November 1, 2006
Chapter 1
(Filed under: The Novel)"Welcome to Howe High School," the girl said. Anwyn blinked, slowly taking it in. The twang of the girl's accent was subtle—not southern belle slap you upside the head—but it was just enough to get under your skin.
But what really bothered Anwyn was the sincerity. This girl oozed with it. The silence began to fill after the girl's welcome and before awkwardness could truly set in, Anwyn glanced around, managed a weak smile and said thanks.
The oozing continued.
"My name's Missy and Mr. Douglas wanted me to give you the grand tour of our school."
This time Anwyn just nodded. She didn't think a tour was exactly necessary. The school consisted of two corridors, a gym/cafeteria/auditorium, maybe a dozen classrooms and maybe a few hundred students total.
Missy started the tour at the main entrance, where she had ambushed Anwyn almost before the principal, Mr. Douglas, had a chance to welcome her. Mr. Douglas didn't say much, preferring to let Missy handle the details, but did ask Anwyn to stop by after the tour.
Anywn had nodded and turned to the dirty-blonde girl with the big smile.
Missy gushed every obscure fact about the school she could manage. The main entrance, which housed the offices, had been built in 1926 and at the time was the largest school in 100 miles. Their football team won the Kansas State Championship three times, in 1936, 1943 and 1968. In the fall the team had won their division and everyone was looking forward to next year.
"So where did you say you were from?" Missy asked.
"I didn't." Anwyn said. She wanted to leave it at that, just let it sit there and watch Missy grow uncomfortable, but the poor girl didn't deserve that. "I'm from the Cities—the Twin Cities," she said, correcting herself, trying to remember that she was hundreds of miles from home and no one would know what 'Cities' she was referring to.
"Ooh, I bet it's cold up there," Missy said. "Was your winter bad this year?"
"It's not bad. We had a few 10-inch snowfalls this year, so it was actually a pretty weak winter." It felt better to talk. Felt more comfortable, more like Anwyn. But still.
"10 inches?" Missy said. "Mercy." Anwyn didn't say anything. Talking about Minnesota wouldn’t help.
"Well, we can have pretty cold winters, too, but 10 inches of snow doesn't happen very often." Missy laughed, apparently at the thought of 10 inches of snow in Howe, Kansas. They were now turning down the second of two corridors, the math and science wing of Howe High School.
"So what brings you to Howe?" Missy asked. And there it was. Anwyn knew the question would come and she'd have to face up to it. She could tell the truth. She imagined the rawness of the truth tearing away Missy's smile and her bubbly, oozy demeanor. But that would be mean. And she had promised herself she wouldn't be mean. Moving to Kansas may not have been her idea, and it definitely wasn’t her fault, but she also couldn't blame the poor bystanders who called this town home. When she decided Missy had smiled at the silence long enough she opted to go with bits of the truth.
"My dad grew up here," Anwyn said. "Well, not Howe. But Richmond. He thought it'd be a good place to get a new start." She'd heard the speech too many times that winter.
"Richmond, huh? What's your daddy's name?"
"Jack Miller," Anwyn answered. She knew it was coming.
"Miller, huh? Sounds familiar. Is Casey Miller your grandpa?" Missy asked. And there it was. Everybody knew everybody. Her familiarity with Kansas used to be charming. But this was part of what she dreaded.
"Yeah, that's him," was all Anwyn could say. Her Grandpa Miller used to live in town but had moved off to Morgan a few years ago. Something about too many "spics," as her grandpa would say. But the funny part was that there were more Hispanics in Morgan. Her grandpa would end up living next to one and have to bury his racist leanings. She thought that her grandparents moving away would put a damper on her dad's plans to come back home, but no such luck. It wasn't the proximity to family, though there was still plenty of family around, it was this place itself.
"Getting a new start, huh?" Missy asked. "Well, I've been here all my life, I guess you could say it gave me as good a start as you can ask for."
"My parents got divorced." It was out before she knew it. Anywyn paused for a second, and then went with it, turning back to Missy. "My mom went off to be the career woman she always wanted to be and my dad—my dad couldn't afford the mortgage on his own. He thought starting over in his old home town would be a good idea."
She had thrown out more bits than she wanted, but they were still only bits.
For once Missy didn't say anything. She just nodded. Anwyn's eyes turned to the nearest classroom, the last one in the corridor. She could see a teacher standing at the blackboard, a few students in the first row.
"I'm sorry," Missy said. Her sincerity oozed again. Missy may have been the cheerleader type, the overzealous student, but she was actually sincere. "I guess that happens now and then."
Anwyn could think of a hundred snide comments, but she let them go.
"Anwyn, huh?" Missy asked, trying to move on. "That's such a pretty name."
The words hung there. Those were the kind of compliments people gave to Anwyn's sister, Isabelle.
Posted by kevin at November 1, 2006 7:09 AM
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