7My mom had a lot on her plate, being a single mother from age sixteen. She worked long hours juggling two jobs nearly my whole life just to put clothes on my back, food in my stomach and a roof over my head. She worked as a house cleaner in the mornings and then the drug store during the evening. I hardly ever saw her and I'm pretty sure if they had a surprise drug test at work, she'd fail in a heartbeat. She was only 32 years old but she looked rough for her age. I wasn't particularly close to mother.
My name is Ashton and I make average grades. I really should try harder and push myself so I don't end up like my mother but it's not my fault that teachers stopped giving a damn if their students passed. Nearly every day in my first period our teacher would put a documentary on the projector screen. Then he'd tell us to read our textbooks then expect a test the next day. I took advantage of the dark room every time and slept my ass off. Seven in the morning was to early for United States history and I was still passing with a C+.
The next three periods was pre-algebra, French and literature. I was probably one of the only sophomores in preparation algebra. Math was my worst enemy and I studied my ass off to barely pass. I took French simply because Spanish was full at the time. I've been told that Spanish was the easiest out of French and didn't bother me too much because as cheesy as it sounds, French seemed more romantic than Spanish. I was really good at literature because paper was cheap and library cards were free. I spent most of my spare time after school in the library plus it wasn't like I had a meal waiting at home for me so I stayed more often then not until eight at night.
After those classes I had a twenty minute lunch break. Every day I peeled an orange and drank a bottle of water in my literature teacher's office because I didn't want other students to watch me eat. I was really close to my teacher. Her name was Ms. Sullivan and she was only about twenty-seven. It was her second year of teaching. She was passionate and we spent our lunch break every day talking about books or going over papers. Ms. Sullivan liked to be called Sully after the movie character from Monsters Inc.
After my lunch, I went to biology. The class was decent but my teacher always singled me out when I worked by myself. I didn't like my lab partner, Stephen. I was positive that he came to school just to meet potential hookups and goof off. More often then not, he smelled like weed. I've never smoked a joint in my life and the smell made my head hurt.
Then came my favorite class, music, though it could also be my least favorite because this really popular guy named Damien likes to mock me because his mom used to be best friends with my mom until she had me. He knew I was low class and I was often called "trailer trash" by the smug little prick. I loved the class because I got to play piano and guitar. I was a natural at guitar from what other students told me. It made me feel special that I had a talent though don't get me wrong, I'm not a musician. I hate being the center of attention.
My last class was gym and I usually skipped because my coach never took attendance, he would just mark everyone present if he saw them. I would walk in the locker room, made myself present, and then slipped back out. He couldn't keep track of an average joe in a class of nearly forty students. I didn't see the need of running in the cold all class or lifting weights when my walk to and from school was a half hour both ways. I'm pretty sure Damien was also in my class or it might have been another class that has gym with us but nevertheless one day he shoved me into another guy changing. From that day on, I never changed in the locker room.
One day, Ms. Sullivan called me to her office. It was the day after finals and our classes were watching movies before our two weeks off. I hissed through my teeth because I would miss the rest of the movie. I found out she wanted me to join book club after school. It would start right after the winter holidays and she wanted me to come after on tuesdays. "It will be a chance to meet your peers and enjoy reading," Ms. Sully pleaded with me."Clubs also look good on your college application." I looked at her closely, sensing lots of pride and hope in her big brown eyes. She probably cared about me as if I was her son.
I told her I would think about it over winter break and she smiled brightly before handing me a present wrapped in red tissue paper. There was a envelope taped to the front. "This is one of my favorite books when I was your age but don't open it until Christmas Ash." Ms. Sullivan teased me by calling me by my nickname. If I was ten years older, I would have asked her out on a date. She had mysterious, dark colored eyes and fiery hair in a curly updo. I had a small crush on her would be an understatement.
"Happy holidays Ms. Sully, enjoy your weekend." I said happily as I skipped the present gingerly into my bag. I waved goodbye to my favorite teacher and looked at the clock, deciding it would be best just to go home since only gym was left on my schedule. There were flurries of snow as I walked home and I pulled my hoodie closer to my body. I think I was going to spend the majority of my break sitting around watching cable or reading. I need to check out a few books before the library closed for the holidays. I would go tomorrow morning.
The break flew by very quickly as I found myself shoveling driveways for extra cash and watching The Walking Dead on my box set that I got last Christmas. I got very emotionally attached to the post-apocalyptic series. Daryl was my favorite character. I also cooked dinner for my mom when she got off work in the evenings and we would watch the series together before she went to bed.
Christmas was fast approaching and we ordered cheese pizza and made a homemade pecan pie like every year. Our tree was a small little petite fake one that stood on our coffee table. It was decorated modestly but cute with some colored lights and little angels hung from the branches. There was an angel on the top that was my grandmother's. My mom loved our tree and every year she would buy a little bit extra to add to its placement every year. This year she bought a few little village houses to put under the tree.
We had a small Christmas every year, I would get one expensive present, a few small things, clothes and occasionally a card from my birth dad or grandma. This year I made two-hundred dollars from shoveling snow so I bought my mother a necklace with her birthstone Ruby inside a heart. I wrapped it neatly in penguin covered wrapping paper along with a box of rochelle chocolates that we would end up sharing with hot chocolate.
It was Christmas Eve finally. Mom got her holiday pay by working that day so she'd get Christmas off. I stayed up until she came home and we sat on the couch together in pleasant silence. We watched a parade on TV until it was nearly one in the morning. I said my goodnight to my mom and slept to my radio.
The next morning I woke my mother up and gave her a big grin and a kiss on the cheek. My blonde hair was disheveled but she didn't care. We spent the morning opening presents and watching movies on TV. She loved the necklace and she had got me my own cellphone. My birthdays also next month, so she spent a little more and combined the two holidays together. My teacher had gave me the book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and wrote in the card about book club.
The holidays past and I had to go back to school. I spent a lot if time on my phone, using up my data by reading fanfics and watching YouTube videos. I was happy. It was the first day of the new semester and I eventually made up my mind about book club. By Tuesday, I was at our first meeting and there was six other students there. I honestly would have never guessed there would be more than myself but we introduced ourselves and chatted quietly. There was William, Patrick, Evelyn, Kasey, Amanda, Zoe and myself.
On Thursday I found myself at the counselor's office. I was in here often because of my circumstances at home not because I was in trouble. Our counselor was an older man that I could never pronounce his name do I called him Mr. K. I sat in a chair in front of his desk as he looked through some paperwork. I noticed he had shaved his mustache off and it was about time because the student body said he looked like a pedophile with it.
"Mr. Graham," the man spoke in a way that was docile yet confident," Ms. Sullivan has recommended you to buddy up with an exchange student that will be here next Monday." Um, what? Damn Ms. Sully for trying to get me out of my comfort zone. "How do you feel?" Mr. K asked casually, scanning my face. I held down a blank expression due to my introverted lifestyle.
"I don't care though don't know how well I'll be able to understand them." I cringed at my choice of wording but he didn't seem to mind or notice. He looked at his computer and printed out a document. He began scribbling something down while sipping his mug of coffee. I waited impatiently for him to explain further but his phone rang and he pointed up his fingers at me.
I sank further into the chair and looked around his office. I could see his degrees on the back wall along with a picture of his wife and kids. It looked fairly recent, perhaps from over the holidays? His wife was average looking for an older woman and he had three kids. His sons looked around college age or older while his daughter was around my age but from the rumors, she went to a private School.
Mr. K hung up the phone and gave me a half hearted smile."He speaks English, he's from Florida. I gave him nearly the same schedule as yours except your math and science classes are different." Oh fucking great, he's smarter than me, I thought bitterly. "His name is Hayden. I expect you here in my office first thing." I have to babysit a kid for my seventeenth birthday. I began to dread Monday. I nodded and got up, feeling nervous. If I fail my biology test today I'm blaming this Hayden bitch.