Realistic+Fiction+18

“The both of you,” said my dad, “need to learn these lessons of life. Well that is if you want to live a life with no harassing and be a person people wanted to be with. They are very important. One is that you must never ever cry. If you cry people will think you are a baby even if they sometimes cry themselves. Oh...and it is a disgrace to everyone in your family. “Two, you always think happy thoughts. If you are sad, think happy thing so people don't pity you. Pity is the worst thing a person can think. It makes people think that the person who is sad is horribly weak, and the person who is taking pity on you is a weak person who has nothing better to do than comfort people and make friends. Even if you want to have friends, the people who are taking pity have no friends at all. At least that is what other people. If you see a sad person, don't go and comfort them or you will be showing a sign of weakness. That is not what you want to do. “Three, always be what other people expect you to be and do what other people expect you to do. What I mean is do the things that other people have happen in their life so they will think we are regular people and don't have any problems. So Sara, you need to be small and less popular than your brother over here. Never be better at anything. Then all his friends will think he is the worst person on Earth and you will be breaking the rules and that is considered a crime. And you Jack, you need to be good at everything. Of course we won't mind if there is one thing that you aren't good at, because you are our oldest and you will make more mistakes than anyone because that is that happens when you are older. But you Sara will have to do everything right because older people are not going to have as easy work as you, so make sure you aren’t better than your brother or I will find out. “Four, don't lie. Lies are secrets and secrets are gossip. Gossip is not good because it could be offending, even to your family. Lies are disappointments to our whole family and I don't want to be a disappointment to everyone because I am a good person unlike some people. “The last rule is to follow the rules. They are so important and I think every family should tell these rules to their children when they are very young so they stick in your mind, just like I am doing with you. If these are not followed you shall be punished. Is that understood!?” We both slowly nodded our heads, Jack was smiling, but my face was blank. “Not fair! Not fair, not fair not fair!! Why do I have to be the geek in the corner?” I thought. At a very young age I already hated my household rules and who established them. “Why me, why me, why, why, why, why me!!!” That was when I was about 3 and Jack was 5. It was his birthday tomorrow and I thought that they were being nice to him because it was that time when a birthday was all a kid could ever ask for, with presents, fun, games, and attention from everyone. I was wrong though. My parents thought that I was a little twit and didn’t have a point in living. But they thought my brother was an absolute treasure. He was smart and they thought he could show me everything in the world. But I found that out soon after Jacks 6th birthday. I was treated badly. But I learned to live with it. I also learned that you have to follow the rules or, as my dad had said, you will be badly punished.

When I didn't follow the rules I was sent to my room to think about my actions. Once you say you think that you know why you are sent to your room, the big punishment begins. The other child is allowed to go and do anything they want for a week while you stay in my mom's office where there is nothing but rows and rows of boring old text books and a lumpy bed. You aren't allowed out unless you have to go to the bathroom. There is a lock on the outside of the door so you can't go anywhere. After a week of that sort of stuff, you are sent to your room once again to think about all of the things that you need to do to prevent the thing that got you into trouble. If the same thing happens again the punishment doubles. So you go to your room, go to the office for two weeks instead of one, and get in so much trouble that the other child has to bring our schoolwork home so you have to do it at night when you would rather be sleeping. It was too much like torture when I was little because my bedtime was promptly 7:00 every night. It was even so when I was in trouble. That way I had like no time at all to finish my homework and got in trouble from my teachers as well as what my parents had done to me. But now, since I am older, I have a later bedtime at 9:00 and that means I have more time to do my work and more time to relax. I am a little bit smarter now so it doesn’t take as long to get my work done. I hate it and Jack says that it can't be that bad. He always told me that it was not like they hurt you in any way shape or form. But he wouldn't a thing. It hurts and you wouldn't know the pain of it until it actually happens to you. I have grown up since then and still get in big trouble all of the time. But when Jack does something wrong, he is never punished so that is why I always get into fights with him. Sometimes those fights have severe consequences. And usually, they start with stealing and/or misunderstandings that are actually just Jack blaming me for something that I didn't do. It is kind of obvious that I didn't do any of it, but Jack just does it for the pleasure of me being punished. If one round of one beating isn't good enough for him, he frames me for the same thing a second time so he gets part of the joy of making my life miserable. Fights like these usually are like this one that happened when I was 11 and he was 14 with beating and punishment at the end. But luckily, this time didn't end in great punishment.

“Get off of me!” Jack hissed in my face. “Not until you give me my ball back.” I spat. “You don't need that ball of yours. First of all, you don't even play soccer. Sports are such a waste of time. And why would I give it to you. You stole my phone.” “You know perfectly well that I hate phones and texting and T.V. and all of that stuff that you like.” “I AM 14 AND YOU ARE 11 SO I GET WHAT I WANT WHENEVER I WANT SO GIVE ME MY PHONE OR I WILL NEVER GIVE YOU YOUR STUPID SOCCER BALL!!!!” I slowly removed my hands from his arms, went to his room and picked up the phone where he left it on the dresser. I gave it to him and he went to his room and pulled out my ball from the closet. I took it and ran out the door. Soccer was on my mind. I loved to play so I joined a team. Nobody knew about it except for me.

The worksheets were being passed out. They looked like little pieces of paper with writing that made no sense at all. There were a bunch of morning problems on the page and I didn't understand any of them. The other kids had gotten to work, scribbling constantly on the page. I looked at the page. What is the highest number you can make out of the numbers 0, 0, 0, 0, 9, 9, 9, 9, 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 1, 1? I was good at this stuff though. It was soo easy. It was 99,998,888,777, 766,655,554,444,333,222,110,000. Ha! Why had I doubted myself? That was easy. But when math time came, it wasn't so easy. I was just not smart at all. When the teacher handed back our papers from math that day, the bell rang for recess. Jack's class walked out to recess just as I was putting my test away and Jack leaned over to see what I got. “Ha! Look boys. A D...+? This must have been a mistake though. All Sara seems to get is D's D-'s and F's.” “Jack, you are wrong. I don't just get that stuff you said. I can get better stuff than that. Also that is not a D+. That is a C+. Jack looked at the paper and gasped. There on the paper was not a D+; it was a perfect, half circle C, along with a perfect + to make C+. Jack “harrumphed and walked away with anger clearly showing on his face. Then I went out to recess.

“I call first captain!!!” “I call second captain!!!” It was afternoon recess and I was out at the soccer field where they were picking teams. 21 kids always went out to play soccer every day. The teams were uneven so there was a sub. I was always the sub and they never put me out on the field. We took turns being captains so I at let got to be one sometime during the year. But today was not my day to shine. They picked the kids one by one until there was just me left. “Bob, you get Sara.” “Dude, Robin, it's your turn to pick a player. YOU get Sara. Bobby gets what he wants and I am Bobby so you get Sara and that is final end, of story, let’s play.” “Bu...bu...bu...bu...bu...bu...you...you...you can't always get what you want.” But Bobby the snotty was already on the field putting people in their positions. I at down on the wet soft grass and watched as the captains did rock, paper, scissors to see who would kick off and all that stuff. I watched them kick the ball around and wishing I were out there playing and dominating the field. But ever since Jack had told them I couldn't tell a ball from a phone, everyone thought I was stupid. While I was sitting down Jack was playing on the teams (even though he positively stunk) laughing at me because he was popular and had friends while I didn't have friends at all. In this school, if you are popular, you are the leader.

I was at home after school. It was 5:00 at night and I had finished my dinner and homework. I ran out the door to the yard. I had told my parents I was going to the park to play. But I was being truthful. I was going to the park to play...to play soccer to be exact. I ran out to the field and tossed the soccer ball into the air. I used my head and hit it into the goal. Then, the lessons began. We did a bunch of warm ups and other stuff until my favorite part, the scrimmage. We passed and kicked and dodged and scored. The reason I signed up for this was because I thought that I would make friends. Also, just to play soccer. But I didn't make any friends at all. At the end of practice, I saw a glint in the bushes. I walked there in such a fashion that people wouldn't think I was doing something suspicious. I keeled down and spread the bushes wide. I saw blue eyes like mine and blonde hair like mine and the same pale skin color. Jack. There was a long time of no movement and then, I reached out and tried to grab his camera and all I got was a kick in the face. Running down the street he went with the perfect evidence that I was doing something that my parents would not appreciate. I then realized that I should go chase him down since I was faster and stronger, but by the time I had thought that, he was only a block away from our house.

I got home to a house of grumpy parents. “YOU ARE IN BIG TROUBLE MISSY! GOING TO A PRACTICE EVERY TUSEDAY AND THURSDAY WITHOUT TELLING US. WE COULD HAVE BROUGHT YOU TO PRACTICE IF YOU ASKED! YOU EVIL LITTLE CHILD!!!!!!! I was sent to my room to think about what I had done. I had already done a lot of thinking. First of all, my parents hate sports so they would have said no to practice anyway. Secondly, they thought bringing me somewhere was a waste of time. They did that sort of stuff for Jack because he was so smart; they always did everything for their smart little cookie. He didn’t' like sports at all, but he entered spelling bees and chess club and academic things like that and so my parents thought he was so smart and ready to have I life. I, on the other hand, had to get better grades and not be a sports person because sports are a waste of time. But sports were my life and that could not be taken away from my life.

The next day at school was the worst day ever. My grades were worse and worse. All I could think about was how horrible the rest of my life would be. No soccer, not even at school and no way to ever get any friends. But I was wrong about not being able to play soccer at school. That recess I ran out to the field and the list of captains was hung up. I was on the list for today. Before the other captain got to open his mouth to call what captain he would be, I had said the words I wanted to say all year. “First captain!!!!” I called out happily. “ Second captain? ” the other captain said, not believing that I was first and he was not. Then I picked my first player. “Robin,” I said to everybody. I knew that he was a good player and cooperated with anyone on his team. Then the rest of the players were picked until one was left. Bobby. It was my turn. “You get him,” I said to the other captain. “But you need him more. You are the one who is most likely to lose, but if you say so.”

The game began. I kicked the ball to everyone making sure that all of them got a turn to play. I didn't want them to feel left out like I did when I was on a team and felt lost. I also made the right choices on whom to pass to at the time so my team didn't feel like I was stupid. I luckily didn't make myself look stupid at all. I was beginning to be trusted by the team I was on I was trusted by all of the people. They soon trusted me enough so they passed the ball to me. I was happy for a long time while playing with new people on the team. I was having so much fun until I started to get the ball more and more. I was having more fun then actually. But then everyone knew that they were going to pass to me. That was when the sent him after me. I knew I could get past but I didn't know what my parents would say to me afterward. But if I ever wanted to have any friends at all I had to do it. Then he came up to me. Jack wanted to have a chance to prove he was better but that was not going to happen.

“It ends here,” Jack said to me. We had frozen in our tracks and so had everyone else. The rest of the kids were trying to block one another from disturbing the fight that was about to happen. But none of them heard or saw anything but //it ends here// from Jack. “I know,” I said, “and you’re the one who is going down.” Jack ran at me like a bull. He wanted to prove that he was better by running fast and trying to get the ball from me. He just wanted me to look stupid which was not going to happen. All I did was simply move aside and move on. There were still more people behind Jack and there was only one way to get a goal. **//__THE BICYCLE KICK.__//** I could never get it right, but I had to do it to prove that Jack was a liar and I was not half bad. I got past one and then another, until I was at a good distance. Then I did it, or at least I tried to do it. I failed. I missed the kick of a lifetime. The other team ran away with the ball and I couldn't get it back. Even though I didn't make the kick, I did think that my brother would finally like me because I had beaten him and the other kids had noticed that I was stronger. I thought he would think that because people had noticed that I was better so I wouldn't matter anymore. But I was wrong. The other kids were to occupied in trying to chase me down that they didn't notice. As for my brother, he was sooo mad. He ran down the field and stopped in front of me. He looked at me and said. “You are positively the worst person I have ever met in my life. I would rather have a piece of poop as my sister than have you in my life. You have no loyalty at all. Older brothers are supposed to be stronger than little sisters and my friends will hate me now that you got past me!!!” but his friends just came over and didn't seem to have noticed the time I got pat him. Right at that moment I knew that he meant nothing to me at all. All my life I had been thinking that even though it felt like I hated him all the time, but it was really love all that time, but that was the wrong thought. The true thing was that he might be my older brother because he is a boy, he is older than me, and we were born in the same family, but he was the worst person in my life and we didn't want anything to do with each other. That was the only thing we had in common accept that we looked alike. I just hopped that no other children who had brothers and/or sisters were feeling the way I was feeling about my brother.

I sat down on one of the old school benches thinking sad thoughts just like I was taught not to do. My parent always said think of the happy things in life if I was sad, but I just couldn't. I didn't have any friends and it was my choice to lose a brother. Happy thoughts never come to people unless you are in one of those happy moments. I could hear laughter, but it seemed far away. The sadness was creeping over me but I didn't cry. That was yet another lesson that my parents told me. Never cry. It never solves the problem. Then I saw a shadow looming over me. I looked up and saw Robin smiling down at me. Then suddenly I thought...**//__SMILING__//**!?!?!?! He was happy that we lost because of my stupid move!? I looked up at him suspiciously. “Why do you look so happy? We lost you know? It was because of me?” “No, it was not because of you. Anyway, that kick was the most amazing thing EVER!!!!” “How can that be? I completely missed the goal.” “Who cares? Did you see how high you jumped?” “No, I couldn’t see how high I jumped because I was the one doing it. But it felt like I might have been jumping pretty high. But I bet you could do it just as I did. It wasn't that hard. Go on, give it a try. I bet you will do better than me.” “Alright, if you insist. But just note, I am probably going to do 1/100 as good as you did.” He took the soccer ball from my hands and started dribbling down the field. Then the moment of wonder came. He did it...and then flipped over on his back with the ball going nowhere but ten feet away from the goal. Then I started laughing at him in a way as to not make him offended. Then he started laughing with me. He came back over to me. “I guess I did even worse than 1/100 of what you did. I did more like 1/1000 of it. I will never be the soccer player you are.” “You are better than you think. You did about 50/100 of what I did.” “Ya' mean ½ reduced. Ummm...I didn't really need to reduce that did I? It’s just that my teacher is very strict about that. We have to reduce it every time or we will //get in big trouble young man!!!!// I just can't help it.” “It may be annoying Robin, but at least you are smart and are in the advanced class. Look at me, I just play soccer at school and stink at everything else. You are popular and smart //and// good at sports and everything else that I am not good at all. I don't have much of a life or any......friends!!” He looked at me because I said that sentence with exclamation. I looked back at him. We smiled. At that moment we noticed that I didn't have that bad a life after all and that that day was not the worst day ever. This day was the best day. I just made my first friend ever.

That night when I went home, Jack ran right inside the house and yelled at my mom and dad that I had done something wrong. I walked to my room knowing I was going to get a big lecture. Then I heard the signal. Jack came stomping to my room and opened the door. “Mom and dad want you right now. You are in such big trouble!” he sniggered and walked right back out of my room. I got up from my seat on the bed and walked down the hallway to the couch where my parents told me to sit down now. I got the evil eye from both of them and a tongue from my brother. Then the lecture began. “What were you thinking!” they said to me “I don't know what the heck you are talking about.” “Wow. You are really not smart are you? I'm talking about how you beat your brother in soccer. That was not very sisterly of you. You should have let win so his friends would like him still.” “His friends still do like him. They didn't even notice that I beat him.” I said calmly “Why do you think that all there is to life is lessons and being smart? Why can't you accept that I am not smart but I have other talents too? There is more to life than what you think you know. Just think about it okay just think about it. Seriously, maybe then you will notice that all people are the same.” after I said that the whole room went quiet. My parents were staring at each other and I took their silence as an invitation to go to my room. I went back and sat on my bed and thought of the world if my parents and brother were nice to me. I saw soccer and better grades because of their help. I imagined lots more friends than just Robin (he was still my best friend in the image) and no harassing from my brother. I imagined a world in which I had a good time and had a life that I could call a life at all.

That dream that I had that day never came true. My brother was still the worst brother in the history of the world and I still got punished for many things I didn't do. But, from the moment I had talked back to my parents for the first time in my life, I didn't care one bit about it. It didn't matter anymore now that I had the best friend in the world. I still didn't feel like everything was right, but was that supposed to happen? No, of course not! Nobody can ever have a perfect life, not even the happiest man on Earth will ever feel that their life was and has always been perfect. I later found out that my parents did not want a girl child. Even if my mom was a girl, she still didn't want a girl. She thought that the family they had needed a boy not a girl. They loved their son so much that they only wanted another boy. But they ended up with me but they were not going to do anything about it. They had to deal with me just as I had to deal with them. They didn't tell me this. I found out when I snuck out of bed one night to get something better than macaroni and cheese that Jack spat and blew his nose on. It was late but I overheard them in their room talking about new ways to get rid of me without sending me to the orphanage. I heard all of the plans and I am still a living breathing soul. I don't want to live with them but I didn't want to do anything else either. I will live with them only because I really have to, but when I am old enough, the time will come and I will finally move out of this horrible place. I have made a vow that I will. I still have much more to do in my life. I need to do something that will blow minds. I confess that I will never in anyone's lifetime go to college. I am not smart at all and I think that that is a fact that all people should know. I want to be a pro soccer player... or just try to be. But Robin thinks that I will be able to do it. He thinks that if I try hard enough and improve my bicycle kick so it works, I could be the best soccer player in human history. Since Robin is my best friend now, I trust him and believe in him. He is smart and I think that he secretly wants to have my gift of being able to play sports. He thinks that he is and academic person and not the type that likes to go and be as active as I can be. But if I can teach my friend to go outside and be very active, well... I don't know but I think we would both be very happy if he could do that. I am very happy with the life I have right now, even though I know that my dream hasn't come true.....yet that is.

By: Jessica Mitchell