Bad Luck

Cat-Whisperer

Chapter 1

Cat-Whisperer

"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!" I mumbled in panic as I searched frantically for my friend past the line of parked cars. "Where is she? She has to be in one of these cars! Where are you, Frankie?"

Francesca Venturini – also known as Frankie – was my crazy and hectic best friend, currently located inside one of the many cars sitting in this dimly lit parking lot.

Today was the first day of summer break, and an amusement park crew had been hired for the summer to take over operating the Fairground. Tonight was supposed to be The Grand Opening Night and Frankie made me come.

I wasn't particularly excited about going to the Fair this year. All I really wanted was a break from the people from school, and I knew many of them were going to be at the Fair tonight. I had been counting the seconds for summer to start so I could finally leave school and the people who had made my life a living hell for the past two months.

Now that I had my long-awaited freedom, the prospect of meeting my tormentors again wasn't exactly something I was excited about. But Frankie had fiercely argued when I tried to bail out of it, saying it was mandatory for all cool kids to be present at the opening night, so we had to go, because "the future of our social lives depended on it".

I couldn't care less about my current nonexistent social life. Frankie on the other hand, thought otherwise. We had to at least make an effort, she told me as we were both hanging precariously on the social ladder. One more slip and we'd be crawling at the bottom of the steps, and she wouldn't let that happen to us.

So I made the effort and let her drag me to the Fair. I knew I had no chance to be popular, but I didn't want to be at the deepest bottom of that blasted ladder either. If I had to endure a few hours of festivities to help our case, so be it.

I really would rather be reading a nice book in peace back home though.

The first thing we did when we arrived was to head straight toward the Game booths to try to win some prizes. When she got tired of playing games, we decided on food. It was always a good way to solve a lag at any event. Finding the caramelized popcorn stand, Frankie and I wolfed down our munchies only for Frankie to then ditch me to hook up with some boy.

They were soon frolicking in the backseat of his truck, while I held up a spot on the cold curb near the parking lot entrance, waiting patiently for their make-out session to end.

Why was I sitting there waiting for my best friend when I could be doing something else, you ask?

Well, firstly, because I wasn't confident enough to wander around the Fair alone. I have a ton of self-esteem issues and I also don't have the guts to walk around without any company. I silently stress about what others may be thinking about me until I'm a big pile of worry, sweat, and nervous ticks. The whole thing ends up with me having a meltdown. It's not a pretty thing to see.