Marlena turned back around and looked her in the eye. �You know I�m �I�m thankful that I have some one who cares about me but you are not my mother and I�m 17 years old, I�m okay to do stuff on my own.�
Marlena turned back around, she did not want to wait for her aunt�s response, and she didn�t care so much what it was. She walked up the stairs and into her bedroom. She dropped her back pack on the floor and walked over to her window seat. She sat down on it and opened the curtains. She could see the whole street from her window as she watched people drive by, some from her school but most she didn�t know. Marlena reminisced about her old street where everyone who went by she knew. She hating thinking about the past though because she knew it would never come back. There was a knock at the door but Marlena knew it was her aunt and she didn�t feel like opening it but her aunt let herself in anyway. �Marlena, there�s something I want to show you.� Her aunt told her, walking over to her, carrying a shoe box. �What is it?� Marlena asked quietly. �Your parents have been making this since you were born. They ah�wanted to give it to you on your wedding day but I thought it would be appropriate to give it to you now.� Her aunt replied her handing her the box. �What�s inside of it?� Marlena asked with curiosity. �Well, I�ll leave you and let you open it.� Her aunt said as she got up and left the room.
Marlena toke the lid of the shoebox and inside was what looked to be like a time capsule. But as Marlena looked closer, it was more like a memory box of her life. There were pictures of her and her parents since she was a little girl. There were pictures of her and her friends. There were various items from Marlena�s past. Marlena�s eyes swelled up, but these were not tears of sadness but tears of happiness. The box made her so happy; it made her feel good about herself again. She went through the pictures and items of the box at least a 100 times before putting the lid on the box and putting it under her bed. It was time for dinner by now but Marlena was not very hungry and did not feel like going down to eat. Instead, she stayed in her room and finished her piles of homework she had to do. When Marlena finished her homework it was about ten o�clock. She laid back down on her bed but sat up abruptly when her stomach gave a big growl. She realized she hadn�t eaten all day and was extremely hungry. She went downstairs to get some leftovers to eat and managed to make a plate of chicken and mashed potatoes. There was no need to microwave it, she liked cold food and the last time she tried to microwave something she accidentally left an aluminum fork in there and almost set the house on fire. The chicken and potatoes tasted so good and she almost finished off all the leftovers. The food made her very sleepy and so she went back up to her room and got into her pajamas. She once again toke a while to fall asleep and the last time her sleepy eyes saw the clock it said 1:37. Marlena woke up at 3 to go to the bathroom and when she got back to her room she couldn�t fall back to sleep. She sat in her bed till 5, twisting and turning but still not falling asleep. Finally at 5 she realized she would never go back to sleep and got up and went down stairs. The sun was starting to rise and the kitchen had a dim light shining through it. Marlena sat at her kitchen table for a few minutes with her eyes wide open. She didn�t even feel tired but she knew it was going to catch up on her later. She went upstairs and toke a shower and got ready for the day, putting on a cute pair of jeans and a plain tight white t-shirt. She had nothing to do and it was only 6:30 so she decided to drive around in her car for a bit. She drove a little ways until she started having car trouble. She thought she could at least make it to school but she was wrong when her car stopped short and the engine started to smoke. She quickly got out of the car to see what happened. It looked as though her engine overheated. Marlena did not have a phone on her and could not call for help. She went and got her backpack out of the car and decided to just walk to school on foot. She walked about a mile until someone pulled up beside her and rolled down their window. �Need a lift?� The man asked.
Marlena turned and looked at him. He looked like a sketchy man and did not trust him. �No thank-you I am fine with walking.� She said politely and continued to walk but the car began to follow her.
Marlena became very frightened and started to walk at a faster pace as the car followed. Marlena didn�t know what to do, there wasn�t a safe short cut and she was afraid to cut through the woods fearing that the man would get out of his car and chase after her. She heard another car coming though and it pulled in front of the other car, stopping the first car that was following. Marlena stopped too and watched as the window rolled down. �Need a lift?� John asked her with a smile. �Oh, John! Thank you so much!� Marlena replied with joy while opening the door and getting into the car.
John drove away and looked out his rear view mirror making sure the other car was not following them.
�John thank you, I didn�t know what to do, and the man in the car was following.� Marlena told him with relief. �It�s no problem Marlena, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and I�m glad I was here.� John told her worryingly.
Marlena smirked at him as he smiled back at her. She felt so comfortable around him, like they have known each other forever.
�So, what are you doing up this early.� Marlena asked him, trying to strike up a conversation. �Well, do you want to know the truth?� John asked her. �Well, ya sure.� Marlena told him. �Okay, well you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?� John asked of her. �Well, that�s pretty easy since I have no one to tell. Go on.� Marlena replied. �Well, you see, Cindy doesn�t get to school till almost 8�so I have time to get some work done and catch up with my friends before she gets there.� John told her willingly. �Oh I see�� Marlena replied looking down at her fingers that she was fidgeting with. �Ah�John� Marlena asked. �Yes?� John asked while looking across at her. �Why do you go out with Cindy, I mean I know I shouldn�t really be asking this question and you don�t have to��Marlena asked but was stopped short. �No, Marlena, it�s ok to ask. I don�t truly know why I go out with her. I mean we have been going out since last year. See she is the head cheerleader of the squad and I was the captain of the J.V. baseball team, and everyone thought that it would be cute if we went to the sophomore semi-formal together�and then when just started seeing each other more and eventually became a couple.� John replied. �Oh�I see� was Marlena�s response. �So, do you have anyone special back where you came from?� John asked her. �Well, I did but we broke up before I had to move here.� Marlena told him. �Oh. Marlena��John said. �Yes?� Marlena replied. �Why DID you move here?� John asked her. �Well, it�s kind of a long story.� Marlena told him. �Well, we do have 5 minutes before we reach the school so shoot.� John replied. �Well�my parents died about a month and a half ago�and so I came here to live with my aunt.� She told him. �Oh, I�m sorry Marlena, maybe I shouldn�t have asked.� John replied with sympathy. �Its ok, I�ve gotten over their deaths, at least enough that I am not thinking about it everyday, it�s just the moving part I haven�t gotten over.� She told him. �Yah, it must be hard moving to a new place where you know no one. Especially Salem, it�s hard to make friends here.� John told. �Yes, so I have experienced.� Marlena told him looking back out the car window. �Well, Marlena you have one friend.� John told her. �Yah, who is that?� Marlena asked him. �Me, of course.� John told her. He grabbed Marlena�s hand and held it before letting go and putting it back on the driving wheel. When they got to school Marlena thanked John for the ride and they went their separate ways. The school day was once again long but Marlena had two classes with John, algebra and history, in which could stare at him all class and brighten her day. She made it through lunch seating with a few girls and small talking with them but she mostly was silent. She did not care so much about making friends; as long as she could get through the day small talking she was fine.