Ohana

Maple Leaf Book Project

Brattleboro VT

2016

They said he was going to be ok… They said no one will get hurt. They lied.

It all started in the late spring.

"I don't want to go to school!" Chloe complained to her mom.

"Jake is waiting for you outside, now hurry up and eat a protein bar." Chloe's mom protested.

Jake was Chloe's best friend ever since kindergarten. They did everything

together ice; skating, acting, reading, homework assignments, walking to school.

They could talk to each other about anything which was very helpful when

Chloe missed her dad or when Jake wanted to talk about him and his parents

divorce. Chloe could never imagine just living with only her dad, or mom.

"Just give me a second." Chloe said.

Chloe walked downstairs, wearing a American eagle shirt with hollister

jeans. This was one of the little things Chloe took pride for, her fashion. She tried

her best to resist the smell of bacon and eggs her mom made since there was no

time to eat.

"You realize you have gym today" Jake said, looking at Chloe's boots.

"Ugh" Chloe moaned while going inside to get her air jordan's X|.

When Chloe and jake finally got to school she noticed the American flag

hanging half mast. This was Chloe's biggest pet peeve, it always made her think

of her dad and how he could be dead at any second. She also deeply disliked

when people acted like going into war isn't a big deal.

Chloe and Jake walked into school and quickly said goodbye. Chloe didn't

like how her and Jake never got to see each other at school since at Brattleboro

Area Middle School ( pronounced as bams ) splitted up into two groups Draco

and Leo for the 8th grade and canis and Taurus for the 7th graders. Sadly Chloe

was put on Draco and Jake was on Leo which meant they have no classes

together.

Chloe went into math class and looked for a seat, then noticed the only

empty seat was next to Larissa Bailey. Larissa wouldn't have been her first

choice, since she was super two faced. Chloe would say she was her friend but

didn't mean it. Larissa and Chloe were both friends with Nya Cores and

whenever Chloe would talk to Nya Larissa would get so jealous and butt in and

take Nya away. One time when Larissa

and Chloe were math partners, Larissa tried talking crap about Nya and then

that day Nya went to Larissa's house and Larissa told Nya that Chloe was

making fun of her. Nya believed her and then finally forgave her after a couple

days even though she didn't do anything. Larissa would always act good at

sports but she wasn't good at all. Chloe was very good at basketball so she did a

extended basketball program for really good basketball players and Larissa got

jealous and tried out but didn't make it.

“You’re outfit doesn’t match.” Larissa said loud enough for everyone else in

the classroom could hear. Larissa did her fake laugh like she always does when

she insults someone.

“Oh i'm sorry i didn't dress appropriate to learn how to multiply decimals.”

said chloe. Everyone laughed at Larissa. You could see Larissa’s veins popping

out of her forehead. This made Chloe feel like Larissa, nothing but a low down

bully, but Chloe couldn’t help it she refused to let Larissa just embarrass her like

that.

After a few periods it was finally lunch. This was one of the only times Jake

and Chloe saw each other at school since they both had A lunch.

“Have you heard from your dad lately?” asked Jake.

“ No, but he’s going to call me from his radio today when I gets home

school.”

“Where is he now?” Jake asked looking interested.

“Afghanistan. Then in two weeks he’ll be in Iraq” Chloe replied, looking

down at her jordans.

After lunch Chloe went to gym. This was the only class Chloe had with Nya

that Larissa wasn’t in.

“Hey.” Chloe said running to Nya

“Hey….” Nya replied trailing off

“Whats wrong? Did I do something?” Chloe asked.

“Well Larissa told me that you said-” Chloe cut her off.

“I honestly don’t care, Larissa can tell you whatever you want. I’m just not

dealing with drama. Larissa could tell you i killed your new puppy i don't care

because she’s just a stupid liar! No wonder her dad left her”

Nya looked at Chloe surprised.

Chloe sat down near the wall next to Kaleb. Chloe was so excited since it

was the basketball unit, but started to feel bad about what she said about

Larissa’s family.

Eventually school was over. Jake met Chloe at the entrance to B.A.M.S.

The whole walk home Jake was talking about how Hannah Roberts (one of

the popular girls) was flirting with him. Chloe just kept nodding and saying yeah

not even listening, all she could think about was her dad calling when she got

home.

When Chloe got home her father didn’t call until 5:30. She answered as quickly as she could, so fast it would have made lightning feel like a sloth.

“Hello?” said Chloe.

“Hey sweetie.” said Chloe’s dad. His voice sweet but fearful.

“I miss you so much!” Chloe said.

“I miss you-” He didn’t finish his sentence…

All Chloe could hear was gun shots. She dropped the phone and ran outside, she just ran, she didn’t know where she was going but didn’t care. All she could focus on was the tears rushing down her face. Chloe eventually ended up in a neighborhood park. She noticed a young girl swinging in one of the baby swings with her father pushing her. Cherish that. she thought to herself.

Chloe returned to her house and opened the door and walked to the living room where her mom was sitting on the couch staring at the TV with tear stains on her cheeks. Chloe looked at the screen to see what her mom was so focused on.Right there splat at the top of the tv said “Big attack on the american army in Afghanistan, Over 100 soldiers already dead and 400 injured.” Chloe knew one of the soldiers either dead or injured was her father. She went and sat next to her mom and just hugged her while tears rushing down their faces.

It was till the next morning until Chloe’s mom got a call informing that one of the dead soldiers was her dad. Gone is all she could think to herself.

Chloe didn’t go back to school until a week went by. That whole week she spent staying in bed crying. But her mom made her go today.

“Are you okay?” asked Jake as they walked to school.

“ Does it look like it, imagine your dad 6 feet under.” Chloe answered, with some sadness.

Chloe didn’t care about anything, not even at gym when they played basketball she just asked to sit out.

When Chloe got home her mom wasn’t there which didn’t surprise Chloe because her mom has been busy planning things for the funeral the grave, flowers, etc. The funeral was in 3 days and Chloe was not ready to say goodbye at all, she just wanted life to go back to the way it used to be.

The days eventually passed and here Chloe was looking in her mirror, dressed in a black dress with black flats and to top it off with a black headband, she felt a tear spread down her cheek.The last thing she wanted to do was go to a funeral, not to mention her dad’s funeral.

“Come on Chloe we have to be early” Chloe’s mom yelled up the stairs.

Chloe wiped away the tear and headed down the stairs.She saw her mom wearing black everything just like Chloe but what really caught her eye was an black veil attached to her hair then it suddenly hit Chloe, her mom was a widow. Chloe looked at her mom’s left hand to see if her wedding ring was still there, but where there used to be a 2 carat ring used to be was now just a wrinkly plain finger.Chloe was suprised to see that her mom took it off.

After getting over the fact that her mom took off her ring they both got into the car to head to the funeral. Chloe and her mom only said one thing on the way there and that was to see what time it was, but other then that it was dead silence.

When they finally got there Chloe saw a lot of her family mostly her dad’s side. Eventually everyone sat down but Chloe went to the open casket and took out a photo from her bag. The photo was her and her parents smiling next to an American flag. Chloe remembered this picture because it was when her dad came home from Iraq. This was taken when they were an unbroken family, now it feels like the family was glass and it just shattered into tiny pieces. Chloe’s dad was wearing his uniform, Chloe tucked the picture in his uniform next to his heart. Suddenly she noticed a 2 carat ring hidden in the corner of the casket with a note next to it. She knew the note was from her mom, she went to grab the note but quickly jerked her arm away. She would never dare to look at something so private. Chloe started to pray. She knew everyone was watching her but she didn’t care she just had to.

The whole funeral was just filled with speeches, cry’s, and memories. After the funeral she just sat there looking at her father and the red white and blue scattered across his casket. Chloe just wanted to say goodbye one last time

“I miss you, Daddy.” Chloe starting grabbing onto the now closed casket and started bursting into tears.

“why did you have to leave?!” Chloe sobbed.

Chloe’s gramma who came all the way from Hawaii grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

“Chloe your dad is in a better place, he’s in god’s hands now and I know he’ll take care of your father. You just have to stay strong.” Chloe’s gramma protested.

“Everyone is going to forget about him! Everyone is going to leave him behind!” Chloe shouted at her gramma.

“Chloe you sound crazy! Your father is ohana.”

“Ohana?” asked Chloe.

“Ohana means family, and family means no one left behind or forgotten.” Chloe’s gramma answered.

At first Chloe thought this was just another one of Chloe’s gramma’s new words she learned while living in Hawaii but it felt like more, it felt like it was meaningful.

Eventually the funeral ended and everyone returned home but the only thing Chloe could focus on was what her gramma said to her.

“Ohana” Chloe said out loud. The word sounded crisp on her tongue.

A couple months after Jake came over to Chloe’s house. They searched for Chloe’s mom's wedding ring but couldn’t find it after an hour or two of looking.

“Do you think your mom took off her ring because she might want to start dating again?” Jake asked

“There is no way in hell I’m letting some random guy try to replace my dad!” Chloe shouted

After Chloe shouted at Jake she could see the way he was sweating and was trying to look at anything besides her eyes. Chloe knew he was keeping a secret from her. If he wasn’t telling her it must have been a secret that could make her so angry she could explode, and Chloe was determined to find out what he was keeping from her.

“Is everything ok?” Chloe asked

“Yeah….” Answered Jake but slowly his words drifted off into space.

After that strange conversation Jake said he had to get home because his dad was making dinner, which Chloe knew was just an excuse because his dad worked late on Tuesdays and even Chloe knew that.

Chloe’s mom came home after about 30 minutes. Looking nervous, which made Chloe curious.

“Everything ok?” asked her mom looking into her crystal blue eyes.

“You grasp the fact that your dad just wants us to be happy, right? Chloe’s mom asked.

“What do you mean?” Chloe was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“I think i need to start taking interest in dating again,” replied Chloe’s mom.

Chloe looked at her mom like she just told her she ran over her new puppy. Chloe ran upstairs crying. Every tear burned on her cheek like fire. Chloe took a family photo out of her frame and ripped it in half. She couldn't believe what her mom just told her. Chloe heard a knock on the door.

“Honey please open the door.” Chloe’s mom said.

“Leave me alone!” Chloe shouted.

You could hear her mom’s footsteps slowly going down the stairs. A couple hours went by, the whole time Chloe was staring at the torn picture on the floor. “Ohana” is the only thing Chloe could think about.

A couple weeks went by and Chloe could only talk about school to her mom. Her mom dating again was a sensitive subject for Chloe. No one could replace her dad not the smartest, richest man on earth.

Chloe went to school and saw Larissa and Nya hanging out by the bathroom.

“Hey guys” Chloe said

Larissa and Nya just glared at Chloe and walked away. Chloe totally forgot about what she said about Larissa’s dad. Larissa went to her locker while Nya walked over to Chloe.

“Do you know what really happened with Larissa’s father or do you just like to assume crap?” Nya snapped

“Yeah her dad left her and her mom” Chloe replied

“No her dad is in jail for abusing Larissa’s mom.” Nya said quiet enough so Larissa couldn’t hear.

“Oh my god.” Chloe said staring at Nya surprised of what she just said. She felt so disgusted with herself she was about to puke.

Chloe ran to the bathroom and threw up. Mrs. Freetag, the principal, called her mom and Chloe went home.

As soon as Chloe got home she sat on her bed thinking about how her whole life changed in just a few months, until it finally hit her. Almost everyone she knew had a single parent, she wasn’t the only one. How could she be so selfish?

When Chloe finished her dinner she looked on her phone to see three missed calls from Jake and nine messages. When she opened them she couldn’t see a message that didn’t include Larissa’s name.

WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT ABOUT LARISSA?! SHE’S TEXTING ME ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT HER DAD.

Chloe couldn’t believe Jake found out, she was just scrolling through the missed messages until the last two messages caught her eye…

CHLOE….SHE LIKES ME AND I THINK I LIKE HER TOO. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

WE’RE DATING NOW ;)

Chloe sat there surprised. She was so confused, is Larissa still her enemy? Does she like Jake more than a friend? Chloe’s mom came into her room.

“Are you feeling better?” asked her mom.

“Uh sure I guess” answered Chloe

“Are you sure? You don’t look like it,” said Chloe’s mom.

The last thing Chloe wanted to talk about was Larissa and Jake dating since she has feelings for him. Especially with her mom. So Chloe just told her mom she needed rest.

The rest of the day Chloe sat in bed confused. She had to go to school tomorrow to talk to Jake and apologize to Larissa. It didn’t take long for Chloe to realise all this thinking made her tired. Minute by minute her eyes closed slowly. Before you say “Sleeping Beauty” she fell asleep.

Chloe woke up the next morning quickly got ready and met Jake outside. Jake talked most of the way about the whole Larissa thing but Chloe was focusing on his eyes. His crystal blue eyes sparkled like a hundred diamonds under a deep blue sea.

“Um so did your mom tell you?” asked Jake.

“About what?” Chloe asked looking confused.

“About our parents...you know” said Jake.

“What the hell are you talking about? What about our parents?” asked Chloe with fear in her voice, she feared about what was about to come out of Jake’s mouth.

“They’re a thing. Your mom didn’t tell you!?” Jake said.

What Chloe just heard made her feel like she just got hit by a truck. Chloe ran away from Jake tears rushing down her red cheeks. Jake caught Chloe by the end of her shirt and pulled her close.

“Stop running from your problems Chloe it doesn’t solve anything!” shouted Jake.

Jake looked into Chloe’s eyes and Jake leaned in and kissed Chloe.

Chloe was so surprised of what just happened she just sat there looking at Jake, but then remembered what happened before that. She ran all the way to her house but this time Jake didn’t run after her he just continued walking.

Chloe went through the front door and saw her mom sitting on the couch.

“What are you doing???” asked Chloe’s mom.

“You just weren’t going to tell me about your boyfriend, not to mention my best friend’s dad!?!! You're just going to replace dad!” shouted Chloe

“Chloe you need to stop with the replacing your father crap! Your dad will always have a place in my heart, but it’s time to move on and this is the way your dad would want it to be!” Chloe’s mom shouted back.