Chapter 7 - Speckled Wood

Tuesday (AUGUST 28): Don’t see Gina Oleander or Argus Miller. Even though we all share the same homeroom, I’m the only one of us three in attendance. I end up spending the whole day writing things down on the back of some really old assignments I found in my van. My teachers look like they’ve given up on their second day of dealing with a bunch of seniors, who, in comparison, seem glad one day has ticked off from their calendars. At the end of seven hours, I’m kind of glad too.

Gina isn’t in the parking lot today either, which is fine by me. Job hunting can start early.

Need to figure out what I’m gonna do with my clothes. I can’t wear the same thing every day

Wednesday (AUGUST 29): Turned in my crinkly Manila packet. I should be eligible for free lunch in a couple of days, but I don’t want to count on it too much.

Job searching yesterday went alright; somebody posted some dog-walker solicitations near a telephone pole by the school and I pulled the only flyer remaining. Stroke of luck. I’ll call as soon as I can. In the meantime, I should look for jobs on the internet, which reminds me that I need to get a library card in order to use the school laptops asap.

Gina and Argus are a no-show again. But honestly, I’m not looking very hard. Argus Miller could be at his locker, chatting up “HH” girl, warning the locals that the goth chick is out to get him. Whatever. Gina’s less easy to track down if I tried, haven’t seen her. I think the mousy girl might have dropped out -- that would save me a lot of trouble since I’ve already used her ten dollars to buy my gym clothes; I’m wearing that tomorrow until I can get my clothes back.

I saw a Cloudless sulphur outside a window.

Thursday (AUGUST 30):

Oleander and Miller are not here.

Out of curiosity and boredom, I tried one of Gina’s pregnancy tests earlier. Well, I have good news.

I’ve never been this restless. I think I’ll call for that dog walking job as soon as I get out of school. Maybe earlier. 

By the way, I got a library card. The librarian tried to talk to me about my choice of clothing. I listened because she thought my piercings were cool, but I think I scared her when I didn’t reply for the whole five minutes it took her to register me. Not my problem.

Officer Castillo tried to talk to me today about something, too, but I don’t know about what and frankly, I don’t care. A sea of students intervened, and I managed to hide among them.

Sometimes I feel someone’s watching me. When I turn around though, I see no one. Most people would be scared, a completely normal and justified emotion, but the past three days have been as dull as a brown longtail (all offense if this is your favorite butterfly.) A mystery would add thrill into my life.

I’m starting to wish Gina Oleander would vomit on something else I own. That way, I have an excuse to idle in the bathroom and talk about how shit her life must be right now.

At least, we'd have something to bond over as total strangers.

By the way, I saw a speckled wood nailed to a frame. Child me always thought butterflies were better observed alive.