Whoever I am...
an excerpt

I drive home tonight with so many memories passing through my head. Dwelling on the good ones, I try to look beyond the bad. When my mom and I first moved to Madrid from Barcelona I was only a fifth grader. When I experienced my first day at a new school, I thought I could never open up to anyone because of my past. After so much in my life changed because of one person, I didn’t know how my life could turn next. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster in the dark, and I wasn’t even strapped in. Every change or turn in my life was jarring, scary, unexpected, and left a permanent mark on my future.
I entered school that fateful day, and watched as old friends greeted each other while I remained a stranger gawked at--a “new kid.” If you have ever been a new student in school you can relate to what I am saying. Many wonder what is going on at their old school, if their friends are missing them, and wish they could go back. I wasn’t thinking about my friends missing me--they probably were--, or what was going on at my old school because I knew the normal first day routine. I was thinking of what they were saying about me, my mom, and my dad. All of them knew by now what happened, but I wondered in which ways they stretched the truth. What did my story become back in Barcelona? I didn’t wish I could go back to that school, but I did wish I could go way back, before the pain and the hurt so I could change everything. Alter my past drastically by leading my mom away from him. But the past is the past, and there is no going back.
~ Awhile later in the story...a sneak peek of my romance aspect...
At school I found John’s locker and waited for him to get to school. Then when I saw him walking up the hallway with Logan in tow—he can not get my sort of good news down, okay? I told myself—I ran up to both of them with a huge grin on my face. I looked pretty snazzy, I admit, with my hair down in natural curls and I even took time to put mascara on this morning. John’s reaction to my bouncy, crazy attitude was picture perfect—eyebrows up, pulling away from me a bit as if I was sick or something. Logan did a double take, as if assessing as if this was the real me, not some other girl bounding up to them.
I looked both in the eye before telling them the fantastic news. John’s safe brown eyes were cautious, curious, and confused. Logan’s pale blue were wondering, surprised, and confused too. I grinned even wider.
“Guys…” I paused for dramatic effect—ignoring the nagging voice in my mind saying ‘You might not be able to go…the hearing about parental rights, remember?’, but I ignored it. “WE ARE GOING ON THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME! TOGETHER!!!”
John’s mouth dropped, and then he exclaimed “YES!” It echoed around the hallways. A group of freshman gave us a funny / scared look, and then walked a little quicker out of the way.
“Oh my goodness,” Logan whispered. He ruffled his hair with his hand, and had a thinking face on too staring off at the floor.
John gave me a huge, friendly, bear-like hug, and I grappled him back. I loved this guy; he was such a supportive, fun and loving friend. One that felt like a brother, and one who you definitely want one of your best girlfriends going out with.
“Congrats, Kate. We are going to have so much fun!” he said.
“I know!” I pulled away from him, and looked at Logan, who looked back. Waiting for something. I sighed and looked down guiltily, and then looked back up.
“I am taking that last brick away. We can be friends—but no in-depth questions. I just want to have fun,” I reasoned.
His smile grew and he nodded. He held out his hand. “Friends.”
“Friends,” I said, and hugged him tightly instead of shaking his hand, floating in that butterfly feeling that enveloped my stomach. I would ignore that. Or at least try to. What mattered was that I was going on the trip that most people could never dream of with my best guy friend, and one that had a lot of potential.