Author's Note: I am reading this 30 days to a more powerful vocabulary book for my English class, so I am trying to use the words I'm learning. That is my excuse. Also, I want to sound smart.
P.S. At some point I will be editing my first story. Not now of course, I have way to much on my plate. But possibly over Thanksgiving break or winter break, I'll take a break from this story to work on it. I'm starting with those in the girls' point of view.
Chapter Ten
How(Not) to Write a School Report
Adriana's POV
"Stupid, ugly, no good, fu-" I mumbled, walking into the house. I was mad. Furious. On freaking fire!
"No cursing!" Mom reprimanded me, cutting off my rant. She had this strict no cursing rule.
"Okay!" I snapped back. When I realized what I had done, I slumped my shoulders and walked into the kitchen to apologized.
"Sorry Mom, didn't mean to snap. I'm just mad," I told her. I threw my back pact on the table, and it made a loud thud as it landed. I heard Edward walk into the house. He had to pick me up because I got held back in detention. I didn't even deserve it! My teacher was stupid and hated me!
"Want to talk about it?" Mom asked, handing me a snack. PB&J sandwich, an apple all cut up, and a doughnut(because I needed something sweet); my kind of snack. Mom always makes me exactly what I want.
"No," I answered curtly. 'Stupid school. I hate them. I wish the school would burn down! I am starting to scare myself,' I thought, with a start. I was working myself up, so I took a deep breath and counted to ten. And when that didn't work, I counted to twenty. And then I gave up. Counting doesn't work.
I ate every piece of my snack(and then some) before finally going upstairs to work on my totally unfair and undeserved homework. A two page essay on how great my school is, which is a load of bull. 'Oakville Elementary sucks! S-u-c-k-s. Sucks!'
'It isn't the school itself,' I acknowledged, walking into my room, 'It's the people. The students are loudmouth(And that's something coming from me), ignorant, mean, just nasty children. Were they raised by pigs? Because they have no manners!'
Bella was in the corner reading, like she does after school everyday. She's been doing it ever since she stopped practicing. Ever since she discovered her power seven years prior, she had worked toward controlling it. She hadn't made too much progress, she could only momentarily shield one other member of our family. Daddy said it might get easier as she gets older. Bella was really getting frustrated before she finally quit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey sissy! How did the training go?" I asked. It was the first weekend since school started. I was enjoying being away from that hell hole. Bella had just came into the room.
"Horrible. I'm never gonna get better!" She yelled, throwing herself on her bed. She was upset, I knew it. It was plain to see. Her voice was high-pitched and breaking, a sure sign she was about to cry. I didn't know what to do. I didn't deal well with tears. It wasn't until I heard she sniffling, that I finally responded.
"Hey, you don't know that. I'm sure you will, you just need more practice," I consoled her. I sat down next to her and rubbed her back.
"No I won't! Why won't any of you get it through your thick skulls? Practice is not the issue here. I'm just not strong enough," She cried. Her face was blotchy and red, and she kept wiping away tears. On the bright side, she was starting to calm down.
"Okay, what do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean... I mean... I know what to do. Now that I'm looking for it, I can feel my shield. I don't know how I didn't before. I can feel it wrapped around you and Melissa. I know it's there and I know how to use it. It's easy when it's you or Melissa, but when it's someone else, I can't do it.
"It's like... Shielding is different for every person. And it's harder with people who are older than me and so different. Like I have to stretch my shield out more for them. You or Melissa, it's so easy. I don't even have to think about it. I guess because you're my sisters... I mean... I can't explain it.
"But with everyone else, I can't get it... It's not... I can't. It just won't. It's not strong enough, or elastic enough. No amount of practice is going to force it too," Bella explained. I didn't know that. At least she completely calmed down, I think she just needed to cry out her frustration.
"Well, I'm sure that if you told Daddy you didn't want to practice anymore, you could stop. Like Daddy said, as you get older, it'll get easier. I bet you're just too young," I replied. Bella nodded.
"Thanks," Bella said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And that was it.
Sighing, I collapsed onto the desk chair and took out a pencil and notebook. I hated writing essays. They're boring, and hard, and boring and time-consuming, and BORING. 'Maybe I can get Melissa to do it! She likes to write. What else are sisters for?' I thought.
"Hey, Melissa! You wanna-" I began to ask, but Melissa cut me off with an emphatic "No!". I cursed under my breath, which Mommy called me out on.
After banging my head on the table ten times, I opened my notebook and began.
"My School. By Adriana Cullen. Written on September 30th, 1977," I said, as I headed my paper.
'Now what? Maybe I should write about how the teachers do nothing to stop bullies. And I'm not a bully! I'm standing up for myself, since no one else will. So, he has a few bruises. He shouldn't have picked on me! Now he knows. I bet he won't do it again.'
'That's not even all. The teachers suck, they don't teach anything. Melissa's especially; thank God I'm not in her class. Mr. Sruntull is the worse. Only been in school a month, and I can tell this will be a horrible year. Ms. Garcia hates me. Just thinking about what happened...'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I was swinging on the swings in the playground. It was recess. I was going as hard as I could. The swing was making sounds that worried me. The school needed funding to replace them; I had already asked Daddy. That place was a death trap.
So after I get off(it was scaring me too much), this rude boy named Toni comes up to me with this snooty attitude. He has no manners what-so-ever. None. But he thought he could criticize me. No, no, I didn't think so. So, he started insulting me, which went something like this:
"You are the most annoying person in the world. You just talk and talk, you never shut up. Why don't you shut up? Huh? Just shut up, you stupid carrot top. You think you're so smart, well I'm smarter than you. You're an ignoramus compared to me," Toni said, trying to sound tough, but failing. It was laughable. 'Yeah, randomly throwing in a big word at the end really makes you look smart. You wanna see smart? I'll show you smart.'
"I'm not as vexing as you. And if you are so intelligent, my pompous friend, why didn't you say I'm loquacious? Do you not know the definition of that word? Huh. It describes a person who talks a lot. Next time you try to, ah, insult me, better make sure you can back up your supercilious attitude. Oh, do you not know what that means either?" I threw back. 'Don't try to outsmart me, I will make you look stupid.'
"Whatever. You still don't have any friends, you nerd," he replied.
"First you call me stupid, then you call me a nerd. Pick one, because I can't be both," I told him. I was not going to back down.
"You're an ugly little nerd who no one likes. That's why you and your weird sisters don't have any friends. No one is ever going to like you. You are doing to die alone. I bet you even have some weird disease," he said. Man, did I want to hit him. I wanted to send him to a hospital.
"I'm going to ignore you," I said. Then I TRIED to walk away. Really, I did.
"Like the entire school is ignoring you. Did you hear? Everyone's invited to Beth's birthday party. Except you and your sisters. You never get invited to anything. I bet that strings. No one likes you. You gonna cry? Huh, you gonna cry?" he taunted. 'No, I'm going to break your nose.' Of course I didn't, or else I would have been in worst trouble.
Instead, I just pushed him around. And grabbed his arm, twisted it, and threatened him. I was sick of him torturing me. Said I would sneak into his house and decapitate him if he didn't stop messing with me(Keep in mind, I was half vampire. So, he peed himself in fright).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And then Ms. Garcia showed up. I got detention, and he got off free. Well, he did have to change his pants.
I groaned and went back to writing. I knew I couldn't use any of that, so instead I started writing some bull that I didn't believe in. Bull like:
"My school is the best. Its teachers are motivated to teach and always put a smile on my face..." 'Is it hot in here, or is it just me?'
"... The lessons are enriching and cover a multitude of subjects. I always feel like I'm really learning..." 'Okay, I think I have a fever. Too hot. It's like I'm on fire,' I thought, finishing the first page. I figured that was enough lying for now. 'I'll finish the rest later.' I stretched and ran downstairs to watch TV.
"So, yeah. Now we have this big test next week. He is so high-strung; I hate him. I don't want to go to school, but if I stop, that's admitting defeat! He will not defeat me! I just need to make him quit," Melissa explained, in a deceptively calm tone.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Jasper said. Melissa shrugged.
"I'm not gonna do anything illegal, and he deserves it. That guy is horrible, the school should fire him," Melissa replied.
"Maybe, but you shouldn't try to make your teacher quit. If he really deserves to be fired, then he will get fired," Jasper told Melissa. While our sibling normally went along with our plans, they did occasionally have to act like a responsible adult and stop us. This was one of those times for Jasper.
"That will take too long, I want him gone now," Melissa whined.
"Melissa, you can't. You're gonna get in trouble. You'll have to wait it out," Jasper said. She groaned and laid down on the couch. I could tell by her body language that she understood what Jasper was saying.
"I almost hope I get sick, so I have an excuse not to go. I can't just stay home for no reason, because then he would win. I will NOT be beat," Melissa said. Jasper chucked at her.
"You're fighting an out-of-shape teacher," Jasper said. Melissa glared at him, got up, and stomped away. Then came back, picked up her stuffed cat, and walked away again.
"Jasper, you know shouldn't have said that to her," I said, after she finally left. I went back to watching TV.
"My head hurts, I think I'm gonna pass out. I should stay home today," I told Mom. She just smiled and handed me my lunch. I sighed and walked to the car.
"Hopefully, today will be a good day," Melissa said. I shook my head.
"Yeah, right," I said. I climbed into the car and daydreamed the entire trip. When we finally arrived to school, I grabbed my back pact and jumped out of the car. I looked around briefly, before walking with Melissa and Bella inside. I ignored all the insults that the meaner kids threw around.
Most of the kids here aren't mean, they just ignore us. They don't want to get picked on too. Which made making friends very hard. For some reason, I felt like there was a window of opportunity, and we missed it. 'I miss having human friends. I want someone who loves princesses and dolls; and Alice doesn't count!' I thought.
Bella and I walked into Ms. Garcia's classroom. Ms. Garcia was a short woman, with dark brown hair. Her hair was wispy and thin, and her clothes were plain. Normally, she wore a short-sleeved shirt and long skirt. She was old-fashioned, a stickler for the rules. She wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't hated me.
"Good morning, Ms. Garcia," Bella greeted. I just walked to her desk, dropped off my paper, and then continued walking to my chair. I had never greeted her before, wasn't about to start.
"Good morning, Isabella," Ms, Garcia said, in her Spanish accent. I wondered where she came from, but I never asked her. What if she snapped and hated me more? Bella rolled her eyes at the use of her first name, before sitting down.
"Good morning class, today in math, we will be going over subtracting fractions," Ms. Garcia said, turning to the blackboard. She picked up a piece of chalk and started writing. Before I could tune her out, someone threw a paper ball at my head. I turned around and saw Vicky point to it. I picked it up and smoothed out the paper. I read the writing, before balling the paper up and throwing it back. I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Adriana," Ms. Garcia said. I cringed and turned back around. She looked mad.
"Yes," I said, stomping on the impulse to speak Spanish just to throw her off. I remained myself that I had to look sorry.
"Why don't you tell me the answer to the problem," Ms. Garcia suggested. I glanced at the problem, counted to five, then answered her. Which surprised her; she thought she had me off-guard. She always thought she had me off-guard, until I gave her the correct answer. She never learned.
"Very good," she said. She turned back to her lesson. I leaned against my palm and started daydreaming. I daydreamed that I wasn't in a stuffy classroom that was painted a terribly ugly blue, a blue that was also starting to peel off. I daydreamed that I wasn't in a hard, uncomfortable, wooden chair.
I daydreamed that I wasn't surrounded by idiots who were throwing spitballs at me. I daydreamed that I wasn't subconsciously counting down the minutes until I could leave. The class went by pretty quickly that way. In a dragging, painfully slow kind of way.
"Finally," I whispered, getting up and stretching. Lunch time. Bella and I grabbed our lunches and walked out to the playground. We met up with Melissa everyday at lunch and ate under the oak tree. It was nice.
"Hey sissy!" I greeted Melissa. I sat down and took out my lunch. But before I could eat, this blond boy walked up to us. His name was Kevin, he was shorter than me, and he normally left us alone. He was a decent person.
"Hey, give me your lunch," he demanded. I didn't respond. Verbally. Instead, I punched his leg lightly and growled at him. He ran away. Quickly. I never saw a fat boy run faster. Of course, once he returned to his 'friends' I realized that they dared him to do that. I could have punched him for that comment, and those kids knew it! Because I have. My temper has gotten a lot shorter.
I shook my head and returned to my food. 'We would have made better friends than those kids, at least I wouldn't make fun of his weight(past occasional teasing). Those kids make fun off him every time he turns his back. These kids are idiots,' I thought. I ate my food, then started up a game of tag with my sisters.
That turned out really fun for us, especially when a few of the students in fifth grade joined us. Sara, a dark skin girl who was extremely nice(we ganged up on Melissa) and Yeni, a Hispanic(I think Cuban) that talked very fast, plus a few others whose names I didn't get. They were so fun!
All good things come to an end, and recess/lunch ended. Bella and I returned to our class, Melissa returned to hers, and Yeni and Sara went to theirs. They did agree to meet up with us the next day, which was awesome. I looked forward to it.
I struggled to stay awake the rest of the day. Ms. Garcia was going over a book I had read twenty years ago with Mommy; she was preparing the class for the test on Monday. Also, I didn't get the best amount of sleep last night; I needed to stop eating gummy bears before bed. They gave me the worse dreams.
The bell rang after an eternity and I ran outside, with Bella behind me. 'Ah, sweet air! I can breathe again. Thank God,' I thought. I waited for someone to pick us up, thankfully it didn't take long. Unlike this one time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So school had left out and my sisters and I were waiting outside. It was cloudy, of course. Otherwise we would have stayed home with the family. It was, however, very hot.
We waited, and nobody showed up. Mom called the school and said that due to a family emergency, she'd be a little late. This confused us; what the hell did that mean? Family emergency, that was code for something. We didn't know what.
The nice fifth grade teacher watched us while we waited for someone to show up. She took us into her classroom. I decided to take advantage of the glittery pens and bright markers she had, and I drew a very pretty landscape drawing of my house. It was as detailed as I could draw it within thirty minutes.
"Wow, Adriana, that is amazing. It is so detailed, you have a real skill here. Have you ever thought about being an artist?" Ms. Allen, the teacher, asked. I smiled brightly; I loved compliments.
"Oh, call me Adri. And no, I haven't. Actually, if you want to see skill, you should see Melissa's painting of our family. It is amazing. Took her weeks," I replied.
"Really, well. Maybe Melissa can bring it sometime," Ms. Allen suggested. I shrugged. 'I doubt it, she protects that with her life.' I thought. She smiled and walked over to a small radio she had in the corner.
"Why don't you show me?" She asked, turning it on. I got out of my seat and danced for the remaining thirty minutes until Daddy showed up. I said my goodbyes and left the painting with her.
"So, what happened?" I asked. I was the first to ask. Beat my sisters to the punch.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with," Daddy replied.
"Just tell us, we'll learn about it eventually," Melissa whined. Still, Daddy didn't spill. We tried the entire car ride. Nothing. I gave up when we got home. No one would tell us, they all kept their mouths shut.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back to the Story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We still don't what happened. All I know is that there was an unfamiliar, lingering smell in the house. It was limited to the first floor, along with the smell of bleach. Someone was trying to cover up the smell of something. Made us all the more curious.
Anyway, Alice picked us up in her bring yellow car. The ride was uneventful. We listened to the radio, I talked with Ally about fashion. It was all nice and peaceful, just what I needed. Even though it was a good day, still stressed me out. We arrived home, and I had a snack. Melissa took a few(ten) granola bars upstairs and started doing her homework. Mr. Srunpull gave her an insane amount of work.
He was a real bully.
An: Any guesses on who visited? Come on, guess! I'll give you a hint, the bleach was to cover up the girls' smell, not the visitor's. Any takers?
Anyway, next chapter is very special. Very special. Wanna guess how? I might have mentioned it in a past author's note, I think. Well, the number is off by one. But still. I am so excited! Anyway, please review! It makes my day.