Flashback 10 years prior

"Dakota sweetheart come down please." Little 8 year old me came running down my grannys stairs. I ran to the living room and saw everyone sitting on the furniture facing each other. I walked to my mom and saw she had been crying. I sat on her lap cuddling into her. She explained that we wouldn't be able to come to grannies anymore because granny was going away forever. I didn't know what that meant but she told us we needed to pack everything up because we were moving.

End of flashback.

We had moved a lot since then. My mom was always broke and never had the time for us. She was working 3 jobs trying to raise me, my sister, and my dad was always away for a business trip 46 of the 52 weeks of the year. I just wanted a normal life. I hated moving constantly. She said this is the last time hopefully. Maybe my sister can have a normal childhood. Shes 7 right now. When I found out I was going to be a brother at 11 years old I hated her so much... now though... she's the only thing keeping me sane. She has always accepted me and even knows i'm gay which i finally came out to my family about. They didn't like it at first but they've warmed up to it now.

I lived in a small 3 bedroom place. It had 1 bathroom and an average kitchen and living room. It wasn't the best but it at least wasn't a studio again. The last studio we lived in was horrible. Since a studio only has a living room kitchen and bathroom it was hard having room. My mom had me and my little sister in 1 corner. Her and dad were in another and we had to pick times when we wanted to eat or shower. The kitchen was hardly big enough to have 2 people in and you had to pass through the side of it to get to the bathroom. And the only thing separating the living room and kitchen was a small kitchen island of counter space. We would eat around it and mom and dad would stand to eat. Once in a while mom would pull up a metal chair to sit with us but there was hardly any room most of the time.

My new home is pretty average tho. I liked it, my sister was really nice and very happy. She loves the yard, it's not the biggest but it's big enough for her to run and have fun. She has a mini-garden that her and mom started. It's a 8'X10' area and she's got some cool things in it. We each had our own room now. Hers was a light pink with a bunch of toys and girly things. She wants to have sleepovers with friends she may make. Mine is a red color. I really don't organize things like her. My room is very average. I got the side table and different small items here and there.

Life was actually pretty nice honestly. I settled in. I got all my stuff from my old apartment. I still talk to old friends, some don't really talk as much as they used to, but it's okay.

As I get ready for my first day of school at my new school it's very intimidating. This was going to my new school that I will actually stay at forever. I was 18 so it was my last year. I had already been through all the paperwork and knew what my paths to my classes were. I walked into my closet grabbing my grey T-shirt that was slightly tight fitting and black skinny jeans. I threw on my checkered vans and light grey beanie. I had the typical bad boy vibes but I really wasnt one. I just wanted to be popular enough not to get bullied. I grabbed my grey bag and walked to the kitchen. I had to be quiet because my sister was asleep for another hour. I grabbed a cereal/granola bar and walked out. I got into my parents car and waited for my mom.

"Hey sweetheart you got everything you need. All notebooks and schedules?" she asked, sliding into the driver's seat. I nodded in response and she pulled out taking me to school.

When we arrive she hugs me quickly not to embarrass me and I get out heading inside. I go straight to the cafeteria and open up my granola bar. I sit at the table near the door just peering over everyone. I start picking out what groups are who and what level of popularity they are. I didn't see a popular group yet, but they could just be one of those groups that don't eat in the cafeteria so they might not be here. One kid kept catching my attention. He looked sad, and emo. I took it as he was probably a dweeb. As the bell rang i caught myself spaced out and walked to my first few classes.

****

Finally it was almost lunch. I walked into my history class right as the bell rang. I walked up to the teacher. All they told me was the rules and told me to sit next to Max. I walked to the front and I saw a kid wave me over, they moved their bag and I sat down.

"Hi, I'm Dakota, new kid." I whispered to him trying not to get in trouble. He responded back, "Max, new this year." I smiled pulling out my notebook getting ready to take notes. I looked over and saw him pull out a sketchbook. I presumed he wasn't very good at keeping his grades up; heck he isn't even taking notes, he's going to fail if he's not careful. The teacher started talking and I wrote down all the things I needed and what was on the board.

The last 15 minutes of class rolled around. "Okay class listen up! We have a project starting. You have heard about some wars today now you will recreate those. I want posters of one of the many wars, you can choose one we spoke of or research your own. I want to see detail. I don't want to see you go home grab a poster board and glue your brothers and sisters dolls to it and color it green in crayon. I want 3D models. I want trees, bushes, soldiers, I want to be able to envision what happened in that war in my mind by looking at your board. If I can't envision every detail of that war I will not hesitate to throw F's at all of you. You will work with the people beside you. If you are in a table with just you find someone from a table of just 1 and work with them, NOONE IS DOING THIS ALONE! You have your instructions. Use the last 10 minutes of class to talk to your partners." He went back to his desk and got on his computer typing away.

I looked to max and started talking to him about everything. We agreed to meet at his house tomorrow after school. He said if i get the board he'll get some materials to build it. I agreed and with that left class at the bell.

****

I walked out to my moms car. I explained some parts of my day to her and told her about the project. She told me it was fine and that we would get the board after picking my sister up from her building. We went to the drive through line waiting for them to let out and bring out the car riders.