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First Day Preparations
Last Updated:
2025-04-12 06:25:05
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“Is that what you are wearing today?” He asked me, his tone gruff with an accusing edge that I did not like in the least.“Yes, it is. Is there a problem with what I am wearing?” We glared at each other for at least three Mississippis before he sighed and looked down.“No, you look amazing.” He answered as he approached the breakfast table and sat down to his plate. “Maybe a little too amazing is all.”“It’s just clothes, Phil.” I answered calmly.He picked up his fork and stabbed at his eggs, stopping as he brought the fork up. “You’re right. I’m being silly and maybe a little more possessive than I have any right to be. I’m sorry. You do look amazing. You would look amazing in a potato sack, though.”I gave him a warm smile and he started eating.“Thank you. I’m gonna go wake up Nate and get him dressed.”I didn’t wait for a response, exiting the kitchen as smoothly as I could. It was getting rather crowded in there this morning, what with that darn elephant back. I opened Nate’s bed
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I walked around them and the table as I grabbed Phil’s lunch pail and opened it up, sitting in on top of the stove to pack it. I opened the refrigerator and loaded the bottom of the cooler with his drink divider ice pack and lined up four bottled waters and two cans of soda from the refrigerator.“Do you want the leftover pizza or should I make you some sandwiches?” I asked him over my shoulder.“Do you want to take the pizza with you?” He asked me back as he looked up at me from the table.“No, I won’t have much of an appetite today. First day jitters and all. I was just going to see what they had in the cafeteria based on how I am feeling at lunchtime. I have a granola bar and a bottle of water already in my bag, too.”“Yeah, just give me the leftovers, then. No sense in you going to all that trouble to make sandwiches when the pizza and cheesesticks need finished up.”“What am I having for lunch today, Mo….Rory?” Nate caught himself.I closed the refrigerator door to look on the ca
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“Bye, Daddy” Nate called with a wave.“Bye, buddy. Have a good day!”I shut the truck door, taking Nate’s hand as I led him around the front of the truck, across the street once the traffic was clear and up onto the side walk on the opposite side. Wearing shoes I was not used to actually made my pace stay right with Nate’s, all the way up to the front steps.“Bye, Rory. Love you!” He called as he broke free and took off up the steps without even looking back.“Love you, too.” I called after him but he was already gone.As I turned and walked back down the sidewalk, I had to walk past one of the buses of high school students. I tried to ignore the whistles and cat calls as I hurried past, suddenly questioning my choice of outfit for the first day.I was already going to be the ‘new girl’. That was enough to stand out but I thought it would be smart to dress up, in a fricking skirt no less! Obviously, I should have given this whole scenario a little more thought. I took a deep breath, s
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I tried to control the annoyance I felt at his stunt, knowing I would be unable to do anything about it at the moment. If I said anything right now, it would look like a lover’s quarrel to anyone outside of this truck and Phil would get that label put on me that he was so desperately seeking.I set my jaw, pissed but determined. Two can play this game. What he didn’t realize is that I was already an actress. Anyone working in the service industry has to be. I had mastered the friendly smile and carefree attitude all while inwardly telling someone to go screw themselves a long time ago.I underestimated my opponent, though. As I leaned into the backseat to grab my backpack, he leaned forward to block my face with his as he simply said, “Have a good day.” into my ear. That was it and he leaned back again. Seemingly innocent enough but to a crowd of over one hundred nosy, perpetually horny teenagers, it looked like he just gave me a kiss.It shouldn’t bother me but it did. Part of me rea
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“You’re welcome, sweetie. We want you to be comfortable and feel at home here at Wood Haven on your first day.” She answered back with a genuine smile. “Now, let me see which of our guides I need to pair you with. Hopefully, there is a volunteer that you share some classes with.”She hummed away, looking at the computer as she decided which guide she would call for me. I sent up a silent prayer for it to be someone nice and normal, someone who didn’t want to be front and center with introducing me to everyone in the school on my first day.“Here we go. I think I have found the perfect match. She picked up the phone and overhead paged. “Courtney Romero. Courtney Romero, can you come by the office for a moment. Thank you.”She hung up the phone and motioned to an empty chair behind me.“Just have a seat there, Aurora and she will be up here in just a few minutes.”“Thank you again.”“No problem, sweetie.” She turned away from me as I sat down and motioned for the next student in line.I
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I followed Courtney up the stairs and down the long hall. Thankfully, all the students were heading in the same direction. Halfway down, she tucked in a door on the right so I followed her inside. Typical history classroom. Nothing impressive.The girl that was offended over the Orange Fizz last night waved to Courtney and she skipped ahead and slid into a desk right beside her. Courtney looked back at me and patted the seat right in front of her, indicating she wanted me to sit there. Since I had little choice in the matter, I followed her and sat down, pulling my backpack between my legs as every movement I made was watched carefully.“Aurora, this is Bethany. Bethany, Aurora is our new student and I am her guide this week.”I looked back and gave her a small smile. “Hello again.”She didn’t answer but gave me a half smile in return, one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. I turned back and took a pen and notebook from my bag, ready to ignore them and get this class over with.Student
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As soon as Mr. Hanson announced our pairing, Bethany asked, “Mr. Hanson, who is Fulvia and what does she have to do with Mark Antony? I thought he was in love with Cleopatra?”“Ahh, an opportunity to learn, Miss Yates. What topic did you draw again?”“The Roman bathing system.”“I’m changing it. I will lecture on it tomorrow. In the meantime, Miss Yates, I have now given you the topic of Cleopatra and added you to Miss Butler and Mr. Marshall’s group. Two powerful women. Nothing you can’t handle, right Mr. Marshall?”Owen just chuckled and shook his head but I couldn’t help but wonder if this was an inside joke of some sort and it made me uneasy. Was Owen Marshall just a player? Did he see me as his next conquest? Did he see me at all? My defenses were back in place, locked and loaded. I couldn’t be tricked by dimples, a handsome face and those dark eyes. I couldn’t be like her, I reminded myself.“As a matter of fact,” Mr. Hanson continued. “Didn’t one of you draw Octavian?” He asked
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Just as I expected Owen to snap, the bell rang to end class. Kyle laughed as he jumped up and shoved the chair out of the way, flipping Owen the bird as he backed up before turning and strolling to the door and throwing it open, the first one out.“… loser.” I heard Owen mumble, unable to catch the first part but perfectly able to assume what it was. I stood up and grabbed my backpack as Owen slid past me, his shoulder brushing mine. Knowing I would need them for my next class, I clutched the notebook to my chest with the pen firmly grasped in my hand.I stepped out in front of my desk, allowing Courtney to step in front of me since I would be following her. She turned to me, waiting for Bethany to get her stuff together and join us.“English is just a couple doors up so we don’t have to go very far.” She answered with a smile. As she turned to lead the way, Bethany walked beside her and I just fell in line, following them. The hallway had now turned into a multi-lane chaotic mess. Th
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Owen stayed close watching Nate, in case he took a tumble, ready to catch him if he needed to. I busied myself settling in for the night, hanging the clothes I had brought with us in the closet. As soon as I had it all put away, Owen said he was gonna go take a shower and for me to text him once I had Nate asleep.Nate had definitely exhausted some of his pent up energy on his makeshift trampoline. He climbed off of the bed once I announced that it was bath time and followed me in, stripping his clothes along the way. He was as equally excited about the size of the tub, exclaiming that he could really swim in it.I turned on the water, adjusting the temperature. The tub was so tall that Nate could not climb over the side by himself, although he tried a couple times. It might have been manageable with clothes on but that would have defeated the purpose of the bath to begin with so I had to lift him up and over and into the water.I pulled the vanity chair over. It was the perfect heigh
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I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped before I tried my best to keep a straight face.“No, you don’t need to jump on the bed. Why do you want to jump on the bed?”He looked at me like it should have been obvious. “Rory, that’s a good jumping bed!”“And exactly how do you know that?”Once again, this time with an eye roll. “I’m a kid! I can just tell!”“Still! We are guests here, Little Man! We can’t just go jumping on other peoples’ beds.”I ignored the pout, purposefully turning away from him as I walked toward the two doors that were closed. I opened the first one to reveal a small walk-in closet. I say small but it was still almost the size of my former bedroom at Phil’s house. There was space on both the left and right sides to hang clothes. The one on the left had double hanging space while the one on the right was designed for longer garments. Each had dozens of empty hangers just waiting to be used.The back wall had floor to ceiling shelves of various heights for storage of
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I shook the thoughts from my head concerning the epiphany I had just had regarding my deceased mother and my previously assumed routine trips to the community pool. Just another fragment of my innocence lost as I transition to adulthood and another reminder of my shattered youth. I would have to keep the lid tightly closed on that box or I might end up needing therapy before I can even graduate high school. I probably do anyhow but who can afford it. At the end of the walkway, Owen moved around us and opened the door ahead. We entered into a larger hallway that dripped a refined sense of elegance and sophistication. The floors and walls were all of a highly polished black walnut, including the intricate carved crown molding along the trim of the floor and ceiling. Each piece of art or decoration was there with purpose, as a statement of extravagance and prodigality.“This is what is called the East Wing. This is where my bedroom and a couple of the guest bedrooms are. My parents have
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“Owen, how do you not get lost in a house this big?”“I guess I have just gotten used to it but I know, it’s a bit much. This is the biggest estate in the community. It belonged to my dad’s parents so this is actually where my dad grew up. After my grandparents passed away, he didn’t want to sell it so we just moved here. He has already asked me if I will keep it in the family and not sell it. I promised him that I wouldn’t. So, I guess I will be raising my family here one day, too.”I suddenly felt like a gold digger, having had thoughts just moments ago about it now being my dream to live in Urban Crest. I tried to shake those thoughts, that connection out of my head. Owen living here and my dreams to better myself were two totally different things. Weren’t they? Why did I always associate something good with it somehow not being something that I deserved? I wanted to love Owen for himself and not for what he owned or how much money was in his bank account. I knew I wasn’t that kind
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The moment the gates opened and Owen drove us through, I felt like I had crossed over into another dimension. The paving on the road was immaculate, not a pothole in sight. The grass seemed brighter, lusher. Owen clicked the button to roll the windows down so that we could see better instead of attempting to look through the dark tint.Even the air smelled better here, though I had to be imagining that. But it seemed crisper, cleaner with maybe just a hint of sweetness to it that I had never experienced before. The landscaping was impeccable, not a blade of grass out of place or uneven and every flower properly mulched.Owen pulled forward to an intersection and turned right. He was rolling along without tapping the gas, just letting Nate and I both take in the scenery around us.“The road just makes one big long rectangle perimeter with just two entrance gates.” He explained as we inched along. He pointed to the first road that we came to on the right. “Each little side road has just
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Owen texted me at seven forty-seven to let me know that practice was over and he was heading back to pick us up. After Barb and I had talked with things settled as to where I was going and what our plan was for the next few days, I had hugged her again and even walked into the kitchen and made John surrender and give me a hug, too. He just responded with his normal grunt but he did have a twinkle in his eye and squeezed me back during the hug. I had kept myself busy making sure everything was prepped for the next day. Now, I let Barb know that Owen was on his way. Nate handed me his tablet as I stretched out my hand for it. I turned it off and laid it on the table.“Are we not going home, Rory?” He asked me with a tilt of his head.“Not tonight, buddy. Your daddy is still not feeling good so we need to let him rest.”“But who’s gonna take care of Daddy while he is sick?”“I made sure he was okay before I left.” The lie tasted so bitter on my tongue. “He just needs to get a good night
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“As much as I have appreciated our talk, Kyle, I need to get to work.”“Yeah, I need to get out of here, too. Stop by and check on my sister before I head home for the night.”“I take it the two of you are really close.”“Yeah. She helped Mom raise me so she’s been like my second mom. She’s eight years older than me.”“So you completely understand the relationship I have with Nate, then?”“Probably more than anyone else around here could, actually. Her and Mom made sacrifices for me all the time so as soon as I was old enough, I made sure they were looked after and taken care of. I still do.”“You’re a good guy, Kyle.”“Shut that down right now. You’ll ruin my reputation.” He answered with a grin. “I have to stay the bad boy to get all the honey.”“Ugh, forget I ever said anything.”“That’s more like it. Here. Cash me out and I’ll get out of your hair.”I took his money and rang up his tab, giving back his change. He left a good tip for Darcy and left with a nod. It had been like this
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Even after I asked, he looked out the window as he took a drink of his own soda. He sat there watching the traffic like he didn’t have a care in the world but I could see the turmoil behind his eyes. He had questions and he wanted answers but wasn’t sure how to ask.Finally, he sighed as he looked over at me. “You know, my sister’s old man gets in a mood from time to time. Nicest guy you will ever meet unless he’s in one. Then, he turns into this totally different person. Never would have ever believed it, even if she told me until I saw it with my own two eyes. I guess that’s one of the reasons she hid it from us for so long. The drink is what does it. It’s poison to him. One drink and he changes into this monster, this stranger that is out here walking among us like a normal, every day guy.”“What are you saying, Kyle?”“I think you know what I’m saying, Aurora. I just hope it ain’t pretty boy there that’s causing that look you had when you walked in tonight. I know that look cause
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Barb and Darcy gave me a couple minutes to compose myself, just to make sure I was okay to come out. Outwardly, unless specifically looking, you couldn’t even really tell that I had been in any sort of altercation at all. Mentally, I didn’t even have an answer as to my state of mind or stability at this point. I was numb and maybe more than a little in denial, if I were to completely be honest about it.When I came out, I avoided eye contact with the booth my boyfriend and classmates were sitting at until I had first checked on Nate again. He was coloring on a placemat, happy as he could be. Our food was in the pass, waiting so I took his burger and fries to him first with a promise that I was just a couple tables away if he needed me. He dove in to the burger with gusto, completely in his element here in the diner.I doubled back and grabbed the plates for Owen and myself and took them to the table, sitting his down in front of him before sliding in beside him and centering mine in f
