Still Alone
“I can’t believe it! I’m actually here. I’m actually doing this,” I think to myself. A woman with beautiful long brown hair, hanging in a ponytail, and bright green eyes walks up to me and pats me on the shoulder, as the takeoff ceremony continues. “I’m proud of you, Taylor,” She says. “You’re finally a soldier.”
“Taylor,” A muffled voice calls me, but I don’t want to listen. I want to believe that this is real. That I really did do it. That I really am a soldier. “Taylor, wake up. You’re going to miss breakfast.” I then start shaking, and my eyes flutter open to see a boy, with shaggy, dirty blonde hair, shaking me awake. “I’m up, I’m up,” I say, and he stops shaking me.
“You’re late to breakfast again, and Marissa noticed. She wanted to come to get you she has an announcement, ” I reluctantly get out of bed. “Get out of my room, Winston.” He rolls his eyes and walks out, slamming the door. I groan as I get out of bed and walk to my dresser.
One minute I’m becoming a soldier and the next I’m back to being an orphaned 8-year-old. I grab a plain yellow dress and make my way to the bathroom to change. Once I’m finished changing I look in the mirror. I see my messy, shoulder-length reddish brown hair outlining my pale face, almost covering my brown eyes.
I sigh and walk out of my room toward the cafeteria. “What could it be this time?” I quietly mutter to myself as I walk down the large corridor. When I get to the cafeteria I see everyone sitting down, not making any noise. Towards the center of the room is Marissa, her blue eyes looking at me, slightly annoyed. She nods her head in the direction of a table, and I quickly go sit down. Marissa clears her throat and looks back up. “This is Max,” She says, putting her hand on the shoulder of a boy, with shaggy brown hair, and green eyes, who I didn’t notice until now. “I’ll go ahead and explain why he is here so you don’t have to ask because I know you all are going to. His sister just became a soldier a few months ago, however, she died. She was the only one taking care of him. He is eight. That’s all, please, continue your breakfast. Taylor, come with me.”
Great, I’m in trouble again. I reluctantly get up and follow Marissa to her office. “You woke up late again,” She says in a disappointed voice, yet somehow non-accusatory, and almost worried voice. “I know,” I say nodding my head. She was talking kindly, but I knew she was mad at me. “You need to be on time, Taylor-”
“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” I interrupt. I didn’t mean to interrupt, I was just desperate to get out of there and go eat. I’ve heard this lecture before, at this point I know it by heart, and I don’t need to hear it again.
“Taylor Dawn, do not interrupt me!” She says in a slightly angrier tone which almost threw me off guard, but then she speaks in a softer tone, “I’m worried about you. You’re always waking up late, and you don’t seem to get along well with the other kids. What’s going on?”
“Nothing, I’m fine,”
“Taylor, I’m here for you. You don’t need to hide things from me, but I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me,” Marissa says calmly. I shake my head and offer a small smile, “It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She stares at me for a few seconds, “Are you even trying to make friends?” Her question threw me off but I nodded. “I’ve tried. They just don’t want to, and I am okay with that,”
“So you’ve just stopped trying?” Marissa asks. I look up at her. “I don’t know what you want me to do,” I reply, getting slightly frustrated and upset. “I’ve tried to make friends, and I have failed. Miserably.” Marissa sighs and puts her hands on my shoulders in a comforting gesture. “Taylor, you haven’t failed, you just haven’t looked in the right direction. What about that boy, Max?” I shying “No. You are a leeron. And there is nothing wrong with that. Being a leeron doesn’t define who you are, and besides, you still have phoenix in your blood.”
“It doesn’t matter, the second someone finds out I am a leeron they either disappear or make fun of me,”
“Stop making excuses. You are going to go talk to Max, and you are going to try to be his friend. End of story.” I sigh and nod. Marissa gestures to the door and I make my way back to the cafeteria. I grab my scrambled eggs and orange juice and spot Max sitting by himself at a table in the corner. I take a deep breath and make myake my head. “There is no way he’s gonna want to be my friend,”
“You don’t know that,”
“Marissa, I’m a halfy-” She interrupts me, sa way towards him. Just the thought of possibly making a friend makes me happy
“Hi! I’m Taylor.” I say with a cheerful smile. He looks at me and then looks back at his food. “Your name is Max, right?” He looks back up at me, seemingly annoyed. “What do you want?”
“I want to sit down,” I say. “Then why are you standing around? Go sit down,” Max says. I sit down next to him and he looks at me like I have two heads. I ignore his strange look and start eating my food. “Why are you sitting here?” He asks me. I don’t waste any time responding. “Because I want to.” Max scoffs and stands up, grabbing his tray. “I don’t need your pity friendship,” He then walks away, to a different empty table.
I sigh and grab my tray follow him and sit next to him again. “Stop following me,” Max says, annoyed, and he stands up to leave again. “Wait, wait, wait,” I say quickly in an attempt to stop him from leaving, and he looks at me very annoyed, waiting to see what I have to say. “Uh- I don’t have any friends either,” He just stares at me for a few seconds. “Must be for good reason,” Then he walks away again. Of course, I follow him. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“If nobody wants to be your friend then that says something about you. Care to share?” I stare at him for a moment before answering, “I’m a leeron,”
“So?” I look at him, confused. “Who cares what you are? I was saying that it reflects on the way you act,” That isn’t true. I’ve tried to be nice to them before, but they just won’t accept me. “You’d be surprised.” Max shakes his head and walks away. This time I let him. I’ll just talk to him later.
