Take This to Your Grave

I was a little nervous when I woke up the next morning. I am not a scholar, school hates me and I hate it. I'm not as smart as my mouth leads me to be; I suck at most everything. I'm terrible at PE, that's how much I suck. If I could drop out and work as a stripper, I may've; if it meant sleeping in the warmth of my bed.

But, my dad was already up, ordering me to get up as well. I rolled over with a growling stomach and aching back. I pulled my pillow over my head, the smell of Pete engulfed my senses and I smiled to myself. I sat up slowly, looking around; the sky was a dark blue, the wind blew, whistling through the sliver of opened window. I looked down at my bed, rubbing my left eye; I saw a piece of folded paper there, causing yet another smile to fill out my tired face.

I grabbed it, unfolding it once and reading what was written; Good luck - XO P

I pressed it to my chest, I felt the dangle of the broken heart there. I looked down at it; I felt confidently happy, then. I would be okay, with Pete right there against my chest; in a figurative way.

"Naomi," my dad's knuckles banged against my door, "Up. Get up, kid."

"I am up." I said shortly, "Did you use all the hot water?"


I ate a bowl of cereal in my dad's truck as he drove me to school. Babette had offered to take me as she took Kate to school when she stayed over their house; but my dad declined. I knew that, that had meant he wanted to talk to me before he dropped me off.

I know my dad. He has his way about him, a simple telling way. He's predictable, most of the time.

As he drove, his mouth opened and closed at several different times. I ate my cereal, he watched for potholes and bumps along the way. I had finished just before I saw the hoard of kids walking together. I wasn't so nervous, just tired; "I need more sleep. It should be against the law to wake children up so damn early in the morning."

My dad hummed, "I get up this early to get to work."

"That's because you old people don't sleep."

My dad laughed, "You're a riot."

I shrugged, humming. "I'm gonna hitch a ride home with Kate after school."

My dad parked a block away from the school, "Wait. I'm gonna get off early to pick you up."

I raised a brow, "Can you do that?"

"I'm the owner." He said with a smile.

"I forget that you're the boss sometimes, dad. How come you never blew off work to hang out with me?" I mockingly pouted at him.

He still grinned; "I'm old, y'know. Plus, I have some idiots who work for me...it's like I gotta hold their hands as they work."

"What're they gonna do without you at 2, dad?" I batted my eyelashes at him.

He just laughed, "They can handle it. I want you to tell me how it was."

"For sure." I leaned over the seat and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later, dad."

He smiled, "You need money?"

I held my palm out, earning more laughter from him. He reached into his pocket and handed me $10; "Lose control, kid. Junk food it all the way."

I folded the bill and placed it in the front pocket of my rucksack, "I will. Thanks, dad, I'll see you after."

It was his turn to lean over and peck the side of my head, "Love you."

"I love you, too."

I climbed out of the truck, waving at him as I headed towards the school. He smiled and waved back; my dad is so good natured and kind to me. In that moment, seeing him smile at me, made me feel terrible about this small double life I lived. It truly was a double life, because he didn't know what I did. I felt terrible, walking away, watching his truck pass as I went.

My nervousness was waved away by my guilt. I saw my small crew of friends as soon as I entered the hall; Kate took my arm when I met up with them. "You're gonna be late." She sang in my ear. "But, guess what? I found your locker, it's right across from mine."

Kate has always been the one to talk; I didn't have to say much when we were together. Our small group of friends; Shannon, Jenna, Alicia and Martina, all seemed to go together. Shannon and Jenna were the blondes; Shannon lived up to the false rumor that blondes were dumb. Jenna seemed to prove that fact wrong, for the simple fact that she was a goddamn brainiac. Alicia has dark hair in long dreads with some primary colors in there; she was the most real out of everyone, I liked her the best, but she seemed to look away whenever we talked, and I figured she was just shy. And Martina has red hair, but she was born with brown hair; she started to dye it a year or two before, she can't remember, to give herself a change; I like it, it's like the color of V8 juice.

I got along with all of them, though Shannon tested my nerves. She's really dumb, I swore she was in Special Ed...no, they're smarter than she is. It gives me a headache to talk to her.

Anyway, I let Kate drag me to my locker right before the first bell ring. I only had one class with Kate, and others with the other girls, especially Jenna; thank heavens, I can cheat off her. We all had the same lunch, which was good, I guess. I made a mental note to where my locker was and practiced the combo as Kate went on about the school. I was half there until the bell rang and Kate dragged me off to my first class. I spotted Jenna; it was Calculus, and parted with Kate.

Jenna tugged me over towards to empty seats; "I thought you said you were shit at school?"

"I am, I'm lucky at guessing." I explained.

Jenna smiled, shaking her head, "Admit it, you're a genius."

"Nope, I'm lucky, Jen. Watch."

She rolled her eyes, playfully at me, her pearly whites appearing as she grinned. "Don't get too comfortable; Mr. Dolphus likes to assign seats."

I sat back, giving her a small nod. It didn't take long for the tardy bell to ring; Mr. Dolophus entered, he was short with a shiny bald head and a beard. He looked very impatient and when he spoke, he spoke with a tiny voice; I expected a booming one, but was quickly wronged.

He took roll and quickly began to assign us seats. But, I was seated right next to Jenna in a different row; way in the back. Her last name started with a T; we were last two rows in the back. She gave a shrug and made a funny face, causing me to giggle. Apparently, this was a no-no to Mr. D, who was quick to reprimand me.

"What's your name?" He asked me in a sharp, teeny tone of a voice.

I opened my mouth to say a smart aleck remark, but didn't. I was reminded of the nuns at my old school and the whip of a ruler to my hands. I sucked in my smart ass thought and cleared my throat, "Naomi Valentino."

Mr. D raised a brow at me, "Please stand and repeat yourself."

I bit my bottom lip, sucking in more sass; "I said Naomi Valentino."

He smiled mockingly at me; my eye roll was on the verge of getting me a pass to the principal's office. "You're new this year, aren't you?"

"Is that a rhetorical question, sir?" I let that slip. I instantly shut my eyes, but opened them, ready to take a lick for it.

The kids all "oohed" at my remark. I shook my head to myself; Mr. D still had that smirk on his face.

"You're a smart aleck, aren't you, Ms. Valentino?"

I smiled to myself. Mr. Dolphus was being queer with me. He didn't care that I was a sassy little brat. I think he enjoyed brats. He wanted to play, and I think he wanted to outwit and outsmart me.

I gave a shrug, "My dad seems to thinks so."

Mr. D hummed, folding his arms over his chest, "You must do well at Calculus, yes?"

"No, sir, I'm just lucky."

"How so?" He questioned.

I shifted on my feet. I exhaled and looked at Jenna, then back at him; "9 out of 10 times you'll find me looking over at someone's paper."

Some kids laughed, others scoffed and shifted their heads and eyes away from me. I just shrugged as Mr. D's brow arched at my answer; "Did you go to the principal's office a lot at your old school, Naomi?"

I shook my head, "Nope."

"And why not?"

"Due to the fact that Jesus Christ and his all holy father God didn't reside in Manhattan, sir, no I have never been to the principal's office." A few kids laughed.

Mr. D gave a nod, "You went to catholic school?"

"Yes, sir."

"How were you disciplined then, Naomi?"

I held out my arms and flattened my palms, "A ruler smack to the hands and reciting bible verses wrong and earning more smacks on my knuckles."

Some girls grunted in front of me; she swiveled quickly in her chair and looked at me, "For real?"

"Yeah, I got a wicked scar on my finger." I told her.

Kids began to gossip and making noises around me. Jenna was laughing amongst herself, and then Mr. D clapped his hands, causing everyone to stop their talking and whispers. "Enough. Thank you, Naomi Valentino for the lovely insight into Catholic schooling."

I gave a small bow, saying before I sat, "No problemo, Mr. Dolphus."

"You speak Spanish?" He inquired jokingly.

"A bit. I'm Italian."

He laughed, "Good to know we have a bilingual in our class."

I smirked, "Glad to be here."

He exhaled a small laugh this time, "Thank you for entertaining."

I have one more nod before he proceeded to hand out books and notebooks for future lessons.