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Time to time part five

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By Kylee Day
LifeAtStart.com reporter

“So, why’d you decide to move to Bellwich?” Rory said the words in a tone that suggested she didn’t understand why anyone would want to move to the small town. Aryn ignored that and just answered the question.

“It’s…” She trailed off, not being able to find the right words.

“Complicated?” Rory provided with raised eyebrows. Aryn nodded. “Yeah, I kind of get that vibe from you… like you say everything is so complicated, when really, you just don’t want to say the truth.” Aryn thought about this, but didn’t say anything. After a moment of silence and the waitress walking back over to hand them the receipt, Rory spoke up once more.

“Are you free tomorrow?” She asked. Aryn brought her eyes up from her skateboard that she had been rolling back and forth under the table.

“I think so, yeah, why?”

“I want to show you something.” Rory told her. Show me something? What would she want to show me? Aryn thought.

“Okay,” was all she said. Rory paid and the two walked out of the diner in silence, Aryn didn’t say anything until Rory got to her bike.

“Do you want me to call tomorrow or…” She trailed off. The redhead was too anxious to ask the question, “Do you want my number?” and she had no idea why.

“Meet me at the arcade. I can be over there around twelve, but if you want, you can always get there earlier than me and play a few games.” Rory said with confidence in her voice. Not a single stutter or indication of insecurity. Yet, she felt like her stomach was some sort of bouncy house.

“Okay, that’ll work. Where’s the arcade?” Aryn asked, looking around and as far as her eyes could see.

“It’s two blocks over on Sam Street. You can’t miss it with the big neon sign out front.” Rory replied.

“See you then, Rory.” Aryn said the girl’s name as if it were the first time the letters spilled from her lips and out into the air. Rory smiled and let out a small chuckle at this.

“You too, Aryn.” And they were both on their ways home.

When Aryn had returned home, everything was back to normal. At least, as normal as it could be. Her mom was in the kitchen making lunch while her stepdad sat at the dining room table, both of them laughing as Aryn walked in. But the bruise on her mom’s left cheek didn’t go unnoticed. Certainly not by Aryn, being the observer she is, but it almost seemed as though it did go unnoticed. Unnoticed to her mother and unnoticed to her stepdad because in that moment, they looked like a happy family. If one were to put this moment in a movie or a book, would they be labelled as such? Or would the thoughts in their minds unveil the truth to their lies? Aryn would never know… as she let the moment be, for which it was rare to see her mom smiling in not just her lips, but her as eyes as well. And it even made Aryn smile, just a bit, just enough for her to have a little hope in this little family.

That night, Aryn drifted off to sleep, her tiredness measured in the weight of the things she had done that day, and not the tears she had shed. Although, in the back of her mind, Aryn knew this was only the eye of the storm. The calm before the reckoning. But the little hope she had gotten from her mother’s smile led her down a path of expecting a little more happiness in her life. And that path would only lead her to disappointment, down the road.

I’m lovin’ it

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By Crystal Kendrick
LifeAtStart.com reporter

When I turned 16, I started my first and only job at McDonald’s in August of 2017. I started out hating it because the managers were rude, lazy, and showed favoritism. There are things the managers would allow certain crew members to do because of how much they liked them. This was a common opinion among my coworkers and I.

The General Manager (GM) at the time did not care for any of the staff. She often would make threats and empty promises. Sometimes just walking in she would get an attitude just because of how bad her day was. Some wished she would just quit. After I was working there for about two months the GM got fired and we had a new manager replace her.

The new manager’s name was Rachel, and at first I have to admit I was a little scared to meet her because of all the rumors. Most coworkers would say she was rude, mean, and pushy. After getting the chance to work with her I knew she was none of these things. She is a hard working woman who enjoys seeing a smile on people’s faces.

Rachel is one of the most interesting and inspiring people to be around. What others don’t quite see is that she’s considerate, funny, and courteous. She has taught me how to have good work ethic through hard work and perseverance.

A good start to senior year

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By Nyk Miller
LifeAtStart.com reporter

I first met Mrs. Mandley a couple years ago when I was placed into her room for testing. In the beginning, I thought she wasn’t the teacher to really have an interest in students that she did not know. That was my thought until she took an interest in my writing, peering over my shoulder. I was always curious about what people thought of my writing, and hearing that she was a really good teacher, I knew it couldn’t hurt to let her read some of it. Her sarcastic criticism saddened me at first, because I was unaware of her personality. I had her room for several of my tests, and one of those tests I took with my best friend. I’ll never forget when we were laughing and watching videos after the test and Mrs. Mandley tells us not to laugh because “Laughing leads to babies.” It’s definitely in my top ten moments at Start.

During SAT testing, she ended up being the teacher in my class and I couldn’t count the amount of times she made me laugh before and after the test, I also remember a couple minutes before the test she had me go run fill up her water bottle, as I sat confused with my pencil thinking about how soon the tested started and if she thought that I didn’t need every possible second to study.

I was more than thrilled when I saw I had journalism this year, while it wasn’t Senior Comp, which I had originally wanted, I knew it was going to be a fun class. That’s why I’m so glad to be writing about this class. No matter my day, how upsetting or great it was, or what overall mood I am in, this class, especially Mrs. Mandley, never ever fails to put a smile on my face and make me laugh. With the holidays, I’ve started to think more than usual about what I’m thankful for, and with what I’ve been going through, I realize that I’m grateful for this class, and the people in it. It’s a class where I have never felt judged, and felt like I could actually speak and be listened to, and it’s a hell of a class to have for senior year, it’s a class that I know I’ll never forget.

So, thank you guys, really.

My mindless experience

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Kiyana Rome
LifeAtStart.com reporter

July 23, 2016, was a day that I’ll never forget. I never thought that I would get to meet the most amazing people in the world, which is Mindless Behavior. That day was like a dream come true. I was seriously obsessed with them.

A few days before I met them, I saw an Instagram post about Mindless Behavior having meet and greet. The one that was closest to Toledo was Detroit. I ran downstairs and I told my mom about it and she said, “Yes.”

The day before the meet and greet, I told my mom that I wanted to give them a gift. So, I decided to make them candles. The candles had their picture and name on the front and my name on the back.

Finally, the day of the meet and greet, my mom and I woke up early to go to Detroit. On our way up there, we were blasting their album in the car because my mom wanted to know all the lyrics to the songs just like me. When we made it to Detroit, I started to get upset because my mom and I couldn’t find the FYE store where the meet and greet was. The event started at two o’clock and it was already 1:50 p.m.

Come to find out, we had passed the store five times. I was so irritated, but I couldn’t help but see the humor in the situation. We were waiting for a long time and then Mindless Behavior tweeted that they were going to be a little late and that they’ll be at the FYE store around 4 o’clock. It was three o’clock already.

Once M.B. finally arrived, I was screaming and crying with tears of joy. I was like the fifth person in line and when it was my turn, EJ (my favorite) pointed at me and smiled; I almost fainted. I walked up to him and we hugged each other. Then I asked him to take a picture with me and he was like, “sure.” So after we took the picture, I was shaking so hard. He asked me, “Why you shaking?” and he smiled. I didn’t say anything to him. I was just smiling like an idiot. Then I hugged Princeton and Mike.

I asked my mom to hand me their gifts. I handed it to them and they said, “Yo, this is sweet. Thank you!” Mike hugged me like five times and I would not let go either.  I also had a shirt made with their faces on them before I went to the meet and greet, and they asked, “Y’all see her shirt?” Again, I almost fainted. After almost everyone met them, we all sang their songs, and just enjoyed the moment.  That was one of the best days of my life.