1.
"You bitch!"
I sighed and turned around, knowing exactly who the person was that called. I was all but attacked by my bestest friend and sister in the entire world, Emerald Viel.
"Why didn't you tell me about the concert tickets?!" She screamed, frowning, but a huge grin lit up her face.
I knew she'd find out eventually...
I sighed again, "Em, I told you I had a surprise for you, but you had to go and ruin it." I frowned. "How did you find them, anyway?"
She smiled mischievously. "I'm a ninja."
I chuckled, "You're a sneaky little devil, that's what you are," I said.
Emerald Viel - the best older sister anyone could ever ask for. She would never ditch you for stupid reasons, and she would never make herself seem more superior than you. If anything, she liked to go unnoticed. That never happens for her, though, considering she's dating Alexander Dun. Alexander hates being called 'Alex', because it's also a girl's name as well. He's the type of guy who likes to seem all manly and macho in front of his girl, which in this case, is Emerald. Alexander's got the whole 'bad boy' look going for him as well, so when he passes the hallways; all the girl's go 'swoon'.
Not me, though... I'm a whole different case in that scenario. It's not that I don't like guys, or that I'm too focused in my studies to share my attention with a boyfriend. Actually, I'd love to have a boyfriend. It's also not because I'm completely hideous, or because I'm a lone loser.
No. It's because I'm not allowed to date.
You see, ever since that one stupid date with that one guy, my parents have cut off all things related to romance and dating. Of course, I can have guy friends; I just can't date them.
Which sucks, in my opinion. It sucks balls.
Big ones.
Ew, bad mental image.
Ew.
Ew.
Ew.
Ew.
Ew!!
"So, yeah... these uh, ninja skills you have... er... do you think you could show me some moves one day?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the horrifying image in my head.
Emerald laughed and winked, "Nah, it's forbidden to share my skills. Besides, then I wouldn't be a ninja now, would I? Ninjas are supposed to be all secretive and stuff, so no, you can't steal my skills."
I snapped my fingers, "Drat. You caught onto my plan," I pouted.
We headed towards my locker, weaving through the half-empty crowd in the hallways. Once we reached, I spun the combination on my lock and opened the locker. "So, when is the concert?" Emerald asked.
"Didn't you read the ticket?" I fished out my English notebook in the mess that was called a locker.
Emerald shook her head. "No, I was too busy trying to get over the fact that you have A Day to Remember tickets and you didn't tell me!" She put her hands on her hips.
I rolled my eyes, "I bet you already forgave when you realized the second ticket was for you," I said.
She huffed, "Well, you got me there."
"Oh, and to answer your question; it's this Saturday," I informed her.
She gasped, and her eyes widened. "This Saturday?!" She all but yelled.
I sighed, "Let me guess; you have a date on Saturday?" I predicted.
She groaned and nodded, banging her head against the locker next to me. Which just so happened to be Alexander's.
"Hey, hey, hey, whatever you're mad at, don't take it out on the poor locker."
Huh, speak of the devil...
Emerald spun around, and immediately her eyes lit up.
There's a reason for why our parents named her Emerald. You see, she has the most innocent looking, emerald green eyes you could ever see. Whenever she was happy, they would light up like sparkling emeralds, and anyone around her would seem to just stop and stare. She has really pretty eyes, and everyone makes sure she knows it.
Emerald doesn't let anything get to her head, though. She's like a devilish angel, and even though she may pull a few light pranks, or she'd 'borrow' your hairbrush without asking - she would never do anything that would harm someone in any way.
That's why I love my sister, and that's why I trust her so much.
"Alexander, I have horrible news!" Emerald said, deciding to bang her head against Alexander's chest instead.
He laughed and wrapped his arms around his groaning girlfriend. "Are you going to tell me what this horrible news is?" He asked, playing with her hair.
He really loves her. It's nice to see and know that he wouldn't ever try to hurt her, and vice versa.
"There's an A Day to Remember concert this Saturday, and Arielle has tickets for me and her to go. So, I was wondering if..."
"If we could postpone the date?" Alexander finished for her, and understanding smile filling his face.
She bit her lip, something she does when she's contemplating something. "Well, instead of postponing it... I was thinking that maybe we could have the date on Friday, instead of Saturday?" She suggested.
Alexander frowned. "That would be a great idea... if I wasn't babysitting my brother." He said sadly.
"How about on Sunday?" She offered.
He looked at her, a teary expression on his face. "I'm going to visit my grandma on Sunday," he said, his voice suddenly just above a whisper.
Understanding crossed Emerald's expression and she nodded slowly, hugging him.
Alexander's grandma was in the hospital, plagued with cancer and has been in the hospital bed for a few weeks now. Every so often, Alexander would go and visit her, bringing her flowers and keeping her informed with anything that's happening in his family.
Overall, Alexander is a sweet guy, and Emerald's really lucky to have him. He's like my older brother too, except non-related, and he's dating my sister.
"I guess we could just postpone the date until next weekend, then..." Emerald said, eyes looking sad.
I sighed, knowing this was going to be the biggest sacrifice known to mankind. I mean, come on! It's A Day to Remember! How can you not love them?
I love my sister more, though, and I know that Alexander loves the band too, so...
"Here," I said, reluctantly handing Emerald the two tickets. "You two can have your date at the concert." I told them.
Emerald's eyes widened. "Oh, no! No, I can't do that! You've always wanted to see them live!" She said.
I pursed my lips, "Don't remind me," I said. Shoving the tickets into her hands, I added, "besides, they might have a concert in this town again, so I'll just go then." Emerald didn't look convinced, so I continued, "I'll benefit from this too. Mom and dad are going on their honeymoon, and if you two go to the concert; I'll be home alone. You know how much I cherish my alone time, right, Em?" I grinned.
Emerald returned my grin with her own and hugged my tightly. Strands from her chocolate brown were getting into my mouth. I wrinkled my nose at the taste of hair and pulled away, smiling. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" Emerald asked, still not seeming to believe I'm fine with it.
Oh, she knows me too well.
I chuckled, "Trust me, I'm fine!" I told her. "Now, shoo! I have to get to class," I said, and with that, I waved and walked to English.
"Arielle Viel?"
I raised my hand, "Here!" I called and let my arm sink back onto the desk.
Arielle Lynnette Viel. That's my name. I'm the normal girl, who earned my name from the colour of my hair. My parents wanted a pretty name, but one that wasn't common. So, because my fiery hair, they remembered Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and out popped the name 'Arielle'. It's only a coincidence that my first and last name rhymes, I mean, Arielle Viel? Yeah, that rhymes.
I've also got the average height and the apparently 'stick skinny' figure. My eyes also match Emerald's, except mine are much darker, and more of a forest colour while Emerald's eyes are much, much more brighter.
When it comes down to it, many people think of Emerald as the bright sun and me as the dark moon. It's weird sometimes, if I do say so myself.
"Arielle?" My English teacher - Mrs. Beryk - called.
I looked up to see her waving me over. I slid out of my seat and stopped in front of her desk. "Yes, Mrs. Beryk?" I asked.
She smiled, "I just wanted to inform you that there's a writing contest starting next week, and I think you'd be a shoe-in to win!" She suggested.
I raised an eyebrow. Shoe-in? "You want me to enter the contest?" I asked.
She laughed, "If you want to. There are two choices; you can either enter a poem, or a short story that follows the rules and guidelines they set. The deadline is on November 30." She explained.
I thought it over. I love writing stories, but I'm more into the novel-length writing, not short stories. "Does it have a character limit?" I asked.
She looked happy that I was contemplating it. "I don't know, but they put up a section about it on the school's website. You should check it out and see if you want to enter," she informed me.
I nodded, "Thanks, Mrs. Beryk. I'll make sure to do that." I walked back to my desk.
Home sweet freaking home.
After my horrendously long walk home, I plopped down onto the couch and flipped through the channels with my bowl of ice cream in hand. Yeah, I know, it's winter and I'm eating ice cream. How stupid, right? Well, I'm addicted to my chocolate ice cream, and I make sure everyone knows it.
Finally, I landed on Kid Vs. Kat and decided to watch that.
I swear that cat is a robot, I mean, how would an ordinary cat know how to control an airplane just by switching some stuff around in the TV remote?
"Ari?" Emerald called from in her bedroom.
"Yeah?"
She slid down the stairs and stopped gracefully in front of me. "Have you seen my A Day to Remember shirt?" She asked, her eyes were narrowed in suspicion at me.
I raised my hands up, claiming innocence. "I didn't do it," I said immediately.
She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Well, when you're done with it, can I have it for Saturday?" She asked.
Damn... she knows me too well.
I smiled slyly, hearing her walk back upstairs.
Crash!
I jumped about a foot off the couch. Fortunately, my bowl of ice cream was resting on the table, so it didn't spill.
I whirled around, facing the direction of the shockingly loud noise. What was that, anyway?
The sound seemed to have come from inside the kitchen. I slowly walked towards it, and then peeked inside.
Nothing was there, and nothing was broken.
Suddenly, I noticed a quick movement from the corner of my eye. I spun around to face the window and ran towards it. It was slightly open, I could feel the cold breeze squeezing itself through the space. I looked out the window but there was nothing there.
My heart was beating faster than normal. Was someone there? I couldn't see anything except the night time darkness. The moon wasn't even out to shed some light.
I took a deep, breath and firmly shut the window before backing away from it.
Okay, calm down, Arielle. It was probably just a raccoon trying to sneak into the house, and someone in the family must have forgotten the close the window.
Yet, as I walked back into the living room, I couldn't help but be certain that the window had been closed and locked the entire day...
+++++++
New story!!
Okay, so this is the second story I've ever written, so go easy on me, alright? Oh, and I would appreciate it if you point out any mistakes I made.
And I know this first chapter was probably really boring... but bear with it, okay? I promise it'll get better after this chapter!!
Please vote and comment, too. No need to be lazy!!