Chapter 3

Family Portrait

During lunch I sat at a table with the triplets and Taylor, they happened to be a pretty social group with three others included. Dana Mayer was Pamela’s best friend and almost the same exact way as here, I figured those two would be the easier to get along with. Another girl named Maria Nuevo was there since she was nine and lived in Texas before that, she was a little loud and seemed to be one of Taylor’s friends; though it was hard to understand since Maria was a bit of a dark person compared to everyone else.

Lastly was a boy who seemed to be a freshman. Dean Lane was a dark and very city-like boy. Right from when I shook his hand I could tell there was something about him I didn’t want to get involved with. I’ve seen a lot of guys flirt but none so open as Dean, and it’s not that he wasn’t fit for it, he really was, but it made me uncomfortable.

By the end of lunch Dean had a dark bruise in his arm from Derrick and Jordan’s combined bunches in the same spot. It was amusing to be honest.

P.E. was the easiest time of day for me, it was only volleyball and there’s nothing wrong with a little competitiveness. Pamela proved to be to short to jump high enough and not very forceful, but she was quick which, on some occasions, gave me the chance to spike the ball.

Coach Whatchamacallit –I forget the name so I’ll just call him Coach- asked me to be on the team but I’d rather not get to into anything. Normally I don’t like showing off that I’m athletic because of all the comments I get about my parents. "Must have had a superstar dad." Or "Wonder which side she got it from." I hated hearing it without knowing the answers myself.

Those words lingered with me until I was walking back to the house. I hadn’t seen Andrew at all after fourth period, not even at lunch or in the parking lot. Part of me wondered where he was and the other part of me just wanted to get away from him; it was this odd instinct feeling that told me to back off.