Chapter 1: Surprises

It was a dark and stormy night. Ellie Martin wasn't falling asleep very easily. She was dreading her English test tomorrow, plus the storm was keeping her awake. She sighed and looked out her window. She was your average fifteen-year old. She had longish brown hair and bright green eyes. She was average height and she always wore blue jeans. She was sort of a loner, but she had some friends. Some people just didn't understand her. She wasn't shy, just on the quiet side.

Anyways, it was getting pretty late. Two a.m. to be exact. The storm still raged outside. It was rare to have thunderstorms this time of the year.

While looking out the window, Ellie saw a very strange flash of light. It didn't look like a lightning bolt, but she just figured her mind was playing tricks on her. She climbed back in bed.

Then, she heard a loud noise and it was definitely not thunder. Ellie jumped out of bed and ran downstairs because the noise sounded close. She grabbed a flashlight on her way out.

She made her way to the back of the house. There she saw something so shocking that she thought she might be dreaming. It was a gigantic hole in her backyard, like a meteoroid might have crashed there. She looked around, but saw nothing. Then she heard the window open. Ellie looked up to find her mother standing there, looking out the window.

"Ellie! What the heck are you doing out there? What is your problem? Get your butt back to bed!" she slammed the window closed. Ellie tiredly went back inside and up to bed. She decided to think more about this, whatever it was, in the morning.

"Pencils down!" said Ellie's English teacher. Ellie went up and turned in her test. She was so tired from last night that she fell asleep a couple of times during the test. She couldn't wait to see her score since she turned in her test unfinished. She hated English. It wasn't one of her best classes, but she tolerated it because one of the boys that she had a major crush on was in the same class. His name was Sam.

Ellie had just met him this year, but the moment she saw him, wow! She just wanted to butter him up and take a big bite. Sometimes she couldn't stop staring at him from across the room. But, of course she never had the guts to go up and talk to him, until now.

The bell rang and she walked to the door, making sure that she would end up walking next to Sam.

"Gee, that test sure was hard," said Ellie to Sam.

"I know," he replied, "Did I see you sleeping?"

"Yeah," Ellie admitted, not being able to stop blushing.

"How bout I walk you to your next class?" offered Sam, since he too secretly admired Ellie.

"Um, ok," Ellie barely got out, since she was trying to hide her overwhelming excitement.

Sam walked her to class. They talked a bit but not a lot, since they were both a little shy when next to each other.

When they finally arrived at Ellie's next class, they really didn't know what to do.

"Um, thanks for the walk," said Ellie awkwardly.

"Yeah, it was cool," Sam replied, "Um…"

"Yes?"

"Do you maybe, uh…I know this might sound stupid, but…do you want to hang out after school?"

Ellie was in shock. She was so shocked she almost blacked out. "Ok, that sounds like fun!"

"Ok!" Sam smiled, "Uh, see you later, then."

"Ok, bye!" Ellie's face turned from a light pink to a strawberry red. After realizing what just happened, Ellie walked into her next class with a huge grin.

Ellie suffered thorough her next three classes and lunch. She just couldn't stop thinking about Sam! What should she wear? What if she said something stupid? What would they even talk about? She was excited and nervous at the same time. Would they start dating? Would they go steady? Could she finally call him "my little Sammy"? Ellie wanted to go out for three years, get married, maybe go to college with him, and then start a family together consisting of two girls and three boys. Ok, maybe she was starting to get a little obsessive. She decided to just take it one step at a time, and just be cool with it.

Finally, the last bell rang. Ellie let out a sigh of relief. Thinking about Sam made her feel all giddy. Sam quickly found her in the crowd of high school students.

"Hey!" yelled Sam.

"Hey!"

"So, are we still on for tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah. Here's my cell phone number and my address."

"Sweet! I'll come pick you up around six, ok?"

"Sure, that sounds great!" Ellie smiled sweetly.

Sam returned the smile. They locked eyes for a second before going on their way.

Ellie was extremely jumpy when she got home. She tried on ten different outfits before finding the perfect one. She threw on some make-up and sprayed on some flirty-smelling perfume before the date.

At 5:45, the doorbell rang.

"Geez, he's eager to see me!" thought Ellie. Luckily, she was ready for him.

She open the door to see his handsome, smiling face. She almost died right there from the shock. He looked so delicious in his clean shirt and pants. He even re-combed his hair for her and used some styling gel. Ellie thought it was a dream until he spoke.

"Ready to go?"

"Yup! She grabbed her phone, purse and jacket and left for the date.

When she got a good look outside, she spotted a brand-new, shiny yellow 2009 Camaro, sitting on her driveway. She was stunned.

"I-Is that your car?" She stammered.

"Yes it is. Do you like it?"

"Uh, YEAH! It's flippin' sweet! How did you afford it?" she gaped.

"Oh, that's a long story. Let's just say I'm lucky! C'mon, hop in!"