Family Life - Chapter 2

“Derinn! Derrrrriiiiin!”
“Derinn? Derinn! Wake up, Derinn, it’s 5:45!”
I jumped awake, looking up to see my Dad watching me worriedly. “Derinn, are you okay?” he asked me, looking concerned. “You look pale.”
I realized I felt sick to my stomach. I started to answer, though my eyes suddenly went wide and I lunged out of bed, scrambling to the bathroom. I raced in, slammed the door, knelt by the toilet, and let fly.




“There’s no way you’re going to school,” Mom said.
“But I have to see Mirella… she’s back…” I begged tearfully. I had a 103 fever and I’d puked twice already that morning. I was still nauseous and had a raging headache. It was 6:30. School started at 7:05. I still had time to get ready and have my dad get me there.
“Derinn, no. You’re obviously sick,” Mom insisted. I was laying in bed, and my mom was tucking me in, though I kept trying to sit up.
“Madison, I’m leaving with Colin!” Daddy called from downstairs.
“No, Mommy!” I whimpered. “I gotta see Mirella…”
“No, absolutely not,” Mom said. “Lay down and rest. I have to go to work today, but I want you to rest and call if you feel like you’re dying, okay?” she joked, kissing me on the forehead.
I sighed miserably, sliding down in the covers and turning my back on my mom.
She sighed, shaking her head and heading out of my room, shutting the door and going to wake Angeline to get her ready for school.




8:30. My head is spinning and I think I’m gonna barf. Mom left out some tea downstairs for me and dad put a barf pale by my bed.
I stopped my writing for a minute, leaning over my bed to hurl once more. After gagging, I wiped my mouth and slowly sat back up.
I puked again. This is horrible. I hate being sick, I come totally unglued.
I glanced up as I heard the door open and close. Mom had just left to get Angeline to school. I was alone, once again.




9:30. Puked six times. Or was it seven? I can’t keep track anymore. My headaches getting worse. I think my fevers getting higher. I’m gonna take another fever reducer. Okay, I took one. I made some tea with honey. It’s not helping. God, I feel tired… must be the fever reducer. I’m taking a nap.
10:45. I can’t sleep. I made it half an hour before I woke up and puked again. I just got an email on my computer, but I feel too weak to even stand. It’s probably from Mirella, asking where I am. What time is it again? Oh yeah, it’s almost 11. She’d be in geography now. That’s the computer lab. Makes sense. I’ll reply later… much later…
12:30. Two more emails. That makes three. It’s lunchtime. I want to call Mirella. Wait, my phones ringing. Great. I can’t reach it. Three more hours until everyone gets home… three more hours…
2:00. I’m dying. Call the mortuary.
3:00. I think I hear Colin coming. He’s late today. He must’ve been busy. He’s coming upstairs. I think he’s –
“Derinn? How are you feeling?” came his gentle voice. I closed my journal, looking up and blinking. I was still really dizzy, and I slid back in my bed.
“Dead,” I mumbled.
“Want me to call Mom or Dad?” I asked.
“They’ll be home in half an hour. I can wait.”
“Do you need anything?”
“A knife.”
“Why?”
“So I can stab myself.”
“Sorry, knives are in short supply. I have fever reducer.”
“Took it already.”
Colin sighed, sitting down beside me to gently stroke my hair.
I opened my eyes again as I heard the door open and close. “Derinn?” came my mom’s voice.
“She’s up here, she’s okay,” Colin called.
Mom hurried upstairs, entering my room. I had already closed my eyes again and felt myself dozing off as she hurried in. I was barely aware of her feeling my head, or of the sound of her dialing on the phone as I dozed off into darkness once more…





I blinked tiredly, slowly opening my eyes. I glanced at my clock – frowning as I saw that it was 9:30 at night. “Mommy?” I called softly, standing up shakily. My mom seemed to hear me, even though my voice was quiet, and entered the room.
“Hey, you finally came to,” she said, going over to me and helping me stand.
“Yeah… what happened?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
“Well, you passed out right after I got home, so I called the family doctor. He came and gave you a shot, said you should be better by morning. You woke up for a little bit and were telling him what was wrong. He said it was just a 24-hour bug, probably the flu.”
“I woke up?” I asked, confused. The last six hours were nothing but black to me.
“Yeah, for about half an hour. You must not remember it,” Mom said.
“I feel better,” I said. Mom felt my head, saying, “Your fevers gone down.”
“That’s good.”
“Are you hungry? I can make some soup and bring up some saltines,” Mom said.
“Yeah… that sounds nice,” I said, smiling weakly. I sat down on my bed, waiting for Mom to leave before I went to my computer. I had a total of five emails, all from Mirella. I opened the first one, reading:
derry berry cherrykins! where ru? uve been gone all dai!!! u said ud b hre! u sick or somethin? call me!!!!
I quickly read through the other four which all said something similar. The first three had come during school, the fourth around 5:30, and the fifth about 9:15. I opened the last one, hitting “Reply” and typing my message:
Hey Ella Bella Sella Tia. I’m okay girlie. I’m just caught a 24-hour bug apparently. Mumsie says I’ll be back to school by tomorrow. Well, she didn’t actually say that, but yeah. I hope I can go back tomorrow. Sorry I didn’t call. I was conked out most of today. I’ll see you in the morning.
Love,
Derry Berry Cherrykins.
I hit “Send” then went to listen to the message. I picked up my phone, pressing the message button as the mechanical female voice said, “You have two new messages. Message one: ‘Hey Derry! This is your girl Mirella! Where are you? It’s lunchtime right now, I’m worried! You were supposed to be here! Text me or call after school! Bye!’ Tuesday, 12:13 PM. Message two: ‘Derry, where are you? I’m getting concerned, I haven’t heard from you since last night! Call me, please, no matter how late! I love you!” Tuesday, 6:57 PM. End of messages.”
I sighed, but glanced at the clock. It was nearly ten. There was no way I was calling her tonight. I’d see her in the morning. I put my phone back, sitting down on the bed as Daddy came up with a tray. I pulled the covers up to my waist, leaning back against my pillows. “Hey, Derry,” Daddy said gently, sitting the tray down on my lap. “There’s chicken noodle soup and saltine crackers with water,” he told me.
“Thanks, Daddy,” I mumbled, looking down.
“Hun, are you still upset about moving?” Daddy asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and gently brushing my hair out of my face.
“Yeah,” I said softly. Usually I would’ve given some sort of cheeky response, but being as I was sick and tired, I wasn’t in the mood.
“I promise things will work out. You’ll make new friends, you’ll try new things… it’ll be fun, like a whole other adventure.”
I sighed, but didn’t reply, sipping the chicken broth.
“I’ll come get your tray in a bit, okay? Once you’re done, just rest,” he said.
I nodded, looking down as I munched on my dinner. I had it finished in about ten minutes, so I sat the empty tray on the ground, keeping the glass of water beside me. I snuggled down comfortably into the covers and closed my eyes. It wasn’t long before I dozed off again, in for a peaceful night before school in the morning.




I shifted awake as my alarm clock went off. It was 5:45. I rubbed my eyes, hitting the off button. I’d slept through the entire night, thankfully. I hurried to the bathroom, flipping on the lights. I grabbed a towel out of the cupboard, then slipped off my clothes, turning on the warm water. I gladly stepped into the shower, loving the feeling of the warm water cascading over my body. I felt disgusting from not showering for two days, plus the fact that I’d been puking nonstop. I washed my hair well and scrubbed my body before stepping out. I quickly dried off, then slipped into my robe, putting my hair up in the towel. I hurried out of the bathroom and back into my room, shuffling along the carpet. The house was cold at only six in the morning. I hated it. Especially when I was wet.
I dug around in my closet, pulling out a ruffly, purple skirt that went halfway down towards my knees, a white halter top, a lilac corduroy jacket that fanned out around my fingers and went halfway down my torso, and my brown suede boots that went up to my knees. I quickly changed, then took my hair out of the towel, heading towards the bathroom again. Colin wasn’t up yet – hopefully I hadn’t made him sick.
I looked in the mirror, picking up my brush. I paused, examining myself in the mirror for a moment. There were still dark bags under my eyes, and I was still a bit pale. I felt loads better, but not 100% just yet. I sighed, starting to brush out my hair. The dark red streaks were starting to fade. I would have to redo them soon. I pulled out the blow dryer, turning it on and beginning to dry my long hair. Thankfully it wasn’t extremely thick, so I had it dry in about ten minutes. I twisted it up into a bun, holding it in place with clear chopsticks with purple flowers on the ends. I then grabbed some foundation, smearing it on my face and rubbing it in. I pulled out my concealer, using it to cover up the bags around my eyes. I then applied some blush to give my sickly pale face some color. I put on dark purple eyeliner, lilac eye shadow, and mascara. I applied some pink/orange lip gloss, rubbing it in then going back to my room.
I could hear movement in Colin’s room – that was a good thing. I grabbed my purse, slipping my make-up bag into it. I packed up my schoolwork into my messenger bag then slipped it over my shoulder. I headed downstairs, going to make myself some toast. I popped the bread into the toaster, pulling out some butter. I listened as it popped up, placing the two pieces on a plate and buttering them before digging in, sitting at the bar.
I looked up as Colin trudged tiredly downstairs. “Hey Colin,” I called. He looked up, nodding at me then going to get some cocoa puffs. His eyes were coated in eyeliner and mascara, and he was wearing a black long-sleeved t-shirt with faded gray skinny jeans and a black studded belt. His shaggy hair was spiked with the parts in the front covering one hazel eye.
“Feeling better?” he asked once he’d made his cereal, letting it sit so it got soggy while he made himself some coffee.
“Yeah, but not tip-top,” I said as I finished my toast, rinsing my plate and my hands, then wiping my mouth and reaching to find my lip gloss again.
“Concealer, eh?” he asked.
“A girls best friend,” I said, reapplying my lip gloss then dropping it back into my purse, which I dropped into my messenger bag. I glanced at the clock. It was 6:30. “Come on, Daddy!” I called.
Dad came rushing downstairs, pulling on his coat and saying, “Okay, alright, come on kids, let’s go.”




I stepped out of the car, waving good-bye to Daddy as Colin followed me up to the school. I was dreading meeting up with Mirella. I had yet to tell her that I was moving all the way across the country. She was not going to be happy.
I headed to my locker, fumbling with the lock for a moment before pulling it open. As I was reaching into my locker to switch out my books, I felt someone suddenly tackle me from behind. I cried out in surprise, turning around. “Mirella!”
“Derinn!”
And then we hugged each other.
Mirella’s really short for her age. She’s 14, like me, but only 5’1. Her hair is light brown with dark blue streaks. It’s short and tapered, and her bangs are side swept. She has dark green eyes and her skin is fair. She smells like Raspberry Blue Berry body wash, and she’s never one to dress up. Today she was wearing a gray pair of tight jeans, a long-sleeved black shirt, and green and gray checkered vans.
“It’s so great to see you!” I cried excitedly.
“Same! It sucks that you got sick!” she said sympathetically.
“Meh, it was just a bug, I’m okay,” I said, smiling at her as I hugged her tightly once more. “It’s sooo good to see you,” I repeated again.
“Hey… you’re sad,” she said. “You have bad news, don’t you?” she asked.
I sighed, pulling away. “Walk with me,” I said, taking her hand and leading her towards our first period. “Here’s the news.” And I told her.




It was lunchtime. I had just gotten my lunch – a salad, a sub, and milk – and was sitting down. Mirella had brown-bagged it today, and was already sitting across from me. She sipped at her water, still looking glum. As a matter of fact, we were both down. “When are you leaving?” she asked quietly.
“Saturday. It’s really quick,” I said softly.
“Saturday? But today’s Wednesday,” she moaned.
“It sucks.”
“It doesn’t suck, it… it /really/ sucks…”
We were silent again. I began eating my salad, covering it in ranch dressing. Mirella had chopsticks in her hand, picking at her sushi. I finally piped up, “We’ll stay in touch. We can call everyday, and talk online, and email each other… and you know my parents, a bit of twisting and turning and begging and pleading, and they’ll let me go back to New York to visit!”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Mirella said, lifting a sushi roll up to her mouth and biting it off the chopsticks. “And maybe my parents will let me go to Las Vegas to visit. I bet I have some relatives there,” she said. “Just promise me one thing,” she said, sitting down her chopsticks and taking both my hands.
“Anything, you name it,” I said.
“You can make new friends, but don’t forget about me.”
I smiled at her, reaching across the table and hugging her. “Never, Ella Bella Sella Tia.”




Mirella and I headed into the house, Colin following quietly after us. He looked glum – he had probably just broken the news to his girlfriend.
Mirella had taken the subway home with us after calling her mom to ask if she could hang out. We now headed into the kitchen to get some snacks. I grabbed a bag of fresh carrots and some ranch, placing them on a plate and then placing the plate on a tray. I grabbed two bottles of milk, also sitting them on the tray, then grabbed two bags of 100 calorie chocolate chip cookie snacks. “Let’s go, Ella,” I said, carrying the tray upstairs. Once in my room, I sat the tray on my chair at my desk, dragging my loveseat over and plopping down on that as Mirella stretched out across my bed.
“Hey, I just heard this really cool song on Satellite Radio,” I said. “It’s called Never Too Late by Three Days Grace. Wanna hear it?” I asked.
“Oh, I know that song, definitely!” Mirella said with a smile.
I pulled out my white video iPod, plugging it into my stage and searching for Three Days Grace. I soon found the song, hitting “Play”. “Okay, here it is,” I said.
We both bobbed our heads to the slow song. I began to sing softly out loud when the chorus came:

“Even if I say
It’ll be alright.
Still I hear you say
You want to end your life.

Now and again we try
To just stay alive.
Maybe we’ll turn it around
‘cause it’s not too late,

It’s never too late.”

We stopped singing, listening to the rest of the song. “I love that song,” I said quietly.
“Yeah, I fell in love with it the moment I heard it. I don’t know why,” Mirella said.
I listened as Sum 41 began to play, the first song being “In Too Deep.”
“So, should we start our homework? Might as well get some of it done, plus I have make-up homework,” I said with a sigh.
“Yeah, definitely. How about… math?” she suggested.
“Great. Just great,” I mumbled, pulling out the dreaded math homework.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” I said to Mirella as I hugged her. Her mom had just come to pick her up.
“Yeah, call me, okay?” she said.
“Definitely,” I said, waving to her and her mom. I closed the front door, now going to join everyone at the dinner table. We were having whole wheat spaghetti – something like that – and garlic bread with fresh vegetables and tomato sauce. I poured myself some orange juice then sat down at the table, dishing myself some spaghetti, garlic bread, and broccoli and zucchini. Mom helped Angeline get her own dinner while Colin served himself up, Dad waiting anxiously for us to finish and obviously having another announcement.
“Alright, everybody. I just wanted to let you guys know that we’re going to start packing tomorrow, and we need to hurry. I’ve got at least 100 hundred boxes from work that I’m bringing home tomorrow. Remember, we’re leaving Saturday,” Daddy explained.
I sighed, looking down absently at my dinner and barely picking at it. “How come we’re leaving so early?” I asked softly.
“I have to start up with my firm by the end of the month, so we want to get there and get settled in before November 1st,” Mom explained.
I sighed deeper, taking a small bite of my spaghetti and trying to hold back my tears. Colin eyed me from the side, looking worried. “May I be excused? I’m not hungry,” I said.
“Sure, sweetheart,” Daddy said, watching me worriedly as I stood up and dumped my dinner into the trash, sitting my plate in the sink and disappearing back upstairs.
I sat down at the computer, checking my AIM and MSN Messenger. Mirella was on AIM, so I opened up a chat window and IMed her:

DerryBerry: Hey Ella Bella! You there?

EllaBella: yeah…

DerryBerry: Don’t sound so down, it’s depressing.

EllaBella: the whole things dpressng…

DerryBerry: Good point.

EllaBella: so… ur still leavin on sat?

DerryBerry: It’s for sure now. Daddy’s got boxes and everything.

EllaBella: *sigh* its not fair…

DerryBerry: I know, I know.

DerryBerry: We’ll hang out on Friday, definitely, okay?

DerryBerry: Movies, popcorn, candy, you, me, and pajamas.

DerryBerry: Sound good?

EllaBella: i gess… ur ‘rents wont mind?

DerryBerry: I dun know, but who cares?

EllaBella: jiah, ur rite. who cares? i cant wait.

Mirella and I talked for a little bit longer before logging of. I’d finished all my homework with her (although I’d copied most of her answers – she’s much smarter than me) and was now all caught up. Not that it mattered. I wouldn’t be there next week anyways.
I went to my iPod, turning on my solemn mix. I immediately skipped to “Teardrops on my Guitar” by Taylor Swift. I sang along quietly as I opened my journal, beginning to write in silence. Within five minutes, the page was wet with my tears.




It was Thursday afternoon already, and Dad had just showed up with the boxes. “Take what you need and start packing! We’ll take apart your beds and desks and stuff later,” Dad explained. “Now let’s get started!” he said.
I sighed, grabbing five boxes and a roll of duct tabe then heading upstairs to my room, closing the door. I re-assembled the boxes, taped them together, then first went to my closet. I began to pull things off of hangers, starting first with t-shirts. I folded them neatly, piling them up into the first box. This happened to be a fairly large box, so all of my shirts barely filled up the box halfway. I was surprised to find a bunch of shirts I’d borrowed from Mirella. I set those aside to give to her tomorrow when I went to her house for our movie marathon. We’d agreed to do her house instead since we’d be packing up my house.
I packed up my pants, jackets, socks, underwear, and bras, leaving out a couple of outfits and pajamas to wear for the next few days. I then taped the box shut, carrying it and sitting it down by my door. I checked in my closet. It was empty except for hangers, which I now packed into a separate box. Also in that box I put old toys, stuffed animals, and small pillows. I grabbed things here and there, stuffing them in, then taping that box closed and sitting it by my door.
I now wrapped up all of my porcelain dolls and delicate figurines in newspaper, packing them in the third box and marking the word “FRAGILE!” in huge, bubble letters, coloring it with sharpie so it was impossible to miss. I then wrote the word on all the other faces of the box, making sure no one would miss it.
In my fourth box I packed all my magazines, notebooks, and books. I also tossed in my rock collection, and my pencils and pencils. There was still room afterwards, so I packed up my jewelry and my jewelry boxes and taped that box shut.
In the last box I put the remainder of my stuffed animals, a few left over books and magazines, and my CDs. I also tossed in my boom box. It was old, and I didn’t really care if it got messed up. I tore down posters off of my wall, rolling them up and tying them with ponytails and rubber bands. I dropped them into the box, now taking down the pictures on my walls. I wrapped them up in newspaper, sitting them in the box, then closing and taping it. I ran downstairs, grabbing a couple more boxes and heading up again.
In the sixth box I packed my shoes. That was enough to fill the whole thing, so I taped it shut after that.
I had a nice pile building up now by my door, but I’d pretty much packed everything.
I’d checked under my beds and gotten everything. All my books were packed, my night-side table was empty, my closet was empty now besides my dresser, my desk was empty besides my computer and my drawers were all emptied out. My walls were also blank. All-in-all, my room was kinda creepy like this.
I sat down at my computer, opening up my email and starting a blank message.
Hey Mirella.
My room is scary lookin.
It’s empty, besides the bed and the desk and a few other things. It’s all packed… god, isn’t that scary to think about?
Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at your house. Bye!
Love,
Derinn.
I hit send, then went to lay down on my bed. I had one extra box. I’d probably find something to fit in it, but for now, I wanted to rest. Packing had taken almost two hours. My room was dusty, and I was sneezing, but I didn’t care. I was too miserable to care about anything at the moment.
It still seemed unreal that we were moving. I’d only found out about it on Monday, and yet we were already leaving less than a week later.
Thinking about it brought tears to my eyes, and I curled up on my bed. I turned my iPod on, trying to find comfort in Red Jumpsuit Apparatus’s “False Pretense”. As that song ended, it faded into “The Best Thing” by Relient K. I began to sing quietly along, letting out a soft sigh. I was just going to have to make the best of this, I realized. But, best of all, I knew I was going to have Colin with me the whole time.




I quietly rang Mirella’s doorbell, waiting for her to answer the door. It was Friday evening – our last night together. I had a backpack with me with all of Mirella’s clothes and jewelry in it. She’s agreed to get all my stuff together that she’d borrowed, and we’d trade.
Mirella quietly opened the door, smiling sadly and waving. “I picked out a couple of movies for us,” she mumbled, pulling me inside.
“What are we watching?”
“’Over the Hedge’ and ‘Mean Girls’.”
“Fun. I brought popcorn,” I explained.
“And I have tons of butter and salt. My parents aren’t home, so we can load up,” Mirella said as we headed to the kitchen.
I placed the popcorn in the microwave, setting it to the “Popcorn” setting, then pulling out all of Mirella’s clothes from my backpack. “These are yours,” I said, holding them out to her.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the clothes gingerly in her hands. “I have yours upstairs, let’s go,” she said, leading me up to her room.
Her room was pretty plain – the walls and ceiling were all white with flower wallpaper going around the room. Her bed was a twin-sized bed with a wooden frame, and she had a brown wood desk. Her side-table was wooden as well, and she had a wooden bookshelf.
She went into her closet, coming out with a pile of my own clothes. I took them and stuffed them into my backpack, which I left upstairs. Mirella and I quickly descended back to the living room where the popcorn was finished popping. I pulled it out, dumping it into a bowl and pouring a ton of popcorn butter and salt on it. Mirella had just put in Mean Girls, so I sat down, holding out the bowl to her.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling and taking a handful. We both munched quietly as the movie started, leaning quietly against each other. The sadness weighed heavily in the air, and I could tell that neither of us was paying close attention to the movie. However, neither of us voiced our sadness, and instead we just put on brave faces and waited for the night to end.




I stood up after “Over the Hedge” ended. “I should go, it’s almost ten and I’m taking the subway,” I said.
“Alright. I’m coming by in the morning before you guys leave, okay?” Mirella said. “I wanna say goodbye to you and Colin and Angie.”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I said. I hurried upstairs, grabbing my backpack, then came back downstairs. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said, hugging Mirella tightly and swallowing back my tears.
“Yeah… see ya,” Mirella murmured, hugging me tightly. We merely held each other for a minute before pulling apart, our watery eyes mirror reflections of each other.
“Bye,” I called sadly, opening the front door.
“Be careful this late on the subway,” Mirella called after me.
“I will,” I said, closing the door. I listened as I heard it lock behind me, starting down the street.
I crossed the street at the intersection, then descended down to the subway. I swiped my card on the machine, then headed down the escalator. I waited for the right train to approach, the subway station completely deserted except for there elderly women waiting for the same train. Once it stopped, I stepped in, listening to the doors close and sitting down since my stop wasn’t for another six stations.
I pulled my journal out of my backpack, beginning to write down ways to keep in touch with Mirella. I put the date down, then began to write:

Ways to keep in touch with Mirella:

 Email
 Phone
 Letters
 Postcards
 Snailmail
 Play dates (beg parents)

Ways to stay friends with Mirella

 Don’t make any new friends
 Sulk
 Keep in touch
 Keep up-to-date with her life
 Tell her about my life
 Try not to get into arguments.

I looked up finally, glancing up as the subway announced the doors were closing. I realized this was my stop and jumped up. I barely had time to slip out the doors before the doors shut. I let out a sigh of relief, realizing how close I had come to missing my stop. I turned, glanced once around the deserted subway station, then raced up the escalator. I made it through the turnstile, then ran all the way home.