PROLOGUE
"Miranda! Come here!" Mrs. Sanchez yelled.
"Coming!" Miranda replied, telling Lizzie that she would call her back. She started down the stairs, and when she reached the kitchen she found her Mother there with a package.
"It's your Christmas present for your abuela," she said. (The Sanchez family is Mexican. Abuela means Grandma in Spanish.)
"Oh. Okay." Miranda reached forward and ran back up to her room. As she was moving, her Mother said, "Make sure you call her and tell her thanks." Miranda nodded her head and continued up the stairs. She tried, unsuccessfully, to open it, and then got a pair of scissors to cut the packing tape. She opened the box, and she was pretty surprised by its contents. First was a letter. Then there were five computer games. She was even more surprised by what they were. The Sims Deluxe Edition, House Party, Hot Date, Vacation, and Unleashed. The letter read:
Miranda, I know that you might have outgrown computer games YEARS ago, but all of the kids (Miranda did NOT appreciate being called a kid) your age here like these games.
Sincerely, Your Loving Grandmother
Miranda dutifully wrote her thank you letter, and then shoved the box under her computer desk. She knew this was NOT exactly a very polite thing to do, but she figured that Abuela would never figure out, and if she ever did get bored enough, she would pull them out and install them on her computer.
*********************
Lizzie was at Miranda's house on a Friday night, and they were completely bored. They didn't go see a movie, because they had already seen most of the movies twice or more. Hill Ridge wasn't the most exciting place to live.
"I know this doesn't sound very fun," Miranda started, "but I got these computer games for Christmas from my Abuela that I guess we could pull out."
"Which one?" Lizzie was not that excited.
"Something about The Sims or whatever," Miranda answered.
"Oh. Matt has that game. He plays it when Lanny is over, and I must say, I've sneaked in and played a few times. Matt is always wondering why his people and furniture seem different." Lizzie sort of liked the game.
"Oh. So you have prior experience," Miranda joked.
And so it all began.
"Miranda! Come here!" Mrs. Sanchez yelled.
"Coming!" Miranda replied, telling Lizzie that she would call her back. She started down the stairs, and when she reached the kitchen she found her Mother there with a package.
"It's your Christmas present for your abuela," she said. (The Sanchez family is Mexican. Abuela means Grandma in Spanish.)
"Oh. Okay." Miranda reached forward and ran back up to her room. As she was moving, her Mother said, "Make sure you call her and tell her thanks." Miranda nodded her head and continued up the stairs. She tried, unsuccessfully, to open it, and then got a pair of scissors to cut the packing tape. She opened the box, and she was pretty surprised by its contents. First was a letter. Then there were five computer games. She was even more surprised by what they were. The Sims Deluxe Edition, House Party, Hot Date, Vacation, and Unleashed. The letter read:
Miranda, I know that you might have outgrown computer games YEARS ago, but all of the kids (Miranda did NOT appreciate being called a kid) your age here like these games.
Sincerely, Your Loving Grandmother
Miranda dutifully wrote her thank you letter, and then shoved the box under her computer desk. She knew this was NOT exactly a very polite thing to do, but she figured that Abuela would never figure out, and if she ever did get bored enough, she would pull them out and install them on her computer.
*********************
Lizzie was at Miranda's house on a Friday night, and they were completely bored. They didn't go see a movie, because they had already seen most of the movies twice or more. Hill Ridge wasn't the most exciting place to live.
"I know this doesn't sound very fun," Miranda started, "but I got these computer games for Christmas from my Abuela that I guess we could pull out."
"Which one?" Lizzie was not that excited.
"Something about The Sims or whatever," Miranda answered.
"Oh. Matt has that game. He plays it when Lanny is over, and I must say, I've sneaked in and played a few times. Matt is always wondering why his people and furniture seem different." Lizzie sort of liked the game.
"Oh. So you have prior experience," Miranda joked.
And so it all began.