Chapter 1
The Mansion
Julie sat in her chair staring out at the mansion on the hill. No one in the neighborhood ever spoke of the mansion anymore. There were rumors of it being haunted by the ghost of an inventor, but she wasn't so sure they were true. She sat in her bed, thinking about what her grandmother had told her. Ever since then, she wondered so much about the mansion, and the man that possibly lived there.
Julie was 16 years old now. She was very pretty, but not very popular. She was somewhat of an outcast. The kids at school used to make fun of her because of her beliefs in the man that lived in that mansion. Since the kids usually went to the same schools throughout their education in the small neighborhood they lived in, her "weird" reputation stuck through high school. She was a very good artist. She liked to sketch things and had pictures all over the walls of her room.
Lately, she had been wondering about "Edward Scissorhands" and what he looked like. Her grandmother did not like to bring up the subject, but when Julie really wanted to know, she would tell her what she could. She often sketched what she thought he looked like, but hid these from her parents who didn't like her grandmother filling Julie's head with "such ridiculous ideas." That evening, Julie thought very hard about Edward. She wanted to take all of her courage, go up to the mansion and meet the amazing man she had heard so much about, but knew that it would more than likely stir up more trouble like the last time he met anyone.
"Dinner," Julie's mother called up the steps to her room. Julie pulled herself off of her bed and hurried down stairs. Julie lived with her mother, a little sister of 6 years old named Emily, and her pet cat, Raven. Julie's parents were divorced now, so her father lived in another part of town. She got along with both of her parents well, but still tried to do what she could to get them back together, even though she knew deep down it was impossible.
"And then Tyler told me that his dad was an astronaut," Emily said, spinning her fork in her spaghetti. "Really," her mother replied, trying to sound fascinated. "So, Julie how's school?" "Fine, mom," Julie replied. "Awfully quiet tonight," "I'm just thinking," "Anything I can help you with?" Julie thought about asking her mom about the mansion, but knew she'd get paranoid or something. "No, just…thinking about my sketching," she said. "Oh, I think you're drawings are fine, dear." Her mother said. "Mom!" Emily said, rather loudly. "I wasn't done." "I'm sorry, honey, what were you saying?" "Then, Jamie did a cartwheel, with no hands!" "Wow, ya' know, I used to be able to do that. I was a cheerleader in high school. Ever think about that Julie?" "Mom, we talked about this." "I just think it would be so good for you. You might make more friends that way, hon." Julie rolled her eyes, hoping her mom would go back to talking to Emily. "Speaking of which, how's Chase doing?" "He's fine." Julie said. Chase was Julie's friend. He wasn't that popular either. They had been really good friends since junior high. "You should have him over for dinner some time." "His parents keep him locked in the house like he's some mental case or something, or else I would ask him to come over." "Julie has a boyfriend!" Emily said. "You know Chase isn't my boyfriend!" Julie said. "Whatever," "Girls…" their mother said, giving them both stern looks. "Anyway, how about prom, honey?" Julie's mother continued. "Junior prom's coming. I saw this beautiful pink dress at the mall-" "You know I hate pink, and I'm not going." "Oh, why not? We could fix you up real nice, you could pick out a nice…black…dress, you'd look beautiful!" "No one has asked me and no one will ask me, they all think I'm weird." "You're a beautiful girl; I don't know why you have such low confidence in yourself…" Julie just picked at her food as her mother went on babbling about the prom.
That night, Julie looked up at the mansion outside her window. She was drawing it at her desk. She liked her desk right in front of the window so she could draw things that she saw outside. She stared out at the mansion. She wondered what it would be like to meet Edward. She thought about the garden outside of the mansion. What did it look like? She had to find out and she wanted to find out soon.
Julie walked home from school; she passed by the mansion and stopped. "Going up to see someone?" yelled one of the kids from school. Some other kids laughed. It wasn't a funny joke, just pathetic she thought. She waited a while to make sure no one was around. A few moments and bad jokes later, she was alone. Just when she started to walk to the mansion, she saw Chase coming over. "Where are you going?" he asked. "Don't tell anyone." She begged. "Don't worry, I won't. But you're not gonna find anything." He said smiling. His smile was very sweet. He was pretty good looking and, like Julie, dressed in a lot of black baggy clothes. He had reddish brown hair that was always spiked in the front. One of his ears was pierced along with his eyebrow. Julie liked him a lot, but they were just friends, she always thought. "Thanks," she said. "My mom wants to know if you wanna come for dinner." She said. "Again? I'll ask my parents, but I doubt it. I better get home before they call the police." He said, annoyed. "Alright, bye" she said, giving him a hug. She watched as he disappeared from sight. She looked around, and nervously walked through the fence. The place used to be blocked by police ribbons, but no one ever went up, so they took them down. She stepped over the broken down fence and went up to the dark mansion, in search of everything she hoped was there.