Little Differences

It’s Sunday morning and I have just eaten breakfast. Brownie comes down stairs and over to me. He begins to bark and jump up and down as if he’s trying to get me to get up. “You want to go outside, boy”, I ask him, and he runs over to the front door and begins barking at it. “Okay, okay. Here I come”, I say. As I go over to the coat closet to grab Brownie’s leash, dad comes downstairs. “Hey care bear, what you got there”, he asks me. “Brownie’s leash. We’re going for a walk”, I tell dad. “Don’t stray too far”, he says. “We won’t”, I say. I proceed to put Brownie’s leash on and we go out into the yard. I walk Brownie up the street towards Jessie house hoping to find her outside. I haven’t talked to her all weekend because she’s been hanging out with Samantha and her friends. Just as we’re getting ready to cross over Jessie’s driveway, Samantha’s black limousine pulls up and someone gets out of the car.

It’s Jessie and she looks different. Jessie is the kind of girl who likes to play baseball and kickball and doesn’t mind getting dirty. Samantha is the complete opposite. She wears dresses all the time and she doesn’t really like doing much except sitting around with her friends and making fun of people and filing her nails. She files her nails so much you would think she wouldn’t have any nails left but she does, and they are always bright pink with nail polish.

Jessie begins walking up to her front door and I yell out to her. “Hey Jessie”, I shout across the yard. She twirls around in her pink flowery dress, her little pink purse, and pink shoes. “Hello, Katie”, she says to me. “Do you and Caramel, want to come hangs out with Brownie and I”, I ask. “No, maybe later”, she replies.

I don’t see Jessie for the remainder of the weekend. I only see Samantha’s limousine coming and going, every single day. I try not to think about it so much. After all, Jessie and I are best friends forever and that’s something that her and Samantha aren’t.

The night rolls by and I lay in bed listening to the raindrops pitter pattering on the roof. Then I begin to think about Alani, I hope she is somewhere nice and dry. Maybe there’s a cabin in the woods with a fireplace. I can imagine Alani keeping warm by the fire with a nice cup of hot chocolate. I soon fall fast asleep.

I am startled awake by my annoying alarm clock. “It’s morning already”, I ask, feeling like I haven’t slept in days. My mother comes into my room and proceeds to drag my cover off me. “I’m assuming someone had a long night”, mom says. “Get up and get right to it”, she says before leaving out again.

I leave out of our house and head to the end of our driveway. I stand there for a few minutes waiting on Jessie, but she never comes out of the house. I continue to walk to the bus stop. No sign of Jessie there or anywhere for that matter. “She must be running late to school”, I think to myself. “Or maybe she caught a ride with Samantha”, I think. She has been hanging with Samantha a lot lately. “There’s no way she is still hanging out with Samantha”