I knew something was wrong. My brother and I both go to a private school. My parents pay a lot of money for us to go. My parents were trying not to tell us but I knew, I knew my parents couldn't afford to pay for us to go to school anymore. I did not know why though. Dad still has a job so what is the problem?

School is not too far away from home. It is within walking distance. The roads are not in the best condition. The roads are dirty and when a car drives by dust goes flying everywhere. My favorite thing when I am walking to school is when a Volkswagen Beetle drives by. I would like a navy blue Volkswagen Beetle. Unfortunately we have a Ford pickup because it is easier for dad to use for work.

Since mom stays at home we have people live in our house for rent. I kind of like it. It is hard though because there are a lot of people. We have two families living with us. The Clark family and the Joseph Family. In the Clark family there is Kevin and Jane. Kevin is 26 and Jane is 24. They are married. In the Joseph Family there is Charlie, Katie and Sarah. Charlie is 42 and he works in the carpentry business just like my dad. Katie is 45 and stays at home with my mom and helps her out. Sarah is my age, 13.

Sarah and I are best friends. We do everything together. We grew up together and have been friends for so long.

Dad has been acting really weird lately. He has been home at different times in the day and I am very curious why. He also has not been eating dinner with us, but he looks healthy.

For school we had to go to a soup kitchen and help serve the food to the poor. I was so excited. I love helping people. It makes me so happy.

So today after school I went to the soup kitchen with Sarah and met up with our classmates. While I was there I saw someone that looked familiar but I did not know who it was exactly. I was really curious to find out. It turns out it was dad. I saw my father waiting in line to get food. When dad and I made eye contact he looked so disappointed in himself. He must not have known I was there. I dropped the spoon that was in my hand and I ran to the bathroom. My eyes were filling with water and I did not know what to do. I sat in the stall and cried. When I was in the bathroom so many things were coming together. Why my dad did not eat when it was dinner, why he was so down on himself all the time.

It turns out that dad had lost his job a month ago and I did not even know. Mom and dad sat me down before I went to bed and dad said "Caroline, everything is going to be ok". My eyes were starting to tear up. I did not know what to say. Mom said "no matter what please do not tell Will, you know his birthday is coming up and we do not want to disappoint him".