Bubblegum and ladybugs
CHAPTER ONE
"get them off! Get them off!" Caroline Malloy cried out.
"Just breathe, Caroline, they won't bite." Her mother resured her.
Caroline wanted to cry, or scream, or punch Wally Hatford in the face.
Caroline should have known that the boys would try something like this. Nope, they just couldn't let the girls leave without reminding them who their match was. Oh, how Caroline hated Wally for this!
Caroline Lenore Malloy and her family had simply been driving out of Buckman, West Virginia, when she had simply, and harmlessly, grabbed a tissue out of her backpack when...Ka-boom! Ladybugs flew up, down, left and right. Mrs. Malloy, scared to death, had pulled over at a local store parking lot. And now here Caroline was, standing up perfectly still as her mother plucked the bugs out of her shirt. Beth and Eddie, Caroline's sisters, where standing over to the left, giggling and laughing everytime Caroline cried out or screamed.
Mrs. Malloy signed. "I really thought those boys would have a grain of since in their heads! We could have wrecked and all been hurt or even killed!"
"Now, what did I tell you, those Hatford guys are evil! Nasty! Mean and even plain out rude!" Eddie, age twelve, said with a small smile on her face.
"Well, I think we got them all. Most of them flew out when we opened the doors." Beth said as she poked her head back into the car.
"Well, this put us about ten mineuts late but I guess I needed the fresh air, anyway." Mrs. Malloy joked, beginning to smile a little.
Beth, age eleven, giggled a little as she got back in the car, she was followed by Eddie, and then by Caroline.
Nine-year-old Caroline was the youngest of Coach Malloy's three children. Unlike her big sisters, Caroline had dark black hair she almost always kelp in a ponytail, and dark brown eyes like her father's. Eddie, however, had darkish blond hair that barly touched her shoulders, yet those same brown eyes like Caroline's. Beth was the only one in the Malloy family with blue eyes, and she had light blond hair and fair skin.
"Don't worry about the boys, we'll get them back." Eddie, whose real name was Edith, whispered as their mother started the car up again.
"How? We don't live across the river anymore, Dumdum!" Beth whispered back.
Eddie grinned. "Don't worry, I'll think of something." She said, and Caroline almost cried.
Why couldn't they just leave the boys alone? Just forget them! Go back to Ohio and stay there? No, Eddie Had to go and start trouble. But really, Caroline loved the trouble, she adored pranking and teasing the Hatford boys silly, she loved running rings around them, she loved the drama! The romance! The hate!
"Caroline, do you have any bubblegum left?" Eddie asked, leaning over and smiling at her.
"Yes, I have four pieces, want one?" Caroline said, digging in her pocket.
"No, that's okay." Eddie said quickly.
"Then why did you ask?" Beth spoke up.
Eddie smirked. "You'll see."
Oh boy! Thought Caroline.
Eddie had an idea, and whenever Eddie had an idea...you should either run or duck for cover. Why in the world Eddie would use a piece of bubblegum for revenge was beyond Caroline, but she could only hope and pray it was a good prank. A really clever, ridiculous prank that'd send the Hatfords fleeing.
Caroline wanted to be an actresses, and so she thought that if she ever had to play the part of a sweet, almost-harmless girl who wanted nothing more then bad revenge, well, she'd be set. Eddie wanted to be a doctor, or a baseball player, she just couldn't decide. Nobody gave much thought to what Beth wanted to be. A Ballerina, she had once said, but it didn't seem to fit, mainly because Beth, unlike her sisters, was very clumsly and half the time couldn't stand up straight.
Caroline wondered what the boys were doing, if they had opened the twins' sleepingbags and found Eddie's bright idea. Ladybugs. It seemed both families had planed the same prank. How insane! And totally unfair to Eddie. One thing Caroline had noticed was that her sister and Jake Hatford had plenty in commen, they both loved baseball, wearing caps, playing pranks and, sadly, both had very short tempers they often couldn't control very well.
Caroline looked out her felt almost like she'd failed. She hadn't made Wally Hatford fall in love with her, even after all the soft whispers during class, or the sweet smiles, or the red velent dress with that lace coller, or the well-writtwn Valentine that said for my beloved On the front. What had she done wrong?
Caroline secretly still wanted to make a boy fall in love with her. oh, and what a great product Wally had been!
Caroline felt her eyes grow tired, and before she knew it they were closing.
"Caroline..." Someone whispered, and Caroline shot up, just in time to see she was in a flower field, sitting on a picnic blanket with Wally behind of her.
"Wally? What are You Doing here?" She asked.
"Caroline, I brought your favorite, tuna-fish!" Wally grinned as he handed her a sandwitch.
"Where are we?" She asked.
"in your dreams, darling.' He told her, grinning the more wildly.
Just then, Caroline woke up. A dream, just a silly dream.
"Caroline, are you alright?" Beth asked, looking worried.
It was then Caroline realized she had tears sparkling in her eyes and running down her cheeks.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. J-just a bad dream." She said, wiping the tears away.
What is wrong with me? Thought Caroline as she stared out the window again.
surely I don't like Wally...it was just pretend! That's all. And nothing more. Yet, Caroline seemed uneasy all of a sudden.
And then, then she got an idea, a wonderful, awful idea!
She'd get the boys back...and it would be good.