I grabbed my camera from the counter and I shut the door behind me carefully. I tried not to wake up my parents. I knew moving to this new town was a bad idea especially for a thirteen year old like me. A new school, new friends and a new town.

I made my way slowly down the squeaky front steps. I made sure it wasn’t loud enough to wake up my family. Not knowing Lucy's toy was there, I stepped on it and let it slip from under my foot as I fell. I heard my mom call my name, Katie, repeatedly from the open upstairs window. I sprinted quickly away from my house, pumping my arms back and forth, pounding my feet against the sidewalk, gripping my camera tightly in one hand. I kept running until I couldn’t hear her anymore. It didn’t take long until I stopped.

I turned the corner, stopped, and sat on the curb. While catching my breath, my eyes glared at the field across the street. I brought myself to my feet again and made sure there were no cars, which there weren’t. Who would be up in the morning in a town like this?

I stood on the field, looking at the yellow posts with shadows that never seemed to have an end. I looked down at my camera forgetting I even had it. I turned it on to take a picture so I would know what my next drawing would look like. It took only about five tries until I got a perfect shot of the yellow posts with the never ending shadows. I turned around hoping I’d find my way back home.

I walked through the door, not surprised to see my mom out of the corner of my eye. Sitting on the couch. Acting like I didn’t see her, I ran upstairs to my room and shut the door. I put my camera back in its case and left it on the top of my desk. My mom came into my room, telling me I shouldn’t wander off on my own, especially because I didn’t know this town. About then, I started thinking that I needed a lock.

"Mom, why don’t I have a lock?" I questioned her. She gave me a look, and I gave her a smile before she left the room. After she left, I hung a “please knock” sign on the outside of my door and shut it. Under my bed, I reached for my self portrait and pencil case. I had bought them with all my own money to avoid any future questions being asked.

Later that day, I finished the drawing that I had been working on for about a week. I held it up. Wow, did it look good. Not only, good but perfect. All the shading was done right, there were no eraser marks, and it really did look like a full week worth of work. After looking at it for any mistakes and not finding any, I heard a knock on my door.

I looked around yelling over and over again “Hold on a minute,” thinking where I should hide everything. I shoved my pencils, erasers and my drawing down the crack between my bed and the wall. With the bottom half of my body still on the bed and my upper half off, I reached for the book I had been reading to make it seem like I had been doing something. “Come in,” I said loudly enough for the person to hear me. It was Cassidy, my best friend since the sixth grade.

She walked in quickly with a big smile, her blonde curly hair waving behind her. It’s not like I didn’t expect her. We have been friends for four years; we didn’t need to call to go over to each others house.

“Hi,” she said. “What’s up?”

“Just reading,” I replied, holding up my book so she could see.

“Oh,” she added as we sat in silence. I was thinking about how we have been friends for four years; there shouldn’t be any secrets between us at all. Then, it came to me, being an artist is something I want to be. If I told anyone about drawing, it should be my parents first. However, since Cassidy was already there, I was going to tell her.

“Cassidy,” I said, breaking the silence and putting my book down.

“Yeah?” she questioned me. I opened my mouth to reply, but words just wouldn’t come out. I wasn’t sure how to tell her. I closed my mouth feeling stupid and reached in the crack for my self-portrait. I handed it to her as she looked at me more puzzled than ever. Her eyes scanned my drawing, before she even said a word.

“Katie, did you draw this?” I nodded. She told me how great it looked in amazement. I was pretty much amazed myself.

“Hey, can you just wait here a second? I’ll be right back,” I said as I took my drawing back. I sprinted down the stairs to the living room to find my mom and dad talking and watching Lucy, my two year old sister, playing with her toys.

“Mom, dad, I just need your attention for a little,” I said, interrupting my mom. “There is something I need to show you.” I grabbed my drawing from behind me and turned it over for them to see.

“Did you really draw this?” She gasped. My dad just looked at it with his eyes wide open, and surprised.

“I really want to be an artist, and I though you should know about it,” I said, as I waited for their response.
“Katie, do you want to take summer classes? There will be kids in your grade there. It will be a great way to make friends and start off the year,” she said while my dad was nodding in agreement. I looked at my drawing, thinking it over. Classes, new friends, and more help with my drawings. All I could think of was how great it all seemed.
“I can’t wait,” I said with a huge smile. That’s when I knew things would get better.