I opened my eyes to Lea's happy face towering over me. Her dark brown hair was a mess, and her gold eyes glistened like the sun shining through the window. I instantly knew that she had a plan for this morning.
"Come on, Kim; it's time to get up!" she said excitedly, pulling me out of my bed. "Get dressed now; we have so much to do!"
"…Like what?" I groaned. I preferred to sleep in on weekends, and when I didn't get enough sleep, I was as cranky as hell. I wanted to sleep, not go around causing trouble.
"Just get dressed, Kim. It's a surprise!" she whispered, closing my bedroom door softly behind her. Oh, joy, a surprise, I thought to myself, as I went through my armoire for something decent to wear. According to Lea, a surprise meant pulling pranks around the senior center until the manager, Mr. Martin, would bust us.
You may be wondering why two fourteen-year-old girls are living in a senior center in the middle of Nebraska. When I was very little, only about two years old, my parents died in a plane crash. I could've been put in an orphanage or foster home, but my grandfather asked if he could take care of me. The court placed me in his care, and so I ended up living in the senior center with him. Lea's parents were close friends with mine, and so they let her live with me when we were seven or eight, because they knew that my grandfather still has a job to worry about.
People say I'm a whole lot like my grandfather, the famous author P.M. Curtis. He used to have reddish-brown hair like mine, and we both have greenish-grey eyes. I've always loved to read, and I like to write poems and songs in my spare time. Lea, on the other hand, likes to watch cartoons on TV and pull pranks on people, whether it's on me and my grandfather, the other residents of the senior center, or our teachers and fellow students at school. I kinda feel bad for my grandfather, having to keep an eye on the two of us all the time, but then again, he was pretty good at it. He could always tell if we were up to something, or if something was bothering either of us. He's a really cool grandfather.
I finally picked out an Adele T-shirt, a pair of Aeropostale jeans, and a pair of dark purple Converse high tops. I pulled my shoulder-length hair back into a French braid, put in a pair of faux diamond studs, and at last, clasped my great-grandmother's silver key necklace around my neck. I have never gone a day without it. It brings me luck, and I knew I was going to need it real soon.
When I came downstairs, Granddad was making eggs, and Lea was sitting at the table trying to control her anticipation. She had brushed her hair and straightened it, and she had changed into Abercrombie skinny jeans, a Hollister T-shirt, Ugg boots, and a Forever 21 cardigan.
"Good morning, Kimberly," said Granddad, as he turned around and smiled, his eyes glowing.
"Morning, Granddad." I turned to Lea, and said, "Okay, I'm here. What do you want?"
Her face lit up.