It had been a few days since my mother announced I was going to school, and those few days were filled with tons of nonsensical paperwork just to get the special requirements for someone as special as I was to go to school. Frankly, I think everyone else at high school, based on what I have heard, are all special in their own ways. But finally my mother decided enough was enough, we needed to go out! She says that this decision to go out was just because she was tired, but I am assuming that she was finally just sick of my sister's constant whining. You know how someone says that something is a silent kill? ADHD is the opposite of that. Imagine someone screaming at you and slowly killing you with no respect, that's how I feel about my sister's 'cool guy syndrome'. Yep.

I could feel the blazing sun beating through the window, onto the blisteringly hot seats. I let out a groan of annoyance as freezing cold air blasts my face, leaving me with a sweaty hot back and a frigid cold front. "Where are we heading anyways?" I whine, making sure to drag out my 's' to emphasize my misery.

"You'll see!" My mother responds from the very front of the van, making her voice, as it reached my towards the back, quite muffled and distorted.

"Can I take a nap?" I ask pleadingly, already knowing her answer.

"No! We need to get you on a proper school schedule, no more sleeping in. We can't have you falling asleep in class-" She starts, but Carter interjects.

"I sleep in all the time though... and kids are always sleeping in class. Our Professor even keeps pillows in class for kids who finish an exam early." He says casually, before mother clears her throat for our attention.

"Right... But thats college, and not all teachers are like that. High School teachers also tend to be the harshest, because they have to deal with immature shi-" She stops herself, probably because none of us were supposed to cuss around Maya. Not after she cussed at her social worker. For an eleven year old, she is quite fast at picking such things up. She once again clears her throat, making me unsure if she was doing so to get our attention, or because she had allergies. Finally she continued saying, "Kids... immature kids. They have a certain way of being special, what with alcohol and all that special stuff. I'm sure none of that is truly helping them in the long run, but it was a lot of fun when I was younger, so who am I to judge?"

"What do you mean when you were younger? What in the world are you talking about?" My brother says curiously, a hint of annoyance in his voice. My mother doesn't say anything, only loudly stage yawns and continues driving. Soon the quiet stiff car air settles in again, despite the overworking a/c. It my sister who was next to speak.

"Where are we goinggggg?" She whines, dragging out the g in her word, just like I taught her. I'd be proud of her, but I was too busy being annoyed by her whiny voice shaking the peaceful silence. Again my mother doesn't respond, but coughs instead before making a sharp turn. The type of turn that would tip a car over, if it wasn't such a sturdy van. I gasp loudly, sucking air in at an enormous amount out of fear, my mother making a second sharp turn, only for my brother to loudly yelp in shock. My hot back peels off the sticky seat as we slap forward, making me wince in pain before being immediately fully cooled down by the jets of cool air. I say a quick prayer before being slammed right back into the seat, knocking the air out of me. Not being able to see what was going on, just waiting for this hell of a see-saw to end. And that sad part was, this was how my mother normally drove. Finally the car stopped, squeaking to a halt.

"We're here! Finallyyyyy." My mom says excitedly, turning off the car, the sun immediately working on heating up the car once more. Groaningly, I pull on my jacket, not because it was cold, but to cover the sweat stain that had blossomed on my back and white shirt.

"Where are we?" I whine, stretching and clobbering out of the car, greeted by my brother's hand to help me down, and my walking stick.

"The Clear Dairy! Yessssss!!" Maya cheers, and I immediately get excited at the thought of all the creamy desserts they served there. Sure it was technically a restaurant, but anyone around remembered it as an amazing bakery and patisserie. I breathe in deeply, faint smells of fried dough and strawberry cremes erupting from the doors as my mother opened them, allowing me inside. The best part was, I knew my way around here so well, I didn't even have to have someone help guide me. I walk up to where I remember the serving podium to be, humming a small tune of happiness as my happy family came to join me.

"Oh man, I love this place" Carter cheers behind me, as we all waited to be served. Finally, a low sweet voice reached us, asking us the number in our party. Only this wasn't a voice I recognized. I didn't realize they were hiring here, it had always been the sweet old couple and their grandchildren that worked here. Who was this? They didn't seem quite recognizable, but I did quite enjoy their voice.

"My name's Will, I'm a new worker here, so excuse if I show a bit of clumsiness." My family all breaks out into small giggles as he continues. "You guys are the Reynolds family, correct? We have your reserved table over there, just follow me." He said smoothly, and I walked casually behind my mother, holding Maya's hand as we were led through the multiple booths, my other hand sliding atop the empty booths until I accidentally hit the top of someone's head. Crap.

"You guys are here!" An eerily familiar voice rings, and it takes me a second to place where it came from. My childhood friend, Mary Anne Jakobs. Double crap.

"Wow Naomi, you've changed so much!" She squeaks, as I ease myself into the opposite booth, trying desperately to position myself away from her without trying to be too obvious. I mean it's not like I hated her or anything, we just... had a falling out. I fake a smile towards her direction, uneasily shifting in my seat as my brother and sister sat down.

"Yeah, it really has been a while." I say, then drop the conversation, not wanting to continue this misery any further. I'm so uncomfortable, and yet, she still hasn't noticed, because she continues to talk.

"You're hair looks brighter than what it used to be? Did you change it? I always thought it was a magenta!" She says, with an odd envious tone to her voice. This girl is not the girl I remember from childhood. Mary was never jealous, right?

"Umm, yeah. I didn't change it though. I guess it just got lighter on its own, ya'know?" I say casually, trying to brush off my confusion. But for some reason that just pissed her off more.

"Right but at least I-" She starts of angrily, before Will cuts her off. I can't help but welcome this stranger's presence.

"Hello, sorry I didn't ask this earlier, but you guys seemed to be getting settled." He starts off nervously, clearly not wanting to have disturbed anyone else's peace in the restaurant by the fight that was seemingly beginning. "But, um," He nervously continues, clearing his throat. "What did you guys want to drink?" Everyone told him their requests, their voices slightly hushed in fear talking too loud would set off Mary's anger issues again. Everyone asks for their all too popular milkshakes, Mary being the only one who orders a sprite. She may have changed a bit, but her love for sprite, and her raging anger issues, were still intact. We all sit quietly waiting for our drinks, my mother wrapping her arm around my waist in a reassuring way. Our drinks come, clinking on the table as he slowly sets them down.

I barely opened my mouth to thank him, before being splashed with freezing cold sprite, drenched to the bone in the sticky syrupy water.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope you guys enjoyed! Don't forget to like and comment!!

Sleep well my precious Bread Rolls~~~

- Ari <3