Chapter 5

As I approached the door, I began to regret the decision I had made to change back. I had known that people would treat me differently, but how much? That was the thing I was beginning to worry about more, and more. My hand closed onto the door knob and twisted it just enough to open the door a tiny bit. I peeked through the crack and saw it was our neighbor, Sally Tibbets. When I opened the door completely, I could feel the judgement and surprise radiating off of her like heat.

"Ahem, sorry I must have something in my throat. Is your mother around?" Sally asked, seeming to want to get away from the current situation as fast as possible.

"Yeah, mom!" I called as my mom emerged from the dining room, into the entry way.

"Can I help you?" She asked our neighbor, making sure to add in a little sigh to show that she didn't want to be part of the conversation that was happening at all. Whenever Sally Tibbets came over to our house, it was always to complain about something we had done with our yard, or how we were being to loud. It made sense because nobody really visited each other in Skyridge to be kind, or neighborly. It was always for selfish reasons. Because Skyridge was selfish.

"I just wanted to talk to you about that "thing" you're digging in your backyard. It's very visible from my kitchen window and I would hate to have to look at that every time I cook a meal." Sally explained as my mom stood there, clearly not caring about her concerns.

"Look, it's a pond, and once it's finished it'll be the most beautiful thing this town has ever seen. And don't worry, we'll invite you to come enjoy it with us." My mom stated sarcastically as my neighbor stood there with steam coming out of her ears.

When the door closed, I couldn't help but laugh a little bit. My mom always knew exactly how to get pesky people off of our case. She could say one word and send any person stomping back home. Honestly, I the only thing I every felt like I had in common with my mom was my spunk.

We looked completely different, her eyes were crystal blue and she had luscious, brown hair. She never changed her appearance because she looked so angelic without a stitch of makeup on and her hair down. When I was little, I would always dress up and try to be like her. That was another reason I wanted to use the MODIFIER, because I wanted to be a little bit more like my mother.

I walked back to the table and finished my meal in silence. I had so many things going through my mind and I was so anxious about going out in public that I physically couldn't get words out of my mouth.

As I finished my breakfast, my mom called for me to go into the front room. When I entered, my mom smiled and exclaimed, "First day of school!" I couldn't smile because of all of the emotions running wild inside of me, so I just gave a little nod and took the backpack she had in her hands. As I was about to walk through the door, I looked over my shoulder and said,"Love you, mom." Seconds later, I was out the door. "Here I go." I stated and set off to school.