(To everyone reading this story,
Here's to you, for being patient when I write, then re-write a single chapter. Thank you for sticking with me, as I write this story. This chapter is dedicated to all of you, Thanks again, now on with the show!
~Bree)
The storm blew into Hidden-Hills with such a force; I fell out of my bed when I heard the first of the thunder. The thunder seemed to echo endlessly across the sky, then, adding to the noise, was baby Lily's crying. The thunder had woke her up.
"Oh, Lily, just once I would love to be able to sleep through the night." I whined getting up to comfort my niece. I stumbled into the hallway, then into the nursery. I opened my eyes a little wider, and turned on the fairy lamp so I could have a little bit of light. I walked to my whimpering niece and picked her up.
"Hey small-one, how come you're up this early in the morning? Are you hungry or did the storm wake you up?" I cooed to her, she stopped whimpering to stare up at me. I smiled down at her, then carried her down the stairs to the kitchen so I could warm up a bottle for her.
I sat Lily in her highchair, and then went to make up a formula. I heard someone creak down the stairs.
"Meghan, what are you doing up so early?" Connor mumbled at me, rubbing his eyes at the light,
"I'm feeding Lily, since I seem to be the only one who hears her screaming at three in the morning." I told him, as the formula warmed up. Connor didn't say anything else; he apparently fell asleep standing up. I tested the bottle, then walked to Lily who was smiling up at me. She was just hungry; I picked up the baby, and walked to the table so I could feed her, pulling Connor with my free hand.
"Sit. Then go to sleep, just don't fall out of the chair." I commanded as Connor seemed to collapse into the chair. He mumbled something; I didn't pay attention to my sleeping brother. Lily eagerly reached for the bottle; I held it for her as she drank. The bottle was empty in a few minutes; I patted her back, for her to burp so she could sleep peacefully. The child seemed to settle down a little, I got up and started walking around to try to lull her to sleep.
I walked over to the glass doors, and looked out. The storm was still raging; I could see the ocean getting all churned up. But the sun was starting to reflect off the water.
"Look Lily, the sun is trying to break through the clouds." I whispered to her. Lily reached towards the glass, placing her little hands on the panes, leaving behind small handprints. Lily and I watched the sun rise for a little while longer, until I figured that I should probably go get in the shower and get ready for school. I carried Lily back up the stairs, then laid her down in her crib, and turned out the light. I walked back to my room, and started my shower.
After about an hour and a half, I was finally dressed and was trying to cover the dark circles under my eyes with makeup. I rolled my eyes, and stood up. I looked over my outfit one more time, a multi-colored dress, light blue flats, a glass ring, and a heart necklace that Skie had left for me, when she went into the ICU, with a note that said,
I leave you my heart, now go find the key.
I smiled at my sisters' trickery; she knew that I loved mysteries. When I had the time, I was going to solve this one. I ran my brush through my hair a few more times, and then walked out of my room with my backpack slung over one shoulder. I bounced down the stairs, and into the kitchen.
"Good-morning sunshine. How'd you sleep last night?" mom asked me, while feeding Lily.
"I was up at about three in the morning with Lily to feed her; we watched the storm for a little while. Then I put her back in her crib so I could go get ready for school." I replied pushing aside the plate of food that mom had set in front of me. She looked quizzically at me, I shook my head. Connor walked into the room beaming.
"Ah, wonderful morning, huh. I slept like a baby last night, storm didn't even jostle me. How'd you sleep Meghers?"
"You should know, you came down here at about three-thirty this morning." I replied hotly, flipping my hair as I stood up. He raised one eyebrow, then grabbed my discarded plate and started eating like a pig.
"Bye mom," I said, kissing her cheek, "bye Lily-billy-bug." I kissed Lily's head lightly, she smiled up at me, and waved as I walked out of the house to meet Hayllie at the end of the driveway.
"Hey, how are you holding up?" she asked rubbing my shoulder. I shrugged,
"Okay I guess, I just really miss her. I guess I'm used to seeing her when I come home from school. But she is getting better; the doctors think she'll be able to leave in about a month."
We walked in silence towards the empty corner. Just before we reached the paved sidewalk, Hayllie pulled me across the street.
"Where are we going? We're gonna be late Hayllie, turn around!" I cried, trying to pull out of her grip. Hayllie is strong, probably from hours of soccer practice, she dragged my down a path towards the edge of the forest. Hayllie pulled me down the path; I practically stumbled blindly behind her.
Eventually she pulled me into a secluded clearing, far from any human contact. A gigantic lake glistened in the sun, the place was beautiful.
"Hayllie, please tell me where we are." I begged as we walked towards the lake, Hayllie smiled at me.
"Welcome to my paradise. This is where I go when I have something bugging me. I pick up one of the shells, shout whatever is bothering me into the shell, close my hand around it and throw the "secret shell" into the lake. Eventually you start to feel better."
"Won't someone hear you shouting?" I asked as Hayllie handed me a shell, she shook her head,
"No, we're too far from the road, no one can hear anything. And if you don't spill what's bothering you to that shell soon, we're gonna be in very deep trouble. We aren't going to leave until you're okay again."
Hayllie is very persistent, she looked at me, raising one eyebrow until I finally shouted,
"Skie and I had a fight the morning she went into the hospital; I left without telling her I love her!"
Hayllie grabbed my hand and closed it around the shell. I looked at her and she nodded, I threw the shell as far as I could into the lake. I saw the shell hit the water, and then disappear below the glistening surface. I stared at the water for a few seconds, and then looked up at the sky.
"Let's go, before we miss the bus." I said simply.
Hayllie and I walked back up the path, crossed the street, and stood with the others who were still waiting. Claire ran up to us, a huge grin plastered on her face.
"Guys, guys guess what?! They've posted a soccer schedule, we all made the team!" Claire shouted jumping up and down, "we're all gonna be on the Hidden Hills soccer team, the best on in the district!"
Hayllie was speechless for a few seconds, and then erupted in screams, I joined in. Maybe today wasn't going to be so bad after all.
"I can't believe we all made the team!" I said excitedly, Hayllie grinned at me,
"Was there any doubt that you would make the team, you're fast, and you have an amazing leg. Coach was bound to put you on the team."
~~~~
After lunch, I got permission from Mrs. Greene to skip my class and just be alone for a while. My language arts class was going on a field trip to the Nation Museum of Literature (yes I just made up the name) and I didn't have mom's signature on the permission slip. I had to stay at the school, and supposedly study something. I just asked Mrs. Greene if I could spend some time in the library, but I never showed up there.
I walked across the campus, towards the pond the science classes use for dissecting frogs. I sat down on the ground, leaning up against a weeping willow. I closed my eyes, and rested my arms on my knees.
"Meghan? What are you doing out here?" someone asked, I opened my eyes and looked around. I noticed someone walking towards me, I couldn't tell who it was, until they got closer.
"Oh, hey Ryan. Nothing much, I didn't want to go on my LA class field trip so I just didn't have my mom sign the slip. What are you doing out here?" I asked him, he sat down next to me,
"Just walking around. I have gym this hour, but I can't participate because of the big game this weekend. Coach wants us all at our best."
Neither one of us said anything for a while; we both kind of just stared in two different directions. I did notice how the sun reflected off of his blue eyes, Ryan ran his fingers through his blonde hair.
"Meghan, I was wondering if maybe you'd want to go and see a movie sometime."
He smiled at me, and then stood up.
"Uh... sure... a movie... okay." I stammered, Ryan smiled again then nodded.
I pulled out a pen and wrote my cell number down on his hand.
"Cool, thanks Meghan, I'll call you soon. I promise."
I watched him walk down the path towards his friends, and something in me changed. I felt as if my heart was skipping a beat, I felt kind of dizzy watching Ryan walk away. I think I might actually like Ryan, I couldn't get him out of my head for the rest of the day, whenever I saw him, he waved and grinned.
~~~
I jogged to the soccer field after changing for practice. I was one of the first girls there, so I decided to start running laps. I managed to run almost a mile before Coach Mo called everyone to the middle of the field. We were going to start off with running, half a mile in under a five minuet period. Everyone on the team took off running, at a steady pace, rounding corners pretty quickly.
I ran with Emily and Hayllie, Claire had to skip because of her knee, which was on the mend after a surgery she had at the beginning of the year, so she was walking the track the whole practice. We finished running, then split off into our groups, mid-fields, defense, offense, and goalies. The assistant coaches worked with a different group, and then they rotated after about half an hour.
Around four o'clock Coach Mo told everyone to head back to the locker rooms, practice was finally over, and I could finally head home. After I changed, Hayllie and I walked home together; she was talking nonstop about the trip to the museum. I nodded and said a few single words here and there, she never noticed. I seemed to be off in my own little world, thinking about nothing in particular, I was just letting my mind wander.