Tri Academy Chapter Two Phyliss

Chapter two

Natural Routine

The alarm rings at five forty-five. I wake up and stretch before I turn off the ringer. Today is September fifteenth, twenty thirty-six, first day of school. I leave my bed and take care of my daily routine. Bathroom, wash face, then pick out my uniform for the day. Today I went with my sage green knee high skirt, white button down shirt, white knee high socks, my old royal red school jacket with the old crest of the school on the left breast. I wear a red tie instead of the ribbon because I just think it is more professional. The Academy likes to have Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays as a kind of casual day, while Tuesdays, and Thursdays are traditional uniform days. This means that three days out of the week the students are allowed to wear something else with their uniform. I would usually wear my faded purple jacket over my shirt but today was Tuesday. I finish getting dressed and start to brush my brown auburn hair. Then I proceed to apply my con-sealer so as to hide my luminescent shine my skin produces. I also apply a small bit of blue-gray eye shadow just to balance out my face. After that I add a small amount of skin toned pink blush. Finally I place my cherry chap stick on my mouth (my lips are red enough to add lipstick).

         Once done with dressing I head over to the kitchen to start making my breakfast. Today I was having toast with a small circle that I cut out and eggs. I put the egg in the center of the bread, and then I fry both the bread and eggs at the same time, in the same pan. I let my breakfast rest and cool for a while as I gather my school supplies. Five, college bound notebooks, all different colors, six different colored folders, my calculator, pens and pencils all in a briefcase like bag and my violin. I put my things by the front door as to ready for my departure. I pick up my brown ankle high school shoes and go by the kitchen to get my breakfast. I stop to see my brother Elijah eating my breakfast.

         “Elijah, why are you eating my breakfast?” I ask him in a whisper as to not wake my parents. He finishes what breakfast was left gets a glass out of the cupboard and goes to the refrigerator. He gets out the gallon of 2% milk and pours it into the glass. He finishes it and then leaves the plate and glass on the counter. He stands there looking at me with a “what are you doing?” face. He is wearing his sage green school pants, white button down shirt, and his white uniform jacket with the new Academy crest on the left breast. He never liked wearing his tie so he just would never put it on. Some teachers didn’t like that.

         “What do you think you are doing Phyliss?” Elijah asks me with a deep frustrated tone in his voice. I look at him puzzled try to understand what he was getting at. “Why aren’t you cleaning up?” he says in an angry tone now pointing at the freshly empty plate and glass. I look at the plate then at him. Still puzzled I try to ask him what he meant but he cuts me off saying, “You are supposed to clean up after us. Remember, dad and I work and mom and you clean and cook our meals. That is what are family does and you are so stupid enough that you would think that I would pick up after myself and risk injuring my hands.” Elijah is now holding his perfectly manicured hands up to my face. I back up from him.

         “I’m sorry Elijah. I had forgotten about the arrangement because today is the first day of school an-. He is now inches from my face I am terrified and cannot move from my spot. My brother locks eyes with me and starts to place his hands on my neck. I know that I need to get out of this potion so I move back again and go to the right of him. “I am sorry I will clean up right away.” I say already picking up the plate that held my hopingly delicious breakfast and taking it to the sink to clean it. He looks at me in shear frustration and heads over to the garage. I run the sink faucet and proceed to clean the plate and glass. Once done I put a piece of bread in the toaster and wait for it to spring out form the toaster. As I wait I put on my shoes and head for the refrigerator. I grab the cherry jelly just as the toaster pops. I get a knife out of the silver wear drawer and spread the jelly over the toast. By the time I am done with cleaning up my second breakfast I notice that it is six twenty six. “Crap I’m late.” I say ripping a piece of paper towel and putting the pieces of toast together then wrapping them in the towel. I run to the front door and place the toast in the front pocket of my briefcase like bag. I turn off all the lights and pickup my things at the front door. Then I run out into the sixty-five degree morning air and head my way over to the bus stop where my friends Alley and David are waiting.

         As I run the three blocks to catch the bus I notice my brother in his red 2026 thunderbird with a mustang black racer strip on the hood and trunk. He has three of his friends with him laughing and being crazy. I shake off my brother and start to quicken my pace. By the time I get to the bus stop I see my friends Alley and David getting on the school bus. “Alley”, I scream. Alley sees me and appears to ask the bus driver to wait a few minutes. I get on the bus, “Thank you for waiting.” I say out of breath. I hear David call my name and I head over to our seats. I hand over my briefcase to Alley and then place my violin case in between my legs. “Thanks Alley for getting the bus driver to wait for me.” I say giving her a hug.

         “No problem.” Alley says returning the hug. “I thought you weren’t going to make it. Thinking that you got a ride from your brother, but then I saw him with his friends so I just looked around.” David hands Alley the touch agenda and news reports for the Academy. All three of us plug in our wireless out let for our wireless ear buds so we can listen. Each student’s receives a touch agenda when enrolled in the Academy. All the touch agenda does is shows the classes that one is enrolled in and all the class updates. It even shows what materials are needed and news updates. Most of the students use it to communicate with one another and internet. It takes us thirty minutes to arrive at the Academy. The busses always enter in the back of the school so that the entrance can be used for business purposes.

         We head over to the lawn where the students are to go before the first bell rings at seven thirty. We find our usual spot under the trees and plop down on the stone bench. “I can’t believe that there are so many first formers this year.” says David making a big thing out of this small detail. Alley and I look around the court yard seeing all the booths up with letters on a post next to a table indicating where the new students should head to for help.

         “Yeah it gets hectic this time.” I say still out of it from my brother’s encounter earlier. I guess Alley noticed because she is now looking at me like I wasn’t telling her something. Alley has always been good with getting me to talk. When we first met we were in second grade. I didn’t talk and she always talked. One day the teacher decided to pair us up and Alley tried to get me to talk but I just didn’t. After three days Alley and I were in class and she wanted my input on something so she got really close to my face and had me look in her eyes. I thought they were beautiful, the way her deep blue eyes seemed to shine. In fact that is what I said to her. That her eyes were the most beautiful color blue I had ever seen. She was shocked that I spoke and then laughed at my weird comment. Later she introduced me to David a guy she had knows forever and that is how our little group got started.

         “What happened this morning?” Alley asks me a little peeved that I didn’t tell her straight off.

         “Nothing happened” I lied. Alley looked deeper into my eyes and in looked at David for help. He just grabs Alley’s arm and gets her to stop. “Alley, you know I don’t like talking about my home life. I would rather talk about you guys’ summers.” I tell both Alley and David hoping that she will get off the subject.

         Alley and David look at me a little hurt when David says, “You always seem to never want to talk about your family. We tell you all about ours but you don’t want to talk about yours. I don’t even think that we have ever met your parents just your brother.

         I look down at the ground and think about telling them about what my brother did. Then an SP (Student Portal) comes up to us telling us to get inside and head for our first class. SP’s are student monitors who watch the halls ten minutes after the bell has rang for each class and they get to leave ten minutes before classes is over. The students that are picked to be an SP are top notch students who get A’s in their classes. They have to fallow a certain rule book and have to have A’s in all of their classes or else they cannot be a SP anymore. I was picked to be one but I declined. I didn’t want my family thinking that I was trying to outdo my brother. Only the Dean, Mr. Fuller, and I know about my declining the SP’s.

         I hug my friends, good bye as I head for my English class with Mr. Arcos. Before we enter the room Mr. Arcos like to have a seating chart outside of his door. This way we have our assigned seat and he will be able to take roll and pick out the trouble makers. I am assigned to row six, seat two. I look at the seating chart and see that my seat is at the window. I smile a small smile and head over to my seat. I open my briefcase and take out my purple notebook and purple folder. Then I search for my blue pen. Once my pen is found I sit down and look at the view that I have. I am on the third floor looking out at the court yard the Gym and the track. Just beyond the track the Emerald Mountains could be seen. So now I know that I can see to the west of the Academy. I stare at the beautiful contrast between the blue morning sky and the emerald glow the sun gives the mountain when Mr. Arcos calls my name. “Present.” I say and he continues on down the list.

I have no classes with my friends until fifth hour so the day went on very slowly. My English teacher, Mr. Arcos, handed out some vocabulary sheets to study for a quiz that we were doing on Friday. Second hour, Mrs. Pollock, Math, gave a test to see how much we already knew. Third hour, Mrs. Michaels, science, gave us a few sheets with pictures of lab equipment to study from for a test on Friday. Fourth hour, Mr. Myers, Orchestra, gave the class a cubby for their interments then gave us scales to practice every day, after that he gave us a small piece to see were our level of skill was at. That test would be Monday.

Then lunch. I headed over to the line and ordered a burrito. I take my lunch over to a stair case by my next class, P.E., and start to read my book. I hear laughter after ten minutes and look up to see who was making the racket. To my surprise I see the popular jocks, high fiving each other and throwing a ball around. The jocks are never around the Gym during lunch, they like to be around the pretty girls and the court yard. I never really liked the jocks something about them just made me think of my brother. The way they moved and spoke to people was usually rude and not well spoken.

Today the jocks seemed to emanate from a guy named Darien Drake. He is a fourth year former, one year older than me. He stands 6’2’’ black messy cut hair that varies in length. His hair has a bit of a green shine to it that is different but magnificent. His fair skin seems to shimmer and glow even in the sun. His beautiful ivy green eyes were always busting with life and beauty at every angle. I secretly wanted Darien ever since first year former. He was a second year former and he had the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. I had never had any classes with him but that didn’t stop me from noticing him whenever he came around. Sadly this wanting would never happen for I am not pretty or a size small. Even if I were to be 120 pounds instead of 180 I don’t even think he would ever notice me. I sit on my step eating my burrito, reading my book every now and then, but mostly I would watch the jocks hanging out and being jocks. Every now and then an SP would come up to them and say they were being too loud but other than that they were not interrupted.

I stared and admired from a far wanting more and day dreaming about what it would be like to be able to just be in the same breathing air with Darien, when I notice him looking at me. His perfect face and ivy eyes stare back at me. At first I could not register his expression but then it came clear to me what it was, disgust. I look down at the step before me and become embarrassed. I feel the blush in my cheeks and the tears that were about to burst if I did not leave quickly. I slowly look up to see if he was still looking at me. He was talking to his friends and every five seconds he would look back at me. I become light headed and gather my things. I throw away my half eaten burrito and proceed to the library with only half of lunch spent.   

I go through the double wood doors that lead to the library. Walking just a few doors down I stop and turn to the left. Open the door that has the title LIBRARY on it and walk through. I head straight to the front desk to sign in and then proceed to the NON-FICTION section where the noise would be a minimum. I take my book out, The Little Lame Prince, and continue to read and finish the book. I put the old book away and head to the librarian for a suggestion on the next book I should read. “Hello Ms. Lavi, I was hoping I would see you today.” says Mrs. Brooks the librarian. She is about 5’2’’ white gray hair and is wearing her glasses today. She always wears pants and a fancy shirt. I can never tell what color eyes she has because they change color.

“Hello Mrs. Brooks, I just finished my book and was wondering if you could recommend a book to me that I have not already read.” I say with a small smile, happy to see one of my favorite people in the academy again.

“Why yes I think I can help you with that.” Mrs. Brooks walks away from the pile of books she was organizing and uses her index finger to point at the section she thinks I would enjoy reading. She then heads over to the FANTYSY section. I follow her amused by her way of picking out a book. She leans to the many books she has on Ann Rise and picks up a book. Mrs. Brooks examines the book and when she is satisfied hands me the book. The title is The Interview with the Vampire. She smiles and explains the book to me and I want to read it immediately.

The bell to signal that lunch was over sounded and I pout. “Next is P.E. and I really wanted to start this book.” I whine to Mrs. Brooks.

“Don’t worry dear I am sure you will find a way to read it, even in P.E.” Mrs. Brooks takes the book from me and heads over to the checkout stand. I run to gather my things and run back to give her my Library card to check the book out. I thank her and head off to the Gym’s locker rooms where I would get dressed in my P.E. uniform. Third year formers wear red shorts with the emblem of the school on the right thigh and a white shirt. Once I finish getting dressed I put my school uniform and briefcase in my assigned locker. Everything accepted my new book.

I head out towards the gym to sit and wait for the rest of the class. I like to get dressed quickly so that I don’t have to change in front of the other girls. I am not very confident about the way I look and would rather not experience ridicule. I read my book and by the time the class is out from the lockers I am finished with chapter one and starting chapter two. “Phillie.” I hear from across the gym. I look up to see David heading over to me. I smile and stand up to give him a hug. We talk about our first day so far waiting for Alley when the coach calls roll. 

The coach’s name is Mrs. Larson she is the volley ball coach and is known to be a bit on the discipline side. She has the class stand away from the wall so that she can explain how she will be taking roll. “Alright class, today being the first day we will be starting off slow.” She looks at her class chart and then back at the class. “First I will call your name in alphabetical order. When you hear your name, come up to me so that I can see what you look like. Then I will give you a number and that will be your number for the entire year. The number is so when the class grades come out every quarter you will be able to know what grade you have without having someone know your grade.” Mrs. Larson runs down the names starting with the A’s. She calls out “Anis, David”, David look up and heads over to Mrs. Larson. She has him stand three feet away from her and examines him. She then has him come up close and shows him what his number will be. She shows him where he will be during roll and David head over to his spot.

I look at David and smile. He smiles back and then waits for my name to be called. We love hearing how each teacher says my name. They will usually call me Phyllis instead of Phyliss. And well I have to admit I like the reactions of the teachers give when the say my last name. They have a surprised look usually. No one ever thinks that Elijah has a sister so for them it is a treat to have a geniuses’ sister in their presence. We have to wait a while because I am in the middle of the alphabet. We can tell when my name is going to be called because the teacher will have the “dear in the head lights” syndrome. Mrs. Larson has this look and calls out my name, wrong of course, “Mrs. Lavi, Phyllis.” She gulps and has a bit of a sweat on her brow.

I raise my hand and she motions for me to head over. Before I can get to close she puts her hand up to signal for me to stop. I stop and she examines my body. I can tell she is not pleased but she will never let that be known. “Mrs. Larson?” I ask.

She looks up from her clip board and tries to calm down a bit, “Ye-yes Ms. Lavi. How can I help you?” She looks at me with wide terrified eyes. I can’t help but think that my brother has something to do with this.

“My name is pronounced Phyliss not Phyllis. But if you want you can call me Phillie.” I say in a calm voice not wanting her to break down or something. She nods at me and writes down my nick name. “Mrs. Larson, I can’t help but think that my brother has had your class before. Am I right to think this?” I ask her getting a little closer.

She backs away and says, “Yes I had your brother. Horrible little brat he was. He kept getting note from the doctor saying that he could not participate in any of the games because his hands- she holds up her hands- are masterpieces.” Mrs. Larson cools down a bit and is now relieved that she was able to whine just a little.

“Well Mrs. Larson I am not a masterpiece like my brother and would enjoy playing some games.” I explain this to her in a sweet smile to let her know that I would love to participate.

Mrs. Larson looks at me in wonderment and has me come up to her so that she can give me my number. It is 19. I look at David and he smiles at me. Mrs. Larson points to where my spot will be for roll and I head over that way. Three more L’s are called and placed when Mrs. Larson calls the name, “Malis, Alice.” The class and the coach look around but Alley is nowhere to be seen. She calls again, “Malis, Alice?” this time with more determination. No one comes forth so the teacher marks her absent.

Mrs. Larson calls out the next person in line when we hear, “I’m here, I’m here!” Alley is running full force at the Coach. She stops one foot from the teacher and says, “Have you called my name yet?”

Mrs. Larson is a bit annoyed but says, “What is your name?” Alley says her name and Mrs. Larson examines her and then gives her number. Then points to where she is to be put for roll. Alley heads over but not without Mrs. Larson saying, “Ms. Malis, I hope you know that in my class there is only one major rule in this class and that is ‘don’t be late’. Every time you are late you will get one point off for my class. That goes for the rest of the class. No exceptions. Not even if you were talking to a teacher and have a late slip.” Mrs. Larson continues her roll and the class is a bit pissed about Alley making them suffer.

Once Mrs. Larson is finished with roll she explains the rules and regulations for her class. “Alright, first things first, P.E. uniforms must be worn. If you do not have a uniform on you will get a demerit. If you are late- She looks at Alley- you will get a demerit. If at any time you do not do what I say or follow the game rules you will get a demerit. If you start a fight you will not only get a demerit but you will get a detention slip. If you are back talking me you will get a demerit. If you at any time play with equipment that we are not using or use the equipment we are using in a playful manner you will be out for the rest of the class, get a detention slip and a demerit.” Mrs. Larson eyes the class to make sure that we understood.

The class understood, for now, and Mrs. Larson signaled the class to go outside. Alley, David and I huddle together and start talking when we hear Mrs. Larson say, “Stop.” The class stops and looks at her. She waits for all the talking to stop and then continues with what she had to say, “I have one more rule. Now this rule is in place because we had many upper classmen torturing the under classmen.” Mrs. Larson looks at the class across the gym, the first year former class. They are all small and a bit weak looking, terrified but still have the kid look in their eyes. One of those “I am ready to learn but don’t hurt me” deals. “If at any time one of my students hurts or humiliates or tortures an under classmen in my or Coach Brock’s presence you will get two demerits and a suspension.” She looks at her class then says, “Is that clear class?” The class nods and Mrs. Larson says, “Good. Now let’s go run the track.”

We head outside and begin to walk towards the quarter mile track. The under classman are right behind us. When we reach the track Mrs. Larson explains how we were to run the track. Two times around non-stop and then we could take a break. If someone is messing around then they will run an extra lap. She did say that if you want to talk while running she had no problem with that. Coach Brock’s class had already started their run which was just one lap. Once we stretch we start our half mile run and this would take just about the entire class. As we run Alley, David and I ran slowly so that we could talk. “Why were you late Alley?” asked David

“I was talking to my uncle. There is a first year former in my AP Chemistry class. Can you believe it?” Alley seems really upset about the whole thing. As far as I can remember Alley has always been the younger student in all her AP courses. This first year must be really agitating to her.

“Alley you know that you have to address you uncle as Mr. Malis. It is rude to the teachers and I don’t think he would want to be addressed as Uncle Malis.” I say as we make our first turn on the track, just three more to go.

“I know but it is just so annoying to be under minded by a first year.” Alley says as we are nearing the second turn.

“You were a first year in all your AP courses two years ago. How do you think the older students felt when they saw you walk in the door and then to be smarter than them on your first try?” Says David trying to make Alley feel a little ashamed about what she had just said.

Alley looks a David not amused. “You know what I would be perfectly fine with a younger student in my class but the fact that she is a Drake makes it seem that she is getting special treatment.” Alley says this annoyed at David as we go by the bleachers. Most of the First years are done and one of them has a sketch pad out. I couldn’t tell who was drawing because her face was being blocked by the pad.

“So you would not have Phillie get special treatment because of her name and blood?” David says trying to get a rise out of Alley. It worked

“No I don’t think that Phillie shouldn’t get special treatment but that is just because her grandfather help bring this place back from the dead. She has more of a reason to have special treatment than the Drake girl. That bitch.” Alley is now completely frustrated with David. I could tell that it would not stop until there was blood because that is how Alley worked. If you piss her off you get hell.

We are now turning the last bend to finish the track so I decide to run my hardest to get away from my arguing friends. This makes them stop fighting and speed up with me. We make it across the finish line and we go sit on the grass to cool off. “I know that you are upset with this Drake girl but you have to remember that the Drakes are very influential to the community.” I say this as soon as I get my breath back. Alley tries to argue but I raise my hand to silence her. “The Drakes have money and they are the ones who funded the schools technology systems. They are the reasons why we have Touch Agendas and computers. So it is just as fair to let them have special treatment for them as for me and the Leviticus Family.” This got Alley feeling stupid and to stop being agitated.

By the time the last student is done with the track we have twenty more minute till the bell. We head inside and see the first years shooting hoops, running around or talking. Mrs. Larson tells us to head over to the second gym so that we are away from Coach Brock’s class. David is ignoring Alley and Alley is telling me about her first day of school. Turns out she has four tests on Friday to study for. Her first class is AP history with Mr. Hopkins. Second is AP English with Mrs. Balm. Third is Film Study, then lunch. Alley had gotten in line and was tenth in line when a group of first years shoved her out of the way. After getting her lunch she headed to her uncle’s room to talk with him about learning more about being an Anthropologist. That didn’t go so well. Then she had P.E. and was happy that David and I were with her for this class. I was happy to see that David had gotten up to give Alley a hug. Their fight was now over. They never stay mad at each other for long.

Mrs. Larson told us that we had ten minutes before the bell so we got to go inside the locker rooms and change back to our school uniforms. Alley and I were three lockers down from each other so she kept talking to me. I focused on getting dressed and out of there before anyone saw my pudgy body. I can get dressed in a minute or two if needed, and it was needed. I leave the locker room with my briefcase by the time the first years are filing in to the locker room.

I wait for Alley to get out of the locker room so that we could walk together to our next classes. As it turns out my next class, History with Mr. Hopkins is on the way to her AP Statistics class with Mrs. Crofter. Alley gets out one minute before the bell sounds and we walk a ways to get to our classes on the north side of the Academy. We walk together until we get to the second floor where my class is. “Bye Phillie.” Alley says giving me a hug I smile and return the hug then we part way. History was fun but I was in the back of the class. Not a good place for me to sit. I would rather be up near the front so I decided that after class I would enforce my last name right for the first time.

Class was simple don’t make the teacher mad and don’t be late. If someone was causing a problem then he would give them a detention slip and a demerit. Then he took roll. Once that was over he told us to take out our touch laptop for the class and begin to look up the site that was on the board. “Now class, this site will give you your history textbook for the class. Once you click the link that is in blue near the top you will go through the directions to download the textbook onto your Touch Agenda.” Mr. Hopkins has a booming voice and it will be hard to not pay attention to him for this class. That is a bad thing for me, for I usually get things done before the class and will have a hard time reading my books. I do the directions quickly and finish before the class, and then I take out my new book, Interview with a Vampire, and start reading. It takes the other students in the class most of the period to download the material.

The class was going to be learning about the Greek and Roman civilizations for the first quarter. That is all Mr. Hopkins tells us before the bell sounds for us to leave for the day. “Have a good day class. And remember I am here before and after school for thirty minute each day.” Mr. Hopkins says as the class is leaving. I pack my touch laptop and book into my briefcase and head over to Mr. Hopkins to discuss my seating arrangement.

“Mr. Hopkins, can I talk to you about my seat please?” I ask nicely so that I will not make him angry.

“Sure Ms.?” Mr. Hopkins says not sure who I am. I am going to love this teacher.

“My name is Phyliss Lavi.” I say innocently

He looks up at me from his other class work and stares at me. “Oh, Ms. Lavi I am so sorry, how may I help you?” he says embarrassed that he did not recognize me. I may not like this teacher.

“Yes I was wondering if it would be alright if you could switch my seat to somewhere in the front. I can’t really pay attention to the class back there.” I say with a smile

“He looks at me and is surprised to hear me say this. “I thought that you would be more like your brother and want to be in the back of the class. So I just thought you would be more comfortable in the back corner.” He is now looking at the class seating chart thinking on who to send to my seat. I didn’t think that my brother would be so influential to the teachers. First Mrs. Larson, now Mr. Hopkins? This time I will prove to this school that I am not my brother’s sister.

Mr. Hopkins looks up from the chart and shows me my new seat. It is now by the window second seat. I could see the Amethyst Lake from where my new seat was. I was happy to see that my last name was worth something again. As I was leaving I thanked Mr. Hopkins and went towards the door. Mr. Hopkins stood up and gets my attention by saying, “Ms. Lavi, I do hope that you do not act like your brother in this class and use your last name and family as a means to get an A in this class. Oh and if you ever use your name to get what you want again I will not only put you in detention but I will have you speak to the Dean about your behavior.

I am surprised to hear that this teacher will not put up with my family. Then again ever since to Drakes started funding this school my Family’s name and blood was pretty much obsolete. I leave the class embarrassed to even think about using my name again as a means to get what I want. This was the first time I had used it and I got crap for it.

I get a text from Elijah telling me that I needed to get to the front right now so that he could pick me up. For a moment I wanted to scream. Why must my life be run by this asshole? I never wanted to be this guy’s sister. But now whatever I do my teachers will see me as a Lavi brat like my brother. I just want to be left alone. I thought this with a bit of a tear running down my face. I reply to my brother telling him that I would be out in five minutes. I see David and wipe away the tear. He noticed and asked what was wrong. “It is nothing I swear.” I say trying to get my mind off what just happened. David didn’t buy it.

“No, I know when something is wrong with you and I want you to tell me now.” He says in a calm but serious voice. I think about what he just said. And I was about to tell him what had happened in Mr. Hopkins class when my phone went off. I check it and see that my brother had sent a message.

No now it is important. You have two minutes. If you are not outside before I get there I will leave you and dad will be furious … maybe I should leave you to let you know your place is in our family.

David can tell I am upset and wants to know what the text said. “I’m sorry I got to go I will Fly Mail you tonight I promise.” I run past him to get to the front entrance before my brother. I get there in one minute and wait for him to pull up, when I don’t see him after a minute I text him.

I am here at the front.

I wait and turn to my left to see Darien and his car. It was a black- blue 2037 mustang with boosts at the back. It was a beautiful car but I think that it would be a little scary riding in it. As I admire from a far again I see my brother pulling up while Darien pulls away. I couldn’t see who was in the passenger seat because my brother’s thunderbird was in the way the whole time. My brother is signaling me to get into the car and I get into the passenger’s seat when one of his friends pushes me out of the way to sit there. I try to open the back door to sit in the back seats when two more of his friends push me out of the way to grab the back.

Great, now I will be smashed by the jerk’s friends. I think and get into the car. I was right about the smashing. My brother blasts heavy metal and the guys were moving and rocking the car so I kept getting hit in the face or my left side. I couldn’t wait to get home and deal with whatever my family wanted me to do. I would find it to be better than this.

We pull up to our house and Elijah turns down the music. I get out and head for the door when I hear “You little bitch!” from one of my brother’s friends. As it turns out I had not held my door open for the jerks who kept hitting me in the face “on accident”. Elijah sees this and has me go back and hold the door open for all of them. As I hold open the door for my brother he bumps my shoulder. My back hits the car door. My back would hurt all night now. Then I went around and opened the Passenger door. He didn’t notice I was there. After that I go to the back door that I came out of. I hold it open and wait for them to get out. The one who called me a bitch comes out last and pushes me to the ground. My brother does nothing beside laughs. I can’t wait until I leave this place. I think while I get up and go inside. The boys had shut the door and locked it as a joke. It was a good thing I always have my key on me. I unlock the door and take off my shoes. The boys didn’t and tracked in mud and dirt that I would have to clean up before my dad got home. I see the boys in the kitchen making a mess that I would have to clean up later. And then I see that they were eating the dinner that my mom had made for us and had had enough.

“Do not eat that!” I say loudly over their laughing and loud eating. They look at me and give me a “What are you going to d about it” look. I didn’t have to say anything for my mother heard my yell and came out to see why.

My brother said hello to my mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Why are you yelling at your brother’s friends?” My mother asks angrily. I say nothing and point at the half eaten dinner that had most likely taken her all day to make. She gently pushes the boy out of the way and examines the damage. “It is alright there is enough for your father and Elijah.” She turns to me and says, “You will have to hurry to the market and buy some vegetables.” Then she looks at the mess the boys made and starts cleaning up. “Hurry along your father will be home in an hour.” My mother looks at the front hall and then back at me, “Clean the floors when you are done getting the food.” was the last thing she said to me before my trip to the market.

At the market I get carrots, broccoli, potatoes, spinach, and chestnuts. I get enough for three nights. The whole thing coasted about fifteen dollars. I would hear about that later. I rush home only having forty-five minute to cook mothers and my dinner and clean the house before my father got home. I get home and take off my shoes. I run to the kitchen and get a big pot. I fill it with water and put it on the stove. I turn the stove to high and start washing the vegetables. After that I get a knife and cutting board and start to chop the washed vegetables. The water is boiling by the time I am done chopping. I have thirty minutes to clean the house now.

My mother tells my brother that it is time to take his friends home. All four of them thank my mother for letting them stay for a while and my brother and his friends leave in his 2026 thunderbird. I put the vegetables in the pot and place a lid on the pot. I get the cleaner out and start to clean the living room, dining room, bathroom, hallways and kitchen. I check the vegetables to see if they were all the way cooked, they were. I get the strainer out and turn off the stove top. I strain the vegetables and place the strained vegetables in a clean serving dish. I clean out the strainer, the pot, the cutting board and put them all away. I then clean all the surfaces in the kitchen. I check the time and see I have fifteen minutes to wash the floors. I do this in five minutes and get a towel to dry the floors.

I take a big breath and get the plates for diner on the table. I see that my mother had put the half eaten dinner in a smaller sever dish and left it in the oven to keep warm. I leave the dish in the oven and put some butter and salt into the vegetables. I place the vegetable dish into the oven with my mother’s dish and wait until my father gets home.

I go to my room and notice that my mother had taken my briefcase to my room and put it on my bed. I get out my science study sheet for the test on Friday and study the pictures until I hear my father’s old beaten up truck coming up the drive. I put away my homework and head to the front door. I see my mother standing outside waiting to welcome my father home. My father ignores her and head right inside. He takes off his shoes and hands me his briefcase and work jacket. He is not in a good mood. I assume that he had to deal with his “hack of a boss” again. My father goes straight to the dinner table and sits at the head of the table. Mother and I serve him his diner and then wait for my brother to come home. Elijah doesn’t come home until thirty minutes after my father got home.

My brother comes in, takes his shoes off and finds his seat. My mother gets up and serves my brother. My mother sits down and I get up to serve her and myself. My family is silent as my brother talks about his day and how wonderful it was. He keeps talking until father gets up from the table, takes his plate and goes back to congratulate his son on a great day. Father then heads to his room and slams the door. “What happened to father?” Elijah asks.

Mother looks at him and tells us that he was laid off. Elijah and I gasp and stay silent. Once brother is done with his meal he leaves his plate and heads to his room. Mother and I clean up the table and pack up the leftovers for another day. All of this is done in silence.

After we cleaned up I went to my room to start studying for the two tests I would have on Friday. Once I finished studying for the night I check the time. It is 6:20 PM. I take out my touch laptop and go to my Fly Mail account. I check for messages and see [e-mail]. I smile knowing that the Fly Mail is from David. The subject reads “tell me what happened”. I open the Fly Mail and it reads

Phillie,

I know that you were upset today for most of the day. I want you to tell me what happened. And tell me the truth. I saw that you were crying today after school and I want to know if the teacher was mean to you or if it was your brother.

                                                                               Your friend for always

                                                                                         -David



I think about letting him know about what happened this morning and about what happened in Mr. Hopkins class and about the text I got from my brother. Instead I let him know about what happened with Mr. Hopkins.

David,

         I know that you are worried about why I was crying. So I will tell you. Sixth hour I was placed in the back of the class in the corner. After class I went up to the teacher and asked him if it would be alright if I was to switch seats with someone at the front. He asked me my name and I told him my name was Lavi. This was the first time I had used my last name to get something in the Academy. I told him that I learn better if I was in the front somewhere. He told me that he saw my name and he thought I would be like my brother. He moved my seat to a front window seat and I thanked him. As I was leaving he stopped me and told me that if I ever used my name to get something I wanted I would not only get a detention but he would send me to the dean’s office… I just don’t understand why I am treated like the brat of a horrible brother.

I know you are my friend forever and always and I will be yours

-Phillie

I send the Fly Mail and start to get ready for bed. I start by grabbing my night gown and heading to the shower. I remove my makeup and undress myself. In the shower I think of the day and its events. I wish that I wasn’t a part of this family and that I had some sort of out let that could let me take my stress away. I wash myself and then dry myself off. I get into my night clothes and head back into my room. I look at my iphone that I got from my grandpa right before he died. It says it is 7:45. I go back to my touch laptop and see if I had anymore mail. David had responded.

Man I am so sorry. It is kind of cruel how your family’s name is slowly getting less respectable. Alley told me today on the bus that the Drake girl snapped at her. She says that it was horrible the way this first year spoke to Alley. She also said that the Drake girl has her Fly Mail account and mailed Alley her response. I will ask Alley to show you the Fly letter. Other than that everything is good.

                                                 I hope you have a good night. See you tomorrow, your friend,          

                                                                                                             -David

I smile at the Fly letter and turn off the touch laptop. I put it in my briefcase and take out my Touch Agenda. I check my school activity for tomorrow and prepare for tomorrow’s schedule. I put my Touch Agenda away and set my alarm on my iphone for 5:30. It is 8:15 when I go to bed. As I slowly went to sleep I think about what I would be doing for tomorrow’s breakfast. I would make an egg sandwich with, mustard, pickles, and turkey. I would make my brother an omelet with cheese, turkey, salsa, and potatoes. At 8:30 I drift into sleep.