Pick up, Drop off, School Lunches Suck!

Elizabeth and Ayesha go to classes in their high school.

"Hiya, Turkey!" was Alex's greeting. Abdul, her brother, just moaned. Abdul was always quiet in my car. Yet, two years ago, when my mother drove us to school, (and I was in the 8th grade) he was always talkative at school. I never knew why.

"Hey Fly! How's life?" That was how I always greeted her in the car. Now's not any different. 

"Homework after homework after homework." Was her usual answer, but today, she said,"Today's the Turkish Olympiad! Oh My God, I'm so nervous!" She always got nervous attacks over almost nothing. Though, I guess, the Turkish Olympiad wasn't just nothing, it was very important to our school. We were in a project, and she was also reciting a poem in Turkish, so she had every right to be nervous, at least in my nervous book.

"Yep! Can't wait until we get it over with! Can't wait to show our project off to the judges!" I did a Texas Culture project on NASA and their impact on our environment. I loved being able to go to NASA on the weekends that my father had me, it was convenient. I, or my father, stepmother and I, lived approximately 5 or 10 miles away from the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. 

"Ughhh! I'm so nervous! I caaannn't baareelyy taaalk!!" She couldn't talk. Her speech was slurred and she was stuttering. "Hhowww amm I-I sssuupp-pposs-ed to rr-eeaa-dd aa ppooeemm?" It felt like she was adding extra letters in the word. That's her everyday nervous breakdown. 

"Well, you know what I do when I'm nervous." I replied to the now almost-uncontrollable friend. I was a daredevil and a professional when it came to presenting a project or memorizing a passage and saying it aloud in a room full of grown adults who mark for every word you get wrong. Oh yes, I was most definitely ready for the Olympiad.

We arrived at school, to my great happiness. It meant that we only had a few hours until the Turkish Olympiad. A few hours isn't much. I had to get through German, Social Studies, Debate, and Math before Lunch, and Lunch is when we were dismissed for the Turkish Olympiad to start. This was going to be an eventful, fun day. 

In German, all we did was talk. Mr. Schwibt, my German teacher made us sing a song in German. We had been memorizing the lyrics to it for about a month. The song was Terra Titanic by Peter Schilling. I personally loved it. The song is about the Titanic. It is a sad song, but a good one. "Terra Titanic, Verloren a meer, S.O.S. kommt nie an, Leuchtsignale sieght kiener mehr..." It basically says Terra Titanic, lost at sea, S.O.S. never arrives, no one is seeing flares anymore. Like I said, sad.

Social Studies, of course, is my favorite. I loved Social Studies, and will keep liking it, most likely. First, we watched an old movie, then we read a class  book. I loved books, and I loved the books he chose. The books he usually chooses were hilarious. The one today was The Teacher's Funeral. I was at chapter 13. 

Then we had Debate. What we did in Debate was... Well, we debated. We debated about higher vs. lower taxes, animal rights, and the health care. I wasn't really paying much attension though. I don't really care about those topics, and I was excited for later today, the Turkish Olympiad.

Math was, to say the least, BORING! I hate math, but I'm too good at it. I had to help everyone so that they could get A's. We did about 5 worksheets, all about the same thing. I was relieved and ready, with my lunch in my hand, when the annoying sound of the school's bell rang through the classroom.

 Lunch! Finally!

Lunch was always fun. For one reason, I sat with my friends. They were always crazy and did crazy stunts like poring chocolate milk into orange juice, then pouring it out over an apple, eating the apple. Sometimes I lost my appetite looking at them. Today, however, I was laughing my head off at something else.

Many people around me and my friends just gossip about something happening to someone who wasn't nice to them or something of that nature. My friend Sarah did a trick on them. Even though it was funny, I didn't want to be one of those people who started something, so I told her to quit. 

You're wondering what she did? She put one of her gross concoctions that looked exactly like the seat color, ON the seat. I thought it was both rude and hilarious. And, even though I wanted to laugh and point my finger, I had to be the better person.  I, instead, cleaned it up before Zarab came and sat down at the table. Before Zarab even knew what Sarah did. Sarah, of course, was a little mad for that. She wanted to see Zarab sit on it, but I had cleaned it. 

Zarab and her friends started chatting again, looking back at Sarah and I a lot. I tried to focus on their conversation, but Sarah and Ayesha wouldn't let me. Ayesha and I were both competing in the Olympiad, and Sarah just kept doing more of her lunch routines. Sometimes that girl made me sick. I had to stay with Alextoday; I can't afford to be sick.

"So, Shah, how's life?" That was our little chat-starter, so to speak. We always said that if we didn't have anything else to talk about. Usually it started a conversation.

"Nothing much. Trying not to think about the Olympiad, and eating my sandwich." Sandwiches always were on the last of my list for school lunches. I hated having soups and sandwiches. They get old, if you know what I mean. 

"So, how's the Olympiad going to go with you?" I always tease her about being nervous and scared in front of crowds. It was just one of the things that made her, well, her.

"Quit! It's not that funny, Elizabeth! You know how I am, and my nervous breakdowns! Ugh! I wish I was like you, go up in any type of crowd and say what I need to say almost perfectly, if not perfect!" She had a point there. I could do that. I can easily misguide her into thinking that I'm not nervous, when I most certainly am. I just had to calm myself. Simple as that. 

Author's Note

What do you think of the Second Chapter? I'm not done yet, but it's a beginning. What do you think should happen next? I added Ayesha's brother's name, but not sure about it. What should his name be? So this has the classes leading to the lunch so far. Still not done, but nearly. I think I'm going to put the Olympiad in another chapter... Do you agree? Can you think of another title for this chapter? I can't think of any names...

Reviews

[Jessi Berlasty]

"definitely" You added an "a" in there. Also, I think it's weird for you to ask your readers what should happen next. It's *your* story. The whole point of writing is to be in control, to get your feelings across. You can't do that very well if you're putting the plot in control of the readers.

[Some Random Person.]

The characters are real, and this basically is my life.... Zarab and Sarah are people, but I changed their names... Yes, my life is almost like this. I always like to twist the truths when writing. I did the same in Tiberius' Story.

[Coyote Poetry]

The life of a poor student. My last daughter get up and suffer through another day of school. I like your story. The characters are interesting. It is amazing how many test of life we must do in a day. I like she cleaned up for Zarab. A entertaining chapter. Thank you.
Coyote

[Short.Nerd]

Seems like an intersting start. I look forward to reading more:)