A/N: This is my first story. Exciting right? This story is going to get more interesting as it progresses, so don't give up on me in the first chapter :) Heads up: I like cliffhangers so this story may contain a few. Okay, a lot. I like constructive criticism, but not harsh. Tell me what you think. Please and thank you!
P.S. This chapter is kind of like the backgrounds of the characters, so it may not be as interesting as the rest of the story will be.
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Chapter One: My New Life. (2010)
DEAR DIARY,
This will probably be my only entry because my mom claims every girl should have one of these but here it is: My name is Val, short for Valerie, and I live in a special family. Why? Because we were blessed with two sets of twins. At least that's what my mom says. Unfortunately, I don't have a twin. I'm the outsider who gets reminded of that fact every single day. Imagine going out with your family and having to stand off to the side because everyone's staring at your brothers and sisters in awe. Well, it sucks. My mother says I should be happy and grateful that I get to share this experience with them and my father says it makes me all the more special. Ha, that's funny right? I mean, I love my brothers and sisters but it's hard feeling like an outcast in your own family. I sometimes feel like I'm missing an important part of my life, like maybe I did have a sister or brother my age. But I'm just dreaming. Well, here's the cherry on top of that: My parents decided to move us all out to a town called Olberton, a.k.a OLDberton, away from all of my friends who see me as myself and not as a sister of two twins. Truth be told, the only reason I'm not protesting is because I get to pick my room over everyone else. I'm fifteen, for crying out loud. No fifteen year old wants to be moved from their house in the city to this old neighborhood with hardly any teenagers into a house that, even though they remodeled it, looks like it's one hard push from falling off its hinges. However, the rooms are huge and because I was SOOO good *note the sarcasm*, I got the biggest. It has UGLY wallpaper with faded purple and lime green stripes. Gross, I know but it's whatever and can be fixed. We have all my furniture in my room. It looks amazing, thanks to me and my mother, Tammy. She actually took off work for a week just to get the house together and that's saying something because she has a high position at the hospital and works A LOT. My father, John, didn't take any days off from his job at the Rec Center. Not surprising. Ellie and Mellie, short for Eleanor and Melanie are the youngest of the family, aging at four years old. My brothers, Jay and Ray, are the middle children, being eleven. But enough with talk about them. I've heard about them every day of my life.
"Val, come here! I need you to watch Ellie and Mellie, while I go to the store to get groceries for tonight's dinner!" My mom yelled from somewhere downstairs.
I closed my diary and jogged down the stairs, which took a lot because the house we live in now is three story, with the third floor being just one room. My room, to be exact. But hey, I wasn't complaining. I'm hungry. When I reached the bottom, my mom was already waiting for me.
"Okay, there are snacks in the fridge. The girls are in the living room watching Disney Channel. I know you are just supposed to watch your sisters but please make sure your brothers don't leave the property. If anything and I mean anything happens call me. There are also drinks in the fridge. Don't let your brothers wreck the house. Make sure your sisters don't draw on anyth-"
"MOM! Take a breather. I've watched them before. I know what to do."
"I know. I know. It's just with the new house and new environment, I figured it might be a little difficult. But I guess you're old enough to figure out things by yourself. At least you have have a whole summer to figure things out before school starts," My mom said. My stomach rumbled.
"Okay mom, you can go now! Love you! Go get food!" I exclaimed, literally pushing her out the door.
I ran into the living room and plopped down on the couch behind my sisters, who were sitting on the floor with dolls in each of their hands. I looked up at the TV, noticing that Disney channel was actually having a throwback for once, showing shows like That's So Raven, and Lizzy McGuire. It was pretty cool. I almost didn't hear the doorbell ring.
I got up from my oh-so-comfortable seat and answered it, making sure my sisters were still engrossed in the TV. I opened the door and there stood the most attractive male I had ever seen my life.
He was about my age and had dark hair and the greenest eyes I had ever seen. He was taller than me, but not by too much. He had an athletic build, but not to muscular. He was perfect.
"Hey, I'm Tanner Matthews. My mom told me to bring these to you? You are the new neighbors right?" He said, holding up a plate of brownies. I looked at the brownies. They looked so delicious and staring at them made me forget about him. My hunger started taking over. "Hello? Can you understand me?"
"Uh, yeah... yeah. We are. I'm V-Val and thanks!" I exclaimed, as I grabbed the plate of brownies and slammed the door.
He knocked again but I ignored it. I really didn't feel like embarrassing myself.
I had never been good with boys. I had a guy I liked back in my home town and ended up pouring all of my chicken noodle soup down his shirt because I tripped while trying to talk to him. Talk about embarrassing. As I walked back to my seat, I took a bite of one of the brownies. When I sat down, I realized that the twins were no longer there.
'Oh crap!' I thought as I frantically went and searched the house.
"Jay! Ray! Have you guys seen the girls?" I yelled up the stairs. When I got no response, I started to worry. I immediately went out to our back yard. I found them gathered around a group of bricks, oddly shaped like a large rectangle.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I don't know, we just got out here," Jay replied.
"I think it is a barn or shed or something of that sort. Maybe the owner before us had one. I mean, it has to be like a hundred years old because no one has owned this house for like fifty years. That's what dad told me!" Ray explained.
That statement got Jay started. "Maybe there's treasure of something buried here. We could dig it up! We could be rich! We coul-"
"Nope. Not gonna happen. Mom told me to watch you guys and you are NOT going to destroy the property while she's gone. I refuse. So, go in the house and do something so I don't get in trouble because you guys are doing something you know you're not supposed to," I demanded. "And girls, you two need to go back to watching TV. You guys need to be where you were when mom left when she gets back."
"But Vaaaaaaaaaal" They all whined simultaneously.
"Go," I said as I gave them a look that they knew they couldn't convince.
'Dang, I'm a great big sister!' I thought as I followed them into the house.
About a two hours later, my mom came back with a crap load of groceries and started on dinner. It was spaghetti and meatball night. Yum. Around the time she finished, my dad got home from work. It was about 6:30 in the evening. We all sat around our new dinner table, said prayers, and dove into our meals.
"So Val, how are you liking the house?" My dad asked between bites of pasta.
"It's nice, I guess. I like my room, even though I really want to change the wallpaper," I replied.
"Cool. We can fix that. You'll go out with your mom sometime to find new. "
"Alright." I said, as I smiled.
"Aren't you glad that we came at the beginning of the summer? That way, you have time to get situated before school starts."
"Yeah. Maybe I'll make some friends before school starts so I won't feel like an outsider when it does." I replied.
"Oh Okay. Well maybe we can go look around the town later on in the week when I'm off. I heard they have a beautiful waterfront."
"That sounds good"
"So what did you guys do while I was out getting groceries?" My mom asked all of us.
"It was super cool mom! Me and Ray looked around the yard and we found this patch of bricks that Ray thinks is a barn and I think has treasure buried underneath!" Jay exclaimed.
"Yeah. We also found this path out back that we didn't follow because you told us not to go too far," Ray added.
"That's great, guys! It sounds like you guys had fun. So, what did you girls do while I was gone?" She asked.
"We did the same and then Val made us come back in the house," Ellie said.
"Our new neighbor came. He brought brownies, which I think would make a great dessert for tonight," I replied.
"That's great. I was wondering where those brownies came from. Good idea, I'll go get them now," She got up and left.
The rest of our meal went that same way. My dad talked about what he did at work. My mom talked about this "interesting" story that happened at the grocery store. My sisters just talked about anything that came to their mind. And my brothers just talked about what came to their mind like the treasure, what type of pet they want to get, and other random things like that. I just sat and listened.
When we were dismissed, I immediately went to my room to bed. I was almost asleep when I heard something tapping on my window. I slowly trekked over to it and then I realized it was rocks hitting my window. I opened it and nearly got decked in the face with a stone. I looked down to see none other than Tanner Matthews standing on the ground under my window.
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A/N: Just like I said, it gets more interesting as the story progresses. Also, the chapters get longer. This is NOT just a typical romance story. It's much more than that. Thanks for reading my first chapter! Please continue reading. Tell me what you think!