The Lost Girl

The Lost Girl

Nina H, Class of 2026

“IVY WAKE UP!!! YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE!!!!!,’’ my dad screams. As I wake up, I can hear him moving around in the kitchen. This is my typical morning.

I'm going to be late for school again; I bet that Rita is so sick of seeing me. Rita is the lady who works at the administration office. I see her almost every morning so she's used to me by now. I have to check in with her when I’m late to get a tardy pass before going to first period. I jump out of bed and quickly pick an everyday outfit. A pair of black ripped jeans, a white cropped tank top, and a baggy, dark green Patagonia. I run into the bathroom, wash my face and brush my teeth. My phone starts to ring.

“DUDE WHERE ARE YOU!?’’ I hear after picking up my phone. That’s my best friend Tash.

“You better be on the subway girl, Miss Frances has already done roll call.”

“I’ll be there soon,’’ I tell her, then hang up. I grab my backpack and throw it over my shoulder. I hear butter sizzling on the pan from the kitchen as my dad fries eggs.

“Smells amazing dad, but I have to skip the professional chef breakfast today. I'm already late!’’ I grab a granola bar and push my feet through the back of my Air Force sneakers. Me and Tash had already had a sleepover once and beaded the same pony beads through our Air Force laces Mine are ripped and covered in mud, while hers are nicely kept and barely had any dirt– the exact opposite of mine. I run out the door and dash down the stairs.

The staircase has a weird smell, like sweat and chlorine; it smells like a pool. The stairs are made of cement and have a thin strip of sandpaper so that people don't trip and fall. Unfortunately, that doesn't help me. As I fly down the stairs four at-a-time, I trip and fall. Luckily, I catch myself with my arm and just get a slight cut. I keep moving because I still need to get on the subway to get to school. Once I’m on the subway, I can relax and see if I have a bandage in my backpack.

As I run into the lobby, I see Lucky, the doorman of our building speaking to an older lady. “Good morning!” he says to her, as he notices me running through the lobby.

“HURRY UP IVY, YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE!’’

“Got it,’’ I scream back as I run outside.

The subway station is usually a ten-minute walk, but I get there in four minutes, sprinting the entire way. I sit down on the bench and wait for the train. I know that it will at least take 12 minutes even though it says 10. The train station before our stop is very old and has a lot of problems so the trains always get delayed. I dig around to find my AirPods. I never have an organized backpack. I clean it out on Fridays but I always know that the next week it will be a mess all over again. I finally find my AirPods next to some pretzels. I pop one in my ear and play my calmdown mix. Luckily, the train ride is as quick as I need it to be today and I dash towards the school building.

Once we get off of our lunch break we have two periods left, History

and Advisory; I'm already late for History because I had to go and pick up our textbook from my locker. We’re learning about slavery and the Underground Railroad. I sit down at my desk which is in the second-to-last row, right next to the windows. It is one of the best seats in the classroom, but the bottom of my desk is covered in gum and Tash is across the room so we can't pass notes to each other. Ten minutes into class I get a note passed to me from Leslie, the girl who sits right in front of me.

“Who is this from?’’ I whisper, confused. “I don't know. Chloe passed it to me and someone passed it to her. We have no clue,’’ she shrugs. But she does know who it is from and so does almost everyone in the class. I sit back in my seat and unfold the note.

Hey, it’s Kev, what are you doing after school? If you can meet up with me to hang out, meet me at the Burger King that's 5 mins away from school.

Check yes or no at the bottom.

I can’t believe this! I can feel my cheeks turning red and my lips smile. I look down and notice that he even added two checkboxes at the bottom of the note! I check the yes box and then pass the note back to Leslie.

“Pass it back please,’’ I say slowly and quietly.

“Sure thing,” she whispers back, giggling while taking the note.

I suddenly realize that the entire class is waiting to see what Kev’s reaction will be. Once he unfolds the note, his eyes light up and relief crosses his face as he exhales loudly. I giggle quietly and try to focus my attention back on my work, smiling to myself.

Once school finishes, I stay behind because I need to meet with Mr. Sanders, my math teacher. After the meeting, I walk to Burger King to meet Kev. I spot him standing across the street. He looks cute, leaning against the corner of the restaurant with his brown hair falling a little to the side. He doesn’t notice me as he is looking at something on his phone. As I cross the street, Kev looks up, notices me, and waves.

“Hey!” he says quietly. “Hi. What were you looking at?’’ I ask, pointing to his phone.

“My dad just sent me this video of really cute panda bears playing in the snow. It’s so cute.” He shows me the video and it really is adorable. We watch it together, laughing as the pandas in the video slide around in the snow. We walk over to the bodega. I buy Cheetos, a ginger ale, and my favorite candy, watermelon Sour Patch Kids. We sit down in the park on a bench and spend the next hour talking, losing track of time.

I look up and notice that it is getting dark and cold. I zip up my puffer coat.

“Hey, I have to get going because it's already getting dark and I'm starting to get cold.”

“Sure, let's go. I'll take the subway with you because I take the same train.”

As we walk out of the park to the subway, we throw out our trash and start to talk about the upcoming project about Harriet Tubman in Ms. Yang’s History class. Once we get to the subway platform we sit down on a bench to wait for the train.

“Ivy, are you feeling ok?” he says, looking a little worried.

“Yes, fine, why?” I say hesitantly.

“Nothing, you just look a little pale. But don't worry about it if you feel fine. Just lay down once you get home, ok?” I feel a little dizzy, but I'm fine.

I had a headache during History, but I don't tell him this because I know it would make him even more worried. Luckily, we find two seats right next to each other so we sit down and I lean my head on his shoulder and I rest my head.

“Ivy, wake up, we have to get off at the next stop.” I wake up and jump up.

“I’m so sorry, but it seems you have a comfortable shoulder,” I say shyly.

We walk out of the subway station and I spot a girl crying alone on the street without an adult nearby and I walk up to her.

“Are you ok?” I ask. The little girl doesn’t look like she can be any older than seven. She has pigtails with purple bows and is wearing a Mickey Mouse backpack.

“NOOoooo!” she cries, bawling her eyes out.

“Where are your parents? Are you with them right now?” Kev asks, trying to calm down the girl.

“I was with my mom and sister but then this big crowd came and now I don't know where they are.”

“Don’t worry. We’re going to help you find them,” I say as I take her hand and try to calm her down.

It’s rush hour and I can’t see anything because I'm not that tall. We walk to the corner of the street in order to be able to get a better view of both streets. All of the sudden the girl spots a woman and a girl across the street.

“HEEEYYYY THAT’S MY MOM!” she says excitedly and relieved. She starts to run across the street.

“STOP!!!” Kev and I scream at the same time.

The light had just turned green and cars are rushing towards the girl. I run as fast as I possibly can and push the girl out of the way. I’m about to get out of the way but I get really dizzy. I trip on the manhole in the street. I fall and land on my side and I hit my head really hard against the sidewalk. My head starts spinning, I start seeing

Miranda F Class of 2025

triple and everything becomes fuzzy. I can hear the motor of a big car right in front of me. Kev is screaming my name and people are panicking. I hear someone scream 911, then everything goes black.

“WE NEED HER IN SURGERY NOW!”

I'm still drowsy and my head feels like it's going to explode. I'm on an oxygen tank but I feel like I'm suffocating.

“THAT'S MY DAUGHTER!” I can hear my dad screaming and crying at the same time. It smells like chlorine and alcohol. I can tell I'm being pushed on a stretcher. They’re all focused up ahead trying to get me to the operation room. I pass out again.

The next thing is a shooting pain in my head and I'm still drowsy.

Where am I? What happened? Why am I in the hospital? Am I dead? Is the little girl OK?

It all comes rushing back; the lost girl, the street, the dizziness, the car, and the ambulance. At least I'm not on an oxygen tank anymore. I can feel my dad's head on my legs, where he fell asleep. Kev is sitting outside the room. I can see him through the glass door, his head between his knees. I can tell he is blaming himself and that he has been crying a lot. I feel really bad so I look around and notice my phone’s with my dad. I slowly pulled it out from under his arms so he won't wake up. I unlock my phone and call Kev.

“Hello?” he answers, thinking that some stranger has picked up my phone from the street, not understanding that it is me on the phone.

“Hey, I'm really sorry that you had to see this happen. And please don't blame yourself because I ran without thinking. Is the little girl OK? Was that her mom?'' He turns around once he realizes it is actually me calling from the room and quickly walks over. I put my finger to my mouth, motioning for him to keep quiet.

“Don't wake him up,” I say, pointing to my dad. He is so happy that he starts to cry silently and hugs me carefully. We look so cute.

“I should've stopped you! I'm so sorry! I'm just so happy you woke up and are ok.”

“It's not your fault! Please don't blame yourself. Is the little girl OK and did she find her mom?” I ask.

“Yes! She is fine. We have all been so worried and didn’t think you’d wake up tonight so quickly! How are you feeling? We should probably wake up your dad. He was so worried and he will be so happy to see you!” He says. “Honestly, your dad was really freaking out!”

“Yes, of course!” I say as I gently shake my dad's arm to wake him up.

“My baby girl is OK!”

He is so happy to see me and hugs me tight and I can barely breathe. My dad calls a nurse and she adds something to my blood and gives me jello. Then the doctor walks in and says, “My, My, young lady- you really gave us all a big scare! You should have told your dad or your friend when you were feeling dizzy,” he sighs. You had a contusion, a bruise on the brain, so it was swelling and caused a little bit of internal bleeding, but we were able to stop it. From the car accident, you have a sprained ankle and a fractured wrist, plus a concussion.”

“Well, this has been that longest day ever!” My dad exclaims.

LE FIN.