A New Leap of Faith
This is my first entry. This book is based on true events, significantly altered. Characters are real but names have been changed. I have worked a lot on the first part, amount of detail may increase or decrease significantly depending on how I feel on certain days. Please enjoy to the fullest, and try to relate and learn.
It was hot, so hot as I walked home from the scheduled haircut my mother insisted on making for me. Summer was coming to an end and she wanted me to have a "fresh look" for high school. I was completely sketchy about the whole high school thing but I knew that when the day came, I would be scared as hell.
I'm not a very social character. I try to keep away from the cliques and focus on school work. Going in to grade nine, I must admit I truly was scared. I mean you watch all these movies and hear all these stories...but those aren't real I guess. Until a couple of days ago I thought the teachers actually called you by your last name, oh well.
Summer had gone by so fast, I didn't even notice that in three days I'd be in the halls of Stephen Lewis Secondary School. I can't even remember doing anything this summer. I read all 101 books on my grade eight teacher, Mr.Cvets, reading listed. It consisted books I had never heard of and it was pretty boring. I went to the beach maybe twice with my best friend Christie because I had nothing better to do. I'd known Christie since grade school and we were unseperable. She was very big on the whole tanning and boys scheme, unlike me.
My skin was so pale, I swear I could pass for an albino. My eyes were charcoal black and my hair was wavy in a chocolate brown tone. I had never straightened it or dyed it in my life. For graduation, my mom got my aunt to curl it for me and slightly clip it back. It was ok.
"WOW Jona you look beautiful"
That's what everyone had said. I'm Jona by the way-your typical tomboy. On grad I wore a turquoise slim fitting dress that clutched my body and every crease in it. It was strapless and plain yet absolutely repulsive if you ask me. My mom's a big fan of fashion and makeup which is why her and Christie get a long so great. Christine and I had been through so many hard times. Devastating it was indeed.
I've always believed I was a mistake. They told my mom I was dead in the womb, meh. She always tries to explain to me that I'm not and that I'm her biggest lottery, but I see myself as her biggest disaster.
I was wearing light blue jeans with tears at the knees, my favorite Slipknot t-shirt and red Chuck Taylor Converse. I was the kind of girl with liked to stay in her room, read her books, do her work, listen to her hated music and have no connection with the outside world. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but no one had ever understood me and it was kind of depressing.
My dad is the only person who I can relate to. He's never home, always away for business, doing his thing. It's hard to deal with. All I remember are his butterfly kisses each and every morning at 5:30am. My sister, well she was special. 8 years old, and annoying to the T. She won't be in much of this story, well..maybe she will.
"Jona, baby, you didn't even eat this morning before you left!"
*Well mother, I'm trying to lose ten pounds before school starts.*
"Sorry, I was almost late for the appointment."
My mother's name is Ana by the way. I could see her now glancing at my new haircut.
"Your hair is wonderful but why didn't you get any highlights?"
"Well, ugh..I just don't like that stuff mom"
We lived in a little house in downtown, Toronto. I'm thirteen and I've lived here as long as I could remember. From the day I was brought home from the hospital. It was an ancient house but my mom always thought it would be good to be able to bring my kids down here one day and tell them that this is where I spent my life.
The floors were made of cheap tiles, the kind Home Depot sold about 10 years ago. They were faded and very dirty at times. The only room in the house that my mom took pride in was the kitchen. The cabinets were all made of oak and squeaked when you opened them. There was a little window in between the fridge and the first set of cabinets where the sun always portrayed a beam of light at exactly half passed twelve. I watched that happen everyday.
The counter was made of some cheap laminate but my mother took pride in it since it was the best looking house in the room. The stove was old, I'm surprised it's not one of those where you have to throw wood and the bottom and light it and stuff like that. The kitchen looked right into the living room which was now a mess.
We had four dogs; Alice, Oreo, Pumpkin, and Baby. Their fur was constantly all over the place. You could see the living room from anywhere on the first floor since it was the center of the house. It was painted a dull yellow color that had scratches all over it from...God only knows. There was an old wooden fireplace and above it, probably the most expensive thing we own, our 62 inch plasma television. My mom watched all sorts of talk shows and beauty pagents on there. When I was given the time, I would occasionally watch the news but I wasn't a big fav of the TV.
"Hon, please get yourself something to eat, you look famished"
"Mom, I'm just really tired"
I followed her orders. I opened the fridge to get the milk. Quickly I poured some Lucky Charms into my Luck Charm bowl. I had won is at an auction three years ago that I was sponsoring. It was a "stand up to bullying" fundraiser which as far as I can recall, was pretty successful.
Lucky Charms is my favorite cereal of all time. I shoved a spoon in there and quickly headed for my room. My mom looked at me in disgust. Her hair was a bit lighter than mine, her eyes a hazel color leaning more to green and she had soft freckles cover her face. Clearly I had gotten my looks from my dad. Heh.
"Don't worry, I promise I won't spill."
Yeah, right I was the clumsiest person ever.
I quickly rushed up the stairs which were also made of oak. They were wide and high held by metal bars underneath and they had no railings. It was almost impossible to get a drink in the night without waking my mom up because the sound they made was wretchedly horrible. I remember when she used to catch me going down the stairs. I was seven or eight years old, a lot chubbier than I am now, and I loved to try to wake her up. I think I found it funny, and eventually she gave up on the whole..."get back to bed" idea.
The hallway upstairs was recently re-done. We used to have some really crappy and extremely dirty carpet which was replaced by nice hardwood floors, shimmering as the sun hit them from a tiny circle window at the other end of the hall. The window looked out to another house, a backyard, a family that I haven't seen step out of their house since...ever. I knew someone lived there because everyday the car would be gone in the morning and back at around ten in the night. It was a blue ford focus, the kind you don't see much anymore. We had a car. Of course we had a car, my mom HAD to show up in a white BMW to any event ever attended.
I never quite understood her, and she'll never understand me...
I'm not a very social character. I try to keep away from the cliques and focus on school work. Going in to grade nine, I must admit I truly was scared. I mean you watch all these movies and hear all these stories...but those aren't real I guess. Until a couple of days ago I thought the teachers actually called you by your last name, oh well.
Summer had gone by so fast, I didn't even notice that in three days I'd be in the halls of Stephen Lewis Secondary School. I can't even remember doing anything this summer. I read all 101 books on my grade eight teacher, Mr.Cvets, reading listed. It consisted books I had never heard of and it was pretty boring. I went to the beach maybe twice with my best friend Christie because I had nothing better to do. I'd known Christie since grade school and we were unseperable. She was very big on the whole tanning and boys scheme, unlike me.
My skin was so pale, I swear I could pass for an albino. My eyes were charcoal black and my hair was wavy in a chocolate brown tone. I had never straightened it or dyed it in my life. For graduation, my mom got my aunt to curl it for me and slightly clip it back. It was ok.
"WOW Jona you look beautiful"
That's what everyone had said. I'm Jona by the way-your typical tomboy. On grad I wore a turquoise slim fitting dress that clutched my body and every crease in it. It was strapless and plain yet absolutely repulsive if you ask me. My mom's a big fan of fashion and makeup which is why her and Christie get a long so great. Christine and I had been through so many hard times. Devastating it was indeed.
I've always believed I was a mistake. They told my mom I was dead in the womb, meh. She always tries to explain to me that I'm not and that I'm her biggest lottery, but I see myself as her biggest disaster.
I was wearing light blue jeans with tears at the knees, my favorite Slipknot t-shirt and red Chuck Taylor Converse. I was the kind of girl with liked to stay in her room, read her books, do her work, listen to her hated music and have no connection with the outside world. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but no one had ever understood me and it was kind of depressing.
My dad is the only person who I can relate to. He's never home, always away for business, doing his thing. It's hard to deal with. All I remember are his butterfly kisses each and every morning at 5:30am. My sister, well she was special. 8 years old, and annoying to the T. She won't be in much of this story, well..maybe she will.
"Jona, baby, you didn't even eat this morning before you left!"
*Well mother, I'm trying to lose ten pounds before school starts.*
"Sorry, I was almost late for the appointment."
My mother's name is Ana by the way. I could see her now glancing at my new haircut.
"Your hair is wonderful but why didn't you get any highlights?"
"Well, ugh..I just don't like that stuff mom"
We lived in a little house in downtown, Toronto. I'm thirteen and I've lived here as long as I could remember. From the day I was brought home from the hospital. It was an ancient house but my mom always thought it would be good to be able to bring my kids down here one day and tell them that this is where I spent my life.
The floors were made of cheap tiles, the kind Home Depot sold about 10 years ago. They were faded and very dirty at times. The only room in the house that my mom took pride in was the kitchen. The cabinets were all made of oak and squeaked when you opened them. There was a little window in between the fridge and the first set of cabinets where the sun always portrayed a beam of light at exactly half passed twelve. I watched that happen everyday.
The counter was made of some cheap laminate but my mother took pride in it since it was the best looking house in the room. The stove was old, I'm surprised it's not one of those where you have to throw wood and the bottom and light it and stuff like that. The kitchen looked right into the living room which was now a mess.
We had four dogs; Alice, Oreo, Pumpkin, and Baby. Their fur was constantly all over the place. You could see the living room from anywhere on the first floor since it was the center of the house. It was painted a dull yellow color that had scratches all over it from...God only knows. There was an old wooden fireplace and above it, probably the most expensive thing we own, our 62 inch plasma television. My mom watched all sorts of talk shows and beauty pagents on there. When I was given the time, I would occasionally watch the news but I wasn't a big fav of the TV.
"Hon, please get yourself something to eat, you look famished"
"Mom, I'm just really tired"
I followed her orders. I opened the fridge to get the milk. Quickly I poured some Lucky Charms into my Luck Charm bowl. I had won is at an auction three years ago that I was sponsoring. It was a "stand up to bullying" fundraiser which as far as I can recall, was pretty successful.
Lucky Charms is my favorite cereal of all time. I shoved a spoon in there and quickly headed for my room. My mom looked at me in disgust. Her hair was a bit lighter than mine, her eyes a hazel color leaning more to green and she had soft freckles cover her face. Clearly I had gotten my looks from my dad. Heh.
"Don't worry, I promise I won't spill."
Yeah, right I was the clumsiest person ever.
I quickly rushed up the stairs which were also made of oak. They were wide and high held by metal bars underneath and they had no railings. It was almost impossible to get a drink in the night without waking my mom up because the sound they made was wretchedly horrible. I remember when she used to catch me going down the stairs. I was seven or eight years old, a lot chubbier than I am now, and I loved to try to wake her up. I think I found it funny, and eventually she gave up on the whole..."get back to bed" idea.
The hallway upstairs was recently re-done. We used to have some really crappy and extremely dirty carpet which was replaced by nice hardwood floors, shimmering as the sun hit them from a tiny circle window at the other end of the hall. The window looked out to another house, a backyard, a family that I haven't seen step out of their house since...ever. I knew someone lived there because everyday the car would be gone in the morning and back at around ten in the night. It was a blue ford focus, the kind you don't see much anymore. We had a car. Of course we had a car, my mom HAD to show up in a white BMW to any event ever attended.
I never quite understood her, and she'll never understand me...
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