Ethelinda stood by her mirror, examining her new outfit that her mother baught her for the first day of school. It was a pair of white sparkly jeans and a pink floral layered top and silver flats. She sighed, and threw herself on her large king sized bed. She heard her mother yell up to her. "Sweetie, you're gonna be late!" She screamed into her pillow louder than she would ever think she could. she got up and grabbed her backpack. It was a cloth native american style backpack with a dreamcatcher hanging on the front pocket. She looked in the mirror one more time, and attempted to control her raging banana curls the color of dark brown.

She walked into the kitchen, smiling at her mother. A Romany Gypsy girl doesn't have to want to smile, but she best know that she will. She didn't want to wake up. She didn't want to go to school for the first time ever. She didn't want to do chores every day. But what did she do every day? all of it... She did all of it with a fake smile on her face. Because that's what her seperated parents taught her to do all these years. And you best know, she never said the word no to her parents. A Romany Gypsy girl never does.

She walked over to her mother, who had her favorite covered cup holding her favorite strawberry, kiwi and banana smoothie. she took the smoothie and sipped it. "Delicious mama." She walked out the door to her rusted old bike that she almost completely out grew. she got on and started riding towards the school she already desperately hoped would burn down. She was riding when she saw a convenience store. She stopped and walked in. She looked around. Back where she was from, the Romany district, there were just a few markets, and they didn't have much. She found some chocolate chip cookies that looked good, and she got a thirty-six piece pack of gum. She went to the register and put five dollars on the counter and left with her change.

She approached the big building. It was red bricks five stories tall and the size of half a football field. She almost turned around, but then she remembered, mama wouldn't be happy. When mama's not happy, she's not happy. So why bother? She chained her bike to the bike rack and looked up at the intimidating building and swallowed. She walked into the office, smiling. She was used to smiling by now. But today it was really hard to keep that frown upside down.

"Hi darlin' how can I help you." She was a bigger woman, short blond hair and dimples. She had blue eyes. she loved blue eyes, but oh so luckily, she was blessed with green eyes... Green.

"Hi ma'am, my name is Ethelinda stewarts, I need my schedule if that's possible."

"Oh you have such good manners, your mother and father raised you well." She searched through a pile of papers. She smiled when she found it. She handed it to her and smiled. "Have a nice first day darlin'."

"Thank you ma'am Have a nice day." She looked to the paper, home room... 599... Wow, what luck! She started headed towards the fifth floor, out of breath by the time she actually reached the class. She stepped into the bathroom panting. "God... Damn... Asthma..." She took a deep puff of her enhailer, then once more, then she just rested a minute. The bell rang, and she jumped. "What was that?"

"The bell dumb ass!" A few girls in cheer outfits laughed at her. She didn't want to get into a fight her first day, so she just took a deep breath and walked to her class.

"You're late." He was a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair pulled back in a pony tail. He had a rude look pasted on his face.

"I'm sorry sir. I have asthma, so it took me a while to get here. And it's my first day."

"I don't want to hear your excuses. Didn't your parents teach you about a thing called punctuality?"

"Yes sir, but..."

"That wasn't a question for you to answer. Detention, here, after school. Don't be late for that too." He growled and walked away.

"Yes sir." She said politely, even though she wanted to scream.

"You giving me attitude girl?"

"No sir..."

"Two more days of detention... Right here. That makes three days, in case you can't add." She just walked over to an empty seat, and a nerdy boy placed his bag there, smiling wickedly. She walked over to a desk, and the jack ass teacher started talking again. "Girl, over there, in the corner. That's your seat from now on." He laughed as she walked over to the desk separated from all the others. It had pen and pencil drawings all over it and the legs were rusted. It wobbled from side to side with the slightest movements. Three days after school with this ass hole, she didn't know if she could handle it. "Everyone, read, do work, make out, I don't care what you all do. Just don't bother me.

She took out her laptop and started typing. She was working on one of her articles. One day she hoped to be a journalist. she was doing a review piece on a diner called The Big Spoon.

Hello, welcome back to A Day With Ethelinda. Today I will be telling you about The Big Spoon, a nice little diner on the corner of Fifth and Eighth avenue in my new home of Beverly Hills California. The quaint little family owned business has a wide variety of menu choices, including vegan and gluten free choices. Lets not forget the greasy fried food that many people enjoy. They welcome their customers like they are family. I visited The Big Spoon just last week, and I must say, I very much enjoyed the Three Bean And Cheese Blend Chilli. It was delightful. Feel free to become part of The Big Spoon family today, and enjoy their large range of options.

The bell rang, and she quickly packed up and headed for English. She was very excited for this, a real english class. She wondered what they would learn today.