BSC in NYC!

Dear Dad and Jeff,

How is Cali? SUNNY and WARM, I bet! New York is okay, but it sure isn't California! I really wish there was a beach here! Guess what? You might be seeing my picture in magazines soon! When you see them, you'll be so proud of me!

Love and Sunshine,

Dawn

I don't understand why New York is called the best city in the world when it's not. The city is full of foul-mouth carnivores, everything is over-priced, and there are no beaches. Seriously, what's so great about this place?

I was pretty disgusted with all the stores on Fifth Avenue that were selling leather products, so I decided to spend the afternoon protesting one of them. Luckily I had brought my poster board and small paints to make a sign. (A good activist is always prepared). After breakfast (Kristy had waffles smothered with whipped cream, it was disgusting), I headed back up to our room. Mallory was sitting on her bed writing furiously in her journal. Now that I thought about it, I didn't think she had been at breakfast. I don't think she even noticed me when I came in.

I sat on the floor and thought for a minute of what I wanted the poster to say. Then, in bright red paint, I wrote the words: DON'T SUPPORT ANIMAL CRUELTY! BOYCOTT ALL ANIMAL PRODUCTS! DON'T WEAR MURDERED ANIMALS!

Under it, with black paint, I drew a picture of a cow with spots. I may not have Claudia's artistic ability, but I thought it looked decent. Instead of drawing the cow's head attached to the body, I drew it by the cow's feet and added light strokes of red paint by the neck to depict blood. Then I drew a circle around the decapitated cow with a big red slash through it. If this didn't get anybody's attention, I didn't know what would!

I grabbed my poster, being careful with it since it was still a little wet, and headed out. My friends call my style "California casual" and that's exactly how I was dressed today. I was wearing denim shorts with a yellow t-shirt that said "We got more bounce in California than all y'all combined" in wavy light blue letters. My long, gorgeous, silky, almost-white, wheat-colored, golden-blonde hair hung naturally.

I headed out on Fifth Avenue, trying to decide where to stage my protest. As I walked, I held my sign up proudly. I got a few strange looks, but mostly everyone just ignored me. Of course, they were all eating mangled pig carcasses jammed up a stick or carrying dead cow skins. Imbeciles.

I noticed the repulsive Louis Vuitton store had a crowd around its door. There were even TV cameras. Maybe there was already a protest going on! It was my lucky day! As I approached the crowd, I noticed nobody was carrying any signs and they all seemed to be excited about something. I pushed my way through the crowd.

"What's going on?" I asked when I managed to get towards the front where there were a few security guards. "Is this a protest?"

A girl, a few years older than me (and also black…hmm, maybe she and Jessi would get along?), turned to me and excitedly said, "Jennifer Lopez is shopping in there right now!"

I turned to the TV cameras and noticed they were for Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight.

"We must boycott all her movies and albums at once!" I cried. "J-Lo is an animal killer!"

The girl looked at my funny. "I'm not boycotting anything! J-Lo is my idol."

"Your idol!" I exclaimed. "Your idol should be someone who actually cares about the living creatures on our earth, not someone who wears them for fashionable pleasure." I raised my sign high and started chanting, "J-LO IS AN ANIMAL KILLER! DON'T SUPPORT J-LO!"

"Hey, shut up, blondie!" I heard someone shout at me.

But that only made me chant louder. "SAVE THE ANIMALS! NO MORE KILLING! BOYCOTT LEATHER PRODUCTS…..AND FUR PRODUCTS TOO! AND DON'T EAT MEAT!"

My chanting was suddenly drowned out by screams. The glass doors had just opened and Jennifer Lopez came walking out accompanied by her bodyguard. In her hands was a new white leather tote. The security guards had to hold back screaming and waving fans. Jennifer smiled and waved at her fans as she walked towards the limo that was waiting for her. The paparazzi took photos of her as she signed autographs.

She was signing one for the black girl next to me (I hope Jessi would never become friends with her!) and I shouted at her, "How does it feel to be a murderer, J-Lo?"

She looked at me confused. "Excuse me?"

I pointed at her leather tote. "Did you know that was once a beautiful living creature and then it was savagely murdered and made into that bag just so you would have something to hold your precious make-up in!" I smacked my sign down hard on the tote. The paint was still wet and stuck to the bag.

"Oh my God! Look what you did! You bitch!" Jennifer screamed at me as I was shoved back by security guards.

The next thing I knew I was being put into a police car and driven to a police station. I sat in a small, stuffy room for nearly an hour before a police officer came out to talk to me. He was eating a jelly doughnut, unaware of the poison he was putting into his body.

"Dawn Schafer?" he said looking at a file and raising his eyebrow at me. I nodded.

"Well, consider yourself lucky, young lady. I spoke to Miss Lopez's attorney and he informed that she will not be pressing charges for destruction of property or assault."

"If anybody should be charged with anything," I said coolly, "it should be Jennifer Lopez for promoting the cruel murdering of innocent animals."

"Um, yeah." The police officer took another bite of his sugar-filled doughnut. Let him get cavities. He deserved it. "Miss Lopez is dropping the charges because she realizes you're just a young girl who was only passionate about, uh, animals and the folks at Louis Vuitton are giving her another tote." He took another bite. "You should also be prepared to see your picture in many tabloids and I'm sure you'll make all the entertainment shows." He chuckled. "I would also advise you to stay away from Miss Lopez if you ever happen to see her again. Oh, and the folks at Louis Vuitton don't want you within a hundred feet of their store."

I crossed my arms. "I wouldn't touch their revolting store with a ten foot pole."

He nodded. "Okay, I think we're done here. Try to stay out of trouble, Dawn."

Sure enough, the next day I passed by a newsstand and saw my picture plastered on the front of every entertainment magazine. ANIMAL ACTAVIST ATTACTS J-LO! they all read. This is great! I thought. Now people will see that Jennifer Lopez supports the murder of animals and soon everyone will boycott her movies and albums! I felt like I was taking a step in the right direction for a better world. I mentally patted myself on the back.

To all my awesome readers and reviewers, I did a little revision towards the end of Chapter 6 (Stacey), so take a looksie!