Saturn, Ch. 2

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.1

I groaned as my alarm clock beeped at me. I rolled over and turned it off, switched on the light and forced myself out of bed. Rubbing my eyes a little, I walked into my bathroom to get ready for school.2

Once I had gotten dressed, brushed my hair and teeth, and assembled my book bag, I set off for school. As usual, I was the first one in class. As usual, I was among the three or four students who had actually done their homework. However, today was not a usual day. Today, there was a new student.3

"Class? Class. CLASS!" the teacher shouted. Everyone immediately ceased their mindless chatter and stared at the teacher.4

"That's better. Now, I was trying to inform you that we have a new student today. His name is Michael Cliffe. Say hello, class."5

The room rang with a chorus of tired hellos. The boy looked scared, unsure of himself. He looked like he didn't really fit in. I noticed him glancing around the room, his head angled down, scanning the desks for an empty one. He caught my eye and I motioned to the seat next to me. He walked down the aisle and sat down, looking over and giving me a small smile. I returned it. I soon discovered that I shared every single class with this Michael boy. I also knew that in every class, there was an empty seat next to my usual desk. And, I knew that the rest of the year would be very interesting.6

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We sat down at the lunch table and I grinned at him, knowing that we would finally be able to talk to each other. Much to my surprise, he started the conversation.8

"What's your name?"9

I gazed at him for a moment. He had a very sweet voice, soft and gentle. "Olivia."10

"Olivia." He smiled at me again, this time bringing his head all the way up to look at me. "Olivia. That is a beautiful name. Olivia."11

As the day went on, we talked about school, about where he used to live, about not being popular, and about Saturn. As it turned out, we both had a lot in common. We both loved Saturn, we both had sisters, neither of us knew our fathers. The more we chatted, the more I could see him opening himself up to me. He was letting me in - something I sensed he didn't do for everyone. Once the school day ended, he said he would walk me home. I'll tell you, the 20 minute walk home never seemed so short. I was so sad to think that he had to leave.12

"What's your phone number?" I asked.13

"Do you have a pen? I'll write it on your hand." I gave him my pen, he wrote down his telephone number and whispered, "Call me whenever you need me. I mean it: whenever you need me." He stared at me intently for a moment.14

"I, I wish I knew where you lived," I stuttered.15

He grinned. "I'm not that hard to find. I live one street over."16

As I stood on my front porch and analyzed what he had just said, he grinned and ran down the street, finally turning the corner. I laughed a little and unlocked the door, walking inside and setting my book bag on the counter. I made my usual peanut butter sandwich and went into my room to surf the web. After a couple hours, I made a shopping list and went to the grocery store. When I got back, my sister was sitting at the dining room table coloring in her Barbie coloring book.17

"Hi, Jo! How was day care today?" Jo didn't answer, so I set the groceries down on the kitchen counter and sat down next to her. "Baby, are you okay?" She looked up at me, her face stained with tears. I gasped, and hugged her. "Sweetie, what's wrong? What happened?"18

"I went in to the closet to get toilet paper and everything fell on me and mommy yelled at me for making too much noise!" she bawled, bursting into tears. I held her for a long time, rocking back and forth as she cried, until finally she quieted. When I looked at her, I saw she was asleep. So I put her in her room and decided she was only out for a few hours. I proceeded to make dinner for three people, figuring I could put Jo's in the fridge for her until she was awake enough to eat it. When the lasagna was done, i went in and woke my mother, giving her ibuprofen to help with her headache. We both sat down to the table and ate our food in silence. When we were through, I cleared away the plates and my mom got ready to go to bingo. On her way out the door she stopped and turned to look at me.19

"Yes mom?" I stared at her, waiting for her to speak.20

"You tell that godd*mned sister of yours that she can't make so much noise in the house. She knocked down everything in that f*cking closet today and then cried about it. You tell her to start acting like an adult."21

I could feel my temper flaring up. "I will not tell her a single thing you just said to me. Do you understand? Not a single thing. Do you know why she was crying? She didn't knock that stuff over. It fell on her. ALL of it. IT FELL ON HER! Do you have any idea what it feels like? huh? To get hurt and then have your MOTHER yell at you? You are such a disgrace to this family! You know what? Go. Just go and play whatever the hell you go and play every night. I have work to do."22

She studied me for a moment, then snorted with disgust and slammed the door. I washed the dishes and did my homework, finally collapsing on the couch and crying until I fell asleep.23

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At 2 o' clock in the morning, Jo woke me up and got me to move to my bed, where she slept by my side all night long. When my alarm went off, I was quick to silence it, for fear of waking my sister. She did stir, but quickly fell back into a deep sleep. I got dressed and washed up, got my book bag together, and set off for school.25