I had a very strange dream at night. It went like this:
I was walking towards the school bus in the morning, ready to go to school for the second day. Then, I noticed that the bus seemed eerily empty. The bus driver wasn't even there. I hurried up and walked up the stairs. The door slowly, creakily opened. I peered inside. There was nobody there.
"Hello?" I whispered. No answer. I cautiously stepped inside. I made my way to a seat. Suddenly, the door slammed shut. I was scared for dear life.
The bus started moving forward. I screamed. It went over bumpy roads, desolate streets, and empty parks. The world was gray and empty. There was nobody anywhere. I was alone. I continued to scream.
Then, I found myself in front of Los Angeles Junior High School. I was startled. The bus door opened again. I climbed out.
The school was deserted and dark. There was no light on inside, and the school looked nothing like the lively one that I had seen on the first day of school. I was good at solving problems and mysteries, but this one just didn't make sense to me. Where was everyone?
It seemed like I was on a different planet, where no human being existed except me. Yet the surroundings were still the same. Just . . . grayer.
Nothing made sense. Suddenly, I saw the doors of the school move. They were turning into . . . MONSTERS. I screamed hysterically. I felt myself spinning down, down, down, down, down . . . into the depths of utter blackness.
I woke up sweating like crazy. It was five in the morning. Mom and Dad both rushed to my room.
"What's the matter, Bree?" They asked, worried. I took a deep breath.
"I had this nightmare that nobody on Earth was . . . well, ON Earth, except me. The school bus started moving alone like it was ALIVE. There was no bus driver, no students, no ANYTHING. And when I arrived at my junior high school, the lights were turned off, and again there was nobody there. Then suddenly, the doors turned into MONSTERS, and I fell into blackness," Well, as far as I can remember, I thought uneasily as I told Mom and Dad, panting, trying to calm myself down.
They reassured me, "Oh, Bree, it's fine. It was just a dream. You must have had a lot of stress when you went to school for your first day. We're sure it'll be fine today."
I thanked my parents and went back to sleep. This time, I didn't have any dreams except for the thought that all I wanted to do was to wake up refreshed and ready for school. But . . . what if the dream meant something?
"RIIIIIIIIINGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!" I turned my alarm clock off sleepily. I moaned. I was NOT ready for school today. And what was worse, I was super stiff from the nightmare, and it was only my second day of junior high. I was DOOMED.
I dragged myself out of bed and went to the washroom to brush my teeth, wash my face, and brush my hair into my usual low ponytail. After I was done, I made my way down to the dining room.
"Good morning," my parents greeted.
"Morning," I groaned.
I had cereal for breakfast. After I was done eating, I went back up to my room. I decided to wear a purple hoodie and black ripped skinny jeans. I put on some matching purple Vans sneakers along with my bracelets and purple beanie. Then I rushed back downstairs.
"Bye, Mom and Dad!" I said.
"Bye, Bree, have a good day at school," they replied. I went out the front door and waited for the school bus. It came into our driveway, and I boarded the bus. After a few stops, it was Isabella's house. I ignored her as she sashayed onto the bus like it was her own limousine or something. She was wearing a cropped white tank top with a black leather jacket over it and a black leather skirt that was SUPERshort. She was wearing silver hoop earrings and had red lip gloss on. She even had solid black nail polish, and her hair was pulled back into a SUPERhigh ponytail. I gaped at her. She looked SO different from last year. She looked like she was already in HIGH SCHOOL! And what was more, she was DEFINITELY going to get dress-coded. After all, didn't she know the dress code rules?
She scowled at me and sat down with a huff. I still couldn't believe my eyes, although I didn't show it on the outside. Didn't she know that she had sports tryouts today? How was she planning to take all that off, change, and change back again?
The school bus arrived at Los Angeles Junior High School. We all filed out, and I met Katie near my locker.
"Hey, Katie!" I greeted.
"Hi, Bree!" She beamed.
"I'm so nervous for tryouts today," Katie said.
Just then, I spotted the Hollywood girls. Chloe was wearing the same thing as Isabella except that the theme was red instead of black and white, Mackenzie was wearing the same thing but with purple, Madison in blue, and Jaqueline in pink. I had a feeling that they all spent HOURS FaceTiming, trying to twin outfits for the next day of school.
Katie and I walked out, and she started talking about how she was so nervous for the tryouts. She asked if I was going to watch the tryouts, and I said I was. She had brought multiple sets of activewear, in case she needed different options.
Soon after, we had to go ahead into our classes. We said our goodbyes and went to our lessons to start off our second day of junior high.
My classes whizzed by in a flash, since now I was more familiar with the school timetable schedule. Before I knew it, it was time for the sports team tryouts.
"Excuse me, excuse me please. Excuse me, excuse me please. Everyone who is trying out for the cheer, soccer, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, floor hockey, baseball, and football teams, please report to the gymnasium after changing into appropriate attire. I repeat, all students who are trying out for these teams, please report to the gymnasium after changing into appropriate attire. Students who are not trying out may watch on the bleachers as long as they stay respectful and quiet during the process. Thank you." A deep voice boomed loudly over the loudspeaker.
I headed to the girls' locker room after attending science class. The teacher was Mr. Smith, and he was also very friendly and kind like Mr. Brown. I bumped into the Hollywood girls as they rushed by, and they said, "OMG, BreANNE, why are you shoving us?"
I rolled my eyes, ignored them, and hurried to my locker. As far as I could tell, those girls had PURPOSELY used my real name instead of my shorter, more preferred name JUST to tick me off. Isabella had probably told them my full name. Ugh, that BRAT. I wasn't about to fall for one of their immature pranks, though. I took out my phone and earphones so I would be able to listen to some music while watching the tryouts.
I put everything that I had used for my classes inside my locker, slammed the door shut, and ran ahead to the gymnasium.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Everyone, thank you very much for coming," the P.E. teacher, whose name was Mrs. Davis, told all of the junior high students that were lined up against the wall of the gymnasium. Wow, there are a LOT of people trying out, I thought. I hoped Katie would make all the teams she was going to try out for.
"So, first, we will have the cheer tryouts. All of the students who are trying out for cheer, line up against this wall. The rest of you can sit down on the bleachers. We will get to the other sports tryouts afterwards," Mrs. Davis said.
"All right, girls! Five cartwheels in a row and the right, left, and middle splits!!! CHOP CHOP!!!" She shouted.
The girls all went into a line while I headed to the bleachers, and a girl named Melissa went first. She had brown hair and determined blue eyes, and she looked tough and REALLY athletic, so I hoped she was not TOO big of a competition for Katie.
She raised her arms straight up and did five straight, forceful cartwheels in a row, making the gym floor thump with her strength. Woah. Katie's in danger. But since there were nine spots open for the cheer team, I hoped that she would be at least ONE of those girls.
Then, Melissa did the right, left, and middle splits without stumbling one bit and straightening her legs all the way the whole time. I looked around at the girls. They were all wide-eyed , too.
Mrs. Davis and her assistant judges were seated at the table directly across from the girls. They all had indifferent faces on and had clipboards on their laps as they scribbled down comments of each girl.
Melissa raised her hands confidently up in the air once she was done with her tryout routine.
A few other girls went after her, but none of them intimidated me or Katie as much as she had.
To my surprise, Isabella was next. She started her cartwheels like they were the easiest things in the universe, but suddenly, she fell over to the side with a PLOP. She screamed in frustration and rage, and some girls, including me, started to giggle and stifle laughs. NOBODY had made a mistake like that so far.
She dusted herself off and pretended like it was not a big deal at all, but we all saw the humiliation on her distorted red face. The judges all raised an eyebrow at her, and she quickly moved on to the splits. We could see the pain on her face as she slid down into them. I guess she wasn't that flexible after all. And when she did the middle splits, which were the hardest splits of all, I realized that her legs were inches off the ground. The girls, including me, all shook our heads and sighed. Of all of the girls who tried out, we were pretty sure that she definitely would not make the team.
Don't get me wrong, she really is the best when it comes to sweaty and tough sports like soccer and volleyball, but I guess even I'm more of a gymnast than she is (and I'm not even that good or interested).
After she was done, she stomped over to the back of the line. Everybody in the whole gymnasium was staring at her now. Talk about AWKWARD.
Next, it was Katie. I smiled and gave her a thumbs-up as she gave me a sideways glance before she stepped up to do her routine. She ROCKED it, and I was pretty sure that she would make the team.
After the cheer tryouts were finished, the basketball tryouts were next. The cheer tryout results would be posted in the gym on Friday. I was really relieved that Katie had a little bit of time to rest before she had her soccer and volleyball tryouts.
When she spotted me on the bleachers, Katie came toward me.
"You were a PRO out there, Katie!" I said, smiling.
"WHAT are you TALKING about? I don't even think I'll make the team!" She said, chuckling.
"You KNOW that's not true," I teased, giggling.
"No, I'M telling the truth," she teased back. "I really hope I get in," she sighed wistfully.
"Yeah, me too," I agreed.
We talked for a while, and before I knew it, it was time for the soccer tryouts.
After all of Katie's tryouts were done, she changed back to her normal clothing, and I attended all of the rest of my classes after saying goodbye to her. Soon, the bell rang, and I went home. I did some math and English homework and went to bed, exhausted from the complicated day.