The Property of Luna | Teen Ink

The Property of Luna

March 10, 2023
By Emma03, Santa Ana, California
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Emma03, Santa Ana, California
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Author's note:

My name is Emma, and I am a very outgoing person. My favorite color is purple, and I like to read romance novels. In my free time, I like to talk to my friends, and play tennis. 

 “BEEP BEEP BEEP!” I can see the sun peeping through the window as if it was hiding. I open the blinds and am immediately met with the warmth of the sun. Such great weather for such a miserable day…which only means that it must be that time to get up for school. It’s one of the MOST important days of my teenage years- my first day of freshman year. 

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. I’m kinda nervous, but at the same time, I’m excited. It’s like waiting to get on a roller coaster. A nervous, but excited type of feeling. I look forward to getting a fresh start from last year.

It all started with little comments that people would make about me when I was little. So as a defense mechanism, I had to learn to stick up for myself. Everyone knew me as the girl who would get picked on. So, I’m glad that at least people won’t know me as that anymore. At least that’s the best way I can explain it. 

“LUNA GET READY FOR SCHOOL!” my mom yells.

“OKAY! I’M UP!”

  Anyways, time to get out of bed, and brush whatever you call is on the top of my head. Ughhh…picking out an outfit is also the worst. I mean, this day is pretty impressionable. I just don’t want people to think I don’t fit in. Not that I really need to fit in, but I also don’t want to stick out like a sore thumb.

I quickly change, get my backpack ready, and grab something quick to eat. I have on denim jeans, and a purple hoodie (my favorite color.)

As I walk to the bus stop, I can’t help but overthink everything. Will I fit in? I just don’t want to seem weird. This high school is a kindergarten through twelfth grade, so I am the new kid. This is a very small town, and most of these people have known each other for years, while I will probably just feel like an outsider.

I had a pretty long day of school. This is how it went:

As I walked into the school, I could see the shine of the floors, and the sound of excitement. I searched for my locker, 143. I shoved my backpack in there, shut the locker, and made my way to the first period. I had math, which sucks. 

As I walked through the halls, I noticed a lot of people staring at me and whispering. It’s kinda hard to ignore people when you’re walking through the halls, and everyone is looking at you. 

Nonetheless, I met my teacher, and while he was going over the syllabus (I wasn’t paying attention,) I saw the boy right next to me sketching in his notebook. I caught myself drifting away, and zoning out. I wonder what he’s drawing…

“Ms. Luna, please summarize what I have just stated.”

“Uhhh…so basically…”

“Ms. Luna? I’m not going to wait all day.”

“He talked about how tests are worth sixty percent of our grades,” the boy next to me whispered.”

Embarrassed, I finally responded to my teacher, “You talked about how tests are worth sixty percent of our grades.”

“Thanks,” I whispered to the kid. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

He muttered, “I could tell.”

The class chuckles. I find myself turning red, and flushed.   The bell rang, and I rushed out of that class as quickly as I could. That was so embarrassing. Next time, I do need to pay more attention. But I found myself getting so distracted throughout the day. The first day of school is always boring. 

After the second and third-period rings (very boring by the way,) I headed over to the cafeteria for lunch. I just happened to find a quiet seat alone. As I’m eating, a group of kids walks past me.

“Hey, new girl- do you know how to talk now? Who even are you anyways.” All of the kids started laughing at me, and they walked away.  Suddenly, I felt a pair of eyes on me. I looked to my left and right, and then across from me, I finally saw my “secret admirer.” Of course, it's that boy from math. 

As I saw him there, I noticed a few things about him. First, he was sitting all alone. He looked kind of sad like something was bothering him. I also noticed that he hadn’t eaten any of his lunch. Maybe he just wasn’t hungry. 

So naturally, I should have gone up to him. I thought about it for a minute, but after what he saw, I think for today, I will just keep to myself. He noticed that I saw him, and he gave me a shy smile. I looked away very quickly.

The day passed very slowly, and as the last period ended, I walked out of the school with relief. 

As you can see, it was kind of a bad day. For starters, I have no friends at this school; which is entirely my fault. I can thank Mom and Dad for that one. Besides that, I just feel like a complete outsider at this school, although the classes, in general, were okay. I think I am gonna enjoy the music class I’m taking. Like Mom always says, maybe “things will get better.” 

For now, I guess that I should start talking to people instead of just being a loner at school. All day, I didn’t talk to anyone, besides that brief conversation with that one boy. It looked like there was a nice group of people in my art class, but to be honest, I just really miss my old friend group. Having to make new friends, in a different town, really sucks. I just don’t want to give my trust to others that easily. The only good thing about living in California is the sunny weather. But who knows, it’s only the first day. 

Anyways, Dad just called to ask how my day was, which is ironic because this is the first time I have spoken to him since the divorce. I just feel so upset with him, even now. To be quite honest, I’m not sure why Mom and Dad got divorced in the first place. I mean they did fight a lot, but I for some silly reason always thought that their love would bring them back together. I guess I was pretty foolish to think that as well.

Now, they barely even talk to each other. Which I think is probably for the better, because when they do, all they do is argue. For now, I think I will drown my sorrows out by listening to some Taylor Swift.

It’s been a few days since I’ve written. Today is Friday, and it was a pretty average day. I got to look more into the music program at this school. The problem is that I don’t know if me and mom have enough for the entry fee. Maybe, if I save up a lot, then I can afford to join it. I haven’t made any friends yet. I’m kinda scared to talk to new people. 

Also, remember that kid I was talking about? Turns out his name is Justin, and he’s nice, and smart, although he is very shy. To be honest, I don’t think that he has many friends though. I guess that makes two of us. 

Anyways, we got partnered together for a science project, which is cool because I don’t want to be doing all of the work. We still haven’t decided where to do the project, because I don’t know if he would be comfortable with coming over to our place. 

After dinner, I decided to go out on a walk, to get some fresh air, but mostly to walk my dog, Nova. She’s super cute but has way too much energy for a puppy. As I stepped outside, I felt the touch of the windy air, which felt amazing against my arms. There is something so comforting about just getting out of the house for a little bit. 

As I was walking on the sidewalk, about a block away, I heard loud voices coming from the house to my right. I stopped in my place and carefully looked through the window. I see two middle-aged people, a man, and a woman. They seemed to be arguing about something. 

“Get out! I never wanted to marry you in the first place! Get out of my home!”

“Okay fine! If that’s what you want, then so be it!” The man takes a breath, and quickly fires back “This isn’t even a home!”

The door slams and the man steps outside to the doorstep. I made eye contact with him for a moment but quickly looked away. I wasn't supposed to hear that. The man gets in his car and drives away. I start walking away as well when I see someone peeking through the window. I see the silhouette of a person, a boy I think. I feel so bad because I understand exactly what they’re going through.

As the week quickly passed, me and Justin decided that we have to get started on that project. It’s due in two days and we have not started! It’s supposed to be a project about introducing yourself to the class. We have both been really busy (or at least he has). In science, we decided to start it tomorrow, which is Saturday. 

“Hey, do you want to do the project at your house?” 

“No,” he said quickly. 

Confused, I responded “Oh okay, that's fine. We can go to my place.”

“Yeah that would be better,” he says, “It just isn't the right time, sorry.”

Thinking back on it, I’m not sure why he was so defensive about it. I’ll just let it go. I hear a knock at the door. As I open the door, I see Justin. It’s weird seeing him outside of school because he looks kinda different. He has on a TV Girl shirt, which is my favorite band. He has on some brown cargo pants and white converse. 

As we get to work, I realize that he is much more outgoing, when he isn’t surrounded by a large group of people. I got to find out a lot about him, and his interests/hobbies. All of a sudden, he gets a call. 

“I have to take this real quick.” He steps out of the room and comes back with tears in his eyes. “I better get going.” I look back at him with very serious eyes.

Later that night, I got a text from him. “Hey sorry I had to leave early…maybe we can finish it another day?” Of course, I tell him it’s alright.

The next day of school was pretty good. Me and Justin go to the library to finish the project. We presented it in class, and it turned out pretty well.

For the next couple of weeks, I started spending more time with him. He’s a cool person. We have a lot in common, like the music we listen to. I’m starting my homework when I get a call from him. 

“Hello…?”

“Hey…can I come over?” He says this with such a low voice, and it kinda sounds like he was crying. 

“Sure.”

He gets to my house later that day. It turns out that his parents have been going through a huge fight, and there was a lot of yelling at his house. I never would have thought that he would be going through all of that.

He also told me about how he was getting picked on at school. I don’t know why, because he’s a great person. Sometimes, I guess you never know what someone is going through.

It turns out that we did have a lot in common after all. Sometimes, you meet the right person at the right time.

School has been going better than ever. Me and Justin have become best friends over the months. His parents went to counseling, and the fighting has stopped now. Everything is finally starting to look up from here.



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