Chapter One: Stupid Teacher!

"Mmm…5 more minutes Mom…" I groaned into my pillow. Monday.

Did I mention I hated school?

"Wake up Honey, time for school. Come on now, you don't want to miss your first day of third grade at a new school, do you?" my mom gently said to me, shaking my shoulders. And that wasn't an affectionate name like "sweetie" or "pumpkin" or any of that. That's my name. Yup. My name.

Did I mention that I'm going to a new school? Well I am. And what sucks the most; it's a school that isn't in California. It's not even in the U.S. Nope. My mom had to move us to Germany, (really, of all places, you would think you would want your child to grow up somewhere cool, like, I don't know, Paris, you know, where they made French fries? But no. my good old mommy decided on ugly, little, Magdeburg, Germany) to escape my dad after they divorced a few months ago. Poor Mom. I know she didn't want me to see her crying but honestly, unlike most 8 yr olds, I am aware of my surroundings and do not get entertained with the latest Barbie ( Squeeze her hand; She talks!) or like to play dress up with frilly dresses. Yuck. I throw a fit anytime Mom wants me to wear one. Aren't I an angel?

Sadly, I couldn't get my mom to get me out of school. So there I was trailing in behind my mom, after she insisted on walking me to class, when this kid whizzed past me, yelling at the top of his lungs. And another boy comes in, chasing the other one, when he knocks me down to the ground. He noticed and offered me his hand. I hesitated and decided he wasn't an evil ninja trying to kidnap me. He said something that wasn't English or Spanish (because of my dad trying to keep his 'culture' alive, he taught me Spanish and insisted that I talked in Spanish with him) so I just stared at him blankly. He poked me and I frowned. What was wrong with him? My mom, standing there watching the whole thing, bent down so that she was leveled with him, and said something back, again, in something I didn't understand. Comprehension dawned over the kid and he nodded once, then yelled at the other kid (Tom, as I soon found out) and waved him over. I looked at my mom. I was lost.

"Honey, this is Bill and Tom," She said, gesturing to each one of them. How the hell was I supposed to tell who was who? They looked the same to me. "They're the sons of Simmone, who was my friend, when I was a little girl," she explained. "They're gonna play with you and be your friends okay? I want you to be nice, and behave yourself."

" But Mommy, how can she be your friend? Didn't you live in the U.S all your life?" I asked.

" No sweetie, this was my home as a little girl. This was the school I went to. Now why don't you go and get settled in already kay? Mommy's gonna go home" she replied.

I nodded. She walked away, leaving me with the boys in the classroom. No one else was there. I wonder why. I turned to the boy on my right, Bill or Tom. I opened my mouth to speak, then closed it again.

"Hi. I'm Bill, and this my brother Tom. Sorry about my, euh…Engelish?" he said, struggling. I smiled encouragingly at him. I could like this boy. "And euh….us could be your frands if you like. We can play with Tommy's guitar. Do you like, eh, Musik?" he asked. I giggled and nodded.

"Where is everyone?" I asked timidly.

"Ah. They at, what u call, recess" the other boy, Tom, said, nodding.

Then all the other kids came in, and I got introduced to the class. Everyone waved and said 'Hallo' and returned back to whatever they were doing. *giggle* I like that word. Hallo. HalloHalloHallo!

For the rest of the day, kids came up to me and tried to speak to me, but it was mostly annoying. They kept interrupting me and Bill and Tom playing. And then they had to translate. And we had to stop the whooooolllleeee game. And then we had to start alllllll over again. Overall I was being very well behaved. I only got yelled by the teacher 4 times (stupid teacher, my mommy will not be happy hehe) and I only punched three kids too. One of them was Tom, but he wasn't whiny about it like the other two crybabies. He just punched me back and laughed. To tell you the truth, I couldn't wait to tell my mom about my day. I was hoping, since my mom, and the twins mom were friends, then me, Bill, and Tom could play some more.

It was fun. The boys showed me their step-dad's collection of guitars and I got to eat marshmallows. I also played a new game that Billy and Tommy taught me. I learned a new german word there. I was really glad my mommy was friends with their mommy. I was gonna come back tomorrow and play with Bill and Tom. But as I went home, I wondered how my mom was as she was silent when we got in the car. The last words I heard was my mother's yell, tires screeching, a blinding white light, and then it all went black.

I woke up later that night? Morning? All I know is I woke up to a weird, annoying beeping noise, and Bill, Tom, and Simone, all around a bed. Oh. My bed. In a white bed. With weird machines that had wires attached to my fingers and my chest. And some weirdo things that were in my nose. Annoying. They were all crying. Why?

"Where's my mommy? Why are you guys crying? Where's my mommy? Why are there a lot of cables on me! I don't like it," I complained. Simone just shook her head at me, wiping her tears away, her shoulders still shaking.

" Where's my mom? Tell me where my mom is. I wanna go home!!! WHERE'S MY MOMMY!!!!?!" I started yelling. What was going on?

"Where's my mommy? I WANT TO GO HOME!" I started crying. Bill and Tom looked at me, frightened.

Simone didn't say a word, just walked out the door and came back a moment later with some strange looking people with white coats. They didn't look like nice people. Two of them came to me and poked me with something. It a

"RETTE MICH!!!!" I heard myself scream. I caught a glimpse of Bill and Tom trying to go around their mom who was holding them back, before my vision faded and I fell into an uneasy sleep.

The world does not have happy endings. The world is a lie.