Call Her Bluff

Everyone already adjusted to the move. Everyone except me of course. My mom already got a job with Dave’s company. Mia was more than ready for anything that came her way. She already made friends with some of the younger kids in our neighborhood and was planning to carpool with them to school. I was fine with that, because the last thing I wanted to do was lug my little sister everywhere. Dave was just happy to have us all there. I on the other hand was dreading going to school and I took my precious time to pick out my outfit.

“Camryn, please hurry. You don’t need to be late on your first day,” my mom pleaded from my bedroom door. I walked from my closet to my iPod dock and turned my iPod up, Jeremy McKinnon raising his voice as he sang the chorus of The Downfall Of Us All. My mom took a step into my room. “Sweetie,”

“There are worse things than being late for school mom. I could just not go,” I threatened, raising my eyebrows at her before disappearing back into my closet.

“Oh you’re going to school. And if I find out you didn’t, you’ll be in major trouble,” she scorned before stomping across the hall. I could hear her greeting Mia in a much happier mood. Mia was cooperating. I pulled out a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt and threw them on my bed. I was not motivated at all.

How would my mom know if I went to school or not? The school didn’t have my records yet, so going would be a waste of time anyway. She wouldn’t know, unless Mia opened her big mouth and ratted me out. But what kind of trouble could I get into? Prohibited from going out on the weekend? I highly doubted I’d even make an attempt to become friends with some people, since I only had to stay here for approximately six months or so. Once I had my diploma I was going back to California, and I didn’t want anything or anyone holding me back.

With a huff and a dissatisfied shake of my head, I pulled my shirt over my head and replaced it with my flannel shirt. I changed my pajama pants for my jeans and walked over to my mirror to put my very little makeup on. I sighed and grabbed my back pack from my floor and slung it over my shoulder. As I exited my room I could hear the ridiculous pop music flowing through the crack of Mia’s door.

“Why don’t you say so? I think I’m caught in between…” she sang with the music. I rolled my eyes and hurried down the stairs. “Bye,” I said before walking out the front door. My mom was letting me use her car until we found one for me and she was going to catch rides to work with Dave. I honestly had no idea where I was going, or how I intended to get to school if I didn’t know which way to turn at which red light. I thought maybe I’d be able to drive around all day until school was over and let that be my excuse, but, unfortunately I found myself pulling up in the parking lot of Dulaney High.

My schedule was incredibly dull. First period I had English, then Chemistry, then Communication Systems. Those were going to be easy As. Then I had lunch, followed by Pre-Calculus, then Parenting Skills, and finally I would endeavor Honors Economics. I definitely didn’t need the Parenting Skills class, because I was never going to have kids anyway. But it was an easy class, and it would help my grade point average.

I spent the first half of my day introducing myself, telling the class where I was moving from and listening to them gawk about California. They had a point; it was totally better than this place. I had to read half a book and memorize the first half of the elements before the end of the week. It wouldn’t be hard, but it wasn’t a joy ride either.

At lunch I sat at a table by myself, which was expected and embraced. I didn’t want to make friends. It would just give me an excuse to stay when it was time to leave. So instead of talking to all of my friends that only existed hundreds of miles away, I began reading the dreadfully boring book assigned by my English teacher. I heard the presence of someone across from me and glanced up from my book. To say I was surprised to see Mia looking at me from the other side of the table was an understatement. I thought we wouldn’t exist to each other at school.

“Hey,” she breathed, poking at her pile of mashed potatoes.

I raised my eyebrows and went back to my book. “How’s your day?”

“It’s not as exciting as I thought it would be,” she said with a lot less enthusiasm than she had when we passed by yesterday.

“Why? D’you expect there to be a shrine for your beloved boy band or something?” I teased.

She rolled her eyes and looked at the floor. “Shut up Camryn. I don’t have any classes with my friends. And they all have second lunch, so I’m basically alone all day.”

I marked my page in my book and put it away in my bag. “Well, that’s not true. I mean, I’m not making any buddies here, so you can sit with me if you want to Mi.”

She smiled slightly and scooped a pile of potatoes on her fork. “Thanks.”

I nodded. She was a pain in the ass sometimes and she did have a bad taste in music, but she was my little sister. I’d do almost anything for her. The rest of the day dragged on. My parenting class was a joke. I was considering dropping it for art, because that would look much better on a college application. Economics was going to be my toughest class. I had the worst time paying attention when the teacher was talking about me, so I knew I’d zone out while he droned on about supply and demand curves.

School ended and I was so ready to go home and collapse on my bed. I didn’t have any trouble finding my way back to the neighborhood, but once I got in far enough, I was surely lost. Nothing looked familiar and my non-existent photographic memory did me no justice. I was getting so frustrated. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and parked, resting my head on the wheel.

A few moments later I was startled (more like scared shitless) when a tap came from my window. My head shot up and I turned my attention to the man standing outside my car. He had his hands up, as if showing his innocence and he smiled nervously. I guess he had a reason for knocking so I examined him quickly before I rolled the window down. He was kind of short, a little bigger in the waist but not fat. His head was shaved but not bald and he had the brightest teeth I’d ever seen. I rolled my window down eager for his help.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I looked ahead of me. “Well, actually, I’m lost. I just moved here yesterday, and I have no idea how to get to my house.”

He nodded and scratched the back of his neck. “Do you know the address?”

“Uhm,” I thought. “Big White House Off Some Random Road?” I guess.

I heard the sound of a female giggling and looked past the guy. In the car behind him was a girl, maybe a few years older than me, with flowing brown hair. She was gorgeous and, like the guy in front of me, her smile was almost blinding. I would imagine the Tooth Fairy was extra generous to these two.

The guy chuckled. “Ha, do you know what road?” I closed my eyes, trying to remember the road sign that I surely glanced up at yesterday when passing. “I think its 113th Drive,” I shrugged.

“Oh cool. That’s the road I live on,” he said. “What your gonna do is go through two stop signs, then turn left on the third on, then make an immediate right. It’ll take you right to 113th.”

I nodded and envisioned the route he’d just described. “Ok. Thanks so much,” I smiled.

“No problem,” he said, flashing his pearly whites in a smile. “I’m Rian, by the way. That’s Kara,” he said pointing to the girl in the car behind him. We exchanged waves and I smiled up, ashamed that my smile was much duller than theirs. “I’m Camryn. ‘S Nice to meet you two.”

Rian nodded. “Well we better be off. See you around,” he said before climbing in his car and driving off. I followed his directions and within minutes I pulled into my driveway. At that moment I was so exhausted all I wanted to do was go up to my room and take a nap. And that’s exactly what I did.