Most kids my age don't know what a slam book is. But I do.

It's either they haven't heard of it or they know of it but never had one.

I use it all the time. It makes me connect with my friends like no other. Of course I can use my phone to do so, but there's something about using the traditional ways. There's something about the pen and the paper.

I started the slam book when I was nine with my then friend Elijah Job.

Somehow, someway, long story short we stopped being friends for many reasons, one of them is that he knew that I liked him more than a friend and he didn't which hurt the most, more than him being a jerk to me almost all the time after it. Him being a jerk and rejecting me, made me dislike him the most. But the fact that we weren't friends anymore didn't stop us from sharing the slam book. It was always ours.

Elijah is long gone. But I still have the slam book but now that it's gone I feel lost.

"We will find it don't worry. It could be in my locker." Helena tries again.

"No it's not. I had it yesterday before I went to bed. I am sure."

"What if-" she tries again.

I cut her out, "no, I will have to look for it again, in my room. Maybe I will go back now." I turn around.

"If you skip today, your dad won't like it." Helena grabs me by the shoulder.

I turn back to her.
"I won't skip. I will be back once I find it." I promise.

"Your dad might put you in summer school." Well, that is something that her Dad might actually do. Mine won't.

"No he won't. He knows I hate school and that I have a job." I laugh.

"A part-time job," she corrects me. She doesn't like the fact that I am working at that coffee shop. Helena doesn't like the word work or job.

"Still a job, " I pause, and then I turn around again and head back, "I have to go back."

"No. Speaking of Job. Have patience." she grabs me again and making me turn around once again.

Job and job. She had to go there.

"Nice one Helena."

Before she could reply or say anything, Mrs. Harris appears and scolds us.

"Miss Grace, Miss Brown to your classrooms."

***

We have a tradition each last day at school. By we I mean my friends and myself.
We walk the way back home. It's not that close and it's not that far. We all walk together, trying to evaluate the year and predicting what's going to happen later and all that jazz. I wanted to skip this year and hurry back home with Dad to check on the slam book but Helena didn't let me.

As we're walking, I feel like I am being watched. I don't know why. And then I see a very familiar car but I ignore it. I am probably hallucinating. This car is long gone. Elijah is long gone. I shake my head.

I focus back to the conversations happening.
Losing the slam book definitely made me crazy and nostalgic.
I managed not to think in the slam book all the time.
Let's say I succeeded few times, because mostly all the time, I had the urge to walk the way back home. Every time I was going to, Helena stoped me.

She is my voice of reason today.

We finally reach my home, we say goodbye. I anxiously enter say a quick hello to dad and Lara and I head to my room.

Weird. My door is closed. I don't remember closing it in the morning.

I try to open the door at first. It doesn't work. I try again. The door opens and I see my slam book opened on my bed. I am happy and relieved. Then, I am angry. I glance to the window, across my room and then I see him.

Elijah Job. And he is waving at me.

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