A/N: Has anyone ever told ya that ya'll rock? I feel so loved, so very loved! Ya'll put up with me being a weirdo and such and the whole fact that my story is boring for now…and ya'll still read! Lovely responses for lovely readers:
Esodes08: Kelly and Debbie did get totally ripped-off, but it all evens out, as you'll see later. I think your teacher ripped you off too. Seriously, making you take your Science final? Totally cruel! You guys get a fair? We work our bo-hineys off and we don't get a fair! You are one lucky duck! I think you should really go for it! Just write something and post it, please! Come on, we all get the jitters…just overcome it! I think liking Paul comes in stages. Like at first you hate him, then you hate to like him, then you start thinking he's okay, then you finally realize you're in love with him. Ok, well not in love, but you know what I mean! Hey, you're in Meg's Book Club, yeah? Isn't that awesome?
Gothic Granny: All that's so sweet! I have every one of your stories on my faves…I think. I'll check up on that. You are lucky you don't have exams, young'un. You give the impression that you know a lot about my story…teehee. I hope I was able to help with your emotional breakdown…you seem fine now, besides the random twitching. That goes away, I promise. Adam is so awesome! I remember when I first read Shadowland and I thought Jesse was annoying. And then she met Adam and I was like, 'He sounds so cool! Maybe she'll go out with him!' Isn't that weird? Yeah, Adam is one of my faves AW! I can't really tell you what to do in Addicted that's totally up to you. Oh and here is a big heaping helping of our friend Paul…just for you, Lolly. (See? I managed not to spill anything, aren't you proud?)
Hayley: Yes, I am the bad twin! You better believe it! Come on! Please post your PD fics! Please? It is necessary that all Hayleys post their creative, inspired works. You can do it! I'm going to bug my parents to buy me the PD series! My AIM is…shock, shock…NiceHayley. If there is a NiceHayley out there, you can pretty much guess it's me. Hayleys unite!
Universal Call: Well, your cousin has a cool name too! And that makes you automatically cool that you know a Hayley! I'm updating now! And Jesse will sneak in, just hang in there!
Alissa: Wow, thanks! Weird Al is the coolest! And you'll find out who Magdalena is soon enough. And you can join the Adam-loving club!
Misfortunates of Fortunaschwein: Boy, that's a doozy to type! It is hard to get on MSN the same time as you because of the 13 hour time difference. I do agree abou the massive amounts of work needed, but we've come really far already! The joy in this is, no one knows what we are talking about, but they'll just have to wait and see! And thanks about what you said! It was so sweet!! Writer's block sucks so much, but we can help each other out!
THUD, THUD, THUD, THUD!
That's what I woke up to the next morning.
I sat up groggily and made my way over to the bathroom door, where all of the thudding was coming from. I opened it, and let out a little scream.
"Chill, Suze," a green-faced person said, "It's just me, Kelly. We need our stuff."
I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and then squinted. Yep, that was Kelly all right. She was only wearing a facemask. Could have fooled me…
"Come on in," I said as pleasantly as possible, for a girl that was so rudely interrupted of her precious sleep.
Kelly made her way over to her bags and rummaged through them noisily, causing CeeCee to stir in her sleep. I peeked out of the window and noticed it was still dark outside.
"Kelly?" I croaked in my morning voice, "What time is it anyway?"
Kelly, plucking a few items from her bag, replied, "Oh, it's only 5 o'clock."
"WHAT?" I yelled. I realized that CeeCee was still asleep, so I brought my voice down to a whisper and asked, "It's 5 am, Kelly. Are you insane?"
"Early to sleep, early to rise, makes you healthy, wealthy, and wise!" Kelly chirped cheerfully.
Well, early rising didn't help her on the last bit. It amazed me how Kelly could be cheerful at such an ungodly hour. She was humming under her breath as she searched for her nail file. She looked rather odd right then…with that green goop on her face, fuzzy pink bathrobe draped on her shoulders, and her wet blonde hair piled on the very top of her head. I wondered if any of the guys would still be in love with her if they saw her in her early-morning condition.
"Debbie will be out of the shower in a few," Kelly stated, as if I had asked her about it. "It might help you wake up."
I nodded my head, not really sure what to say. First of all, it was too early to choke any words out…and secondly, Kelly and I really didn't have much in common. Well, besides the whole student government thing, our love of all things fashionable, and our impressive make-up collection. Oh wait, and our mutual disgust in Paul Slater.
Well, okay, there was a lot that we could talk about. But there was this sort of wall between us, blocking us from becoming too buddy-buddy. I mean, Kelly was always nice to me…maybe because she was afraid after what I did to Debbie when I first came to Carmel. Did she really think I was going to actually break Debbie's fingers? I wouldn't waste my energy on something so frivolous. I quietly opened the armoire and pretended to search for something to wear to cover the silence.
"Debbie's out now!" Kelly called as she pranced out of the room.
I quickly picked out an outfit, gathered my travel-sized shampoo and soap, and went to the bathroom, locking both doors just in case the Ditzy Duo decided to barge in. I got in the shower and turned the water on slowly and…
"EEEEeeeeeeeeEEp!" I squealed as I turned the hot water on. But that didn't help any. The Ditzy Duo used up all of the hot water! Perfect, just perfect!
After taking an icy shower, I had enough time to blow-dry my hair straight. No wonder Kelly's hair looks perfect…she gets up at the crack of dawn to style it.
When my hair was done, I put on the outfit I had picked out earlier. It was this blue-green cami tank that actually matched the Tidal Wave nail polish that I 'borrowed' from Kelly, coupled with this gorgeous white bohemian-style layered skirt that was just a little above my knees. Over the cami tank, I wore a stylish white button-up 3/4-length shirt that I bought at The Gap. Together it looked very beach-chic…very Californian. I completed the look with this really pretty necklace that had actual seashells on it.
By the time I got out of the bathroom, CeeCee was already awake and ready to go. She was smart and took her shower the night before so she actually had HOT shower. She was applying SPF 45 to her creamy-white face and any other skin that wasn't covered by her pastel purple long-sleeved shirt or her dark purple corduroy pants.
At 8:00, the junior class assembled in the lobby and then proceeded to a complimentary hotel breakfast buffet. Needless to say the eggs were a greenish color, the biscuits were stale, and the gravy was chunky. But they also served cereal, so everyone opted for that instead.
"Oh, hey Suze!" Kelly said as she and her crowd took a seat at the table Adam, CeeCee, and I occupied.
"Your hair looks so pretty straight!" Debbie squealed in approval.
"And nice choice in outfit, Suze. It really brings out your eyes! And I love your nail polish!" Kelly gushed.
I giggled silently to myself. I can't believe Kelly hadn't noticed that I was wearing her nail polish!
After the strange occurrences at breakfast, we packed on the bus and headed for the San Juan Capistrano Mission. The ride wasn't too long, just long enough to read over the brochure of the Mission with CeeCee. We were really psyched to see it, because from the pictures it looked really nice.
"All right, this is our stop! Once you are off the bus, find your buddy. We'll do a quick check and then we will begin the tour of the Mission. Remember that we are representing Juniperro Serra Mission Academy, so be on your best behavior!" Mrs. Tarentino shouted over the group. We unloaded the bus and everyone stood, shattering excitedly amongst friends.
"This is so going to rock!" Adam exclaimed and he put an arm around CeeCee.
"Adam, you aren't actually interested in this, are you?" CeeCee teased as she ruffled his hair playfully.
Adam scowled. "Dude, watch the hair!" he reminded her as he removed his arm from her shoulders to fix his tousled hair.
I giggled as the two poked fun at each other. They were so cute together, even when they fought. But none of them wanted to compromise their friendship for a relationship. Or at least that's how CeeCee explained it. Adam always changed the subject when I brought it up.
"Hello there…buddy," a voice, close to my ear muttered softly. Guess who that would be…
"Paul," I said as calmly as possible, "Buzz off."
"No can do," Paul replied, his strong-arm still draping my shoulder.
"Couldn't you at least, I don't know, try to make this an tolerable experience?" I asked.
"Now that," Paul said as he leaned so close to that I could feel his lips brush my ear as he spoke, "Is something I can do."
"Quit it, will you?" I hissed as I craned my neck away.
God, didn't he have any manners? We were at a school function, and he didn't even have the decency tone it down a bit. Well, that's Paul for you…never tame, always wild.
Paul chuckled a deep, manly laugh as he turned to listen to the chaperones drone about the day's itinerary. But he still had a hold on me, which was really unnerving. I felt really uncomfortable and awkward in his grasp. He had me in his clutches…and it was all my fault. I had agreed to it. And boy, was I in for a bumpy ride.
We met the tour guide in the front of the mission. The guide was this really short, but incredibly loud woman of about 50. She introduced herself as Joanne O'Riley, the head of the mission's historical department. She did seem to know a whole lot about the mission.
"This marvelous mission you are currently visiting is the San Juan Capistrano Mission, located deep in the heart of Orange County. This mission was the seventh mission founded by Father Juniperro Serra. Father Fermin Lausen previously established this mission in 1775, but later unrest at the Mission in San Diego caused its unfortunate abandonment. You see, Father Lausen left the mission in San Diego in order to create another mission half-way between the San Gabriel Mission and the one in San Diego. Fr. Lausen bought the land, and even added this nice crucifix here, signaling that this was about to become one of the great missions in California. They worked on the mission for eight days, when they heard that the Indians attacked the mission in San Diego. They stopped construction, buried the bells, and went back to San Diego to help. On the Feast of All Souls Day, November 1st 1776, Father Serra re-established this mission, which still stands strong today. The mission was named after the famous theologian St. John Capistrano of Italy. In 1777, they built the small chapel; it remains the only surviving building in which Father Serra said Mass."
Everyone looked in awe at how tiny the church really was. It was sort of hard to believe that someone as big as Father Serra once performed an actual Mass in this small chapel. I mean, not even our small class could fit inside completely.
But then again, it was so extravagant, the amount of gold they used in the shrine. No wonder there was barely any room, the place was so filled with riches that it was kind of over-powering. There was a plaque above the chapel that read in vibrant yellow Serra's Church. Well, they really did seem proud of it.
"You see here the golden altar, used to celebrate daily masses. Behind it is where they kept the consecrated host, lavishly decorated and safe. You will also notice various statues of different saints, and even a nice crucifix above the golden altar. Notice the confessionals to your left."
The last command was sort of an afterthought to Joanne. They were a series of small wooden doors in line, looking very humble next to the elaborate golden shrine that stood in front of us.
I don't know why I wanted to see the confessionals so badly. I mean, they must not have been that important, the way Joanne glided over them so. I felt this tugging feeling, that I just had to check them out.
So I headed that way slowly as the tour guide went on about the important history of this establishment. She was filling the chapel with her boisterous voice, spouting about some important event that happened in 1812 or something.
I had my hand on the door, ready to push it open, when Paul appeared beside me, leaning against the wall crossing his muscular arms in front of his chest.
"What's a good girl like you doing snooping around these old confessionals? Have you been bad lately?" Paul inquired with his trademark smirk.
"I don't plan on being bad anytime soon," I said as I rolled my eyes expressively, "I was just curious."
"That's too bad," Paul replied, raising his eyebrows suggestively, "I was kind of curious too. We can check it out. Together."
I somehow didn't believe he was really interested with what was inside. I think he was only interested in getting inside…with me.
Um, EW!
Dude, this was a Church for goodness sakes! And to think he wanted to…well, I'm not too sure what he wanted to do, but I do know that it probably wasn't too religious or anything.
The thought sent shivers down my spine, in not such a good way. These weren't Jesse-kiss shivers, these were there's-a-dangerous-hottie-out-to-get-you shivers.
It certainly didn't help that he was dressed in this gray button down shirt, which he left un-buttoned at the neck, exposing only a little of his well-defined chest. The gray really brought out his slate-blue eyes, making them seem brighter. One of his dark brown curls hung ever so casually in his face, adding a certain mysterious appeal to him.
Maybe he should invest in a headband or something…
I rolled my eyes at him again and, without saying anything, opened the small wooden door slowly and quietly.
I almost screamed as I found that it wasn't empty, as I would have expected. No, this confessional was occupied…by a little girl who was sobbing her eyes out. And not just any little girl…it was a ghost of a little girl.
I glanced at Paul who looked pretty startled himself. That really didn't help at the moment because I was sort of expecting a reassuring nod or something. Nope, nothing, nada…
I looked back at the girl with only one thought flying through my mind…
Oh boy, I really was in for a bumpy ride.
A/N: I hope you guys liked this chapter. I felt pretty good after writing it. It's finally summer, so I have a lot of time on my hands. Well, not this week though. Think 3-day band camp, 2 day leadership camp, and a wedding…all in the same week. Oh, and I actually get to see my friend Katherine! We never got to see each other during school. Please tell me what you think, and maybe offer some suggestions. I have major writers block, but I'm trying really hard here. But expect something cool sometime soon, okay? Hang in there, lovelies. You certainly rock! Ya'll are my muses, all of you!