This isn’t my very first day I have ever had; I have moved 25 times in the last year. It was only a week ago that I was in the warm weather of Hawaii, and now I am running down the halls of Oakland High School, because the fog is so thick here I missed where the school was and had to turn around. Now I am late to class! I feel like an M & M in a bag of Skittles in the hallways. In my first period class, the kids just stared at me the whole time. The teacher had to stop talking once and tell the kids to keep their eyes on the board. In all of the places I have moved, I have never felt so low and out of place in my life! I felt as if I was in a dark hole, but then a week later the bell rang for lunch, and man was I saved by the bell. As I entered the cafeteria, I saw a light in my darkness; his name was Daniel. He held the door for me and asked if I wanted to sit with him. Of course I said yes!

Finally, school was out for the day! As I left my last class I heard Daniel in the background. “Katie, wait up!” he said. “I will walk you home, I don’t want to see a foxy lady like you get hurt on your way home. I don’t want you to learn about this hood the hard way.”

I told him thank you as I accepted his generous offer. We chatted all the way to my house. It seemed that he liked a lot of the same stuff I like. It was as if he was reading my mind or something. He politely walked
me to my door and told me that he would walk me to school tomorrow. As I went to shut the door, I heard him holler, “Hey, Katie, I know we just met, but could I get your phone number?”

Before he could even finish, I said, “Of course!” That night I never went to bed! I have never laughed so hard for so long in my life! When I stepped out the door that morning, he was sitting on our steps waiting for me to walk to school! As we walked in the doors of Oakland High School, I still felt like that M & M, but I did notice that when we walked by the library, they were putting up signs! In big bold letters it said; MORP. I looked to Daniel and just gave a simple smile.

The afternoon seemed to just drag on! I missed talking to Daniel so much that when I finally got out of class I raced to his locker to meet him! We walked home as normal, but this time, when we reached my front porch steps, I turned to him. “Daniel, will you go to MORP with me?” I asked. I thought it would be a yes or no answer, but man was I wrong.

He started off, “It’s not as simple as that, you know, we people can’t be going out with your people. You can get killed up in this hood for doing that, and that’s the straight up truth. I think you are really cool and all, but I don’t think that we should risk that. What do you think?”

“Wow, I did not even know that there were people that were like that anymore. I am sure glad though that you are chill enough to tell me
now and not beat around the bush. I would really like it though if you would still be my friend. We can still talk on the phone at night and stuff, right?” I asked him.

“I would love to keep talking on the phone with you Katie, but my Ma told me if I don’t stop talking to you tonight that I am going to have to move out. I just think it is best if we pretend this never happened. Is that alright with you?” he responded.

I was so furious at this point, I just wanted to run away or go back to Hawaii. There was enough “my people” that I could be friends with there. I finally got my emotions together and said, “I am sorry that this world is so black and white, because I really cared a lot about you, but I definitely understand how people are these days, and I would not want you getting hurt.”

As politely as he could, he said good bye and left our front steps. I passed him in the hallways once more, all I got though was a nod, and we never talked again.
Just like clockwork, my Dad came home from work and said that we are moving to a base in Oregon. I wish my mother was still here; she would have made him settle down. It is as if he does not understand what it is like having 26 first days, but on the other hand, who really understands the world we live in? It is all built off of social status, what color you are,
what you do, and what you have. So, I don’t really blame him for what he does. Oregon, here we come!