Un-Ordinary Girl

Chapter 1

          Staring out the window into the intense rain we were having wasn't anything new for me. I was ignoring our teacher, Ms. Hampton, drone on about things that happened in the book that the class had just finished reading. Of Mice And Men. To me, it was an okay book until George killed Lennie. It wasn't all Lennie's fault that he accidentally killed Curley's wife. She was being a w***e. All Lennie wanted to do was play with the puppy and tend to some rabbits. But still, if he had just ran away from her when she showed up like he was suppose to, he probably wouldn't have had to die. The bell rang signaling the end of another terrible school day.

          I had no friends at age 15. I never had any to begin with. As far as I knew, I never really have done anything spectacular to get noticed. Plus my mom never bothered getting me any cool clothes like the other kids. In fact, she has never really cared about me. She works all day and then goes out at night on the weekends. And since it's Friday, I won't see her again until Monday. I started heading to my after school job at this corner store a block from the apartment. I had started working there when I turned 13.

          Mom had started to buy groceries less and it was starting to become a problem. So I talked to the neighbor couple who had always taken good care of me when mom went away if they knew where I could find a part time job. I still haven't told mom about the job. I told her that the extra food comes from an anonymous donor. That I usually find them at our doorstep. She thought it was true seeing as though it was always in the house before she got home. Plus, I told her that the reason that I was always out late was that  I stayed at the library to study and do my homework. She believed it. It isn't like she cares where I go. The only reason I don't tell her about my job is because she would take my money. She did it before.

          "Hi Mr. Robert. I'm here." Mr. Robert is this old guy that runs the corner store. He has known me forever so he doesn't let my mom see me when she comes in for her bi-weekly booze run. He's kinda like a grandpa to me.

          "Hi sweet pea. How was school today?" I shrugged my shoulders at him as I dawned my apron and name tag.

          "Pretty much the same as usual. Nothing new except that I have a new book to dislike." He chuckled at me and asked what book it is now. "Of Mice And Men. I don't like how Lennie got shot in the end by George. Plus Curley's wife was a harlot." He chuckled at me again and we got back to business. During closing, he asked me about my birthday.

          "Your birthday is coming up soon right?"

          "Yeah. It's next Friday. The first night of the full moon." It was March so I wasn't too concerned with the fact that my birthday was on the night of a full moon. I wasn't that special.

          "Okay. You can have off that day. You never take a day off until I force you to. Do something fun. Find someone to hang out with. You'll be turning 16. Promise me you will do something fun."

          "Okay. I will try to do something fun. Maybe I'll spend the night in the forest or something." I chuckled but he looked serious. "Just kidding. See you on Monday Mr. Robert."

          "Goodnight Ms. Katelyn Moore." I snorted at how when he would say goodbye, he would always say my first and last name. At first I found it weird, but it soon became a routine. I walked that last block home and saw that the lights in the apartment window wasn't on. It wasn't a fancy apartment but it kept us dry. I trudged up the stairs dreading coming inside. I knew that the apartment would be empty but I still hoped that sometimes, she would be there and would care.

          When I got to our floor, I saw some empty moving boxes outside the apartment to the left of ours. Someone must have finally moved in. I briefly wondered who it could be but soon lost interest. I had things to do. Every Friday since I could remember, I would eat a Hot Pocket and start cleaning the house. I would start by grabbing all of the dirty laundry and bringing it down to the laundry room downstairs. And that was exactly what I did. It was a hassle since I didn't know what of mom's was dirty. She always mixed everything.

          I got it all done though. It took me two hours to do all the laundry unfortunately. When she would ask me how the clothes got clean, I would tell her that the Wong's cleaned them for us. She believed that now because of all the times that they did it when I was younger. And they always did it on a Friday night. After that, I cleaned her room. Mine can wait until tomorrow since it wasn't that bad. I never let my room get messy. If I did, She would go in it. And if she went in it, she would find my secret stash of money.

          Since I couldn't open a bank account without her knowing, I would cash my checks and store the money inside of an old shoe box that has been under my bed for years. It came from my first pair of Sketchers that I got in 6th grade. I don't have the shoes anymore since a hole was chewed into the toe of the left shoe by a rat. I eventually caught that rat and threw it into the dumpster. After I finished cleaning mom's room and putting her clean clothes away, I showered and dressed for bed. I still had more housework to do in the morning. I set my alarm clock and drifted off to sleep.