Footsteps

by Chloe Genick, age 10
Footsteps Chloe Genick has been writing realistic fiction for a while. She is obsessed with Modern Family and Chris Evans. She is really really awesome.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to have more than one kid. I mean, why should I? Just look how upset I am with a new baby sister in the house. Lily. Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any worse, she came along.”

Chapter 1

 

I don’t think I’m ever going to have more than one kid. I mean, why should I? Just look how upset I am with a new baby sister in the house. Lily. Just when I thought my life couldn’t get any worse, she came along. Basically what I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to put my son or daughter through that. Also, just look how upset my mom is: she just got a divorce with my dad and she is SUPER depressed. They got a divorce right after the new baby arrived. My personal opinion is that they divorced because of the baby.

“Margret, get down here for dinner, we’re all waiting for you.” By all, my mom means Lily and herself.

“Jeez, mom,” I whisper to myself.

I run down the stairs and quickly sit down. As I am sitting I accidentally knock over Lily’s pudding cup. Mom breathes in and out about five times and then loses it.

“MARGRET!” she yells as she gets up and runs to her room. Lily just sits there smiling and laughing.

“Oh, what are you so happy about, it was your stupid pudding cup,” I say.

My face turns red and then I run to my room. I sit in the corner and start to cry for the first time in my life. I feel all alone. A couple of minutes later there is a knock on the door. I run to get it, but scarily enough, Lily is by the door standing up and trying to reach the doorknob.

“MOM, GET DOWN HERE NOW!”

There is no answer and of course I am left all alone with devil child. Ok, I think to myself, what do I do now? I walk towards her very slowly then grasp the handle of the door. I pick Lily up and open the door barely enough so that I can see.  “Oh, thank god,” I sigh to myself. It is Thomas and Julia, my best friends.

“Come in, come in,” I tell them.

“OH MY GOSH,” Julia yells.

“What?” I asked her, putting Lily down in her high chair.

“Are you ready for the first day of 6th grade tomorrow?” Julia says.

“I know,” Thomas says back to her.

“S-,” Julia is about to say but I stop her.

“Guys, hello,” I tell my two best friends. “You guys are not even letting me talk.”

“What, Maggie,” Thomas says very nicely.

“Well what I was going to say was, are we meeting at Julia’s locker or in the janitor’s closet In between classes?” I say.

“Well I was thinking the janitor’s closet just because, well you know we did that all of last year,” Thomas says.

I looked at Julia. She shook her head. Yes, ok, I think we’re set.

“Yay,” Julia says really excited.

Just then Thomas gets a text. He says that he has to go meet up with his dad. He says bye to me and Julia and walks out. Me and Julia walk to my room. I slam the door shut me and Julia start talking about our first day of 6th grade. She says something about science class and Spanish but all I could think about is how I am going to survive 6th grade without Thomas and Julia with me every second of the day.

 

Chapter 2

 

I get up super early to organize all my folders and papers. I do it every year.

Ok, only some years.

I walk upstairs quietly enough so I don’t wake up the baby, but unfortunately I wake up mom. She comes out in her nightgown and smudged makeup…but you get used to it. For some strange reason mom is rushing me to eat breakfast like I am late or something. I look at the clock and scream hysterically.

“I AM LATE!”

“I know,” Mom says very angrily.

I eat my corn flakes fast then rush out the door, but halfway to school I realize I didn’t change out of my PJs but it’s too late. I am in the middle of 6th grade wearing my PJs.

“Hey,” I heard a voice behind me. It was Julia.

“Hi,” she said looking at me in a strange way.

“I know, I know,” I said, cutting her off.

“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” Julia replies.

I roll my eyes. “What am I going to do?” I say way over-dramatically.

“Calm down,” Julia says. “You can go change in the girls bathroom. I have a extra pair of clothes in my locker.”

“Oh my gosh thanks, Jules, you’re the best. Oh and hey, where’s Thomas?”

“Bad news,” Julia says. “Thomas is really sick.”

“Oh, that’s so sad,” I respond.

“Um, here is my combination.” Julia scribbled something on a piece of  paper. She looked at her watch and ran away.

“Hey, where are you going?”

But she never answered.

 

Chapter 3

 

After first period I try to find Julia. I realize I need to meet Julia in the janitor’s closet. I go to the closet and try to find her, but she isn’t here. I get out my phone and call her, but there is no answer. I don’t know know what was wrong. I try calling Thomas but then I realize that he is in the emergency room. Something must be really wrong.

When I get home my mom is not there and my sister is probably at this girl Gabby’s house. Gabby is the first friend Lily had ever made, well, the only friend Lily has in general. Anyway I call up the emergency room. I wait and wait until they finally pick up.

“Hello,” the woman on the other end of the phone says.

“Hi. I am Margaret Moore calling for Thomas Weinstein.”

There is a long pause. She says he switched to the Greystone Hospital a few nights ago.

“Oh,” I say suddenly. “Why,” I ask.

“I am sorry ma’am, I cannot tell you that over the phone. You will have to go over to Greystone yourself.”

“FINE,” I yell. I hung up the phone and run down the hallway out the front door, and long story short, I end up at the Greystone Hospital. I walk to the front desk and state my name real fast.

“I am Margaret Moore and I am here to see Thomas.”

“Ah yes, Thomas. Right this way, miss.”

She leads me into a pale gray room. I wish they would paint it, it is so depressing. A long stretcher comes out of another room. It is THOMAS!

I run up to him to hug him but the nurse just backs me away.

“What? Is it contagious?” I ask.

“No,” says the nurse. “Just give him some space.”

“Well okay,” I said. “But what’s wrong with Thomas anyway?”

Thomas finally says, “I have lung cancer.”

“W-what?” I said. “This can’t just happen overnight.”

“It didn’t,” says Thomas. “I knew I had it for a long time, but the nurses did nothing about it so neither did I. Then a couple nights ago I was playing soccer with my dad and I fainted my dad took me to the emergency room and told my dad it was a serious cancer problem so they switched me to the hospital and right now I am stuck in this hospital. Oh, I am so so so sorry, but I have to go.”

I say, “Wait.” I hear Thomas barely whispering. I feel both mad and upset I know it wasn’t his fault that he had cancer but I still feel like he is letting me down. It’s the same kind of feeling when my mom and dad got a divorce. I can’t really help it.

 

Chapter 4

 

Lily is in the hospital. My life couldn’t get any worse than it is. I am going to see Lily on Tuesday and my dad who I have not seen in about nine months is coming to the hospital.

 

******

 

“DADDY,” I yell, hugging him.

“Honey,” he says back, “I have to go see Lily ok, but you might not want to go into-”

“Amelia,” my dad says, a little upset but with a smirk.

My mom looks at him. She sees the smirk too.

“Look, Amelia, I am only here for Lily, not for you.”

“Oh, Tyler, I thought you were here for me,” my mom says, trying to be funny. I can’t help but smile. My mom obviously sees and winks at me across the waiting area. My dad sees  too and starts talking about how he got a new job and he is a lawyer and it is primarily true that he gets one of the kids. I personally do not think that is true but the he really starts yelling and my mom did not even say or do anything he just starts just like that.

“I can’t take your constant yelling and lying. You can’t get the kids all excited and then not do anything. You are a horrible parent so are you sure you want to keep both of our kids?”

“Yes I am sure, Tyler.” But then my mom starts getting really emotional and it happened again just like that.

“THEN WHY DID YOU LEAVE US? Why?” my mom says, getting quieter.

I always knew my dad left without an explanation. I just thought he packed his bags and left one day but I know that could never be the case.

Then my dad says something. He says something that I never will forgive him for.

“I love Lily and I am not going to get to know her.”

I finally scream, “WELL YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET TO KNOW ME EITHER, DAD.” And with that I stand up and walked away. I hear my mom whisper but I am too upset to spy on them like I used too when I was little. I am too upset to do anything: to stand up, to talk, or to even think about what I heard walking out of the hospital. Thomas Weinstein is dead. I am so upset I run home.

Before I go to bed I look at my bedside dresser. I remember how Thomas had been sitting on the dresser the day before 6th grade!

 

The End

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