Chains on a Dove

Chapter 1

BEEP BEEP! Crystal groaned as her alarm clock went off, screaming in her face. She swung out a hand and hit the top. It was one of those old fashioned clocks where you have to hit a button on the top to get the thing to shut up. She rolled over in her oh-so-comfortable bed. Getting up was the last thing she planned to do.

"Crystal! Come on! Time to get up and get ready for your first day of school!" Crystal sat straight up, heart pounding. She forgot! This was the first day of school in Sanden Middle! She was suddenly scared, her mind coming up with thousands of things that could go wrong.

"Crystal?" It was her mom, who always got up before her, to make breakfast for her and her 2 other brothers, Drew and Zach, because her oldest brother, Mike, went off to college.

"Coming," Crystal mumbled. She didn't want to get up. She didn't want to go to school. But she knew she had to. She lazily rolled out of bed, slipping on the first t-shirt she saw and a pair of jeans. The shirt read, "Forest Lacrosse Champions," and Crystal sighed. She would miss her old lacrosse team. She was one of the people that led the team to the championships and won. Maybe there is a good lacrosse team here, she thought. She hoped. As she walked down the stairs, she noticed her mom making french toast with eggs- one of her favorite breakfasts.

"Good morning, my sunshine!" her mother said with a bright smile on her face, "Why don't you join us and have breakfast?" Crystal stumbled over to the table, where her 2 older brothers were already sitting.

"Morning," Crystal mumbled to Drew. He nodded back. She knew he wouldn't talk much until he'd had his morning coffee.

"Good morning, Crystal," Zach said, sipping his coffee, "Tired?"

"Yup. Don't want to go to school," she replied.

"Aw. Well remember, it only gets harder from now on!" Zach replied happily.

"Thanks for that."

"You're welcome."

"So, who wants some french toast?" Crystal's mom asked. Drew, Zach and Crystal all raised their hands. Their mom served up a huge slab of french toast on each of their plates, drowned them in syrup, and added a swirl of whipped cream on top.

Crystal dug in. "Mmmmmm," she said, mouth full. "This is sooo good!"

"I find it perfectly adequate," Zach replied. Go figure. Crystal thought. He almost never gave overly positive comments.

They were just finishing when Crystal noticed a yellow object out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look out the window and saw the school bus!

"Crystal! Good thing I packed your backpack for you! Go! Go! Before you're late! Have a good day at school!" Her mom pointed at her backpack hanging on her hook as she scooped some eggs onto Drew's plate. Crystal sprinted towards the door. She grabbed her backpack and went outside. She ran down the driveway and arrived at the stop sign just as the bus pulled up. There were three other kids there; a small kid with brown hair, probably a 6th grader, a tall girl with blond curly hair, and a normal sized girl with perfect, straight brown hair. The blond-haired girl looked at Crystal as she came up.

"Try not to be late next time, okay sweetheart? I know the bus waits for people on the first day, but I don't want to waste my time standing here when I could be on my way to school." The brown-haired girl nodded in agreement.

"Ugh. 7th graders," She said in disgust.

Crystal was so shocked that they would say something like that to her. They thought she was a 7th grader? She wasn't that short! In the end, all she could say was, "Um...actually, I'm an 8th grader, just like you," she pointed out weakly.