I skated down Parker's street grinning like an idiot as I waved to everyone and everything in sight. Some people would wave back, some would just smile and some would give me a strange look that was almost suspicious. By some, I mean Mrs. Brown. Who I couldn't really blame because I'm constantly giving her reasons to be suspicious of me.
Like last week when I died her mutt purple. I really hope she's not mad about that anymore. I wasn't trying to hurt anybody, it was just a little prank, besides, the dye came out the very next day! No permanent damage done to her precious, award-winning poodle.
I skidded to a stop right outside my best friend's cream-colored house. Parker was sprawled out on her lawn, reading a book, her bright red hair tangled with leaves and other natural debris. Just like usual.
"Your late." She states, closing her book and propping herself up on her elbows.
"Yeah, sorry about that, I over-slept." I giggle, scratching the back of my neck. It's a nervous habit of mine.
"You over-slept?" She asks tone incredulous, Brown eyes narrowing behind her pink, oval-shaped glasses.
"Uh yeah, why are you looking at me like that? I'm always over sleeping." I ask taking a seat on the slightly damp grass.
"It's two in the afternoon Katie!"
"What can I say, I had a long night." I say reaching around her and grabbing her book. "Why are you still reading "Romeo and Juliet"? That book report was over nearly a month ago."
"It's a good book." She says giving me a dirty look.
"Whoa! What did I do now?!" I ask holding my hands in front of me to defend myself. She looks like she wants to throw a punch or something!
"Nothing yet, but your always bad mouthing good literature and it's starting to piss me off." She huffs.
"I don't bad mouth good literature, I bad mouth boring literature. There's a difference"
"Yes, for you the difference is good literature has pictures that pop up when you open the book."
"That was a low blow Parker."
"Low blows are all that get through your head, Smith."
"HEY! You don't get to call me by my last name! That's my thing, I call people by their last name. Not you!"
"Whatever Katie." Parker sighs.
"Whatever to you to." I scrunch up my nose and stick my tongue out at her which makes her giggle. "So, what was so important that you couldn't tell me over the phone?"
As soon as I mentioned the reason I came over she gets excited and starts to clap her hands, a huge grin spreading across her face.
"Guess!"
"Oh come on Parker, I suck at this game." I groan falling backwards onto the ground.
"Humor me." She begs jumping up and down.
"Fine, er, you got a new One Direction poster?" I ask.
It's her favorite band and she usually gets worked up over silly things like a new poster of Liam. But I can't really talk because I'm even worse when it comes to my favorite bands.
"No."
"You got their new album?"
"I had it when it first came out. Don't you remember?"
My mind drift backs to a sunny spring morning, I was taking a peaceful walk around the neighborhood, the birds we're chirping and there wasn't a single cloud in the big blue sky. The peace came to an abrupt end when I was tackled to the ground by Parker as she shoved a CD case in my face squealing like a pig. Oh yeah, I remember.
"Does it have anything to do with One Direction?" I ask peeling my skates off
"Nope." Wow, whatever it is it must be huge she looks like she's about to burst from excitement.
"Oh I can't take it anymore! Do you remember Tiffany?!" She exclaims.
"Tiffany?" I frown.
We know quite a lot of Tiffanys. But Parker isn't very fond of any of them so I don't think she'd care if anything happened to them. Wait a second!
"You mean your older cousin?" I receive an excited nod in response. "Of course I remember Tiff! She was amazing, the only person whose ever out pranked me. Those were some good times."
"Well, the most amazing thing happened to her! You remember Micheal?"
"Her boyfriend." I nod slowly, wondering what she's leading up to. "She's not pregnant is she?!"
"No you moron! He proposed last night, they're getting married!" With those words out of her mouth she can no longer hold in her joy and starts to dance around her lawn giggling.
For a second I just stare at her dumb struck before a large spreads across my face. "So he finally did it, eh? Took the schmuck long enough! How long did it take him to get up the nerve to ask her? Three years?"
"No, four, but he made up for it all last night with what he did! It was so romantic Katie! He took her to a really fancy restaurant and had the chef put the ring in her cheesecake! Oh and she says the ring is gorgeous! She's gonna show us it tonight when we get on Skype! Oh I just can't wait to see it!"
"Calm down Jesse, I get that it's exciting news and all, but your really over-reacting. It's not like you're the one getting married." I chuckle.
"Oh, I'm overreacting am I? Well you won't be saying that after you hear this. We're gonna be her bridesmaids!"
"WHAT?!" I gasp jumping to my feet.
"Yep." She smirks. "It's gonna be us and her best friend Helen. Helen is the maid of honor."
"Okay, look me in the eye and tell me your not getting back at me for drawing those goatees on all your 1D posters!" I say grabbing her by the shoulders.
"I swear on the grave of my beloved pet fish Goldie, I am not messing with you." She grins.
"OH MY GOSH THIS IS SO COOL! WE'RE GONNA BE BRIDESMAIDS!" I scream pulling her into a tight hug.
"I KNOW!" She squeals, hugging me even tighter.
After a few minutes of skipping, leaping, dancing, giggling and stumbling, we finally separated from each other, a pair of identical grins plastered on our faces. If I thought I'd been happy before words could not possibly describe how happy I am now! I've always wanted to be a bridesmaid! It just seems like so much fun! And now I'm actually going to be able to do it! And I'm only seventeen! I thought I was gonna have to wait way longer than this to become a bridesmaid. Maybe that's because I've always figured I'd be Parker's bridesmaid and she's the same age as I am.
After I catch my breath I decide to start asking some questions. "When do they want to have it?"
"Since they got engaged they haven't really decided anything. But you know how Tiff has always wanted that Winter wedding." Parker smiles.
"But she hates the cold." I say.
"She could get a thick dress." Parker shrugs.
"Yeah, but she likes those sleeveless, mermaid dresses." I remind her.
"She does." Parker frowns. "Well, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. The wedding is probably months away anyways!"
"True." I nod.
"So, what are we gonna do now?" I ask.
"Disney was having a marathon of old movies that I recorded."
"What movies?" I ask picking up my skates.
"Tangled, Princess and The Frog, Finding Nemo, Mulan, Cinderella, Aladdin and Sleeping Beauty."
"Well what are we still doing out here?! Come on let's go!" I chuckle pushing her towards the front door.
"Are, are you crying?"
"Of course I'm crying! How could I not cry? It's so sad." I sniffle.
"Rapunzel"
"What?"
"You were my new dream."
"And you were mine."
"I guess." She mutters.
"You guess?" I rub my ear wondering if I heard her right. "What do you mean you guess?!" I demand.
"We're sixteen! Don't you think we're a little too old to be crying over a death scene in a Disney movie?" She asks.
"Sometimes I just don't know why I'm friends with you." I sigh. "You use to be so fun. And now your all boring."
"It's called growing up Katie. You should try it sometime." Parker scoffs.
I turn back to the Tv with a pout forming on my lips. Parker can be really mean when she wants to be. Well she wouldn't call it being mean. She prefers words like "mature" or "realistic". It's been getting a lot worse lately and I have know idea why. She's always been a bit on the serious side but lately she's been more than serious. She's been distant and cold, and to be honest it's depressing to be around her! She's like a walking, talking, funeral!
Today is the happiest I've seen her in months! She's always sulking and being moody. I had to drag myself out of bed this morning when I realized I was gonna have to go and see her as soon as I woke up. It's not good for my health to be around moody people. I surround myself with balls of sunshine for a reason! I need happy people to be happy. If I'm around unhappy people I'm unhappy. It's as simple as that.
My pout begins to transform into a scowl as I watch Rapunzel bring Flynn back to life with her magic tear. Usually I'd start happy dancing, but right now I'm not in a "happy dance" kinda of mood. Congrats Parker, you've successfully ruined yet another amazing day. What is that, sixty in row? That must be a record!
I take an angry bite out of my Strawberry airhead and switch my gaze from the tv to the ground. Once the ending songs and credit starts to roll I get up and start stretching. I haven't gotten up since my last bathroom break and that was during "Finding Nemo", which was the third movie we watched. I shake my legs to rid them of the uncomfortable prickly sensation before turning to my seemingly bored friend.
"I'm feeling kinda tired, I think I'm gonna head home early." I fake yawn at the end of my sentence to put some emphasize on the tired part.
"But we still have one movie left, Aladdin! That's your favorite one." Parker says. "And we still have to Skype with Tiffany. Don't you want to see the ring?!"
"I have the DVD and just tell her to text me a picture or something. Besides Dad might get worried if he gets home before I do. I forgot my phone and didn't leave a note." I mumble, grabbing my skates from where I had dropped them earlier.
"Your not going to skate home, are you?" I didn't even need to turn around to see the frown on her face. I could hear it.
"Well that's how I got here. So yes." I say pulling on my jacket.
"You can't do that!" Her tone changes from mildly disappointed to alarmed as she jumps off the couch.
"Uh, why can't I?" I cross my arms staring the shorter girl down as she stands in my way
"Haven't you watched the news?!" With my free hand I grab onto her held out arm and spin her out of my way.
"You know I don't watch the news Parker. It's just a bunch of people making up or changing stories to fit their agenda." I roll my eyes.
"Not this story!" She places a hand on my shoulder stopping me from walking.
I groan and turn around to face her.
"There's a murderer in the area!" She exclaims. "No, he's not even a murderer anymore! He's a serial killer! All his victims have been teenage girls. You're a teenage girl!."
"Parker, this is a big city. By in the area they probably mean the whole city. Where have all the murderers been?" I ask rubbing my temple.
"They've been downtown."
"And where are we?"
"Uptown." She mumbles looking at her feet.
"Then you've got nothing to worry about." I smile giving her a brief hug, before I once again start towards the front door.
"Look Katherine, let me give you a ride. Just so I know you got home safe."
"Fine." I groan slumping against the wall.
"Great! Just let me get my jacket!"
"Thanks for the ride Parker!" I call after her car as it pulls out of my driveway.
"It was my pleasure! See ya soon!" She calls back.
I watch the little silver car fade into the blackness of the night, and even after I can no longer see it I linger, staring off in its direction. The moon wasn't full tonight but it illuminated the dark streets as if it was. The street lights flickered on and off and you could hear random scampering. The noise was either caused by the stray cats our neighborhood was known to have an abundance of or rats. I'd like to think it was the first option, rats are kind of gross.
I jump when I feel a heavy hand grasp my shoulder. "Calm down Katie, it's only me." I grin and spin around to hug the owner of the deep voice, my Father.
"Hi Daddy." I mumble into the rough brown fabric of his favorite work shirt.
"Hey, what're you doing out here princess? It's chilly tonight." He says as he guides me into the house.
"I guess I just got caught up in the beauty of it all." I grin. "How long have you been back?" I ask taking off my jacket and hanging it on the dusty coat rack.
Dad and I aren't the best of housekeepers.
"About three hours."
"But it just turned seven."
"We closed early."
Dad works at this bookstore called "Age Of The Page". He's been an employee there for as long as I can remember! Although he's only the manager he might as well own the place! The real owner, Mrs. Cooper, lives out-of-town and rarely comes to check on the place. While the pay is okay it's not enough to live on.
What we really depend on is Dad's ability to write cute rhyming books. He's a children's author, one of the best there is in my opinion! He use to tell me stories all the time when I was little, then one day he published one of them. It was my favorite, it's called "The Little Ice Queen".
We could probably live off the pay alone but we've got some debt, which we always try paying off after he gets the check from one of his books. After we're done paying some of it off we're not left with much. Well that's not true, Dad puts some of the remaining money towards my college fund. Then we're not left with much. We don't have the most comfortable life style but on a whole it's a pretty good one.
"I hope I'm not going to receive any angry calls today." He teases as he gives me a kiss on the forehead.
"I can promise you I didn't pull any pranks today!" I chirp. "So what's for dinner?" I ask rubbing my hands together.
"Oh we have a very nice variety today Madam. We have a bit of Chinese takeout, some left-over pizza, and some cannolis for dessert."
"Yum!"
We're not very good cooks either. We've been living off take-out for longer than I can remember!
"I'm gonna go take a shower." I say walking down the hall.
"Okay, but you should hurry. Fringe is about to come on!" He calls after me.
"Will do." I answer before walking into my bedroom and shutting the door.
I grab the first thing I see and give it a small sniff.
"Definitely need to do some laundry." I cough.
I throw the dirty T-shirt over my shoulder and into the already over-flowing hamper. I cross my room and open my closet. I frown at the lack of options I have, before my eyes land on one of my worn sundresses. Perfect.
I remove it from its hanger, and am about to chuck the hanger somewhere when I force myself to put it where it belongs, back in the closet. I have a bad habit of adding to a mess instead of fixing it. And since I have no intention of fixing the mess I should at least not add to it! I grab the towel I used earlier from off my dresser and walk back out of my room.
I turn on the shower and stick my hand under the icy stream until it becomes warm. Once it does I strip and take my hair out of its signature pony-tail. It immediately falls over my shoulders and into my face. It's so darn thick it's like a curtain! I can barely see when it's down!
Which is why I'm always keeping it up. Parker once told I should get it cut to be like a Bob, then it'd be more manageable. But Dad always tells me I look just like Mom when my hair is long. It makes him smile every time he sees me which in turn makes, me smile. Keeping my hair long is like having a little piece of Mom with me every time I look in a mirror. It can be kind of comforting.
But still, if I don't keep it in an up-and-out-of-my-face-do I know I'll chop it off, Mulan style in a fit of murderous rage. And unlike most girls my hair takes forever to grow back. So it's better for everyone if it just stays up.
I gradually move into the stream of warm water with a little sigh. I love taking showers after an exciting day. It's one of my favorite things to do, other than practical jokes that is. That's another thing Dad says Mom and I had in common. Our love for mischief. He says that she was the one that got me into that sort of thing.
Most of the important things I know about Mom I learned from Dad. I can only remember really silly things like how she'd always make snicker doodles for snack the first day back to school. Or that she loved birds and was terrified of bunnies and hamsters. I don't know how I can remember that but forget that her eyes were Hazel if I don't look at the picture of her! But I've always been weird like that. Just like she apparently was.
Its kind of funny that my personality is nearly identical to someone I've barely known. Mom died when I was around six, that was ten years ago. More than enough time for an already bad memory to get a little fuzzy.
After just standing in the shower I realize that I'm on a time limit and hurriedly begin to lather up and rinse off. I'm about to step out when I realize that I have to wash my hair. It wouldn't be such a bid deal if it wasn't so thick. But it is, so it takes twice as long as it takes a normal person to wash their normal hair. Maybe if it was curly, or wavy or anything! I would like it more. But it's nothing but thick and annoying.
After shampooing it three times I decide to skip the condition because it'll take too long. I turn off the shower and in my rush to get to the living room before the show starts I almost jump out the shower. But that little voice in the back of my head decides to speak up and whisper "Remember all those stitches". I carefully get out the shower, dry myself off, put some special lotion on my skin, slide the dress over my head and then I run out the bathroom.
If I was in a race right now I'm sure I'd win. I jump over the back of the couch like the ninja I am and land right next to Dad, who just silently sets a plate of food on my lap.
"What did I miss?" I ask eyes instantly honing in on the screen.
"Just Walter being his usual crazy self." Dad says around a mouth full of food.
And there we sat for the rest of the night, watching Fringe, eating takeout and eventually passing out from utter exhaustion. Just like we always do.
I'm so excited,whelmed, pumped up, hyped, and various other forms of the word excited! This is my first story! And I mean that quite literally. If it wasn't for school I didn't write, read yes, write no. But over the last year the writing bug decided it was gonna bite me. So that is how this story came to be! I've worked on this non-stop for the last couple days. I'm not what you'd call a perfectionist but I really want this to be perfect. If you've got some constructive criticism please share it with me. I'm not an awful writer but I'm not a good one either and I really want to improve! Wow, I'm so nervous I'm babbling that hasn't happened in a while *blushes*. Er, bye!
Lot's of love,
Angel