Preston
My parents are the old fashioned type. You can tell just by their I-am-better-than-you names, Bart and Charlotte Parker, which describe them better than I ever could. Dad owns Piers 25-37 and charges people who want to dock their boats there. He comes home late from the yacht club, golfing, or whatever dads do, and leaves early for work in the morning. Typical dead-beat dad except we've got money, we've got lots of money. But it's not the good well-earned, self-made, work-my-way-up kind of money, it's old inherited money. My Dad is the sole heir of my long gone grandmothers' fortune. That's probably why my Mom married him, I mean the man has not an atom of appeal in his 250 pound body.
And my mom, well my mom is hard to describe. It seems like she could have been cool at some point, but has completely lost that. Mom wears dresses every day and accessorizes with beautiful pearls dangling from her neck and a signature fake smile plastered across her face. She's not the kind of person that you go to for advice of any kind; feelings and emotion get swept under the rug. My parents don't talk to us or each other, I mean they've never really had a parental conversation like the ones that I see in movies.
By "us" I mean my lovely nine-year-old sister Claire and I. There is no one more charming, adorable, and likeable than Claire. She can sometimes be a spoiled little brat, but can you blame her? I mean given our circumstances it's only normal. I can't help but smile when she says my name "Saywah", which is really pronounced Sarah but she's always had trouble with R's. She is my best friend, and the person who makes me want to keep everything together. She is innocence in the rawest form.
But anyways, back to my pompous Mother. Up until recently I don’t think I've ever even seen my Mom raise her voice, except for the time that Claire refused to wear a dress to our family's annual charity ball. Philanthropic right? No, it's all an act. Our entire life is a show, an elaborate, elegant, exclusive movie that only recently took a turn for the worst.
I could only see flashes of shadows in the small crack beneath my door, swiftly stabbing through the light that brightened up the hall. I always wondered why they left that hall light on. Fighting in the dark must not be as fun. I like to imagine their silhouettes as little shadow puppets putting on a special feature just for Claire and I. Our parents have been at it all month. The littlest things have been setting them off. Fighting about money, the house, cleaning, and even what's for dinner.
But last night was the worst I'd ever heard it. "You have to try a little harder to make things work", Mom kept saying. "I am done trying", my father would yell back. It ultimately ended in my mother kicking my dad out. I heard his car engine rev up as he descended down the driveway. I felt my heart beating out of my chest and I wanted my body to diffuse in to my bed sheets. I was so glad that Claire had fallen asleep earlier because I couldn’t let her see me like this. I spent the rest of the night counting the number of crystals hanging from the chandelier above my bed, 937 being the final number.
"Pass me some of the bacon, pleeeeease", Claire said. And if it weren't for her cute little gapped tooth smile, I would have slapped her right there for being so happy. She loves bacon; it's her favorite thing second to me, so she says. I picked up the plate with my fists clenched so tightly that my fingers were turning red. I let go thinking Claire had grabbed the other end of it, and it dropped to the floor. "AAAAngelaaaa", Claire screamed. "No it's fine Claire I got it, it's my fault anyway. When you drop something it is your job to pick it up." I insisted. But Angela ran in and started sweeping the glass and bacon up before I could even get out of my chair.
Angela is our maid/nanny/driver/fill in parent, she barely speaks English and calls Claire and I "the queens". She's a really great person and I always feel bad making her work so hard. Claire on the other hand, fully harnesses the advantage that is Angela.
"Good morning my leetle queens, no school for today if you not want to", Angela said in a genuinely joyful tone. Was I the only one afraid for what would happen when Mom came down? "Why is there no school today?" Claire asked. Obviously being so sound asleep last night that she missed everything. "Speeecial day today Queen Claire! You pick what you do today!" Angela said. "Where's Mommy and Daddy?" Claire asked Angela dodged this with, "Oh so many questions this morning, you just enjoy the bacon leetle queen."
And then Mom came down looking like she was just thrown out of tornado. Her hair was all over the place, her makeup was running, and she wasn't wearing a dress. You know something is wrong when Mom isn’t wearing a snobby vintage dress. "So how is everyone this beautiful Wednesday morning?" She asked. I almost laughed right there in her face "Are you joking Mom, really how stupid do you think I am? We need to talk in the kitchen.", I insisted.
She followed with a surprised expression painted on her face. I got right in front of her and asked, "What is going on. I mean like where is Dad?" She responded in the quietest voice I have ever heard, "Well Dad and I have been getting into what you might call fights over the last few weeks and I thought that it would be best if he left the house for a little bit while we figure this whole thing out. I didn't want to have to tell you this in such a flat out way but I think we might be getting a divor-" I interrupted " Mom I get it okay, you and dad are fighting, things have been stressful lately, and you think that this is a good idea. But I'll tell you it's not. Mom you do not need to mess this family up even more." I knew it was harsh, but a divorce really? That was the last thing we needed. That would crush Claire's whole world. "Sarah keep it together okay?! You don’t need to make this into a bigger deal than it already is. And also don’t go telling all your little friends about this because they will tell their parents and we don’t need that right now." That's my Mom, always caring about what other people will think. "Well I am going to school. If you are going to be in denial about this, than so am I Mom." I said
I got in the car with Angela and didn't talk the whole way to school. "Have a good day my queen", she shouted out the window of the car. My bag felt like it was 90 pounds and my head was spinning. I met up with my friends and we walked to math class, my favorite. Even my friend Katie's story about her date last night with Joey Faringer couldn't get me open my mouth. But my friends weren’t worried or anything and the more time they have to talk about themselves, the happier they are.
I threw my bag on the desk in math and took out my notebook. How could my Mom do this? Everything was fine up until recently. Why couldn’t she just let things be? I felt tears burning my eyes, I cried when I was angry. "Is everything okay Ms. Parker?", Mr. Street asked concerned. "Yea yea no I'm fine", my voice cracked so he wasn't convinced. "Why don’t you just take a few seconds outside and you can come back in when you're ready", he said.
I sat down in the hall way and just let it all out. I haven’t cried in years and this needed to come out. This was not the silent type of cry, this was the type of cry with all kinds of weird noises that you didn’t even know you could make. I must have been really loud because around the corner came a very worried Preston Walker. Now if I wasn't worried about sounding like a typical teenage girl, I would say that Preston is probably the hottest guy in school. But I do care about that, so I will say that he has such charisma and confidence that being around him makes you feel like the most socially awkward person ever. He was coming straight for me so I wiped the tears from my face and put on a fake smile. "Are you alright Sarah?", I swear if one more person asked me that question I would punch them. "You know, I have had better days.", this just slipped out of my mouth and I immediately regretted it.
"What's wrong? I wont judge you or anything, maybe I can help.", he was so endearing that the following words just came out. " Things at home have just been tough lately. I mean things have never been good, but recently my parents have just been constantly fighting. They hate each other. And this morning my mother informed me of a possible divorce. She can't do that. Not to Claire, not to me." It seemed like the words were just spewing from my mouth, I had no control of them at all these things just needed to get out. Preston looked so deep into my eyes that it made me a bit uncomfortable. As he talked to me he never broke his stare or confidence.
"Last year my parents got a divorce and at first I was so upset by the whole idea that I didn’t talk to them for a month. I was so mad that they were splitting the family up and I couldn’t believe that they were being so selfish. Time went by and I started to realize things were better. Like I was actually spending time with my Dad on the weekends and my Mom would actually smile and laugh when I saw her. I then realized that I was the one who was being selfish. My parents were finally happy. So now as you can see I am fine, I love my life and the way things turned out." His words were crazy, it's like he read all the problems in my mind and knew just what to say. "Things wont get better right away. But in the end you'll be happy, trust me.", he said.
"Thank you so much Preston. You honestly don’t even know how much you just helped me.", I thanked him for about 10 minutes after that and finally let him go. I grabbed my phone from my bag and called Angela to come pick me up, I couldn’t go back to class right now I needed to get home to my Mom. Angela came right away and didn’t ask any questions.
I ran in the house and found my mom lying in front of the TV, something she never does. "Mom I know your not being selfish. I am being selfish. You are doing what is best for all of us, you are helping our family. I'm really sorry that I said what I did earlier and I didn’t mean it" I got emotional and started to cry again. She stood up from the couch and hugged me tightly, which hasn’t happened in years. Claire came running down from her room and joined in our group hug. We were all crying and it seemed like sadness, but I knew it wasn’t.
-Friend
My parents are divorced and that kind of inspired this story. My initial reaction was very similar to Sarah's. I was confused, concerned, and worried for what might happen next. I wish I would have had a Preston in my situation, someone to represent hope, confidence, and patience.
Friday, April 29, 2011
2 Races at the Track
2 races at the track
Beep beep beep! I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock in my hotel going off. Focusing my eyes on I look at the clock and it reads 6:00. I am so tired from last night, I had to ride on a six hour flight from Hawaii to Oregon. The hotel bed was uncomfortable and hard. Today is the big day; the national track meet is today. I am considered the top 400 sprinter in the U.S. and could qualify for the Olympics if I win today. Stumbling out of my bed I get ready to get breakfast with Bob at the hotel buffet breakfast downstairs.
Bob is staying in a room with his friend, Todd. Bob is usually mellow and doesn't say much. Bob is blonde with a buzz cut and is pretty small. He grew up in California and goes to the same school as Todd. Bob is usually around Todd. Todd is related to Bill Gates and is quite rich. Todd usually keeps to himself and doesn't usually talk. As I walk to Bob's hotel room I start to smile remembering the good fun we had together. The last time I saw them was in 3 months ago when we were surfing at Huntington Beach. I remember the scorching sun from the beach and the still cold water at the beach.
I knock on Bob's door and see Bob, a fit blonde teenager answer the door standing with him is Todd, an African American teenager who is a lot bigger and a little older than Bob. Looking at Bob I say," Lets go get breakfast in the lobby."
"Wait Jimmy, I have to go take my pills," Bob says. "Why do you need to take pills, Bob," Todd asks? "I have diabetes. It 's a secret. I was just diagnosed, so don't tell anyone, Todd," Bob says. "Hurry up," I yell.
After about ten minutes of waiting around, we finally leave Bob and Todd's room and get into the elevator. When we get to the restaurant, we see Fred. I see Fred staring at Bob with an icy glare. Fred's fists are now clenched, while Bob starts to puff his chest up acting tough. Fred then walks up and punches Bob in the stomach. Looking at Bob and Fred, I immediately see a mismatch in size. Bob weighing 180 pounds and at 5'10 is a lot smaller than Fred. Bob seems to have bigger muscles; Bob's muscles are rippling out of his veins while Fred's are hard to see. Fred outweighs Bob by at least 25 pounds and is about four inches taller. Bob falls to the ground swearing and says, "Fred, I hate you."
Fred looks down at Bob and laughs and says," You better watch you back, Bob, or something worse might happen."
Bob gets up and pushes Fred. I step in between both of them and breakup the fight. Fred yells angrily at me, "Let me go, Jimmy. Let me and Bob settle this". Fred walks away while Bob tries to get revenge and chases after him, but is held back by Todd and I. This is the most mad I've seen Bob get. I can hear him swearing under his breath and muttering about killing Fred.
After everything settles back down we get to the hotel buffet. The smell of the food is like heaven. We get our seats at the restaurant and make our way to the buffet line. While we are walking there I notice Bob limping and tell him that he should go back to the table. Todd and I assure him that we will help to get food for him. At the buffet, there are fruits, cereal, waffles, and drinks. I get Bob and myself a bowl of cereal while Todd gets himself a waffle. Todd also gets Bob a strawberry Gatorade. I get to the table before Todd gets there, when Todd gets there Bob is already eating his cereal. Todd hands Bob the strawberry Gatorade. Bob says looking at the Gatorade label, "I can't drink this. If I do I could die within five minutes. If I consume more than five tablespoons of sugar it puts me in serious danger. " " Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that," replies Todd.
I hear a fork scraping against a plate and look next to us. I see a man with a nametag on. I think it says Jessie. All the people attending the track meet are supposed to wear a nametag so he must be running or watching. He is pretty big at around 6'3 and looks to weigh around 230 pounds. His eyes keep fanning back and forth; his eyes seem locked in on us. I think I saw him coming out of the room next to Bob's. "Is he stalking us?" I whisper to Todd and Bob that there is someone stalking us. I look up to show him the man but he isn't there. I turn and look everywhere, but I can't find him.
We just finished eating and start heading back to our rooms. The elevator door creaks opens and we all get in. Then as the door starts to close I see something swing forward to stop the door. I look and see Jessie, the guy I saw sitting next to us at breakfast. I feel goose bumps creeping up on my arm; I look at the guy and see something sticking out of his pocket. I look closer and see the outline of a knife and the online of a small container. I look at what floor the elevator is on, the 3rd we still have 7 more until we get off. Shivering from fear, I picture Jessie murdering all of us in the elevator. The elevator now seems steaming hot due to my fear. The elevator plays a calm jazz tune in the background; the music is soothing but doesn't calm me.
As soon as the elevator reaches the tenth floor, I race out of the elevator. I look back and see him following us. I get to my room and lock the door. Than I hear deafening and think that the guy must have attacked him. I look in my room for a weapon to use and find a silver pocketknife on the counter. Clutching the heavy pocketknife in my hand, I am ready to attack. But when I get there, I see Bob beating up Fred. I put the pocketknife back in my pocket sensing no danger. I separate both of them.
"Bob, what the hell happened?" I yell. Bob responds angrily, "Fred came out from hiding inside my room and jumped at me." "Is that true?" I ask Fred. He ponders his thoughts for a while and says, "I thought that was my room and accidently walked in. The door was unlocked and wandered in. I got startled and jumped and attacked when Bob and Fred came in."
Not knowing what to do, I told both of them to leave each other alone and go back to their rooms to get ready for the track meet.
After Fred leaves, I question Bob why he and Fred hated each other so much. Bob said that they both run the hundred-meter dash and that Fred had a slower hundred time than Bob by .3 seconds. After hearing this, I kind of understood why Fred tried to fight Bob. Fred was competitive and was angry with Bob for being better than him. Fred and Bob were both competing for the top hundred meter time.
I walk back to my room and put on my USA uniform. The tank top has red and blue stripes with white in the background. The pants are very short and are blue. I look at the clock and it reads 10:30. It's almost time to go. The bus will be coming to pick us up to take us to the stadium at 11. I go and get Bob and Todd and by the time we get downstairs it is 11 o'clock.
When we arrive at the stadium I am astonished by the size of the stadium. The stadium is gigantic and music is blasting from speakers. In the front of the stadium there are big letters showing Rose Garden. On the walls of the stadium they have the times for each event posted. The 400-meter dash is the first event and it starts in 30 minutes.
I take a warm up lap around the track and then start to stretch. While stretching I hear on the loud speakers a man talking in a monotone voice saying, "400 meter-runners, please check in." I go to the official office and check in. The official office is a small air-conditioned room with only 10 people inside. It is right next to the track and has a good view of the entire field. Inside I tell one of the officials that I am here. He scans his computer and tells me that my event is starting in five minutes. I thank the official and jog out of the office. I get to the track and put on my track spikes.
The referee tells us to take our positions. "On your mark, get set, go," he says. The starter pistol fires as the runners explode off the starting blocks. I am leading the way slightly with only 150 meters left. While I am running, I see Bob slouched on the ground and Fred running off. Bob almost looks as if he is dead and I wonder to myself what is he doing. I see his water bottle lying on ground, spilled all over the place. I have just over 25 meters left to run and it looks like I am going to win.
I reach the finish line coming in first place. Instead of celebrating I immediately run over to where Bob is lying down. By the time I get there, there is a big crowd of people around Bob. I try to squeeze my way through the crowd but no one budges, it's like a wall surrounding Bob. The paramedics are examining Bob and just finished checking his vitals. There were no signs of a fatal attack. The paramedics start to put Bob's body in the back of the ambulance for further medical examination. I go up to one of the paramedics and ask how long that will take and they say, "One week at the earliest." After the crowd leaves I observe the scene to see if anything looks out of place. I remember about the water bottle on the ground. I pick up the water bottle, there is about half of the water left. The Dasani water tag is still stuck on the water bottle. I look inside of the water bottle and it looks a little murky. I hold the bottle to my nose sniffing it and smell a faint smell. I think to myself if I should try it. I finally decide to pour a little on my finger. I lick my finger and taste sugar. I think that he may have been killed by the sugar.
I start to look for Fred. After, I remember that I saw him running away from Bob on the track. I run off and find Bob getting ready to run the 100-meter dash. I confront him and ask, "Why did you run away from Bob when he was dying?"
Fred replies sounding startled, "I ran because he said that he found out that I took steroids. I ran away and I was going to come up with a plan to get back at him. I would never kill him!" Fred frowns and walks away with his head down. He looks like he is actually sad that Bob got killed.
With no leads on who killed Bob, I start think about who would want to hurt Bob. I remember Jessie the stalker from the hotel. I run around the stadium looking for him and can’t seem to find him. As I run I pass the officials office, I decide to stop and see if anybody named Jessie was entered in any events. When I enter I see Jessie there in a referee uniform. Seeing him makes my body twitch in fear. I look around and no one seems to be in the office. I am scared, I wonder if he is going to kill me. I get ready to run when he comes over and gently grabs my arm and ask me, "Is there something wrong that I have done? Why are you afraid of me? You ran away from me in the elevator today." I feel relieved that he wasn't stalking us and apologize, "Sorry, I thought that you were stalking us."
He was the last suspect I could think of. I walked around and kept thinking. I wondered who knew that Bob had diabetes. In the morning I recollected that Bob mentioned that his diabetes was a secret. Who knew that Bob had diabetes? I thought about Todd and how he heard the conversation in the morning. I was shocked at myself for thinking that Todd and Bob were best friends. Todd wouldn't hurt Bob. Suddenly, in the corner of my eyes I see Todd he's running and leaving the stadium.
Todd's event was about to start and he was leaving. I start to chase after him; he has over a 200-meter lead against. After about two minutes Todd starts to slow down. It looks as if his stamina has died down. I am about ten-meters away from him when Todd pulls something out of pocket. He pulls out a 9 mm pistol and he is pointing it at me. I try to talk him out of shooting me. "Why'd you kill Bob? You don't need to do this. Just turn yourself in."
Todd laughs and says, "I can't turn myself in after what I've done. Bob would've taken away my dream; he was going to beat me in the 100-meter dash. I trained with him and allowed him to use my private coaches. I wasn't going to make it to the Olympics because of him. I couldn’t let him take away my dream."
Todd points his gun at me. I look around to see if anyone is there to save the day. I scan everywhere and can't see anybody. My heart is racing as I close my eyes, preparing to be killed. Todd now cocks his gun back and points it at me. I now realize my death is inevitable. I put my hands to my sides and than I feel something in my pocket. I wonder what it is, and then I remember that the pocketknife is still in my pocket from this morning. Acting discreetly I grab my pocketknife with my sweaty hand and wait for a distraction. I look to the left and act like something is there and Todd looks towards the same direction thinking that there really is something there.
While Todd is not looking at me, I explode off my legs launching myself towards him with my pocketknife, aiming at his chest. Everything seems to move in slow motion while I am in the air, jumping at Todd. I stay in the air, flying at Todd. Todd looks back at me and is stunned he fires his pistol and the bullet skims past me. I hear the whizzing of the bullet and stab Todd while the bullet passes me. Todd collapses to the ground, screaming in pain.
I wrote this story about track because track is one of the sports that I play. When I was writing this I was doing track. I wanted to do my story about track because I love track.
José
Beep beep beep! I wake up to the sound of my alarm clock in my hotel going off. Focusing my eyes on I look at the clock and it reads 6:00. I am so tired from last night, I had to ride on a six hour flight from Hawaii to Oregon. The hotel bed was uncomfortable and hard. Today is the big day; the national track meet is today. I am considered the top 400 sprinter in the U.S. and could qualify for the Olympics if I win today. Stumbling out of my bed I get ready to get breakfast with Bob at the hotel buffet breakfast downstairs.
Bob is staying in a room with his friend, Todd. Bob is usually mellow and doesn't say much. Bob is blonde with a buzz cut and is pretty small. He grew up in California and goes to the same school as Todd. Bob is usually around Todd. Todd is related to Bill Gates and is quite rich. Todd usually keeps to himself and doesn't usually talk. As I walk to Bob's hotel room I start to smile remembering the good fun we had together. The last time I saw them was in 3 months ago when we were surfing at Huntington Beach. I remember the scorching sun from the beach and the still cold water at the beach.
I knock on Bob's door and see Bob, a fit blonde teenager answer the door standing with him is Todd, an African American teenager who is a lot bigger and a little older than Bob. Looking at Bob I say," Lets go get breakfast in the lobby."
"Wait Jimmy, I have to go take my pills," Bob says. "Why do you need to take pills, Bob," Todd asks? "I have diabetes. It 's a secret. I was just diagnosed, so don't tell anyone, Todd," Bob says. "Hurry up," I yell.
After about ten minutes of waiting around, we finally leave Bob and Todd's room and get into the elevator. When we get to the restaurant, we see Fred. I see Fred staring at Bob with an icy glare. Fred's fists are now clenched, while Bob starts to puff his chest up acting tough. Fred then walks up and punches Bob in the stomach. Looking at Bob and Fred, I immediately see a mismatch in size. Bob weighing 180 pounds and at 5'10 is a lot smaller than Fred. Bob seems to have bigger muscles; Bob's muscles are rippling out of his veins while Fred's are hard to see. Fred outweighs Bob by at least 25 pounds and is about four inches taller. Bob falls to the ground swearing and says, "Fred, I hate you."
Fred looks down at Bob and laughs and says," You better watch you back, Bob, or something worse might happen."
Bob gets up and pushes Fred. I step in between both of them and breakup the fight. Fred yells angrily at me, "Let me go, Jimmy. Let me and Bob settle this". Fred walks away while Bob tries to get revenge and chases after him, but is held back by Todd and I. This is the most mad I've seen Bob get. I can hear him swearing under his breath and muttering about killing Fred.
After everything settles back down we get to the hotel buffet. The smell of the food is like heaven. We get our seats at the restaurant and make our way to the buffet line. While we are walking there I notice Bob limping and tell him that he should go back to the table. Todd and I assure him that we will help to get food for him. At the buffet, there are fruits, cereal, waffles, and drinks. I get Bob and myself a bowl of cereal while Todd gets himself a waffle. Todd also gets Bob a strawberry Gatorade. I get to the table before Todd gets there, when Todd gets there Bob is already eating his cereal. Todd hands Bob the strawberry Gatorade. Bob says looking at the Gatorade label, "I can't drink this. If I do I could die within five minutes. If I consume more than five tablespoons of sugar it puts me in serious danger. " " Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that," replies Todd.
I hear a fork scraping against a plate and look next to us. I see a man with a nametag on. I think it says Jessie. All the people attending the track meet are supposed to wear a nametag so he must be running or watching. He is pretty big at around 6'3 and looks to weigh around 230 pounds. His eyes keep fanning back and forth; his eyes seem locked in on us. I think I saw him coming out of the room next to Bob's. "Is he stalking us?" I whisper to Todd and Bob that there is someone stalking us. I look up to show him the man but he isn't there. I turn and look everywhere, but I can't find him.
We just finished eating and start heading back to our rooms. The elevator door creaks opens and we all get in. Then as the door starts to close I see something swing forward to stop the door. I look and see Jessie, the guy I saw sitting next to us at breakfast. I feel goose bumps creeping up on my arm; I look at the guy and see something sticking out of his pocket. I look closer and see the outline of a knife and the online of a small container. I look at what floor the elevator is on, the 3rd we still have 7 more until we get off. Shivering from fear, I picture Jessie murdering all of us in the elevator. The elevator now seems steaming hot due to my fear. The elevator plays a calm jazz tune in the background; the music is soothing but doesn't calm me.
As soon as the elevator reaches the tenth floor, I race out of the elevator. I look back and see him following us. I get to my room and lock the door. Than I hear deafening and think that the guy must have attacked him. I look in my room for a weapon to use and find a silver pocketknife on the counter. Clutching the heavy pocketknife in my hand, I am ready to attack. But when I get there, I see Bob beating up Fred. I put the pocketknife back in my pocket sensing no danger. I separate both of them.
"Bob, what the hell happened?" I yell. Bob responds angrily, "Fred came out from hiding inside my room and jumped at me." "Is that true?" I ask Fred. He ponders his thoughts for a while and says, "I thought that was my room and accidently walked in. The door was unlocked and wandered in. I got startled and jumped and attacked when Bob and Fred came in."
Not knowing what to do, I told both of them to leave each other alone and go back to their rooms to get ready for the track meet.
After Fred leaves, I question Bob why he and Fred hated each other so much. Bob said that they both run the hundred-meter dash and that Fred had a slower hundred time than Bob by .3 seconds. After hearing this, I kind of understood why Fred tried to fight Bob. Fred was competitive and was angry with Bob for being better than him. Fred and Bob were both competing for the top hundred meter time.
I walk back to my room and put on my USA uniform. The tank top has red and blue stripes with white in the background. The pants are very short and are blue. I look at the clock and it reads 10:30. It's almost time to go. The bus will be coming to pick us up to take us to the stadium at 11. I go and get Bob and Todd and by the time we get downstairs it is 11 o'clock.
When we arrive at the stadium I am astonished by the size of the stadium. The stadium is gigantic and music is blasting from speakers. In the front of the stadium there are big letters showing Rose Garden. On the walls of the stadium they have the times for each event posted. The 400-meter dash is the first event and it starts in 30 minutes.
I take a warm up lap around the track and then start to stretch. While stretching I hear on the loud speakers a man talking in a monotone voice saying, "400 meter-runners, please check in." I go to the official office and check in. The official office is a small air-conditioned room with only 10 people inside. It is right next to the track and has a good view of the entire field. Inside I tell one of the officials that I am here. He scans his computer and tells me that my event is starting in five minutes. I thank the official and jog out of the office. I get to the track and put on my track spikes.
The referee tells us to take our positions. "On your mark, get set, go," he says. The starter pistol fires as the runners explode off the starting blocks. I am leading the way slightly with only 150 meters left. While I am running, I see Bob slouched on the ground and Fred running off. Bob almost looks as if he is dead and I wonder to myself what is he doing. I see his water bottle lying on ground, spilled all over the place. I have just over 25 meters left to run and it looks like I am going to win.
I reach the finish line coming in first place. Instead of celebrating I immediately run over to where Bob is lying down. By the time I get there, there is a big crowd of people around Bob. I try to squeeze my way through the crowd but no one budges, it's like a wall surrounding Bob. The paramedics are examining Bob and just finished checking his vitals. There were no signs of a fatal attack. The paramedics start to put Bob's body in the back of the ambulance for further medical examination. I go up to one of the paramedics and ask how long that will take and they say, "One week at the earliest." After the crowd leaves I observe the scene to see if anything looks out of place. I remember about the water bottle on the ground. I pick up the water bottle, there is about half of the water left. The Dasani water tag is still stuck on the water bottle. I look inside of the water bottle and it looks a little murky. I hold the bottle to my nose sniffing it and smell a faint smell. I think to myself if I should try it. I finally decide to pour a little on my finger. I lick my finger and taste sugar. I think that he may have been killed by the sugar.
I start to look for Fred. After, I remember that I saw him running away from Bob on the track. I run off and find Bob getting ready to run the 100-meter dash. I confront him and ask, "Why did you run away from Bob when he was dying?"
Fred replies sounding startled, "I ran because he said that he found out that I took steroids. I ran away and I was going to come up with a plan to get back at him. I would never kill him!" Fred frowns and walks away with his head down. He looks like he is actually sad that Bob got killed.
With no leads on who killed Bob, I start think about who would want to hurt Bob. I remember Jessie the stalker from the hotel. I run around the stadium looking for him and can’t seem to find him. As I run I pass the officials office, I decide to stop and see if anybody named Jessie was entered in any events. When I enter I see Jessie there in a referee uniform. Seeing him makes my body twitch in fear. I look around and no one seems to be in the office. I am scared, I wonder if he is going to kill me. I get ready to run when he comes over and gently grabs my arm and ask me, "Is there something wrong that I have done? Why are you afraid of me? You ran away from me in the elevator today." I feel relieved that he wasn't stalking us and apologize, "Sorry, I thought that you were stalking us."
He was the last suspect I could think of. I walked around and kept thinking. I wondered who knew that Bob had diabetes. In the morning I recollected that Bob mentioned that his diabetes was a secret. Who knew that Bob had diabetes? I thought about Todd and how he heard the conversation in the morning. I was shocked at myself for thinking that Todd and Bob were best friends. Todd wouldn't hurt Bob. Suddenly, in the corner of my eyes I see Todd he's running and leaving the stadium.
Todd's event was about to start and he was leaving. I start to chase after him; he has over a 200-meter lead against. After about two minutes Todd starts to slow down. It looks as if his stamina has died down. I am about ten-meters away from him when Todd pulls something out of pocket. He pulls out a 9 mm pistol and he is pointing it at me. I try to talk him out of shooting me. "Why'd you kill Bob? You don't need to do this. Just turn yourself in."
Todd laughs and says, "I can't turn myself in after what I've done. Bob would've taken away my dream; he was going to beat me in the 100-meter dash. I trained with him and allowed him to use my private coaches. I wasn't going to make it to the Olympics because of him. I couldn’t let him take away my dream."
Todd points his gun at me. I look around to see if anyone is there to save the day. I scan everywhere and can't see anybody. My heart is racing as I close my eyes, preparing to be killed. Todd now cocks his gun back and points it at me. I now realize my death is inevitable. I put my hands to my sides and than I feel something in my pocket. I wonder what it is, and then I remember that the pocketknife is still in my pocket from this morning. Acting discreetly I grab my pocketknife with my sweaty hand and wait for a distraction. I look to the left and act like something is there and Todd looks towards the same direction thinking that there really is something there.
While Todd is not looking at me, I explode off my legs launching myself towards him with my pocketknife, aiming at his chest. Everything seems to move in slow motion while I am in the air, jumping at Todd. I stay in the air, flying at Todd. Todd looks back at me and is stunned he fires his pistol and the bullet skims past me. I hear the whizzing of the bullet and stab Todd while the bullet passes me. Todd collapses to the ground, screaming in pain.
I wrote this story about track because track is one of the sports that I play. When I was writing this I was doing track. I wanted to do my story about track because I love track.
José
Utopia
Utopia
6:30 am
It was 6:30am and my alarm clock was beeping. I personally think that the worse thing about alarm clocks is that its melody gets stuck in your head. I groaned and rolled to the edge of my bed. Morning sun filtered through the curtains. We were only allowed to have one nightstand between the two beds so I had to get up and walk to shut it off.
Then I noticed a strange thing: a lump in the other bed. Unmoving, covered in a blanket, it's been here before by the way. I tore off the blanket to find a boy in pajamas snoozing away.
"Will, get up." I warned my friend. "…uhhh," a late reaction from him.
I then shook him until actual words came out. "Alright, alright!" Will said.
Will sat up. Wearing blue pajamas like mine, being a freshman like me, he was an average sized boy with brown hair and had a carefree disposition.
"Stop sleeping in my room." I exclaimed.
"It's not like you need two beds, help a friend out." Will yawned. "You're the only one who gets a room to yourself."
"Just sleep in your room."
"I can't sleep with Chainsaw shaking the walls."
'Chainsaw' is the nickname Will gave to his sophomore roommate Walter. You could only guess why Will calls him that.
"You're nice."
"Facts are facts."
I sighed, it was useless to kick Will out. (Not without a lock on my door, which by the way is not allowed.)
"Whatever, it's time to get ready." I started to change.
"See ya!" Will left and went back to his room.
It was Thursday, May 14th, 2015. Like any other school day, I had to get ready for school. After I changed, I went downstairs to the main floor. Although breakfast is at 7:00, people normally wake up earlier to play games on the computers in the game room or watch TV. Minecraft 8.6, Starcraft, Facebook and Youtube are normally on the computers. I decided to watch TV with the others.
At 7:00, breakfast/roll call starts. The three leaders split roll call evenly.
"Arthur Noah." I raised my hand, said 'here' and went back to eating. At 7:10 they open the doors and we are free to leave. School doesn't start till 8 at the earliest but it takes 15-20 minutes to walk to school. On the way people tend to stop at shops or stay in the game room until the last minute. (If you weren't at school by 8 you're dead)
I left at 7:30 with Will. We walked on the sidewalk; the roads were filled with a few bicycles as usual. Some trams were going into the city. Then I heard a motor, I watched as a car passed by. I froze. I blinked and watched it ride into the city. A car. An actual car!
"You gotta wonder if it's worth it." Will said.
Year 2013, the climate changed for the worst. Scientists predicted that without a solid idea, the world would die. Eco-Terrorists groups from around the world became much more active. New religions were sprouting. The People wanted solutions. Natural Disasters became worse.
Scientists from around the world met, they discussed possible experiments to settle the chaos of the world. The final plan was a city. An experimental city which waste was minimal, much of the energy came from natural resources, a city which pollution was next to nothing, and a city that 'could be the closest to Utopia'. The city I'm currently living in, Eco-X09.
------------------------------------ (This means a different character narrates)
2:04 pm
The tram was noisy. Not that it was raging, but the tracks made a constant sound that annoyed me. It was hot and stuffy and I've been on this tram for a good half an hour, just watching the city go past me. To be honest I didn't want to be here. I was on a noisy tram, moving to a new city with some escort lady trying to act all cheery towards me.
There were no other passengers, just the lady sitting next to me and myself. We had the only seats, everything else on the tram was just boxes and boxes of who knows what.
"You know, this tram is normally meant to transport cargo. But since you're a special case, we cleared space," the lady said.
She told me her name, Mrs. Julia Noah or something. To be honest I didn't really care, nothing really cared to me anymore. I ignored her.
"Are you going to miss your friends?" she asked.
What kind of question is that? Is that really the best way to strike up a conversation? I didn't answer.
After while she said, "I'm sorry about your mom."
She just went out and spoke her mind.
"Did you know her?"
"No, but it must be awful right now."
You think? Two months ago, my mom died. She worked for the government experimenting on eco-energy. Chemical explosion. She wasn't the only victim. After her funeral I kinda lost the joy in life. She won't be their watching TV in the living room. It was just my dad and I. School turned into a slow torture, the house was too quiet, my dad had a hard time smiling. One week ago, my dad transferred to the new city's government branch. Apparently, some higher ups took pity on me and allowed me to be the first kid to transfer into Eco-X09. Now I'm riding a tram with an awkward escort to some utopia city.
"I have a son the same age as you, you'll be transferring into his high school. I hope you can be friends."
"Yeah."
"I know it's hard but you're going to love this city. You can start a new life there."
You forgot to add without my mom.
"Oh! We're here!" She pointed.
We just left the city. The new city was built on an enormous plot of land just outside not being used for anything. I looked up and was confused. When you think most sustainable city you think green right? All I saw was a huge wall of 30 foot concrete and a massive glass dome on top.
-------------------------------------------------
8:30 am
By now Will and I were having class at Robert Noah High School. I had math. Bored, I stared out the window. Our school was on a low hill. I could see outside as far as the gateway. A large wall to prevent any sudden variables from sneaking in surrounds this eco-city just so you know. For example, more people. When this city was first created, it offered a ton of jobs to the people. A lot of people wanted to start again. To prevent major variables, only government workers and chosen people were allowed to be in the exodus. My mom's a government worker and my dad's a writer. I never asked what Will's parents do.
Even though I said 'exodus', trees probably outnumber people. 65% of the city's area is nature. And that is a lot of trees since I can't even count the number of buildings. Wherever you look there are trees, trees, and more trees. Even in the center of the city some parks are set up.
You wouldn't think that filtered sun could feed them all make the rooftops shine like mirrors. That's right, filtered sunlight. Covering the entire city is a glass dome. Not really glass but it looks like it. Scientists invented a clear, rotating, solar panel that absorbs 30% of the sun and filters the rest down to the city. All buildings have a full sun shingle roof to absorb the rest for extra power. It's a little weird, but it's not as hot in the summer although you wouldn't want to catch an airplane in here. (If you want to catch a plane, you have to go to the next city.)
The only vehicles in here are trams, bicycles and cars. Trams are the main way people get around if they don't want to walk. They cost money and are everywhere. (They have solar panels on them by the way.) Bicycles populate the roads and are used by all ages for a free and fast ride. Cars on the other hand are extremely rare. Not only do they cost much, there's an extra tax for anyone who owns a car in this city. Gas is expensive and you can only get one of those cars that don't emit exhaust. To have one means you're living in the moment.
At 2:30, school was over for me. I went to the library after school and used a computer to search for community service options. In this city, students have to do one shift of community service a week. (University students have to do less.) It's supposed to promote bonding within the community but I think the government is just looking for free labor. I signed up for being a cleaner tonight and left.
I was walking back from school with Will and other friends when my phone rang. It was my mom.
"Hello?"
"Arthur, I'm going to double your weekly allowance."
Now part of me just did a back flip launched in to space for a second.
"Because, I want you to take care of someone."
There was always a catch when dealing with my mom.
"His name is David, he's the very first transfer student into the city."
Okay, I don't know if it should go down in history but what's that got to do with me?
"He will be your new roommate."
I swear my mom can read my mind.
"So? I asked.
"He's declared an experiment by the government."
"What!"
My friends turned around and looked at me.
"Scientists want to test his psychological reasoning of the city, because they didn't tell him anything about it. They want to know how he will take it all in. They will be observing him constantly. They used his dad as an excuse for him to transfer into the city."
"Where's his mom?"
"She died. I brought him here, he's lost willpower."
"…So basically, he's a lab rat in a maze."
"Don't call him that. I want you to be his friend. Just because he's an experiment doesn't mean he can't have fun being one by hanging out with friends and living a normal school life."
"Alright, I'll try." I hung up the phone.
"What was that?" Will asked.
"I'm getting a roommate."
Will looked curious and depressed at the same time.
At the dorms, it was two hours before dinner. You didn't have to attend but you had to be in your room by 10:30 or else. Most people play games or go to the mall to get food.
"Arthur," it was one of the dorm leaders. "Someone is waiting in your room."
"Okay."
As I walked up the stairs, I worried about what to say. What do I start out with? What can I show him? He lost his mom. What are our interests? What do I say? Psychological analysis. By now I got to my room. I took a deep breath and opened the door.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:26 pm
I was waiting for about 5 minutes before a boy opened the door. He had black hair, medium height, and was wearing a uniform. The dorm leader said his name was Arthur.
"Uh, hi." He said.
"Hi, my name's David." He nodded and sat on the other bed with all the posters.
"My name's Arthur Noah." He responded.
Noah? "Uh, sorry, do you know someone named Julia?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's my mom."
"Your mom works for the government?"
"Yeah, in this city 30% of all adults are working for the government."
Weird City. Weird guy, he didn't seem surprised at all that I knew his mom's name.
"So how do you like Eco-X09?" He asked.
I could tell he wanted to change the subject.
"So far I've seen trees, some buildings and more trees."
"Yeah."
Don't forget to mention more trees. They don't call it the green city for nothing. I noticed an air conditioner above the nightstand.
"You guys have AC?"
"Yup. These are the eco friendly ones." Arthur switched it on and a cool breeze filled the room.
We were silent for a bit while enjoying the breeze. Looking around the room, he noticed the blue bag I was holding.
"Oh yeah, you got that when you first arrived right? I should show you what's in there. Just dump it on the bed."
He was acting really strange, changing the subject constantly.
"Um… did your mom tell you anything about me?" I asked.
For a moment his eyes widened. "N-Nothing."
Anyway, I dumped everything on the bed. By the way, are beds in this dorm supposed to be wrinkled and look used when you move in? Inside the bag there was a chrome cell phone, a phone charger, an I.D, a wallet, an empty metal bottle and a map of the city. Arthur picked up the phone.
"You weren't allowed to bring your phone with you right? This phone is standard in this city. Everyone has one, you're not allowed to have any other kind."
"Why?"
"To prevent everyone from buying new ones constantly I guess." He shrugged. "This is the most eco friendly phone in the world and is only available in this city. People say it's a symbol that you are a resident of this city."
Then what's the I.D. for?
"The I.D.," I swear he read my mind. "Is so you can buy stuff at school, also to show you go to our school."
I looked at my I.D. It had a picture of me, usual stuff, a bar code and 'Robert Noah High School on the top. Robert…Noah? I must have had a look of suspicion because he answered immediately.
"Yeah, my dad donated a lot to the school so they named it after him."
I glanced at him, is this guy rich? The door opened. It was the guy who told me the rules of the dorm.
"Arthur." Held out a white envelope. Arthur took it and the guy left. When he opened it, even though his face didn't move I swear his eyes beamed or something.
"Uh, do you want to get something to eat?" he looked at me.
"The guy said dinner's in a couple hours."
"You can skip if you want. It's more fun to go into the city."
"I guess. What should I bring?"
"Your phone, I.D…and water bottle. "
I got up and went with him.
---------------------------------------------------------------
4:47pm
Along with David and some other friends, I rode a tram into the city and was at the mall. While David kept staring at everything, Will and the others dragged us to the arcade while telling David about all the fun stores simultaneously. Now the arcade is quite big, and busy. I personally enjoy games, but the sheer amount of people inside is plain scary.
Inside had dark walls, glowing lights and people walking about. Within seconds, it was only David and I. I got change and walked around with David following me. A house of the dead X was free so I played it with him. We died honorably by corroded chainsaws.
After more games we got thirsty and went to the food court. The food court is quite odd. The roof is glass so sunlight pours through providing natural lighting. Also, tables have solar panels in them so when night falls the tables provide some of the lighting. I showed David all the possible places we could order. I asked what he wanted but he didn't know.
"Do you want ramen?" I asked.
"Sure, but I don't have any money."
"It's okay, I'll pay for you." There's always a catch when dealing with my mom.
I ordered 2 shoyu ramen along with two sodas. The cashier gave me my change showed us the beverage dispenser. David looked around but didn't see any cups. I filled my bottle and he imitated. We sat down at a nearby table until our order came.
"There were no cups." David said.
"In this city you're supposed to have your issued bottle with you when you want to drink something. It's supposed to prevent disposable cups from entering the landfill." I explained.
"So you can't drink anything if you forget your bottle?" David seemed surprised.
"There are glass cups, but they cost money. It's not much but people would rather carry a bottle everywhere. Also employees use paper gloves when dealing with food. Plastic wouldn't biodegrade." I explained.
David was stunned. A place where you are forced to have the same phone, have a water bottle and where a driver's license meant nothing along with other stuff. I guess everyone was like that at first. Our order was ready and David volunteered to go get it. Then my phone rang, it was Will.
"Where are you guys? We looked everywhere."
"We got hungry so we went to the food court."
"What? Don't leave without us." Will hung up.
David was back with the food. "Will and the others are coming. They say they were looking everywhere for us."
"Oh."
We were just about to eat when we heard Will's voice and saw him coming towards us.
---------------------------------------------------------------
5:55pm
"That was fast." Arthur said.
"We were close. You would think you guys were at the food court."
You guys looked everywhere? Yeah right. You're not even trying to hide all those bags of stuff you bought.
"What did you guys get?" I asked.
"Oh," Will pulled out a 'Halo Cosmos', 'Call of Duty Over World', and 'Dead Space Mars'. "Just these."
Carefree aren't you? How much did that all cost? 200 bucks?
"Let's move to a bigger table." Will said. We all moved from our two person to a five person. The others got hamburgers and we all started talking.
"So, how do you like the city?" Will asked.
"I've been here a few hours and it's really different."
"Too bad for you, school's the same. Well except for the community service part. Oh yeah, Arthur you gotta do something by Saturday."
"I'm gonna be a cleaner tonight." Arthur said.
What's a cleaner? Do you pick up trash?
"Tonight? Really? It's going to be cold."
Arthur shrugged.
"Well I guess you'll be fine, oh yeah did you kn-." And just like that the conversation shifted from me to Arthur. I guess it's better this way since I don't know anything about this city.
"-Next time tell me when your dad is going to make the sequel, alright?"
"Yeah, Yeah." Arthur agreed.
"David, did you know Arthur's dad's a writer?" Will shifted towards me.
"No?" No author named Robert Noah came to mind.
"He writes fantasy." He's popular so Arthur's loaded with money.
"No I'm not." Arthur objected. "The amount I get from them is just as much you guys get."
Then why did you buy me ramen?
"Oh yeah, what you your parents do?" Will asked me.
Somehow I expected this. "My dad works for the government." I answered.
"What about your mom?"
"She died a couple months ago." I said.
That froze everyone.
"Sorry." Will said.
"No problem, I'm over it." Which was a lie.
Will quickly changed the subject and I responded half-heartedly. Somehow that one question got me really depressed. Like how I was trying to forget everything in past but it all flooded in. I looked at all of them. All of them have two parents. Two parents to love them and scold them. And me, I don't even see my dad by going to their boarding school. I looked around at the food court; it was getting dim due to the sun setting. Along with my new life of one parent, now I have to get used to this weird city. It's not fair, why does everybody else get to smile while I feel like disappearing? All this talking and new technology I can't keep up with, I just want to be alone. Everyone just says sorry and makes sad faces. The world isn't fair, utopia huh? What kind of utopia is it if I can feel this empty and left behind while in it? Isn't utopia supposed to be the perfect city?
Apparently my emo vibes were showing because Arthur got up and said, "David, you want to be a cleaner with me tonight?"
I looked at him confused. Picking up trash on a cold night? No thanks.
Will smiled. "Yeah, be a cleaner with him. You'll love it. "
"Alright." Arthur said as he dumped our empty bowls and dragged me to an Internet café close by.
"Log in." Arthur demanded.
"I don't wanna be a cleaner." I was tired, I moved into a new city, I walked around a huge mall and my feet were tired. I don't think I want to pick up trash for who knows how long.
"Just try it, it's really fun."
Tired of arguing, I just did what he said and he signed me up for a 'SPC'.
"Good. We start now."
"What?!" He dragged me outside of the mall and paid for a tram ride leading outside of the city.
"Why do you pay for me?" I asked after a few minutes. We were on a tram that had a midair track, there's no way I could escape now. It was hot and stuffy, trams don't have AC I guess.
"Oh, the school doubled my allowance to give your dad an easier time with finances."
That was nice of them. But didn't you say your parents provide the money?
"It must be hard." He said.
"Not really." I answered.
"No, it is hard."
That surprised me.
"I lost my grandma a few years ago. I know it can't compare but I know it's really hard to lose a family member."
"…It is." I agreed. "She's not there anymore. She's gone so suddenly."
"But, you can start a new life here."
That made me mad. Please. Why would I get use to this place? You think a pretty city can replace a parent?
"I can't. This place has everyone moving forward so fast. How can I keep up?"
"By moving on and living."
I looked at him.
"What do you want me to do? Forget about my mom? Just turn into another person and start anew? How can I forget? You make it sound so easy but it's hard. It's really hard to keep on living like normal and getting over it."
"The world never stops rotating."
"That's helpful. You're saying just move on like it's no big deal." My voice rose and people started glancing.
He was silent for the rest of the ride and so was I. I refused to talk to him. I looked out the window; the lighting inside made the outside dark and vast. Halfway through we hit ground and passed through the forest. After a few minutes we were at our stop, the edge of the city, the wall. A small train station like thing was where we got off.
I was confused. Why do we need to be at the border to clean? Arthur motioned me to a door in the wall and I followed. The guard checked his computer and our identification and let us through.
We went up some stairs an elevator and Arthur picked up some equipment. We were on top of the wall within minutes. In front was the huge view of the outside world and behind us their steel frames supported the solar panels.
Then a loud noise sounded. In front of us, I was shocked to see a huge steel track rise out in front of us. The more came out the more I realized that it was forming what looked like a spiral staircase around the solar panels. When the noise stopped, a spiral steel track circled around the whole thing ending at the top. Arthur didn't look surprised.
A pod like thing came around and stopped in front of us. It was circular with the bottom half metal with a door, and the top having rails to grip onto. It seemed to ride on the rails. But the most definitive feature was the two huge nozzles attached facing the panels.
Arthur walked into the pod.
"W-Wait. Just what are we cleaning?" I asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We're going to clean the solar panels." He responded.
--------------------------------------------------------- (David again)
7:02pm
Apparently being a cleaner means to strap yourself in a harness and spray the entire solar panel dome covering the whole city with high-pressured water hoses as you slowly go up.
"I-Is this legal?" Can the government really make a high school student do this? I peeked over the pod and saw we were at least 50 feet up.
"As long as you're 15 and older you can do it." Arthur started spraying while pushing a lever making the pod go up.
Then I started. Honestly it was kinda fun using a power hose. Slowly we spiraled up as the wind got stronger. We were silent most of the way. When we were almost at the top, Arthur started talking.
"Answering your question, it's not that I want you to forget your mom. But maybe you can be happy here with all of us." Arthur said.
I blasted a bird feather out of a socket. "It's hard to keep up." I said again.
"That's what friends are for. To help you." He responded.
"Can you guys really help me?"
"We can."
"But what are you going to do? You can't make me forget my mom."
"I don't want you to forget her. But maybe you could forget the pain that came with it."
Replace the pain? Clever. It honestly didn't sound like a bad idea.
"What do I replace it with?" I asked.
"With this city and everyone it in." It started to get a little windy.
"Is this city really that great?" I asked. Sure it was cool we got to ride on a pod while circling the city, it was cool everything was all high tech but a tragedy like that was painful.
"Yup. And we're at the best part." Arthur let go of the lever. We were at the very top of the city where all the solar panels meet. Any higher and the pod would descend. I looked down and saw the city far below in the middle with plenty of buildings and forest all around. Looking at the horizon, although it was dark I could see for miles, we must have been thousands of feet up.
"Cool isn't it?" I had to agree. It was amazing. "And that's not the best part." Arthur checked his phone. I checked mine, 7:44. At 7:45 something crazy happened. One by one, all the buildings started glowing. Before I knew it, we were below a huge glowing city within a shining dome. It was like a snow globe.
"Wow!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah. I said that when I first saw it. It's really cool and to think this is considered a job."
We were silent for a bit while the wind blew on our backs.
"You know, this city has a lot of things you haven't seen yet. I mean, there's so much more you could see. So why not explore it with us? School's really fun, and we could go to the mall all the time."
I was silent. This city was amazing. I mean what other place let's you ride above its tallest skyscraper and feel like you're on top of the world? Exploring it doesn't seem like a bad idea if I have all these guys with me. Although nothing can replace my mom, maybe friends could replace the pain.
The wind blew past us. I thought of everyone, my dad, my new friends, my mom. I smiled and looked down on the glowing city once more. Wind blew across my face and whipped my hair. As we stood on top of the world I thought maybe, just maybe, I could give life another chance.
I think that the part of me who wants to make people happy in general is what made this story. I want the reader to be interested in what happens next.
By Ace
6:30 am
It was 6:30am and my alarm clock was beeping. I personally think that the worse thing about alarm clocks is that its melody gets stuck in your head. I groaned and rolled to the edge of my bed. Morning sun filtered through the curtains. We were only allowed to have one nightstand between the two beds so I had to get up and walk to shut it off.
Then I noticed a strange thing: a lump in the other bed. Unmoving, covered in a blanket, it's been here before by the way. I tore off the blanket to find a boy in pajamas snoozing away.
"Will, get up." I warned my friend. "…uhhh," a late reaction from him.
I then shook him until actual words came out. "Alright, alright!" Will said.
Will sat up. Wearing blue pajamas like mine, being a freshman like me, he was an average sized boy with brown hair and had a carefree disposition.
"Stop sleeping in my room." I exclaimed.
"It's not like you need two beds, help a friend out." Will yawned. "You're the only one who gets a room to yourself."
"Just sleep in your room."
"I can't sleep with Chainsaw shaking the walls."
'Chainsaw' is the nickname Will gave to his sophomore roommate Walter. You could only guess why Will calls him that.
"You're nice."
"Facts are facts."
I sighed, it was useless to kick Will out. (Not without a lock on my door, which by the way is not allowed.)
"Whatever, it's time to get ready." I started to change.
"See ya!" Will left and went back to his room.
It was Thursday, May 14th, 2015. Like any other school day, I had to get ready for school. After I changed, I went downstairs to the main floor. Although breakfast is at 7:00, people normally wake up earlier to play games on the computers in the game room or watch TV. Minecraft 8.6, Starcraft, Facebook and Youtube are normally on the computers. I decided to watch TV with the others.
At 7:00, breakfast/roll call starts. The three leaders split roll call evenly.
"Arthur Noah." I raised my hand, said 'here' and went back to eating. At 7:10 they open the doors and we are free to leave. School doesn't start till 8 at the earliest but it takes 15-20 minutes to walk to school. On the way people tend to stop at shops or stay in the game room until the last minute. (If you weren't at school by 8 you're dead)
I left at 7:30 with Will. We walked on the sidewalk; the roads were filled with a few bicycles as usual. Some trams were going into the city. Then I heard a motor, I watched as a car passed by. I froze. I blinked and watched it ride into the city. A car. An actual car!
"You gotta wonder if it's worth it." Will said.
Year 2013, the climate changed for the worst. Scientists predicted that without a solid idea, the world would die. Eco-Terrorists groups from around the world became much more active. New religions were sprouting. The People wanted solutions. Natural Disasters became worse.
Scientists from around the world met, they discussed possible experiments to settle the chaos of the world. The final plan was a city. An experimental city which waste was minimal, much of the energy came from natural resources, a city which pollution was next to nothing, and a city that 'could be the closest to Utopia'. The city I'm currently living in, Eco-X09.
------------------------------------ (This means a different character narrates)
2:04 pm
The tram was noisy. Not that it was raging, but the tracks made a constant sound that annoyed me. It was hot and stuffy and I've been on this tram for a good half an hour, just watching the city go past me. To be honest I didn't want to be here. I was on a noisy tram, moving to a new city with some escort lady trying to act all cheery towards me.
There were no other passengers, just the lady sitting next to me and myself. We had the only seats, everything else on the tram was just boxes and boxes of who knows what.
"You know, this tram is normally meant to transport cargo. But since you're a special case, we cleared space," the lady said.
She told me her name, Mrs. Julia Noah or something. To be honest I didn't really care, nothing really cared to me anymore. I ignored her.
"Are you going to miss your friends?" she asked.
What kind of question is that? Is that really the best way to strike up a conversation? I didn't answer.
After while she said, "I'm sorry about your mom."
She just went out and spoke her mind.
"Did you know her?"
"No, but it must be awful right now."
You think? Two months ago, my mom died. She worked for the government experimenting on eco-energy. Chemical explosion. She wasn't the only victim. After her funeral I kinda lost the joy in life. She won't be their watching TV in the living room. It was just my dad and I. School turned into a slow torture, the house was too quiet, my dad had a hard time smiling. One week ago, my dad transferred to the new city's government branch. Apparently, some higher ups took pity on me and allowed me to be the first kid to transfer into Eco-X09. Now I'm riding a tram with an awkward escort to some utopia city.
"I have a son the same age as you, you'll be transferring into his high school. I hope you can be friends."
"Yeah."
"I know it's hard but you're going to love this city. You can start a new life there."
You forgot to add without my mom.
"Oh! We're here!" She pointed.
We just left the city. The new city was built on an enormous plot of land just outside not being used for anything. I looked up and was confused. When you think most sustainable city you think green right? All I saw was a huge wall of 30 foot concrete and a massive glass dome on top.
-------------------------------------------------
8:30 am
By now Will and I were having class at Robert Noah High School. I had math. Bored, I stared out the window. Our school was on a low hill. I could see outside as far as the gateway. A large wall to prevent any sudden variables from sneaking in surrounds this eco-city just so you know. For example, more people. When this city was first created, it offered a ton of jobs to the people. A lot of people wanted to start again. To prevent major variables, only government workers and chosen people were allowed to be in the exodus. My mom's a government worker and my dad's a writer. I never asked what Will's parents do.
Even though I said 'exodus', trees probably outnumber people. 65% of the city's area is nature. And that is a lot of trees since I can't even count the number of buildings. Wherever you look there are trees, trees, and more trees. Even in the center of the city some parks are set up.
You wouldn't think that filtered sun could feed them all make the rooftops shine like mirrors. That's right, filtered sunlight. Covering the entire city is a glass dome. Not really glass but it looks like it. Scientists invented a clear, rotating, solar panel that absorbs 30% of the sun and filters the rest down to the city. All buildings have a full sun shingle roof to absorb the rest for extra power. It's a little weird, but it's not as hot in the summer although you wouldn't want to catch an airplane in here. (If you want to catch a plane, you have to go to the next city.)
The only vehicles in here are trams, bicycles and cars. Trams are the main way people get around if they don't want to walk. They cost money and are everywhere. (They have solar panels on them by the way.) Bicycles populate the roads and are used by all ages for a free and fast ride. Cars on the other hand are extremely rare. Not only do they cost much, there's an extra tax for anyone who owns a car in this city. Gas is expensive and you can only get one of those cars that don't emit exhaust. To have one means you're living in the moment.
At 2:30, school was over for me. I went to the library after school and used a computer to search for community service options. In this city, students have to do one shift of community service a week. (University students have to do less.) It's supposed to promote bonding within the community but I think the government is just looking for free labor. I signed up for being a cleaner tonight and left.
I was walking back from school with Will and other friends when my phone rang. It was my mom.
"Hello?"
"Arthur, I'm going to double your weekly allowance."
Now part of me just did a back flip launched in to space for a second.
"Because, I want you to take care of someone."
There was always a catch when dealing with my mom.
"His name is David, he's the very first transfer student into the city."
Okay, I don't know if it should go down in history but what's that got to do with me?
"He will be your new roommate."
I swear my mom can read my mind.
"So? I asked.
"He's declared an experiment by the government."
"What!"
My friends turned around and looked at me.
"Scientists want to test his psychological reasoning of the city, because they didn't tell him anything about it. They want to know how he will take it all in. They will be observing him constantly. They used his dad as an excuse for him to transfer into the city."
"Where's his mom?"
"She died. I brought him here, he's lost willpower."
"…So basically, he's a lab rat in a maze."
"Don't call him that. I want you to be his friend. Just because he's an experiment doesn't mean he can't have fun being one by hanging out with friends and living a normal school life."
"Alright, I'll try." I hung up the phone.
"What was that?" Will asked.
"I'm getting a roommate."
Will looked curious and depressed at the same time.
At the dorms, it was two hours before dinner. You didn't have to attend but you had to be in your room by 10:30 or else. Most people play games or go to the mall to get food.
"Arthur," it was one of the dorm leaders. "Someone is waiting in your room."
"Okay."
As I walked up the stairs, I worried about what to say. What do I start out with? What can I show him? He lost his mom. What are our interests? What do I say? Psychological analysis. By now I got to my room. I took a deep breath and opened the door.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:26 pm
I was waiting for about 5 minutes before a boy opened the door. He had black hair, medium height, and was wearing a uniform. The dorm leader said his name was Arthur.
"Uh, hi." He said.
"Hi, my name's David." He nodded and sat on the other bed with all the posters.
"My name's Arthur Noah." He responded.
Noah? "Uh, sorry, do you know someone named Julia?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's my mom."
"Your mom works for the government?"
"Yeah, in this city 30% of all adults are working for the government."
Weird City. Weird guy, he didn't seem surprised at all that I knew his mom's name.
"So how do you like Eco-X09?" He asked.
I could tell he wanted to change the subject.
"So far I've seen trees, some buildings and more trees."
"Yeah."
Don't forget to mention more trees. They don't call it the green city for nothing. I noticed an air conditioner above the nightstand.
"You guys have AC?"
"Yup. These are the eco friendly ones." Arthur switched it on and a cool breeze filled the room.
We were silent for a bit while enjoying the breeze. Looking around the room, he noticed the blue bag I was holding.
"Oh yeah, you got that when you first arrived right? I should show you what's in there. Just dump it on the bed."
He was acting really strange, changing the subject constantly.
"Um… did your mom tell you anything about me?" I asked.
For a moment his eyes widened. "N-Nothing."
Anyway, I dumped everything on the bed. By the way, are beds in this dorm supposed to be wrinkled and look used when you move in? Inside the bag there was a chrome cell phone, a phone charger, an I.D, a wallet, an empty metal bottle and a map of the city. Arthur picked up the phone.
"You weren't allowed to bring your phone with you right? This phone is standard in this city. Everyone has one, you're not allowed to have any other kind."
"Why?"
"To prevent everyone from buying new ones constantly I guess." He shrugged. "This is the most eco friendly phone in the world and is only available in this city. People say it's a symbol that you are a resident of this city."
Then what's the I.D. for?
"The I.D.," I swear he read my mind. "Is so you can buy stuff at school, also to show you go to our school."
I looked at my I.D. It had a picture of me, usual stuff, a bar code and 'Robert Noah High School on the top. Robert…Noah? I must have had a look of suspicion because he answered immediately.
"Yeah, my dad donated a lot to the school so they named it after him."
I glanced at him, is this guy rich? The door opened. It was the guy who told me the rules of the dorm.
"Arthur." Held out a white envelope. Arthur took it and the guy left. When he opened it, even though his face didn't move I swear his eyes beamed or something.
"Uh, do you want to get something to eat?" he looked at me.
"The guy said dinner's in a couple hours."
"You can skip if you want. It's more fun to go into the city."
"I guess. What should I bring?"
"Your phone, I.D…and water bottle. "
I got up and went with him.
---------------------------------------------------------------
4:47pm
Along with David and some other friends, I rode a tram into the city and was at the mall. While David kept staring at everything, Will and the others dragged us to the arcade while telling David about all the fun stores simultaneously. Now the arcade is quite big, and busy. I personally enjoy games, but the sheer amount of people inside is plain scary.
Inside had dark walls, glowing lights and people walking about. Within seconds, it was only David and I. I got change and walked around with David following me. A house of the dead X was free so I played it with him. We died honorably by corroded chainsaws.
After more games we got thirsty and went to the food court. The food court is quite odd. The roof is glass so sunlight pours through providing natural lighting. Also, tables have solar panels in them so when night falls the tables provide some of the lighting. I showed David all the possible places we could order. I asked what he wanted but he didn't know.
"Do you want ramen?" I asked.
"Sure, but I don't have any money."
"It's okay, I'll pay for you." There's always a catch when dealing with my mom.
I ordered 2 shoyu ramen along with two sodas. The cashier gave me my change showed us the beverage dispenser. David looked around but didn't see any cups. I filled my bottle and he imitated. We sat down at a nearby table until our order came.
"There were no cups." David said.
"In this city you're supposed to have your issued bottle with you when you want to drink something. It's supposed to prevent disposable cups from entering the landfill." I explained.
"So you can't drink anything if you forget your bottle?" David seemed surprised.
"There are glass cups, but they cost money. It's not much but people would rather carry a bottle everywhere. Also employees use paper gloves when dealing with food. Plastic wouldn't biodegrade." I explained.
David was stunned. A place where you are forced to have the same phone, have a water bottle and where a driver's license meant nothing along with other stuff. I guess everyone was like that at first. Our order was ready and David volunteered to go get it. Then my phone rang, it was Will.
"Where are you guys? We looked everywhere."
"We got hungry so we went to the food court."
"What? Don't leave without us." Will hung up.
David was back with the food. "Will and the others are coming. They say they were looking everywhere for us."
"Oh."
We were just about to eat when we heard Will's voice and saw him coming towards us.
---------------------------------------------------------------
5:55pm
"That was fast." Arthur said.
"We were close. You would think you guys were at the food court."
You guys looked everywhere? Yeah right. You're not even trying to hide all those bags of stuff you bought.
"What did you guys get?" I asked.
"Oh," Will pulled out a 'Halo Cosmos', 'Call of Duty Over World', and 'Dead Space Mars'. "Just these."
Carefree aren't you? How much did that all cost? 200 bucks?
"Let's move to a bigger table." Will said. We all moved from our two person to a five person. The others got hamburgers and we all started talking.
"So, how do you like the city?" Will asked.
"I've been here a few hours and it's really different."
"Too bad for you, school's the same. Well except for the community service part. Oh yeah, Arthur you gotta do something by Saturday."
"I'm gonna be a cleaner tonight." Arthur said.
What's a cleaner? Do you pick up trash?
"Tonight? Really? It's going to be cold."
Arthur shrugged.
"Well I guess you'll be fine, oh yeah did you kn-." And just like that the conversation shifted from me to Arthur. I guess it's better this way since I don't know anything about this city.
"-Next time tell me when your dad is going to make the sequel, alright?"
"Yeah, Yeah." Arthur agreed.
"David, did you know Arthur's dad's a writer?" Will shifted towards me.
"No?" No author named Robert Noah came to mind.
"He writes fantasy." He's popular so Arthur's loaded with money.
"No I'm not." Arthur objected. "The amount I get from them is just as much you guys get."
Then why did you buy me ramen?
"Oh yeah, what you your parents do?" Will asked me.
Somehow I expected this. "My dad works for the government." I answered.
"What about your mom?"
"She died a couple months ago." I said.
That froze everyone.
"Sorry." Will said.
"No problem, I'm over it." Which was a lie.
Will quickly changed the subject and I responded half-heartedly. Somehow that one question got me really depressed. Like how I was trying to forget everything in past but it all flooded in. I looked at all of them. All of them have two parents. Two parents to love them and scold them. And me, I don't even see my dad by going to their boarding school. I looked around at the food court; it was getting dim due to the sun setting. Along with my new life of one parent, now I have to get used to this weird city. It's not fair, why does everybody else get to smile while I feel like disappearing? All this talking and new technology I can't keep up with, I just want to be alone. Everyone just says sorry and makes sad faces. The world isn't fair, utopia huh? What kind of utopia is it if I can feel this empty and left behind while in it? Isn't utopia supposed to be the perfect city?
Apparently my emo vibes were showing because Arthur got up and said, "David, you want to be a cleaner with me tonight?"
I looked at him confused. Picking up trash on a cold night? No thanks.
Will smiled. "Yeah, be a cleaner with him. You'll love it. "
"Alright." Arthur said as he dumped our empty bowls and dragged me to an Internet café close by.
"Log in." Arthur demanded.
"I don't wanna be a cleaner." I was tired, I moved into a new city, I walked around a huge mall and my feet were tired. I don't think I want to pick up trash for who knows how long.
"Just try it, it's really fun."
Tired of arguing, I just did what he said and he signed me up for a 'SPC'.
"Good. We start now."
"What?!" He dragged me outside of the mall and paid for a tram ride leading outside of the city.
"Why do you pay for me?" I asked after a few minutes. We were on a tram that had a midair track, there's no way I could escape now. It was hot and stuffy, trams don't have AC I guess.
"Oh, the school doubled my allowance to give your dad an easier time with finances."
That was nice of them. But didn't you say your parents provide the money?
"It must be hard." He said.
"Not really." I answered.
"No, it is hard."
That surprised me.
"I lost my grandma a few years ago. I know it can't compare but I know it's really hard to lose a family member."
"…It is." I agreed. "She's not there anymore. She's gone so suddenly."
"But, you can start a new life here."
That made me mad. Please. Why would I get use to this place? You think a pretty city can replace a parent?
"I can't. This place has everyone moving forward so fast. How can I keep up?"
"By moving on and living."
I looked at him.
"What do you want me to do? Forget about my mom? Just turn into another person and start anew? How can I forget? You make it sound so easy but it's hard. It's really hard to keep on living like normal and getting over it."
"The world never stops rotating."
"That's helpful. You're saying just move on like it's no big deal." My voice rose and people started glancing.
He was silent for the rest of the ride and so was I. I refused to talk to him. I looked out the window; the lighting inside made the outside dark and vast. Halfway through we hit ground and passed through the forest. After a few minutes we were at our stop, the edge of the city, the wall. A small train station like thing was where we got off.
I was confused. Why do we need to be at the border to clean? Arthur motioned me to a door in the wall and I followed. The guard checked his computer and our identification and let us through.
We went up some stairs an elevator and Arthur picked up some equipment. We were on top of the wall within minutes. In front was the huge view of the outside world and behind us their steel frames supported the solar panels.
Then a loud noise sounded. In front of us, I was shocked to see a huge steel track rise out in front of us. The more came out the more I realized that it was forming what looked like a spiral staircase around the solar panels. When the noise stopped, a spiral steel track circled around the whole thing ending at the top. Arthur didn't look surprised.
A pod like thing came around and stopped in front of us. It was circular with the bottom half metal with a door, and the top having rails to grip onto. It seemed to ride on the rails. But the most definitive feature was the two huge nozzles attached facing the panels.
Arthur walked into the pod.
"W-Wait. Just what are we cleaning?" I asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We're going to clean the solar panels." He responded.
--------------------------------------------------------- (David again)
7:02pm
Apparently being a cleaner means to strap yourself in a harness and spray the entire solar panel dome covering the whole city with high-pressured water hoses as you slowly go up.
"I-Is this legal?" Can the government really make a high school student do this? I peeked over the pod and saw we were at least 50 feet up.
"As long as you're 15 and older you can do it." Arthur started spraying while pushing a lever making the pod go up.
Then I started. Honestly it was kinda fun using a power hose. Slowly we spiraled up as the wind got stronger. We were silent most of the way. When we were almost at the top, Arthur started talking.
"Answering your question, it's not that I want you to forget your mom. But maybe you can be happy here with all of us." Arthur said.
I blasted a bird feather out of a socket. "It's hard to keep up." I said again.
"That's what friends are for. To help you." He responded.
"Can you guys really help me?"
"We can."
"But what are you going to do? You can't make me forget my mom."
"I don't want you to forget her. But maybe you could forget the pain that came with it."
Replace the pain? Clever. It honestly didn't sound like a bad idea.
"What do I replace it with?" I asked.
"With this city and everyone it in." It started to get a little windy.
"Is this city really that great?" I asked. Sure it was cool we got to ride on a pod while circling the city, it was cool everything was all high tech but a tragedy like that was painful.
"Yup. And we're at the best part." Arthur let go of the lever. We were at the very top of the city where all the solar panels meet. Any higher and the pod would descend. I looked down and saw the city far below in the middle with plenty of buildings and forest all around. Looking at the horizon, although it was dark I could see for miles, we must have been thousands of feet up.
"Cool isn't it?" I had to agree. It was amazing. "And that's not the best part." Arthur checked his phone. I checked mine, 7:44. At 7:45 something crazy happened. One by one, all the buildings started glowing. Before I knew it, we were below a huge glowing city within a shining dome. It was like a snow globe.
"Wow!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah. I said that when I first saw it. It's really cool and to think this is considered a job."
We were silent for a bit while the wind blew on our backs.
"You know, this city has a lot of things you haven't seen yet. I mean, there's so much more you could see. So why not explore it with us? School's really fun, and we could go to the mall all the time."
I was silent. This city was amazing. I mean what other place let's you ride above its tallest skyscraper and feel like you're on top of the world? Exploring it doesn't seem like a bad idea if I have all these guys with me. Although nothing can replace my mom, maybe friends could replace the pain.
The wind blew past us. I thought of everyone, my dad, my new friends, my mom. I smiled and looked down on the glowing city once more. Wind blew across my face and whipped my hair. As we stood on top of the world I thought maybe, just maybe, I could give life another chance.
I think that the part of me who wants to make people happy in general is what made this story. I want the reader to be interested in what happens next.
By Ace
Struggling to See the Light
Struggling to see Light
I still remember that day in kindergarten when Mrs. White told us that it was time to make snowflakes to decorate the classroom. I was wearing my favorite yellow shirt and my lucky shoes that day. I guess they weren't as lucky as I thought they were… As Mrs. White took out all the supplies I had already grabbed my favorite scissors. Next, I ran across the room to where she was sitting, handing out white paper to all my friends. I remember being so excited as I ran across the carpet to where Mrs. White sat. I remember feeling uneasy as my shoe caught on the edge of the rug as I fell forward. Lastly, I remember the piercing pain I felt as I fell down. Everything turned into a blur then. Everyone was screaming and I could hear my best friend Mary crying. Mrs. White was yelling for everyone to stay back as she called 911. I could feel myself being lifted of off the ground and lifted onto a comfy white bed. Then I heard a deep voice assuring me that everything was going to be okay. He lied.
It's been ten years since that day in Mrs. White's classroom. Ten years since I could see. Now the only time I see is in my dreams, which have turned to nightmares since my accident.
After I lost my vision, I fell into a sort of rut. Life didn’t seem to hold the same appeal as it had before. Everything seemed to be a mystery, and it frustrated me. It frustrated me so much that I decided never to go out of my house ever again. That way, I would always know where everything and everyone was. It made me feel safe. That was my life, and I accepted it for what it was.
Then, yesterday, when my parents came home, they announced that I was going to school. At first I laughed, how could they say something that was so ridiculous? Then after about two minutes, I realized that they were serious, dead serious.
"No." I said. My feet started to fidget. This is what always happens to me whenever I begin to get anxious or nervous. There was no way I was going to go to school. Not now, not ever. I had been completely content in my own little world that I had created over the years. And now, my parents were threatening to change it. "NO." I said again, this time louder.
"Emily, we think that it would be a good idea for you to interact with other people. You are turning into a young woman, and we don't want to see you wasting your life away listening to music and sleeping all day. St. Baldrics Academy is a place that will adhere to your every need. It's a very wonderful school," said my mother, her voice full of that maternal tone that reeks of We-know-what's-best-for-you.
"Mom. I don’t think you understand. I. Am. Blind. School is not an option for me and never will be. All I want to do is to live the way I have been living for the past ten years. Why do you have to swoop in and change everything now?" I asked, feeling my anger start to build.
"Its because you need this. I mean look at you," she said.
"Excuse me. MOM, I CAN'T. BECAUSE IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED YET, I'M BLIND!" I said, exploding.
"Emily…" She started.
"And you have no idea what it is like, to have your eyes taken away from you. Because I promise, it is not a freaking tea party, Mom, " I said, my whole body shaking with rage. I could hear my mom crying, trying to hold back sobs.
"You may not speak to your Mother that way Emily!" boomed my Dad, stepping in. "As of right now, you will go to your room and get ready, because tomorrow school starts. And you will not argue with us because WE are your parents and you will do what WE say! Is that clear?"
"Yes." I mumbled as I trudged up the stairs to my room. As soon as I was up there, I slammed the door and turned my music up all the way. I would go to school, but I didn’t have to like it.
The next morning, I woke up feeling the sun on my face.
"Emily! Its your first day of school!" exclaimed my mom, from the kitchen. I could hear her humming and cooking something downstairs. Ughh, if she is so excited, why doesn’t she go herself? I got up out of the safety of my bed, and began to get ready.
St. Baldrics Academy was huge. My mother had told me before that it was a twenty-acre campus, but I hadn’t realized how large that was. As I stepped out of the car, I started to panic. This campus was so large, and all of it was a mystery to me. I grabbed my cane and began to feel around.
"Bye, Emily, " shouted my mom, " Have fun! Meet new people! And make good choices!"
I sighed under my breath. It was time to embark on my new "normal" teenage life.
My first class was English. My teacher, Mrs. Langley seemed to overflow with excitement.
"Hello, Class! I am Mrs. Langley and I will be your English teacher!" she said. Even though I couldn't see, I could feel her smile from across the room. "In this class, we will be exploring the art of…." She paused, for dramatic effect, "SHAKESPEARE!!!"
Crap. I thought. I hate Shakespeare.
"Now, everyone has an assigned seat partner, so listen closely as I show you to your seats!" Mrs. Langley began calling out names, and guiding people to their seats. Soon I heard my name. "Emily you sit here," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me gently towards a chair. "Your seat partner is Jack."
"Hey," said a boyish voice from across the table. "I'm Jack, and you are?"
"Emily." I said, almost forgetting for a couple seconds.
"Well, Emily, you my friend are very lucky," he boasted.
"And why is that?" I asked, curious.
"Because. You get to sit next to me."
The next day, I eagerly headed to the English classroom. It seemed silly, but I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about my earlier rendezvous with the mysterious Jack. Because I'm blind, I obviously wasn't able to see what he looked like, but I I wondered if he was blind too, or if I was the only one. I hadn't asked many questions that first day, due to my shyness. Jack was the only person I talked to that was not a teacher.
"Hey Emily," said Jack, already seated on the other side of the desk.
"Hi," I replied, trying to act calm. Thankfully, Mrs. Langley, who seemed to be very excited for the lesson today, saved me from having to come up with something to say back.
"Hello Class! Today we will be starting our group project! Obviously because we are studying Shakespeare, I want the first project to be related to one of his plays. Everyone must choose a partner and both read one of the plays. You will be expected to act out one of the scenes and write and analysis."
Ugh, I thought. Even though I haven't actually attended school in a while, I have read countless books on that one girl who is always alone. In my head, I was that girl. Always sitting in the corner minding her own business, afraid to reveal herself to the outside world.
I was just about to raise my hand to ask if I could do the project alone, when I felt a slight nudge under the table.
"Hey, Emily," whispered Jack, "Do you wanna be partners for this thing?"
Immediately I blushed. My feet began to dance around on the floor, feeling the carpet. I breathed in, trying to suppress my excitement. This never happened to me. No one, and I mean no one; boys especially had ever asked me to be their partner before.
"Sure," I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Cool, and just so you know, I'm a die hard Romeo and Juliet fan."
I went home that night smiling. So far, my life had sucked up until this week. But now everything seemed to be taking a turn for the better.
The next day at school, Jack wasn't there. I figured he was sick or something and would be back soon so I didn’t ask about it. Later that week when he still hadn't showed up, I finally asked Mrs. Langley what was happening.
"Emily," Mrs. Langley began in a solemn tone. "I think you should sit down."
I took a seat.
"Jack has been suffering from a brain tumor for some time Emily. He's been fighting really hard, but now the tumor has grown and he has been growing weaker. Jack was at the hospital undergoing procedures and treatments, but the tumor was too much for him to handle. He passed away a couple days ago."
I could feel hot tears rolling down my cheeks. My feet began a crazy frenzy, dancing all over the floor. How could this happen? How could the world be so cruel?
"Listen, Emily, I'm sorry I didn’t say anything before. It's just, at this school, this isn't very rare."
"I just can't do…" I started, not being able to finish my sentence.
"What?" asked, Mrs. Langley holding my hand, squeezing it. "Do what?"
"Do this." I said. I got up, wiped the tears from my face, grabbed my cane, and started the dangerous walk home.
Emma
Thoughts:
I wanted to write more of a depressing story, because I think that they are unique. Most people don’t want to read stories about people who are depressed or sad. Personally, those kind of stories are my favorite. I like to read about people in distress or with problems. What I really wanted was for my story to me more of a reality and less of a fantasy.
I still remember that day in kindergarten when Mrs. White told us that it was time to make snowflakes to decorate the classroom. I was wearing my favorite yellow shirt and my lucky shoes that day. I guess they weren't as lucky as I thought they were… As Mrs. White took out all the supplies I had already grabbed my favorite scissors. Next, I ran across the room to where she was sitting, handing out white paper to all my friends. I remember being so excited as I ran across the carpet to where Mrs. White sat. I remember feeling uneasy as my shoe caught on the edge of the rug as I fell forward. Lastly, I remember the piercing pain I felt as I fell down. Everything turned into a blur then. Everyone was screaming and I could hear my best friend Mary crying. Mrs. White was yelling for everyone to stay back as she called 911. I could feel myself being lifted of off the ground and lifted onto a comfy white bed. Then I heard a deep voice assuring me that everything was going to be okay. He lied.
It's been ten years since that day in Mrs. White's classroom. Ten years since I could see. Now the only time I see is in my dreams, which have turned to nightmares since my accident.
After I lost my vision, I fell into a sort of rut. Life didn’t seem to hold the same appeal as it had before. Everything seemed to be a mystery, and it frustrated me. It frustrated me so much that I decided never to go out of my house ever again. That way, I would always know where everything and everyone was. It made me feel safe. That was my life, and I accepted it for what it was.
Then, yesterday, when my parents came home, they announced that I was going to school. At first I laughed, how could they say something that was so ridiculous? Then after about two minutes, I realized that they were serious, dead serious.
"No." I said. My feet started to fidget. This is what always happens to me whenever I begin to get anxious or nervous. There was no way I was going to go to school. Not now, not ever. I had been completely content in my own little world that I had created over the years. And now, my parents were threatening to change it. "NO." I said again, this time louder.
"Emily, we think that it would be a good idea for you to interact with other people. You are turning into a young woman, and we don't want to see you wasting your life away listening to music and sleeping all day. St. Baldrics Academy is a place that will adhere to your every need. It's a very wonderful school," said my mother, her voice full of that maternal tone that reeks of We-know-what's-best-for-you.
"Mom. I don’t think you understand. I. Am. Blind. School is not an option for me and never will be. All I want to do is to live the way I have been living for the past ten years. Why do you have to swoop in and change everything now?" I asked, feeling my anger start to build.
"Its because you need this. I mean look at you," she said.
"Excuse me. MOM, I CAN'T. BECAUSE IF YOU HAVEN'T NOTICED YET, I'M BLIND!" I said, exploding.
"Emily…" She started.
"And you have no idea what it is like, to have your eyes taken away from you. Because I promise, it is not a freaking tea party, Mom, " I said, my whole body shaking with rage. I could hear my mom crying, trying to hold back sobs.
"You may not speak to your Mother that way Emily!" boomed my Dad, stepping in. "As of right now, you will go to your room and get ready, because tomorrow school starts. And you will not argue with us because WE are your parents and you will do what WE say! Is that clear?"
"Yes." I mumbled as I trudged up the stairs to my room. As soon as I was up there, I slammed the door and turned my music up all the way. I would go to school, but I didn’t have to like it.
The next morning, I woke up feeling the sun on my face.
"Emily! Its your first day of school!" exclaimed my mom, from the kitchen. I could hear her humming and cooking something downstairs. Ughh, if she is so excited, why doesn’t she go herself? I got up out of the safety of my bed, and began to get ready.
St. Baldrics Academy was huge. My mother had told me before that it was a twenty-acre campus, but I hadn’t realized how large that was. As I stepped out of the car, I started to panic. This campus was so large, and all of it was a mystery to me. I grabbed my cane and began to feel around.
"Bye, Emily, " shouted my mom, " Have fun! Meet new people! And make good choices!"
I sighed under my breath. It was time to embark on my new "normal" teenage life.
My first class was English. My teacher, Mrs. Langley seemed to overflow with excitement.
"Hello, Class! I am Mrs. Langley and I will be your English teacher!" she said. Even though I couldn't see, I could feel her smile from across the room. "In this class, we will be exploring the art of…." She paused, for dramatic effect, "SHAKESPEARE!!!"
Crap. I thought. I hate Shakespeare.
"Now, everyone has an assigned seat partner, so listen closely as I show you to your seats!" Mrs. Langley began calling out names, and guiding people to their seats. Soon I heard my name. "Emily you sit here," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me gently towards a chair. "Your seat partner is Jack."
"Hey," said a boyish voice from across the table. "I'm Jack, and you are?"
"Emily." I said, almost forgetting for a couple seconds.
"Well, Emily, you my friend are very lucky," he boasted.
"And why is that?" I asked, curious.
"Because. You get to sit next to me."
The next day, I eagerly headed to the English classroom. It seemed silly, but I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about my earlier rendezvous with the mysterious Jack. Because I'm blind, I obviously wasn't able to see what he looked like, but I I wondered if he was blind too, or if I was the only one. I hadn't asked many questions that first day, due to my shyness. Jack was the only person I talked to that was not a teacher.
"Hey Emily," said Jack, already seated on the other side of the desk.
"Hi," I replied, trying to act calm. Thankfully, Mrs. Langley, who seemed to be very excited for the lesson today, saved me from having to come up with something to say back.
"Hello Class! Today we will be starting our group project! Obviously because we are studying Shakespeare, I want the first project to be related to one of his plays. Everyone must choose a partner and both read one of the plays. You will be expected to act out one of the scenes and write and analysis."
Ugh, I thought. Even though I haven't actually attended school in a while, I have read countless books on that one girl who is always alone. In my head, I was that girl. Always sitting in the corner minding her own business, afraid to reveal herself to the outside world.
I was just about to raise my hand to ask if I could do the project alone, when I felt a slight nudge under the table.
"Hey, Emily," whispered Jack, "Do you wanna be partners for this thing?"
Immediately I blushed. My feet began to dance around on the floor, feeling the carpet. I breathed in, trying to suppress my excitement. This never happened to me. No one, and I mean no one; boys especially had ever asked me to be their partner before.
"Sure," I said, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Cool, and just so you know, I'm a die hard Romeo and Juliet fan."
I went home that night smiling. So far, my life had sucked up until this week. But now everything seemed to be taking a turn for the better.
The next day at school, Jack wasn't there. I figured he was sick or something and would be back soon so I didn’t ask about it. Later that week when he still hadn't showed up, I finally asked Mrs. Langley what was happening.
"Emily," Mrs. Langley began in a solemn tone. "I think you should sit down."
I took a seat.
"Jack has been suffering from a brain tumor for some time Emily. He's been fighting really hard, but now the tumor has grown and he has been growing weaker. Jack was at the hospital undergoing procedures and treatments, but the tumor was too much for him to handle. He passed away a couple days ago."
I could feel hot tears rolling down my cheeks. My feet began a crazy frenzy, dancing all over the floor. How could this happen? How could the world be so cruel?
"Listen, Emily, I'm sorry I didn’t say anything before. It's just, at this school, this isn't very rare."
"I just can't do…" I started, not being able to finish my sentence.
"What?" asked, Mrs. Langley holding my hand, squeezing it. "Do what?"
"Do this." I said. I got up, wiped the tears from my face, grabbed my cane, and started the dangerous walk home.
Emma
Thoughts:
I wanted to write more of a depressing story, because I think that they are unique. Most people don’t want to read stories about people who are depressed or sad. Personally, those kind of stories are my favorite. I like to read about people in distress or with problems. What I really wanted was for my story to me more of a reality and less of a fantasy.
Extraterrestrials
Extraterrestrials
CLAAAAAANK! The rusted locker sounded as it was thrusted shut for the last time of the year.
"What the hell, Boggle. Why do you always slam your damn locker every time!" Troggle said.
"Chill out, bro," said Oggle.
"It’s the last time I will ever even be in this school, and I'll do what I like…" Boggle said.
"I can't take this school anymore, these last four years at Moonrock High have been terrible," Troggle said in a dreadful tone. "Being with you two alien brats hasn't made it any easier either."
"You think you are really great because you are two minutes older huh" Boggle said.
"Just drop it already, it's your fault we all ended up in detention anyway, now I have to spend the first thirty minutes of my summer with Dr. Oog."
The aliens floated down the hall, due to zero gravity, and into their final detention as high schoolers. The moment they stepped in, the oldest, ugliest, and meanest teacher in their school, Dr. Oog, greeted them. "You're all late," he said not bothering to lift his head up from his Moonrock Times newspaper. The boys didn’t respond, and took their usual seats in the far right corner of the room. The class was filled with students who couldn't resist staying out of trouble before the final bell of the year rang. They reached under their desks and gathered the three straws they had taped underneath, which they had always used to spit zero gravity spitballs at their most hated teachers.
"Oggle do you have the stuff?" Boggle asked.
"Are you kidding bro? I have an even better idea" said Oggle. "This is the last time we have a chance to get revenge over this jerk."
Oggle opened his bag, and took out a huge wad of his old assignments, homework assignments, and reports. He picked up the wad and stuffed the hundreds of papers into his huge alien mouth. He crunched them down into the shape of a ball with his tongue. The finished result was a spitball the size of a basketball, dripping with alien saliva, like a soggy tennis ball that had just come out of a golden retriever's mouth. "Now this is a spitball," he said, feeling satisfied.
The aliens waited patiently for the final minutes of their detention to come to a close so they could hurl their oversized spitball and dash out of the classroom. "Okay Boggle, you have the best arm, I think you should hurl this thing."
"You guys are so dumb. You are either going to completely miss him or have us get arrested by the Men In Black" said Troggle.
"Will you stop being such a downer?! This guy made me redo my paper three times, and gave me a failing grade for my quarter. This is revenge," cried Boggle.
"The key to hitting him is to aim at his feet because the zero gravity will pull the ball up and it will hit him straight in the head," whispered Oggle.
"I know," Boggle said in disgust,."I have been doing this all of my life." The boys waited for the final moments of their detention period to come to a close. As the clock struck 3:59:55, they started the countdown.
"5…4…3…2…1"…DING, DING, DING!!! As the old bell sounded, the boys shot up out of their seats. Boggle hurled the spitball with all of his alien strength towards the nasty professor. The moment Dr. Oog lifted his head from the politics column in the local newspaper, he was met by a soggy wad of saliva soaked paper. In a blink of an eye, hundreds of pages went floating everywhere, covering the classroom in a white, snowy wonderland. The papers provided great foliage for the triplets as they dashed out of the room as fast as their two-legged bodies would let them.
"Lets go! We gotta hurry," yelled Troggle. "The shuttle takes off at 4:05!" The boys rushed to the shuttle, barely making it, and rode the shuttle into their town. They arrived at their house at half past four, sat down on the couch, and watched the news on their plasma screen TV.
"Breaking news," the alien reporter said as the TV turned on. "Starting tomorrow, a summer exchange program sending aliens from the moon to Earth will be commencing. Any graduating students who wish to live amongst humans this summer will have the opportunity to do so. If any students would like to go on this trip, they should report to the Neil A. Armstrong shuttle center by 5:00 am tomorrow morning. Each student will receive a 'skin', or a full body suit made out of human flesh that will be used to cover up their tail, scales, and alien body. This will allow them to blend in with the humans when they are visiting earth. Isn't that right, Loog.?"
"Yes, it is, Joog. Alien graduates wishing to receive these "skins" will receive them free of charge, thanks to our government. It's quite humorous, actually. We have been sending thousands of aliens each year to live amongst the humans yet they still haven't figured out that we exist."
"Yeah, that’s right, Loog. You would think the humans would be smart enough to figure out why their population has been rising drastically over the years, but I guess we can't all be intergalactic geniuses. I mean, this is a culture that is still amused by kicking a ball into a net…"
"That’s it," Boggle said. "We are going to that exchange program", he said as he turned off the TV.
"I'm down," said Oggle, "Its just Trog we have to convince. He would be the only one who wouldn't want to go."
"I'll come," Troggle said as the other two looked surprised. "It would actually sound interesting to live amongst a different race, and study a new culture."
"You are such a nerd, but I'm happy you want to come, we should get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us."
The next day, the three brothers woke up, and made their way to the shuttle center. They browsed the possible "skin" choices and decided on the skins of three Japanese 15 year olds. After hours of custom fitting, they were finally fitted in their skins. After it was done they looked completely human. Their tails were hidden, their scales were covered, and they looked like normal Japanese boys. At 7:00 a.m. they were put onto a space shuttle and sent off to Hawaii. On the way to the islands, they were briefed on everything they would need to know to live on the islands including Hawaiian history, island culture, and Japanese language. At 9:00 a.m., the shuttle, which looked like a normal airplane, touched down at Honolulu International Airport.
The aliens spent their summer venturing around the islands, making friends, and becoming accustomed to living in human society. They had gotten so familiar with the islands it was like they had lived there for their entire lives. When the time came for the boys to go back to the moon, they unanimously made a decision to stay and live on Oahu like so many of their fellow aliens had. They bought a house in town, and since they looked only 15, they enrolled in Punahou School.
CLAAAAAANK! The locker sounded as Boggle slammed his Pauahi locker shut for the first time of the year. "Are you serious? First day of the year and you are already slamming your locker…" said Troggle
"Chill out brah, it's the first day you don't have to be so uptight." Oggle remarked. "Yeah really, just relax. Nobody is going to figure out who we are, we blend in perfectly, just act like everyone else."
And so they were off. They went off to their classes, made a few friends, found their own niche in the school society, and continued to spitball their teachers. Hundreds of people passed them by each day, completely unaware of who they were, and what their story was. They were completely disregarded by many, and few bothered to take the time to get to know them. They were aliens living amongst humans. A thought that many humans wouldn't come close to considering. Who can we trust?
By E.T.
I wanted to write this story to show the possibility of having aliens on Earth. I have read many books, and seen many movies and TV shows, about aliens on Earth so I decided to write my own story about them. I feel that it is very possible that aliens will live among us in the near future if they haven't already.
CLAAAAAANK! The rusted locker sounded as it was thrusted shut for the last time of the year.
"What the hell, Boggle. Why do you always slam your damn locker every time!" Troggle said.
"Chill out, bro," said Oggle.
"It’s the last time I will ever even be in this school, and I'll do what I like…" Boggle said.
"I can't take this school anymore, these last four years at Moonrock High have been terrible," Troggle said in a dreadful tone. "Being with you two alien brats hasn't made it any easier either."
"You think you are really great because you are two minutes older huh" Boggle said.
"Just drop it already, it's your fault we all ended up in detention anyway, now I have to spend the first thirty minutes of my summer with Dr. Oog."
The aliens floated down the hall, due to zero gravity, and into their final detention as high schoolers. The moment they stepped in, the oldest, ugliest, and meanest teacher in their school, Dr. Oog, greeted them. "You're all late," he said not bothering to lift his head up from his Moonrock Times newspaper. The boys didn’t respond, and took their usual seats in the far right corner of the room. The class was filled with students who couldn't resist staying out of trouble before the final bell of the year rang. They reached under their desks and gathered the three straws they had taped underneath, which they had always used to spit zero gravity spitballs at their most hated teachers.
"Oggle do you have the stuff?" Boggle asked.
"Are you kidding bro? I have an even better idea" said Oggle. "This is the last time we have a chance to get revenge over this jerk."
Oggle opened his bag, and took out a huge wad of his old assignments, homework assignments, and reports. He picked up the wad and stuffed the hundreds of papers into his huge alien mouth. He crunched them down into the shape of a ball with his tongue. The finished result was a spitball the size of a basketball, dripping with alien saliva, like a soggy tennis ball that had just come out of a golden retriever's mouth. "Now this is a spitball," he said, feeling satisfied.
The aliens waited patiently for the final minutes of their detention to come to a close so they could hurl their oversized spitball and dash out of the classroom. "Okay Boggle, you have the best arm, I think you should hurl this thing."
"You guys are so dumb. You are either going to completely miss him or have us get arrested by the Men In Black" said Troggle.
"Will you stop being such a downer?! This guy made me redo my paper three times, and gave me a failing grade for my quarter. This is revenge," cried Boggle.
"The key to hitting him is to aim at his feet because the zero gravity will pull the ball up and it will hit him straight in the head," whispered Oggle.
"I know," Boggle said in disgust,."I have been doing this all of my life." The boys waited for the final moments of their detention period to come to a close. As the clock struck 3:59:55, they started the countdown.
"5…4…3…2…1"…DING, DING, DING!!! As the old bell sounded, the boys shot up out of their seats. Boggle hurled the spitball with all of his alien strength towards the nasty professor. The moment Dr. Oog lifted his head from the politics column in the local newspaper, he was met by a soggy wad of saliva soaked paper. In a blink of an eye, hundreds of pages went floating everywhere, covering the classroom in a white, snowy wonderland. The papers provided great foliage for the triplets as they dashed out of the room as fast as their two-legged bodies would let them.
"Lets go! We gotta hurry," yelled Troggle. "The shuttle takes off at 4:05!" The boys rushed to the shuttle, barely making it, and rode the shuttle into their town. They arrived at their house at half past four, sat down on the couch, and watched the news on their plasma screen TV.
"Breaking news," the alien reporter said as the TV turned on. "Starting tomorrow, a summer exchange program sending aliens from the moon to Earth will be commencing. Any graduating students who wish to live amongst humans this summer will have the opportunity to do so. If any students would like to go on this trip, they should report to the Neil A. Armstrong shuttle center by 5:00 am tomorrow morning. Each student will receive a 'skin', or a full body suit made out of human flesh that will be used to cover up their tail, scales, and alien body. This will allow them to blend in with the humans when they are visiting earth. Isn't that right, Loog.?"
"Yes, it is, Joog. Alien graduates wishing to receive these "skins" will receive them free of charge, thanks to our government. It's quite humorous, actually. We have been sending thousands of aliens each year to live amongst the humans yet they still haven't figured out that we exist."
"Yeah, that’s right, Loog. You would think the humans would be smart enough to figure out why their population has been rising drastically over the years, but I guess we can't all be intergalactic geniuses. I mean, this is a culture that is still amused by kicking a ball into a net…"
"That’s it," Boggle said. "We are going to that exchange program", he said as he turned off the TV.
"I'm down," said Oggle, "Its just Trog we have to convince. He would be the only one who wouldn't want to go."
"I'll come," Troggle said as the other two looked surprised. "It would actually sound interesting to live amongst a different race, and study a new culture."
"You are such a nerd, but I'm happy you want to come, we should get some rest. We have a big day ahead of us."
The next day, the three brothers woke up, and made their way to the shuttle center. They browsed the possible "skin" choices and decided on the skins of three Japanese 15 year olds. After hours of custom fitting, they were finally fitted in their skins. After it was done they looked completely human. Their tails were hidden, their scales were covered, and they looked like normal Japanese boys. At 7:00 a.m. they were put onto a space shuttle and sent off to Hawaii. On the way to the islands, they were briefed on everything they would need to know to live on the islands including Hawaiian history, island culture, and Japanese language. At 9:00 a.m., the shuttle, which looked like a normal airplane, touched down at Honolulu International Airport.
The aliens spent their summer venturing around the islands, making friends, and becoming accustomed to living in human society. They had gotten so familiar with the islands it was like they had lived there for their entire lives. When the time came for the boys to go back to the moon, they unanimously made a decision to stay and live on Oahu like so many of their fellow aliens had. They bought a house in town, and since they looked only 15, they enrolled in Punahou School.
CLAAAAAANK! The locker sounded as Boggle slammed his Pauahi locker shut for the first time of the year. "Are you serious? First day of the year and you are already slamming your locker…" said Troggle
"Chill out brah, it's the first day you don't have to be so uptight." Oggle remarked. "Yeah really, just relax. Nobody is going to figure out who we are, we blend in perfectly, just act like everyone else."
And so they were off. They went off to their classes, made a few friends, found their own niche in the school society, and continued to spitball their teachers. Hundreds of people passed them by each day, completely unaware of who they were, and what their story was. They were completely disregarded by many, and few bothered to take the time to get to know them. They were aliens living amongst humans. A thought that many humans wouldn't come close to considering. Who can we trust?
By E.T.
I wanted to write this story to show the possibility of having aliens on Earth. I have read many books, and seen many movies and TV shows, about aliens on Earth so I decided to write my own story about them. I feel that it is very possible that aliens will live among us in the near future if they haven't already.
New School
New School?!?
It was a Thursday and Julie was waiting for her mom to come and get her from school. Her mom said she was almost there so she went to get her bag and all her things together. When her mom pulled up Julie got in the car and started heading home. She fell asleep and about and hour later she got home. She had something called youth conference, which was for church so that was the only reason why her mom had come and picked her up. Julie usually caught bus and so she was really happy when her mom came and got her. When Julie got home she quickly changed and got back in the car where her mom was waiting. The youth conference had started at 4:30ish, but Julie never got there until 5:30ish. When Julie got there they were just eating dinner and so she went and sat by all her friends. While sitting there, her friends were helping her catch up in all the drama that they had been going through and Julie realized just how much she missed all her friends and hanging out with them.
It all started in sixth grade. Julie and her best friend, Lei, were at school walking to the cafeteria. They started talking about graduating from Elementary and what they were going to do next year when they go to Kahuji Intermediate. Lei chose that time to tell Julie that she was going to try for Persona, a very famous high school. Julie didn’t want Lei to leave her, especially now since she wouldn’t know half the people in seventh grade, since other people were coming from different schools. Lei told Julie that she should try out with her. So Julie went home and asked her mom, Tanya, if she could try with Lei. Her mom said, "we'll see" but never ended up letting Julie try out. So Julie just forgot about it. and went to Kahuji and met more people there. She loved it at Kahuji. She never wanted to leave. She got good grades and she loved the people there, everyone was super close. So when Lei came to her again in eighth grade and asked her again if she wanted to try out for Persona (Lei hadn’t gotten in), Julie was a little hesitant. She didn’t want to leave but she didn’t want her best friend to either. So she said that she would ask. So she went home and asked her mom again. Her mom said "we'll see" again and Julie thought that meant no. So Julie just went on with her life and forgot about it. The next weekend though, Tanya told Julie that she would be trying out for Persona the next month and that she needed to prepare. Julie thought that she would never get in so she didn’t really prepare. She only took a few practice tests every once in a while and just left it after that. The next month came around and Julie and Lei drove an hour to get to Persona and prepared to take the test.
When it was time for them to go inside, Leis mom, Aunty Sharlei (who had driven them), said goodbye and went to the mall to wait for them to finish testing. Lei and Julie went inside to take their test and that’s when Julie thought that she needed to try her best. Her parents had after all paid $100 just for this test she was taking. So when she got her test she started to answer as best she could.
After the test, Julie and Lei went outside to the car, which was a dark green suburban and they went to McCarly's, a fast food restaurant and then headed back home. When they got home it was still early so they decided to go the beach. All the worries from the day had disappeared. They had fun for the rest of the day. A few months later, the test results got in. Tanya had gone to go check the mail while Julie and Jill went to Feedland, a grocery store. They were just about to leave when Julie got a text message from Tanya that said "Julie you got into Persona!" The first thing that Julie replied was "did Lei get in?!" A few minutes later Julie and Jill were checking out all of their groceries and in walked Tanya and Aunty Sharlei. They walked over to Julie and Jill and Aunty Sharlei was super exited that Julie had gotten in. After everything had calmed down, Aunty Sharlei turned to Julie and said, "aww, I'm sorry but Lei never got in". After that Julie was very sad and didn’t really want to go to Persona after that.
Julie ended up going to Persona and she had to take summer school. During her summer she went camping with her ward and on the last night of camp, her mom came and told Julie and Jill that they were all (their whole family) going on a trip to Utah since Tanya's dad was really sick and they didn’t think he would make it for that much longer. Because Julie still had to go to summer school (the dean had said so since Julie was in Cridge, a program for new kids coming from public school), she ended up skipping the first week of summer school. Her and her dad came back after spending only a week in Utah and then they came back. Little did they know that that would be the last time that they would see Tanya's dad on Earth. Julie had to come to summer school and her dad, John, had to work so it worked out perfectly. Everyone else stayed though.
Julie's first day of summer school was really scary. She started at 7:30 and she caught a ride with her friend. They left at about 5:45 and there was one more guy that was in the same program as Julie so she new that she wasn’t alone. But then again, this would be her first day while he had already been going to summer school for about a week. When they got to school, it was around 6:45 so she went to "Old School Hall" which was a place that she had been told to go to. She had to find Mrs. K, who was the person in charge of the Cridge program. Julie didn’t know what to expect when she opened the door. So when she opened the door, she was actually pretty surprised. There was a big room with a smaller closed room towards the back. The small room towards the back was Mrs. K's office. When she saw Julie she told her that they would have to go and get her laptop from another place so she was glad that Julie came early.
After they got her laptop, they went to Bringaham, which was where her first class was. They had a kind of "homeroom" class for the first 15 or so minutes. When Julie walked in, she was the first person there because she was still early. She was introduced to some of the girls that were waiting right outside the door, but it was kind of awkward. Mrs. K then had Julie copy down her schedule and then it was time to start class. Julie had no idea what to do during her first class. First she was introduced to everyone and she was really bad at remembering names so she couldn’t remember any of them. So her first day was kind of scary and she didn’t really like it. Her second day was a little better but not by much. The rest of the week actually got better because the whole summer school, her teachers were helping her a lot.
Julie had a schedule just like everyone else pretty much. After homeroom, they went to math, which was in Poohai, another building right next door. They had three classes in all, not including homeroom. They were all in either Bringaham or Poohai. They had English, Math, and Social Studies. At the end of the day they would all get together (they were divided in half during most of the "small" classes and together in all of the "large" classes. They would then do things where they got to know each other or they would do small projects. They would get a few 15-minute breaks here and there every once in a while. The teachers wanted the students to get used to this kind of schedule, which is what it was going to be like during the school year. They had two semesters in six weeks (well Julie technically had five since she missed the first week).
Julie didn’t really like going home that much because she missed her mom, but she didn’t want to stay at school either. When she went home though, her dad was usually outside working and she would just do homework. They would sometimes eat out since neither one of them could really cook. One weekend, John surprised Julie by saying that she was going to go and sleep over her cousin's house. Julie was really happy because this would be the first time she would be going out with one of her friends the whole summer. She had a really good time but she figured that her dad would need her help at home so she went home and she did chores. Her and her dad actually did get closer to each other and they had a lot of fun during the summer with just the two of them. Even though Julie ended up liking summer school and hanging out with her dad, she was glad when summer school was done and her mom was coming back on the same day to so she was really happy for that. She was pretty sure that her dad was also relieved.
Right after summer school on her last day her dad picked her up and they went to the airport and picked Tanya and the kids up. They were all happy to see each other so on the ride home they caught up with each other. When they got home it was almost eight and all of them wanted to get out of the house (yes, even though they just got back) and so Tanya took the kids to Laie, the next town over from where they live and the place that everyone liked to hang out at. They had a lot do fun there and Julie got to see a lot of her friends that she hadn’t gotten to see all summer.
Julie started school almost a month after all of her friends so when her mom and all her friends and family went back to school, Julie didn’t really have anything to do. She would go sometimes to visit with her friends but she couldn’t do that every day so she would go help her mom in her class room (she taught second grade) or she would go help babysit at her auntie's house. After school was done she would go hang out with her friends and stuff like that.
When school started up again, she wasn’t all that exited. She was actually kind of scared, even though she already knew a lot of people from summer school. She was almost half an hour late though, on her first day because of traffic. She had math and they didn’t really do anything, in a lot of her classes she didn’t really know anyone, just like one or two people. By the end of the day, she wasn’t really that scared anymore but she still didn’t really like it either. She ended the day with study hall, which was with all the kids that she took summer school with. She was happy to see everyone and they played a kind of game to end their first day of school.
The rest of the week wasn’t that bad. She made new friends and she kind of had a lot of breaks. By the end of the semester, she had a lot of new friends but she still missed her old friends so every time she had a chance, she would go and hang out with them. She didn’t really like school either. She missed going to Kahukunui, which was her old school and she didn’t like having to ride on the bus almost two hours just to go to a school that she didn’t really like. She would always complain to her mom and dad that she didn’t like Persona and that she wanted to go back to Kahukunui. Her parents were also kind of going into debt because they had to pay a lot for Julies schooling and so Julie tried to use that against them to let her go back. But they kept on saying to give it one more year. Its now almost the end of the year and Julies parents seem to be leaning towards the side of Julie going back to Kahukunui. Julie still doesn’t like going to Persona but she's holding on. She sometimes wonders though what she ever did to deserve to be here. She knows that its good for her future but she is only living in the present so she doesn't really care about her whole "future thing". She sometimes even cries herself to sleep at night, just because of all of this. Tala
It was a Thursday and Julie was waiting for her mom to come and get her from school. Her mom said she was almost there so she went to get her bag and all her things together. When her mom pulled up Julie got in the car and started heading home. She fell asleep and about and hour later she got home. She had something called youth conference, which was for church so that was the only reason why her mom had come and picked her up. Julie usually caught bus and so she was really happy when her mom came and got her. When Julie got home she quickly changed and got back in the car where her mom was waiting. The youth conference had started at 4:30ish, but Julie never got there until 5:30ish. When Julie got there they were just eating dinner and so she went and sat by all her friends. While sitting there, her friends were helping her catch up in all the drama that they had been going through and Julie realized just how much she missed all her friends and hanging out with them.
It all started in sixth grade. Julie and her best friend, Lei, were at school walking to the cafeteria. They started talking about graduating from Elementary and what they were going to do next year when they go to Kahuji Intermediate. Lei chose that time to tell Julie that she was going to try for Persona, a very famous high school. Julie didn’t want Lei to leave her, especially now since she wouldn’t know half the people in seventh grade, since other people were coming from different schools. Lei told Julie that she should try out with her. So Julie went home and asked her mom, Tanya, if she could try with Lei. Her mom said, "we'll see" but never ended up letting Julie try out. So Julie just forgot about it. and went to Kahuji and met more people there. She loved it at Kahuji. She never wanted to leave. She got good grades and she loved the people there, everyone was super close. So when Lei came to her again in eighth grade and asked her again if she wanted to try out for Persona (Lei hadn’t gotten in), Julie was a little hesitant. She didn’t want to leave but she didn’t want her best friend to either. So she said that she would ask. So she went home and asked her mom again. Her mom said "we'll see" again and Julie thought that meant no. So Julie just went on with her life and forgot about it. The next weekend though, Tanya told Julie that she would be trying out for Persona the next month and that she needed to prepare. Julie thought that she would never get in so she didn’t really prepare. She only took a few practice tests every once in a while and just left it after that. The next month came around and Julie and Lei drove an hour to get to Persona and prepared to take the test.
When it was time for them to go inside, Leis mom, Aunty Sharlei (who had driven them), said goodbye and went to the mall to wait for them to finish testing. Lei and Julie went inside to take their test and that’s when Julie thought that she needed to try her best. Her parents had after all paid $100 just for this test she was taking. So when she got her test she started to answer as best she could.
After the test, Julie and Lei went outside to the car, which was a dark green suburban and they went to McCarly's, a fast food restaurant and then headed back home. When they got home it was still early so they decided to go the beach. All the worries from the day had disappeared. They had fun for the rest of the day. A few months later, the test results got in. Tanya had gone to go check the mail while Julie and Jill went to Feedland, a grocery store. They were just about to leave when Julie got a text message from Tanya that said "Julie you got into Persona!" The first thing that Julie replied was "did Lei get in?!" A few minutes later Julie and Jill were checking out all of their groceries and in walked Tanya and Aunty Sharlei. They walked over to Julie and Jill and Aunty Sharlei was super exited that Julie had gotten in. After everything had calmed down, Aunty Sharlei turned to Julie and said, "aww, I'm sorry but Lei never got in". After that Julie was very sad and didn’t really want to go to Persona after that.
Julie ended up going to Persona and she had to take summer school. During her summer she went camping with her ward and on the last night of camp, her mom came and told Julie and Jill that they were all (their whole family) going on a trip to Utah since Tanya's dad was really sick and they didn’t think he would make it for that much longer. Because Julie still had to go to summer school (the dean had said so since Julie was in Cridge, a program for new kids coming from public school), she ended up skipping the first week of summer school. Her and her dad came back after spending only a week in Utah and then they came back. Little did they know that that would be the last time that they would see Tanya's dad on Earth. Julie had to come to summer school and her dad, John, had to work so it worked out perfectly. Everyone else stayed though.
Julie's first day of summer school was really scary. She started at 7:30 and she caught a ride with her friend. They left at about 5:45 and there was one more guy that was in the same program as Julie so she new that she wasn’t alone. But then again, this would be her first day while he had already been going to summer school for about a week. When they got to school, it was around 6:45 so she went to "Old School Hall" which was a place that she had been told to go to. She had to find Mrs. K, who was the person in charge of the Cridge program. Julie didn’t know what to expect when she opened the door. So when she opened the door, she was actually pretty surprised. There was a big room with a smaller closed room towards the back. The small room towards the back was Mrs. K's office. When she saw Julie she told her that they would have to go and get her laptop from another place so she was glad that Julie came early.
After they got her laptop, they went to Bringaham, which was where her first class was. They had a kind of "homeroom" class for the first 15 or so minutes. When Julie walked in, she was the first person there because she was still early. She was introduced to some of the girls that were waiting right outside the door, but it was kind of awkward. Mrs. K then had Julie copy down her schedule and then it was time to start class. Julie had no idea what to do during her first class. First she was introduced to everyone and she was really bad at remembering names so she couldn’t remember any of them. So her first day was kind of scary and she didn’t really like it. Her second day was a little better but not by much. The rest of the week actually got better because the whole summer school, her teachers were helping her a lot.
Julie had a schedule just like everyone else pretty much. After homeroom, they went to math, which was in Poohai, another building right next door. They had three classes in all, not including homeroom. They were all in either Bringaham or Poohai. They had English, Math, and Social Studies. At the end of the day they would all get together (they were divided in half during most of the "small" classes and together in all of the "large" classes. They would then do things where they got to know each other or they would do small projects. They would get a few 15-minute breaks here and there every once in a while. The teachers wanted the students to get used to this kind of schedule, which is what it was going to be like during the school year. They had two semesters in six weeks (well Julie technically had five since she missed the first week).
Julie didn’t really like going home that much because she missed her mom, but she didn’t want to stay at school either. When she went home though, her dad was usually outside working and she would just do homework. They would sometimes eat out since neither one of them could really cook. One weekend, John surprised Julie by saying that she was going to go and sleep over her cousin's house. Julie was really happy because this would be the first time she would be going out with one of her friends the whole summer. She had a really good time but she figured that her dad would need her help at home so she went home and she did chores. Her and her dad actually did get closer to each other and they had a lot of fun during the summer with just the two of them. Even though Julie ended up liking summer school and hanging out with her dad, she was glad when summer school was done and her mom was coming back on the same day to so she was really happy for that. She was pretty sure that her dad was also relieved.
Right after summer school on her last day her dad picked her up and they went to the airport and picked Tanya and the kids up. They were all happy to see each other so on the ride home they caught up with each other. When they got home it was almost eight and all of them wanted to get out of the house (yes, even though they just got back) and so Tanya took the kids to Laie, the next town over from where they live and the place that everyone liked to hang out at. They had a lot do fun there and Julie got to see a lot of her friends that she hadn’t gotten to see all summer.
Julie started school almost a month after all of her friends so when her mom and all her friends and family went back to school, Julie didn’t really have anything to do. She would go sometimes to visit with her friends but she couldn’t do that every day so she would go help her mom in her class room (she taught second grade) or she would go help babysit at her auntie's house. After school was done she would go hang out with her friends and stuff like that.
When school started up again, she wasn’t all that exited. She was actually kind of scared, even though she already knew a lot of people from summer school. She was almost half an hour late though, on her first day because of traffic. She had math and they didn’t really do anything, in a lot of her classes she didn’t really know anyone, just like one or two people. By the end of the day, she wasn’t really that scared anymore but she still didn’t really like it either. She ended the day with study hall, which was with all the kids that she took summer school with. She was happy to see everyone and they played a kind of game to end their first day of school.
The rest of the week wasn’t that bad. She made new friends and she kind of had a lot of breaks. By the end of the semester, she had a lot of new friends but she still missed her old friends so every time she had a chance, she would go and hang out with them. She didn’t really like school either. She missed going to Kahukunui, which was her old school and she didn’t like having to ride on the bus almost two hours just to go to a school that she didn’t really like. She would always complain to her mom and dad that she didn’t like Persona and that she wanted to go back to Kahukunui. Her parents were also kind of going into debt because they had to pay a lot for Julies schooling and so Julie tried to use that against them to let her go back. But they kept on saying to give it one more year. Its now almost the end of the year and Julies parents seem to be leaning towards the side of Julie going back to Kahukunui. Julie still doesn’t like going to Persona but she's holding on. She sometimes wonders though what she ever did to deserve to be here. She knows that its good for her future but she is only living in the present so she doesn't really care about her whole "future thing". She sometimes even cries herself to sleep at night, just because of all of this. Tala
The Summer I Found Love
The Summer I Found Love
Every day for two months since we had been let out from school, I'd sit at the edge of my bed, fantasizing about what the perfect summer would be like. My mother would walk into my room promptly at 11:30 to tell me that lunch was ready, and I'd sit there with a dazed look plastered on my face, contemplating what was supposed to be my latest and greatest idea of my ideal summer romance. Neither of us dared to break the ongoing cycle that we had perfected over the course of the two months I'd been out of school. My mother knew better than to do that ever since the hard breakup I'd been through during the last semester of my junior year. But I was a senior now, and things were going to be different. I could just feel it.
My mother and I had always been close. Since the day of my tenth birthday when I had heard the startling news that my father had been killed in a car accident, my mother and I had formed a bond so strong that it could not possibly be broken by any outside force. Sometimes, it felt as if we could read each other's minds. She had always been there for me whenever I needed her⎯my fortress that shielded me from the dangers of the outside world.
The day my boyfriend, Trent, dumped me started out as a typical day⎯six class-filled periods and a study hall before the final bell rang, some mystery meat was served in the cafeteria, and that pesky History teacher who kept rambling on about the fierce battle he'd had to face in World War II. I had been going about my usual business, and being the good student I was, I spent most of my free periods and study halls in the library. Nothing special ever happened in the library, but I usually liked to finish up that night's homework before I got home so that I could spend the rest of my night talking on the phone with Trent.
I took my Spanish textbook out of my purple Jansport backpack that I had positioned perfectly so that it would lean on the leg of my chair and began to thumb through it, as I reached behind me to tie my long, black hair into a messy ponytail. My hair had always been hard to manage, considering that it was layered and really thick. I had inherited the dark black color of my hair from my mom, and my fair skin tone from my dad, but everywhere I went, people told me that there was no mistaking the resemblance between my mom and I, and that we looked just like twins, a compliment which, of course, my mom always pretended to be flattered by. Rachel looks like a younger version of you, Marie, my mom's friends would say. The contrast between my pale skin and the dark color of my hair was so distinct that it made each of my features stand out even more.
I turned to a random page in my textbook, which read, "Por favor, traducir este en Inglés," but I didn't feel like translating anything, so I put my head down on top of my Spanish book and closed my eyes. Just for a few minutes, I reassured myself, my eyelids heavy with exhaustion. I awoke, startled, as I turned around to face a tall, lean figure⎯Trent. His light brown eyes were wild with excitement and he looked anxious, as if he had drank two Five Hour Energy drinks before stopping by to see me. By the way he paced in circles around my chair, I could tell that something wasn't right.
"What is it, Trent?" I asked, as a wave of worry began to wash over me.
"This isn't easy for me to say, Rach, but," he paused, reaching up to brush a few locks of his golden blonde hair out of his face. I think we should see other people. I'm sorry…" he said, swiftly pivoting around on his left foot as he turned to walk out of the library, not even looking over his shoulder once to see if I was all right. The very place that had once been a refuge for me no longer felt safe anymore. My emotions began to take the better of me as I placed my head into my hands and began to cry, my sniffling quickly turning into sobbing. I cried out all of my frustration and heartbreak, and by the time the period was almost over, my eyes were red and swollen. I guess I must have been crying pretty loudly because when I lifted my head up, a few heads were turned in my direction, concern creasing their foreheads. As soon as I looked over, they turned back to whatever they had been working on, not wanting to be labeled as "nosy"⎯all except for one guy. His name was Jake. I recognized him from my third period English class. I looked at him through my tear-drenched eyelashes and red-rimmed eyes that had distinct smudges of black from my carefully applied eyeliner and mascara. I was a wreck, but he didn't seem to care. He sauntered towards me slowly with one hand outstretched, holding a tissue, and the other, extended for me to grab. I admired how undaunted he had been in coming up to me in the first place, and the nonchalant way that he seemed to carry himself. I took the tissue from him and began to wipe my eyes, as he helped me up. And so began my friendship with Jake.
Jake was probably the best friend I could have ever asked for. Even after the rough breakup that he had witnessed, he stuck around, cleaning up the mess that Trent had made. Jake listened to me cry, complain, and go through my monthly moody phases, yet, he never strayed far from my side. I loved how easygoing he was, and that he was blunt and to-the-point without being overly harsh. There was a balance in him when it came to certain things, especially topics that required more of a sensitive outlook to them, and over time, I found myself growing more and more fond of him.
"Do you want to go and grab a bite, Rach?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, sure! Let's go!" I answered, eagerly. Whenever I was with him, I felt whole again, like my breakup with Trent had never happened in the first place.
Chicago was known to be pretty chilly outside in around mid-July with each girl sporting a puffy parka, skinny jeans, a pair of UGGs, a sheer scarf, and some gloves. I turned around to grab my coat and gloves out of my car, when I remembered that I had forgotten them on the kitchen counter at home. Dang, I thought to myself. What am I supposed to do now? As if I said this outloud, Jake came up behind me, and passed me his jacket.
"Here," he gestured to me, "you look cold. Why don't you put this on? I wouldn't want you to freeze to death," he said with a wink. I glanced at him, noticing how animated his dark brown eyes were⎯almost the color of dark chocolate⎯and the way they glistened as he talked. He had the most gorgeous eyes I had ever seen, from his long eyelashes that protruded out from the top of his eyelids, to the way he could mezmorize me just by looking at me.
My body had begun to warm up, but my hands were still freezing cold. I looked up at Jake, with his chocolate brown eyes and shaggy black hair, and he stared back at me, smiling. His teeth were perfectly straight and bleached white⎯years of wearing braces, he had explained to me many times before⎯and his smile was bright enough to illuminate a whole room. Then, he reached down and took my hands, placing them between his own, which felt warm and strong. I felt my heart do a flip as the two of us stood there, not saying anything.
We walked along the streets of Chicago silently, Jake's hand gripping my hand ever so lightly, but not showing the slightest sign that he wanted to let go. Finally, he broke the silence, and the words that came out of his mouth shocked me so badly that I stood there for a few seconds, dumbfounded. "I'm really glad I met you, Rach. No one has ever made me feel the way you do," he said looking down at his feet, probably regretting the confession he had just made.
It took me a while to form a sentence before I decided on what I was going to say to him. "I'm really glad I met you, too, Jake. Thank you for coming up to me that day in the library." His gazed remained fixed on a dot of white paint on the asphault, but just by glancing over at his pale skin, I could tell that he was blushing more and more with every word that I uttered.
We both stood there for a while, neither of us sure of what to say next. I turned to face him, not sure of what I should do, but he was already staring at me. He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, and then closed it, repeating this process twice.
"I'm sorry," he said. "This is really awkward now, isn't it…? I should have just⎯" But I didn't let him finish. I reached out to him, pressing his toned body against me, and took hold of his face with both hands, as I pulled him in closer so that I could kiss him. His hands traced the contours of my face, and I could feel all of my troubles melting away. I could just taste the sweetness of his lips from his cherry Chapstick, and the way they opened and closed around mine, enveloping them perfectly. His arm moved down to the small of my back, as he held me there. I paused, taking in the moment. I guess I never really realized the spell that Trent had on me. But somehow, from the moment I met him, I knew there was something there.
We both pulled away, simultaneously looking up towards the sky. It had transformed from a buttery sunset to the color of twilight, almost engulfing the moon completely. His eyes were wide with surprise, but they still twinkled in the glow of the moonlit sky. Worried that I had misread all of the signs he had been giving me, I thought to myself, Maybe he never really did like me... Maybe he was just being friendly... I was about to say something, but I was interrupted as Jake pressed his pointer finger to my lips, removed it, and began kissing me again, slowly this time, but with more passion.
When the kiss was over, Jake took a tiny, velvet box out of his pocket and placed it in the palm of my hand. Curious, I turned it over a couple of times, wondering what it was.
"Go ahead and open it," he whispered. I removed the cover slowly, as if whatever was inside the box could run away and disappear, kind of the way that Trent had. But of course, it didn't. My fingers grazed a something cold⎯a piece of metal, perhaps⎯ and then a chain, and finally, a clasp. I held the necklace up facing the moon so that I could examine it. It was a necklace with a diamond pendant on it. The diamond had been so deliberately cut that each of its facets reflected a different part of the moon. I lifted up my hair as Jake reached in front of me to put the necklace on me.
"This was my mother's most prized possession. She entrusted it to me before she died," Jake said, looking at me. "I wanted you to have it."
I had pictured this moment in my bedroom in so many different ways, but this definitely surpassed any idea I could have possibly thought up. Jake was absolutely perfect, and his mom's necklace that he gave me was a constant reminder of his perfection. He had many different sides, thoughts, and emotions, but each of them reflected the same thing, just like a diamond. He was my diamond that I would have to hold onto forever.
By: Tamara
My inspiration behind this story was based on the fact that I'm one of those teenage girls who crave romance. I love reading romance novels about girls who get swept off their feet by that handsome prince, and find their own "happily ever after".
I also tried to base my writing off of two of my favorite authors⎯Sarah Dessen, Nicholas Sparks, and Jenny Han, all of which just so happen to be romance novelists. Each of the pieces they've written⎯Just Listen, The Truth About Forever, The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You, We'll Always Have Summer, The Last Song, etc.⎯have inspired me to want to become a better writer. Their books have a particularly interesting storyline and a really deep climax that always keeps me on the edge of my seat, and that's what I wanted to try to incorporate into my story.
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