C H A P T E R 1
The sunlight shined into the room, passed through the dark purple curtains. Posters of manga characters were posted on the walls inside the room. A girl in purple pajamas lay on her bed. She turned to the other side of where the sunlight came in. The black alarm clock next to the bed, on top of the shelf, went off. It was 6:00 AM. The girl tapped the top of the alarm clock. Silence roamed the room. Suddenly a rush of outside noises came close to the bedroom. A skinny teenager guy rushed into the bedroom. He wore a green shirt and black pants. He had a very big book bag on him. He shouted in her ears, "Katherine, get you big ass off your bed. It's six o' clock." The girl's eyes opened. She looked at her clock, "Six o' clock? Oh no" She got off her bed at once.
The girl, in her purple pajamas, ran into the bathroom. She pulled her face towel and toothbrush out of the cabinet. She began to wash her face and brush her teeth. Then she stepped into the showerhead and turned on the hot and cold water knobs.
[10 minutes later
The skinny boy pounded against the bathroom door, "Katherine get your ass out of the bathroom. I need my breakfast! Katherine, you hear me? Katherine!"
A mutter sound was heard from the inside of the bathroom. "I'm coming I'm coming." Katherine opened the bathroom door and dashed through the hallway into the kitchen. She flipped the pancakes over and poured orange juice into a glass cup. She placed the sausages and bacons neatly on the plate. She took the breakfast out to the dining table. "Jack here's your breakfast." She stood by the boy and waited until he took his first bite.
"Hmmm Okay. Not bad. You may go now. "Jack said. Katherine rushed right back into her bedroom and took her backpack out. She checked off the things on her supply list. "Pencils, check, "she drew a check next to the word pencil, "ball pens, check, pencil box, check, calculators, check, binders check." As she packed up her school supplies, the phone against the wall had rung. Katherine picked up the phone. "Hello? Hey Karen. How's everything? You ready for school? Yeah I'm packing up right now. You're going to wait for me in front of the school right? Okay see you there. Bye." Katherine took big breaths. She grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans and a simple purple short sleeve T-shirt from her wardrobe. She changed into them.
The boy that wore a green shirt was talking on the phone, "Hey Jimmy, I'm going to meet you up. Alright? Yeah I'm sorry about the lateness. Yeah, it's all my sister's fault. I have to leave the house with her. I'll be there real soon." He hanged up his phone. He shouted across the room, "Katherine, are you done with your make-ups? I'm about to leave the house. You made me late. I have to meet up with my friends before I go to school. Are you done? Katherine? Katherine?"
"I'm coming I'm coming. Sheesh! It's not make-up. I'm just simply changing my clothes. Just give me a second, "Katherine asked.
Katherine's brother counted out loud, while he tied his sneakers. "1, 2, 3, 4… it's already 4 seconds."
Katherine inserted her belt through her waist, "Jack, stop being so literate. Having you as my brother is like living with a wild beast." Katherine sighed.
"Make sure you wash those dishes when you come home. Now lock those doors. "Jack concluded.
[Rachel Carson Intermediate School 237 Queens, front yard
A female voice was heard from the big announcement speaker outside the school, in the front yard, where hundreds of teenagers were crowded together.
"Welcome back to Rachel Carson Intermediate School 237, the greatest junior high school in Flushing. How's everybody doing with the September breeze? Our principal is very nice to us. He took out money to renovate the windows in our school. We also have better doors. There are no more squeaking when you open those tough doors. A big project the principal had planned for the school is building an auditorium café. The new café will take over the old snack bar. The café will be on top of the auditorium in the back. Students can enjoy drinks and snacks while listening to the radio music. The project will be completed in a month. So please check the main office for more information."
Karen was an average girl. She is 13 years old. She wore a black polo shirt where her long black hair covered the collar. She took a glance at her watch. "What is going on with this girl? What is taking her so long gosh." Katherine ran down the block. "Karen, sorry I'm late." Katherine was catching her breath. "Save your breath. I know what happened. You were making breakfast for your brother." Karen gave a mean look at Katherine, 'Your brother is so mean. He should let you rest. Today is your special day."
Katherine got confused. "My special day, what special day?"
Karen laughed, "It's your birthday." Karen reached into her bag. She took out a wrapped box and gave it to Katherine, "Happy Birthday Katherine. You are officially 13."
"Thank You Karen." Katherine reached out to Karen and gave her a hug.
A black Toyota car stopped right across from the school. A chubby boy stepped out of the car. He wore a white T-Shirt and short blue jeans. "Bye Mom, Later Dad." He waved to his parents. "Nelson, make sure you give us a call after you get out of school. Love you." Nelson's mother, an average size woman dressed in pants and a dress shirt, said to Nelson. The chubby boy waved back to his mother. His mother closed the window and Nelson's father began to drive the car away from the school.
Nelson crossed the street and waited at the entrance. Somebody tapped him from the back. 'Nelson!" He turned around.
"Hey Kevin, wassup, long time no see. I haven't seen you after you quit the Carvel job."
"Oh yeah. I quitted. I went away. That place was not the right place for me to work at. The boss was mean and strict. Is he giving you a hard time?" Kevin, age 13, wore a thin windbreaker jacket and blue pants had a black book bag on his shoulder, said.
"No, no, no. He's not giving me a hard time." Nelson nodded.
"Nelson, I think you should quit?" Kevin suggested. Nelson looked confuse, "I mean come on. That job is not suitable for you. It's a hard working job."
"Maybe it is a hard working job. However I need the money. I need it for college and computer and all those text books cost. "
"Nelson, you're only 12 years old. College is not coming for another 5 years."
Nelson looked down, "Well being ready is good."
"I understand you want to save up for college but do you know that everyday when you get off from work, it's really late. And then you have to do homework. That's a lot of pressure. You know we have to take the Specialized High School Exam this year," Kevin said.
"I'm not taking that one because I'm not going to high school next year. I'm staying here for 9th grade. Kevin thanks for caring about me. I know I can handle my school works and my job. If anything goes wrong at my job place I shall quit as soon as possible." Nelson said. Kevin gave a smirk. "I have to go now. See you later in the cafeteria."
[8 o' clock
An old woman came out from the school entrance. "Everybody please take out your ID card. You must swipe your ID card before you get into the school." Students began to line up at the school entrance. Nelson joined the line. He took his ID card out of his pocket. Nelson looked at the girl that stood in front of him. She wore a long-sleeve white shirt and had khaki pants on. "Vicki?" Nelson asked. The short girl with glasses in the front turned around, "You're Vicki. I thought you're going to another school cause' you said you and your father are moving into a big mansion. What happen now?"
Vicki kicked Nelson on the leg, "Shut up, it's none of your business."
"Come on, I promise I won't tell anybody." Nelson stated.
Vicki looked around suspiciously and then whispered into Nelson's ears. "Yeah we were about to but the YUGIOH cards that the stores released were too tempting. I used my entire father's money on them. Now we're broke."
"YOU'RE BROKE????????????" Nelson shouted out. Thousands of eyes stared at Vicki. Vicki kicked Nelson in the leg again.
"Be quite, you're so loud," Vicki claimed. Nelson apologized. "I'll tell you later. By the way we're in the same class 8A, right? Take me to our first class. I forgot all my directions. Let's go we're going to be late. "Vicki dragged Nelson into the school building.
[LUNCHTIME-Cafeteria
Karen waved her hands in the air, "Katherine this way" Katherine came and sat across from Karen. "Katherine, I think you should open your present now." Karen said. Katherine took her present out from her book bag. She shook and had her ears on her present.
"Karen, what did you get me for my present?" Karen giggled, "Why, why don't you just open it?" Katherine began to take off the wrappers of the present. She tore away all the wrapping papers. They unveil it to be a couple of manga books.
Karen looked at Katherine, "Katherine, what's wrong? You don't like those manga books?"
TM PRODUCTIONS VII
© COPYRIHT All rights reserved.
"I do I really do like those books. But… I already have them at home." Katherine said.4
