How This Rose Gained It’s Thorns by: Nyssa Estrella
1
“What did you do over the summer?” A girl across me asked.
“Lived with my grandma in Portland,Oregon.What did you do over the summer?”
“One word,” Another girl replied. “New York City.”
That was the conversation that played in the large, brightly lit Lenard Cullen Academy between my roommate, Rosie and her friend, Cassandra. Rosie’s bouncy, brown hair jumping as she blabbed on about the Statue Of Liberty and carriage rides in Central Park. Then Cassandra started to blab on and on about playing around cedar trees and writing poems. Their voices bounced off the wooden walls and joined the atmosphere of other voices.
I sat in the metal bench in silence across from the Rosie and Cassandra with a plastic, green tray with glazed salmon, rice, apple slices, Caesar salad and a glass of fruit punch. I wore the Lenard Cullen Academy uniform: a purple shirt, grey slacks, a grey tuxedo jacket, white knee-high socks that scratched my knees just a tad and black Mary-Janes.
“Hey, Christina!” Rosie cut a bit of tofu and ate it. “What did you do over the summer?”
I totally regretted my summer and didn't really want to talk about it.
“Earth to Christina! Calling back Christina!” Rosie shouted. “What did you do over the summer?”
“Yeah, Christina.” Cassandra leaned down and placed her slightly tanned skin on her hands. “You can't possibly have an really dull summer.”
“Yeah,” Another girl, one of the new ones that sat at our table replied. “Just spill it, sister. Just spill it.”
Multiple other girls across the cafeteria chanted a ‘yeah’, proving that they were interested too.
“Ok, ok.” I replied. “If you wanted to hear what happened, here's what happened:…”
“So what are you when you get back home?” Rosie, who was tying her chestnut hair up with a big, fluffy scrunchie in a hot school bus bound for Oakland on June 31st, where we are going to get dropped off and I’ll start a five hour road trip back to my neighborhood in Los Angeles .“ I’m going to visit my cousin, Sam in New York.”
“Oh,” I reclined back into the hot, leather covered bench. “I don't have anything planned for this summer. I’m just wait for anything cool to come along and do it.”
“Yeesh,” Rosie replied. “I just hope you have a great summe- oh my goodness, we’re here! The Oakland bus stop! It's the Oakland bus stop, everybody!”
“You're right,” Cassandra from behind us wailed along with the chorus of other girls. “We’re here…”
“Shimmer people!” Our bus driver said as she pulled and stopped the crowed bus station.
Me and Rosie waited as the first few girls in the first dozen grabbed their luggage and carry on’s proudly and trotted down before it was finally our turn. We picked our bags from the black, tight mesh from above our booth and we marched down the metal steps ourselves to the large crowd of parents in search for our own.
Rosie was able to find her parents in 2 minutes but for me was a lot more faster once I pushed and budged out of the blurry crowd of girls and their parents. Then once I hit the hot concrete parking lot, a set of three car horns can distinctly be heard over the mutters of hi’s and ‘how much have your grown’ from students and parents.
I knew where those car horn sounds came from as I dashed carefully across to my mother, who had gotten out her navy van to give me a hug and a kiss on my cheek.
“How's my favorite sweetie,” My mom, a social worker, scanned me with her green eyes: my dark brown skin, brown hair, the grey slacks and tuxedo jacket along with my purple shirt. “Ready for summer vacation, Christina?”
My mom was the social worker that adopted me when she used to live in San Francisco. I was usually in a few foster homes until when I was four and in all those years, life has been rough. My mom got me out of there and into a better place when she moved to Los Angeles
“Totally, mom.” I replied as mom grabbed both of my bags and we both walked back to the van where I received a bit of a surprise when I opened the sliding car door:
There was this Caucasian-colored, 15-year old girl at the end of the backseat rode that sat in between the window and a bright blue cooler. Her blond hair briskly waving in the wind from the AC with her blackberry eyes staring into my blueberry eyes.
“It’s Christina, right?” She opened a bag of Skittles as I climbed onto a black, slightly warm seat and eased the door shut. “I’m Hannah.”
“Hi,” I answered. “You're from San Francisco, right?”
“Of course,” Hannah opened the cooler again, brought out a another pack of Skittles and plopped it on top of the Colman cooler. “Mom told me that Skittles were your favorite candy when we got food for the road trip, do you want one?”
“Sure,” I replied, grabbing the free Skittle bag from the cooker and then settling back into my seat as mom reappeared into the driver’s seat and turned up her favorite music: 90’s pop up a bit. “Were you adopted?”
“Finally,” Hannah teased her blond, gold locks by pushing her hands into the back of her head. “I’ve been through five families and it wasn't that fun.”
She looked at the window for a bit and then turned back to me.
“You better put on your seatbelt, I think we're starting to go off.” Hannah warned.
“Right.” I realized and slid the seatbelt over me. Then grabbed my Skittles bag and ripped the top off. “Now, I’m ready.”
Later on, just as we approached the Granda Hills neighborhood. Mom chose to get dinner at a favorite restaurant of mine, Sammy’s Italian and after finding a pinewood table. We sat down in leather, covered seats and we ordered the following: a big, cheese and sausage pizza for all of us, spaghetti with shrimp and Alfredo sauce for mom, spaghetti slaughtered in Tomato sauce and meatballs for Hannah, spinach and cheese calzones for me and cotton candy-flavored gelato for all of us (it's one of the new products I’ve never really had before.)
I used to be a bit of a messy person when I ate and used to always eat calzones with my hands. Now after a few years at Lenard Cullen Academy, I ate neatly and pleasantly. Always using my knife and fork when I ate.
Somehow, it seemed to offend somebody in the restaurant:
“Hey, Fancy Pants!” I heard someone, an older male yell from behind me. “All happy, eating like a gentleman.”
How dare them stereotype good table manners, I thought as I shook my shoulders and chomped on the last of my calzone. How dare, thee! We are not all fancy, just a bit sophisticated.
Ok, maybe I am little too sophisticated for a 14 year old but… it's good to be socially acceptable.
“You can't be socially acceptable if you don't know how to act your age.” Another one, a female pointed out.
Ok, now that was honestly prejudice and I was starting to boil with anger, not just a little tick anymore. It was now a galloping boil of the water in head I knew as my sanity, was boiling over.
“Stop it!” Hannah, who sat across from me, stood up and looked behind me. “This is my sister and you will not and never will offend the way she eats. With cutlery or not.”
“Hannah Ross-Henderson,”Said Mom, in a strict tone. “That is not how you deal with a heckler.”
I looked around to see that Harvey Denver, an older childhood bully of mine, was the teenager who pissed me off along with a messy blond-haired, 18 year old girl who ate her gelato in victory. I bet the teenagers that were in at Sammy’s right now were probably heckling and laughing at me too.
“Hannah,” I looked back at my older blond-haired stepsister. “You honestly didn't need to do that but…”
“Yes, I’m awesome.” Hannah replied. “You should really join my gang, The Thorns. You really need to toughen up and let your civilized acts flow off a bit.”
“You do realize that you got into trouble ten times last month,” Mom replied. “For vandalism and sneaking out. You're still grounded for a few more days.”
“Mother, It was cool and totally worth it.” Hannah mentioned.
“No, it wasn't.” Mom answered. “You had to go through community service for those tags.”
“Still worth it.” Hannah replied, receiving a ‘no’ from mom.
“Sorry about this, Christina.” Mom turned to me as I scanned the both of them arguing. “I’m sure that you’ll still have a good summer,”
She looked at Hannah right in her eyes.
“…without literally painting the town red.” She answered.
Well, sometimes you need to go up and above our authorities and disobey them. This was the summer I became that exact someone:
Usually, after 10 long months of boarding school. I decided that I should finally take a night where I’m able to sleep in and happily wake up after sleeping in to a homegrown breakfast that wasn't from a cafeteria. So by 5:10 am in the early morn: I was covered with brown, green and white linens, head plopped a comfy white pillow and my ears listening to… well, honestly…
Yes, I still listen to One Direction but only when I’m alone. I still couldn't believe my mom turned my bedroom into part-time guest room. Well, I wasn't going stay in there alone for long tonight.
“Hey, Christina!” The sound of Christina's hiss replaced the sound of the boy band I still listened too. “Time to get up and a’em.”
“Really, Hannah.” I sat up and rubbed my tired eyes as Christina turned on the lamp next to me.
“At,” I tried to read the electronic clock’s green typing that glowed on the other side of the queen bed that I slept on for the last few hours. “5:14am in the morning. Seriously, I got out of school two days ago. I love that I finally have an older sister but can we please do this thing at…at least 9:30am at least.”
“I know a good breakfast place…” Hannah went on. “And it serves good eggs benedict and tons of pancakes.”
I slid out of the linens and walked over to the mirrored closet, where I picked out my signature outfit: a white cotton shirt, blue jean short-shorts, knee high socks and blue high tops along with a metal brown compass necklace. I also added a purple, school hoodie just in case it was a bit chilly.
“Now, Hannah.” I replied as I got my undergarments. “Please allow me to dress up, alone?”
I popped out of my room and joined Hannah, who wore red sneakers, blue jeans and a black leather jacket with a distinct logo made of rose-pink colored rose upon a dark green, thorny stem with a banner wrapped around with “The Thorns” written in blue thread in a fancy hand written font that was inside a square of golden studs.
We later snuck out of the pitch dark, pine tree-based house and darted down the cold, grey, concrete lot and onto the nearly even sidewalk in the early morning. The both of us walked down the sidewalk with me looking at the light-navy blue skies that were light up by golden yellow streetlight glow that made walking through a neighborhood in San Fernando Valley a tiny bit more interesting.
It got a little more warmer so I took off my hoodie and wrapped it around my waist as we trekked in the still dark neighborhood. I would usually look up at the white diamond stars that were scattered across the navy stain skies and took a deep breath in relief.
“I rarely never had a moment like this back at Lenard Cullen Academy,” I smiled back at Hannah, who adjusted her blond hair once again. “What must it feel to run free, not down a tracked sidewalk with an always expected, prefect and proper path but like up in the stars. Where I can freely run with no expectations on where to go and what to do.”
“Well,” Hannah stated. “This summer, I promise that you’ll learn what it's like to run free and enjoy yourself for a change. Besides, Benny’s is almost a block away.”
“Is that the dinner?” I asked.
“Uh hum.” Hannah replied as we turned a corner down until we made it to the front of a metal, submarine-like building. The florescent lights greeted us as we walked proudly inside the warm establishment, the clacking of glazed hardwood floors continuing until Hannah found a group of four people at the silver counter with a slick red edges.
“Hannah Henderson,” A tall, skinny, black-haired 16-year old in a black pencil skirt, black boots and a leather jacket the same as Hannah greeted the two of us. “Welcome to the meeting and... Is that your younger cousin with you?”
“She sure doesn't look like you,” A curly red-headed, 15 year old girl in a similar outfit to the first swung herself and the red stool around. “Oh, she's Christina, right?”
“Yep,” Hannah replied. “Andrea, Stacy, Olivia. Meet my stepsister, Christina.”
Then Hannah turned to look at me: “Christina, this is Andrea,”
The black-haired 16-year old looked at me and waved.
“Welcome to The Thorns, Christina.” Andrea smiled, metal-road rail like braces lined her pearl-colored teeth.
“This is Stacy,” Hannah continued.
“Hey!” The redhead answered.
“And lastly, Olivia.” Hannah pointed to a slightly tanned, brown haired 15-year old teenager who sat down and stared at the stark white menu.
“Want to sit next to me, Christina?” Olivia replied as she pulled up another stark white menu from a wooden storage area.
“Yes please,” I answered as sat next to the 15-year old and looked at the menu. Hannah was right as rain, it even said that their eggs Benedict was the “best in the state.”
“S’what's today's orders, ladies?” A brown-haired man in an greasy apron and holding a paper pad/pen got our orders down.
“A strawberry smoothie and pancake, hash browns and berry plate.” Andrea answered.
“Whatever she's having?” Stacy answered.
“A fruit cup and yogurt.” Olivia and Hannah said at the same time.
“An eggs benedict?” I answered. “With orange juice?”
“Ok.” The brown-headed man replied. “Coming right up!”
The rest of the older girls chatted along as I ran my finger, swirling it around the smooth metal before my eggs benedict came. The girls chatted again during the meal until the end. When Andrea asked me a very important question that judged how my summer became to be:
“Christina, do you want to be part of The Thorns?”
I replied with a big and quick ‘yes’.
“Ok,” Andrea answered proudly as she paid the man that got our food. “Meeting adjourned. The Thorns will meet at 2:30pm, we’ll only tag our high school today.”
A chorus of yes’s came from us before we left. Then after, me and Christina walked out quickly back to our home where, we snuck back into bed and slept until mom woke us up.
I changed into a loose pink shirt, blue jeans and black leather boots along with my compass necklace, yet again.
Christina and me walked around, breathing in the summer air and enjoying the summer warmth until we made it to the outdoor James E Michael High school where Andrea, Stacy and Olivia started to paint The Thorns logo on a beige, brick wall outside of the entrance. A black leather jacket laid on bright blue tarp underneath them.
“Come on, Christina,” Andrea replied as she continued to paint a section in rose gold paint. “Grab a paint brush and your leather jacket and help us.”
“Isn't this technically vandalism?” I asked as I grabbed the leather gang jacket off of the floor and slipped it on in the summer heat.
“Yeah, yeah.” Hannah picked up a wide paintbrush and started to paint on the banner after Olivia was done with the stem. “It is, that's what do. If you want to be part of The Thorns, you got to accept what we d…”
We halted as we heard loud police sirens, followed by blue and red lights starting to shine off the beige wall like it came from a crystal prism.
“Come on, sisters.” Andrea started to run through the large brick entrance to the school courtyard. “Let's ditch Christina and go for the exit at the end of the school.”
“Yes, Andrea.” Everyone except me quickly replied and rushed inside the lonely school yard, leaving me to take the blame for the painting.
“Really, Hannah.” I mumbled as I saw a police car pull up across from me on the street.
“You ditch me to take the blame for this. We both been through the same problems, I thought we were friends.”
An brown-haired, female police officer got out of the car and walked over to me. Questioning why I was vandalizing here, where were my parents and.etc