C H A P T E R O N E
T H E
G R A D U A T I O N
It all started that late evening in mid-June. June 13th to be exact. At about 8:30pm, in Brick, New Jersey, in a small school know as St. Thomas, tons of people filed out of the chapel that was St. Thomas Lutheran Church. The majority of the people walked directly from the little church to the little gymnasium. Among them were sixteen finely dressed high school-bound students. It was Graduation Night.
"Man, I can't believe were finally outta this school!" Said Marie Karpodinis, one of the eighth-grade graduates. She had short brown hair, sparkling brown eyes, and a great smile, even with braces.
"Yeah, thank God." Her friend Christine Barton replied. Christine was another graduate. She also had shoulder-length hair but with blonde highlights. She took off her glasses and wiped them, then put them back in front of her lively green eyes.
"Yup, Saint Rose, here I come!" David Metts shouted. David was yet another graduate. He had light brown hair in a bowl cut and green eyes. And no, he does not like the Mets; he's more of a Red Sox fan. He also is a big Marie Karpodinis fan.
"You mean, here we come." John replied. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He was David and Marie's friend. He was a bit more than friends with Christine.
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry. I forgot abut you."
"Mmm hmm."
"Hey what's everyone doin'?" Matthew Gullace said from behind the group. Matt was another friend, with shorter brown hair and brown eyes. He was also going to St. Rose High School. He was wearing a light blue suit with matching top hat, and he was holding a cane.
A taller version of Matt walked up behind them. It was Matt's brother, Chris. He had short black hair and brown eyes, and had a famous deep voice. He was outfitted with an orange suit with top hat and cane like his brother; the movie-crazed brothers were trying to go 'Dumb and Dumber'. "Hey, Dave." He said, giving his friend a high-five.
"'Sup, Chris?"
"Aw, come on, I was just sitting with you for an hour plus in that hot place. I think you should know what's up."
"Yeah, and if John took one more minute on that speech of his, I would have died." Marie complained with a friendly, yet terribly strong, one-two 'pinky-punch' to John's shoulder.
"Aw, it wasn't that long." John replied, massaging his hurt shoulder. John was the class valedictorian.
"I know."
"Come on, guys. Let's go outside." Christine looked out the window to the now royal blue-black sky and the streetlight illuminated school parking lot. "It is burning up in here!" It was true; the gymnasium was filling up with more students, parents, grandparents, and long lost second cousins every minute.
"Okay." Everyone agreed.
"Wait! Wait! John!" Came a voice above the loud murmur of the congregation in the gym. "John!"
John turned around to see what the noise was coming from. A short elderly lady with light blonde curly hair came hurrying out of the crowd in front of the doorway. A man followed her with gray hair on the sides of his head and a bald patch on top.
"Grandma! Grandpa! I didn't see you in here!" John said as he ran over to the couple and – bending down slightly – gave them a hug.
"Your mother told me you were over here. I just fought my way over here. It's crowed!" John's grandmother said.
"Yeah, it is."
"Here you go. Happy Graduation… or whatever you call this thing." She said with a laugh. "Just a lil' spending money."
"Yeah, thanks." John said. He opened the envelope that his grandma gave him.
"What you get?" Dave said, leaning over John's shoulder. "What you get?"
"Calm down!" John tore the envelope and held out $200.
"Whoa!" Dave exclaimed. "That's 'spending money'?"
John's grandma smiled and walked away.
"Yeah, I guess so." John said smiling.
"Oh, it's not that much." Came a voice from behind Dave's shoulder.
"YAHHH! Don't do that!" Dave screamed as he turned his head and came face- to-face with Justine Mata.
"What? It's not that much." Justine repeated. She had black hair, black eyes, and wore a blood red dress and a scowl.
"Oh, hi." John said.
"Wait." Dave said. "Did you just say 'it's not that much'?"
"Well, sure. After all, I am rich." she boasted with a flick of her hair.
"You know, Justin, shut up." Christine said, anxious to get outside into the cool June breeze. The group turned to leave, when yet another shout caught their ears.
"Hey, guys! I was looking for you!" Elizabeth Bova fought her way around a gaggle of people crowded around the snack table where the group of friends/graduates was gathered.
"Hey, I was wondering where you were." Marie said.
"Taking pictures." Liz answered, holding up a camera.
"Oh, I see." Matt replied.
"Come on, guys. Can we go outside, I'm hot." Chris whined.
"Yeah, let's go." Marie said.
"John, Dave, Christine, Matt, Chris, Liz, Marie, Justine, remember, graduation pictures in a few minutes. Don't go getting lost, and don't let me catch you starting fires or something." A tall blonde adult called to them. It was Nancy Tancona, the eighth grade teacher.
"No, that would be Everett and Brian." Christine answered. They were caught back in early April at the Academic Fair playing with a lighter.
"Yeah, you're right." Mrs. Tancona said. "I wouldn't dream of you guys doing something like that, especially our valedictorian." She looked at John, who was smiling and gaining envious stares from his friends. "By the way, where are those other guys?" She turned to leave, but reversed abruptly. "Oh, yeah. Dave, Marie, Matt, Chris, Justine, and Liz, you're wanted in the narthex." Mrs. Tancona walked out of the gym.
"Man, is there some conspiracy that is keeping us from going outside?" Marie complained.
"Yeah, the Russian Government is trying to prevent you from going outside because you might overhear the secret plans for world domination." Christine joked with a smile at her and John's fortune of freedom.
"Yeah, whatever." Matt retorted as he and the others walked out into the church area. "We'll meet you outside, okay?"
"Okay." John said. He and Christine walked out the other door and into the darkness that was the St. Thomas parking lot.
"Man, I can't believe it's all over." Christine said softly as she and John, hand-in-hand, strolled past the cars and scattered children and to the end of the parking lot, near the field. "And we can finally get out of this trailer park!" Christine had a – not so unusual – habit of badmouthing the school.
"Yeah, but I'll miss it, just like I'll miss you." John replied. He and Christine were going to different high schools.
"You're right, but I hope you'll miss me more than you'll miss here."
"Of course."
"Oh, okay. Just checking."
"Hey, you know, it's quiet. Too quiet." John said, looking around he and his girlfriend warily. "Just checking for little red-haired field mice."
"Yeah." Christine replied, and she started to laugh.
They were talking about Everett Ravens, one of their ex-classmates. He was expelled in mid-May after being outrageously bad on the eighth grade three- day trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, but usually came back to STCA to see his friends and pick on John and his buddies. He was the shortest eighth grader, with Justine trailing him by a fraction of an inch, and was always joked friendly about it. He had short red hair and was always picking on mostly John and Christine, but also their friends, ever since school started in September.
Everyone hated him, except his cronies, Matt Freeman, a tall boy with an appetite for sports, and when thinking about his hair, 'mashed potatoes mixed with brown gravy' comes to mind, Mike Luberto, another brown haired kid with a strange sense of humor, Brian Van Note, yet another brunette that also was vicious to Christine, more so than Everett, and Jack Nugent, a shrimpy blonde boy with a big nose that even he made fun of, and also the biggest follower St. Thomas has ever seen.
"Nope, he's not there." Christine said after a while.
"Oh, good." John replied. "I thought I heard people talking over near the office before, but I guess it's just sixth graders or something.
The couple walked out more into the field, and looked at each other.
"You know," John said, tears welling in his eyes. "Even though I know we'll see each other still, I am really going to miss you."
"Me too." Christine added, also with tears just waiting to fall.
"You'll miss yourself too?" John asked.
"Oh, you know what I mean." Christine said with a weak laugh, wiping away her premature tears.
"Yes, I do." John said softly, holding Christine in his arms.
"Good." Christine whispered, looking up at John, tears returning.
The two stared into each other's eyes for a while, then they moved closer to each other. Their eyes closed as the tears came and their lips touched as the kiss happened in the St. Thomas field.
John was bombarded with senses as soon as his lips touched his girl's, and continued, tears streaming and hands stroking Christine's hair. Christine had the same reaction, but with a thought in the back of her mind: She'll be leaving John soon and going to school with Kathryn, Sara, and Anthony, all people she'd rather kill.
Sara Pancurak was another graduate at STCA. She had long blonde hair, brown eyes, and a bossy nature. She was the first half of 'The Royalty,' a name given to her and her very close friend Kathryn because they think that they are richer and superior to the rest of the school.
Kathryn Collins was the second half of the graduating 'Royalty.' She had black hair and brown eyes. She was just like Sara in attitude. Both she and Sara had a natural hatred toward Christine, Marie, and Liz.
Anthony Defabritus, or 'DeFabulous,' was another eight-grader that used to go to St. Thomas but left after seventh grade. He was part of Everett's gang, and had brown eyes and hair that was spiked up. He was always gloomy and wanted everyone to 'forget him' at the end of last year.
"Awww, B/F and Salami making out in the field. Look at that!"
And suddenly, the tears stopped, the strokes stopped, but the kiss continued. Everett.
"Awww, look, isn't this romantic?" Everett mocked, a few feet behind John. Matt Freeman, Mike, Brian, and Jack all appeared and gathered around with Everett, laughing.
John had only one thing in his mind: ignore, keep kissing and show Everett that 'I don't care.' He also heard the gym door open and close off in the distance, releasing a snippet of sound from the crowded gymnasium, and he also heard Everett's taunts, joined by his hit men's getting closer.
Christine must have had the same thought, because she didn't do anything to break the kiss or react to Everett. Both her and her love had red ears and anxious thoughts.
"Awww, this is priceless," John heard Everett a few inches behind him, obviously trying to push him over the edge. He also heard Sara and Kathryn on the other side of Christine, just arrived, but already taunting and laughing fiercely. "Mr. Big B/F and the – AHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
It all happened in one fluent motion, with John and Christine moving as one. The talented couple, without breaking their kiss, both swung their legs out and kicked Everett, Sara, and Kathryn as hard as they could. Christine swung her leg in a wide arc, hitting both of The Royalty at once, while John just shot backward a nailed Everett with all his power. Christine and John both snorted into their kiss with silent laughter. They didn't care who was watching or where they hit them, they just kicked, and that's all that mattered. They've been wanting to do that since they don't even remember.
And, to make the scene better, a blinding flash of light contrasting on the dark field and shouts and laughs suddenly erupted as soon as the feet made contact. Everett, Brian, Mike, and Matt all slunk off, cursing, with Jack trailing behind. Sara and Kathryn ran away crying, probably to their parents. John and Christine finally ended the great kiss to see what all the commotion was about.
They were immediately bombarded by a heap of students, unable to be recognized in the darkness, all shouting, laughing, or making some other type of racket.
"You did it! You did it! That was great!" One deep voice said.
"Awesome! That was priceless!" Said another.
"You should have seen the look on their faces! You definitely need to make that mind-to-video machine, John! Be the Enforcer!"
"Nice, kiss, Christine! You're following in my footsteps of greatness!" Another voice said with a smug confident tone.
"And I've got a picture of it!"
Another voice kept laughing and couldn't say a word. "Aha! Ah! Ahahaha! Aha!" along with coughs and sputters in between.
"Come on, grads! Pictures!" Came Mrs. Tancona's voice from the church area.
John and Christine walked toward the light that was the chapel entrance. Passing under the streetlight, they could see that, as they expected, the voices that appeared after their fast footwork belonged to Chris, Matt, David, Marie, Liz, and Justine. The group of friends walked back to the school.
Out of the corner of their eyes, every one of the friends could see Everett and his clan and The Royalty slinking along behind them, staying clear of them and keeping to the shadows, watching John and his friends. They couldn't help but laugh.
"You know," Dave started. "Do you think they'll let Everett— " He was cut short by a telephone pole. Dave, paying more attention to his friends than his surroundings, walked right into the telephone pole next to the office. His arms and leg stuck out from the sides like a cartoon skier who hit a tree. Dave fell backwards with a thud. Everyone exploded in laughter. "Like I was saying, would Everett be in the graduation picture?"
"I don't know." John answered as he helped Dave up with a laugh.
"I mean, after all, he was a classmate."
"And he did drag his filthy carcass over here." Christine added.
"I don't think so. I mean he was kicked out of school." Marie concluded.
"You know, you actually sounded smart right there." David said, receiving a very strong punch in return. Then, Marie stood back and stared into David's eyes. She did not look happy. Suddenly, and to everyone's surprise, she flung herself at Dave and burrowed her face into his shoulder. Everybody, including Dave, was speechless.
"Oh, David," Marie said in between small sobs. "I'll miss you, I'll miss your big head, I'll miss hitting you… A lot."
Dave looked, wide-mouthed with happiness and speechless, up to John, Matt, and Chris. John and Chris gave him double thumbs up, while Matt was too speechless also.
"Awww, Marie." Dave said as he began, gingerly at first for fear of retaliation, to stroke his three-year heartthrob's hair. "I'll miss you too." He began to rub her shoulders.
"Don't… Touch me." Marie commanded as soon as David's hands touched her shoulders. She pushed away from the boy in front of her. "Ewww!" She exclaimed in her high-pitched squeal, "I can't believe I just did that!" And she punched David very hard once, twice, three, four, five times, leaving him gasping and clutching his shoulder in pain.
"Niiiice, Dave" Matt complimented, patting his friend's back. He's been trying to hook Marie up with Dave for a while now. They all jogged into the chapel.
"Thanks." Dave replied smugly, a huge smug smile on his face. "I knew it was coming sooner or later."
They could see the other graduates behind them, waiting for them to go in. George Calandriello, yet another graduate, was sitting inside the chapel, waiting for his fellow classmates to come in. George was a boy with light brown hair that was lifted up in the front. He had brown eyes and a smile that made him famous, even if it was harnessed in braces.
John, Christine, Dave, Marie, Matt, Chris, Liz, and Justine entered the room, greeting George, who joined them, and trying to warm up a little, even though it was mid-June; being outside in suits and dresses still made you cool.
"Come on, guys. We're waiting!" Mrs. Tancona prompted, anxious to get the pictures over with. "Where's the rest of the class?"
"Oh, they're coming." Christine answered with a backwards glance out the window to the rest of the students, peering in and waiting for Christine and the rest to go inside the church part.
"Oh, good." Mrs. Tancona led the students present into the chapel to get arranged for the picture. A professional photographer had all his stuff out and ready, from the camera to the lighted umbrellas.
Their teacher positioned them all around the altar at the front of the church. Dave stood to the left of the altar, with John beside him, who, of course, had Christine as close as she could get right in his free left arm. Marie was in front of Dave, who, with a grimace, had his palms on her shoulders. To the surprise of everyone, Marie made no sudden movement that could spell pain for the guy behind her. She actually, in a way, snuggled into Dave's hands. Dave looked to John, raising his eyebrows. John returned with thumbs up and a smile. Liz was positioned next to Marie up in front, standing before Christine. Chris was standing behind everyone, as he could easily rise above them all. His brother was next to him, with Justine in front of him. George stood at the very left of everyone.
"All right… That looks okay." Mrs. Tancona said, with the photographer agreeing.
Just then, Mike, Matt, Brian, Jack, Kathryn, and Sara came into the church, eyeing John and his friends warily and full of hatred, but also fear. Everett was limping behind them, and as he passed John, he mouthed something that John couldn't make out, but didn't want to.
"Everett," Mrs. Tancona commanded sternly, feeling no love for the little mouse. "Sit there." She pointed to the first pew, and Everett entered obediently.
Mrs. Tancona arranged the rest of the class on the other side of the altar, and then walked up behind it, in the middle. Kathryn and Sara, who had to stand in the front, tried to hide the fact that they had dirty dresses from the shoes and bruised knees from the kicks.
Mr. Blanken and Mrs. Hartigan walked in and up to the altar also. Mr. Blanken was an old man of sixty-two, who loved history and playing with his 'toys.' He taught sixth grade, but had the eighth grade for History class, so he got in the picture, too.
Mrs. Hartigan was a new teacher that year, with blonde hair and a kind nature and expression. She taught the seventh grade, along with eighth- grade Science, and stepped up to the altar, to the right of Mrs. Tancona, near Everett's group and The Royalty, while Mr. Blanken stood nearer to John and company.
"All right, ready?" The photographer said. "1, 2, 3!" There was a light that blinded everyone, along with a slight 'poof!' sound. "One more! 1, 2, 3!" Another light stunned the subjects and another 'poof!' reached their ears. "Okay."
The photographed people started filing down off the platform and steps on which the altar was placed. Everett immediately shot up and ran over to his cronies. The others walked out side and back into the gymnasium.
"Wait!" Mrs. Tancona called after John, Christine, Liz, Matt, Chris, Dave, Marie, and Justine. They all stopped as their former teacher ran up to them with a bag. "These are for you. Happy Graduation!" She handed gold boxes to everyone. "They must be from the office. I don't know anything about them. They came with a note that said that you should all examine them together. Don't ask, I'm always the last to know." And with that, she walked away. "Oh, and you all are coming back tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah." Everyone replied as their past teacher left.
"Hmmm." Dave said, looking over his box. "What is it?"
"Look!" Marie said, pointing to writing on the top of her box:
Ms. Marie 'Rachel' Karpodinis: Happy Graduation! Please do not attempt to open this parcel until Saturday, the fourteenth of June. A little hint to help ease the "pain":
At the close of this day, all things will change,
Some think it cool. Some think it strange.
What was once blue will now turn to green,
The rim-enclosed eyes will be freely seen.
Past loves will be gone as new ones appear,
The two that were chums will now live in fear.
The evil one will now love spiritual stuff,
And as for the remaining one's change, nothing much.
"Okay…" Marie said slowly.
"It sounds like a prophesy, you know, doo-doo-doo-doo! Doo-doo-doo-doo!" Dave mystically said, and began singing the Twilight Zone music.
"What's with the 'Rachel'?" Christine asked. "Wasn't that your nickname last year?"
"Yeah, but who'd write that on a gift?"
"Wasn't any of us." John said, the others agreeing.
"Well, what do yours say?" Marie asked.
"Mine says the same thing, but with Christine 'Pesh' Barton." Christine answered.
"And ours say John 'Harry' Rocco Jennette, David 'Ronald' Metts, Elizabeth 'Pansy' Bova, Matthew 'Draco' Gullace, Christopher 'Rubeus' Gullace, and Justine 'Parvati' Mata" John said.
"All with the same message." Matt added.
"Weird." Dave concluded. Everyone else nodded, trying to shake off the mystery and longing to open the mysterious gifts.
"Hey! John! Dave! Christine! Marie! Liz! Justine! Matt! Chris!" Came a voice that sounded like a ninth grader: deeper than the friends, but not as deep as Chris. Heads turned as a tall freshman walked up to the group.
"James!" Christine said.
"Hey, everyone." James replied, with scattered "Hi"s and "Hello"s reached his ears over the din of the gym.
"Moooooo!" Christine exclaimed.
"Mmmmmmoooooooooooo!" James answered. He had this thing where he imitated a cow, and Christine loved it.
James was a freshman at Oratory Prep in Summit, New Jersey. He had brown hair parted in the middle, with blonde streaks in it. He was wearing a backward hat, though, and you couldn't see his hair because it was tucked under the cap.
"So, how y'all doing?" James asked, not so much to John because he had been sleeping over his house since the middle of the week because he lived so far away: in Roselle Park.
Various answers were heard, along with a "We got these." David held up his box.
James stared at it in disbelief. "Is that what I think it is?" He received confused stares, including Dave's semi-one eyebrow up, one down thing.
"What does that mean?" Justine asked.
James took one of the boxes at looked at it. "No, I got one of those on my Graduation, and it said 'Please do not attempt to open this parcel until Saturday, the whatever day of June, two thousand-one."
"Oh." Everyone said, but the majority was still confused.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" James exclaimed as they all ran outside of the school, forgetting, for the time, their mysterious gifts and the even more mysterious sender.
` $ % ^
The next day, John and James got up and almost immediately, since they slept late after being up all night, and called John's (and James's) friends.
"It's so great that your mom and all of their parents let them come over today, being the first day of SUMMER VACATION!!!" James exclaimed, being rarely able to come down to Brick, and even more rare seeing John's friends.
"Shhh. It's ringing." John said. James quieted down.
"Oooh, I'm so happy!!!!"
"Shhh! Hello. Christine? Yeah. I know, this is so great! Yeah, my mom said um… around eleven. Okay. Yeah, we'll come pick you up. Mom's not in a good mood? No, didn't think so. All right then, see you soon. Love ya, bye." John hung up the phone.
"Well…" James said.
"She's coming. We just have to get her. She does live twenty minutes away, in Toms River.
"Fine then." James said finally as he got his shoes on and headed out to the car.
"Come on, ma! We can't drive yet!" John yelled as he rushed down the stairs.
"Thank God…" Mrs. Jennette said as she closed the door behind her and sat in the car.
"I can't wait! I can't wait!" James said.
"Oh… Neither can I…" John said dreamily. Even after one day he missed Christine.
"Okay, Romeo. You can shut up now." James called from the front seat.
They all sat the rest of the ride in comfort in the air-conditioned Blazer. Finally, they pulled into the driveway of the Barton residence in Toms River. John walked up to get Christine.
"Hello." John said as he and Christine walked down the steps hand-in-hand.
"Hi." Christine said with a kiss on the cheek. It was then that John noticed the difference.
"There's something different about you."
"Well, duh. I'm a HIGH SCHOOLER now!!!!!!! Whoopie!"
"No, it's something bigger. About your appearance."
"Huh?"
Christine had changed. Her hair was a little bushier, and she had it down. Her eyes were brown instead of the usual enchanting green. Most of all, she didn't have glasses.
"Really?" Christine said after John told her this. Well, there's something about you."
John had darker, shorter hair than the night before. His eyes were now green instead of blue. He also had a mark under his bangs that you could just barely make out.
"Oh… Okay." John said after realizing this. "And I feel like I need glasses. Hmm." He shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. His fingers touched something round and smooth. He withdrew from his pocket a pair of black glasses. "Hmm. How convenient." He put the glasses on his nose.
Christine, after staring quizzically into John's eyes and getting the same look back, stepped toward the car. "Come on!" She said. "I can't wait to see James!" She ran to the car with John behind her.
"Hi Christine!" James said as Christine slipped into the back seat with John and closed the door.
"Hello, Christine." John's mom greeted. "How's it feel being in high school?"
"Oh, it's great! I can't wait…" She broke off as she looked to John. "Till we get to your house, let's go!"
The blue car backed out of the driveway, turned around, and started for home.
"…Yeah, it was so fun!" Christine said to James, with John listening, as the four sped toward home. "Me and Liz braided Dave's and John's hair, I have a picture it was so… so…" She broke off into a yawn. "…so… tired. You don't know how late I stayed up last night…" She reached sleepily into her purse and slowly pulled out a small iZone camera picture and handed it to James. "Here…" She leaned back into the seat.
"Yeah, come to think of it, I'm beat too." John said. James just nodded as he took the picture and turned around in his seat to examine it.
"Haha! That's great!" He exclaimed as he turned to give the picture back to Christine. "Here you go…" He looked to Christine. She was sleeping. Her head was resting on John's shoulder. John was sitting right there next to her, sound asleep, too, resting his head gently on his girlfriend's. They were both peacefully resting; you could her the soft breathing of content if you listened hard enough over the rumble of the highway. "Awww… James sighed, and resting his head in his palm, watched sleepily the couple that was snoozing in the back seat.
"We're here." John's mom said as the car pulled to a stop in the Jennette driveway.
As if by some unexplainable force, John and Christine both rose slowly as soon as the Blazer stopped. They blinked, stared at each other for a moment, and smiled. Then they opened the car door and stepped out into the sunlight.
"And look who followed us!" James declared as he stepped from the car. "David!" He pointed to a small shape making its way down the quiet street. "At least I think it is, but who else comes down here?" He looked toward the cul-de-sac. The Jennette house was second from last. "We're like the last people down here."
"Yeah, it is him!" John confirmed as the car got within clear visual distance.
"Oh, joy." Christine said, half of dislike, half of joy that she'll be able to see another friend again before the long summer.
"Hey, John. Christine." David said with a nod as he passed the couple. "What's up, James?" He gave James a high-five.
"Oh, nothing."
"Cool." The four friends walked into the house. They trudged into the living room and plopped onto the sofa. John, Christine, and James sat on the couch while Dave sat alone on the smaller loveseat that was also positioned in the room. John, Christine, and James were all still groggy while David was as perky as he's ever been.
"So, what's new, even though I saw you all last night?" Dave asked, bouncing slightly in his seat. The other three just nodded sleepily.
Suddenly James perked up and slipped over to the seat with David and began telling him something. "Want to know what happened?" John caught, but the rest turned to a warbled whisper as he fell asleep again, and Christine right beside him.
Christine regained consciousness and was bombarded with noise. She kept her eyes closed, though. She didn't want to wake up; she was so tired. "Man, I have to adjust to this summer sleep plan now that school's over."
"Hey!" She heard a muffled James say. She heard footsteps walking to the door. She heard Marie's voice as the two walked back into the living room.
"Awww…" Marie said as she plopped rather violently next to the still sleepy John and Christine. "Come on, wake up!"
Christine and John sat upright in the couch and looked around. David was still sitting on the loveseat, and James plopped down beside him. Marie was sitting on the sofa along with Christine and John. The two blinked and woke up back to full comprehension.
"Ahhh, that felt good." Christine murmured. "I needed rest."
"Now you can say you've slept with a guy, too." Marie said, looking at John, who was also waking up right next to Christine, who responded to Marie with a laugh, an acknowledgement, and a glance at John.
"I just don't get how you two could sleep through all this." David said as the doorbell rang. "See?"
John's mother answered the door. "It's Justine!" She called to the friends. Justine walked down the hallway, and stopped in the entranceway to the living room. She looked at John and Christine, who were still very close together, still trying to shake the last remnant of sleep from their mind. "Ahem… um…" Justine coughed, looking at the two.
"I know," Marie said, putting her arm on Christine's shoulder. "They slept together."
"Would you stop that." David said, with a cough from Justine. "You're making it sound… Unclean…"
Justine was still staring at John and Christine warily. John waved and smiled at her. Christine responded with a "Shut up, you wish you could do this with a guy. We were just tired." Justine looked taken aback.
"Now come on." James spoke up; he was unusually quiet up until now. "Let's go outside. We can wait for Liz, Matt, and Chris there."
"Oh, Liz can't come today." Christine said. "I almost forgot. She left on a trip to somewhere or other. That's why she didn't call you, John."
"And Chris has a final karate tournament." Dave added. "Just Matt is coming."
"Oh… Okay." John stammered, disappointed. "Let's go and make do with who's here." The six friends walked out to the backyard.
James stopped at the threshold of the back deck sliding door. "Hold on, I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right out." He walked back into the house.
"All right, don't be expecting him any time soon." John said. James was known for taking a long time in the bathroom fixing his hair, or whatever.
The five friends walked out to the grassy backyard and sat in the sunlight that streamed onto the grass. The birds were chirping and the squirrels were running back and forth. The sound of the neighborhood wafted up over the house from the front.
"Okay, wonder when Matt will get here." Dave said.
"I don't know, but – hey… You look different." Marie said, glancing across the circle to Dave.
"Me?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, you."
"Oh, okay. I just didn't know why you would ever be staring at me…"
"Oh, okay – Hey!" Marie exclaimed, getting up and starting for David, who began to scamper away. Marie gave pursuit, anger in her eyes.
"Have fun!" Christine yelled to the two friends/enemies.
"I wonder what she meant by 'different.'" John said.
"I don't know."
"Hey, you two look different." Justine observed.
"Oh, yeah." Christine said. "That kind of different. We know."
"Oh."
"You're changed too." John said. "You've got… Better hair, you know, straighter, shinier, that sort of thing. And you've actually got colored eyes." Justine took pride in the fact that she had jet-black eyes.
"Oh, thank you…" Justine said smoothly, trying to look pretty.
"Justine, stop it." Christine said, giving her a small punch.
"OWWWW!!! Ow! Ow! Ow!"
"Stop it, you big baby." Justine quieted down as David and Marie sat back down. Marie was eyeing Dave with a mean stare. David looked intimidated.
"Like I was saying." Marie said. "You look different. You have redder hair than you used to have, and your eyes are more green."
"Well…" Dave said, trying to find a flatteringly smooth voice. He couldn't find one. "You look absolutely lovely. You have strait auburn hair. Love it. Sparkling green eyes. Positively gorgeous." Marie started for him again, and Dave, with a smile on his face, ran away again.
"Hey, guys!" A voice called from the sliding doors. It was Matthew. "I'm here!"
"Hey, Matt!" Dave quickly greeted as he flew by, evading Marie's pursuit.
"Ahhh. David. Picking up the ladies again, all right!"
At that, Marie stopped in her tracks and glared at Matt. Or she thought it was Matt.
Matthew, like his friends, had changed, too, but more so than the others. He had shrunk a bit and was now shorter than everyone there. His hair actually looked like he cut it and it was blonde-white, a most noticeable difference. He walked down the steps and out into the backyard.
"Hey, you guys are different." Matt said, tilting his head a little.
"We know." Everyone said in almost perfect unison.
"We know." David said, a little late. He smiled sheepishly as everyone looked at him.
"I saw the boxes that we got last night on the table, so I brought them out. They did say to open them on Saturday, right?" It was true; everyone else forgot about them.
"Oh yeah!" David said and ran to help Matt with the strange gifts. The two brought them into the middle of the yard and sat down, dumping them in the middle of the circle they made. Each person took his or her box.
"What is it?" Christine said, not so much to the others than to herself. She turned the box over and over, looking at it from every angle. They were small, about three inches long and two inches wide. They were wrapped in a shimmering gold foil substance, which was glowing and flashing more brilliantly than they had been since the night before.
"Okay, this is all really strange." Marie said, shuddering.
"It's like we're changing into other people, or something." Dave said.
"Hey, that's it! Dave… You were actually smart there." John said. David smiled smugly.
"Yeah, that has to be it." Christine said. "John, ever since you picked me up, I noticed that you looked like someone, but I just thought I was dreaming or something."
"She's right." Justine said. "You look like Harry Potter."
"Really? But how?" John exclaimed.
"I don't know." Justine said.
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. I'm confused." Dave said bewilderedly.
"Well, John's turned into Harry Potter, kinda, and you are… Ron. I guess." Marie said finally. Dave tried to put on eyebrow up in confusion, but couldn't so he just stared at Marie blankly. Then, he gasped and nodded his head.
"Oh. I get it! This is cool!"
"Good."
"Wait!" Christine exclaimed. She picked up her gift. "The prophesy! 'At the end of this day, all things will change'." She read. "'Some think it cool," She looked at Dave. "Some think it strange'." She looked over at Marie.
"What was once blue will now turn to green'." Came a voice from behind Christine. John, understanding what Christine was getting at, joined in.
"Your eyes." Justine said.
"Yeah, and…" John said. "I know you like my eyes, so?"
Justine was taken aback. "I do not! No, your eyes, they were blue and now they're green."
"Oh yeah…"
"'The rim-enclosed eyes will be freely seen'." Dave continued.
"Justine." Matt said. "You had glasses, but now you don't, you use contacts."
"What about me?" Christine asked. "It means me." I don't need glasses."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about you." Matt said. Christine looked at him evilly.
"Yeah, me. I'm Hermione." Christine said.
"What about me? I look like Hermione too." Marie said.
"Yeah, but Hermione has brown eyes, not green." John said.
"Oh… Okay…" Marie said quietly. "'Past loves will be gone as new ones appear'." Marie read. She looked up at Dave, who looked sad. "Yes, yes, YES!!!!"
"But how do you know they mean you?" Dave asked hopefully.
John and Christine looked at each other. They raised their eyebrows as if to say, 'Us?' John glanced over at Justine, who was looking at him dreamily. He turned back to Christine, sharing the mutual look of disgust.
"Ah, ah, ewww!" Christine whined, looking back and forth from John to Justine.
John was just whining.
"Okay, we'll try to forget that." Christine said. "'The two that were chums will now live in fear'." She looked perplexed. "But we're all 'chums'."
"Oh well," Dave said, looking nervously at Matt, who was his friend since first grade.
"'The evil one will now love spiritual stuff'… Ahem, well… Mm!" Justine broke off as everyone turned to look at her. She was known as 'The Mechanical Thing of Evil.'
"'And as for the remaining one's change, nothing much'." Matt finished. "Who didn't we get? John's eyes, Christine's eyes, Dave's love to Marie, me and Dave's friendship, Justine's evil, everyone's covered."
"Oh, well." Christine sighed. "We'll wait and see what else happens. Now, what's in this box, I wonder?"
Everyone picked up his or her gifts again.
"Hmm…" John murmured.
"Open it!" Justine shrieked impatiently.
"All right! All right!" John replied. He cautiously picked the paper off of the parcel. He didn't rip it off, and neither did anyone else, either because of fear, or of the paper's obviously magical beauty.
John was first to completely uncover his box. He held out a surprisingly plain, ordinary, rather small cardboard box. "Well…"
"Open it!" Justine shrieked again.
"Shut up!" Christine said, hitting Justine.
John opened the box and withdrew two pieces of paper. One was a ticket and one was a folded up note. Everyone else had these items also.
"Greetings, I hope you enjoy this little trip." John read. "'I know how much you six love this world, so I've chosen to bring you here. I suppose your official letter will arrive soon. This is all I can say at the time, have fun!' Okay, that made a lot of sense."
"Right…" Matt said. "But we know who you three are," He looked at Dave, John, and Christine. "But who are we?" He motioned to himself, Justine, and Marie.
As soon as he said that, six glowing balls of light rose out of the ground.
"Wha?" everyone yelled, spinning around to see the lights.
"We're the next Digidestined!" Dave screamed out. "Yeah! I hope I get Koromon!"
"Huh?" everyone asked. John was examining the light balls.
"They're not Digivices! They're boxes!"
"Okay, so we're not the next Digidestined. We're the next group of Animorphs!" Dave switched. "Oh yeah! Uh huh! I call getting to be called 'Prince Dave'!"
Everyone gave him very weird looks, and then ran over to the boxes to look at them closer. Matt reached out and touched one of the boxes. Everyone else followed what he did. As they touched the boxes, a shiver swept over them.
"Weird." Dave said after a while.
Then, the boxes grew until they were all different sizes. Some were square and some were rectangular, but John's was the only one that was long and thin.
John stepped forward to open his box. Everyone had moved back when the boxes started changing shape. "Cool! A Firebolt!" He exclaimed when he opened his box. Everyone stared at John as he took his hands from the box. Resting in the palms of his hands was a long, thin, sleek racing broom. Each birch twig in the tail was perfectly smooth and streamlined. It even had it's own registration number, written in gold near the top of the handle: 724527. Everyone was speechless.
David was first to break the silence. "Got anything else?"
John rummaged through the box. Finally he found something. "Whoa! An Invisibility Cloak!" He picked out the silvery, silky cloak to show everyone. If you could weave water into a fabric, this was made of it. It fell through his hands like it was liquid.
"Try it on!" Justine yelled.
John put on the cloak and looked down at his feet. They were gone. He covered himself with the cloak and snuck around behind Justine. "BOO!" He yelled in her ear.
"YAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Justine screamed and whirled around. "Jennette…" she threatened.
"Got ya!" John teased. Everyone was rolling on the ground laughing, except Justine, of course. John took off his cloak to see what everyone else had gotten.
David opened his box second. It was stuffed with all kinds of wizard sweets and candies. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, licorice wands, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Ice Mice, Pepper Imps, Toothflossing Stringmints, sugar-spun quills, exploding bon-bons, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes. There were also two sets of Exploding Snap and a brand new wizard chess set.
Marie's box was opened next. It was very small. It held a tiny address book with the names of every one she had ever met. It was an Exedolor. All she had to do was tap a name with her wand, say "Envisio," and she would be able to see and talk to that person, anytime, anywhere. She also got a Finder. It looked like a snow globe with nothing in it except glitter. When you want to find something, you just turn it upside-down, say what you want to find, and turn it right side up. When the glitter fades, it shows you what you wanted to find and where it is.
"This doesn't say anything about who I am." Marie said. "But it is cool." She held up the Exedolor. "Now I can 'check up' on a certain guy from Sundae's…" She smiled, looking to Christine, who was also smiling.
"But who are you?" Dave enquired. "You're not from any Harry Potter book I've read."
"I don't know." Christine said. "But this reminds me of a book I read on Fanfiction.net—"
"Yes! Fanfiction.net! It's where she's from. She has to be Rachel Witt from the Chalice of the Enchanter!" John yelled.
"Yeah, I guess!" Marie said.
"Okay, then, but what did you people get?" Dave asked.
Christine opened her package. Everyone could guess what was inside. Piles of textbooks poured from the package. The entire Standard Book of Spells series, Hogwarts: A History, Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More), Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do With Them Now That You've Wised Up, Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, The Monster Book of Monsters, (That one wouldn't stay still!) The Invisible Book of Invisibility, (I think, who can tell? It's invisible!), Quidditch Through the Ages, and even A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. She didn't get any books on Divination, though. Christine hated Divination.
Justine opened her package next. In it were a white porcelain tea set with blue designs, a big, round, clear crystal ball with its own stand, and textbooks about anything Divination. Predicting the Unpredictable: Insulate Yourself Against Shocks, Broken Balls: When Fortunes Turn Foul, and Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming. "What's all this?" Justine asked disgustingly. "I don't want this!"
"But if you're Parvati Patil, you would." John said "Because that's who you are."
Justine quieted down and sat motionless. She kept glancing over at the gifts she got and muttering, "useless junk." She wouldn't even take it out of the box. All of it just sat nestled in the box among the tissue paper it was wrapped in.
Matt was the last to open his box. As he opened it, a brilliant light shone from inside. He lifted the lid all the way. His box was stuffed, like Dave's, but it wasn't filled with candies, it was filled with wizard money. Bronze Knuts, Silver Sickles, and Gold Galleons shimmered in the sunlight. He tilted the box so the money fell out onto his lap. Matt looked confused at the strange currency, but then started digging around, trying to count it all. "What's this?" he asked as he pulled out a little, thick, black book. On the cover, Professor Snyder's Little Book of Nasty Remarks and Comments was written in gold.
"You don't plan on using that, do you?" John asked, a bit worried.
"Not unless I have to." Matt answered slyly, a small grin on his face.
Once everyone had opened their packages, they all took turns flying around on John's Firebolt. They were under his Invisibility Cloak, of course, so as not to be seen. On her turn, Christine went up and didn't come back down for five minutes, everyone thought she had gotten lost up there, while Justine wouldn't even touch the broom. When they had all had their turn, they all sat around examining their mysterious gifts.
About 3 seconds later, there was a rustling in the bushes. Everyone started inching backward, afraid of whatever might come out. Suddenly, two cats and three owls came rushing out of the trees and bushes, straight at the little group.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Justine screamed, running away.
"Hedwig?" John exclaimed as a large white snowy owl came flying down and rested on his outstretched arm. "Where'd you come from? This is too cool!" Hedwig hooted softly in John's ear and nipped his finger affectionately.
"Pig!" Dave yelled. A miniscule gray owl came fluttering out of the trees. It looked like a very furry flying mouse. It flew around Dave's head, twittering happily.
"His name is Pigwidgeon!" Marie corrected defiantly.
"Whatever."
A big ginger cat came prowling out of the bushes. Its big round eyes and pug-like face looked around. It spotted Christine and ran over to her. "Crookshanks!" she exclaimed as she stroked the cat's fluffy fur. It purred loudly as she pet it.
"Buttercup!" Marie squealed. Everyone looked around, but couldn't see anything. Then they saw Marie hugging a very small kitten. It was a soft gray color with white stripes and a white spot on its forehead. "It's so cute!" Buttercup mewed softly as Marie stroked its tiny head.
Then, finally a great big eagle owl came swooping down and landed on Matt's shoulder. "Ah, hello, Julius." Matt greeted the owl as its big amber eyes watched everything that was going on. It ruffled its long brown feathers when it saw Hedwig, but calmed down after a while.
Justine didn't seem to care that she didn't have a pet. Actually, she looked slightly happy.
Just then, a big tawny owl came gliding in and dropped an envelope on John's lap. Then it flew away almost as suddenly as it came. As John opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, everyone crowded in for a better look. Even Justine, who tried to stay as far away from the animals as she could, walked up.
John cleared his throat and started reading:
Headmaster: albus dumbledore
(Order Of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, Miss Witt, & Miss Patil,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
When Harry finished reading, all six young wizards and witches looked at each other, with eyes widening and smiles growing even larger.
"WE'RE GOING TO HOGWARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they all screamed at the top of their lungs, so the whole neighborhood could hear. They all jumped around and let loose all their happiness.
"But how will we get there?" Justine asked, always the one to spoil a good time.
"I don't know." Dave replied, very unhappily.
"I don't want to hear it." Marie cried. "The happiest moment of my life, destroyed." She sat in the grass unhappily.
"Well, what do you call these then?" John asked, beaming. He held up the other half of the gifts that everyone forgot yet again. They were train tickets for Platform 9 ¾.
"Yeah, but how do we get there?" Justine asked again.
"We'll think of that tomorrow. It's getting dark. Why don't you guys sleep over?" They had lost track of time in all the excitement. Everyone agreed and trudged inside, pets and belongings at their sides.
"So, how'd it go?" James asked when they entered the house. He was sitting on the couch casually watching the television.
"How long have you been out of the bathroom? Why didn't you come out?" John asked.
"Oh, yeah. I… uh, well you already know about Hogwarts and all that." James said. "Well, gosh, how can I put this? Um, The same thing happened to me, when I was in eighth grade, last year. I would have been in fifth year, like you are going to be —"
"Wait. Fifth year?" Christine asked. "Fifth year? But we're only thirteen and fourteen; we'd be in third year. You're in fifth year when you are fifteen and sixteen; sophomores."
"Yeah, I was confused about that too." James explained, leaning back on the couch and putting his hands behind his head. "But Dumbledore said that since we know so much we are the equivalent of fifth year material. Anyway, I would have been in fifth year, like you are going to be, but I knew you guys would be coming, so I asked Dumbledore if I could wait another year, to be in your classes."
"What House are you in?" Dave asked.
"That's… Confidential."
"But wouldn't you change too?" Matt asked. "I mean we did, and you didn't seem any different than when I saw you last summer."
"Well, that's confidential too."
"What?" Marie asked.
"You'll see when you get to Hogwarts."
"How – " Justine started. James put up a hand to silence her.
"I wonder what'll happen to Chris and Liz?" Matt said. "They got a gift thingy too."
"I don't know." James said, running a hand through his brown/blonde hair. "But I bet Dumbledore has it under control, as usual."
"Oh, okay."
"Okay, guys." John's mom came into the room. "I called all your parents and they said you all can stay the night." Cheers met her ears. "But, Christine, your mom was a little iffy about it. So you'd better… behave." She glanced at John, then at James.
"Okay." Christine answered.
"But I know I can trust you. You know how moms get." John's mother said and left. "Get to bed!" She called as she walked upstairs.
"Where are we sleeping?" Marie asked, casting a nervous glance at Dave.
"Well," John said. "The boys can sleep down here and the girls can sleep upstairs in my room. I'll make the sacrifice."
"Oh, okay…" Dave said halfheartedly.
"Well, I'd better get my things, come on girls." John said.
"Huh?" Dave asked.
"I'm sleeping with the girls because there's no room down here."
"What?!" Justine exclaimed, with a false air of infuriation. Christine, though, perked up. David looked disappointed.
"No, I'm kidding." John said. Justine looked relieved. Christine, along with Dave, was confused. "Come on up, guys, there's room." Dave and Christine were happy once again, while Justine and even more so Marie were very, very angry.
When they got upstairs, they immediately began fighting over sleeping areas. It ended up being John and Christine in each of the two twin beds that were in the room, Dave in the little space between the beds, Matt over near the closet, James and Marie on the floor at the foot of one bed, and Justine in the chair at John's desk. Once they settled down and turned out the lights, John whispered, "Good night, everyone."
"Night, John. I love you." Came Christine's reply from the other bed. They were sleeping in John's room, which he shared with his brother, Anthony. Therefore, there were two beds in the room. Everyone else had fallen asleep before their heads hit their pillows.
Little did they know that from that moment, John Jennette, Christine Barton, David Metts, Marie Karpodinis, Matt Gullace, and Justine Mata were no more. Harry Potter, Rachel Witt, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and Parvati Patil had come in and (somewhat) taken over.
T H E
G R A D U A T I O N
It all started that late evening in mid-June. June 13th to be exact. At about 8:30pm, in Brick, New Jersey, in a small school know as St. Thomas, tons of people filed out of the chapel that was St. Thomas Lutheran Church. The majority of the people walked directly from the little church to the little gymnasium. Among them were sixteen finely dressed high school-bound students. It was Graduation Night.
"Man, I can't believe were finally outta this school!" Said Marie Karpodinis, one of the eighth-grade graduates. She had short brown hair, sparkling brown eyes, and a great smile, even with braces.
"Yeah, thank God." Her friend Christine Barton replied. Christine was another graduate. She also had shoulder-length hair but with blonde highlights. She took off her glasses and wiped them, then put them back in front of her lively green eyes.
"Yup, Saint Rose, here I come!" David Metts shouted. David was yet another graduate. He had light brown hair in a bowl cut and green eyes. And no, he does not like the Mets; he's more of a Red Sox fan. He also is a big Marie Karpodinis fan.
"You mean, here we come." John replied. He had short brown hair and blue eyes. He was David and Marie's friend. He was a bit more than friends with Christine.
"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry. I forgot abut you."
"Mmm hmm."
"Hey what's everyone doin'?" Matthew Gullace said from behind the group. Matt was another friend, with shorter brown hair and brown eyes. He was also going to St. Rose High School. He was wearing a light blue suit with matching top hat, and he was holding a cane.
A taller version of Matt walked up behind them. It was Matt's brother, Chris. He had short black hair and brown eyes, and had a famous deep voice. He was outfitted with an orange suit with top hat and cane like his brother; the movie-crazed brothers were trying to go 'Dumb and Dumber'. "Hey, Dave." He said, giving his friend a high-five.
"'Sup, Chris?"
"Aw, come on, I was just sitting with you for an hour plus in that hot place. I think you should know what's up."
"Yeah, and if John took one more minute on that speech of his, I would have died." Marie complained with a friendly, yet terribly strong, one-two 'pinky-punch' to John's shoulder.
"Aw, it wasn't that long." John replied, massaging his hurt shoulder. John was the class valedictorian.
"I know."
"Come on, guys. Let's go outside." Christine looked out the window to the now royal blue-black sky and the streetlight illuminated school parking lot. "It is burning up in here!" It was true; the gymnasium was filling up with more students, parents, grandparents, and long lost second cousins every minute.
"Okay." Everyone agreed.
"Wait! Wait! John!" Came a voice above the loud murmur of the congregation in the gym. "John!"
John turned around to see what the noise was coming from. A short elderly lady with light blonde curly hair came hurrying out of the crowd in front of the doorway. A man followed her with gray hair on the sides of his head and a bald patch on top.
"Grandma! Grandpa! I didn't see you in here!" John said as he ran over to the couple and – bending down slightly – gave them a hug.
"Your mother told me you were over here. I just fought my way over here. It's crowed!" John's grandmother said.
"Yeah, it is."
"Here you go. Happy Graduation… or whatever you call this thing." She said with a laugh. "Just a lil' spending money."
"Yeah, thanks." John said. He opened the envelope that his grandma gave him.
"What you get?" Dave said, leaning over John's shoulder. "What you get?"
"Calm down!" John tore the envelope and held out $200.
"Whoa!" Dave exclaimed. "That's 'spending money'?"
John's grandma smiled and walked away.
"Yeah, I guess so." John said smiling.
"Oh, it's not that much." Came a voice from behind Dave's shoulder.
"YAHHH! Don't do that!" Dave screamed as he turned his head and came face- to-face with Justine Mata.
"What? It's not that much." Justine repeated. She had black hair, black eyes, and wore a blood red dress and a scowl.
"Oh, hi." John said.
"Wait." Dave said. "Did you just say 'it's not that much'?"
"Well, sure. After all, I am rich." she boasted with a flick of her hair.
"You know, Justin, shut up." Christine said, anxious to get outside into the cool June breeze. The group turned to leave, when yet another shout caught their ears.
"Hey, guys! I was looking for you!" Elizabeth Bova fought her way around a gaggle of people crowded around the snack table where the group of friends/graduates was gathered.
"Hey, I was wondering where you were." Marie said.
"Taking pictures." Liz answered, holding up a camera.
"Oh, I see." Matt replied.
"Come on, guys. Can we go outside, I'm hot." Chris whined.
"Yeah, let's go." Marie said.
"John, Dave, Christine, Matt, Chris, Liz, Marie, Justine, remember, graduation pictures in a few minutes. Don't go getting lost, and don't let me catch you starting fires or something." A tall blonde adult called to them. It was Nancy Tancona, the eighth grade teacher.
"No, that would be Everett and Brian." Christine answered. They were caught back in early April at the Academic Fair playing with a lighter.
"Yeah, you're right." Mrs. Tancona said. "I wouldn't dream of you guys doing something like that, especially our valedictorian." She looked at John, who was smiling and gaining envious stares from his friends. "By the way, where are those other guys?" She turned to leave, but reversed abruptly. "Oh, yeah. Dave, Marie, Matt, Chris, Justine, and Liz, you're wanted in the narthex." Mrs. Tancona walked out of the gym.
"Man, is there some conspiracy that is keeping us from going outside?" Marie complained.
"Yeah, the Russian Government is trying to prevent you from going outside because you might overhear the secret plans for world domination." Christine joked with a smile at her and John's fortune of freedom.
"Yeah, whatever." Matt retorted as he and the others walked out into the church area. "We'll meet you outside, okay?"
"Okay." John said. He and Christine walked out the other door and into the darkness that was the St. Thomas parking lot.
"Man, I can't believe it's all over." Christine said softly as she and John, hand-in-hand, strolled past the cars and scattered children and to the end of the parking lot, near the field. "And we can finally get out of this trailer park!" Christine had a – not so unusual – habit of badmouthing the school.
"Yeah, but I'll miss it, just like I'll miss you." John replied. He and Christine were going to different high schools.
"You're right, but I hope you'll miss me more than you'll miss here."
"Of course."
"Oh, okay. Just checking."
"Hey, you know, it's quiet. Too quiet." John said, looking around he and his girlfriend warily. "Just checking for little red-haired field mice."
"Yeah." Christine replied, and she started to laugh.
They were talking about Everett Ravens, one of their ex-classmates. He was expelled in mid-May after being outrageously bad on the eighth grade three- day trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, but usually came back to STCA to see his friends and pick on John and his buddies. He was the shortest eighth grader, with Justine trailing him by a fraction of an inch, and was always joked friendly about it. He had short red hair and was always picking on mostly John and Christine, but also their friends, ever since school started in September.
Everyone hated him, except his cronies, Matt Freeman, a tall boy with an appetite for sports, and when thinking about his hair, 'mashed potatoes mixed with brown gravy' comes to mind, Mike Luberto, another brown haired kid with a strange sense of humor, Brian Van Note, yet another brunette that also was vicious to Christine, more so than Everett, and Jack Nugent, a shrimpy blonde boy with a big nose that even he made fun of, and also the biggest follower St. Thomas has ever seen.
"Nope, he's not there." Christine said after a while.
"Oh, good." John replied. "I thought I heard people talking over near the office before, but I guess it's just sixth graders or something.
The couple walked out more into the field, and looked at each other.
"You know," John said, tears welling in his eyes. "Even though I know we'll see each other still, I am really going to miss you."
"Me too." Christine added, also with tears just waiting to fall.
"You'll miss yourself too?" John asked.
"Oh, you know what I mean." Christine said with a weak laugh, wiping away her premature tears.
"Yes, I do." John said softly, holding Christine in his arms.
"Good." Christine whispered, looking up at John, tears returning.
The two stared into each other's eyes for a while, then they moved closer to each other. Their eyes closed as the tears came and their lips touched as the kiss happened in the St. Thomas field.
John was bombarded with senses as soon as his lips touched his girl's, and continued, tears streaming and hands stroking Christine's hair. Christine had the same reaction, but with a thought in the back of her mind: She'll be leaving John soon and going to school with Kathryn, Sara, and Anthony, all people she'd rather kill.
Sara Pancurak was another graduate at STCA. She had long blonde hair, brown eyes, and a bossy nature. She was the first half of 'The Royalty,' a name given to her and her very close friend Kathryn because they think that they are richer and superior to the rest of the school.
Kathryn Collins was the second half of the graduating 'Royalty.' She had black hair and brown eyes. She was just like Sara in attitude. Both she and Sara had a natural hatred toward Christine, Marie, and Liz.
Anthony Defabritus, or 'DeFabulous,' was another eight-grader that used to go to St. Thomas but left after seventh grade. He was part of Everett's gang, and had brown eyes and hair that was spiked up. He was always gloomy and wanted everyone to 'forget him' at the end of last year.
"Awww, B/F and Salami making out in the field. Look at that!"
And suddenly, the tears stopped, the strokes stopped, but the kiss continued. Everett.
"Awww, look, isn't this romantic?" Everett mocked, a few feet behind John. Matt Freeman, Mike, Brian, and Jack all appeared and gathered around with Everett, laughing.
John had only one thing in his mind: ignore, keep kissing and show Everett that 'I don't care.' He also heard the gym door open and close off in the distance, releasing a snippet of sound from the crowded gymnasium, and he also heard Everett's taunts, joined by his hit men's getting closer.
Christine must have had the same thought, because she didn't do anything to break the kiss or react to Everett. Both her and her love had red ears and anxious thoughts.
"Awww, this is priceless," John heard Everett a few inches behind him, obviously trying to push him over the edge. He also heard Sara and Kathryn on the other side of Christine, just arrived, but already taunting and laughing fiercely. "Mr. Big B/F and the – AHHHHHH!!!!!!!"
It all happened in one fluent motion, with John and Christine moving as one. The talented couple, without breaking their kiss, both swung their legs out and kicked Everett, Sara, and Kathryn as hard as they could. Christine swung her leg in a wide arc, hitting both of The Royalty at once, while John just shot backward a nailed Everett with all his power. Christine and John both snorted into their kiss with silent laughter. They didn't care who was watching or where they hit them, they just kicked, and that's all that mattered. They've been wanting to do that since they don't even remember.
And, to make the scene better, a blinding flash of light contrasting on the dark field and shouts and laughs suddenly erupted as soon as the feet made contact. Everett, Brian, Mike, and Matt all slunk off, cursing, with Jack trailing behind. Sara and Kathryn ran away crying, probably to their parents. John and Christine finally ended the great kiss to see what all the commotion was about.
They were immediately bombarded by a heap of students, unable to be recognized in the darkness, all shouting, laughing, or making some other type of racket.
"You did it! You did it! That was great!" One deep voice said.
"Awesome! That was priceless!" Said another.
"You should have seen the look on their faces! You definitely need to make that mind-to-video machine, John! Be the Enforcer!"
"Nice, kiss, Christine! You're following in my footsteps of greatness!" Another voice said with a smug confident tone.
"And I've got a picture of it!"
Another voice kept laughing and couldn't say a word. "Aha! Ah! Ahahaha! Aha!" along with coughs and sputters in between.
"Come on, grads! Pictures!" Came Mrs. Tancona's voice from the church area.
John and Christine walked toward the light that was the chapel entrance. Passing under the streetlight, they could see that, as they expected, the voices that appeared after their fast footwork belonged to Chris, Matt, David, Marie, Liz, and Justine. The group of friends walked back to the school.
Out of the corner of their eyes, every one of the friends could see Everett and his clan and The Royalty slinking along behind them, staying clear of them and keeping to the shadows, watching John and his friends. They couldn't help but laugh.
"You know," Dave started. "Do you think they'll let Everett— " He was cut short by a telephone pole. Dave, paying more attention to his friends than his surroundings, walked right into the telephone pole next to the office. His arms and leg stuck out from the sides like a cartoon skier who hit a tree. Dave fell backwards with a thud. Everyone exploded in laughter. "Like I was saying, would Everett be in the graduation picture?"
"I don't know." John answered as he helped Dave up with a laugh.
"I mean, after all, he was a classmate."
"And he did drag his filthy carcass over here." Christine added.
"I don't think so. I mean he was kicked out of school." Marie concluded.
"You know, you actually sounded smart right there." David said, receiving a very strong punch in return. Then, Marie stood back and stared into David's eyes. She did not look happy. Suddenly, and to everyone's surprise, she flung herself at Dave and burrowed her face into his shoulder. Everybody, including Dave, was speechless.
"Oh, David," Marie said in between small sobs. "I'll miss you, I'll miss your big head, I'll miss hitting you… A lot."
Dave looked, wide-mouthed with happiness and speechless, up to John, Matt, and Chris. John and Chris gave him double thumbs up, while Matt was too speechless also.
"Awww, Marie." Dave said as he began, gingerly at first for fear of retaliation, to stroke his three-year heartthrob's hair. "I'll miss you too." He began to rub her shoulders.
"Don't… Touch me." Marie commanded as soon as David's hands touched her shoulders. She pushed away from the boy in front of her. "Ewww!" She exclaimed in her high-pitched squeal, "I can't believe I just did that!" And she punched David very hard once, twice, three, four, five times, leaving him gasping and clutching his shoulder in pain.
"Niiiice, Dave" Matt complimented, patting his friend's back. He's been trying to hook Marie up with Dave for a while now. They all jogged into the chapel.
"Thanks." Dave replied smugly, a huge smug smile on his face. "I knew it was coming sooner or later."
They could see the other graduates behind them, waiting for them to go in. George Calandriello, yet another graduate, was sitting inside the chapel, waiting for his fellow classmates to come in. George was a boy with light brown hair that was lifted up in the front. He had brown eyes and a smile that made him famous, even if it was harnessed in braces.
John, Christine, Dave, Marie, Matt, Chris, Liz, and Justine entered the room, greeting George, who joined them, and trying to warm up a little, even though it was mid-June; being outside in suits and dresses still made you cool.
"Come on, guys. We're waiting!" Mrs. Tancona prompted, anxious to get the pictures over with. "Where's the rest of the class?"
"Oh, they're coming." Christine answered with a backwards glance out the window to the rest of the students, peering in and waiting for Christine and the rest to go inside the church part.
"Oh, good." Mrs. Tancona led the students present into the chapel to get arranged for the picture. A professional photographer had all his stuff out and ready, from the camera to the lighted umbrellas.
Their teacher positioned them all around the altar at the front of the church. Dave stood to the left of the altar, with John beside him, who, of course, had Christine as close as she could get right in his free left arm. Marie was in front of Dave, who, with a grimace, had his palms on her shoulders. To the surprise of everyone, Marie made no sudden movement that could spell pain for the guy behind her. She actually, in a way, snuggled into Dave's hands. Dave looked to John, raising his eyebrows. John returned with thumbs up and a smile. Liz was positioned next to Marie up in front, standing before Christine. Chris was standing behind everyone, as he could easily rise above them all. His brother was next to him, with Justine in front of him. George stood at the very left of everyone.
"All right… That looks okay." Mrs. Tancona said, with the photographer agreeing.
Just then, Mike, Matt, Brian, Jack, Kathryn, and Sara came into the church, eyeing John and his friends warily and full of hatred, but also fear. Everett was limping behind them, and as he passed John, he mouthed something that John couldn't make out, but didn't want to.
"Everett," Mrs. Tancona commanded sternly, feeling no love for the little mouse. "Sit there." She pointed to the first pew, and Everett entered obediently.
Mrs. Tancona arranged the rest of the class on the other side of the altar, and then walked up behind it, in the middle. Kathryn and Sara, who had to stand in the front, tried to hide the fact that they had dirty dresses from the shoes and bruised knees from the kicks.
Mr. Blanken and Mrs. Hartigan walked in and up to the altar also. Mr. Blanken was an old man of sixty-two, who loved history and playing with his 'toys.' He taught sixth grade, but had the eighth grade for History class, so he got in the picture, too.
Mrs. Hartigan was a new teacher that year, with blonde hair and a kind nature and expression. She taught the seventh grade, along with eighth- grade Science, and stepped up to the altar, to the right of Mrs. Tancona, near Everett's group and The Royalty, while Mr. Blanken stood nearer to John and company.
"All right, ready?" The photographer said. "1, 2, 3!" There was a light that blinded everyone, along with a slight 'poof!' sound. "One more! 1, 2, 3!" Another light stunned the subjects and another 'poof!' reached their ears. "Okay."
The photographed people started filing down off the platform and steps on which the altar was placed. Everett immediately shot up and ran over to his cronies. The others walked out side and back into the gymnasium.
"Wait!" Mrs. Tancona called after John, Christine, Liz, Matt, Chris, Dave, Marie, and Justine. They all stopped as their former teacher ran up to them with a bag. "These are for you. Happy Graduation!" She handed gold boxes to everyone. "They must be from the office. I don't know anything about them. They came with a note that said that you should all examine them together. Don't ask, I'm always the last to know." And with that, she walked away. "Oh, and you all are coming back tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah." Everyone replied as their past teacher left.
"Hmmm." Dave said, looking over his box. "What is it?"
"Look!" Marie said, pointing to writing on the top of her box:
Ms. Marie 'Rachel' Karpodinis: Happy Graduation! Please do not attempt to open this parcel until Saturday, the fourteenth of June. A little hint to help ease the "pain":
At the close of this day, all things will change,
Some think it cool. Some think it strange.
What was once blue will now turn to green,
The rim-enclosed eyes will be freely seen.
Past loves will be gone as new ones appear,
The two that were chums will now live in fear.
The evil one will now love spiritual stuff,
And as for the remaining one's change, nothing much.
"Okay…" Marie said slowly.
"It sounds like a prophesy, you know, doo-doo-doo-doo! Doo-doo-doo-doo!" Dave mystically said, and began singing the Twilight Zone music.
"What's with the 'Rachel'?" Christine asked. "Wasn't that your nickname last year?"
"Yeah, but who'd write that on a gift?"
"Wasn't any of us." John said, the others agreeing.
"Well, what do yours say?" Marie asked.
"Mine says the same thing, but with Christine 'Pesh' Barton." Christine answered.
"And ours say John 'Harry' Rocco Jennette, David 'Ronald' Metts, Elizabeth 'Pansy' Bova, Matthew 'Draco' Gullace, Christopher 'Rubeus' Gullace, and Justine 'Parvati' Mata" John said.
"All with the same message." Matt added.
"Weird." Dave concluded. Everyone else nodded, trying to shake off the mystery and longing to open the mysterious gifts.
"Hey! John! Dave! Christine! Marie! Liz! Justine! Matt! Chris!" Came a voice that sounded like a ninth grader: deeper than the friends, but not as deep as Chris. Heads turned as a tall freshman walked up to the group.
"James!" Christine said.
"Hey, everyone." James replied, with scattered "Hi"s and "Hello"s reached his ears over the din of the gym.
"Moooooo!" Christine exclaimed.
"Mmmmmmoooooooooooo!" James answered. He had this thing where he imitated a cow, and Christine loved it.
James was a freshman at Oratory Prep in Summit, New Jersey. He had brown hair parted in the middle, with blonde streaks in it. He was wearing a backward hat, though, and you couldn't see his hair because it was tucked under the cap.
"So, how y'all doing?" James asked, not so much to John because he had been sleeping over his house since the middle of the week because he lived so far away: in Roselle Park.
Various answers were heard, along with a "We got these." David held up his box.
James stared at it in disbelief. "Is that what I think it is?" He received confused stares, including Dave's semi-one eyebrow up, one down thing.
"What does that mean?" Justine asked.
James took one of the boxes at looked at it. "No, I got one of those on my Graduation, and it said 'Please do not attempt to open this parcel until Saturday, the whatever day of June, two thousand-one."
"Oh." Everyone said, but the majority was still confused.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" James exclaimed as they all ran outside of the school, forgetting, for the time, their mysterious gifts and the even more mysterious sender.
` $ % ^
The next day, John and James got up and almost immediately, since they slept late after being up all night, and called John's (and James's) friends.
"It's so great that your mom and all of their parents let them come over today, being the first day of SUMMER VACATION!!!" James exclaimed, being rarely able to come down to Brick, and even more rare seeing John's friends.
"Shhh. It's ringing." John said. James quieted down.
"Oooh, I'm so happy!!!!"
"Shhh! Hello. Christine? Yeah. I know, this is so great! Yeah, my mom said um… around eleven. Okay. Yeah, we'll come pick you up. Mom's not in a good mood? No, didn't think so. All right then, see you soon. Love ya, bye." John hung up the phone.
"Well…" James said.
"She's coming. We just have to get her. She does live twenty minutes away, in Toms River.
"Fine then." James said finally as he got his shoes on and headed out to the car.
"Come on, ma! We can't drive yet!" John yelled as he rushed down the stairs.
"Thank God…" Mrs. Jennette said as she closed the door behind her and sat in the car.
"I can't wait! I can't wait!" James said.
"Oh… Neither can I…" John said dreamily. Even after one day he missed Christine.
"Okay, Romeo. You can shut up now." James called from the front seat.
They all sat the rest of the ride in comfort in the air-conditioned Blazer. Finally, they pulled into the driveway of the Barton residence in Toms River. John walked up to get Christine.
"Hello." John said as he and Christine walked down the steps hand-in-hand.
"Hi." Christine said with a kiss on the cheek. It was then that John noticed the difference.
"There's something different about you."
"Well, duh. I'm a HIGH SCHOOLER now!!!!!!! Whoopie!"
"No, it's something bigger. About your appearance."
"Huh?"
Christine had changed. Her hair was a little bushier, and she had it down. Her eyes were brown instead of the usual enchanting green. Most of all, she didn't have glasses.
"Really?" Christine said after John told her this. Well, there's something about you."
John had darker, shorter hair than the night before. His eyes were now green instead of blue. He also had a mark under his bangs that you could just barely make out.
"Oh… Okay." John said after realizing this. "And I feel like I need glasses. Hmm." He shrugged as he put his hands in his pockets. His fingers touched something round and smooth. He withdrew from his pocket a pair of black glasses. "Hmm. How convenient." He put the glasses on his nose.
Christine, after staring quizzically into John's eyes and getting the same look back, stepped toward the car. "Come on!" She said. "I can't wait to see James!" She ran to the car with John behind her.
"Hi Christine!" James said as Christine slipped into the back seat with John and closed the door.
"Hello, Christine." John's mom greeted. "How's it feel being in high school?"
"Oh, it's great! I can't wait…" She broke off as she looked to John. "Till we get to your house, let's go!"
The blue car backed out of the driveway, turned around, and started for home.
"…Yeah, it was so fun!" Christine said to James, with John listening, as the four sped toward home. "Me and Liz braided Dave's and John's hair, I have a picture it was so… so…" She broke off into a yawn. "…so… tired. You don't know how late I stayed up last night…" She reached sleepily into her purse and slowly pulled out a small iZone camera picture and handed it to James. "Here…" She leaned back into the seat.
"Yeah, come to think of it, I'm beat too." John said. James just nodded as he took the picture and turned around in his seat to examine it.
"Haha! That's great!" He exclaimed as he turned to give the picture back to Christine. "Here you go…" He looked to Christine. She was sleeping. Her head was resting on John's shoulder. John was sitting right there next to her, sound asleep, too, resting his head gently on his girlfriend's. They were both peacefully resting; you could her the soft breathing of content if you listened hard enough over the rumble of the highway. "Awww… James sighed, and resting his head in his palm, watched sleepily the couple that was snoozing in the back seat.
"We're here." John's mom said as the car pulled to a stop in the Jennette driveway.
As if by some unexplainable force, John and Christine both rose slowly as soon as the Blazer stopped. They blinked, stared at each other for a moment, and smiled. Then they opened the car door and stepped out into the sunlight.
"And look who followed us!" James declared as he stepped from the car. "David!" He pointed to a small shape making its way down the quiet street. "At least I think it is, but who else comes down here?" He looked toward the cul-de-sac. The Jennette house was second from last. "We're like the last people down here."
"Yeah, it is him!" John confirmed as the car got within clear visual distance.
"Oh, joy." Christine said, half of dislike, half of joy that she'll be able to see another friend again before the long summer.
"Hey, John. Christine." David said with a nod as he passed the couple. "What's up, James?" He gave James a high-five.
"Oh, nothing."
"Cool." The four friends walked into the house. They trudged into the living room and plopped onto the sofa. John, Christine, and James sat on the couch while Dave sat alone on the smaller loveseat that was also positioned in the room. John, Christine, and James were all still groggy while David was as perky as he's ever been.
"So, what's new, even though I saw you all last night?" Dave asked, bouncing slightly in his seat. The other three just nodded sleepily.
Suddenly James perked up and slipped over to the seat with David and began telling him something. "Want to know what happened?" John caught, but the rest turned to a warbled whisper as he fell asleep again, and Christine right beside him.
Christine regained consciousness and was bombarded with noise. She kept her eyes closed, though. She didn't want to wake up; she was so tired. "Man, I have to adjust to this summer sleep plan now that school's over."
"Hey!" She heard a muffled James say. She heard footsteps walking to the door. She heard Marie's voice as the two walked back into the living room.
"Awww…" Marie said as she plopped rather violently next to the still sleepy John and Christine. "Come on, wake up!"
Christine and John sat upright in the couch and looked around. David was still sitting on the loveseat, and James plopped down beside him. Marie was sitting on the sofa along with Christine and John. The two blinked and woke up back to full comprehension.
"Ahhh, that felt good." Christine murmured. "I needed rest."
"Now you can say you've slept with a guy, too." Marie said, looking at John, who was also waking up right next to Christine, who responded to Marie with a laugh, an acknowledgement, and a glance at John.
"I just don't get how you two could sleep through all this." David said as the doorbell rang. "See?"
John's mother answered the door. "It's Justine!" She called to the friends. Justine walked down the hallway, and stopped in the entranceway to the living room. She looked at John and Christine, who were still very close together, still trying to shake the last remnant of sleep from their mind. "Ahem… um…" Justine coughed, looking at the two.
"I know," Marie said, putting her arm on Christine's shoulder. "They slept together."
"Would you stop that." David said, with a cough from Justine. "You're making it sound… Unclean…"
Justine was still staring at John and Christine warily. John waved and smiled at her. Christine responded with a "Shut up, you wish you could do this with a guy. We were just tired." Justine looked taken aback.
"Now come on." James spoke up; he was unusually quiet up until now. "Let's go outside. We can wait for Liz, Matt, and Chris there."
"Oh, Liz can't come today." Christine said. "I almost forgot. She left on a trip to somewhere or other. That's why she didn't call you, John."
"And Chris has a final karate tournament." Dave added. "Just Matt is coming."
"Oh… Okay." John stammered, disappointed. "Let's go and make do with who's here." The six friends walked out to the backyard.
James stopped at the threshold of the back deck sliding door. "Hold on, I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right out." He walked back into the house.
"All right, don't be expecting him any time soon." John said. James was known for taking a long time in the bathroom fixing his hair, or whatever.
The five friends walked out to the grassy backyard and sat in the sunlight that streamed onto the grass. The birds were chirping and the squirrels were running back and forth. The sound of the neighborhood wafted up over the house from the front.
"Okay, wonder when Matt will get here." Dave said.
"I don't know, but – hey… You look different." Marie said, glancing across the circle to Dave.
"Me?" Dave asked.
"Yeah, you."
"Oh, okay. I just didn't know why you would ever be staring at me…"
"Oh, okay – Hey!" Marie exclaimed, getting up and starting for David, who began to scamper away. Marie gave pursuit, anger in her eyes.
"Have fun!" Christine yelled to the two friends/enemies.
"I wonder what she meant by 'different.'" John said.
"I don't know."
"Hey, you two look different." Justine observed.
"Oh, yeah." Christine said. "That kind of different. We know."
"Oh."
"You're changed too." John said. "You've got… Better hair, you know, straighter, shinier, that sort of thing. And you've actually got colored eyes." Justine took pride in the fact that she had jet-black eyes.
"Oh, thank you…" Justine said smoothly, trying to look pretty.
"Justine, stop it." Christine said, giving her a small punch.
"OWWWW!!! Ow! Ow! Ow!"
"Stop it, you big baby." Justine quieted down as David and Marie sat back down. Marie was eyeing Dave with a mean stare. David looked intimidated.
"Like I was saying." Marie said. "You look different. You have redder hair than you used to have, and your eyes are more green."
"Well…" Dave said, trying to find a flatteringly smooth voice. He couldn't find one. "You look absolutely lovely. You have strait auburn hair. Love it. Sparkling green eyes. Positively gorgeous." Marie started for him again, and Dave, with a smile on his face, ran away again.
"Hey, guys!" A voice called from the sliding doors. It was Matthew. "I'm here!"
"Hey, Matt!" Dave quickly greeted as he flew by, evading Marie's pursuit.
"Ahhh. David. Picking up the ladies again, all right!"
At that, Marie stopped in her tracks and glared at Matt. Or she thought it was Matt.
Matthew, like his friends, had changed, too, but more so than the others. He had shrunk a bit and was now shorter than everyone there. His hair actually looked like he cut it and it was blonde-white, a most noticeable difference. He walked down the steps and out into the backyard.
"Hey, you guys are different." Matt said, tilting his head a little.
"We know." Everyone said in almost perfect unison.
"We know." David said, a little late. He smiled sheepishly as everyone looked at him.
"I saw the boxes that we got last night on the table, so I brought them out. They did say to open them on Saturday, right?" It was true; everyone else forgot about them.
"Oh yeah!" David said and ran to help Matt with the strange gifts. The two brought them into the middle of the yard and sat down, dumping them in the middle of the circle they made. Each person took his or her box.
"What is it?" Christine said, not so much to the others than to herself. She turned the box over and over, looking at it from every angle. They were small, about three inches long and two inches wide. They were wrapped in a shimmering gold foil substance, which was glowing and flashing more brilliantly than they had been since the night before.
"Okay, this is all really strange." Marie said, shuddering.
"It's like we're changing into other people, or something." Dave said.
"Hey, that's it! Dave… You were actually smart there." John said. David smiled smugly.
"Yeah, that has to be it." Christine said. "John, ever since you picked me up, I noticed that you looked like someone, but I just thought I was dreaming or something."
"She's right." Justine said. "You look like Harry Potter."
"Really? But how?" John exclaimed.
"I don't know." Justine said.
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. I'm confused." Dave said bewilderedly.
"Well, John's turned into Harry Potter, kinda, and you are… Ron. I guess." Marie said finally. Dave tried to put on eyebrow up in confusion, but couldn't so he just stared at Marie blankly. Then, he gasped and nodded his head.
"Oh. I get it! This is cool!"
"Good."
"Wait!" Christine exclaimed. She picked up her gift. "The prophesy! 'At the end of this day, all things will change'." She read. "'Some think it cool," She looked at Dave. "Some think it strange'." She looked over at Marie.
"What was once blue will now turn to green'." Came a voice from behind Christine. John, understanding what Christine was getting at, joined in.
"Your eyes." Justine said.
"Yeah, and…" John said. "I know you like my eyes, so?"
Justine was taken aback. "I do not! No, your eyes, they were blue and now they're green."
"Oh yeah…"
"'The rim-enclosed eyes will be freely seen'." Dave continued.
"Justine." Matt said. "You had glasses, but now you don't, you use contacts."
"What about me?" Christine asked. "It means me." I don't need glasses."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about you." Matt said. Christine looked at him evilly.
"Yeah, me. I'm Hermione." Christine said.
"What about me? I look like Hermione too." Marie said.
"Yeah, but Hermione has brown eyes, not green." John said.
"Oh… Okay…" Marie said quietly. "'Past loves will be gone as new ones appear'." Marie read. She looked up at Dave, who looked sad. "Yes, yes, YES!!!!"
"But how do you know they mean you?" Dave asked hopefully.
John and Christine looked at each other. They raised their eyebrows as if to say, 'Us?' John glanced over at Justine, who was looking at him dreamily. He turned back to Christine, sharing the mutual look of disgust.
"Ah, ah, ewww!" Christine whined, looking back and forth from John to Justine.
John was just whining.
"Okay, we'll try to forget that." Christine said. "'The two that were chums will now live in fear'." She looked perplexed. "But we're all 'chums'."
"Oh well," Dave said, looking nervously at Matt, who was his friend since first grade.
"'The evil one will now love spiritual stuff'… Ahem, well… Mm!" Justine broke off as everyone turned to look at her. She was known as 'The Mechanical Thing of Evil.'
"'And as for the remaining one's change, nothing much'." Matt finished. "Who didn't we get? John's eyes, Christine's eyes, Dave's love to Marie, me and Dave's friendship, Justine's evil, everyone's covered."
"Oh, well." Christine sighed. "We'll wait and see what else happens. Now, what's in this box, I wonder?"
Everyone picked up his or her gifts again.
"Hmm…" John murmured.
"Open it!" Justine shrieked impatiently.
"All right! All right!" John replied. He cautiously picked the paper off of the parcel. He didn't rip it off, and neither did anyone else, either because of fear, or of the paper's obviously magical beauty.
John was first to completely uncover his box. He held out a surprisingly plain, ordinary, rather small cardboard box. "Well…"
"Open it!" Justine shrieked again.
"Shut up!" Christine said, hitting Justine.
John opened the box and withdrew two pieces of paper. One was a ticket and one was a folded up note. Everyone else had these items also.
"Greetings, I hope you enjoy this little trip." John read. "'I know how much you six love this world, so I've chosen to bring you here. I suppose your official letter will arrive soon. This is all I can say at the time, have fun!' Okay, that made a lot of sense."
"Right…" Matt said. "But we know who you three are," He looked at Dave, John, and Christine. "But who are we?" He motioned to himself, Justine, and Marie.
As soon as he said that, six glowing balls of light rose out of the ground.
"Wha?" everyone yelled, spinning around to see the lights.
"We're the next Digidestined!" Dave screamed out. "Yeah! I hope I get Koromon!"
"Huh?" everyone asked. John was examining the light balls.
"They're not Digivices! They're boxes!"
"Okay, so we're not the next Digidestined. We're the next group of Animorphs!" Dave switched. "Oh yeah! Uh huh! I call getting to be called 'Prince Dave'!"
Everyone gave him very weird looks, and then ran over to the boxes to look at them closer. Matt reached out and touched one of the boxes. Everyone else followed what he did. As they touched the boxes, a shiver swept over them.
"Weird." Dave said after a while.
Then, the boxes grew until they were all different sizes. Some were square and some were rectangular, but John's was the only one that was long and thin.
John stepped forward to open his box. Everyone had moved back when the boxes started changing shape. "Cool! A Firebolt!" He exclaimed when he opened his box. Everyone stared at John as he took his hands from the box. Resting in the palms of his hands was a long, thin, sleek racing broom. Each birch twig in the tail was perfectly smooth and streamlined. It even had it's own registration number, written in gold near the top of the handle: 724527. Everyone was speechless.
David was first to break the silence. "Got anything else?"
John rummaged through the box. Finally he found something. "Whoa! An Invisibility Cloak!" He picked out the silvery, silky cloak to show everyone. If you could weave water into a fabric, this was made of it. It fell through his hands like it was liquid.
"Try it on!" Justine yelled.
John put on the cloak and looked down at his feet. They were gone. He covered himself with the cloak and snuck around behind Justine. "BOO!" He yelled in her ear.
"YAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Justine screamed and whirled around. "Jennette…" she threatened.
"Got ya!" John teased. Everyone was rolling on the ground laughing, except Justine, of course. John took off his cloak to see what everyone else had gotten.
David opened his box second. It was stuffed with all kinds of wizard sweets and candies. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, licorice wands, Chocolate Frogs, Fizzing Whizbees, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Ice Mice, Pepper Imps, Toothflossing Stringmints, sugar-spun quills, exploding bon-bons, Pumpkin Pasties, and Cauldron Cakes. There were also two sets of Exploding Snap and a brand new wizard chess set.
Marie's box was opened next. It was very small. It held a tiny address book with the names of every one she had ever met. It was an Exedolor. All she had to do was tap a name with her wand, say "Envisio," and she would be able to see and talk to that person, anytime, anywhere. She also got a Finder. It looked like a snow globe with nothing in it except glitter. When you want to find something, you just turn it upside-down, say what you want to find, and turn it right side up. When the glitter fades, it shows you what you wanted to find and where it is.
"This doesn't say anything about who I am." Marie said. "But it is cool." She held up the Exedolor. "Now I can 'check up' on a certain guy from Sundae's…" She smiled, looking to Christine, who was also smiling.
"But who are you?" Dave enquired. "You're not from any Harry Potter book I've read."
"I don't know." Christine said. "But this reminds me of a book I read on Fanfiction.net—"
"Yes! Fanfiction.net! It's where she's from. She has to be Rachel Witt from the Chalice of the Enchanter!" John yelled.
"Yeah, I guess!" Marie said.
"Okay, then, but what did you people get?" Dave asked.
Christine opened her package. Everyone could guess what was inside. Piles of textbooks poured from the package. The entire Standard Book of Spells series, Hogwarts: A History, Curses and Counter-curses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More), Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do With Them Now That You've Wised Up, Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean, The Monster Book of Monsters, (That one wouldn't stay still!) The Invisible Book of Invisibility, (I think, who can tell? It's invisible!), Quidditch Through the Ages, and even A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration. She didn't get any books on Divination, though. Christine hated Divination.
Justine opened her package next. In it were a white porcelain tea set with blue designs, a big, round, clear crystal ball with its own stand, and textbooks about anything Divination. Predicting the Unpredictable: Insulate Yourself Against Shocks, Broken Balls: When Fortunes Turn Foul, and Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming. "What's all this?" Justine asked disgustingly. "I don't want this!"
"But if you're Parvati Patil, you would." John said "Because that's who you are."
Justine quieted down and sat motionless. She kept glancing over at the gifts she got and muttering, "useless junk." She wouldn't even take it out of the box. All of it just sat nestled in the box among the tissue paper it was wrapped in.
Matt was the last to open his box. As he opened it, a brilliant light shone from inside. He lifted the lid all the way. His box was stuffed, like Dave's, but it wasn't filled with candies, it was filled with wizard money. Bronze Knuts, Silver Sickles, and Gold Galleons shimmered in the sunlight. He tilted the box so the money fell out onto his lap. Matt looked confused at the strange currency, but then started digging around, trying to count it all. "What's this?" he asked as he pulled out a little, thick, black book. On the cover, Professor Snyder's Little Book of Nasty Remarks and Comments was written in gold.
"You don't plan on using that, do you?" John asked, a bit worried.
"Not unless I have to." Matt answered slyly, a small grin on his face.
Once everyone had opened their packages, they all took turns flying around on John's Firebolt. They were under his Invisibility Cloak, of course, so as not to be seen. On her turn, Christine went up and didn't come back down for five minutes, everyone thought she had gotten lost up there, while Justine wouldn't even touch the broom. When they had all had their turn, they all sat around examining their mysterious gifts.
About 3 seconds later, there was a rustling in the bushes. Everyone started inching backward, afraid of whatever might come out. Suddenly, two cats and three owls came rushing out of the trees and bushes, straight at the little group.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Justine screamed, running away.
"Hedwig?" John exclaimed as a large white snowy owl came flying down and rested on his outstretched arm. "Where'd you come from? This is too cool!" Hedwig hooted softly in John's ear and nipped his finger affectionately.
"Pig!" Dave yelled. A miniscule gray owl came fluttering out of the trees. It looked like a very furry flying mouse. It flew around Dave's head, twittering happily.
"His name is Pigwidgeon!" Marie corrected defiantly.
"Whatever."
A big ginger cat came prowling out of the bushes. Its big round eyes and pug-like face looked around. It spotted Christine and ran over to her. "Crookshanks!" she exclaimed as she stroked the cat's fluffy fur. It purred loudly as she pet it.
"Buttercup!" Marie squealed. Everyone looked around, but couldn't see anything. Then they saw Marie hugging a very small kitten. It was a soft gray color with white stripes and a white spot on its forehead. "It's so cute!" Buttercup mewed softly as Marie stroked its tiny head.
Then, finally a great big eagle owl came swooping down and landed on Matt's shoulder. "Ah, hello, Julius." Matt greeted the owl as its big amber eyes watched everything that was going on. It ruffled its long brown feathers when it saw Hedwig, but calmed down after a while.
Justine didn't seem to care that she didn't have a pet. Actually, she looked slightly happy.
Just then, a big tawny owl came gliding in and dropped an envelope on John's lap. Then it flew away almost as suddenly as it came. As John opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, everyone crowded in for a better look. Even Justine, who tried to stay as far away from the animals as she could, walked up.
John cleared his throat and started reading:
Headmaster: albus dumbledore
(Order Of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, Miss Witt, & Miss Patil,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress
When Harry finished reading, all six young wizards and witches looked at each other, with eyes widening and smiles growing even larger.
"WE'RE GOING TO HOGWARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" they all screamed at the top of their lungs, so the whole neighborhood could hear. They all jumped around and let loose all their happiness.
"But how will we get there?" Justine asked, always the one to spoil a good time.
"I don't know." Dave replied, very unhappily.
"I don't want to hear it." Marie cried. "The happiest moment of my life, destroyed." She sat in the grass unhappily.
"Well, what do you call these then?" John asked, beaming. He held up the other half of the gifts that everyone forgot yet again. They were train tickets for Platform 9 ¾.
"Yeah, but how do we get there?" Justine asked again.
"We'll think of that tomorrow. It's getting dark. Why don't you guys sleep over?" They had lost track of time in all the excitement. Everyone agreed and trudged inside, pets and belongings at their sides.
"So, how'd it go?" James asked when they entered the house. He was sitting on the couch casually watching the television.
"How long have you been out of the bathroom? Why didn't you come out?" John asked.
"Oh, yeah. I… uh, well you already know about Hogwarts and all that." James said. "Well, gosh, how can I put this? Um, The same thing happened to me, when I was in eighth grade, last year. I would have been in fifth year, like you are going to be —"
"Wait. Fifth year?" Christine asked. "Fifth year? But we're only thirteen and fourteen; we'd be in third year. You're in fifth year when you are fifteen and sixteen; sophomores."
"Yeah, I was confused about that too." James explained, leaning back on the couch and putting his hands behind his head. "But Dumbledore said that since we know so much we are the equivalent of fifth year material. Anyway, I would have been in fifth year, like you are going to be, but I knew you guys would be coming, so I asked Dumbledore if I could wait another year, to be in your classes."
"What House are you in?" Dave asked.
"That's… Confidential."
"But wouldn't you change too?" Matt asked. "I mean we did, and you didn't seem any different than when I saw you last summer."
"Well, that's confidential too."
"What?" Marie asked.
"You'll see when you get to Hogwarts."
"How – " Justine started. James put up a hand to silence her.
"I wonder what'll happen to Chris and Liz?" Matt said. "They got a gift thingy too."
"I don't know." James said, running a hand through his brown/blonde hair. "But I bet Dumbledore has it under control, as usual."
"Oh, okay."
"Okay, guys." John's mom came into the room. "I called all your parents and they said you all can stay the night." Cheers met her ears. "But, Christine, your mom was a little iffy about it. So you'd better… behave." She glanced at John, then at James.
"Okay." Christine answered.
"But I know I can trust you. You know how moms get." John's mother said and left. "Get to bed!" She called as she walked upstairs.
"Where are we sleeping?" Marie asked, casting a nervous glance at Dave.
"Well," John said. "The boys can sleep down here and the girls can sleep upstairs in my room. I'll make the sacrifice."
"Oh, okay…" Dave said halfheartedly.
"Well, I'd better get my things, come on girls." John said.
"Huh?" Dave asked.
"I'm sleeping with the girls because there's no room down here."
"What?!" Justine exclaimed, with a false air of infuriation. Christine, though, perked up. David looked disappointed.
"No, I'm kidding." John said. Justine looked relieved. Christine, along with Dave, was confused. "Come on up, guys, there's room." Dave and Christine were happy once again, while Justine and even more so Marie were very, very angry.
When they got upstairs, they immediately began fighting over sleeping areas. It ended up being John and Christine in each of the two twin beds that were in the room, Dave in the little space between the beds, Matt over near the closet, James and Marie on the floor at the foot of one bed, and Justine in the chair at John's desk. Once they settled down and turned out the lights, John whispered, "Good night, everyone."
"Night, John. I love you." Came Christine's reply from the other bed. They were sleeping in John's room, which he shared with his brother, Anthony. Therefore, there were two beds in the room. Everyone else had fallen asleep before their heads hit their pillows.
Little did they know that from that moment, John Jennette, Christine Barton, David Metts, Marie Karpodinis, Matt Gullace, and Justine Mata were no more. Harry Potter, Rachel Witt, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, and Parvati Patil had come in and (somewhat) taken over.