Annie+Annie

I was never the most popular girl in school, so it came as no surprise to me that nobody bade me farewell when my Dad and I moved away to some place down in Delaware called Bethany. My dad got a new job there as the manager of the newly built Walmart, and since it’s always been just the two of us, I kinda had to go with him. After all, I’m still only seventeen.

“So, school starts in three days,” Dad began as he drove us down the road. The Sun was setting already. “Are you excited, Annie?”

I shrugged.

“I hope you’ll make friends here,” he said. “That way I won’t have to worry about you so much.”

I pulled up my hood and pulled my strings, covering my face. Dad sighed and continued driving.

I don’t hate my Dad, OK? What I hate is other people; they suck. All people ever do is judge, judge, and judge. They never leave me alone, and they’re always all up in my business trying to tell me what’s good and whatever. All I ever wanna do is either read by myself, or sit in a quiet little corner and draw. But can I? Nope! Someone’s ALWAYS gotta be walking up to me and telling me that it’s not healthy for me to be all by myself because then people will start thinking I’m crazy! And I’m NOT!

“You hungry?” Dad asked. I nodded; I could eat, sure. Dad drove up to this gas station that also had a Seven Eleven attached, which could only mean one thing: we were about to get our junk food on.

We walked in, and that’s where my eyes met her: the girl behind the counter. She was beautiful; she had silky black hair that reached to her back, almond shaped eyes, pink lips, a button nose, a round face, and a slim figure that stood about five foot two. She seemed so attentive at her job.

“Good evening, and welcome to Seven Eleven!” Said the girl, smiling brightly. “What can I get you?”

“Yeah, hi, do you have anything kosher?” Asked Dad. I looked at the hot dogs, and my stomach growled; maybe a bit too loudly.

“Of course!” Said the cashier girl, all smiles. “Our hot dogs are kosher! Would you like one?”

“Two, please,” Dad said, taking out his wallet. “With mustard and relish. Annie, could you get us two waters, please?”

I nodded. I walked to the fridge and got two water bottles, bringing them to Dad so he’d pay for them. We took our hot dogs, and as we left, I took one look at the cashier, whom I swear smiled at me. I blushed, and kept walking. Dad and I got into the car and ate the hot dogs, a smile forming on my lips. After we ate, Dad started the car again.

It was a ten minute drive before we reached our new house. It was a two story house; way too big for us. But Dad got it for relatively cheap, and, well, whatever. Point is, we had a nice house now. Beats the apartment we were living in. It was already dark by the time we arrived, but thankfully the movers had already put all our stuff where it needed to be, so awesome.

I walked up to what I already called as my room, which was on the second floor of the house. I turned on my light, and smiled; my bed was ready, my desk was all set up, and all my books were on their shelves. I opened up my bag and took out my drawing pencils and sketchbook.

I love drawing; I feel most at peace doing it. Actually, it’s more like I feel most like me when I draw, if that makes sense. It’s when I feel like my life has a purpose, you know? And when I’m holding a pencil in hand and sketching on a paper, that’s when I feel at most like I’m alive, like I’m doing what Adonai made me for.

I started with a simple circle. Then I added some lines that fell to the side. I used gentle strokes; the image in my head was a gentle image, after all. That girl’s smile burned right into my mind, like a sunrise at the Catskill Mountains, or the smell of a freshly baked bun at five AM on an autumn day.

I drew her; I had to. I drew her standing behind the counter at Seven Eleven, smiling. I blushed as I looked at the picture, remembering the girl whose name I’ll most likely never know. I sighed and leaned back on my desk chair.

So, a new life in a new town over at a new state. Wild, huh? And yet I don’t share my dad’s optimism; I doubt anything will be different for me this year. I’ll just be the quiet girl who sits in the corner by herself, drawing and reading, being the weird little freak I’ve always been. The freak who doesn’t make friends.

The freak who can’t talk.

On Monday...

I spent the whole weekend just reading and drawing, really. Nothing extraordinary. Today was the first day of school, so I did what I always do; get there early, sit myself in the very back as far from the door as possible, and just lay low. People will have to go out of their own way just to talk to me, so they won’t. As I waited for school to start, I took out my notebook and pencil and began to doodle on the edges.

“Hi!” Said an all too familiar voice. I looked to my left and saw her: the cashier girl. She was smiling at me. I felt my heart go ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP! “Looks like we’ll be classmates! What’s your name?”

I gulped. I ripped off a piece of paper from my notebook and wrote my name on it: Annie Friedman.

“Cool, your name’s Annie, too?” She said, smiling. “I’m Annie Yoshizawa! Nice to meet you!”

I smiled a bit as we shook hands. The breathtaking cashier girl was not only my classmate who now sits next to me, she shared my name, too! How wild is that!?