Today was the first day of school. As I was getting ready in the mirror Gabby appeared behind me.

"You look so pretty. Wear the butterfly necklace with this outfit."

I picked up the butterfly necklace that she bought for my birthday in eighth grade. I put it around my neck then looked in the mirror.

"It's your first day baby sis. Look more happy."

I turned the light off in the bathroom and went to my room. I grabbed my phone and book bag then went downstairs. My dad who just started coming back around was in the kitchen. He slid me $20 dollars then left for work. I went to check on my mom in her room before going to the bus stop. After waiting for the bus for an extra ten minutes I finally made it to school. I went directly to 1st period. I greeted the teacher then went to the back of the class. I sat and waited for class to start. At lunch is where things got weird.

"Gina, come sit with us." Skylar, a girl who Gabby considered a close friend. I walked over to her table and sat down. I looked at the people at the table. Everyone here I've seen at my house at least twice. Gabby was known for throwing parties when mom was gone.

"So how's your first day going?" Skylar asked.

"Uhm it was pretty normal till now. Everyone seems to be looking at me." I told her.

"Oh well, they'll stop eventually. You know the reason they're looking at you." She said.

I just nodded. I didn't want to start a conversation about Gabby. After school I had cheer practice. My friends Khia and Sonya we're also cheerleaders. They did it more for the attention of boys. I did cheer because it was something Gabby got me into.

"I think number 5 looking at me." Sonya said.

She tapped me to look at him. He wasn't that cute. At least to me. The only reason he's looking at her is because her ass is out and her boobs would bounce along with her sports bra.

"Girl you swear every dude is looking at you." Khia said.

"That's because they are. They love looking at all this caramel." Sonya told her.

"Bitch please. Your caramel is burnt from what I'm looking at." Khia shot at her.

"Bitch you just a hater." Sonya shot back.

After practice I called my mother 3 times to come get me. She didn't answer. The varsity football team was coming out. It was mostly Juniors and Seniors. There were a handful of sophomores and freshmen. Since my mom wasn't answering I decided to just walk home. I didn't make it out the school parking lot before I was almost hit by a car.

"Aye shawty, why you walking in front of cars like that. You tryna get yourself killed." The dude on the passenger side said.

His friend who was in the driver seat slapped him. I could see them talking before the driver turned back to me.

"My bad about him. You need a ride." He asked.

"Uhm no thanks."

"Shawty, cheer practice got out an hour ago. I promise I'll take you straight home." He said.

I thought about it. If something was to happen to me all my friends have my location.

"Can I ride passenger?" I asked him.

"Yea, whatever you want." He said.

His friend moved to the back and I took his seat. Once I was in the car he introduced himself.

"I'm Devon but you can call me Devo. That's Josh in the back."

I nodded at him. I didn't feel the need to tell them my name. I'm pretty sure they knew my sister. Devon dropped his friend off first then drove to my house. Once he was in my driveway I prepared to hop out but he stopped me.

"Aye Gina, I know about what happened to Gabby. If you uhm- need someone to talk to then hit me up."

I nodded then went in the house. My mother must have left her room today because she left a mess in the kitchen. I quickly cleaned her mess then went to my room. I turned my TV on and let it play in the background as I wrote in my notebook. I guess I had fell asleep while writing because my dad had woken me to come eat dinner. Sitting at the table with them was awkward. It was silent besides the sound of there forks hitting their plates.

"You not gonna eat Gina?" My dad asked.

"No, I'm not hungry." I told him.

"Gina, eat something. I haven't seen you eat in two weeks." My mom said.

You haven't seen me do anything these past weeks because you spend them in your room.

"It's fine Tanza. She'll eat later." My dad said.

It was true. I was gonna come downstairs later and eat a pop tart and strawberry shortcake ice cream bar. After dinner I washed the dishes then took a shower and went to my room. I watched whatever was playing on my TV while looking at my phone. After knowing both my mom and dad were asleep I went downstairs and got my pop tart and ice cream bar. I went to Gabby's room instead of my own on the way back up the stairs . I looked under her bed and grabbed one of her many diaries. She has stories dating all the way back to eighth grade. I sat on her fur rug and read from where I stopped last time.

Today Malachi asked me to link with him on Saturday. I don't think he knows I'm a freshman. I kinda wanna say yes but every Youtube video I ever watched said to not entertain the juniors and seniors. I'm kinda stuck in between hang out with the sexy senior or continue to only talk to the mediocre freshmen.

Xoxo - Gabby.F