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The World as I Know It- Chapter 4
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Prose/Short Stories Chapter 4
Just before the conclusion of elementary school, the university which employed my father was closed due to decreasing student enrollment. The next closest university to our same town was 100 miles away in a major city. My father could not possibly drive such a long distance; consequently, my family was uprooted even though my doctors warned them that I could not withstand such a drastic change.
My doctors were right. The move along with the radical change in environment caused me to temporary stop speaking. My parents had to take me out of school for the fall term and my mother had to get temporary leave to look after me.
To the surprise and contentment of my family, by November I was speaking again. The holidays always have a good effect on me. The thought of family reunions, although daunting given my condition, are something I look forward to every year. I do not speak much at them, but I get to observe more people than I am allowed to come in contact with the rest of the year.
I love to people-watch whether in person or on television. Since I am not able to be wild-and-crazy, I enjoy seeing others be adventurous.
Since I was so behind in my studies, my parents had to hire a tutor in January to not necessarily catch me up but keep me entertained. I could not get any further behind because I would have to start from scratch accumulating all I had learned until that point.
I had to continue my tutoring through the summer to get completely caught up so I could begin the seventh grade in the local middle school. This year I slowly started getting better. I was making more friends than I ever had before.
But now I also noticed boys in a different way than before. Already, some of the girls in my grade had boyfriends. I had a crush on one particular boy: James. He reminded me of the people I loved to admire on television: wild and outgoing. I knew he would never like me, but I liked him from afar like so many other people in my life.
By eighth grade, he had a girlfriend. A girl I hated. Or maybe I hated her after she became his girlfriend. I cannot recall. They were inseparable. And for the next two years they were together I started to change in an effort to emulate her so he would notice me.
I became bubblier and more sociable, but my core characteristics were the same. And I would soon realize that.
