Chapter 1
The answer was 254.
I watched as the boy next to me shifted and nervously looked around the room for answers. Mr. Drake had purposefully asked him the question after he saw the boy doodling on the back of the worksheet that had been handed out. It was a mistake I had made many times and had the backs of all my tests and graded worksheets to prove it. Fortunately I was a multi-tasker, so I could give out the answer almost immediately.
I tapped my foot in impatience, my 3 minute attention span was used up, and that's when I looked at the ceiling. I found weird shapes and things that wouldn't be there had I not focused my eyes in a certain way. Mr. Drake noticed my dawdling and said, "Miss Pouli would you like to tell me the answer."
I said, still looking at the ceiling, "254, the next one is 160 and the one after that is 454." I felt the gaze of Mr. Drake on my face and I swung my head to look at him. We had a mini staring contest in which I won. He shook his head and focused on the worksheet again. I sighed in relief and waited for class to be over.
After 15 more minutes of math and square roots I walked down the halls of Alter Creek Academy. I stepped into my dorm after jamming the keys in the keyhole (a.k.a. the boy's peep hole.)
I took in the familiar surroundings. The carpets were black, the walls were white, and there were two queen sized beds with black and white covers. There was a black desk that had organized drawers and files holding homework and school supplies. There was a bathroom that had a similar black and white theme. There were posters all over the room of favorite song artists my roommate, Thalia, and I had put up.
Speaking of my best friend, I saw Thalia lying down on her bed with her face in the pillows. I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed. She groaned, "Go away," so I lay down on top of her.
She grumbled but finished off laughing, "God, Jay! You really need some meat! You're all skin and bones!" I knew that was her way of telling me that I weigh only like 90 lbs. and I'm 13. I laughed with her, "if I was all skin and bones, why do you have bruises from every time I do this?' I made a fist and lightly punched her in the arm. She faked pain and rolled on the floor dramatically. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her iPod and earphones.
"You could ask!" Thalia complained. I shrugged, "I could, but I won't." Thalia sighed and grabbed the other ear bud, popping it into her ear. I did the same and let Thalia choose the song.
So we sat and listened to Green Day, "Wake Me up When September Ends." Thalia looked over at me and said, "You know for a former red head you're alright." I rolled my eyes, "I better be!"
Thalia was one of the only ones who knew that I used to be a red head. Now all is good, though. I look super-mega-awesome-foxy-hot with my straight, medium length hair that has side sweep bangs over the top of my right eye. Did I mention it's purple? Like neon purple? Did I also mention I have a belly button ring, four earrings on each ear and have Sharpie "tattoos" all over me? If I didn't mention the hair, the piercings, or the "tattoos" it's my mistake.
After listening to that, "21 Guns," by Green Day and "Dirty Little Secret" by AAR, I remembered what tomorrow was.
"Crap," I whispered, realizing tomorrow was April 19th. Unfortunately, I forgot that Thalia had only one ear bud in, "What?" She asked me. I sighed and mumbled, "Tomorrow's my birthday."
Thalia shot up, making my ear bud fly out of my ear. "Are you serious?" She asked. I rolled my eyes, "No, I just said that to make myself feel better. Of course I'm serious!" Thalia smiled, "I better get you a present." I glowered at her, "If you don't I'll kill you in your sleep. . . No actually I'll kill you while you're awake so you can feel it."
Thalia cracked a smile and I did the same. Suddenly there was a bang against the door and a muffled, "Ow!" Immediately I whipped up and made my way towards the door. I waited in silence until I heard breathing against the door.
I opened the door quickly and they came crashing in. By 'they' I mean Cory and Steven, our most frequent 'visitors.' Cory sat up quickly while Steven kind of crawled out of the room. I raised an eyebrow and Cory smiled sheepishly, "Uh, um, yeah," At that he ran out in the direction Steven had crawled in.
I shut the door and walked back to the bed were I found Thalia smirking at me, "You have a fan club." I rolled my eyes, "and you have a C- in Math. Go study."
She smiled and walked towards the desk while I took a shower, brushed my teeth and hair, and changed into my PJ's. I sank into my bed and thought about how magical and fantabulous tomorrow would be. Note the sarcasm.
Tomorrow wasn't just my birthday. No, it happened to also be the day that something happened that even Thalia doesn't know. It was the day that my 'daddy' decided to make my life harder and tougher and God knows crazier. It was the day I started to grow up.