Chapter #1 No Logical Explanation
I am not the prettiest girl. I am not the coolest, or smartest but I am a pretty mean party thrower if you know what I am saying. I am just another average girl trying to make it through Junior High with out seriously damaging my chances of being prom queen even though that doesn't really matter to me. I just want to have fun at my prom. Anyway, I live with my mom in the small and practically invisible town of Stedford. It's not even on the map!
Yesterday was my thirteenth birthday, so naturally, I had a party, and because of my awesome party skills, had a great turn out even though it was a Thursday night.
We had fireworks (though illegal were very entertaining), lots of candy and all my friends there with me; Kris, Jack, Shantel, Dee, Cassie, Heather, Francesca and Kara. The only person missing was my dad, who lived in California away from my mom, who I called earlier that day to talk with him about me entering teenage years, though he didn't sound excited for me at all, he even sounded worried, but hey he's a dad, he should be! Since he moved out, I felt like he didn't care about me at all, but hearing that hint of concern in his voice made me feel a lot better.
It was a great party and all, until I reached my birthday time; you know, the exact time you were born? It's a very cool thing that I was born at 11:59 May 18th, 1994, so very close to May 19th, but yet it is not! Well, we were all standing around the grandfather clock in my living room, waiting for the exact time. We counted down while watching the second hand on the clock. When we reached one everyone cheered and started shouting things like "You're a teenager now!" or "How does it feel to be a year older?" or maybe even" You're not a little girl any more!" by my mom, but I couldn't remember much from that moment, because I passed out.
No one knows why, but I was lucky to have been standing in a group because someone was able to catch me before I hit the ground, thank you Cassie. I didn't eat anything bizarre, and I felt fine up until that point.
The next thing I knew I was on the couch surrounded by every one at the party. I felt queasy, nauseous and dizzy for the rest of the party, but still maintained my ability to socialize, something I almost never lose.
It's Monday, and I have approximately 1 hour to prepare for jumping on the bus and going to receive my daily dose of hell.
I get up like I always do, shower, dry my hair, dress and go down to the kitchen to pick up my lunch money and eat breakfast. I skim through the news paper to see if anything happened around here and usually nothing does, it's a pretty boring place around here. There is some cool stuff around though, like a drive-in, skate park and a great history, which really isn't that interesting.
I honestly have no idea why my pen pal, Penelope, that's living in India for a year, thinks my life is so phenomenally excited. I'd give anything to be wandering the exotic streets of India; buying exotic clothes and listening to the sounds of a foreign city.
Today, Friday, Mom is planning out a new commercial for Kohl's. So I wasn't expecting her to make breakfast like usual, so I put some waffles in the toaster oven, and sat down with the paper. I have the same routine each morning, like a rut, but that's how everyone's life here is until summer vacation is here, and let me tell you it is not that time. But don't think this book is boring just because I say my life is. I can be very spontaneous, some times.
I heard the ding of the toaster signifying perfectly cooked waffles. I took them out, buttered them and sat at the table ready to eat. I stared at my awesome and crispy waffles. I buttered them up and sat there still half asleep.
"Something's missing," I said looking down upon my toasted brown Ego waffles. "Right, I need syrup."
I got up and turned around to get it out of the cabinet. But I didn't need to. The cabinet opened by itself and the syrup went flying across the room into my hand. It was remarkably impossible to understand. I could feel this rush of power surging through my body and out my head. I sprinted towards the cabinet to see if this was just some prank my mom was pulling on me. It wasn't. There were absolutely no strings attached to the syrup and no logical explanation for what just happened.
Instead I decided to see for myself if what I did was really me doing it." Syrup, go back in the cabinet." Nothing happened." Go into the cabinet, syrup." Still nothing. "I NEED THE SYRUP TO GO INTO THE CABINET WHERE IT BELONGS!" The cabinet opened and the syrup zoomed across the room. I felt like Spiderman just discovering his powers trying to make his webs fly and finally succeeding. I was shocked, just like Spider Man.
"I'm an ESP freak!" I thought over and over in my head. I didn't want to; I wanted to encourage myself that there was a logical answer and that it was natural, but it wasn't. So I decided that I was probably an Extrasensory Perception freak and that I should deal with it. Dealing with problems was easy for me, when I can tell my friends, or my mom.
I decided not to tell my mom about this incident because she was already stressing out over that commercial design presentation she has tomorrow. I also didn't want her to think that I was a mutant freak, because we all know that would be a bad thing.
I didn't end up eating any of my perfectly cooked waffles because I wasn't feeling good anymore. My stomach felt like it was going to hurl and my head was throbbing, so I couldn't think much of the logical answer of why what had occurred with the syrup did. My mom didn't seem to notice I was acting bizarre. We both just went on with our routines and I forgot completely about it.
The doorbell rang. I knew of course it was Cassie. Who else would be ringing my doorbell at seven fifteen in the morning? We always walked to school together, because, well, that's just what best friends do. "Come in!" my mom screamed from her room, where she was doing her make-up so she could head out to the coffee shop to meat her work partner, Tracey. My mom is the coolest; she is the co-head of commercialism for Kohl's and to a girl in Junior High School that is definitely a cool job for a mom. I won't tell you what else she does that is so cool because it would probably make your mom look down right cruel, and she's not; at least I hope not!
Tracey is my mom's other co-head of commercialism, and there are only a few people higher than them on the rankings in the commercialism job scale.
"Hey Mrs. C," Cassie was always polite and called her friends parents Mrs. and Mr.
"Hey Anna; you study for that science test?"
I had forgotten! "Oh! It's today! I thought it was tomorrow!" I started scrambling through my science notes to try find the section of vocabulary we had to study.
Cassie was smirking at this point, like she does when she's pulling a prank. "What?"
"It isn't until tomorrow! I just like getting you hyped up, that's all." Cassie loved pulling pranks on people, even though her mom says it's impolite. It's one of her hobbies, and it some times annoys me, but hey, a friend is supposed to except her friend as she is.
Cassie has been my friend since kindergarten. She is a kinder person than Shantel, but who isn't? This might sound mean, but Shantel loves it when I insult her. It gives her reason to insult me back. Shantel is quite a unique individual. Anyway, Shantel and I have always confronted each other with any big decision we had to make. We would talk about things such as what guys to like, things to where to parties and people we hang out with. When my parents got divorced, I slept over her house for eight nights. Eight nights! My parents didn't care though, they were to busy with paperwork. Cassie and I have never fought, except over a teddy bear when we were six.
"Hurry up you two! Or you'll miss the bus!" my mom is very punctual, and she wants me to be too. She handed me my lunch and Cassie and I ran out the door, as I was trying to forget about what happened during breakfast.
We walked by Liam's house, Katrina's house and the library, but that doesn't really matter. I avoided puddles next to Cassie, but something didn't feel right. The sun was out for the first time this week, and all was silent besides the sirens coming from Brockington Avenue direction. I know all the streets because our city is so smallish. There are 8 school buses in all, and they all have smallish routes, even though our junior high only contains two grades; seventh and eighth. But still, everybody knows each other in this town.
Cassie and I discussed our plans for after school. "You, know, you should throw a huge party when you get the chance. But not invite the peppy, preppy posse," Cassie said. "I think that is a fabulous idea," I said, like a peppy prissy punk.
When we reached the bus stop we met up with Shantel.
Shantel is very, well, different. She moved to Springfield only a year ago, and didn't have many friends at first because she was a bully and was mean. Then she took counseling. That worked, enough. She was transformed for about a week, and then they gave up. She was paired up with me in science that year, and I learned to like her. Good thing, because she would have probably been in juvenile detention right about now. As she grew up she began to become more civilized and me, her and Cassie became an unbreakable bond of three.
"Hey, what's up?" said Shantel.
"Nothing much, we were just planning the next big party this year," Cassie exaggerated a lot, "which we might need your help with!"
"Why would you need my help?"
"We wouldn't need your help; we'd just need you to show up to make the party official!"
Just as Cassie said that the bus came and we all stumbled on board. In the most obnoxious voice ever we heard, "Good morning girls! Happy Monday!" That voice belongs to our bus driver, Honey. I mean, what kind of a name is Honey? She is the most annoying person I have ever met and would probably be the person I'd vote for in a "Person Who Most Abuses the Bus Microphone" poll. I was waiting for Jack to notice me so we could talk. He gets on at our stop too and was talking to his buds. He is my best "guy" friend, and someday I hope we will be more than friends. Shantel is the only one that knows that I secretly like him, and because I am such a good actress, he has no idea.
"Hey Annabee," that's short for Annabeth, which if you say it a lot, gets to be a mouthful." What's up Jack?" I always acted cool around him and that's how he liked it. "Nothing much," he said.
I couldn't think about my recent develop because I had to quickly get to my locker so I could socialize by my locker for at least five minutes.