. It seemed I was heading for the latter. There were only five other people on the plane with me. The flight attendants were in tight blue polyester and looked like they doubled as a Hooters bar waitress. And they played some unheard of hip-hop music (it should remain that way). But it wasn’t till we landed and I squeezed out of that coach-only airplane that I realized exactly how awful it was going to be. The air was warm. And it was wet; I could feel it press against my body. But I could stand that; that was bearable. It was seeing my new “family” that made me want to run. They held a sign, as if they’d mistake me with the rotting men getting off with me. It was an older woman who looked like she’d been frightened of growing old her whole life but had finally given in. Her face echoed of old plastic surgery. The girl next to her was cute enough. Sort of a Wendy’s “it” girl, if there is such a thing. She had red hair and freckles. To give her some credit though, it wasn’t pulled into pigtails. It was held back with a forest green that matched her pants. Well, gauchos–nice, spandexy gaucho’s. As soon as they saw me, they dropped the sign and just stared. I finally walked down to them and pulled off my sunglasses. It suddenly seemed rather hot.

Finally the older woman looked at me, “Brooke?”

I looked around, pulling my burberry back up my arm, and pretended to double check. “Looks like it.”

They thought that was funny. Then she pulled me in my arms and hugged me–really hugged me. I never really got hugs; dad even knew I wasn’t a hug person. She was whispering a whole bunch of stuff in my ear till I finally pushed her away. Then the other girl was in front of me.

“I’m Annie and you are absolutely gorgeous! I never guessed you’d be so pretty–not that I had reason not to. but….Oh, I love your jacket.”

I looked at her, trying to decide if I should stare at the hair or the bright green eyes or the pants. I decided to just put my glasses back on. “Thanks.” I said, “It’s a coat.”

cadence then asked if I had anything else; I said my baggage had been sent down. She laughed and said that’s good to know cuz she wasn’t sure if all that had been mine or if the whole plane had accidentally rerouted their luggage carrier. I didn’t find it that funny.

But I finally got in the car–which cadence actually drove–and Annie felt like she had to sit in the back with me.

“Cool bag. I have one like it. I got it at target for, like twenty bucks. is that real? Mom said NY has all these great street deals for copy’s.”

I could feel my face melt into a despising glare, but I didn’t care. Accusing me of street-corner copies was about as low as you can get. i quickly pointed out the label. She said she’d never heard of it–was it some store? i didn’t bother explaining further, just held it closer.

Other than that it was a silent ride, Annie seemed to catch on real quick that I didn’t rally care for her chatter. And Cadence was too busy watching the endless, deserted road to make conversation. I was fine with that. And I just kept praying that I’d be living in some sort of oasis in this strange, strange part of the world. When we turned down an average suburbia road, I knew I was far from having that prayer answered. there was grass all around. All the houses looked the same and each had their own mailbox. Toys were strewn across the lawn and cheesy christmas decorations still plagued the lawns. We pulled up to own of the more average ones–at least it didn’t have any toys–and I watched as the garage door went up.

I was scared to get out; I kept thinking maybe I was lost. But as Annie opened the door and told me to slide on out–the other door was broken–I knew it was too real. And Cadence pushing the door open and watching nervously as I walked in made it all more real. Annie kind of stumbled in after me, pushing her shoes under a bench and quickly telling me I didn’t have to. Good. Because there was no way I was taking off my wedges to put my feet on that floor.

“Uh,” cadence said, watching as I looked around, “We’re kind of…humble. Not so worried about a clean house as we are about family, right?” She tried to laugh and I slowly pulled my glasses off and pushed them in my bag. The living room was connected to the kitchen and there was no dining room. The TV sat on the floor and was still on. The couch looked like it had seen better days and the windows had plastic blinds on them. A loud air conditioner blew behind me and Annie waited by the stairs, hardly registering my discomfort.

“Your room is by mine; you’re lucky dad and Travis moved out last year, otherwise we’d have to get rid of some of your clothes.”

“What?” I asked a bit loudly.

She just laughed and said it was a joke. Some joke. Then she said she’d show me. So I followed her and I could hear Cadence sigh deeply behind me as I creaked up those stairs. When she opened my new room’s door, I almost ran out screaming. I swear it was smaller than my bathroom had been. It’s walls were a horrid fuschia and the awful paisley bedspread matching with an addition of orange and white would even make martha Stewart gag. The only thin that kept me going in were my five suitcases stacked against a wall. Those clothes needed out. Though I was loathe to place them where I was. A small window took precedence on the farthest wall and a pathetic closet filled the other one. It was about two feet deep. I could hear children laughing outside which was foreign to my ears. I was used to honking, sirens and whistles.

Annie just smiled at me, standing awkwardly in the door. I looked at her.

“Well,” she said, slightly picking up on my angry stare, “I’ll leave you to get settled. Mom said I shouldn’t bother you too much–we do after all have school together in two days. We’re still on Winter break!”

The suffocating heat made it impossible for my brain to register that statement. I just collapsed onto the stiff bed with a whine as soon as my door shut. I dropped my bag to the floor, suddenly not caring about the probable dust mites. I just let my hair fall out of its tight ponytail and stared at the ceiling.

“Well, we’re not in kansas. Though we’re probably close.” I whispered to no one. This was going to be a long six months. Very long.

For, Like, Ever – prt. 4 March 25, 2008

Things really got ugly by Homecoming. But I can’t really explain that week without talking about some past…moments.

After that whole walk thing, Ashley started acting…different. I guess I was too. I kind of felt guilty, ya know, having this crush on a guy she claimed. but i never got the guy. And Shawn’s attention, which I felt was directed entirely to me, seemed to draw me in. I actually flirted. That first period with him was always the best; i laughed, he smiled, we talked! I can honestly say I had never been that close to a guy before. And I got the idea that I actually had a chance. I, plain, old sarah, had a chance with a God! I started wearing make-up, doing my hair–i even painted my fingernails. And Ashley didn’t even notice. She had her eyes set on the prize and she left me behind. Maybe that was why I started really going at him. If she had been with me more, talking with mem I probably would have backed down a little bit. But, with her gone, I was left to connive and plan. I kind of…forgot about her. But not enough i guess, cuz when I saw her by him, laughing or getting too close for comfort, I’d turn sick inside, as if I’d just swollowed my vomit. I could feel this side of me scowling at her from across the room; I felt like a monster.

But we still were friends. Or at least pretneded to be. We walked home from school or drove each other. Sometimes we’d eat lunch together. but the topic was always Shawn. Which turned out to be a problem. Ashley felt her only competition was Jessica, which explained why jessica was now invited out to lunch with us. I never liked Jesica. She stole my crayons in elementary and kissed my brother in Junior High. he was graduated. yeah. She was the stereotypical cheerleader. Except she was smart. Way smart. And that made her mean. Cuz she knew she was near perfection. So when Ashley invited her, I gladly vacated my front seat and ran to the back. But it washardly a safe zone, cuz Jessica’s number one posse showed up. Amber Clasemare was no friend of mine. Afraid her strawberry-blonde (total bottle job) curls would go flat if she leaned back, she sat up with her nose in the air. I just leaned against the window, watching the leaves fall. I did laugh when we took turns though; Amber always lost balance and kind of twisted her ankle. No surprise, they were tied and bound by a pair of strappy heels.

That lunch was an odd one. Ashley and Jessica acted like best friends. Amber just stared silently; half-bored and half-disgusted to be sitting with me. They were both nice enough to Ashley. It was me they despised. I didn’t fit in their “group”. I was from the poorer part of town, though my house still had a pool and a sort of theater and it cost about $650,000. yeah, that was poor. Plus I didn’t buy designer. My mom, who happened to work for a designer, offered to get me clothes. But i just happen to feel weird in a pair of $700 jeans. So bite me.

When I got back to the school, i was relieved. I leaped out of that car and hurried inside. That’s when I bumped into him. My books flew everywhere and I’m pretty sure one of them hit him in the eye. He almost cursed, saw it was me and laughed. I fell to the ground and started picking everything up, mumbling apologies and such. He just laugehed.

“I hope this isn’t some way to get me to talk with you.”

My jaw dropped and I quickly fumbled for words, too embaressed to see the twinkle in his eye. “No, no. Not that pathetic…just clutzy.”

He smiled, handing the books to me. I could hear Ashley and the others coming up behind me. They had been laughing, but I could feel them stop and go quiet when they saw me. I smiled at the thought and pushed some hair behind my ear.

“That’s okay.” he said, helping me up, “You don’t have to make a scene to talk to me, Sarah.”

I smiled, “Good. Cuz that’s so not me.”

he laughed and threw his keyes in the air as he waved bye. He caught them and then spun back to me.

“I was gonna go out, wanna come?”

I could hear Ashley’s stiffled gasp. I don’t know what stopped her from jumping my back right then and ripping my heart out. i guess she didn’t play that way. I soon discovered she played dirty.

My heart went crazy as he stared at me. I just smiled though–i didn’t even stutter!

“Sorry, I just ate. Another time?”

He smiled, this time kinda biting his lip. “Totally. See you tomorrow.”

I just smiled back and watched as he almost ran into Ashley and Jessica. That made him turn back and laugh, “I guess you’re not the only clutz!”

Then he apologized to the ladies and, with one last wave to me, turned the corner and dissapeared. I could see venom seething in Ashley’s eye. But I guess I was euphoric enough not to care. I just walked away, feeling a million miles high. And that’s when things got ugly. It was then I discovered not even a BFF can last forever.