4 : Matters of the Heart
The second week of school was as torturous as the first. I miss my family, I miss my friends. I miss having my room and my en suite bathroom all to myself. I’m okay with the room sharing, I mean, Sam is really nice, but sharing the bathroom?! How am I supposed to do my “business” properly when I know that there’s someone waiting just outside the door for her turn? I can’t even scrub properly, let alone use excessive bath beauty products.
Bridget just sent me a basket full of liquid soaps, salt scrub and body butter.
Why would I want to put butter on myself?! I’m not a toast.
Her note said that to use them to “make guys trail drool after you”. Yeah, right. As if smelling like “freshly picked strawberries” and having skin “as soft as a baby’s bottom” would help in my current situation. Now if she gave me a liposuction machine…then that would be different.
History class was horrible. Not only does Professor “Swelly-Belly” Costello speak like a zombie, he gives quizzes worthy of bar exams! Who actually cares what happened in some river a hundred years ago? It’s the past, get over it.
I’m actually mistaken about my History classmates being “heartless”. They’re actually pretty cool. They fall asleep in class like me anyway, and the geek of the class actually lets us copy her notes, so everything’s fine!
My other classes are going well, too. Literature’s enjoyable; it makes me think. As usual, Math class is a hellhole for me, but I think I can manage a pass. The library is huge! I love just hanging out there and reading a random book and immersing myself in the quiet…
The skateboard guy keeps on popping in my head.
I wonder who he is. He’s nice, but not like the clean-cut niceness of Sam. He’s got this tough-guy thing going on. But he has a really sweet dimpled smile that breaks the tough-guy exterior.
I wonder when I’ll get to see him again.
***
The weekend came quickly, but it seemed like forever to me. Finally, I’m going to be home again! Oh how I want to just lie in my bed all day and chat with Mum and eat her homemade chicken chowder, which is by the way a blue ribbon winner in every cooking contest in our town! Then I can play with my little brother. He’s just turned ten over the summer and he’s thrilled to have finally reached double digits! He’s started to apply my dad’s aftershave after showering.
Kids. I can remember when I used to wear my mum’s high heeled pumps and put on make up and strut about the house. I was so eager to grow up then. But now, three months away from being an adult, I’d give anything to stay seventeen forever. I’m a few years away from being shunned into the real world, away from my parents’ comfortable arms. And being in this vast place full of strangers, I’m just realizing how small and insignificant I am. I wish to remain a little child without a care in the world, and the only choices to make are what to have for breakfast or which ribbon to tie my hair with.
Of course, there are also the matters of the heart…
Three hours, a train ride and two bus rides later, I step out into our front porch. The fresh air felt good on my skin; I can feel my lungs clearing up already. All that pollution from the city clogged it. I can see Mum has maintained her rosebushes into perfection. The red brick path leading to our squeaky clean blue front door is littered with auburn leaves. Ah, fall. The most beautiful time of the year.
I hitched up my duffel bag and jogged to the door. I decided against knocking. It’s better to surprise them, see what they’re up to while I’m gone. Slowly, I opened the door and crept in. It’s 10 am so the downstairs is empty. Mum’s probably out back tweaking the backyard. She’s obsessed with flowers.
Bridget just sent me a basket full of liquid soaps, salt scrub and body butter.
Why would I want to put butter on myself?! I’m not a toast.
Her note said that to use them to “make guys trail drool after you”. Yeah, right. As if smelling like “freshly picked strawberries” and having skin “as soft as a baby’s bottom” would help in my current situation. Now if she gave me a liposuction machine…then that would be different.
History class was horrible. Not only does Professor “Swelly-Belly” Costello speak like a zombie, he gives quizzes worthy of bar exams! Who actually cares what happened in some river a hundred years ago? It’s the past, get over it.
I’m actually mistaken about my History classmates being “heartless”. They’re actually pretty cool. They fall asleep in class like me anyway, and the geek of the class actually lets us copy her notes, so everything’s fine!
My other classes are going well, too. Literature’s enjoyable; it makes me think. As usual, Math class is a hellhole for me, but I think I can manage a pass. The library is huge! I love just hanging out there and reading a random book and immersing myself in the quiet…
The skateboard guy keeps on popping in my head.
I wonder who he is. He’s nice, but not like the clean-cut niceness of Sam. He’s got this tough-guy thing going on. But he has a really sweet dimpled smile that breaks the tough-guy exterior.
I wonder when I’ll get to see him again.
***
The weekend came quickly, but it seemed like forever to me. Finally, I’m going to be home again! Oh how I want to just lie in my bed all day and chat with Mum and eat her homemade chicken chowder, which is by the way a blue ribbon winner in every cooking contest in our town! Then I can play with my little brother. He’s just turned ten over the summer and he’s thrilled to have finally reached double digits! He’s started to apply my dad’s aftershave after showering.
Kids. I can remember when I used to wear my mum’s high heeled pumps and put on make up and strut about the house. I was so eager to grow up then. But now, three months away from being an adult, I’d give anything to stay seventeen forever. I’m a few years away from being shunned into the real world, away from my parents’ comfortable arms. And being in this vast place full of strangers, I’m just realizing how small and insignificant I am. I wish to remain a little child without a care in the world, and the only choices to make are what to have for breakfast or which ribbon to tie my hair with.
Of course, there are also the matters of the heart…
Three hours, a train ride and two bus rides later, I step out into our front porch. The fresh air felt good on my skin; I can feel my lungs clearing up already. All that pollution from the city clogged it. I can see Mum has maintained her rosebushes into perfection. The red brick path leading to our squeaky clean blue front door is littered with auburn leaves. Ah, fall. The most beautiful time of the year.
I hitched up my duffel bag and jogged to the door. I decided against knocking. It’s better to surprise them, see what they’re up to while I’m gone. Slowly, I opened the door and crept in. It’s 10 am so the downstairs is empty. Mum’s probably out back tweaking the backyard. She’s obsessed with flowers.
posted by Miss Lee @ 12:38 AM
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