Status: This is an incomplete, very rough draft. Please enjoy and leave comments/critiques. Thanks!
Knowing Everything about Nothing
Surprise
I returned to my locker and quickly packed my textbooks. The line of cars to the exit of the school parking lot was growing, and I was not in the mood to sit there for the next hour. The incident in anatomy just added to the reason why I wanted to get the hell away from this high school.
I grabbed my car keys out of my pocket and speed-walked to the front entrance of the school.I kept my head down as a I walked, completely unaware of who or what was in front of me.
Slam! I was pushed back into the middle of the hallway.I recovered my balance enough to not fall completely on my ass, but my belongings were not as lucky-- My backpack along with the rest of my belongings littered the hallway.
“Woah! Sorry Jaida. Didn’t realize you were in such a hurry. I just wanted to catch you before you left for the day”
It was Max Andrews, a tall blonde-haired boy who was on the student ambassador committee with me.
I scooped up my backpack and books from the floor swiftly. “Oh hey Max. Sorry I didn’t see you there. What do you need? I’m kind of in a hurry.”
Just then I felt a pair of piercing green eyes on me. I looked up to see Erebus Marx standing next to Max staring at me, amused.
“Well since we’re student ambassadors, it's our responsibility to help out new students. I was assigned to help this guy” He clapped Erebus on the shoulder, as if they were old friends. “This is …”
“Erebus Marx. Yes we’ve met.” I said with a twinge of bitterness.
“Uh...yeah. Great! You guys already met! Well, I was assigned Ere by our adviser for the 1- month welcome program, but I won’t be able to fulfill all my duties as ambassador next semester with my basketball schedule. Since soccer season is over, I figured you wouldn’t mind taking him through the program.”
Our school is trying to implement a program where new students have a better chance of being “integrated” into the school’s social sphere. This was after a few incidents of hazing on a couple new students last year. EgoWest High school does not take kindly to newcomers, especially if they’re family’s yearly income is less than 200k. This program was the school’s attempt at reconciling their reputation amongst other high schools in adjacent communities. They basically assign the new student a friend to hang out with for a month. It's a great idea in theory. So great that I was the tie-breaker who voted for the program when the ambassador committee was deciding whether or not to have it at our school.
I was really beginning to regret that decision.
“Max, I don’t know. I was thinking of doing a research project next semester. I might not have enough time. Maybe you can ask one of the other members of the committee…”
“I did and none of them are available.” He looked at me pleadingly.
I let out a sigh, ready to politely say no, but instead found myself saying, “Yeah, no problem. I’ll double check with the other members, but I’ll take him for now.”
“Thank you so much Jaida! I owe you one. Well I’ll get him squared away today and all of the transfer paper work done, and then you guys can pick up tomorrow.”
“Great.” I said, making a loose attempt to mask my sarcasm. “Well, I should get going.” I said and then glanced at Erebus, who was suppressing a smile. He seemed thrilled that I was not fond of this new arrangement. I looked away and pushed pass them to the parking lot.
As I walked to the parking lot, I cursed to myself. This day has continued to get worse by the second thanks to this Ere-however the fuck you say it- Marx. Why didn’t I just say no? Why did I feel compelled to say yes to being pretend-friends with a person who I wanted absolutely nothing to do with.
It was odd. I had my mind set on refuting this responsibility, but it was as if my mouth had a mind of its own; completely oblivious to my thoughts. The words of affirmation were in my voice, yet at the same time they did not belong to me.
Stop this way of thinking! I told myself. There is obviously a logical solution: it merely was my desire to please others that forced me into agreeing to a less-than preferable commitment. It was just an inherent part of my nature; nothing to worry about.
Feeling slightly unsettled, I got into my Honda-CRV and and pulled into the growing line at the exit of the parking lot.
***
30 minutes later (in what would usually be a five minute drive) I turned into my neighborhood. I drove past each of the finely manicured lawns, decorated with Christmas lights-- as mandated by the EgoWest Homeowners Association. Each of the houses looked the same with their nice lawns and white picket fences, cookie-cutter style.
God, I hated my neighborhood. I pleaded with my dad to move to somewhere it wasn’t so, what was the word? Manufactured. Maybe somewhere within the back roads of Portland; a nice house close to wine-country. He wouldn’t budge. “It is important that you are integrated within the community, and being in this neighborhood you have that ability. Everybody who is anybody lives in this neighborhood, and it's good to be within their good graces; we’ve got appearances to keep.” He would say.
See we live in one of the affluent communities outside of Portland, Oregon: EgoWest. The place where soccer moms went and did pilates at the local fitness club that their husbands paid exorbitant monthly fees for, where families did all of their grocery shopping at WholeFoods, and where the parking lot of the local high school was saturated with Range Rovers and Mercedes. Appearance and status were some of the only things that mattered in this community. My dad, Aaron Johnstons, is head of one of the biggest Law firms in Portland. He specializes in real estate, and most of his clients belonged to our community. Ultimately, appearance and status was a big priority, given that it gave him an edge when dealing with his very high maintenance clientele.
I pulled into my driveway and headed to our white stucco spanish-style home. I unlocked the door with my key and passed through the doorway.
“Dad? You home?”
“Yes Jaida, I’m in the sitting area”
I walked in to our living room and found him diligently scrolling through his iPad while sitting on the white sofa; probably looking at an appraisal from a client. Marie, our housekeeper was in the kitchen making dinner. His brown hair was freshly cut into a crew-style, his face cleanly shaven, and was dressed in gray suit pants and a clean white dress-shirt, his jacket hung from the back of the chair.He looked like he was about to leave for another late night at the office.
As I sat on the couch across from him, he shifted his gaze from the tablet to me momentarily.
“How was school?” He asked then returned to studying the screen.
I contemplated telling him about the incident in anatomy, but decided against it. As much as I loved my dad, he was not always understanding of failure, even in small instances. He often had a black and white view of life, and by convention, my life.
“It was good.” I said.
“I got an email from your teacher, she said your calculus class received your exams back today, how did you do?.” He asked, eyes still fixed on the screen
“I received a 97%, I scored in the top 10% of the class.”
“Decent, but it would’ve been even better to have gotten a 100%. I know you’re intelligent enough to achieve that.” He looked up and smiled at me. “Well, I’m glad I caught you before I headed back to the firm.” He slid his iPad into his briefcase and grabbed his jacket from the back of the seat.
“We’re still on for dinner Friday night?” I asked. We would always schedule a weekly dinner Friday nights, since it was really the only time I would ever see him. The past few weeks he’s had to cancel because of one of his projects at work.
“Of course” he said as he came and kissed my head. “I know I’ve had to miss our last couple with work, but I will make sure to be there this week.” He gave me a light hug and grabbed his briefcase.
“Thank you Marie” he said to the housekeeper as she handed a tupperware container to him.
“Bye Dad” I said
“Goodbye Jaida, I will be home later tonight.”
And with that he was gone
“Mija, would you like some lunch?” Marie asked.
Marie has been around since I was born. She was my caretaker since my mom passed away when I was 2.
“Yes please.” I said as she handed me a sandwich. I then headed up to my bedroom to start on my homework.
I grabbed my car keys out of my pocket and speed-walked to the front entrance of the school.I kept my head down as a I walked, completely unaware of who or what was in front of me.
Slam! I was pushed back into the middle of the hallway.I recovered my balance enough to not fall completely on my ass, but my belongings were not as lucky-- My backpack along with the rest of my belongings littered the hallway.
“Woah! Sorry Jaida. Didn’t realize you were in such a hurry. I just wanted to catch you before you left for the day”
It was Max Andrews, a tall blonde-haired boy who was on the student ambassador committee with me.
I scooped up my backpack and books from the floor swiftly. “Oh hey Max. Sorry I didn’t see you there. What do you need? I’m kind of in a hurry.”
Just then I felt a pair of piercing green eyes on me. I looked up to see Erebus Marx standing next to Max staring at me, amused.
“Well since we’re student ambassadors, it's our responsibility to help out new students. I was assigned to help this guy” He clapped Erebus on the shoulder, as if they were old friends. “This is …”
“Erebus Marx. Yes we’ve met.” I said with a twinge of bitterness.
“Uh...yeah. Great! You guys already met! Well, I was assigned Ere by our adviser for the 1- month welcome program, but I won’t be able to fulfill all my duties as ambassador next semester with my basketball schedule. Since soccer season is over, I figured you wouldn’t mind taking him through the program.”
Our school is trying to implement a program where new students have a better chance of being “integrated” into the school’s social sphere. This was after a few incidents of hazing on a couple new students last year. EgoWest High school does not take kindly to newcomers, especially if they’re family’s yearly income is less than 200k. This program was the school’s attempt at reconciling their reputation amongst other high schools in adjacent communities. They basically assign the new student a friend to hang out with for a month. It's a great idea in theory. So great that I was the tie-breaker who voted for the program when the ambassador committee was deciding whether or not to have it at our school.
I was really beginning to regret that decision.
“Max, I don’t know. I was thinking of doing a research project next semester. I might not have enough time. Maybe you can ask one of the other members of the committee…”
“I did and none of them are available.” He looked at me pleadingly.
I let out a sigh, ready to politely say no, but instead found myself saying, “Yeah, no problem. I’ll double check with the other members, but I’ll take him for now.”
“Thank you so much Jaida! I owe you one. Well I’ll get him squared away today and all of the transfer paper work done, and then you guys can pick up tomorrow.”
“Great.” I said, making a loose attempt to mask my sarcasm. “Well, I should get going.” I said and then glanced at Erebus, who was suppressing a smile. He seemed thrilled that I was not fond of this new arrangement. I looked away and pushed pass them to the parking lot.
As I walked to the parking lot, I cursed to myself. This day has continued to get worse by the second thanks to this Ere-however the fuck you say it- Marx. Why didn’t I just say no? Why did I feel compelled to say yes to being pretend-friends with a person who I wanted absolutely nothing to do with.
It was odd. I had my mind set on refuting this responsibility, but it was as if my mouth had a mind of its own; completely oblivious to my thoughts. The words of affirmation were in my voice, yet at the same time they did not belong to me.
Stop this way of thinking! I told myself. There is obviously a logical solution: it merely was my desire to please others that forced me into agreeing to a less-than preferable commitment. It was just an inherent part of my nature; nothing to worry about.
Feeling slightly unsettled, I got into my Honda-CRV and and pulled into the growing line at the exit of the parking lot.
***
30 minutes later (in what would usually be a five minute drive) I turned into my neighborhood. I drove past each of the finely manicured lawns, decorated with Christmas lights-- as mandated by the EgoWest Homeowners Association. Each of the houses looked the same with their nice lawns and white picket fences, cookie-cutter style.
God, I hated my neighborhood. I pleaded with my dad to move to somewhere it wasn’t so, what was the word? Manufactured. Maybe somewhere within the back roads of Portland; a nice house close to wine-country. He wouldn’t budge. “It is important that you are integrated within the community, and being in this neighborhood you have that ability. Everybody who is anybody lives in this neighborhood, and it's good to be within their good graces; we’ve got appearances to keep.” He would say.
See we live in one of the affluent communities outside of Portland, Oregon: EgoWest. The place where soccer moms went and did pilates at the local fitness club that their husbands paid exorbitant monthly fees for, where families did all of their grocery shopping at WholeFoods, and where the parking lot of the local high school was saturated with Range Rovers and Mercedes. Appearance and status were some of the only things that mattered in this community. My dad, Aaron Johnstons, is head of one of the biggest Law firms in Portland. He specializes in real estate, and most of his clients belonged to our community. Ultimately, appearance and status was a big priority, given that it gave him an edge when dealing with his very high maintenance clientele.
I pulled into my driveway and headed to our white stucco spanish-style home. I unlocked the door with my key and passed through the doorway.
“Dad? You home?”
“Yes Jaida, I’m in the sitting area”
I walked in to our living room and found him diligently scrolling through his iPad while sitting on the white sofa; probably looking at an appraisal from a client. Marie, our housekeeper was in the kitchen making dinner. His brown hair was freshly cut into a crew-style, his face cleanly shaven, and was dressed in gray suit pants and a clean white dress-shirt, his jacket hung from the back of the chair.He looked like he was about to leave for another late night at the office.
As I sat on the couch across from him, he shifted his gaze from the tablet to me momentarily.
“How was school?” He asked then returned to studying the screen.
I contemplated telling him about the incident in anatomy, but decided against it. As much as I loved my dad, he was not always understanding of failure, even in small instances. He often had a black and white view of life, and by convention, my life.
“It was good.” I said.
“I got an email from your teacher, she said your calculus class received your exams back today, how did you do?.” He asked, eyes still fixed on the screen
“I received a 97%, I scored in the top 10% of the class.”
“Decent, but it would’ve been even better to have gotten a 100%. I know you’re intelligent enough to achieve that.” He looked up and smiled at me. “Well, I’m glad I caught you before I headed back to the firm.” He slid his iPad into his briefcase and grabbed his jacket from the back of the seat.
“We’re still on for dinner Friday night?” I asked. We would always schedule a weekly dinner Friday nights, since it was really the only time I would ever see him. The past few weeks he’s had to cancel because of one of his projects at work.
“Of course” he said as he came and kissed my head. “I know I’ve had to miss our last couple with work, but I will make sure to be there this week.” He gave me a light hug and grabbed his briefcase.
“Thank you Marie” he said to the housekeeper as she handed a tupperware container to him.
“Bye Dad” I said
“Goodbye Jaida, I will be home later tonight.”
And with that he was gone
“Mija, would you like some lunch?” Marie asked.
Marie has been around since I was born. She was my caretaker since my mom passed away when I was 2.
“Yes please.” I said as she handed me a sandwich. I then headed up to my bedroom to start on my homework.