Our lady of Divine Compassion Parochial School is surrounded by sycamore trees. In the fall those big leaves turn yellow and the scorching days of summer are almost over, and you can start breathing again. I walk every school day underneath those trees to the music building, which is between Divine Compassion and Holy Names Academy, where the high school girls walk and talk in their blue-and-white straight skirts and starched blouses. I can hear them at choir practice while I'm walking along with my music folder under my arm. I love the high school girls, especially the ones with bubble hair-dos. But mainly I love getting out of regular classes to take piano. It's the calmest part of my day. I get so tired of every-one—from my classmates to my brothers and sister to my mother—making so much noise all the time. I take my quiet wherever I can find it.