Another Day In 7TH Grade Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I woke up to hear the birds singing outside. The warm sun shined on my face making me wish I could stay in bed forever. I opened my eyes. I could see two little cardinals sitting on a tree branch right outside my window. It was as if they wanted to wish me a good morning. I liked the chirping sound much more than my alarm clock. My cat, Puss and Boots, was lying on my feet still asleep. I think his main purpose in life was to keep my feet warm, but I was fine with that.
It was Saturday morning with not a thing planned to do. Sounds like my kind of day! No bossy teachers or annoying bells telling you where to go. It was just a nice peaceful weekend.
I could hear my sisters downstairs. It sounded like they were watching Saturday morning cartoons. I hoped they had forgotten about the 'incident' as I called it now. It had been a few days, but the mocking had yet to end.
"Come on Puss and Boots." I called. He woke up and stretched. "Sure, take your sweet time lazy cat." I put on my slippers and walked down the steps with my cat following close behind me.

I walked into the living room and looked around at my sisters. They looked so lazy. "What's on?" I asked. I hoped it wasn't a really stupid cartoon. Some of those shows seem to just be on to fill up dead air.
             "Batman." Isabel said with a smile. "He is so fine!" She added with a squeal. I find it very disturbing when one of my seven year old sisters is completely boy crazy.
             "I'll be right back." I said before leaving.
"Like we really care." Sidney mumbled. She stretched her legs out from her spot on the floor. She sat next to a tall pile of non-marshmallow pieces from her lucky charms. As I walked out of the room I saw her add another piece to her pile.

I wondered if there were any cheerios left. I searched the kitchen cupboards and to my surprise there was! Usually, when I wanted one of my favorite cereals it was gone before I even woke up. This must be a good day! I poured in the milk then went back into the living room. I sat down just in time to hear cat woman explain her scam to the audience. I looked down at Keyda and noticed her bowl was filled with something odd.
"What are you eating?" I asked curiously.
"It's really yummy! Peas in apple sauce with chocolate chips!" She answered. She began smashing it together while Isabel's face turned white.
"That's disgusting!" Isabel screamed. She stood up and sat on the couch cushion farthest away from Keyda.  
"Shut it Isabel! Mom will be mad if you wake her up again." Sidney warned. She grabbed a handful of her non marshmallow cereal pieces and threw them at her.
"You can't throw stuff at me!" Isabel yelled. She grabbed a few pieces of her fruit loops and hurled them in Sidney's face.
"Oh that's it!" Sidney screamed, completely forgetting what she just told Isabel. The two of them started rolling around the ground fighting. Keyda walked to the closest corner she could find to stay out of the way.
"I'm out of here." I leaped up and left the room quickly. I knew if my sisters did wake my mom up I definitely didn't want to be around.

I tried to get back on that good day feeling again, but I just couldn't think of anything to do. Hmm… Maybe I will find something to do upstairs. I tiptoed up the steps.

There wasn't much to do in my room either. I decided to just start doodling. The basic doodles like flowers and my name over and over again. I wonder what I would look like with Alex's last name. I gave it a try and was happy with what I saw. It looked really good! Sofya Stone, Mrs. Alex Stone. I loved it! Sofya Stone looked much better than my boring old name.
            "What are you doing?" Asked a voice behind me. Oh no, I can't let them see this.
"Nothing." I answered quickly, trying my best to hide the doodles.
"If it was nothing you wouldn't try so hard to hide it." Said the voice again. I turned around to see it was Sidney being her annoying nosy self. Being nosy was a trait her and Isabel shared.
"It's none of your business. Now get out of my room!" I ordered. I stood up and pointed to the door. She took the paper away so quickly I barely even notice!
"Alex again? You're obsessed!" She laughed.
"Get out Sidney!" I hissed. I tried to snatch the paper out of her hand. She knew I was going for it, so she backed away out of my reach.
"Sofya and Alex sitting in a tree." She sang. I held her arm and grabbed the paper from her hands.
"Listen to me you little brat! Stay out of my diary! Stay out of my room! And stay out of my life! You got it?" I gritted my teeth. She pushed me to my limit and she knew it too. She ran out of my room but stopped in the stairway.
"You know he will never like you right?" She said in a wicked little voice. I don't care what anyone says; I know Sidney is a cold-blooded witch.

Her statement lingered over my thoughts for a long while. I didn't want it too, but it did spoil my mood. It's funny when you think about it. The littlest thing can change how you feel for the rest of the day.

"Sofya, can you take out the trash please?" My mom asked from the kitchen. She sounded tired and stressed. I wasn't sure if my sisters woke her up, or if she just got up on the wrong side of the bed, either way I wasn't going to argue with her.
"Alright Mom." I called back. Maybe something fun would come to me when I went outside.
. . .

I drug the trash to our garbage cans next to the curb. I looked around at my neighbor's houses. Every single person living next to us was elderly. There was never any noise, except when one of my sisters or I brought over a friend. I usually enjoyed the quiet, just sitting in my backyard thinking of whatever popped into my head, but for some reason I just didn't want to do nothing today. I wanted to get out and do something.

Sometimes, I wished we lived where Tommy did. My mom says a trailer park isn't a good neighborhood, but Tommy always has something going on there. All the kids treat each other like a big family, or at least that's how it seems.

I was thinking about giving her a call to see if she wanted to hang out, but I decided not to. She would probably just play basketball with the guys around her trailer, or something like that, and I would be bored over there too. I could see what Lidia was up too, but she always hung out with the rich preppy girls that lived around her house. I really didn't feel like dealing with stuck up brats today either. Think Sofya think. What could I do that would be fun? I sat down in my front yard and listened to the birds beautiful songs in the trees. Maybe, I could bird watch for a while. I didn't have any binoculars, because Sidney broke them a few years ago, but I could watch them from where I sat.

All the birds were so beautiful in their own unique way. Even the crows looked different from one another. I had no idea how long I was watching them, until Keyda ran out the front door looking for me.
"It's time for supper." She said happily. "What are you doing?" She knelt down on the grass next to me and looked up at the tree in our front yard.
"I was just watching the birds." I explained. I had been watching a cute little sparrow for a while now. He kept calling out to another bird, then would wait until it called back to him. It was cute watching his feathers poof out when he chirped.  
"Without binoculars? You're silly Sofya." She laughed. She squinted up at the tree as if she were trying to read small print. "You can't see a thing." She stood back up and walked to the door. I couldn't believe Keyda, queen of strange, thought I was being weird. "Come on Sofya, Mom's waiting." She continued, trying to get me to move it.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming." I got up from the grass and headed inside.
. . .

After supper we did our usual routine. We watched The Simpsons together then went our separate ways. We did anything we could find to pass the time. I was thinking about giving my friends a call to see what they did today, but sadly Isabel was using the phone so I could kiss that idea goodbye. Whenever Isabel gets the phone it's gone for the whole night.
I began walking around the house looking for something to do. I walked past my sisters' room. I could see Keyda playing the Sims on their little T.V. and Sidney was reading a book upside down on her bed. There was nothing to do in that room except maybe get Sidney annoyed. It wasn't really a challenge to get Sidney mad at people; it was just as simple as shooting fish in a bucket.  Hmmm… I better just do some writing.
. . .

I wrote for a long while before falling asleep at my desk. The next morning I received a wake up call from my mom that I did not want to hear. She was all ready for church, and refused to let me stay home. It's not that I had anything against church, I just liked sleeping in more. Plus, I was exhausted from staying up so late. I was enjoying my time drawing pictures for my books. Even though I argued my mom wouldn't back down. She kept going on and on about how we need to go to church more, and try harder to become a closenit family.
"Sofya, are you up?" She called from the steps.
"No." I called back sleepily.
"Come on honey, you have to go."
"Why?"
"Because I said so. Now come on!" I hate a lot of parent's sayings, but 'because I said so' is the most annoying one there is! I mean, it doesn't answer your question, all it does is show parents have more control over your life than you do.
I stood up from my desk and noticed a pain in my back. That's what you get from sleeping on a wooden chair all night I guess. I walked over to my closet and grabbed the only dress I owned. I hated dresses, so my only dress was an all occasion dress. It was completely black, that way it would be appropriate for funerals too. I threw it on and brushed my hair all nice and flat. After I was ready I slowly walked to the kitchen. I yawned one big yawn most of the way down.

"Oh Sofya... You need a new dress." My mom said when she seen me.
"Why? What's wrong with this one?" I asked. I tugged at the sides of my dress and looked it over.
"It's black, that's the problem. I think you should wear a dress that's a little more... Cheery."
Why would I want a cheery dress? I wasn't cheery myself, so why would my clothes need to be? "Well, when I become cheery myself I'll buy a cheery dress." I said sarcastically. My mom was quick to pick up on negative toned voices, and mine was as negative as it could possibly be.
"Don't give me that attitude young lady. I think you should have a better outlook on life. It's not as bad as you make it out to be." Right, like she knew what my life was like. She had no idea what I go through!
I heard a lot of noise coming from the steps. We either had a bickering pack of rhinos, or my sisters were coming down. All three entered the kitchen while arguing about the Loch Ness Monster's existence.  
"Look at your sisters dresses. They are much happier looking." My mom explained. The girls stopped talking and looked up at her. They all wore the same dress; it must have showed they were triplets or something. "Don't they look adorable?" My mom admired their little yellow dresses covered with daisy prints.
"I hate this dress." Sidney moaned. The dress did look good on all three of them, but Isabel definitively wore it the best.
"You're so right Mom! We do look adorable!" Isabel agreed. She spun around in a circle to show the dress in all angles.
"Whatever. Lets just go please." I begged.

I walked out the door and hopped in the car. Front seat is mine this time. It took a few more minutes before my family finally came out of the house. My mom started the car. We all put on our seat belts, and away we went to church.
. . .

Once we were home my mom had to wake my sisters up from the back seat. They had all fallen asleep the minute they returned to the car. I hurried inside to see if anyone called while we were gone. I ran to the kitchen and slipped off my shoes. I noticed the answering machine was blinking. I quickly pushed it hoping it was for me.

"You have one message." The answering machine said. "Hey Sofy it's Tommy. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today. I just bought a new video game and wanted to try it out. Just call me back when you get this. See ya!" I began dialing her number before the message had finished.
"Who are you calling?" My mom asked. She noticed me in the living room with the phone as she walked down the hall. She was followed by Sidney and Isabel both with heavy eyes.
"I'm calling Tommy." I answered quickly.
"Hello?" Tommy's brother answered.
"Hey Ethan, it's Sofya. Is Tommy around?" I asked.
"Yeah, hold on." I heard him yell for Tommy, and she quickly picked up the phone.
"Hey Sofy! Can you come over?" She asked excitedly.
"Yeah, I'll be over soon."
"Okay see ya!"
I hung up the phone then quickly ran upstairs to get ready. I was so happy to take off that annoying dress! I told my mom I was leaving then ran out the back door.
. . .

To get to Tommy's house you can go one of two ways; one being the faster way right across town, and the other being the back streets in the quieter part of town. The back streets took a little longer, but the walk is more enjoyable. I decided to take the longer way for one main reason, Alex's house is on one of the back streets, and I hoped I would run into him.
As I walked I tried to find little differences between the houses. Every house on the back streets looked exactly the same: medium sized brick houses, with the same sized lawns all cut about the same length, and a little porch wrapped around the front of the house, with steps leading down to the sidewalk. A few houses had tricycles and toddler cars in the yard, while others had dog leashes tied to the porch. Seeing these little differences told a story of who lived there without even seeing the people first hand. It's amazing what little things like that say about a family. The closer I got to Alex's house, the more nervous I became, as if that was new. I slowly approached his house and there he was. He was standing in his lawn playing Frisbee with his golden retriever Max. Max became distracted and ran up to me. He was a very friendly dog and loved attention. I wasn't sure how old he was, but I remembered Alex talking about him back in the second grade. He pushed my hand with his cold wet nose. I smiled and rubbed his ears.
"Max come here!" Alex called. He ran over to us with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry about that." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"It's fine." I replied shyly. I ran my fingers through Max's soft golden fur.
"So what are you up to?" He asked. I looked up at him blankly; I had almost forgotten what I was doing.
"Oh, I'm going to Tommy's." I replied quickly. Max rolled onto his back and moved his paws.
"Can you do me a favor?"
I rubbed Max's belly as he talked. "Umm sure. What is it?" I asked with a slight stutter. He reached into his pocket to pull out a crinkled up piece of paper.
"Can you give this to her?" He rolled up his green sweater sleeves and handed me the paper.
"Sure, I can do that." I said confused.
"Thanks. So umm.. See you around." He said with a smile. He called for Max and they both went inside his house.

I continued walking. I knew I shouldn't peek at the paper, but it was driving me crazy. What did he have to say to Tommy?  I straightened the paper out to see what it said, but it was blank. I was confused but crinkled the paper back up and kept going.

Once I reached the trailer park I could see Tommy playing basketball with a few of her neighbors. I ran up to her and pulled out the paper.
"Tommy!" I yelled. She stopped playing and ran over to me.
"Hey Sofy what's up?" I could tell she had been playing for a while by the way she was breathing; it usually took a lot to get Tommy out of breath. I handed her the paper and she just starting laughing.
"He's such a dork." She said, then stuffed the paper in the front pocket of her hoody.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"Nothing, just an inside joke between us." She replied. I couldn't help feeling a little jealous.
"Do you want to try out my new game?" She asked.
"What kind of game is it?"
"It's a fighting game. It's kind of like Mortal Combat, but made by different people."
I shrugged. "I guess I'll give it a try." She pulled my arm excitedly and led me to her trailer. I looked around for Ethan, but didn't see him anywhere. "Did your brother leave?"
"Yeah, he went with his friends somewhere." She said while she set up the game. I sat down on the couch and wondered what it must be like to be Tommy. Was it fun being friends with every guy in town, when most girls barely even know how to talk to them? I wondered if their girlfriends get jealous that she knew their boyfriends better than they did. Tommy started showing me all the stuff she unlocked in the short time she had the game. I watched as she began fighting with a robot looking thing. I wondered if Alex played these kinds of games. Maybe I think about him too much. Maybe I need a new hobby..