Just A Little Hope

Chapter 1

Another boring day at school. Mr. Lee is blabbing about Nevada and how it started. I seriously don’t care. All I want to do right now is go home and take a shower. Then go to bed of course.  I suddenly woke up from my day dreaming when I heard a bell ring and I felt like the happiest woman alive because it was the actual bell and that  meant that I could get in my car and drive away to my little cozy house that I live in with my mom, dad, and brother, Mark. I love my family but sometimes they could be just a little weird or annoying. I don’t mean to be mean but when they are trying to be funny, it doesn’t turn out so pretty and my mom thinks that she’s a teenager, trying to talk like “we cool kids” talk. And my brother can be very annoying. He gets me in trouble and he loves to hit me. Last night he took his nerf gun and shot me like seven times. It hurt because he added some more weight to each bullet so I went to bed with lots of bruises. So you might not call my family normal.

         Then, I can talk to you about the most boring topic on the planet.... my life. It is the same routine every single day. I wake up, wash my face, brush my teeth, wear my clothes, brush my hair, run downstairs and eat my breakfast. Then I have eight hours in school and come home to do my homework. I can’t hang out with my friends because I don’t have any. Speaking about friends, nobody gets me. I have my own type of weird. I don’t dress the same like everyone else. I don’t listen to the same music like everyone else and I do not like public speaking which I’m surprised because everyone loves it these days. I just wish I could find someone exactly like me to talk to and to go shopping with because like I said, I have my own type of weird. But we all know that can’t happen because, just like everyone says, we are all unique. There is no one like us, well no one like me at least.

           Another Tuesday, anything good about it? No, it’s just like any other day. I parked my car and opened the front door to my house. I heard my brother Mark running and yelling like a maniac. I tripped him when he was about to run past me. I asked him why he was being such a freak. He told me that we were moving to San Francisco. I got excited for a moment but then I remembered the time when Mark lied to me and said we were moving to Paris, France and I started acting like a fool jumping around and practicing my french. My brother got the whole thing on tape and put it on MYTUBE, the famous internet website where more than a million people log on to watch music videos or hilarious clips. My creepy french video got about one million views. Anyway, I wasn’t going to fall for it this time so I rolled my eyes and went stomping into the kitchen and got out some orange juice. My mother stopped me and said “Sweetie, did you hear the news? We’re moving to San Francisco.” I screamed, ran upstairs, and started packing all my cute clothes. Then I saw my father at my doorway. He asked me “ Lexi, what are you doing?” I happily replied “ I’m packing my stuff for the move. You know, we’re moving to San Francisco?” “Oh, your mother already told you,” he asked. “Um, ya. And thank you so much dad. This is going to be the start of a new life.”

          He walked out of my room. I was here all alone thinking about the wonderful things that can happen over there in San Francisco. I can meet new friends, I can go to different places, and I might find love over there. I mean all the people in my school have girlfriends and boyfriends. I don’t want one at the time but maybe I can find someone that shares the same interests like me when I grow a little older. I snapped out of my daydreaming when I hear something crashing onto the ground. I rolled my eyes and said to myself “Mark”. I go back to packing and was surprised. I finished in less than thirty minutes. I looked around in my closet  and saw that every single thing has been packed already. I realized that I barely have any clothes. I ran downstairs and asked my mom for a favor  “Hey mom. Can I go to the mall tomorrow?” “ Of course Lexi. Here’s one hundred dollars.” My jaw dropped at the fact that my mom just handed me one hundred dollars. It looks like everyone is happy that we’re moving to San Francisco. My brother is acting like a maniac, more than usual. My dad skipped work today and my mom just gave me one hundred dollars. We should be moving all the time.

         I winced at the fact that I still had school tomorrow, but after that, I will be resting on the airplane planning my new life in San Francisco. I love Burbank but it can get really hot sometimes and the people aren’t very nice. Like one time I was walking to the library and a homeless man stopped me and told me to give him all my money. I got scared so I ran away.

        I happily skipped down the stairs to find my mom. “Hey mom. When is the airplane going to take off on Thursday?” She started laughing. ”We’re not going on an airplane. We’re going to have a road trip.” My jaw drop, again. It seems like I always drop my jaw whenever I’m talking to my mother. Anyway, I closed my eyes and then opened them back up saying “We’re going on a road trip to San Francisco from Burbank? Do you know how much time that will take us?” Mom stood up, “Ya, it’s going to take a while but it will be very fun!” “I doubt it.” I mumbled to myself.

     Chapter 2

           The whole trip is practically ruined just because my parents want to have a little more fun and go on a road trip that will take forever. I don’t understand because we can go on many other road trips after we move to San Francisco. Why do my parents have to be like this? I only wonder if my brother knows about this. I stopped wondering when I heard my brother dancing and jumping in his room singing

“Road trip. Road trip. We’re going on a road trip.”

So I’m guessing that he knows. The problem with going on a road trip is that my parents sing and put on camping songs. My brother pretends to be whatever he wants to be at the moment and makes weird noises. I sometimes feel like I want to punch him. He also brings his toys with him and pretends I’m the track or the field and starts taking his toy cars and rolling them on top of my head and my shoulder. As you can see he is only eight years old. I sometimes ignore is immaturity but it is very hard. I quickly looked up to my clock and saw that it was nine. I had to hit the hay.

      “DRING DRING DRING.”

I heard my alarm clock ring for the tenth time but I was too lazy to turn it off or put it on snooze. Then I realized that I had school today. I quickly got ready, ran downstairs, ate breakfast, and headed down to my car. I looked at my wristwatch and knew that I was going to be late which wasn’t a good thing to do on the last day of school. Well, at least the last day of school for me. I quickly put my car in drive and started driving to the place I’ll never see again after this day, Hunnford High School. I pulled over when I noticed that a cop has been chasing me. I hoped this wasn’t a ticket because I didn’t want to tell my parents that we have to pay five hundred dollars before we move. Anyway, the cop seemed nice so I got calmer for a second. I rolled my window down. He said “Miss, you went over the speed limit. That’s going to be a three hundred dollar ticket.” I read his name tag and said “ Sorry Officer Michelle.” “It’s pronounced Officer Michael.” He quickly shouted at me and threw the ticket in my face. Well, I found out two things right now. One, don’t ever go over the speed limit even when you’re late for something and two, cops that seem nice aren’t always nice. Wow, three hundred dollars, how am I supposed to tell my parents this. I looked at the bright side and thought,

“At least it’s not five hundred.”

       I knew I was late for school so I headed over to Starbucks. I ordered my favorite drink, Caramel Frappuccino. I sat at one of the empty tables in the corner thinking to myself about what my parents are going to do to me today. I got a three hundred dollar ticket and I skipped school. I am also disappointed but kind of relieved because I would choose Starbucks over school anyday. I mean just think about it. In school you sit down and is forced to listen to the teacher talking about thing you really don’t care about. In Starbucks you get to drink your favorite drink, sit and relax, and hear yourself thinking about crazy ideas. I heard my cool ringtone and took out my phone. When I saw the caller I.D I really didn’t want to answer but it was my mom so I kind of had to or else I would get into more trouble. I answered the phone and said “Hi mama.” “Don’t you hi mama me. Your school called and they told me that you weren’t there at school today. You got me worried sick. I thought you got into a car accident or something.” I could feel her pain while speaking on the phone. Hey, a mother has to do what a mother has to do. “No, I’m fine mom. Speaking about cars, I got a speeding ticket today,” I confessed.  “Oh, my gosh. Where are you right now?” I was scared to answer but I hesitantly said that I was at Starbucks. I heard her groan. Then she told me to drive back home so I could suffer the consequences over there.

             I waited until I finished my drink and then got into the car. I was shaking because when my parents are mad about something, they really get mad. There was this one time when I got minus three on my test and my parents were furious with me.  I was also afraid if they were going to cancel the move to San Francisco because of my childish actions. Hopefully they will forget about it tomorrow or else if the road trip is back on, they will be giving me four hour lectures about being a great student and going to Harvard University one day. This is not fair because when my brother gets minus three all he gets is, “It’s alright sweetie. Just try harder next time.”

              I pulled over in my driveway. I got out real slowly trying to think of an excuse my mother will buy which was really hard because she is a very smart mom, sadly. I unlocked the front door and slowly walked in not trying to make a sound. I turned around to lock the door, but when I turned back I got scared because standing in front of me was a woman with a mad face on and she was folding her arms. This woman is also known as my mother. I was going to laugh because her eyebrows were ruffled and she her lips were forming a weird smirk. I did the right thing and didn’t laugh or else I would be in trouble, like big time. “I will not allow you to skip school or get another speeding ticket again in your life or else I will send you to military school. And seriously, you went to Starbucks instead of coming home immediately.” She stomped away and I started to mimic her. I thought it was kind of funny but harsh. I just hope she didn’t cancel our moving trip. I am kind of looking for it even though it’s a road trip. To me, it’s better than nothing.

     Chapter 3

            I ran to my room and locked my door. I put on some music and layed down on my bed just thinking about the new house and how would it look like. I just wish my room would be a little larger and the kitchen would have huge cabinets filled with my favorite cereal. There would also be a swimming pool and a tennis court in the backyard. Now that is what a dream house should look like. I also thought about my neighborhood. I hope there’s lots of friendly people living around that I can play with and maybe since I’m starting a new life there, I could have a friend that likes the same things that I like. That is always the hardest thing to find. I also wish for one more thing to go my way.... the school that I will be attending. I would like to learn about the things that I want to learn and not about boring Nevada or Texas. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. I opened my door and saw my mother with a tray that holds a bunch of delicious food. “I guess you didn’t eat lunch already, so here you go.” She handed me the tray and went back downstairs. I could tell that she’s still mad at me. I really wish I could redo this whole day over again.

          I started looking at what type of food the tray held. It had a sandwich that contains white bread, lettuce, my favorite ham, and my favorite cheese. There was also some fruits and vegetables next to it. I munched on my carrots then happily ate my sandwich. I put the tray down on my desk and went online to my facebook. I saw weird photos of people and also some weird comments. I liked all the photos because they were the only thing that amused me right now. I commented on some, not a lot because I couldn’t think of what to write to most of these people. I logged off and looked around my room. I wanted to finish packing up but I didn’t know if we were truly moving or not.

            I wanted to ask my mom so badly but I know that she is still very mad at me. I started packing up anyways because it’s better to be ready and then unpack if we are not leaving than to be late and unprepared if we are leaving. I finished packing and reached into my pocket. I took out the one hundred dollar bill that my mom gave me. I had totally forgotten about it. I quickly slipped on my Vans and ran downstairs. I saw my mom sitting on the couch watching some T.V. I came up to her and said “Hey mom, did you remember the one hundred dollar bill you gave me?” “Yes,” she replied. “Well can I go spend it?” She nodded and I gave her a quick hug. I bolted to my car and fastened my seat belt. I put the car in drive and carefully drove to the mall. The parking lot was full. I kept on driving around until I finally found a parking spot which was right in front of the entrance. How lucky was that? I parked and sprinted to the place where dreams came true... the mall. I loved the mall. I would find unique and cute clothes there that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I first stopped by my favorite store called Wet Seal. I greeted the employee and started looking for clothes that I can casually wear. I found a cute t-shirt for only seven dollars and  ninety- nine cents. To tell you the truth, I don’t understand why they have ninety-nine cents. Why can’t they round that to a dollar and say eight dollars instead of seven dollars and ninety-nine cents? Anyway, the shirt was very cute. It was blue and had a peace sign on it. On top of the shirt, it said “

Never Doubt the Peace Sign

.” I bought it and heard my stomach grumble. I took out my phone and looked at the time. It was seven o’clock already. I decided to grab a small box of orange chicken. I ate it then finished the rest of my shopping with only twenty dollars left. I went home and showed my mom the cute clothes. She also liked them and after she added her comments I apologized for my childish behavior today. She said it was o.k and that I had to hit the hay because tomorrow would be a long day. I agreed and trotted upstairs. I took a quick peek in my brothers room and saw him fast asleep. I went to my own room and change into my pajamas. I closed the lights and shut my eyes.

Chapter 4

          My alarm clock went off and I jumped out of bed. I made sure that everyone in my family was awake. Luckily, they were. I ran back to my room and brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, washed my face, and quickly got dressed. I took my bags downstairs and put them next to the door so we could load them onto the R.V. My brother needed help carrying his. When I walked in the living room, I saw absolutely no furniture. Then I walked to the kitchen and saw that everything was gone except for two bowls of cereal that were filled. I knew that my mother had prepared those for my brother and I. So I started eating up. When I finished, I put the bowl in the trash can because it was made out of some type of cardboard.

        I helped my dad load the stuff onto the huge car. We called down my mom and brother because they were still upstairs “getting ready” but I think they just didn’t want to help us load the vehicle. I noticed that my car was missing so I asked my dad where it was. He said that it was being towed to San Francisco. I nodded slowly then jumped into the R.V that my dad had rented. My brother and I sat in the back while my dad and mom sat in the front. I put my earplugs into my on and listened to “Chasing the Sun” by the Wanted. I closed my eyes then quickly opened them again because I felt something going up and down my arm. I looked at my bare arm and saw that my brother has been playing with his toy car again. I knew this would happen, just like it always does. I told him to stop it in a very loud voice so then he started crying. I felt bad for Mark but it was his fault for rolling his car on me. I told him to stop crying and that he could play with his toy car somewhere else. Gladly, the tears stopped but he stomped on my foot. Which really hurt so I promised myself that I wouldn’t speak to him until the trip was over. I put my earplugs on and listened to The Wanted jamming out. I closed my eyes and hoped for no more disruptions and there wasn’t any.

         I felt someone tap my shoulder and I bolted up. I looked around and it was my mom. She told me that we were going to stop at Taco Bell for dinner and I was shoked at how long I slept because I remembered that the last time I slept, it was very sunny and now it’s very dark outside. I was kind of happy that I was having a taco right now because I didn’t have for three years. I ordered the Supreme Taconator which was very  large but  finished it all due to my hungriness. We got back on the road and stopped after one hour because Mark wanted to see the elephant seals that were on the beach and the road was along the ocean so we had a great view.

            We all got out of the vehicle to see those elephant seals. They were the fourth largest things I’ve ever seen in my life. Now I know why they call them “elephant seals.” Mark started throwing rocks at one and it became furious. It started jumping around and it made noisy sounds. “Mom, I think we should get going.” I started pulling my mom towards the car. My brother and my dad followed. I sat down and looked out the window for the elephant seal the my brother nearly attacked while my dad was buckling his seatbelt. I took out my magazine and looked at several pictures of Taylor Lautner. I also found a picture of Justin Bieber while I was flipping through the pages, so I drew a mustache and a beard on it. I showed my brother and started laughing so hard that he turned red and started coughing and that made me laugh even harder. I put the magazine back into my purse and turned to the window. I was still wondering about how my new life would be in San Francisco.

         The main things I thought about was friendship, love, and adventure. If only I knew that all these things were going to happen, I’d be the happiest girl in the world. I wonder what my brother would be expecting, but I don’t want to ask him because I promised myself that I wouldn’t talk to him until the trip was over and no, we still had a very long way left ahead of us before we get there.

          I was very bored and only four hours went by. We still had another four to go. My brother was fast asleep so I decided to do a little trick. Luckily, I brought some pranking supplies with me. I opened up my duffle and searched for whipped cream and a feather. I was going to squirt some whipped cream on his hand and then take the feather and tickle him on the nose or something. So that’s what I was going to do. When I was going to put the whipped cream on his hand, I remembered that he was left handed so I squirted some on that hand and ticked him with the feather. My whole planned was ruined because he scratched himself with his right hand, not the left where the whipped cream was. I can’t believe I failed. Then I saw his eyes blink while they were still closed. That means that he’s still awake! I punched him and said “How dare you ruin my pranking plan?” I was just kidding of course but he said “I am the one and only prank master.” He then took the bottle of whipped cream and squirted me with it. “I guess this is a challenge.” I got out my bag of feathers and fake spiders and dump it on him. He hated spiders so he screamed like a little girl when he saw the fake black creatures. “Take them off me. Take them off me,” he shouted. I started laughing so hard. My mom opened the curtain and looked bewildered and astonished. She came stomping towards us. “Look at this mess. What have you been doing in here? And is that whipped cream?” She looked around and told us to clean it all up while she and dad would use the whipped cream to make an ice cream sunday. I was a little surprised that we had the ingredients for that, but anyway this wouldn’t have happened if my brother didn’t squirt the whipped cream all over me and besides, he just didn’t  let me do my pranking in peace.

        I gathered many paper towels to clean up the whipped cream. My brother had to pick-up the feathers and the spiders, which freaked him out a lot. After that, we stopped by Burger King to grab some dinner. Luckily, that was the last place we had to stop at until we reached San Francisco, according to my dad because there was only one more hour left. I, once again, got bored. I did everything that I can think of in my mind. I just decided to sit and wait, but just sitting there isn’t going to help me with my “being bored” problem. My mother suggested reading a book. I kind of laughed because I don’t read, unless it’s a Twilight book or something like that. My dad was driving, my mother was reading her magazine and talking to my dad, Mark was sleeping on the mini couch, and I just sat there like a plum. I heard my dad yelling something but I couldn’t hear it. I walked over and asked him what he said  and I couldn’t believe it. He said that we are now in our new neighborhood. I ran to the window and gazed at the all the wonderful houses that I will be living next to. My heart started pounding with joy. I was a little nervous because I still didn’t know what my house looked like. I quickly woke Mark up and he said “What’s going on Lexi?” “Oh, nothing. It’s just that we’re in our new neighborhood,” I screamed. He got excited and then jump out of bed. He ran to the window and I ran after him. We were just admiring our streets and everything.

       My dad pulled into a driveway and my jaw went straight down. I saw a very tall, large, beautiful, well-structured building in front of me. I was confused because I wonder what celebrities house we’re at. I just wanted to go home and admire my own house, but I found out that this very tall, large, beautiful, well-structured building was my house that I would be living in.

          I grabbed my bags and ran towards the house. I had to wait for my dad to unlock the door, though. After he unlocked it, I looked around and drop my jaw again. This was the best thing that has ever happened to me. Luckily, the furniture was all there and I‘ve also noticed that my car has arrived and is sitting outside just waiting to be used into the New World that I’m living in. I just remembered the most important thing of all.... my bedroom. I ran upstairs and looked around for my bedroom which was hard because there were a lot of doors. So to find out, I opened all of the doors and all of them were furnished and everything. I also saw my brothers room and I guess he’s going to like it. There was one more room that I didn’t check so I ran to the end of the hallway. I started to open the door very slowly. I was nervous.

           I walked in and felt a tear fall down my cheek. This room that I am standing in right now happens to be the best room that I’ve ever laid eyes on. There was zebra print on the wall, the carpet was black, and my bed sheets were also zebra print. My bed was white and I was amazed. There was a walk in closet in my room! I also noticed another door in this huge room. I went towards it and opened it. I couldn’t believe what was in front of my eyes.... my very own, beautifully decorated, bathroom. I ran downstairs and thanked my parents for this wonderful house.

     I wanted to do more exploring around the house but I was very drowsy. It looks like I had to do my investigation the morning. So I said goodnight to my parents, thanked them again for the house, and trudged upstairs. I checked on my brother and it turns out that he was sleeping. I, myself, wanted to do the same. So I climbed in to my warm and cozy bed and fell into a very deep sleep.

      Chapter 5

            I fluttered my eyes open and sneaked out of my room. I truly wanted to explore the new house, so I tiptoed downstairs and began from the left side of the house. There was no  need to investigate upstairs because I did that job yesterday. Anyway, I tiptoed into the first room which was a guest room. Then, I walked into another room which was the guest bathroom. There was one more door. I opened it and saw the coolest room ever. There was a huge flatscreen T.V. The carpet was black with party designs on it like balloons and confetti. There was also a huge couch that that was very comfortable. I wanted to call it the Party Room and saw if it would catch on. I heard someone’s footsteps and got a little scared but it turned out to be Mark. “So, how do you like the  house,” I asked. “I love it. You?” “I love it too,” I answered. I was getting ready to leave and then said “By the way, this room is called the Party Room.” He nodded.

        I got hungry so I decided to get some breakfast. I jogged to the kitchen and looked in the cabinets. Yes, I found my favorite cereal! I poured some into a bowl. I then poured some organic milk because my parents are really healthy. I took my spoon and scooped it into the cereal.I took a very large bite. I happily chewed and thought about school. I was going to the interview today. I am a bit nervous, but I think I’ll do fine. My brother walked into the kitchen and asked, “Lexi, can you make me some cereal?” I yawned and then stood up urging him to smile. I took out a bowl and “made” some cereal. I placed on the table and he also ate happily.

         I heard footsteps while I put my bowl and spoon into the sink. “Good morning mom,” I greeted her. “Good morning Lexi. Why are you up so early?” I shrugged then ran upstairs to get ready for my interview with Balboa High School. I got dressed and combed my hair. I decided to tie it up into a ponytail. I brushed my teeth and wore my shoes. Today I will be experiencing my new school, maybe. I also wish that the principal would like me because my old principal back in Burbank didn’t like me too much. You could say he kind of disliked me. I don’t know why but he always gives me death glares.  After I powdered my face with makeup, I quickly ran downstairs. I was very anxious to see this school. “Mom, what time is my interview today,” I asked. “In two hours, so tell your dad and brother to get ready.” I ran upstairs and saw my dad combing his hair. So then I ran to my brothers room and saw him brushing his teeth. I guess the whole family is almost ready. I started pacing up and down the hallway, thinking of what to say to the principal. I practiced greeting him. I don’t know if I should bow or shake his hand. I decided to just stick with shaking hands. I mean we’re not meeting the queen of England or something, right?

           I even wondered what the principal would ask me. Maybe about my grades, behavior, or something like that. I calmed down, took deep breathes, and told myself that I was going to do great. I slowly walked down the stairs and kept on thinking about the school and not just the interview, but also how it looked like and the different people I would meet. I’m not very good at making friends. One time I walked to a girl and accidently spilled my apple juice on her pants, which made it look like pee. And girls don’t like it if you spill apple juice on them, or any type of juice.

            My mom told us that we were leaving in five more minutes. I remembered that my phone was still up stairs so I ran and got it. I put it in the back pocket of my skinny jeans. I got into the car and breathed in deeply. My brother looked at me and laughed. I wanted to punch him so hard, but I couldn’t lift a muscle because I was so nervous. My mom and dad gave us the pep talk that we always get about behaving and using our manners. I nodded and asked “Dad, what am I going to say and how should I act?” “Be yourself but with a little more manners and politeness and just answer each question he would ask you normally. Just be calm and grow a mustache,” my dad joked.  Man I hate it when my dad says that joke. He knows it because I bought a shirt that says the same exact words on it. Obviously, my brother with no life seems to think it’s funny. My dad took a sharp turn and parked in the school parking lot. It looked very big.

      I gazed at the wonderful building in front of me. My dad pushed me towards the entrance because I would barely move. The principal came towards us and we greeted him with a handshake. I almost bowed but he put his hand in front of me so I decided to shake it. He lead us to his office. I took a seat just like how my parents did. I folded my hands and tried to look sophisticated. The principal sat himself on his black chair. “I’m glad that had time to come and check out our school. I’m just going to ask Lexi here some questions and then we can go on our tour,” Principal Wells said. I nodded in agreement. He turned to me and asked “What grade are you in?” “I’m in eleventh grade,” I answered. “Oh, o.k. So, you are going to graduate soon.” He stood up and wanted to begin the tour but I asked if that was the only question he wanted to ask me, but he said that there will be more questions after the tour. We followed him down a long hallway. There were many lockers. He took us upstairs to the eleventh grade level. Principal Wells showed us where the math, english, science, history, and literature rooms were. Every room had about twenty desks in it. Each room had one white board and one chalk board. I was pretty amazed at the size of each room because they were pretty big.

      Mr. Wells took us back to his office and asked, “So, did you like it?” I nodded like a bobblehead. He led us back to the front door. My father thanked him and we walked back to the car. I was a little confused because I worried about nothing. He didn’t ask me any question that made me freeze because he only asked me like only two questions. I smiled and told my dad that I wanted to go to Balboa. He said that we’ll go next week to sign the papers.

           We arrived back home and ate dinner. My mom made some really good lasagna with a side of salad and mashed potatoes. I finished everything on my plate and helped my mom take out the desert which was pumpkin pie. I ate half of that because I felt really full. So, I thanked my mom for the food and washed the dishes. After that, I decided to take a shower and listen to my music. The water was warm and I felt refreshed and clean. Then I put some music on and checked my facebook. I posted a picture of Balboa High School and in only two minutes, I got ten likes. That is a lot for me since anyone barely likes my photos. I felt really sleepy so I checked the time on my phone and it was only eight thirty. I decided to go to sleep anyway because today was a long day for me. I dropped my head to hit lightly on my soft pillow. I stretched my hand over to reach my blanket. I covered myself up and closed my eyes. I was fast asleep.

           I hate it when I wake up and my room is freezing cold. Well, that’s what I woke up to this morning. I grabbed my sweater and put it on. I looked in the mirror and wow, my hair was a mess. It looked like a bomb went off in my hair. I tried to brush it but there were to many knots and I’ve noticed that there were a lot of split ends. I wore and got ready because I needed a trip to the barber. I ran downstairs with my hoodie on so I wouldn’t scare any children on the streets. I told my mom that I was going to the barber and walked out the door. I didn’t need my car because it was right down the street.  I started walking. I was really glad that I brought a sweater with me because it was very chilly outside and the wind was blowing very hard that my hood would blow off my head every six seconds. I put my hand on my head so it wouldn’t fly off any more. I reached the barber so I opened the door. It was very nice and warm in there. I was the only customer there. I guess nobody else is having a bad hair day today except me. I saw a very tall man come towards me. “Hello I am the fantastic barber who works here. My name is Amable which means loveable in french which would make sense because I am French and I’m just so loveable.” Wow, this man can talk, I thought to myself. “Hi my name is Lexi and I don’t know what that means in French because I’m not French but what I do know is that I need a haircut because I look ridiculous,” I confessed. “Well, Lexi take a seat here and I will go get my supplies.” I took a seat and looked around. There was a picture of Amable and Michael Jackson. And there was also another picture of him and Brad Pitt. There were many pictures of famous people with Amable hanging on the wall. I guess he’s a barber for celebrities or something.

        He came back with the supplies and asked if I wanted to wash my hair. I nodded and he led me to the sink where there were lots of shampoo and conditioners. He told me to lean back and relax. After he washed my hair, he took me to the cool swivel chair so he can cut my hair. He pulled out his scissors and started to cut. At the end, he blow dried my newly cut hair and he turned my chair towards the mirror. I stared in amazement because it looked very nice and unique. I payed him and started walking back home.

          It wasn’t cold like before but still it was a little chilly. I started running back home because I felt like there was someone following me. When I reached my house, I quickly unlocked the door and got inside. “Hello. Is anybody there?” There wasn’t anyone n the house. I took out my phone and called my mom. “Mom, where are you?” “Your father, brother, and I are at Balboa High School signing your papers, so you could start school in two days. Bye, we’ll be home in a few minutes.” I hung up. I can’t believe that I’m starting school in two days. I ran upstairs and got dressed into my pajamas. I checked my facebook and saw a picture of Amable and Taylor Swift. I looked at the date and saw that he posted this picture today at eleven. That was the same time I had my haircut and there was no Taylor Swift at that place. He is such a lier. I am pretty sure that he spends his time making these pictures himself online.

      I heard a door slam. I ran downstairs and saw my parents. “Wow I love your haircut Lexi,” my mom said. “Thanks. So how did it go? Am I going to that school in two days?” They both nodded and I felt happy yet a little scared because it’s always so hard to be the new kid around. I smiled, trying to hide the fact that I’m terrified.

        It was one thirty right now and I didn’t have lunch yet so I made myself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with lemonade and chips on the side. I sat in front of the T.V screen and watched my favorite show, “Drake and Josh.” I took a bite out of my sandwich and laughed at every joke they told. I finished my lunch so I dropped of my tray in the kitchen and decided to watch another episode of “Drake and Josh.”

         I didn’t keep track of time until I checked my watch. It’s six already? Mom ran and started to prepare dinner. She told me to call Mark and my dad. “Mark. Dad. It is time for dinner.” They both ran to the kitchen table and sat. We prayed the Our Father and started digging in. My mom made chow mein and orange chicken. After we finished our food, we had mooncakes for dessert. I enjoyed my mooncake because I remembered that my dad and brother have to wash the dishes today. I also needed to go to sleep because I have to get used to sleeping early again.

      Chapter 6

        I slowly walked upstairs. I tried to go to sleep but I couldn’t. I kept on rolling around in bed, trying to find the perfect position. This is never going to work so I went downstairs, got a glass of milk, ran upstairs, and tried to go to sleep. I got a little drowsy but I still couldn’t go to bed. I needed something that would get me bored so I decided to read a book. I went to my brothers room and got one of those weird books that he has. I read one paragraph and shut my sleepy eyes.

         I slightly opened my eyes to find a funny face staring at me. When I opened my eyes even wider, I noticed that it was my brother. I pushed him off me and said “What are you doing?” “Mom and dad said that I had to wake you up. So, here I am,” he answered. “So you thought that you can wake me up by sitting on me?” He nodded and I jumped out of bed and started to chase him. He ran for dear life because he knows what I do to him whenever I am angry. Mark started screaming “Mom, mom, mom. Lexi is chasing me!” I ran a little faster because I was annoyed. No one would like to wake up seeing a Mark on them.

        My mother stopped me. “What are you doing to your brother?” I saw my brother’s head pop up behind my mother’s back. “Mom, did you tell him to wake me up,” I asked. “No, why?” “I woke up today with Mark’s head in my face. If he was not your son, you would want to push him off a staircase.” I just told my mom about a terrible morning and I hoped she would understand. “Mark, go upstairs to your room and stay there because you are grounded.” Yes, this is the first time he got grounded. I wanted to hug my mom so hard right now but I didn’t want to look stupid, so I just held it in. Mark walked upstairs with his head down. I wanted to laugh so hard right now also but of course, I didn’t want to look weird and stupid.

        I went to the kitchen to grab some cereal but I saw something different on the kitchen table. “Mom, what is this?” I looked at the delicious food. “That is an omelet. Eat up because today is a long day. We’re going to go get your school supplies.” I nodded and ate my delicious omelet. I saw that my mom also prepared some for my brother. I didn’t want it to get cold so I called him down here to eat it. After I finished my breakfast, I washed my plate and then ran upstairs.

        I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Then I applied some Neutrogena. I brushed my hair and looked in my closet for some clothes. I decided to wear my skinny jeans and a t-shirt that said “Wat Up” on it. I looked in the mirror then nodded as if it was approval to my appearance. I grabbed my phone and then ran downstairs to see if my family was ready yet. Luckily, they were because I don’t like waiting for every single person in this house. We hopped in my dad’s car and drove to Target.

       My dad parked the car and we hopped out. I ran to the entrance because I was in a sleepy mood today because I woke up in front of a maniac and I just wanted to go home and watch more “Drake and Josh.” My brother got a cart and we started to look at the list which was very long by the way. The first item was scissors and I grabbed one from isle three and kept on moving to isle seven because that was where the notebooks are, the second thing on the list. I get excited to shop for school supplies because I get to choose cool erasers and funny notebooks with weird pictures on them but today I wasn’t in a good mood and I’m pretty sure that everyone knows why... Mark! I finished gathering my supplies and head down to the cash register. This is what I loved about Target, they have a fast service, which means that I don’t have to wait for hours in a line to buy some stuff. “Good morning sir,” my dad greeted the man. At least I think it was a man. He didn’t say anything in respond to my dad. He looked like he had a bad day and I was not the shy type. “Hey sir, why are you upset,” I just had to ask out loud. “Well my girlfriend just broke up with me because I got kicked off the football team...... yeah. Why do you ask is obvious?” I shook my head. He sighed and looked at me. “Do you know what? I am going to quit and find me a new girlfriend.” My eyes widened. He threw his badge at me, which said “Hey, My name is Frank.” I threw it back on the table and we went to find a helpful cashier. We found one on aisle nine. My dad greeted him the same way and he nicely greeted him back. O.k, he obviously has no problems with his girlfriend. I mean why would he, he isn’t bad looking. The total was thirty dollars. My dad gave him his credit card and paid. We then popped the bags in the trunk and drove away.

       I wanted to visit the Golden Gate Bridge so badly before we started school. I politely asked my mom because I do that every time I want something. I started jumping in the car seat because this was pretty exciting... she said yes! My dad got out his cool navigation system and began talking to her. He called her Leximous after me. My mom slapped him a playful slap as a sign to quit playing and to start entering the address to that golden beauty.

         My dad parked in the parking lot and I, excitingly, jumped out of the car and ran to where the bridge started. We walked for one mile and then the way back was another mile which took forever. Mark started crying because his legs hurt. My dad had to carry him but it wasn’t fair because I am also tired but no one carries me. Even if some one carried me, it would look weird because imagine walking down the streets and you saw a parent carry a sixteen year old.

        We arrived to the car and I was relieved because that was a long walk and my brother fell asleep but I was kind of glad that we had this experience before school started. I was very sleepy and wanted to got to sleep in the car but I couldn’t because if two things that were on my mind. Like, “Where is my brother going to school” and “How is my first day at school tomorrow gonna go?”

        These were two very important topics that I couldn’t get out of my head. I mostly cared for the second reason which was about my day tomorrow at school but I still wanted to know about my brother. “Hey mom, where is Mark going to school at?” I asked the question that was on my mind and she quickly answered “He is going to The San Francisco School. Yeah I know it kind of sounds weird but it is a great school.” I nodded but how about my school? Am I going to find many friends, or am I going to like my teachers, or am I going to love the school itself? These new questions filled my head. I was lost I didn’t know what was going to happen tomorrow. Hopefully it’s nothing embarrassing because that will not lead to any type of friendship. There was one thing for sure that I would see in high school.... the bullies and the popular kids. I am officially not going to be a member of their group. Even if they ask me to join, I won’t because that isn’t like me and I will never change. I don’t even know why I’m worrying so much. I am supposed to be confident. I am supposed to walk in with my head held high. I am just supposed to be me... Lexi and nobody else. I loved the pep talk I just gave myself but I also got a little creeped out because I just sounded like my parents.

           We finally arrived back home so we can just relax and get some sleep before the scariest day of my life. I confidently walked upstairs practicing how I would walk in the classroom. I released my tensity of holding my back straight right when I entered my bedroom. I took off my close and decided to take a shower. I turned up the water temperature to extremely hot because it was freezing outside. I entered the warm shower and started to wash my hair and then my body. I put some hair conditioner. I didn’t want to come out but as my science teacher would say “Don’t waste water.” I got out and quickly wrapped the towel around me. I brushed my hair and then blow dried it. I picked out some cute clothes from my closet and set it down on my mini sofa in my room.

        I got into my pajamas and laid down on my bed. Since I was still nervous, I decided to give myself the pep talk I made up earlier. Now this would be a great time to call a friend but I don’t have any. My whole life, I was known as the weird girl in Burbank but that was all going to change since I started a new life in San Francisco. I promised myself that by the end of the year, I would have at least two friends and a boyfriend, if there were any decent ones. I felt more and more confident every time i would say this to myself until I reached the point where i wasn’t scared or nervous anymore. I am ready to face the fact that I am the new girl and that even if I stumble and fall I would get back up and keep on going.

         I went downstairs for dinner. I got excited even more because my mom made my favorite food of all time.... tacos. And the way my mom makes them, to die for. I sat down and there were many small dishes next to the plate of hard-shelled tacos. I figured that they were the sour cream, beef, lettuce, tomatoes, and some salsa. I added a little bit of everything to my plain hard-shelled taco to make it a tasty delicious taco. My brother woke up from his one hour nap because, just like me, he loved to eat tacos too so he couldn’t miss them. We ate happily and talked about different stuff. I forgot all about school and just munched on my yummy taco. Today was a good day. And tomorrow would be a better one, hopefully. After I finished my taco, I washed the dishes because it was my turn and then head off to bed. I turned my alarm clock on. I wanted to wake up pretty early tomorrow so I can take a shower and curl my hair. I wanted everything to go perfect tomorrow.  

     I heard a noise and jumped out of bed to get my baseball bat. But it was just my alarm. I took off my pajamas, threw them on the bed, and went in my bathroom to take a shower. The water ,once again, was warm and refreshing. I didn’t want to come out but I had to. I jumped out and quickly put on my towel. I really wanted to curl my hair so I got out my curling iron and started to curl away. My hair looked great after I curled here and there. I put some makeup on and went to my closet to pick out my clothes but then I remembered that I already had my outer wear sitting on my chair. I got dressed then brushed my teeth. I looked at myself in the mirror and wished myself some good luck because the new girl always needs some.

     Chapter 7

          I ran downstairs to make sure I had all my supplies. I looked in my backpack and found everything that was supposed to be there. I gave a sigh of relief. I ran to the kitchen to make lunch and have a little something- something for breakfast. I packed myself a nutella sandwich with some juice and a granola bar. I then put some of my favorite cereal and began eating it. I took a quick glimpse at the clock and started heading towards the door. I stopped because I wondered if I should tell my mom and dad that I’m leaving so they don’t have to call the cops. Then I heard footsteps and figured that it might be my parents. “Bye mom. I am going to school.” I hugged her and she waved as I opened the door and ran to my car because it was pretty cold out here. I knew where the school was because I drove past there a few times and just to make sure that I ended up at school on time, I woke up very early. I still have one hour before school starts.

      I put my seatbelt on and turned up the radio to my number one song, “Chasing the Sun” by the Wanted. I drove through the streets carefully because I didn’t want to get another ticket. The school wasn’t far away so I made there with forty minutes left to spare. I decided to wait in the car because the doors weren’t open yet and I didn’t want to wait outside because it was freezing so I just stayed put in my car. I suddenly felt a little nauseous and felt like I needed to vomit. But I think it’s just because I’m a little nervous. So, I repeated my little pep talk to myself over and over again. I felt a little better but the nauseousness was still there. I didn’t know what to do.

      I looked at the clock and saw that there was only five more minutes until the bell rang. I gathered all my stuff and began to walk towards the front door where many students were waiting. I felt all eyes were on me. Did I just do something wrong?

      I just looked back and smiled. They just ignored me and went back to their conversation. I shook my head slowly and looked down to the floor.... yeah, I guess I’m shy like that. Then I saw a familiar face trying to make his way to the door. Oh, it’s the principal. I bet he’s trying to unlock the door so we can enter. All the students that were waiting outside piled in the hallways trying to get to their morning classes. I made my way towards the principals office to get my schedule. “Good morning,” I said. “Oh, Hi Lexi. What do you need?” “I just need the schedule for my classes sir.” He nodded and handed me a white piece of paper that listed all my classes for each day. I saw that my first class was Math. I huffed because math is the one subject that does not like me. I asked many people for directions and they all kindly helped me. I was right in front of the door leading to my first class. While I was about to open it, I imagined some Jaws music playing the background. I twisted the doorknob and entered. The teacher looked nice but was she really? When I came in she said “This must be our new student, Lexi. Come on in and take seat wherever you want.” I nodded and took a seat in the back. There was one kid who sat next to me. I was kind of scared because he looked very tough. “Hi. What’s your name,” I quietly said. He didn’t answer. I wanted to push him down a staircase or something because that was very rude.

          Luckily, the math teacher didn’t ask me any questions. But I did notice a really cute guy in math class that just stared and smiled at me. I might be crazy but I think he likes me or I was making a funny face. Hopefully it was the first one. I also noticed this girl who was sitting next to the cute guy stare at me also. She looked very friendly.

       It was lunchtime and I, of course, sat by myself at this lonely table in the back of the cafeteria. I took out my sandwich that I prepared this morning. I was about to take a bite but then I saw a shadow in front of me. It was that girl that I saw staring at me in math class. “Hi my name is Cecilia but you can call me CeCe. What’s your name?” She told me her name so I guess I can tell her mine. “Hi. My name is Alexis but you can call me Lexi.” She giggled because I practically said the same thing as her but with different names. She sat down and took out her own sandwich and began eating. I did the same as well. We talked about many things and it looks like we have a lot in come in, but I needed to ask her something. “So, there was this guy who was staring at me in math class. Do you know anything about him?” She giggled and said “Yeah. Everyone does. He is the most hottest, most popular, and most charming guy in this whole school. His name is Lucas.” “But why was he staring at me. I mean a guy like that has to have a girlfriend or something, right?” She nodded, “He does have a girlfriend but I’m pretty sure they broke up because they always do. Yeah Mary can be so mean sometimes.” So Mary was her name and Lucas was his name.... wow.

    Chapter 8

         I kept on thinking and I decided that “Lexi and Lucas” sounds much better than “Lucas and Mary.” After lunch I asked CeCe what her next class was and she had the same class. I looked at her schedule and it turns out that we have the same one for everyday of the week. I smiled greatly because it looks like I just got me a new best friend. We both headed down to our class but then we stopped because we both saw something very interesting. Lucas’ friends were pushing him towards me and CeCe started to nudge me. I came a little bit closer and said “Hi.” He smiled and panicked. One of his friends started to nudge him also and then he nodded. They cheered for some reason and Lucas came towards me. “Hey. My name is Lucas and I was wondering if you would like to grab some pizza sometime.” I was screaming on the inside but I didn’t want to ruin the moment so I kept it in. “Yes, that will be wonderful. Anytime. Oh by the way my name is Lexi.” He smiled wider and turned around to his possy. He then turned back around and waved good bye. I waved back with a large smile on my face. My exotic friend screamed and I just rolled my eyes and kept on walking to my class.

      CeCe was a little ahead of me, skipping in the hallway like a maniac. I jumped a little when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked at that hand and then turned to face a tall blond girl about my height. She opened her mouth to say something “I saw you talking to Lucas. Stay away from him. He’s mine.” “O.k first of all, you don’t own Lucas. Second of all, I can talk to Lucas and third of all, who are you?” I was creeped out from this girl and felt that I haven’t interrogated her enough. “My name, is Mary.” Everything fell into place now. I get why she doesn’t want me to talk or hang out with Lucas. I just turned around with no response and once again, headed down to my class.

     I opened the door and without looking at anyone, I just took a seat in the back. I paid no attention during this class, which was english. He said some stuff and nodded like a bobble head. That class lasted for only thirty minutes. I jumped out of my seat and pushed myself threw the crowd of people. I guess that was the end of the day, so I tried to find CeCe to say goodbye but instead I saw Lucas. “About the pizza thing, do you want to do it on Friday after school?” I nodded and said goodbye. Today was the best day in my entire life. I got a new best friend and there is a guy that likes me. This day can’t get better.

     I hopped in my car and drove back home. When I got home, I unlocked the front door and slipped inside. “Lexi, how was the first day of school,” my parents asked. “It was great I got a new best friend and....” I hesitated telling them about Lucas because I’m pretty sure my parents won’t approve of it. “Oh you got a new best friend?” I nodded and said “Yes, her name is Cecelia but call her CeCe.”  

      I ran upstairs to do my math homework. I looked at the the textbook that we used. It wasn’t hard math but the process it takes to get one answer, takes a lot of time. I finished all thirty problems and went on to my english homework. There were also about thirty questions just asking us about our characters for our mini story that we are going to start writing in maybe a month or so. That was all the homework, for today.

     I wanted to take a shower so I took off all my clothes, put them in the hamper and then dashed to the warm water that was waiting for me. I washed my hair and my body with my fruit smelling shampoo and body wash. When I finished, I jumped out of the shower and put my towel on. I brushed my hair then blow dried it. I went to the closet to pick out my outfit for tomorrow. I decided to go with my skinny jeans, brown leather boots, and with my purple top I got at the mall. I set those on my chair and got dressed into my pajamas. I checked the clock and ran downstairs because it was six thirty and that means dinner time. I sat down and waited for my mom to bring the main dish over to the table. It was her famous steak with mashed potatoes. We all took our forks and stuck them through a steak. We ate until seven thirty. My dad was waiting for the desert. His mouth was watering up. I nudged my mom to take a quick look at him. We both giggled and took out the jello. I had a huge smile on his face when we set it down on the table. We all scooped some up into our plates. My brother started playing with his and I laughed for a moment. Then I stopped because my parents gave my brother and I the stern look which scared me. I excused myself and walked out of the kitchen to my bedroom. I sat down on my bed and thought about today. I got a friend and I know that there is one guy who likes me, I don’t know why but he does. I jumped out of bed and checked my facebook on my laptop. I got two friend requests. One is from CeCe and the other one is from Lucas. I obviously accepted the requests and started to chat with CeCe. I told her that I couldn’t find her today after school because it was crowded and I just wanted to say goodbye and see you tomorrow. There was no reply. I guess she wasn’t on. I didn’t want to chat with Lucas because I didn’t know what to say to him. I closed my laptop. I walked to my dresser to put some lotion on my hands because they were chapped and dry. I squeezed some on my both my hands. I rubbed them together and went to bed. The blanket was cool so I curled up inside and shut my eyes closed.

          I woke up to a very cold room again, which I hated but what can we do about? I jumped out of bed because of two things. One, is because it’s a Friday and two is because I remembered CeCe and Lucas. I got dressed then brushed my teeth for a while since I have friends now, so I wanted to look presentable. I decided to leave my hair the way it is but of course I brushed it because it was a mess. But I mean that I didn’t curl or iron it. I washed my face carefully because I didn’t want to get my clothes wet. I then applied some makeup. I looked in the mirror one more time and smiled. “This is the new me,” I said to myself.

        I ran downstairs and ate my delicious fruit tart that my mom for breakfast. It was o.k but I could have made it better myself. I grabbed my backpack and my keys. I unlocked the door and ran to my car which was wet because..... I felt a raindrop on my nose. It was raining. I climbed into my car as fast as I could because I didn’t want to get sodden and look terrible on my second day of school. I drove for a while because there was a closed road so I had to go the long way but luckily, for me, I made it on time to school. I parked my car and ran to the front doors. It was unlocked so I ran to my first class and saw everyone there. I was relieved when I didn’t see the teacher. I looked around for CeCe and saw her sitting next to an empty seat. I walked towards her and said “Hi how are you.” “Good, how about you?” I put a thumbs up because the teacher walked in and I didn’t want to get in trouble. I turned around to face the white board. Mrs. Lee taught us calculus and algebra. I guess it was pretty easy because I took this in school when I was in Burbank. The bell rang and Mrs. Lee announced what paged was the homework.

       CeCe and I walked to our next class which would be science but then I heard my name from behind me so I turned around and saw that it Lucas. “So are we still on for tonight?” He asked me. “Yes. So what time and where?” “Oh. Well I thought that I can pick you up at six to go to a fancy restaurant that I know.” I felt like I was going to faint because this totally sounded like a date. I nodded and walked away. CeCe looked like she was about to cry. “CeCe, what’s wrong?” I asked her. “Lucas Bolten just asked you out. He is the hottest guy in our school, he is the team captain for the basketball and football team, and he is the sweetest guy in the whole school.” I giggled. We literally skipped to class. I was so glad that CeCe was happy for me and so that is when a light bulb lit in my head. I should get CeCe a boyfriend too. I thought of all the guys that are perfect for her but I didn’t want to be a bad friend and metal. I wanted to talk to CeCe after class. I stopped thinking about her when the bell rang. I grabbed her hand and ran to the cafeteria.

       We sat at the same table as we did yesterday. “Hey CeCe. Sorry I pulled you through the crowd of people but I was wondering if you like anyone.” I was waiting for an answer. She finally opened her mouth to say “I used to but not anymore. His name was Bryan but he left the school. But I don’t like anyone right now.” “What if I can help you?” I offered to help her but she shook her head and said “No.” I nodded and opened up my lunch bag. “Let us eat. Shall we,” I said in a british accent. CeCe nodded and opened up her lunch pail also. I took out my sandwich and ate a big bite out of it. I then took out my delicious pudding. It was chocolate and man was it good.

   Chapter 9

         When lunchtime was over, we headed off to our next class..... history. I liked history class but I wanted to learn about more interesting stuff like the Titanic, not about World War one, two, or three. If there even was a three. But I couldn’t change the curriculum of the school. I walked in the classroom with CeCe and sat down in a desk. She didn’t sit next to me because there were no empty spots that had two desks next to each other. The teacher came in and greeted the class. She got straight to teaching about, of course, World War one. I doodled in my notebook. My drawings were mostly about Lucas and I. I didn’t want anyone to see it because that would be embarrassing so I curved my notebook in. The teacher called my name so my head shot up. “Yes,” I said. “Come up and show us what you are drawing in your notebook. My heart stopped and I couldn’t breathe. I was about to faint. I stood up slowly and grabbed  my notebook. I walked slowly to the front of the classroom. I gave her my notebook and she gave a small giggle. “Well, I bet everyone would love to see this.” She turned the notebook around so the whole class can see it. I felt my cheeks turn red like Rudolph’s nose while everyone else just laughed. I found CeCe’s face in the crowd. She looked like she was doing something. “Wow guys. Look what Mary drew.” I didn’t know what she was doing but I guess I can go along with it. CeCe held up Mary’s notebook and everyone laughed hard. Even harder when they laughed at me. It was funnier because the picture was her and Lucas holding hands with hearts everywhere. I laughed too. Obviously Lucas doesn’t like her. When the bell rang, I went back to my desk to grab my backpack. I thanked God for one thing though, Lucas wasn’t in this class.

       I walked into the last class of the day, literature. I took a seat in the back and hid my face. Even though Mary had a bigger embarrassing moment than me, I was still a little embarrassed from my picture. Hopefully everyone forgets by the end of the weekend because tomorrow is Saturday and then Sunday which should give people plenty of time to control themselves. I thinking of the same thing this whole class. Luckily, this teacher won’t come up to me and say “Hey Lexi show us what you’re thinking or drawing.” I know officially hate my history teacher.

       The bell rang and I ran to the front of the classroom to get out. I had to go home and get ready for my date with destiny, I mean Lucas. I saw CeCe in the hallway and hugged her without saying a word. I ran to my car and fastened my seatbelt. I drove for about four miles but then I stopped because the stupid construction was still there so I had to go the long way again. So I took a u-turn and started driving to my house. When I got there, I parked the car and ran to the front door. I unlocked it and slipped inside. I froze as I saw my parents. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to tell them. I kept on thinking and thinking and thinking of different ways I can say this. I found a way so I said “Hey mom and dad. How are you doing today? Oh, that’s great. My friend asked me if I could go to a fancy restaurant with him and I said yes. So, can I go?” My parents looked at each other mouthing the word “him.” I knew that they were going to say no. “Oh. So it’s a him?” I answered my mom by nodding very slowly. “Is it a date?” “No. I’m just going to hang out with a friend. So can I go?” They nodded hesitantly. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” I ran upstairs and took off all my clothes. I threw them in the hamper, even though they are not dirty, and ran to the warm shower just waiting for me. I scrubbed really hard because I wanted to smell extra good for Lucas. I washed my hair like twice so it can be very silky and shiny. I then put on my fruity conditioner. I stayed under the warm water for a while. When the soap was all washed off my body, I stepped out and wrapped my myself with my cozy and warm towel. Now it was time for the hardest part of getting ready for a date or just seeing a really close friend.

   Chapter 10

       I walked into my closet and looked around. I didn’t find anything interesting or very pretty. I remembered that I had one red dress that was sleeveless on one side. It had red sparkles on the top and it wasn’t that long. It was three inches above my knees. I didn’t know if it was that necessary for this little date but it was either that or a purple dress with a small stain on it. I chose the very fancy red dress. I slipped it on and went to my dresser to do my hair and makeup. I applied some red blush and some of my favorite red lipstick that I “borrowed” from my mom. I put some red eye shadow. I looked in the mirror and smiled. I ran to my curler and waited a minute or so for it to get hot or at least warm. I started to curl my hair slowly.

         When I finished, I looked in the mirror and twirled around. I smiled because I was excited yet very nervous. I heard a doorbell ring and gently face palmed my head. I remembered that Lucas was picking me up. I didn’t know what to tell my parents. I grabbed my purse and walked down the stairs thinking of a way I can tell my parents without them yelling at me in front of Lucas. The moment my heels hit the floor everyone turned around to face me. “Hi Lucas.” I wanted to make it look like we’re just friends so I put my hand out to him to shake. “Hi Lexi. You look great.” My parents exchanged looks. “Lexi I never knew your dad was an engineer. That’s what I want to be when I grow up.” My dad was impressed with what Lucas just said. My dad pulled me to the side and said “Wow. I like this kid.” I nodded and said to Lucas “Shall we?” He laughed and led me out the door way. I turned around to see my parents’ faces. I smiled because they looked happy and my parents can’t act very well so they must be really happy for me. I waved goodbye and then took Lucas’s hand. He opened the door of his car for me. He then closed it and walked the drivers seat. He also sat. Lucas looked at me and smiled. “You look beautiful today.” “Thank you and you don’t look too bad yourself.” I commented on his jacket.

        When we arrived, he parked in the parking lot and he opened my door “You don’t have to open the door for me it’s fine,” I told him. “No, a princess always needs a trusty steed to help her around.” We both laughed and i blushed at the “princess” comment. Lucas opened the door for me and we entered this large restaurant filled with fancy people sitting up straight and drinking their beverages with their pinkies. We went to the front desk and Lucas told them that we had a reservation. They took us to a table with two seats and of course Lucas pulled my chair out for me. I sat and wondered. “

Wow. He is such a gentlemen.”

“This is the most fanciest restaurant I have ever been to.” I smiled and he smiled back. He started talking about his future career. I was impressed because my parents are always pushing me to be a doctor, lawyer, or engineer and his parents are the same. “Wow, I guess our parents will get along with this issue,” I said. “Yeah I know we have to let them meet each other soon,” he agreed. We talked and  talked and talked about different subjects in school and our future. He told me about his family and I told him about mine. It turns out that Lucas has one little sister that goes to Mark’s school. What a small world. “Hi my name is Nella and I will be your waiter today. Would  you like to start off with some drinks?” We both nodded and she asked me what I wanted to drink, diet coke. Then she asked Lucas who wanted diet pepsi. “O.k. I wil come back with your drinks and take your order.” Nella the waitress walked away.

         Lucas and I had the best time tonight. We drank, ate, and talked about details in our lives. “Hey Lexi. Everyone has been asking me to do this but I told them that I wasn’t ready yet because I didn’t know you, but know I do and I think that you will make a great...” he sighed and I think I knew what he was going to say. “Lexi, will you be my girlfriend?” I was about to die this second, this moment. I wanted to say yes but I couldn’t move. I nodded slowly and he jumped up in the air and then grabbed my hand. I stood up and he said “Lexi is my new girlfriend!” Everyone started clapping except this one girl who came storming towards me. I didn’t recognize who that was but when she came closer I gasped because I remember the exact words that this person said to me a day or two back, “

I saw you talking to Lucas. Stay away from him. He’s mine.”

It was Mary.

  Chapter 11

       My face turned red while Mary was still storming towards me and that was the last thing I saw after getting punched by Mary and ending up on the floor. Everything was blurry and I think I saw Lucas or something yelling at Mary. I smiled then everything went black. I blacked out.

Everything was dark. Where am I? I was scared. I heard nothing around me. Am I in a dream? Oh. I felt something touch me. It felt like a hand. I tried to open my eyes. They are fluttering open. I hear people screaming “Lexi, Lexi”. My eyes are open.

     I saw a boy, a doctor, and a nurse. “Lexi, are you o.k,” the boy said. {“Who are you and who is Lexi?” I was confused. Everything felt knew. I felt like a newborn baby, a lost chipmunk, a lonely wolf. I didn’t know who these people were and I certainly didn’t know who Lexi was. “Oh my gosh. She forgot her memory.” The boy was shocked. He did look kind of cute though. “Who are you,” I repeated. “I am Lucas, your boyfriend.” I smiled because the cute guy was my boyfriend.

Bonus,

I thought to myself. “You said something about a Lexi. Who the heck is that,” I asked because Lexi is a very pretty name but she might be stealing Lucas away from me. “This Lexi girl is you.” Lucas looked astonished and so did I. My name is Lexi ,and Lucas was surprised that I didn’t know who I was. That was the recap right there. “Lexi, why don’t you come to my place and I can flood the memories back,” Lucas asked. I nodded and took his hand that was held out for me. We ran down the stairs of the big hospital and got into Lucas’ car. He drove me through what was called San Francisco. It was a beautiful city. He parked in a driveway leading to a beautiful house. He opened my door and locked his car. Lucas took out his home keys and unlocked the door. “Where are your parents?” I asked him, because there was nobody around. “They are in Las Vegas with my two sisters to see Celine Dion.” “Why didn’t you go with them?” I was very curious. “Because I’m not a big fan of Celine Dion and I didn’t want to miss our first date.” He was a very nice guy but I was still curious. “When was our first date?” “It was a few hours ago. Here, come with me.” I took his hand and he led me to the couch in the family room. We sat and he faced me. “Lexi, let me tell about your life.” I interrupted and said “How do you know about my life?” He said “Because you told me at dinner about your family, your old schools and about other things. You didn’t tell me the details but I guess we can improvise. Well, you love basketball and you were once on an all boys team. You also love your new best friend, CeCe. Her real name is Cecelia by the way. You came to this school because your parents wanted to move away from Burbank and into San Francisco. We were pretty excited. You didn’t like your old school because there were no people that were unique like you and there were no people with your style. Now let us move on to your family. You have a dad that works as an engineer. You also have a mom that cooks and cleans for you. You did say that you have an annoying brother, Mark. He drives you nuts. You guys get into pretty intense fights but sometimes you guys get along. So is any of  the memory back yet?” I nodded. I remember everything now. I even remember why I ended up in the hospital.... Mary. “Wow, thank you Lucas. I remember everything now and boy did I tell you a mouth full.” He laughed. “But why did Mary do that to me?” When I asked him that question, his face turned blank. “O.k. Well, Mary and I had a thing going on a long time ago. Before you came to this school, actually. I guess she still has that ‘thing’ for me. But I don’t I am in to someone else.” I giggled.

      Lucas and I talked some more about how Mary was mean and nasty. I looked at the beautiful owl clock on the wall and jumped off the couch. My parents would be thinking about where I was right now. “Lucas, I have to go home.” “Oh, here let me take you.” I grabbed my purse and we ran to the car. We both closed our doors hard and he drove to my house. When we got there I unbuckled my seatbelt and hugged Lucas. “Good night. See you tomorrow.” He said good night back. I ran to the front door and rang the doorbell. My mom answered. “Where have you been. It’s nine o’clock already and you left at six. It doesn’t take about three hours to eat dinner then come back.” I didn’t feel like arguing with my mom. I said “Sorry mom. I won’t do it again.” I hugged her then ran upstairs. I took off my close and put on my pajamas. I brushed my teeth and whispered names to myself that I would call Mary. I wouldn’t say them out loud but you know. I jumped on my bed and thought about tonight. It wasn’t a complete disaster but it could have been better. I just wish that Mary could just back off and leave me alone. I don’t want her to ruin my life. I even wonder how she knew about the date in the first place. Only me and Lucas know. Now I was truly scared because I wonder if she was stalking me. Anyway, I didn’t know what to do.

         I decided not to tell my parents about tonight it was just awkward. I don’t want to tell them about the whole amnesia thing. I didn’t want them to get worried and scared. By the way it wasn’t severe. I am better now.

          I slipped into my covers and closed my eyes. Today was a very long day and I deserved some rest. I heard my phone buzz right when I was about to close my eyes. I leaned over to check what the message said

“Hope you feel better, Lucas xxx.”

I smiled and laid back down. I closed my eyes and tried dreaming something. I haven’t had a great dream for so long. But a great dream is all I needed right now. I thought that if I count sheep, I might dream of something pleasant. O.k here we go. One, two, three, four, five.......seventy-six. This is not working. I stopped and thought that I can dream if I can hear a song. I ran to my desk and grabbed my ipod. I plugged in my headphones and played my favorite song which was Chasing the Sun by the Wanted. I started to sing along. “

I’m better, so much better now. I see the light, touch the light, we’re together now. I’m better, so much better now. Look to the skies, give me life, we’re together now. We’ve only just begun, hypnotised by drums, until forever comes, you’ll find us chasing the sun. They said this day wouldn’t come, we refused to run, we’ve only just begun, you’ll find us chasing the sun. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. You’ll find us chasing the sun.”

I couldn’t sing any longer now. I paused the music. I fell asleep, dreaming greatly.

   “

No. You can’t do this.’ I felt sick, sitting in an emergency room. ‘Lucas I have to go. I will be with you in here.’ I took his hand and directed it to his heart. He cried and I closed my eyes. When I did,  Lucas cried even louder.

   I became a star in Heaven, part of the skies. I was above Lucas. I saw him crying and looking at something in a graveyard. It was my death tomb. I started crying also. It was pouring rain outside and both, me and Lucas, were sobbing because of my death.”

 Chapter 12

      “Lexi, wake up.” I opened my eyes and saw my mom staring at me, confused. “What mom?” “Lexi, why were you crying? Is everything alright?” My mom seemed concerned. I touched my face and felt tears. I was crying in my sleep. I replied to my mom “Yes mom, I’m fine.” She walked out of the room. I laid back down and wondered about my dream. Why did I dream that? Was it a sign or just a bad nightmare? Will this ever happen to me? But the sad part is that I never knew what I died in my dream for. Was it cancer, diabetes, or asthma? I will never know.

     I looked at my phone and checked the time. It was eight thirty in the morning. I slowly got out of bed. I put my slippers on and walked down the stairs. I went on my dad’s desk top. I was looking for a fortune teller that is close by in San Francisco. That was the only way I would find out if the dream meant anything or not. I looked at all of their addresses until I found one that lived only one block away from me. I got up and strolled to the kitchen. I grabbed some toast that was in the toaster. After I ate it, I ran upstairs to get dressed. I was going to the fortune tellers house.

    I brushed my teeth and washed my face. Then I got into some skinny jeans and a black tank top with a sweater over it. I put on my boots and grabbed my phone. “By mom. I’m just going outside for some fresh air.” “O.k but come home safely.” I nodded but in my mind, I thought that what she said was unpredictable. I mean what person doesn’t want to come home safely. I giggled at the thought. I unlocked the door and looked around before I crossed the street. A red car passed by. It looked familiar. I think it was Lucas’ car. I looked through the window but saw a guy with a mustache. That was not Lucas. Anyway, I crossed the street and looked for the house number. “223, 223, 223,” I kept saying to myself. Oh, there it is. I walked to the house, took a deep breath, and rang the doorbell. An old lady answered. “Hi. My name is Lexi and I was wondering if you can tell me my future.” “Yes come on in,” she said. I sat down. “Well, I had a dream last night that I died because of a disease. But I didn’t know if it was a sign or just a dream. So, that is why I’m here.” She nodded and took my hand. She closed her eyes and began to recite something in a different language. It sounded funny but I didn’t want to interrupt by laughing. “You have a boyfriend and he cares about you greatly,” she said. I nodded and smiled. She continued “I see you both at a hospital. Oh no. I can’t go on. God led me to a dead end. I can’t tell you anything else.” “Why? I need to know what is going to happen.” I was curious why she stopped. I was so close  to knowing but I guess God didn’t want me to know. “Thank you for your help.” I said good bye and started walking back home. Well that was a big fail. I wouldn’t forget anything about this day. But since she stopped talking about my future I guess something bad will happen. I got scared and felt knives going through my stomach. I ran home because I felt dizzy and I was about to fall. Oh my gosh. My stomach hurt even more. I grasped the door handle and opened the door. I got inside and pushed myself towards the couch. I thought that a little bit of T.V would help me forget about my painful stomach. I opened the T.V and watched my favorite show which was Drake and Josh.

     After I watched an episode or two, I walked upstairs and jumped on my bed. I needed some rest. Even though I woke up about only two hours ago. I needed some music to soothe my aching belly. I put on “Give Your Heart a Break” by Demi Lovato. I sang along because it was a very catchy song.

“The day I, first met you, you told me, you’ll never fall in love. But now that, I get you, I know fear, that’s what it really was. But now here we are, so close yet so far. Haven’t I passed the test? When will you realize, baby I’m not like the rest....”

I heard a knock on the door so I paused the music and said “Come in.” “Hey can I borrow your laptop,” Mark asked. ‘“No, Not now.” “Why,” he asked. “Because I said so. Now leave.” He left with a sad look on his face. I didn’t care right now because there was a bigger problem. I might not live to see the end. I didn’t want to tell anyone about this except maybe CeCe or Lucas. Oh, I forgot. Lucas must be worried sick about me right now. I decided that I should go and see him. I grabbed my phone and since I’m already wearing something decent, I guess I’m on my way to Lucas’ house. I ran downstairs noticing that the pain in my stomach has gone away. I grabbed the car keys. I unlocked the door and got into my car. I remembered the way to Lucas’ house. Hopefully his family is still out of town.

    I parked in the driveway and rang the doorbell. Lucas opened and I hugged him tightly.”Lexi. How are you?  “Good, How are you?” I was wondering how he was. “I’m good, come in.” I came in and sat on the same couch as I did last night. ”I just wanted to thank you for last night. I couldn’t have remembered anything if it wasn’t for you.” I thanked him because he truly helped me. “No problem. But I just can’t believe that Mary did that. I didn’t hit her back but I gave her a piece of my mind,” said Lucas. “Thank you, but I’m going to probably suffer at school. I don’t know what to do. I’m really lost.” I could tell that Lucas was thinking of a plan. “Hey, she can’t harm you if I’m with you. I think we have the same schedule right?” “Yeah, I have mine in my purse, let me just get it out.” I searched in my purse until I found a white piece of paper. “I memorized my schedule,” said Lucas. He took the paper and looked at it. He nodded and then he sighed. “What’s wrong?” I was scared. “We have all the same classes except for the last one,” Lucas“What are we going to do? I will die if she sees me alone.” We were both thinking of a way to work this out. Lucas started smiling, I, knowing that it was a good sign, started smiling too. “What if I dropped you off at your last class and then drop you off at your car and some time we can carpool?” Lucas’ suggestion was a good idea. I just had one concern, “That is a good idea but what about you? I don’t want you to be late for your last class.” “Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine.” I nodded and he pulled me into a hug. I just wanted to get this straight so I said,  “So, tomorrow I’ll pick you up and we can go to school together and we’ll go to every class together also. Then, you will drop me off at my last class. After that you will pick me up from my class and then we’ll walk to the car together. Did I get that right?” “Yes, but you forgot the most important thing. You get to sit with me at the lunch table.” He smiled and I nodded. “Are you sure,” I didn’t want to intrude or anything. “Yeah, everyone at that table brings their girlfriend to sit with them. I’m the only lonely one.” He gave me the puppy eyes. He was leaning in for a kiss but then my phone beeped. We both sighed. I reached in my purse to take out my phone. It was my mom. She sent me a text.

“Where are you.”

 I sighed again and then stood up. “I have to go. My mom is wondering where I am.” Lucas was leading me to the door. I remembered one more thing I needed to tell him.  “Lucas, I had a..” I stopped. I suddenly decided not to tell him about my weird dream that I had last night. “Never mind.” He nodded and then gave me a hug. We let go after thirty seconds. “See you at school,” he said. I waved goodbye and ran to my car because it was freezing outside. I drove away to my house.

     I parked in my driveway and got out of the car. I ran towards the front door and unlocked it. I didn’t see my mom anywhere to be found. I walked into the kitchen and saw my mom. “Where were you?” My mom interrogated me. “I was walking outside for some fresh air,” I said. She didn’t look satisfied with that answer but she went along with it. “Who’s CeCe,” my mom asked. “She is a friend from school. Why?” My mom answered, “Because she called like ten times.” I ran to the phone and called her. No one answered. I left a voicemail saying “Hi Cece. I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I was just really busy lately. Call me back when you get this voicemail. Bye.” I hung up and ran upstairs to my room. I dropped my jaw when I Mark in my room doing what I had told him not to do for a long time. He was on my laptop. I screamed, ”Mark, get out of my room.” He jumped up and ran away. I stomped to my desk where my laptop was. I looked at the screen and deleted my brothers story that he was working on. I told him to never touch my computer ever. But he did it anyway. i groaned and fell back onto my bed. I thought and thought and thought about everything that was going o in my life. Lucas, Mary, CeCe, Mark, my parents, and school. I just remembered that I had homework to do. I walked to my backpack and searched for my math textbook. When I finally found it, I took it out and  tried to remember the page number. Oh, it was page one hundred two. I looked for the page got out a piece of paper, and began to do the thirty problems there were.

       After I finished, I put the paper in my folder and stuck it into my backpack. I needed to do my science homework now. I got out another piece of paper and searched for the right page number. When I found it, I did the ten questions there were. This science lesson was about the animal kingdoms. There was Kingdom Animalia, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Monera. I was struggling on number five so I decided to call CeCe. I grabbed my phone and dialed her number that I memorized. I groaned because she didn’t answer. I didn’t want to leave another voice mail so I just hung up. I decided to skip number five and search it up later.

       When I finished that, I slipped it into my science folder and stuck it into my backpack. That was the only homework I had plus the math that I already finished. I ran downstairs to grab a quick snack. I looked in the cupboards for any cereal but all I found was a mouse nibbling on some Coco Puffs. I made an evil smile. “I’ll get the broom,” I said to myself. I tiptoed to the garage to get the “smacker”. That is what we call the killer broom. I made my way to the kitchen. The Smacker was in my hand getting ready to attack. I looked at the mouse and made that evil smile again “Audios mousey.” I took the broom and smacked the mouse it didn’t move. But after ten seconds, it exploded all over me. My brother jumped out of nowhere and started to laugh. “Ha ha. That is what you get for not letting me type my story on your stupid laptop.” I was frustrated. I didn’t want to chase him because that little devil is fast. I needed to get him fair and square. I ran back upstairs to my room. I locked my door because I couldn’t let my parents or my brother see what I am doing. My brother is the prank master and nothing could get him mad. So I needed something good, something totally revenge worthy. I was thinking of whipped cream and a feather but that would totally do no good. I needed something out of the box. I got it.... stink bombs. I decided to put the stink bombs all around his room. He will wake up and smell like he was living in a barn for many many years. This plan was good but there was one little problem. Where was I going to get the stink bombs? I looked online and saw that a store four miles away from my house has all kinds of prank stuff. So they must have bombs, stink bombs.

 Chapter 13

      I grabbed my phone and ran downstairs, again. I took the car keys and bolted to my car. I started the engine and drove for about four miles. I stopped the car when I saw a building labeled “Prank Store.” I locked my car and walked slowly to the store. I opened the door. There were like only seven people in this place. “Hi, I am looking for stink bombs,” I said. The guy didn’t say anything but he pointed to an aisle that was only for stink bombs. I grabbed as many as I could. Each one was about one dollar and I had fifteen dollars with me so I bought twelve because tax come over the original price. The cashier handed me the bag and I skipped to my car all happy. I got in and buckled my seatbelt. I drove four miles back to my house. When I arrived, I got out of the car and walked to the front door. I didn’t want anyone to see these stink bombs so I checked if the coast was clear. It was. I ran upstairs as fast as I could. I slowed down when I approached my room. I hid the bags under my bed for now but they won’t be there for long. Not until it’s midnight.

       I waited in my room for the right time. I made maps and sketches of my fine plan. I kept on bending down to take a quick look because my brother is so sneaky. I hate to admit it but it is true. He could have took the stink bombs away and ruin my room instead. But I am pretty sure that he couldn’t come into my room because the doors were locked. But he is pretty clever to jump out of the air vent or the window. Sadly, he’s that good. I checked my phone. It was ten thirty. I had to wait a few more hours until I make my move. I was slowly falling asleep. I needed something to keep me awake. I looked around my room and tried to find something that will help me stay awake. I played with a ball of yarn, listened to music, and did jumping jacks. I walked into my bathroom. I needed to wash my face. I am  pretty sure that washing my face will help me stay wide awake because this is a great opportunity to get back at my brother. I checked the clock again. It was eleven forty five. ONly fifteen minutes left. I began getting ready. I pulled out the stink bombs and waited and waited until it was time. I slightly opened my door and saw if the coast was clear. Nobody was in the hallway. They were probably asleep so I walked slowly toward Mark’s room. I cracked my nuckles and neck and slowly opened the door so it wouldn’t make any noise. I took out a stink bomb and timed it to explode in ten minutes. I did the same with every other one. I set them in all different places. Some in his drawer, others under his bed, and some in his bathroom. After I finished, I smiled. This was the best prank ever. I slowly walked out of his room and into mine. I closed the lights and went to bed. This was a good day. I saw Lucas and pranked my brother. I just don’t like the part when the parents get involved after the prank. I closed my eyes and fell asleep because tomorrow we have to go to church.

        I woke up to someone screaming in the hallway. I guessed it was Mark. I put on my slippers and ran out of my bedroom. I walked to my brothers room to see him crying. “What’s wrong Mark?” I tried to look innocent while asking that question. “You did this. You are the one that put stink bombs everywhere. Now my room smells like a bunch of skunks.” He was mad, very mad. “Well that will teach you to not mess with me or my laptop.” I stormed out of the room proudly. “What happened,” my mom asked. “Mark is being a weirdo. And if he tells you anything about Lexi and stink bombs, don’t listen to him,” I said. I walked swiftly to my room and closed the door before I started laughing. I ended up on the floor because that was the most funniest thing ever. I just can’t wait until the next prank. I know there will be one because my brother causes that much trouble.

        I knew we had to go to church so I got dressed into a very pretty dress with a beautiful green and pink pattern. I wore my small heels to match and decided t carry my small Coach bag which was grey. I didn’t want any breakfast so I guess I was ready to go. I just had to wait for my parents and brother to finish up so we could be on our way. “Lexi, why are you dressed up,” my mom asked. “Mom aren’t we going to church?” I think she was confused. “Well, we are going. Not you because if you don’t remember what you did to your brothers room. I can’t believe that you put stink bombs in his room. Now he can’t sleep in there because the smell is too strong. You have two choices. You can either be grounded for one week or have your brother sleep in your room until we find someone to get rid of that smell.” I groaned. “Mom this is not fair. The only reason I did that was because he made a stupid prank on me. It’s not fair that I get punished and he doesn’t. By the way, I choose being grounded for one week.” I walked away hoping that she would feel some guiltiness. I ran upstairs and heard the door slam. They went to church without me. I changed back into my pajamas. I heard my stomach growl. I guess I do need breakfast after all. I trudged downstairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a bowl and got out the carton of milk. I then took out one of my favorite cereals, Coco Puffs. I poured some cereal into my bowl. Then I poured some milk. I took out a spoon from one of drawers. I sat down at the table and ate my chocolate cereal. I didn’t say a word. I figured that after I finish my breakfast, I can watch some T.V since I finished my homework yesterday. I put the bowl in the sink and jumped on the couch. I took the remote and changed the channel because it was on some psychology show. I smiled when I saw that Drake and Josh was on. I someday want to meet them because they’re funny and pretty cool. But right now the only way to get close to then is just watching their show. It’s very funny. I love how Drake is cool, manipulative,  funny, and dumb yet somehow clever. I also love how Josh is funny, smart, and very sarcastic. That show can somehow relate to me. Megan is weird yet clever with pranks and Mark is not that far apart from her. I highered up the volume and laughed every time they would try to be funny.

      After watching about two hours of Drake and Josh, I heard the doorbell. It was probably my parents. I got off the couch and headed towards the door. I looked through the window just incase. I opened up the door after knowing that my parents were the ones waiting. “Hey Lexi. What did you do while we were gone,” my mom asked. “I watched some..” I just remembered that grounding means no T.V. “Umm, I watched some birds through the window of my bedroom.” That was the worst cover up ever but I think they bought it. My parents nodded and I gave a sigh of relief. “Well I am going upstairs to take shower. Bird watching is a lot of work,” I stupidly said.

“Bird watching is a lot of work”,

wow that was stupid. But I do need a shower right now. I got my towel and set on the chair. I took off my clothes and set them aside. I walked into the warm shower. I bought a new shampoo that I was dying to use. I scrubbed my hair until I felt that there was enough shampoo on my head. I then scrubbed my body with this mango body wash which smelled delicious by the way. When I finished, I stepped out and wrapped the towel around me. I walked to my laptop and checked my facebook. I saw that Lucas was online. I wanted to chat so I typed

“Hey whats up?”

I sent it and waited for a reply.

“Nothin, how ‘bout you.”

Lucas sent me.

“Nothin,”

I sent back. I logged out of my facebook so I can change and go have dinner with my family. I wore my pajamas that had candy canes on it. I don’t know why because it wasn’t Christmas yet. Then I blow dried my hair and put it in a ponytail.

        I walked down stairs to see my family setting up the table. I helped my mom set the plates down. We all sat down and said grace. After that, we all began eating hot wings with pizza. Yeah my mom can be classy and go all out on some nights. This isn’t one of them. I ate like six hot wings and two slices of pizza with a glass of orange juice. Since I’m grounded for one week, I have to do dishes for one week. I also don’t get dessert. Yeah, that’s how tough my mom’s punishments are.  So, I got started on dishes right away. I was almost done but I knew that I still had a long way to go because my brother doesn’t like using the same plate for seconds. I don’t know why but he’s like that.

         After I finished, I went upstairs. I was really tired even though I didn’t go anywhere today. I also had school tomorrow so I needed a good night sleep. I brushed my teeth and headed to bed. I closed my eyes and thought about tomorrow. If Mary tried to kill me in a restaurant, then what is she going to do to me in school. I am now officially scared. Even though Lucas promised me that he will protect me she will find a way. I know how clever she is and most importantly, I know how much she likes Lucas. But she already had her turn with him and she let him down. I heard that she cheated on him like twice and he was nice enough to give her a second chance. I would never do anything like that Lucas. But I am just scared what Mary will do to me if I am seen with Lucas like twenty-four seven. I decided to think about it tomorrow because I was extremely tired. All I needed is a little shut-eye. Maybe I’m exaggerating. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

“‘Shh. Don’t scream. This won’t hurt... after you’re dead.’ We were in a dark ally. Me and Mary. I needed help. Mary was holding a knife getting ready to attack. ‘That is what you get for stealing him from me.’ She lifted her knife and....”

  Chapter 14

      “Nooooo.” I jumped out of bed and looked around. It was just a horrible dream. I was panting very loudly. But it seemed so real. Is this how I will die in the future? Will I lose my life because someone is jealous of me and Lucas? I checked my phone for the time. It was five forty-five in the morning. I laid back down on my bed. I didn’t know what to do. I can’t fear Mary for the rest of my life. Should I break up with Lucas? No. That was a bad idea. I mean this was not his fault or my fault or anybody’s fault. I guess that jealousy got the best of her. But if I keep having these dreams, I might seriously need therapy soon. I needed to talk to Lucas and CeCe about this. I remembered something that made me giggle. My mom told me when I was young that I would have to walk to the bathroom and tell the toilet my bad dream or nightmare that I would get. It wasn’t the smartest idea but it helped me a little when I was a tyke. But I am not anymore. I have to face my fears in another way. I don’t know how but I will find out soon. I checked the clock again and it was six thirty-five. I got up and decided to get ready for school. I wore my clothes that I had picked out on Sunday and chose these very cute boots to go with them. I ran downstairs to eat some cereal. I got out a bowl, milk, and Coco Puffs. I walked to the table when I almost slipped and dropped the cereal. Luckily, I didn’t because I grasped the chair that was on my left before I could slip any more. I yawned like thirty times. I was so sleepy. The creepy visits that I kept on getting from Mary in my dreams kept me awake all night. But like I said, I was going to find a way to stop this.

           After I finished with my cereal, I ran back upstairs to brush my teeth and wash my face. It took me like two seconds to do these things. I am pretty fast when it comes to cold water because I am like cat when cold water touches my body. Anyway, I ran back downstairs with my backpack in my hand. I grabbed my keys and headed to the front door also known as “The Exit from my House to the Outside World.” I got in my car and drove to Starbucks because I was very early today. Right now, it was only seven twenty five and school starts at eight. Luckily, there is a Starbucks next to our school. I decided to go through the drive-through. I ordered a small Caramel Frappuccino. It was two dollars and eighty cents. I paid the man and drove to school. The doors were still locked. I quickly drank my drink because there was no eating or drinking in any class, sadly. When I finished, I grabbed my backpack and headed towards the school. I felt like I forgot something. Oh no....Lucas. I forgot to pick-up Lucas today. Oh wait never mind, I remembered that Lucas texted me that he got a ride with his friend. I panted because that could have been the most stupidest thing to do if you were in a relationship with a really nice guy. I walked to class and smiled when I saw CeCe’s face. She looked at me and waved. “Hey. I heard that you and Lucas are dating,” she said when I approached the seat next to hers. “How did you know about that. Is Lucas telling everyone,” I asked. She giggled and nodded. I rolled my eyes because I wonder why he would be spreading that around. I guess he really does like me.

         The teacher walked in and began to talk about his weekend. He was the type of teacher that spilled out his feelings to the class. I didn’t mind it but he seems really lonely which kind of gets me depressed. I zoned out an thought about the whole Mary situation. I needed to tell CeCe soon, so she could help me out. I heard the bell ring and I, once again, grabbed CeCe’s hand and dragged her towards the hallway. I needed to tell her all this in private. I sighed because there was no way I can tell her all this right now. There are people everywhere. what if they hear everything. “Lexi, there you are. You got me worried about you. Remember I was going to take you to classes.” I nodded. I saw CeCe smile widely. I knew what she was thinking. I rolled my eyes and followed Lucas in the hallway. We arrived to math class. Lucas and I sat down next to each other. I needed to pay attention in this class because the teacher called my mom and told her I was failing. But this is not kindergarten. I don’t need teachers having small talk or conferences with my parents. I payed attention to the formulas that we were supposed to use and other stuff that kind of seemed complicated. Anyway, I kept on turning around to find Lucas daydreaming. I snapped my fingers twice but there was no response. I wonder what he was thinking about. Was it me, Mary, or his guy plans. I really wanted to know but I am not a wizard so I can’t.

       I wrote down my homework as the bell rang. I grabbed my stuff and took Lucas’ hand that was held out for me. “Lucas, I can sit with CeCe at a different table because your table might be a little too crowded besides I promised her that I would tell her everything that was going on,” I said. “O.k fine but I am just a little worried if Mary makes a dangerous action to harm you. So, are you sure you want to sit alone and not with me,” I could tell that Lucas was worried but I don’t want him to think that his girlfriend is weak and small. I nodded and hugged him. “I’ll see you later then,” he said. I waved and walked away. I tried to find CeCe in the hallway. When I did, I dove in the crowd and pulled her out of there. “Let’s go grab some lunch,” I said. We headed down to the cafeteria. It smelled like shrimp. Oh yeah, Mondays are Shrimp and Pasta days. Luckily, I brought my own lunch because their shrimp isn’t always the freshest. And I learned that the hard way. I ended up barfing for two days.

      “CeCe, we have to talk about something very important but you promise that you would not tell anyone about this. O.k?” I asked her while we sat down at a table near to Lucas’. “Who am I going to tell? I am only invited to one party a year. Which is the one that is held at school,” she joked. “O.k, well first of all I’ve got some good news and some bad news. I am going to give you the good news first. Me and Lucas are dating. The bad news is that Mary put me in a concussion on my first date with Lucas and since I said yes to being his girlfriend, she might kill me now. And that is why Lucas is acting so protective, He came up with a great idea but I don’t want to do it because first of all he might think that I’m a wimp and that I’m weak. The second reason is that i don’t want to be too pushy because he might want to have some guy time but I will be just standing in the way.” “Wait back up. Mary put you in a concussion ,” CeCe asked. “Focus CeCe and yes,she did.” She gave me her good luck bracelet but I gave it back because a bracelet isn’t going to help me live with Mary around. I could tell that she was thinking but right now it wasn’t time for that. “CeCe, tell me if you have an idea on the phone because right now it is lunchtime,” I said. She smiled and we got out our sandwiches. My sandwich had ham, cheese, and mustard. Now this is a real sandwich.

    After lunch, Lucas took me to science class. I saw Mary in the corner of my eye. She looked evil even when she is laughing. I shook my head and took a seat in the back because science isn’t my worst subject and besides, the teacher is very nice and calm. I never heard him yell in my life. He seemed like a nice guy and everything but it was kind of obvious that he had no social life.

         I was getting a little bit more nervous every time I reminded myself that there was no more Lucas helping me out for the last class. I was getting so nervous that I think I am  starting to sweat. The bell rang and I almost fainted but Lucas bent down and said “If you want I can ask the principal to change my last class to yours.” “No it’s fine. I’m o.k.” I walked out of the classroom with Lucas by my side. “See you tomorrow,” he said. I nodded and he grasped me into a hug. I never wanted to let go but if I didn’t I would get detention for being late to class. I waved and started to jog to the next class. I made right before she closed the door. Mrs. Logo is pretty tough. She has rules that people would hate to break. She even has rules for parents to follow. One rule for the parents is that you better not be late to any parent teacher conferences or else you can’t have one or you can’t let your child pack any soda for lunch or else you have to come in for a health lesson. She has many rules for students. I’m just going to let you in on one. She makes students right a fifty thousand word essay if we are late to class but sometimes when she’s nice, she will just give us detention.

     I wrote my homework down. I got up and ran to my car. I thought about turning back to say goodbye to CeCe and Lucas but I guess I will text them later. I got in my car, buckled my seatbelt, and drove to my home where no one can give me a concussion ar hurt me. It took me  awhile to get home. I don’t know why but it felt like thirty minutes. i guess it just felt like a long day. Once I parked my car, I unbuckled my seatbelt and ran to the frontdoor. I unlocked it and got inside. I sighed because I wanted to rest and lay down but I had a ton of homework to do. So because of that, I hauled my backpack upstairs to my room. I sat down on my desk, took a deep breath, and began.

    I was almost done but my pen ran out of ink. I got out another pen and kept on going. I just needed one more problem to do. When I finished, I change into my pajamas and laid down on my bed for a long nap. I closed my eyes and fell asleep. “

I was in a restaurant, waiting for someone to come and sit with me. I was all alone. I looked and looked around. I waited and waited for someone to make a move towards me but then everything suddenly went black. I reached to touch my chest but I instead, I touched a very sharp tip. It felt like knife. I pulled it out and everything came back to normal but I was dying and bleeding but nobody noticed me. I yelled and yelled but nobody even payed attention to was going on with me. I didn’t know how the knife ended up there but I knew it had something to do with Mary.”

“Lexi, come down it’s dinner time.” I heard someone yell. I opened my eyes and shot out of bed. I checked the clock and gasped. I slept until dinnertime? Wow. I looked in the mirror and saw that my mascara was running. Was I crying? That dream was very creepy. Am I going to have dreams like this all the time I close my eyes. Hopefully not. I can’t stand it. I need to see a psychologist.

     I went downstairs to have some dinner because I was starving. My mom made some casserole. It was not my favorite type of food but i didn’t hate it either. I put a little in my plate and ate very small bites from it. I didn’t say a word at the table but I could hear my brother babbling about his day at school he had. I know that my mom would never let us leave the table unless we finish our food. So I ate everything on my plate very quickly. I excused myself and took my plate with me. I put in the sink and ran upstairs. I heard my parents murmuring like “What is wrong with her” and “What was that all about?” I ignored it all. I couldn’t tell them what was going on. They would do their parenting thing like talk to the principal or take me out of this school. Even worse they might have “a little” talk with Mary or her parents. Now this is one perfect reason why I should have a sister. I know I have CeCe to talk to but she won’t get me as well as a sister.

             I heard my phone ring and figured that it was CeCe or Lucas. I looked at the caller I.D but it was an unknown number. I answered to calm my curiosity. “Hello, who is this,” I said. “This is your worst nIghtmare. Just get away from Lucas or both of you will get hurt. But mostly you. If I see you tomorrow holding hands with him, touching him or even looking at him, you will get it. You understand...” I hung up before she could say anything else. I obviously knew it was Mary. I just didn’t know what to do. Should I call Lucas or CeCe and tell them about this or should I just keep it to myself? Well, what good will I get if I keep it to myself. If I tell them they might help me. I bit on my lip for a few seconds. Before I knew it, my hand was reaching for the phone getting ready to cal Lucas. I dialed his number and waited for him to answer. “Hello,” he said. “Hi Lucas. It is me Lexi. I just needed to tell you something very important.” “Ya babe,” he said. “Mary called me and she told me that if she sees me with you tomorrow, she will hurt you and me,” I told him. “Oh my gosh. I hope that was just a threat because she can’t harm me or you if I’m there and besides, I have good news for you but you have to stick with me on this. I asked the principal if I could change the last class at the end of the day. And he said yes,” Lucas told me. I got very excited and said “Oh my gosh really? Thank you so much but I am scared if she hurts you because she sounded pretty serious on the phone.” “Ya well, she can’t because I always hang out with the football team. And you will hang out with us, so you are considered cool and safe,” he said. I was a little shocked about what he last said. “Oh really. I am not going to be considered cool just because I am sitting with you,” I joked. “I am going to be considered nerdy and geeky.” I heard Lucas gasp on the phone.”Oh ya. Well I am going to tell my big brother on you.” We both started laughing. “O.k I have to go and call CeCe. See you tomorrow.” I hung up and called my best friend. I dialed her number. “Hello,” she said. “Hey. What’s shaking CeCe?” I gladly said. “Nothin. What’s shaking with you?” “Oh nothing. I’m just so super duper happy but nervous. Me and Lucas talked and apparently, I have to spend the whole day with him everyday because of Mary. She called me and told me that if I don’t stay away from Lucas, she is going to hurt both me and him. I can’t let that happen to him.” She sighed, “Well, where am I going to sit? I don’t want to sit alone.” “No, you won’t. You will sit with me at the cool table. I mean the geeky one. Don’t ask it’s a long story. Anyway, everyday is going to be the same except at lunch we sit at a different table,” I said. “O.k. I am in. Hey Lexi, I have to go. Dinner is waiting for me. Bye.” I hung up and set the phone down on the table. I laid down in bed and decided to take a shower.

         I got my bathrobe and set on my chair. I turned on the warm water. I took off my clothes and hung it up in my closet. They didn’t smell too bad to get thrown into the stinky hamper. I entered the warm world of water. I loved taking showers. It just lets my temper go down. It soothes me with it’s touch. I try to picture myself swimming in a land, my own little land. Where just me, Lucas, and CeCe live. A land full of tacos and basketball courts. Right now I’m swimming in a water fall. I feel the waterdrops touch my body.

“Drip, drop, drip, drop, drip, drip.”

Everything is going the way I planned it to go. Or al least it’s all going nice. There is no Mary running after my life. There is no Mark pulling clever but annoying pranks on me. There are no parents telling me what to do. And there are certainly no teachers, giving me homework or detention.

      I needed a shower everyday. I needed to forget about Mary and just relax. I didn’t want to get out but my dad has been receiving very high water bills. And since i am a nice person, I got out and wrapped the towel around me. I suddenly winced. My stomach hurt again. I groaned and moaned and ended up on the floor. I needed a doctors appointment and very fast.

     I crawled to the phone and called the doctor which was on speed dial. “Hello. I would like an appointment with doctor Vanno please. Tomorrow at three thirty would be fine.” “O.k, see you then. Bye,” the lady said. I hung up and laid down on my bed. I didn’t know what was happening. Was I sick? Was it a disease? I do not know. I hope it’s just a stomach flu. I don’t need anything serious right now.

Chapter 15

       I was feeling sick, tired. I just closed my eyes and fell asleep without counting sheep or any of that nonsense. I just won’t wake up until the morning. “

Why is everyone gathered here in this small hall? Why is everyone wearing black? Why am I not next to anyone? Why am I above them? Why was there a priest in front of everyone. I could tell that this wasn’t church. Why was everyone sniffling and crying? Why was there a coffin in the front of the hall next to the priest? Was this a funeral? Why was everyone hugging and looking at my parents who seemed like they haven’t slept for days? Why was my picture on the stage with a coffin and the priest? Was this my funeral? Was this the end of my life? Why? I am only eighteen. What did I ever do wrong?

“What did I ever do wrong? What did I ever do wrong? What did I ever do wrong? What did I....” My eyes shot open. I saw my mom and my dad staring at me confused. “Hey sweety. Did you have another bad dream,” my mom asked. “No why,” I said. “Well because you kept on saying ‘What did I ever do wrong’ repeatedly.” My dad looked worried but I wanted to assure them. “Nothing. My dream was pretty funny by the way. It was about a clown that threw a huge pie at me and I was just wondering what I did wrong to deserve pumpkin pie on my face.” I hated to lie to them but I also hated to worry them. I smiled and they nodded. When they walked out of the room, I sighed. Today, was the day that I will find out what was wrong with me. Wait I think I forgot to take an appointment for the psychiatrist. I quickly grabbed the phone and called the doctor’s office. . “Hi. I would like to take an appointment today at four for Mr. Neno.” “O.k, so is it a check-up or..,” she said. “Oy yeah. It is just a check-up.” “O.k so today at four. Bye,” she said. I hung up and set the phone down. I told her that i would like the appointment to be at four because three thirty was my normal doctor check-up for my stomach.

       I checked the clock and gasped. I had to get ready quickly. I got out of bed. I took off my pajamas and ran into the closet. I picked out my sparkly turtle-neck and my skinny jeans. I wore my gray boots. I then ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth, wash my face, apply all my creams on, and brush my hair. I also wanted to add some nice hoop earings on. My toothpaste was nice and minty. After I finished that, I washed my face then applied all my creams on to make it smooth and preventing it from pimples. Then I brushed my long brown hair. I walked to my dresser to put my hoop earrings on but then a light bulb hit me. What if Mary and I get into a fight and she decides to pull my earrings. Then my ear would be ripped. I decided not to go with those dangerous earrings. I put them back and then put some perfume on. It smelled like roses. Hopefully Mary would be allergic to it.

          I grabbed my backpack, ran downstairs and packed my lunch. I made a sandwich containing ham and cheese and nothing else in it because I am sitting next to Lucas today. I don’t want to have mustard on my face or above my lip. And I really don’t need lettuce in my teeth. So I am going with that. I also packed a granola bar with water. I put my lunch box next to my backpack by the door. I couldn’t leave just yet because I could not skip out on the most important meal of the day...breakfast! I was craving toast for some reason so I took out some bread and butter. I popped the bread into th etoaster and waited for it to be nice and crunchy. I took it out and threw it on th eplate because it was burning hot. I took out a knife to spread the low fat butter on that my mom buys from this organic grocery store. I ate it all in like one minute. After I finished, I threw away the cardboard plate that my mom also bought to cut down on washing the dishes. I washed my hands because they were buttery and then I was on my way to school.

      I grabbed my keys and walked out the door. I unlocked my car and got inside. I was shivering because it was freezing outside. I just needed to sit in my bed and drink hot cocoa all day long. But instead I have to go to school. Lucky for me. I started the engine and drove the eight miles that was needed to reach my school from my house.

      When I arrived, I parked my car in the parking lot. I grabbed my backpack and my lunch bag and made a run for it towards the front entrance. I smiled widely when I entered the school. It was so warm and hot. All I needed right now was some hot cocoa and a T.V set. Anyway, I ran to my first class for today. I sat down in the back and took out my math homework. I felt someone tap me on my right shoulder but then I turned to my left because I wasn’t going to fall for that again. “Oh you got me,” Lucas said. We both laughed. He took a seat next me. I looked around for CeCe but I couldn’t see her. “Hey, have you seen CeCe today,” I asked Lucas. He shook his head. I wonder if she was sick today. But she can’t be sick. She sounded perfectly fine when I talked to her yesterday at night.

     The class started when the teacher came in. She asked us to turn in our homework. I passed mine up. I then took out my notebook because she warned us that there was going to be a new lesson. I am pretty sure it was calculus or something like that. I payed attention and wrote everything down that was on the board. i was startled by the bell because I was so focused in class which was a first for me. “Lexi can I talk to you for a minute,” the math teacher said. I could never remember her name. “Umm. Yes, sure. Is anything wrong,” I asked. “Yes there is. Can you explain what this is?” She held up my homework and pointed to something that was written in red. It said “YOU STINK!” “I did not write that,” I confessed. I didn’t write that dirty note to the teacher. I wonder if someone wrote on it when I passed it up for it to be turned in. “If you don’t believe me then Let us go check the security cameras,” I smartly said. Yeah the teachers tried to keep those cameras a secret but it was obvious. It was a giant black camera on the wall so in my defense it was noticeable. I grabbed the teacher’s arm and led her to the electricity room where the security cameras were hidden. Yeah, I know about the electricity room too. She unlocked the door, and I rushed in. I am not the best in technology but I am not bad either. I was about to touch a button but then she slapped me on the hand. “You do not know how to work this. I will do it myself,” she said. We found the screen that is video taping her class but all we had to do was rewind it. She rewinded it to the moment where she said to pass up our homework. “Yes. I told you it wasn’t me!” I was glad that she knew that I’m not the one who wrote that weird note. She zoomed in closer to the person who wrote and, no surprise. It was Mary. I chuckeled and looked over my shoulder to find the teacher pacing back and forth thinking of a punishment. “She will receive detention and sorry for accusing you for something that you didn’t do.” I nodded. She was walking away, back to her classroom getting ready to teach the other class that has been waiting. “Oh wait. Can you write a note to my english teacher telling her why I was late,” I asked. She nodded and lead me back to her classroom where I took my backpack and the note. I walked to english class all proud and courageous. I gave the note to the teacher and walked to an empty seat. I sat down and took out my book. I saw the teacher put the note on his desk. “Mary, your math teacher wants to see you,” he said. I saw Mary’s cheeks flushed with redness. She got up and walked towards the door. Once she got out, Lucas started clapping and I started laughing because it was so childish to laugh at something like that but I never said that I didn’t like it. But before I knew it, everybody was clapping and looking at me and I simply smiled. I didn’t pay much attention in this class because I am good in english whether I am in class or not. I just payed attention when he assigned our homework. We have homework from that teacher for everyday. The same with math. The bell rang and I made a run for it but someone grabbed me I turned around and saw Lucas. He gave me a wink. I just remembered that we had to sit next to each other at lunch. I stuffed my backpack in my locker and grabbed my lunch box. Lucas and I held hands as we strolled in the hallway. I talked to him about what Mary did in math. “Really, she did that,” Lucas asked. I nodded. He should know that she would do something as bad like that. He shouldn’t be surprised but I didn’t want to say anything so I just zipped my lips. We got to the cafeteria. He took me to his “cool” table. I sat down and looked at everyone that was staring at me. “Hey guys. What’s up? This Lexi, my girlfriend. She will be sitting with us from now on,” Lucas said. They smiled since they got a sense of who I am. They started to talk to each other like I wasn’t even there. I just ignored it today but tomorrow, I will be the one that will make the small talk.

       When we finished with lunch, I went to my other class. I sat in the back and opened up my notebook. Luckily, there was barely any homework in this class. So I just wrote down notes with no enthusiasm. I couldn’t wait until I left school to go to the doctors appointment, because my stomach started to hurt very badly. I also needed to visit my psychiatrist because this whole Mary thing has gotten too far. I heard the bell ring which means that we are out of here. Yeah, we would usually have one more class after this but there was a staff meeting today. I ran to Lucas and hugged him and without saying any words, I ran off to my car. Right now was one thirty. My first appointment will be at three o’clock. I decided to go there and do my homework in the waiting area until ti was my turn.

       I got in my car and fastened my seatbelt. I put it in drive and drove to the hospital. It was like a four mile drive. I turned on the radio and listened to “Something About the Sunshine Baby,” by Anna Margaret. I love this song. I sang to it with her

“Something about the sunshine baby. I’m seeing you in a whole new life. Out of this world for the first time baby. Ohh, it’s so right.”

      I reached the hospital’s parking lot. I had to pay three dollars and seventy-five cents. I parked my car in an empty space. I got out with my math homework and english homework. This was my first time coming to this hospital so i didn’t know where everything was. I asked a lot of people where the doctors office was. They all led me to room one hundred seventy two. That was on the third floor. I took the elevator that was filled with old and sick people. I was squashed in the corner by some old lady with her wheel chair. I squeezed myself out and took a deep breath. I walked in the hallway to Dr. Neno’s office. I walked threw the door and looked around it didn’t look too crowded. There was four seats that were occupied. But I sat on one of the three that were not. I took out my math homework. I always did math first for some unknown reason. I first wrote down my name on the top of the paper. I did problem after problem until I finished it. I slipped it back into my folder and took out my english homework. I also, put my name on it because for this teacher, if you don’t, you get detention. I don’t need to spend two hours with some geeks who don’t follow the rules. I worked every problem until I got to number eleven. That was when the nurse called my name. I got up with my homework and purse in my hand and walked towards her. “Hi, follow me to room six, Lexi,” she kindly said. I nodded and followed her to that particular room that she stated. I sat down on the patient bed. I looked around the room as the nurse checked my health files. “Are you allergic to anything,” she said. “No.” “Are you taking any medication recently?” “No.” “Lastly do you smoke?” “No,” I said giggling a little. “O.k let me just check your ears.” She checked my ears with this weird looking flashlight. Then she grabbed her small plastic hammer. She tapped my knee and I responded when it popped up. She did it on the other knee also. “O.k everything is perfectly normal there. So what is the problem?” “Well, my stomach has been in pain for a long time and it doesn’t feel normal like if you’re sick or something,” I answered. “O.k wait here while I go get the doctor,” she said. She was very nice and helpful. I waited patiently for the doctor until Dr. Neno opened the door. “Hi. My name is Lexi,” I said. “Hi Lexi. I am Dr. Neno. Now  what is the problem?” “Well, my stomach hurts like crazy but it is not normal like if you’re sick or something.” He nodded. “Well, I am just going to ask you for some tests. If you know what I mean.” He handed me a plastic cup. I sighed. “Oh well. Where’s the bathroom,” I whined. He led me to the bathroom. I locked the door and began to fill my cup that he gave me. I washed my hands when I finished. I unlocked the door and made my way to his room. I sat down and handed him my sample. He looked at it and told me that he needed to go and find out what was wrong with me. He walked out of the room and I finished my english homework. I put in my folder. I just waited until Dr. Neno came. I was scared when he did because he just rushed in. “Is there anything wrong Dr. Neno?” “You have..... colon cancer.” I gasped and blacked out.

“Death. Is strong. Being strong means death. Sacrifices for your friends. Would you rather die from an illness or die before an illness. I blacked out for the moment. Knowing that I will die from an illness worries me. Why me? What have I done wrong?”

  Chapter 16

        “Lexi. Wake up,” I heard someone say. “Oh goodness you’re awake,” I heard a lady say. When I got clearer vision I saw who it really was... my mom. “Sweetie I heard that you have cancer. Doctor what are we going to do,” my mom sobbed. “There is nothing we can do. It’s been too late to do anything. Nothing will work. I am truly sorry,” the doctor said. My parents cried. I started crying too. I didn’t want to die from illness. Nobody wants to. But it is not up to us. It was God’s decision. I think it’s for the best. I wiped my tears and got up. “Can I still go to school? Can I eat anything I want,” I asked. “Yes those are the only things you can do that are unlimited,” he said. “Mom, everything is going to be fine, trust me,” I needed to calm them down. But the most important thing I need to do is tell CeCe but I can’t tell Lucas. He has already been in enough trouble for me. I sat back down on the patient’s bed

.

My parents cried a little softer until it became just a sob. I didn’t know what to do. I thought it would be better to think about it at home. I thanked the doctor and led my parents out of the hospital. “Mom, my car is parked outside. I have to drive home by myself.” “No, I will come with you,” she cried. Are they going to treat me like a baby just because I have an illness that only adults can fight. I nodded and put my arm around my mom. I didn’t want her to think that her life was over. I understand why she was sad but she still had Mark to care for. I am eighteen. I have lived half of my life in school. I have only had one relationship. I only had one true friend. I was leaving everyone and going to start a new life in a better place. Sure, it is without Lucas and CeCe and my family but I will be with God.

       I buckled my seatbelt as I got in the car. I put my folder down. I started the engine and drove right after my mom got in. I called the psychologist and canceled the appointment. I drove the ten miles back to my house. “Mom, you can’t tell Mark about any of this. Do you understand this,” I asked her. She nodded slowly with her puffy red eyes not blinking. I didn’t want my brother to know because he was just too young to understand any of this. He will eventually find out himself later on.

      I just can’t believe I have cancer. I was so stupid to think that I was going to live a perfect life. Everyone has something bad in their life. Mine is cancer. I just wish someone can come up with a cure soon, very soon. I parked in my driveway with my dad behind us. I got out of the car with my backpack and lunchbox. I wanted to go in my room and just think by myself. I needed to do that right now. At this moment. I unlocked the door and got inside. I dropped everything and ran to my room

       I felt weak and lifeless. I will tell CeCe tomorrow. And she will promise not to tell Lucas or anyone. I just can’t bear the cards and teh gift baskets. They all mean nothing to me. I lay down on my bed to think. I looked up to the wall and remembered everything that happened around me. I moved to San Francisco. I got a new friend and boyfriend. I remember the time when my mom came home from the hospital when she gave birth to my brother Mark. I got all excited for nothing because all he does now is prank me. I started to cry because I wonder if my brother would feel sorry for me when I die. But I really don’t care any more because I’ve got other people in my life who care about me, even though they are not family.

      My mom called me many times to come to dinner but I didn’t reply. I didn’t want to eat. I was still on my bed thinking about the signs that came towards me. All those scary dreams that I had, most of them didn’t come from Mary. They were about my death conquered by illness. Mary didn’t do anything in my dreams to harm me. Those were signs. And now I understand why the fortune teller didn’t finish telling me my fortune because the one thing that I know about fortune telling, is that you can’t tell about your future death and when it will be. This all makes sense. I can’t blame anything on anyone. God gave me signs that I did not follow. I could have went to the doctors earlier when my horrible dreams began to show me a sign of death. I wanted to forget all about this and just go to bed but I can’t. I am under the covers, the lights are off, and....nothing. I just wish that everything would come back to normal. How was I going to tell CeCe tomorrow at school.

     I slept calmly, no bad dreams but there was one dream that came to me. “

Welcome Lexi,’ said a powerful voice. “Welcome to your new world. Where you can express your feelings and your emotion. This is nothing like your world. It is better and cleaner.’ The voice sounded like God. I looked around and saw clouds with a horizon. I tried to feel my body. But no. There is no body. Only a soul. A soul pure enough to come into heaven. A place where there is no fear, except from God. A place where you can rest. This is my new home. I love it and wait for others to come as well. I will pray for Lucas, CeCe, and my family to come join me here one day.

I see the angels flying above me. I smiled because death isn’t that bad. It feels like pinch but then, you are here. In a place ever so lovely. And you are not lonely. There are others that make the path for you. But most importantly, now you have to make the path for others. “But God can I visit anyone from earth,” I asked. “Only in dreams my child. Only in dreams.”

      I woke up and looked at the time. I woke up ten minutes late. Why didn’t my alarm clock go off? I guess my parents turned it off but I want to go to school. I need to tell CeCe. I got up and went to the bathroom. I washed my face and brushed my teeth. Then I combed my hair and when I did, some hair fell out. This is the beauty of cancer, I joked sarcastically. I put my hairbrush down and ran to my closet. I took out a grey scarf, some grey boots, skinny jeans, and a silver shirt. After I wore, I looked in the mirror. I began to grow bags under my eyes. Bags are supposed to be cute accessories, not things that look like ugly wrinkles. I put some perfume on and head downstairs. I didn’t feel like eating anything so I grabbed my backpack and head out the door. I didn’t need lunch either. I put the car in drive and drove to school. When I got there I parked the car in the parking lot. I got out with my backpack only and head to the entrance. I walked with my head down. I ran to my first class. I saw CeCe and Lucas smiling at me. I tried to smile but the pain held me back. I looked back down to the floor and sat in the very back seat. Lucas came towards me and that’s when I looked up. I looked at his beautiful face and started crying. “Lexi, what’s wrong,” he asked. “Lucas I have to tell you something, but after school,” I said. “Why not now? Come on just tell me.” I sighed then took a deep breath “I have...” The bell rang and everyone rang back to their desks even Lucas. The teacher walked in and asked for our homework. I passed mine up and saw if Mary was writing anything on my paper. Luckily, she wasn’t and I didn’t have to deal with being late to english class. I knew there was no point in paying attention so I just zoned out and decided to write a note to Lucas instead of telling him directly. I wrote

“Dear Lucas, this is very hard for me to say but I am going to be gone for awhile, a long while. I went to the doctor’s office and they told me that I had colon cancer. My days are limited. I will miss you. Take care of CeCe for me and watch out for Mary. I always will love you and nothing will come between us. I wrote this note instead of telling you because I don’t want you to go through any trouble for me anymore. You have done so much for me and I appreciate it. Thank you for everything. I love you. Sincerely, Lexi.”

I hope that didn’t sound too cheesy with the “I love you” parts but other then that, perfect. I wrote a smiley face next to it with some hearts around it. I folded it and put it in my backpack. I heard the bell ring so I got up and unzipped my backpack to give it to him. This was the perfect time. So the plan is to give it to him and run. O.k I can do this. I walked up to Lucas and said “Here I hope you you will forgive me.” I ran off like a little child playing tag but without the smile on my face. I turned around. I saw him drop the letter with tears in his eyes. I slowly walked back to him. “Lexi. I love you. Please don’t leave me. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. Is there anything that the doctors can do,” he said. I shook my head. I started crying very hard because that was the most beautiful thing that anyone has ever said to me. I hugged him very tightly. “I will miss you so much,” he choked up. “Hey I am not leaving now. We can go to the park together or the zoo or the museum or the water park or how about the amusement park? Those could be fun, right,” I said. “Yeah. A water park in the winter is the best idea,” he laughed. “Out of all those ideas, the water park one caught your attention the most,” I asked. He nodded. “The only thing I’m worried about when I am gone, is Mary. She might... you know,” I sadly said. “Oh are you telling me that Lexi is jealous from Grandma Mary,” he said. I started laughing so hard because he called Mary a grandma and that is the coolest thing I have heard all day. Lucas came closer to me and said “Hey let us ditch school and go somewhere else like one of those weird ideas that you had but first I have to go stop by my house because I need to get my swimsuit,” he said. I laughed and choked out “We are not going to a water park and we are certainly not ditching school.” Lucas dropped his jaw. “Oh come on. I just want to take you to a place that you can remember forever. I don’t want you to leave without having a funny, romantic, and adventurous day with me.” I nodded and took his hand that was held out for me. Oh yeah. This day is going to be amazing. I threw my backpack in my locker and waited ,while acting natural, for everyone to vacant the hallways. When everyone was in their classes, we snuck out the back door of the school. Lucas and I held hands. We ran very fast to his car. I fastened my seatbelt quickly. He put the car in drive and we were off to start our funny, romantic, and adventurous day. I was just worried that he was going to get in trouble with the school and his parents. “Lucas, are you sure you don’t care if you skip school. I mean your parents and teachers will get mad,” I said concerned. “No. It’s fine. It’s just that you and me haven’t really had a pleasant day together yet and so I was sure that I will give you that,” he said. I nodded and turned up the volume in his car. When we heard the song, we started singing to it. We were both bad at singing so it sounded funny but we didn’t care because it was fun.

“I threw a wish in the well. Don’t ask me I’ll never tell. I looked at you as it fell and now you’re in my way. I trade my soul for a wish. Pennies and dimes for a kiss. I wasn’t looking for this but now you’re in my way. Your stair was holding, ripped jeans, skin was showing, hot night, wind was blowing. Where you think you’re going baby. Hey I just met you and this is crazy but here’s my number so call me maybe. And all the other boys try to chase me but here’s my number so call me maybe.”

We both laughed when the song was over. Yeah, we weren’t the best singers but I guess we were the funniest and that is all that matters.

     We sang to other songs too, like “Chasing the Sun, One More Night, Had me at Hello, and This Kiss.” We are almost there. I was excited because I didn’t know where Lucas was taking me and I knew it was some place fun because that is Lucas, giving fun surprises. “Lucas please tell me where we are going. I am really anxious,” I entreated. “Well, I guess impatient Lexi has to wait,” he joked. I sighed and made a puppy dog face. Lucas looked at me and sighed. “Fine, I can’t say no to the puppy dog face. We are going to Six Flags.” “Yes, I should’ve done the puppy dog face a long time ago,” I said. He chuckled. “Lucas, what is your favorite sport,” I asked. I don’t know why but I guess I was bored. “Football but basketball a little more,” he answered. “Really, I love basketball. It is like my favorite sport. The anxiety, the passion, the hope. I have been to many basketball games also. I love the Lakers and the Heat.” He laughed and I nudged him “Why did you laugh,” I asked “ Well, it is pretty cool that you like basketball. Not a lot of girls like it.” I shrugged.

Chapter 17

            A huge smile spread across my face while he parked in the parking lot. When the car stopped I got out and ran to the other side of the car. I grabbed Lucas’ arm and pulled him towards the entrance like a baby. “Come on. Let’s go,” I pulled and pulled. “O.k, O.k. I am coming,” he said while laughing. “Hello sir. Two adults please,” he said. “Ok. that will be ten dollars,” said the person behind the front desk. Lucas paid him. They man let us threw to enter the best amusement park I know. I pulled him towards a ride that seemed a little scary but looked fun. Lucas gave him a ticket and we ran to the nearest seat. “Lexi, I am scared,” he said in a baby voice while he whimpered. “Aww, is Lukey scared of a little baby ride,” I said. We both laughed very hard. This was a very funny day but when does the romance come in.

          The ride started right after one of the workers came to check if our seatbelts were on. It began very slowly but then it became very fast. I screamed very loud because we went up, down, loop and another loop. Then it repeated but even faster every single time time. When the ride finished, I got off. I looked for Lucas in the crowd. When I finally saw him, I ran to him. He opened his arms widely for me. I hugged him back.

Was this the romantic part,

I thought. I think not. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the food court. I shook my head. Why do boys like to eat a lot? But I guess it i almost lunch time. So we got in line for Panda Express. This is one of my favorite fast food restaurants. I usually have Chow Mein with Orange chicken and Egg rolls. Lucas asked for the same thing. They gave us fortune cookies and told us to have a nice day. We took they tray and sat down at an empty table. “Thank you for everything Lucas. I will miss you the most. You don’t know what this feels like, I go to sleep every night thinking about you and me. Our future. But there will be no future... for me. There will be no future for me. I don’t know what I did wrong, Lucas. I have dreamt about my funeral and you visiting my grave. Those were signs. But I still don’t know why this is happening to me. I will never get married, I will never have children. I will never work or be called mom. I will nevre get to wear the white dress. I won’t be able to do lots of things but the one that I am most concerned about is not seeing you,” I cried. “Lexi, stop please. This can’t be happening. I can’t lose you and I won’t,” he said. “Lucas, the doctor said that there is no way. I am too late. I will die Lucas. I will die,” I cried. “Do not say that. No you won’t. Please if you love me don’t say this. I can’t think of losing you. What will happen to me when it really does.” We became silent. I barely touched my food. For me, I didn’t need any food. I was about to die. Why must I have food? Will food help me cure my cancer? No, it will not. I will never be cured. “Lexi are you done with your plate,” he asked. I nodded very slowly. He took my plate and threw it away. “Come with me,” Lucas demandly said. i took his hand and walked with him. “Lucas, where are we going?” “You will see,” he firmly said. We walked to something called The Waterfall. “What is this,” i asked. “Well, every time there is a waterfall, we kiss.” I nodded with my red cheeks. “Let’s do this.” There were other couples around us. The waterfall poured on us and Lucas slowly leaned in for a kiss. It was slow and reassuring. It told me that everything was going to be alright. Once we let go, I looked in his eyes. He looked in mine. I cried and ran away, hearing the words “Lexi, Lexi.” I ignored it. I can’t leave Lucas. I can’t even think of a way to cure myself. What are the doctors going to do? Give me medicine? That won’t work.

        When I looked in Lucas’ eyes I saw Mary. I saw her with Lucas. I ran because that is exactly what is going to happen when I leave. Mary and Lucas will get back together. I know it. “Lexi, why did you run off like that? Come on, the water fall is going to come right now, let’s go,” he sweetly said.” Lucas, I can’t because when I looked in your eyes, I saw Mary. You two are going to come back together when I leave,” I said. “Is that what you really saw,” he asked. I nodded. “Lexi, you know I would never do anything to hurt you. Besides, I don’t even like Mary.” “Yeah but she obviously likes you.” I walked towards him. “Lucas, can you take me back home, please,” I asked. He nodded a little disappointedly. I took his hand and we walked back to the car trying to change the subject. It was hard but since Lucas and I are very close, he didn’t say a word until he poked me in the stomach and said “Tag, you’re it.” I chased him, he chased me, until we reached the car. He unlocked it and we got inside. I buckled my seatbelt. He drove out of the parking lot into the open road. We sang to some songs again. But the when the song “Something about the Sunshine Baby” came up, we hired the volume and sang.

“There is something about the sunshine baby. I’m seeing you in a whole new life. Out of this world for the first time baby. Oh, it’ so right.”

       After that song, came many others. I had fun with Lucas today. Even though we poured our hearts out and cried, it still was a very funny, romantic, and adventurous day. Even though Mary might get back with Lucas, I wouldn’t care. Sadly, Lucas will get married. He will have children. He will go to a water park with some other girl, thta is not me. But I thought about it. Just because my life is almost over, doesn’t mean that his life has to be. He is still young, handsome, and smart. He hasn’t seen anything yet abituthte world. He will soon, unlike me who will go to heaven and live with out experiencing the rest of the world.

         Lucas parked in my driveway. I thanked him. “Thank you for today. I appreciate it. This won’t be the last time I will see you, O.k?” He nodded. I hugged him and kissed him on the forehead. I waved goodbye as I got out of the car. “Lexi wait, your backpack is still at school. I’ll bring it to you after school. What’s your locker number,” he asked. “Oh, it is nine, two, four, six, eight,” I wrote it down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. I waved goodbye again and walked to my front door. I unlocked it and got inside. I walked to the sofa and turned on some T.V. I wanted to watch something amusing like “Drake and Josh.” I recorded some episodes so I watched some of those. I laughed every minute but not as hard as I use to. I guess that fear won this battle against happiness. I watched six episodes.

     After that, I ran to my room upstairs. I needed a shower to calm myself. I took off all my clothes. I put them in my hamper. I then stepped into the hot tub waiting for me. I washed my hair very hard. I scrubbed my body very hard also. I wanted to smell like fruits. Anyway, I thought about what I said to Lucas earlier. I am never going to get married and I will never have children. I was truly disappointed. I will not live a normal life like any girl can. I moved to San Francisco to start a new life, not end one. Tears were starting to come down my cheek. Life will never be the same for my parents, Lucas, CeCe... I forgot to tell CeCe. I quickly got out of the shower. I wrapped the towel around my body and one on my head. I ran to my bedroom. I grabbed the phone and called CeCe. Luckily, she answered. “Hey CeCe. Look I have to tell you something very important. I have cancer.. colon cancer. My days are limited. I am leaving school, my home. I am leaving earth.” I said. “What did you say,” CeCe whimpered. “Look CeCe, I told Lucas and you and of course my parents know. Nobody else can know. And you have to promise me that...” I coughed and coughed. “You have to promise me that you will keep Mary away from Lucas,” I croaked. “CeCe what’s wrong with your voice. Oh, shoot. Isn’t it part of the cancer stage or something?” I nodded to myself. “CeCe do you promise me,” I asked. “Yes, I will do anything. But you can not leave. The doctors have a cure, right?” “No, they can’t do anything for me. I found out about it a little late so there is nothing we can do. I am sorry,” I hung up the phone without saying a word. My voice sounded weird, my hair was falling out. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Ow, I felt severe pain in my stomach. I called the doctors and told them to come pick me up from my house. This was an emergency. I hung up and called my parents. “HI mom, can’t talk. Come to the hospital we were at yesterday,” I said. “Sweaty, what’s wrong with your voice. And why dod we have to go to the hospital? Is anything wrong,” she said. I hung up because when someone says that they are going to the hospital, then something must be wrong. They should know that by now.

Chapter 18

            I heard the doorbell ring. That was fast, I thought to myself. I slowly walked downstairs. They rang the doorbell again. I opened the door. “Guys help her get in the ambulance,” a man said. These two people helped me get in the huge white and red car. I laid down on the bed in the ambulance while we drove there. They strapped me up and got ready to take me out of the car. The man parked the car right in front of the door. I felt dizzy and weak. I couldn’t lift a muscle. They opened the back door and took me to the hospital room. I saw my parents as the doctors strolled me to the testing area. My parents were running after me crying. I saw my brother playing on his game. I can’t believe it. He is playing on a game while I am leaving the world? This was not how I expected him to act. Anyway, I felt sleepy. This was the time. “Mom. Call CeCe and Lucas. I want them to be here, now,” I said. “O.k,” she said. She took the phone and called them. “Please, mam and sir. You can’t be in here right now,” said the doctor. They got out. I was breathing like a maniac because I can barely insert any air in my body. The doctors were working and I felt pain but it didn’t feel like the same pain that I felt when I knew that I wouldn’t see my friends and family anymore. The doctors stopped. I felt there touch leave. The door burst open. I lifted my head a little to see who it was. I saw Lucas, CeCe, and my family. Lucas and CeCe were crying like maniacs. They slowly walked towards me. “You can’t leave me. I love you,” Lucas said. “I do to. But this is for the best,” I croaked. I laid my head back down. My eyes shut close by themselves. I couldn’t breath. I couldn’t move. That was it.

“Everything was dark. I heard nothing. I felt nothing. I saw nothing. I smelled nothing. I tasted nothing. This was death. I opened my eyes. I saw a staircase, an old, large staircase. I started to climb it. Every time I would go up one step, the room would become lighter. I was on the fourth to last step. It was shining rays of gold. I opened this door. I saw angels. I saw a chair. I didn’t know what to do but then, I started moving. I was heading towards the chair. My forces stopped me in front of it. I forcefully bowed my head while a light came my way. It looked like a star. When it came closer it said, “Welcome Lexi. Welcome to your new home.”