Me at 10's Arc

Chapter 7 of 9

They drive back to Oshawa and the house feels smaller than before. Mom unpacks the suitcases while Dad disappears into the garage and she goes to her room without speaking. School starts again on Monday and she doesn't know if anyone noticed she was gone. Central Senior has stone walls and arched windows that make it look like it belongs in a different time. She walks through the front doors and nobody stares. The hallways are crowded enough that she can disappear into them without trying. At lunch she sits at a picnic table outside near the edge of the yard and opens her bag. A girl sits down across from her without asking. The girl has dark hair pulled back and paint under her fingernails and she unwraps a sandwich like she's been sitting here all along. She doesn't introduce herself or explain why she chose this table. She just eats and watches the yard and after a while she asks if anyone ever uses the art room after school. The question isn't pointed at anyone in particular but the protagonist answers anyway. They talk about nothing important until the bell rings. The girl starts sitting with her every day. Her name is JP and she lives in the apartments near the highway with her mom and two younger brothers. She talks about her family like it's just a fact, not something to apologize for or hide. One afternoon JP invites her over and she says yes before thinking it through. JP's apartment is small and loud and there's no display cabinet in the front room, no polished wood or glass doors holding things that nobody uses. Her brothers are running through the kitchen and JP's mom is smoking at the table in her work uniform and nobody tells them to be quiet or sit still. JP pulls her into the bedroom they all share and shows her a sketchbook full of drawings. The protagonist realizes she's never been in a house where people don't perform. She doesn't tell Mom about JP right away. When she finally does, Mom asks where JP's family lives and what her father does and the protagonist says the apartments and nothing. Mom's face changes. She doesn't say JP isn't welcome but she doesn't ask about her again either. The protagonist understands what the silence means. JP is the kind of friend Mom won't brag about at church or mention to the neighbors. But JP is the first person in years who chose to sit with her without needing a reason. She decides Mom's approval isn't something she needs anymore. She's been picked first by someone who doesn't keep score and that matters more than the china nobody touches.