I hate my school. I only go to it for my mom. So that she is proud of me. You must understand, my father died when I was young. I don’t even remember how old I was anymore, and I only have very few memories of him. Now, I just don’t want to let my mom down. “Chanelle, get down here.” Sounds like I’m needed. 

“Hey, mom, what’s up?” I ask, jumping down from the last step.

“What do you think about this?” She asks, showing me a picture of an orange, cream, and yellow plaid scarf. 

“It’s cute. I like it.”

“Okay, well then I think I’ll get it. Get you a winter accessory to match your coat.”

“Thanks. Quick question. Do you think I’ll be able to do the fundraiser for the Student Council?”

“If you manage your time wisely, then yeah. You should be able to.”

“Okay. I’m gonna go back up to my room.”

“Okay. Peace.” Peace sign.

“Love.” Heart.

“Happiness.” Smiley face.

“Hey, Chanelle!” Oh my god, no. I am not in the mood to deal with this right now.

“Hey! How’s it going?”I say, fixing my face with a smile. 

“We’re good, What about you? Are you coming to the party tonight?”

“You know, I would love to but I am super busy tonight actually. I have to get ready for the fundraiser for the student council.”

“Oh, well, if you get the chance, stop by tonight. We’d love to see you there.”

“I’ll try my best,” I say, turning away from them. 

I have absolutely no intention to go at all. I hate all of these people. I have absolutely no friends here. I don’t even want to go here. I would much prefer to go to the district’s public intermediate school than this private one. All the kids here are so prim and preppy and just not like me. I honestly just miss Aleshia and Maizie and, I can’t believe I’m saying this but, even all the annoying kids. I honestly just miss it all. Anyway, the real reason for not going tonight besides for not wanting to is I have another party to go to. A much more fun one actually. One that includes pajamas, popcorn, movies, and my best friends. 

“Oh my god! I have missed this so much,” exclaims Aleshia, falling down from laughter onto her bed.

“I know! I am so happy we did this.” I replied. Maizie smiles at me and nods, agreeing with me. 

“For real. We should do this more often, or you could just transfer schools. That would work too.” says Maizie with Aleshia nodding enthusiastically beside her. 

“You know that I wish I could. But I don’t want to disappoint my mom.” 

“We know, but I’m sure your mom would understand. She just wants you to be happy. You should talk to her. Ask her about it!”

“No… how about we just play truth or dare. I don’t really want to talk about this right now.” They sigh, exasperated with me but grudgingly agree.

“Okay. I’ll go first.” Says Aleshia, “Chanelle, truth or dare?” she says with an evil smirk on her face.

“Dare.”

“Okay, I dare you to… talk to your mom about transferring schools tonight on the phone.” 

“What!? That’s not fair!”

“Yes, it is. Now you have to talk to her. Do it now, before she goes to bed.”

“Fine,” I say exasperated. I picked up my phone and found her contact, “Hey mom, I just wanted to talk to you about something real quick before you went to bed.”

“Okay, what’s up?”

“I was… thinking about transferring schools. But if you don’t want me to, that’s fine! I just wanted to say that I don’t really like it at my current school.” I say rushed.

“Honey… Of course, you can transfer schools! I don’t want you to feel out of place or anything. You don’t need my approval… Well, technically you do. But that’s not the point. The point is that I don’t care where you go to school as long as you’re happy.”

“But, I thought-“

“Well, you thought wrong. Now go to sleep. I’ll complete the forms for transferring tomorrow and within the week you should be good. Now, I love you and tell Aleshia and Maizie I said hi.”

“Okay, I love you too mom. Goodnight.” I say hanging up.

“See we told you,” Maizie says smugly. 

“Yeah, I know… Now leave me alone,” I say jokingly. We say goodnight and go to sleep, with smiles on our faces.

“I thought she was too good for us.”

“Is that Chanelle?”

“I thought she transferred schools.”

“What is she doing here?” It’s good to be back. Back to all the annoying little brats and nerds and jocks and my life. I’ve missed it! Smiling, I take my first step back into the place I love, my best friends at my side, ready to support me no matter what. 

It’s good to be back.