by Kathy Vandermark

Created on: November 19, 2008

Janet Graham waited intensely for the loud slam of her daughter's bedroom door. A week ago Janet had told her daughter, Emily, of the promotion that would carry them off to a small Indiana town. Emily had protested, and what should be a happy moment for Janet, was shadowed by the rebellion of her teenage daughter.

Janet folded the last towel from the dryer, then sat down in her favorite spot at the kitchen table. She loved this particular spot because the large window exposed a fairy tale landscape, as if she could walk out into the sunset and live happily ever after. Suddenly the scene didn't seem so inviting. Autumn had set in and the cool breeze stirred the leaves, in tornado form, against a darkened sky.

She wished she could get through to Emily, make her understand the advantages they would have with the extra income that the promotion offered. Janet thought any child would be glad to have more money, wouldn't they? Outside the window, an eerie gust of wind picked up every leaf not attached to a branch, triggering from her past, the answer to her own question.

Janet had been in Emily's shoes once, but forgot. Janet's father worked in the car industry and they were opening two new plants. He picked up the family and moved to Indiana, on Janet's protest. As a shy girl, Janet had struggled through her elementary school years, and as she became a teen and entered junior high, she had been finding her way out of her shell. Her dream had been to be a cheerleader but she was too shy. At home, in the yard with her neighborhood friends, she could twirl and jump as well as the most talented cheerleader. She had finally gotten her chance, not as a cheerleader, but as one of the many pom-pom girls, who would entertain during half-time, with a practiced routine. She remembered how honored and overwhelmed she had been when one of the cheerleaders personally invited her to join up. It was going to open up a whole new world for her. But before she could have the privilege to participate in the first exhibition, she was being drug off to a town where she knew no one. She had felt her life had ended.

Life hadn't ended, but it had taken a turn for the worse. She hated life and hated her new school. Janet's mother had bought her a nice outfit to wear on the first day of school. The new outfit opened her eyes to what first impression was and how people are deceived by first impressions. Everyone was nice to Janet on the first day, even the popular girls. She had met every cheerleader

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