Sometimes life doesn’t work out. Most kids right now on their 7th Grade summer vacation would be out in Hawaii, or in Canada, maybe even in England. Maybe they’d be at home, playing video games or watching a movie. But that’s not the case for me. My name is Jordan Finley, and my name has gone through a few changes. 

Specifically my last name. My birth last name was Wolf. In 3rd Grade, my parents divorced. I became Jordan Pittsurg, and in 5th Grade my parents got back together. 6th Grade, they disappeared one day after school. I went to live with my aunt and uncle, and my last name became Jonesy. 2 months later, my grandparents took me in, and I got the last name Shirley. Then they left me, and I went back to Wolf. Just now, I went to a foster family, and now it’s Finley. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve this. 

Like, what on earth did I do? Is it because I found a Halloween vampire eraser on my desk one day, and took it? If so, then I know some people who probably deserve less than me, but have more than me. 

Like this kid named Oliver. Every week, he gets a new Apple Watch. Or a new Phone. A new tablet, a new console, a new computer. And then, when he gets the wrong color, he throws a tantrum. And right now, he’s on a worldwide trip by ferry. (I wish the Titanic happened in 2019, and with the Silver Wiener.) 

School is about to start. I sort of like it around here. There’s this kid named Johnny in my grade and foster home who reads a ton of things about this person named Glade. Speaking of Glade, a lot of people talk about ‘Glade and Fade’. Whoever they are, I really don’t know. Usually whenever I do stuff that’s illegal, mainly stealing, people always say “You should be careful, Glade and Fade are always watching…” It’s all fart poop, to be honest. I bet you in a fight I could beat both of them. Well, maybe. I have to know who they are before. I’ve been asking Johnny who they are, but he’s always like “Dude, you need to watch the news.” But, I’m not an old person so I don’t need to watch the new tax rates and the CEO of a company doing some weird stuff. 

We have another brother named David who is a weirdo 5 year old. I swear, he’s like Einstein. I’m a B- student, so I don’t go anywhere near him. 

We have an older sister named Liv as well, but she’s usually in her room, and doesn’t go with us to school. She’s in 10th Grade, and focuses on homework and college. I don’t know about David, but when I’m in 10th Grade, I’m not going to be thinking about college. David’s probably going to be in college when he’s that age, and organizing a business.

School is going to be torture. But whatever. You do what you gotta do, I guess…

 Right now I’m in Math class. I snuck my journal in. I don’t know what the heck the teacher is talking about, something about dividing decimals or something. Heck, I don’t even think I’m in the right class. Whatever. I don’t need to pay attention. David just tells me everything, so school is useless to me honestly. I only like reading class, since I like writing stuff. That’s why I’m writing this. To contemplate my life choices, because I’m bored, and I want to write something. Books don’t work out, but I’ve found diaries/journals do. By the way, don’t expect “Dear Diary” or stuff like that. Expect me complaining about life. Because apparently that is all I do, according to my teacher. Anyways, I don’t know what to write about. 

A weird thing about my school district is Elementary School is from K-4, and Middle School is Grades 5 and 6. 7-12 is all high school.

Another thing I don’t get about school is why don’t they teach us useful stuff, like how to pay taxes, how to choose who to vote for, how do bills and loans work. Not that I care, but still it’d be useful, unlike knowing how to divide 2089.93 by 72.42. But, whatever. I have 5 more grades left until I’m done with school. Then I can go to college and study a career in writing. Now that’s a moneymaker. I don’t understand why people want as their life career to teach a ton of angsty 13 year olds.

Speaking of age, in the school age spectrum, I’m on the older side. My birthday is on September 14, and school starts September 12. I’m the oldest in the school, but I’m the biggest loser in the grade. But who cares about other people’s opinions. That’s one of the useful things we learned in 5th grade counseling.