Straining my brain trying to figure it out, I was interrupted by Mrs. Bell’s voice. “If you haven’t
heard, I am going to fill in permanently for Mrs. Spitz while she is away on her maternity leave,” she
explained, trying to be polite for her first impression towards the class. In my case, I knew it wasn’t the
first time I’d seen this tall, brunette woman. Nearly jumping out of my skin, I was startled by Abby’s
raspy voice in my ear.
“Jen, Jen, helloooo?” she shook me. “Jen, what are you staring at?” I came down from outer
space and back to reality realizing, again, how stupid I had looked.
“Oh, sorry,” I began, “I just, I was just…spacing out I guess.” So concentrated on Mrs. Bell and
how I’d known her, I had missed her entire speech, and also the lesson for today. Everyone was getting
out some paper, so I figured I would get one out as well, to make it look like I had been listening.
“Okay girls and boys,” Mrs. Bell started, “With your pencil, I want you to draw your favorite
animals. I’d like to spend the majority of this class time getting to know each one of you.” All of us
looked at each other with curiosity.
“I have a feeling this is going to be an easy class!” Abby looked at me, smiling.
“Yeah,” I grinned back, “Yeah, it will be.”
The final bell at the end of the day came quickly and unexpectedly. I scurried out of the school
and into the bright afternoon sunlight which made my eyes sting. I hurried quickly to get to the bus, for
I had already wasted enough time packing my backpack, and getting side tracked by Hanna updating
me on the latest news about her and Josh Carpenter. I jumped on the bus at last minute, like I usually
do, right before it leaves without me. I once again slipped into the open seat Abby saved for me every
day, and she immediately overwhelmed me with her sudden chatter. I lost track of what she was
saying, and looked out the window, pretending to understand her. “What do you think, Jen?” she
asked, catching me off guard.
“Um, say that again? I was, um, kind of spacing out again, sorry,” I informed her.
“Oh. Well, never mind, it’s not important. So how was your day?” she said, quickly changing the
subject.
“Um, pretty good,” I replied, once again staring out the window. Soon I realized that we had
pulled up to my bus stop, and I quickly stood up, ready to get inside and start on my homework, getting
it done with. I wanted the rest of the day after that to sit and relax, tired from my lack of sleep. “Okay,
I’ll see you tomorrow Abby. Don’t forget to save me a seat for me on the bus,” I jokingly laughed.
“The usual,” she rolled her eyes, giggling.
“Bye!” I smiled, running off the bus and into the warm, afternoon air. I took in a deep breath,
hoping to smell the fresh outdoor air, but instead my nostrils were intruded by a gaseous odor, the fuel
coming from the back of the bus as it drove away behind me. I coughed, choking on the nasty smell.
Disgusted, I walked quickly down the sidewalk, hoping that my dad wasn’t home from work yet. I felt
the need to be home alone, to just relax by myself.
I swiftly approached my front door, sliding my key into the lock and stepping into the familiar,
comfortable place I knew so well as home. I threw my key down on the oak table by the front door and
scrambled through the refrigerator to find a simple snack. I wouldn’t want to spoil dinner, for I knew
my mom would be home soon to make spaghetti. I sighed in disappointment from the lack of food we
had in the kitchen, and decided on some string cheese. I plopped down on the living room couch,
focusing on my cheese. I peeled a thick piece off and stuffed it in my mouth, turning on the television
to a re-run episode of Whose Line is it Anyway? on ABC Family. I changed channels more than a few
times, searching for what I wanted to watch before I got started on my homework. Dissatisfied, I
turned back to ABC family, now playing a commercial for shaving cream.
My head began to slowly droop, for it was once again the time of day that my sleepless nights
caught up with me. I let my head rest on the couch cushions, and I could feel myself falling asleep.
I was still in the backseat of the big black car. I now noticed my surroundings. I looked out the
back window, and saw a large white house moving away from me. No, I was moving away from it. It
was the large white house that I once before had seen moving away from me. I soon felt the same
uncomfortable feeling, I wanted to go back to the house, but I was once not able to speak and tell my
parents I wanted to go back. I turned around to watch my mom and dad in the front seat. They were
laughing, laughing hard and looking at me. I could not hear what they were saying to each other, but
they were talking, laughing, talking. I wanted to scream. Why did I feel so uncomfortable? These were
my parents. I again looked out the back window to find the house very close to us. I looked inside the
tiny window and saw the woman I longed to be with. I could scarcely see her face now. It was so
familiar, so warm. Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Bell. The name rang through my head. What is going on?
Why is Mrs. Bell inside the house? Why, why, why?!
The name Mrs. Bell was still playing through my head after I awoke from my dream. I was
breathing heavily, which I found to be a new ritual. I was so confused, too confused to think. I jumped
off the couch and turned off the TV so that I would not fall asleep again.
I paced the house a few times before I decided to take a walk. I opened the front door, but
realized that the weather had changed drastically in the hour since I’d been home. When I had stepped
off the bus, it was warm, about 60 degrees. Now, the temperature had dropped 20 degrees and it was
starting to drizzle. I let the front door close as I went back into the house to grab my jacket. Once
wrapped up in my fuzzy jacket and hat, I went back outside. I walked for what seemed like miles,
looking down at my tennis shoes thrust through the slushy water puddles in the street. I finally reached
the park, my favorite place to think. I had come to this park nearly every day when I was little,
especially through the time in which my parents got divorced. Now, the park was no longer just a park
to me, it was a comfort zone, a second home. I climbed up to the top of my favorite slide, my hands
slipping on the wet hand rails. I then wished I had put on some gloves. I sat down on the slide, not
caring about the rain wetting my jeans.
“Hello, Jen. Is that you?” I heard a soothing voice from beneath me call out my name. I looked
down through the holes in the platform I sat on. To my surprise, there stood Mrs. Bell, looking up at
me, squinting in the drizzle that was now more of a rain.
“Hi, Mrs. Bell!” I exclaimed, strangely happy to see her. “What are you doing here?” I
questioned her, suddenly hoping that hadn’t sounded rude.
“Oh, I just come here to think sometimes. It is my favorite place to just, consider things.”
“Do you really? This is my thinking place too!” I sounded excited, for what reason I did not
know. Why was I so happy when I was around Mrs. Bell? I didn’t get it.
“Very cool,” Mrs. Bell replied in her calm voice, so smooth like a waterfall. “It is an excellent
place. You are the only person I’ve met that has agreed with me.”
I was surprised. Who could think badly of this place? Mrs. Bell walked up the steps and joined
me on the platform. She sat down next to me, obviously not caring, like I hadn’t, about her pants
getting wet. Up close, her face was calm and gentle, but old and tired at the same time, like she’d spent
years and years of worrying. I stared at her, struggling to see the reason I felt so good with her around.
Her face was round, her skin a mix of ivory and tan. Her nose was cute and rounded at the end. I was
startled. She looked just like me.
“Is everything okay?” she asked me in concern.
“Um, yes, everything is okay.” I lied. “Mrs. Bell, do you ever notice how similar we are?”
“Yes, I have noticed that before.”
“Do you happen to know, um, why that is? Because whenever I’m around you, I get this sense
of security. This feeling that I know you,” I confessed, now embarrassed.
“No, I don’t, Jen. But you are right. I get the same feeling whenever I’m near you.”
She continued, telling me a story. “I used to have this baby girl. She looked just like you. Her
name was Cassandra; Cassie, for short.” She sighed and looked away, as if in pain. “She was such a
good baby,” she whispered, and I saw tears begin to well up in her eyes.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t feel like she had to
answer. “You don’t have to tell me,” I said, just to make sure she knew. She paused for a few minutes,
as if she were considering it.
“I’m sorry, Jen. I just don’t feel like talking about it right now. Maybe some other time,” she
tried to sound convincing. Mrs. Bell stood up, and began to walk down the stairs. “I’ll see you at school
tomorrow,” she quietly said, almost whispering. She gave me a weak smile and I watched her walk
away, until I could no longer see her. I let the rain drip down my face as I sat there for a long time,
thinking about Mrs. Bell. I wanted to know more; she had gotten me too intrigued in her story. What I
wanted to know more about was how her baby girl had looked just like me. That may be the answer to
why she was so comfortable around me, but that leaves my side of the story an unsolved mystery. As
she told me her story, something in her face hinted that she was hiding something from me. Mrs. Bell
not wanting to tell me what happened to her baby, that’s ok. But she was definitely hiding something
else. She knew something that I didn’t. My phone buzzed in my pocket, startling me in my deep
thought. My dad was calling. I had lost track of time; it’d been hours since I left home.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Hey, where are you?” his voice sounded worried.
“Dad, I’m just at the park, I’m fine. I’ll be home soon,”
“Okay,” he said, more calmly, “don’t be too long.”
“I won’t. Love you, bye.”
“Love you too, bye,” he said, and I hung up the phone, almost cutting off his good-bye. Not too
long after I disconnected with my dad, I came down from the top of the slide, and walked home in the
now pouring rain.
The morning was grey and foggy, and it was still raining. Today I was in an unusually good mood, for my
nightmares had not occurred while I slept. After completing my normal morning routine, I hobbled
down the stairs to find my dad cooking eggs, bacon, and toast in the kitchen. “Morning, Dad,” I groggily
mumbled as I poured some Cheerios into a bowl.
“Morning,” he replied cheerily.
His expression dropped. “You aren’t going to have any of the breakfast I made for you?”
“Oh, woops, I didn’t know you made that stuff. Well, I did, I just…never mind. Yes, I’ll have
some, thanks,” I apologized.
He was back to his normal cheery self quickly, and whistled as he proceeded to finish cooking
the eggs, sunny –side up, just the way we always eat them. Luckily, I hadn’t poured milk into my cereal
just yet, so I dumped the Cheerios back into the box, a few spilling out onto the countertop. My dad,
finished with his cooking, carefully set the delicious breakfast out on the kitchen table, the food neatly
organized on the china plates. I eagerly sat down, ready to dig in to the steaming meal that sat waiting
in front of me. “Yum thanks!” I said appreciatively.
“No prob, homie!”
I rolled my eyes and laughed at my dad’s attempt to fit in to the twenty-first century. He smiled
when he realized he had successfully satisfied his teenage daughter.
“Oh, Dad, I have to go!” I exclaimed when glancing at the clock.
“Ok, see you later. Have a good day at school!” he called after me as I hurried out the door,
slinging my backpack over my shoulder, to catch the school bus in time. I checked my cell phone, and I
had two minutes to get to the bus stop. Embarrassed, I approached the bus stop full of kids. I was
always late for the bus. I searched through the crowd of people for Abby, and I spotted her standing by
Mike, my best guy friend who I’d known since Kindergarten.