Chapter 1

Planning the Party

It was going to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It wasn't too hot or too cold. I woke up to the sweet smell of bacon and eggs. There was also the nice sound of red robin chirps.

I remembered that it was to be my birthday in one week. I couldn't wait. I jumped out of bed and put on my blue jean shorts and a red t-shirt that read 'sweet and sour' with the word 'sweet' crossed out.

It was a Monday morning in mid May, May eighteenth to be exact. School wasn't out for summer yet, but, this year, the last day was two days after my birthday, May twenty-fourth. This year I could celebrate my birthday in school. We usually get out on May 21st, but we had five snow-days to make up.

I was in sixth grade, going on seventh. I was going to turn thirteen! Mom and dad said that they couldn't believe how old I was getting. They thought, also, that I was growing too tall. I was going to pass up my mom in no time, but she was short for her age.

After I grabbed my jacket, blue with two fake diamond buttons, I ran downstairs and was greeted a 'good morning' from mom.

For breakfast I ate pancakes and bacon. I didn't really like eggs. When I had got my plate full, my older brother came down with my baby sister.

My brother's name is Elidor. He's in ninth grade and is fifteen years old. He was wearing a red t-shirt and blue jeans, he's pretty boring, nothing too exciting.

Then there is my baby sister. She really isn't a baby, she's two years old, but she's still just as cute as a baby. She has to get up and go to the daycare everyday so mom can go to work and dad can get some work done around the house. The surprising thing about her is that she doesn't pout when she has to get up. She likes the mornings.

She has beautiful blue eyes and long blond hair. She's the only one in the family with blond hair. Today she was wearing her blue dress with a white flower in the corner. Her name was Alicia.

My older sister looked a lot like me. With brown hair, beautifully long, brown eyes, and beautiful beyond all reason, the best older sister in the world. I wanted to be like her, the best big sister. She came down, following my brother and sister.

I quickly ate my pancakes and swallowed down my bacon, and then I ran upstairs, grabbed the purple brush and brushed through my hair. Then I went to the sink and grabbed my green toothbrush and brushed my teeth. Finally, I grabbed a red washcloth and washed my face.

After that, I ran back downstairs and said, "I'm ready!"

Mom had to take me to school and Alicia to daycare because she doesn't like the bus, but she lets us ride it home because she doesn't get off work until four o'clock and school ends at three o'clock.

"Just a minute, Alicia just has to brush her teeth." I heard Mom say.

"Well, tell her to hurry! I want to get there early!" I yelled back.

"Well, you can't get everything you want."

"Just tell her to hurry, please."

She did, and she was done in five minutes. We got in mom's red Ford Fusion; it had gray seats, not leather, and headed to the Middle School.

On the way mom asked me about my birthday. She asked, "So what are you going to do for your birthday party, Vanica?"

"I don't know. I was thinking of a swimming party, but I also want a dance party," I answered.

"This isn't going to be a boy and girl party, is it?"

"No, just girls."

"I want to come!" Alicia screamed.

"Alicia, you can come, just don't be annoying," I said.

"I can do that! I think… What's annoying?"

"It means, leave me and my friends alone."

"Oh, I think I can do that!'

"I want you not to do that."

"Oh, Ok!"

I could hear her wiggle in her seat excitedly.

"Maybe you could put them both together," mom suggested referring to what kind of party I wanted.

"But how? Wait… I could have a swimming party first, and then have the dance party!"

"How many girls are you inviting?"

"Well I want to invite Anica, Mary, and Vacia for sure. Then I want Asvica and Honnah. So five girls," I said. Asvica and Honnah are twin sisters and Anica and Vacia are sisters, Vacia skipped a grade, so they were in the same grade as the rest of us. Mary only has a younger brother, very annoying, but yet, very cute. He was about five or six, she didn't talk about him much.

"You sure you want to invite sisters? They could fight."

"They're nice to each other because they're twins and Anica and Vacia are good sisters. They won't fight, I hope." Even though I was worried I still smiled.

Before I knew it, we were at my school. I got out of the car and started walking up to the doors.

I saw Vacia walk past the door and I started running to catch up with her. I ran up to the door, opened it, and called her name.

She heard me and turned around. "Vanica! You're here! Finally! I'm just going to go check out a book, and I'll be right there to tell you all about it," she said.

"All about what?" I asked, wondering if I should ask.

"I'll tell you when I'm done. Go in there and talk with the rest of them."

"Ok, do the others know?"

"No, I wanted to wait until everyone was here. It's so exciting! Now go!" Vacia answered. I noticed she had a skirt on, which isn't unusual, but it was a light pink color. I knew that she has never worn any kind of pink in her life she absolutely hated the color. I wondered why she chose to wear it today. I also noticed that she was wearing a pink baby-doll t-shirt. She always talked about how she hated those shirts, also. With all this I was surprised she didn't die her hair red, but I was glad to see that her hair was the same color of dirty blond. For some reason it was a different color than her sister's, she was the only one in the family with that color of hair, just like my little sister.

With that, I turned around, and started walking to the table in the lunchroom.

I walked in and saw them all there. The red haired Anica, the blond haired Honnah and Asvica, and the brown haired Mary all talking about what they thought Vacia might want to talk about.

I walked up and said, "Did any of you notice that Vacia is wearing pink?" They all turned, abruptly, to look at me, breaking off all conversation.

"What? She hates pink. I guess we were too worried about what she wanted to say to notice," Honnah said.

"I was wondering about that too, but I still noticed that she was wearing pink and a baby-doll t-shirt."

"A baby-doll t-shirt, too!" Asvica exclaimed.

"You don't notice much, do you?" I said giving her a sarcastic smile.

"Hey! I do too! I just didn't notice what she was wearing, that's all. I don't care what people wear, I care about their personality," she answered. She stuck her face up in the air like that said it all.

"Sure you do. By the way, clothes can give you some idea of a person's personality." She opened her mouth to say something in return, but stopped because Vacia had just walked in. I think they finally did notice her… new look, I thought to myself. I thought this because they started staring at her and every now and then they would glance at me for some odd reason.

"Hey girls! What are you staring at me for?" Vacia asked.

"We're not staring at you, we're staring at your outfit," Mary said.

"What's wrong with my outfit?" She asked, looking down at what she was wearing, and then back up to her group of friends.

"A… it's pink, and you're wearing a shirt that you said you hated. What's up with that? Did you get struck by the girly girls and never came back or what?"

"Oh, you don't like it? I dressed like this because of what I was going to tell you," Vacia said.

"Well, what is it?" I asked anxiously.

"Well… I'm going out tonight."

"WHAT?" We all said together.

"With who?" Honnah asked.

"You're wearing that?" Asvica asked.

"With Steven. Yes, I am wearing this," Vacia answered.

"Who's Steven?" Mary asked.

"My boyfriend. We have, actually gone out before."

"Is he that one that broke your heart by cheating on you?" Anica asked.

"Well, yes, but he said he was sorry, and asked me out again," Vacia said. "And I said yes."

"You said what? You shouldn't have said yes. He ripped your heart out, now you have to rip his out, but if you think you love him, maybe you made the right choice," I said.

"Thanks, Vanica. I'll always be there for you, too," Vacia said.

"Maybe you're right, but if he breaks you heart again, I'll hurt him so bad that he'll wish he never messed with you," Anica said.

"Don't worry. If we break up, it'll be me breaking up with him, not the other way around," Vacia said.

"Well, we better get to class," I said. We were still in the lunchroom but just about the last ones. The last person was walking out to his locker.

"Yeah, we might want to do that," Asvica said. We all rushed out to our lockers and into class.

"Hey, Vanica, who all is invited to your party?" Mary and I were in second period, math.

"My party! I almost forgot. I'm inviting you, Asvica, Vacia, Anica, and Honnah," I answered.

"You sure you want to invite both of the sisters and twins? They haven't been getting along like they used to. They could break a fight."

"That's just what my mom said. I think it'll be Ok, though. If they do fight, they'll be sent back home. I can't believe I'm going to be thirteen. It feels weird, well something feels weird about it. Well, that's who I'm inviting."

"Vanica, do you have something to say to the class?" I looked up and saw Ms. Hunckle waiting for an answer.

"Um, no, Ms. Hunckle, sorry."

"Alright then." She looked at me one more time, and then turned to the chalkboard to finish teaching.

"Hey, Vanica! Are you ridding the bus today?" Asvica and Honnah were walking up to my locker, ready to go.

"Um, no. I'm ridding with my dad today."

"Really? Where to?" Honnah asked.

"Well, we have to get my cake for my party." It was now Friday my party was tomorrow.

"Can't wait for the party, then," Honnah said. "See you later!"

"Hey, Dad!" I said walking up to the black pickup.

"Hi! Ready to pick out your cake?" Dad asked.

"Yeah, can I have an ice cream cake, please?" I asked.

"I guess," he answered. "How much will it cost? Or don't you know?"

"I don't know. I just like them better. Thanks anyway!"

"Yeah." On the way, dad asked me all the questions mom asked. I still don't see the harm in inviting sisters to my party. But they're starting to worry me.

When we got home, I went to my room to finish thinking. I figured that I would still invite them, like my original plan.

I came down, ate supper, and went to bed. Tomorrow I was going to be thirteen; I couldn't wait!