Radhika Ramesh - 8IG-A - 2018-19

Talia adjusted her wretched homework in her exhausted palms. She grumbled and began to carefully read.”sha-ma-pal” she pronounced carefully.’shamapelle!!!” Talia exclaimed.”ugh” she muttered under her breath. What a horrible american accent she had developed! Even the most simple french words were hard to pronounce. A harsh breeze suddenly began to pick up. Her french homework quickly slipped out of fingers and into a large,muddy puddle.’It’s funny how things you thought were under your control slip so quickly between your fingers’.Talia sighed.”Talia?” asked a shivering voice behind her. She whipped around to witness her classmate, Elle. “Americans” Talia muttered under her breath.”Can i help you?”.”Actually”, said elle quietly, ”I wanted to know if u would come to my place tomorrow. My mom forced me to invite the entire class. Elle, in Talia’s opinion, looked like a rodent. It didn’t help that she was vividly shaking from side to side.”What?” asked Talia,surprised. Suddenly,she caught a glimpse of Hannah mason and Ruth belford. They were giggling and applying lip gloss to their gossiping mouths. The two were staring at talia so intently, it was like pure evil was pouring out of their treacherous eyes. Ruth quickly whispered something into Hannahs ear.they began to giggle. ”Nice try” said Talia quietly,anger slowly rising inside of her. ”Huh?”Asked Elle,confused. “I’D RATHER DIE THAN GO TO YOUR STUPID PARTY!” Talia yelled in fury. She quickly then walked away in a huff, cursing ferociously. “The little squirrel thought she could trick me into coming to a party” Talia thought furiously. “Just another stupid party. To remind me once again that I don't belong in this hellhole”.

As Talia sat in class, she noticed how breezy it was outside; the clouds were moving across the sky quickly, slowing down every few seconds, as if pausing to witness itself. The leaves outside swirled gracefully, yet harshly, as if taunting her. “Ms. Verecchi!” said Senor Rodriguez loudly, her plump face turning scarlet. Talia snapped back to reality, and gazed sleepily at her Spanish teacher. “You will be with Caleb summers” she explained exasperatedly. “Pay attention please”. A tall boy with blonde hair and deep blue eyes came up to her. His smile was so large and happy, it almost seemed fake. “Hi!”, he said in a typical American accent. Talia flashed him a small unpleasant smile. “Caleb?”, he asked raising his eyebrows. “Your project partner?”. He smiles again and hed out an outstretched arm. Talia felt suddenly insecure and stepped back. “Umm… no thank!”, she said quietly. “Gosh! You are jumpy. Are you ok?”. He placed his arm on mine.At this talia began to feel even more uncomfortable and took another step back. Caleb looked confused,but not even mildly upset.”You shy chicks are so weird” he laughed.Talia took into notice his summer-like vibe. He was merely a living version of a bright,sunny day, perhaps a picnic sunday.  but eventually conjure up a smile on your face. Talia smiled unconsciously.

A few moments later the bell awoke the school to its harsh reality. Talia stumbled towards her locker,avoiding Ruth’s darkening glare. ”Hey,partner” said a silky voice behind her. Talia slammed her locked door shut.

“What do you want?“, she grumbled.

“Nothing”.

“Stop following me“.

“I’m really not“.

Talia glared at him.

“Look“, he explained, leaning slightly against the locker.

“I understand that you want me to go away. I also know you can’t help it but trust me”.

“And, why may I ask, would you think such a thing?“ I questioned.

 “Because“, he answered slowly. “According to Ms.Rodriguez, that smile in class today was the first time you’d smiled all semester”.

When Talia first joined Ridgewood high, everyone was desperate to be her friend, even Ruth and Hannah until one day.unfortunately,Talia remembered every step her dad took when he walked out of her house. Every single step. And with every step, a single brilliant trait of his would vanish.The writer. The lover. The teacher. The fighter. It all left her and her hurting mother alone. She had seen the American constitution. She had read the area about human rights. There is a little something they missed. “Every kid in the world deserves a minimum of two loving parents”. He left when she was nearly a 12 year old girl, and hadn’t bothered to see her in the three years. Talia told her story to Caleb, I wondered carefully why I was telling only him. She guessed it was because he bothered to listen. She only now realised the most important trait she had lost from him. The father.

Talia was genuinely Surprised at herself.her first friend in seven years.she had to admit,it was thoroughly enjoyable. Maybe half of her happiness was gained from Ruth’s jealous stares, but it was joy nonetheless. Caleb,for some reason,seemed  to enjoy hanging out with her. It was almost as if they were inseparable. Talia have to admit, having a friend had many benefits. She could tell that she was becoming happier.

One day, Talia noticed caleb staring out of the window. The sky had started to throw a tantrum. It sounded its list all the windows and doors, screaming so harshly that the trees begin to sway. Talia looked up, concerned. “Caleb, trying to use your mind to change the weather?“. He grinned, but it seemed rather white washed.”She’s going to be worried” He explained. “My mother”. Talia had noticed while being friends with Caleb, that his mom got easily worried.“How are you going to go home in this weather?” Talia replied. “The phone lines have been cut off, so no one in their right mind would walk 3 miles”. Talia hey Siri glance downstairs. Her mum would not be home for another hour. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. It was as if the vibrations travel through the house one room at a time,making even the lamp shudder. Tell your glanced hesitantly at the door. She walked slowly downstairs,tiptoeing as if there was a time relative bomb outside.she raised a quivering hand and opened the door.talia jumped back in surprise at a dark,hooded figure at her door.’gosh,you startled me!”she said softly.”What do you want?” the hooded person said nothing.Talia began to get annoyed. The figure then carefully removed it’s hood. It was as if the world began to shake. Talia could feel the world beneath her feet spinning, as her visual was locked into slow motion. ”Talia” his hollow, cracking voie pleaded.He reached out for her trembling arm.Talia screamed. Her yell penetrated through the man in front her, making him jump back. Talia was then forcibly knocked backward by the force of her own scream. His once handsome face,now was littered with fear,with hollow,black circles under his eyes and swollen lips.”Talia,please” he pleaded.”I NEED HELP”. An empty beer bottle fell down and cracked. Tears sprang in Talias eyes.”i’m your-”.”no” talia cut him off.”you’re no father of mine”. His face grew solemn, and he ran out of the house. Caleb ran downstairs in panic. ”TALIA” he exclaimed.”Are you okay?”. Talia couldn’t think straight. ”GO!” she yelled. ”Just leave me alone! can’t you just take a hint?!?! I.DONT.WANT.YOU.HERE”. Caleb looked puzzled at her.”What happened?”.”CALEB” she said,exasperated.”LEAVE ME ALONE”. Caleb’s face grew red and his eyebrows furrowed. ”Fine” he muttered and walked out as well. Talia was alone again,but somehow now it was different.

The night was long and sad.she burst into tears nearly five times.after this she had a realisation. The pain she felt because of her dad was nothing compared to the pain she felt because of Caleb.

Talia’s eyes drooped to create an ugly sag. Long black hair lay sulking on her shoulders. Nothing had changed. Ruth and Hannah were badmouthing Chase and his gang of goons were bullying some small kid. Aaron and Elle were reciting poetry. Nothing had changed, yet everything had. Ruth was laughing like a maniac at her tired outfit, but she didn’t care. All she wanted was one thing – Caleb summers. Talia had known Caleb for only about a week, but she needed him. He was her first friend in seven years. She walked into class, to see him skulking in a corner. Never has she seen him appear so upset.

“Same partners”, said Ms. Rodriguez From the other side of the room. An idea suddenly found its way into Talia’s head.

“Hi”, Talia said, with fake joy. Caleb looked up, annoyed at her presence.

“Talia?”, she asked, “your project partner”. Caleb didn’t look up, but Talia could feel a smile growing. “You shy dudes are so weird”, She exclaimed. Caleb finally gave up and grinned. She then did something no one had seen Talia Verecchi do in seven years. She stepped forward and hugged him tight.

After Talias apology to Caleb, her future became clear. It was now easy to find goals when you had people beside you. If she had made one friend in ridgewood high, she could make more.

“Check,check” muttered talia into the microphone.it was definitely working.”Hello everyone”

She stuttered. Talia turned around nervously. Caleb flashed her a quick thumbs up.She took a deep breath.”My name is talia verecchi. Most people's problems include bad hair days or getting bad grades. Mine was a single moment. When my most favorite person in the world walked out of  my house. When my two best friend told the whole school I was a freak. When my mom sobbed every night. It made my outer shell thick. And a little mean. I decided that if every day people I trust were going to give up on me, what was the point of even trusting? I used to care more about what came out of someone else’s mouth rather than mine”. Talia took another deep breath.”Maybe I don’t fully know who i am, but i do know i’m a person who is willing to fight for my happiness.So I apologise, Ridgewood high,because I want you to be happy with me. I apologise for hurting everyone so much. And guess what? If being happy means I have to trust you, so be it.”

Talia pushed the mic away from her and walked triumphantly out of the room. The principal smiled at her as she walked out. Everyone outside stared at Talia with sunken eyes. Caleb was grinning happily at her. She spun around to look at all the mystified faces. Hannah and Ruth were standing in the corner. There were tears in Hannah’s eyes. Ruth’s mouth was shaped funny and long. Kind of like a smile.