https://i.imgur.com/YidFnvc.jpg
That night she found me with my lips pressed against the TV screen, trying to kiss Christopher Lee in Horror of Dracula.
https://i.imgur.com/lGw4G2C.jpg
"Raven! What are you doing up so late? You have school tomorrow!"
https://i.imgur.com/ME4hBu9.jpg
"What?" I said. The Hostess cherry pie that I had been eating fell to the floor, and my heart fell with it.
https://i.imgur.com/MHYKee5.jpg
"But I thought it was just the one time?" I said, panicked.
https://i.imgur.com/pAuOVBi.jpg
"Sweet Raven. You have to go every day!"
https://i.imgur.com/gcJfXzV.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/TxVlkt5.jpg
Every day? The words echoed inside my head. It was a life sentence!
https://i.imgur.com/CocIKyR.jpg
That night Nerd Boy couldn't hope to compete with my dramatic wailing and crying.
https://i.imgur.com/mM7jSrm.jpg
As I lay alone in my bed, I prayed for eternal darkness and a sun that never rose.
https://i.imgur.com/zfcJvNC.jpg
Unfortunately the next day I awoke to a blinding light and a monster headache.
https://i.imgur.com/h0in3Vi.jpg
I longed to be around at least one person that I could connect with. But I couldn't find any, at home or school. At home the lava lamps were replaced with Tiffany-style floor lamps, the glow-in-the- dark posters were covered with Laura Ashley wallpaper, and our grainy black-and-white TV was upgraded to a twenty-five-inch color model.
At school instead of singing the songs of Mary Poppins, I whistled the theme to The Exorcist.