School, it was my escape. The only time I could pour myself into something else & forget everything else. Forget what problems I actually had. Today I had an exam, so my mother made a deal with her boss. She got to bring Chris into work with her. Chris had to sit in the bosses office & watch cartoons all day. It was a rare luxury that my mom NEVER got, & it was only offered today because Chrissy wasn't with her. Chrissy was in the hospital. She had the flu. The Dr. said she'd get better, but it'd take some time. I hoped it didn't take too much time, I missed her. I missed her smile, her laugh. I missed her & Chris bickering over the few toys they had to entertain them. I missed the long walks we had through the park. I missed it all, I couldn't wait till Chrissy got better. But back at school, it was where I could just let it all go, pretend I was like everyone else. I was ignored, even laughed at. I had no choice but to where the same clothes over & over, for days at a time. Others found that to be sickening, but what could I do? We didn't have a washer or dryer, mom had to save to go to the laundromat with our clothing. I did have 1 friend, my best friend Adria Carter. She was amazing, she wasn't rich, but she got an allowance of $4 a week, she actually took a $1 every week to buy me an extra lunch at the end of the day to take home each to Chris & Chrissy. The extra lunches were 50 cents each. she bought 2. 1 for Chris & one for Chrissy. I loved Adria, she was my miracle. Without her, I'd be so alone. She's part of what made my time at school worthwhile. 3rd period, the call came to the teacher, I had to go down to the principal. I know what it was about. When I got there, she asked me about all my absences. As I knew she would. I used the same excuse I always did. 'I'm sorry, it's these headaches I always get. I don't want to stay home, but it hurts so much to get up.' The principal gave me a strange look & asked me about a Dr. Again, like I always did, I replied, 'The Dr always says there is nothing wrong with me & that there is no reason why I should have them, but I still keep getting them.' Again, the principal gave me a strange look & I expected her to say ok & tell me to go back to class, but instead, she wrote something down, picked her phone up, & dialed a number, where she then waited a moment & said something very low, where I could barely hear anything she said. She looked at me again, all concerned & asked me to sit down, saying that she was waiting for someone to come in that she'd like me to talk to. I thought to myself, 'oh no, if it gets out that mom can barely feed us, mom will be in deep crap & we'll all be separated' I began to cry & all the principal could tell me was 'You're not in trouble sweety' I scoffed, inwardly thinking, 'that's the least of my worries, I could care less, if I'm in all the trouble in the world.' What would I do? I questioned to myself.