2. Friendly Introductions?

The next morning was both a good and a bad morning for me. It was a good morning because it wasn’t raining yet, but the clouds were gray and gloomy like they were heavily-filled with rain and they looked like they wanted to pour down on me as soon as I stepped outside. It was a better day for me because I knew exactly where all my classes were without needing any help. Matthew sat with me during English and walked me and Maya to art, while Genius Arthur was glaring at him the whole time. What made my day even better was that people weren’t staring at me and Maya like they were yesterday. After French, Maya and I sat with a huge group at lunch that consisted of Matthew, Martin, Arthur, Jennifer and Heather and many other kids whose names and faces we both remembered from the day before. Suddenly I felt like I was swimming in water, instead of drowning in it.

I got to school around 7:01 a.m. and I waited for Miya outside by my car. She arrived at school around 7:15 a.m. once I saw her I walked over to her and I smiled at her. She looked like she was in deep thought about something but when she saw me she smiled back at me.

“Hey Miya, you’re here early. Did you sleep well?” I asked her happily. Miya nodded her head and she replied as she covered her mouth to yawn “Yeah, thanks for asking so what about you? Did you sleep well?” She asked me calmly but I tell she was still sleepy.

Before I could answer her, we both heard the bell for class to start rang and we both waved bye to each other and headed off to our first few classes of the day.

It was a bad morning because I was extremely exhausted; I still wasn’t able to sleep with the wind thrashing violently around the outside Tony’s house. It was bad because Mr. Draco called on me during Calc even though my hand wasn’t raised and I didn’t even know the right answer. It was even worse because Maya and I had to play pool volleyball, and the only time I wasn’t quick enough to get out of the way of the ball, I accidentally hit Maya dead in the face with it. But, it was unbearable because neither Daniel Ronins nor William Kleins were at school today.

All morning Maya and I feared lunch, we were terrified of their strange and frightening glares. One part of us wanted to walk straight up to them and question them on what their problem with us was.  While Maya and I were lying down on the grass during Art, we both even thought about what we’d say to them. Unfortunately, we knew ourselves extremely well to have the courage to say anything to them. I bet we made courage the cowardly dog and a three-year old look like heroes.

After English, I headed to World History with Mr. Rothfield and throughout the whole class period this boy that sat across the room from Miya, who had short black hair, brown eyes and darker skin then she did. He was okay looking as far as looks went, but the most annoying thing about him was that he kept staring at her. I saw Miya glare at him but then I guessed that she remembered that it would freak people out if she changed her eye color right now.

I saw her sigh and then once class was over we both headed out of the class like everyone else but because she seemed to be so distracted, she tripped, bumped into the girl in front of her, making her fall back on the stairs and then collide with some other kid behind her. Miya groaned as she got up from the stairs. Suddenly Miya and I heard most of the kids of in our World History class laughing and I realized that they were laughing at her! I noticed that Miya had fallen on the stairs but she shook her head at me, telling me not to follow her.

“I’ll meet you at Ms. Robinson’s class okay?” I whispered to her as I then headed to my third period class.

“Okay now go.” She whispered back to me as she sat on the stairs for a few more seconds as the other kids walked over her instead of helping her up, not that she cared about them at all.

When Miya arrived at Ms. Robinson’s classroom door which always had a picture of Tom Cruise of the front of it, I was waiting for her, just like I had this morning.  I saw that Miya was slightly limping towards me and my eyes were filled with

 a look of worry in her eyes. I stuck my leg out and I heard the usual POP my leg made whenever I was stretching it out. She looked at me like I was crazy for a second and then she smiled at me.

“What happened and doesn’t that hurt?” I asked as I pointed to her leg that she still had hanging in midair. She smiled at me warmly and she placed her leg back on the ground before anyone could see it.

“Yeah I had to go to the nurse’s office and by the time I got there my leg didn’t hurt anymore but Mrs. Morgan insisted that I lay down for a lil bit. Then I had to call Tommy to let him know what had happened and well that’s about it.” She explained to me, and I listened to her patiently. Suddenly we heard the bell rang and we quickly raced into the classroom before the tardy bell rang again.

We raced to our seats by the time Mrs. Robinson came into the classroom. Throughout the whole period we were lying down on the grass, both of us thinking about what we’d say to them if we saw them today at lunch. Unfortunately, we knew ourselves extremely well to have the courage to say anything to them. I bet we made courage the cowardly dog and a three-year old look like heroes.

When we walked into the lunchroom with Heather and Jennifer-we both tried not to look at the table where their eight other “siblings” were sitting together and they weren’t there either.

Matthew and Martin ambushed us and walked us to their table. Heather, Jennifer and their friends silently followed behind us. But instead of trying pay attention to their conversations. Maya and I were waiting anxiously for Daniel and William to arrive. We hoped they’d just disregard us when they came and hopefully prove our doubts about them were wrong.

However, as time flew by they didn’t come and this only made us both even more uneasy.

Maya and I walked to Biology with more encouragement and confidence when, by the time lunch ended neither Daniel nor William showed up. Matthew and Martin, who were both acting like two guard dogs, walked loyally by our sides to class. Maya and I held our breath at the lab door, hoping and silently praying that Daniel and William weren’t there. However to our surprise when we opened the door Daniel Ronins and William Kleins weren’t in the lab either. We both exhaled in relief and we silently went to our seats. Matthew and Martin followed us, they were chatting about an approaching trip to the coast for a dance or something. They both stood by our desks till the bell rang for class to start. Then they went to sit by two girls, one had braces and the other had a horrible haircut. It seemed like Maya and I would have to stop them both and unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be easy, that was for sure. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember ever dealing with extremely friendly and optimistic boys.

Maya and I were glad we had the desks to ourselves, we were glad that Daniel and William were absent. We told ourselves this over and over again. However, we couldn’t help but think that we were the cause of their absence. Yet, we couldn’t stop believing that our doubts were true. But I wondered how we could impact two boys that intensely without even saying a word to them.

Once school finally ended and I’d finally stopped apologizing to Maya about the pool incident, we quickly changed back into our capris, and jeans and our red and blue sweaters. We rushed from the girls’ locker room; we were glad that we had managed to ditch our guard dog friends for the time being. We walked swiftly to the parking lot. It was packed with departing students. Once Maya and I had gotten into our cars and I watched her drive off, I checked my backpack to make sure I had all of my stuff with me.

Last night I’d found out that Tony couldn’t cook anything except cereal, bacon and eggs. I requested that for as long as I stayed here that I was in charge of cooking. My father cautiously agreed and he handed me the keys to the dining hall a.k.a the kitchen. Sadly, I also found out that he had not an inch of food in his house, so I made a grocery list and grabbed some cash form my old shoe box that had under my bed just in case Tony ever ran out of food.

I turned on my somewhat quiet engine which as usual sprang to life instantly. Then I saw the four Kleins, Ronins and the Cage and Phillips twins all getting silently into their cars. They were the black and red Volvos. Duh. Until now I hadn’t notice their clothes, I was too spellbound by their incredibly beautiful faces. But now that I was observing them, it seemed to me that their clothes were classy and expensive, yet normal looking. It hadn’t occurred to me that not only were they incredibly beautiful, but they were also rich. Despite their money and good looks, it seemed that neither of those things bought them acceptance in this town.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t believe that they’d not be completely accepted here. Maybe they wanted isolation, or just that they wanted to be alone was there sole desire, I wasn’t sure. It was hard to picture anyone that would neglect their beauty.

All eight of them looked at my car as I passed them silently. I kept my eyes on the road ahead and I was relieved when I was freed of the odd questioning stares of the other students.

Once I’d arrived at the supermarket, which was down the street from Mobile High. I was glad that it was normal, unlike at school, it was a great relief to me. Back home, whenever my mom, or Alvin was out, I usually did the grocery shopping. So it felt like a regular thing that I was accustomed to doing in Mobile. Thankfully, the store was big enough to where I not only found everything I needed, but it also drowned out the rain that made me remember where I was.

When I got back home, I quickly took out all the groceries and placed them wherever I found room in Tony’s massive kitchen, which meant there was tons of room for everything to fit without anything being crushed, or bunched up together on the shelves.

After the groceries were put away and I’d placed some chicken in the oven to bake along with some green beans to cook on the stove at a low flame. I took my backpack upstairs to do my homework. I changed into a pair of dry shorts, pulled my dripping-wet hair into a secure ponytail and checked my e-mail before I started on my Calculus and English homework. I had two messages from my mom and one from Maya.

“Emma,” my mother began…

Have you made any new friends? Tell me about them! How’d you’re first day of school go? I love you. Alvin and I miss you already.

Love mom

I rolled my eyes at my mother’s obvious curiosity about how my first day of school went and I was about to reply back to her, but I stopped and went to the next one she wrote about five hours after her first e-mail.

Emmally, she had written… no doubt in an angry tone.

Don’t make me call Tony. Please respond back to me. I’m starting to get worried.

Mom

I sighed at my mother’s unnecessary sense of alert and I replied back calmly.

Mom, it’s okay. I’m fine, there’s no need to call Tony. Please don’t worry about me.

Emma

I sent my reply and thankfully, it went to my mom quickly, so she wouldn’t think I was stalling to reply back to her.

After my first reply was sent, I began my response to my mother’s first e-mail.

Mom… I started off.

School’s great! I’ve made lots of new friends. One of my best friends is a shy and quiet girl named Maya. She’s kinda short for her age, she’s about an inch, or two shorter then me, but she’s a good friend. She’s also half black, half Japanese, isn’t that cool Mom? She’s smart and we have Art, P.E., French, Biology, and Lunch together. I also met these two girls named Heather and Jennifer, their twins. Heather has chestnut-brown hair with blonde highlights in it and Jennifer has black highlights, but their both nice girls. Oh yeah, Tony bought me a car! Can you believe it!? A real Porsche, it’s blue and kinda old, but it works great. Anyway, I also made friends with three boys, their okay, but none of them are my type. I typed, not wanting to talk to my mom about my complicated status when it came to me and boys. I sighed and then began to type again. One of them is named Arthur, he’s really smart and we have English together. Anyway, during Biology Maya and I met these two boys named Matthew and Martin, their both really nice too. Anyway, Mom don’t call the police if I don’t reply to your e-mail every three seconds. I love you.

Emma

Once my reply was sent to my mother, I clicked on Maya’s e-mail. It was about Daniel Ronins and William Kleins, this I wasn’t expecting as I topic of discussion. I sighed and I opened her e-mail with caution.

“Emma”… it began just like my mother’s previous e-mails.

I know you probably don’t want to talk about this but… But something about Daniel Ronins and William Kleins has been bothering me ever since I got home yesterday. I mean there’s something odd about them, don’t you think so? Anyway, sorry I bought this up; I talk to you tomorrow in Art okay? Oh yeah did you finish Mr. Draco and Mr. Evans’s homework assignments yet? Actually… Do you think that we’re the reason why they didn’t come to school today? I mean that’s impossible right? I mean how could possibly cause them to not come to school that’s so weird, huh? Anyway, see ya in Art, take care Emma-chan.

Maya

I was in shock; Maya and I were thinking the same thing. But something about her e-mail made me wonder “something odd about them?” What did that mean and come to think of it, Matthew and Martin were saying the same thing. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I almost forgot about the food I had cooking in the kitchen. I ran downstairs and checked on the food quickly, and none of it was burnt. I ran back up to my room after I took out the chicken out of the oven and placed it on the stove to cool along with the green beans.

Then I quickly replied back to Maya’s e-mail before I ran downstairs to start setting the table for dinner.

Maya… I began calmly, despite my need to hurry back downstairs.

Don’t worry about those two okay? Sorry I have to cut our chat short, but I have to get dinner ready Tony when he gets home. So see ya in art.

Emma

After my reply was sent to Maya, I ran downstairs and swiftly started setting the table for dinner. Once I was done, I began reading The Sound of Music just to stop myself from getting bored.  By the time Tony got home, I had finished most of my homework, except World History, and I was in the kitchen fixing his plate.

I heard Tony open the front door and he called out cautiously, as if he was afraid to find me dead, or something.

“Emma, you here?”

I rolled my eyes at my father’s stupidity. Who else would be in this house besides me?  I thought to myself and I sighed.

“I’m in the kitchen dad.” I called to him, trying to sound as cheerful as I possibly could, despite my irritation from yesterday’s Biology incident. I heard Tony sigh in relief when he heard my voice and he took off his gun belt and boots as he walked into the kitchen to see I was already setting his plate on the table.

“So emms, what you cook for dinner?” He asked me with a nervous look in his eyes. I noticed this and I sighed once again. Apparently, Tony must’ve thought that I was just like my mom when it came to cooking. My mother wasn’t known for being a great cook, but she was good at cooking pork chops, mashed potatoes, steak and potatoes, spaghetti, friend chicken and fries; but other then that some of things she cooked could kill people, not literally though. I was amazed at how he remembered what my mom’s cooking was like and this made me feel sad. Tony must really miss mom.  I thought to myself sadly.

“We’re having baked chicken and green beans.” I said as I put on a fake smile, trying to be cheerful even though I wasn’t in a cheerful mood. Tony smiled and then he went to sit at the table. I fixed my plate and went to join him at the dinner table.

Tony sniffed the food and he smiled appreciatively at it. “It smells great Emma.” You did a great job.” He said as he stared at his plate with drool hanging out of the side his mouth. I laughed silently to myself when I saw that he really looked like he liked the way my food looked.

For the first few minutes of dinner, we ate without a word to each other. Unlike most people, Tony and I were accustomed to the silence that was enveloping us, it made us feel closer together, that way there was no need to say anything that either of us would find awkward, or unnecessary.

As I watched my dad go to the stove to grab a third helping of chicken and a second helping of green beans, he asked with obvious curiosity in his voice “How’d you like you’re first day at Mobile High and have any of the kids there become you’re friends?”

I was cut off guard by Tony’s question, so I paused and decided not to answer him for a few minutes as I was debating in my head whether, or not to tell Tony about how my first at Mobile High really went.

I sighed and took in a deep breathe, by now Tony was already back at the table, and eating his food, His dark-brown eyes were staring curiously into mine. I exhaled and I said in a calm, yet fake cheerful voice “I have five classes with this really nice girl named Maya. I sat with her and these other two girls named Heather and Jennifer at lunch yesterday and today. Maya’s kinda shy, but she’s really cool. I also met these two boys named Matthew and Martin, their really nice and they even offered to walk Maya and me to class yesterday. All in all, everyone’s really cool.” I said finishing my description of how my first day at Mobile High. Leaving out the two unnecessary and extra-ordinary exceptions.

“Those boys you and your friend met must’ve been Matthew and Martin Phan. Their both nice boys-well mannered and very nice to people, not to mention they come from a great family. Their parents own a music shop down in Faiths Brook. They make a lot of money due to people always buying music and band instruments when the go pass here.”

I knew that I shouldn’t have bought it up, but I couldn’t help it. It was nagging at me, and I couldn’t take it anymore. “Do you know anything about the Ronins and the Kleins Families?” I asked Tony uncertainly as I looked away from him.

Tony cocked an eyebrow at me and suddenly he laughed. “You mean Dr. Ronins and Dr. Kleins’s families? Those two are both great and well-respected men in this town. Why do you ask?” Tony asked me calmly.

Before I could stop myself, the words were already out of my mouth, and I could only blame myself for what was about to happen. “Well, it’s just that I noticed that their not really liked in this town dad. I mean they seem… I don’t know different.”  I said plainly and as soon as I said those words, I truly wished I hadn’t.

Tony startled me when he suddenly slammed his fists on the table, causing it to shake slightly.

“The nerve of people,” I heard him mumble angrily. “Dr. Ronins and Dr. Kleins are both magnificent physicians who could’ve chosen to work in any hospital in the world, and make ten times the wages they both make here.” He said continuously as his voice started to get louder in volume. “We should be very fortunate to have them- thankfully their wives wanted to live in this sunless town. Their both benefits to the community, and all ten of their children are all obedient and respectful. At first, I wasn’t to sure what to expect when they first moved here, with all those adopted teenagers living with them. I assumed that we’d have difficulties with them. However, they’re all very grown-up for their ages- I haven’t had an inch of trouble from any of them. That’s definitely a lot more then what I can say about the children of people that have lived in this town for ages.” And another great thing about them is that their boding like a family should-they go hiking and camping every other Saturday and Sunday…. I mean just because their new here, people act like they have to talk, or gossip about them.”

It was one of the most time-consuming lectures I’d ever heard Tony give in his entire life. He really must’ve felt powerfully about whatever people were saying about the Ronins and Kleins families.

I calmly retorted “They all seemed polite enough to me. I noticed that they’d rather keep to themselves a lot though.  They’re all very appealing too,” I stated calmly, trying to be more complimentary of them.

“Ha, you should see the doctors,” Tony retorted, laughing once again. “It’s a good thing both of them are happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a difficult time doing their jobs with them around.”

We went back to being silent as we finished what was left of dinner. He took care of the table while I did the dishes. Once he was done cleaning off the table, he went into the living room to watch tv, then once I completed the dishes-I just placed them in the dishwasher, and once they were done, put them away- I retired upstairs to reluctantly finish my World History homework. I could tell this was going to be a ritual for me, and I wasn’t too happy about it.

That night as I stared at the stars from my ceiling, I realized that at last it was peaceful outside. I fell asleep instantly, due to exhaustion from today’s events.