Here's a story I've been working on. You can go ahead and read it, and even if you want proof read it. If you have and corrections or suggestions, just send them to me (the link is at the bottom). Thanx! Enjoy! Oh and for the green screen names (you'll see what i mean when u read on), they're supposed ot be red - the computer just screwed it up. Sorry.

4Lives

This is a story about four girls and their sophomore year of high school. These four girls have been best friends ever since sixth grade. Yes, of course, they’ve had their fights, but those times passed by rather quickly. Though, as they get older, things get harder. So, now I tell you their story.

*

The alarm clock went off for its fourth time. Though, once again Jess slammed down on the ‘snooze’ button. As she rolled over to go back to sleep again, the phone on her bedside table rang.
“Who is it?” Jess mumbled into the phone receiver.
“Amy, but are you coming to the mall after school today? We’re all getting together then,” Amy, one of Jess’s good friends, said wide-awake.
“What do you mean? It’s only,” Jess turned to look at her clock, “Oh my god! It’s 6:45!”
“Um…yeah.”
“I need to get up! I can’t be late for the first day of school! Oh, and sure I’ll be there.”
“Ok, see ya. Bye.”
“Bye!”
Jess started running all over the house getting ready. She was also surprised because her parents usually got her up in the morning, knowing that Jess wasn’t exactly one who awoke in the early hours of the day. She was always a clumsy and forgetful person. She was also more on the calm and shyer side. At social events, she was usually very quiet unless she had a friend there with her. But when she was with her friends, she was always wild and outgoing. She had a great sense of humor and would always be there the best she could for her friends. She was always the envy of most of her friends because she was a bit taller and slimmer than they were. She was five foot seven and could still fit into a size five, waist-wise. She had dark blond hair that went down a little past her chin. She had green streaks in just the front part of her hair, which she had begged her mom to let her do for about a year until she finally agreed.
Quickly, she got dressed first. That day, she wore her favorite jeans – a faded pair of Mudd flares that was once so long, it covered her whole shoe with room to spare, but now it’s torn and shredded at the bottom, her dark blue Blink182 band shirt with her leopard faux fur collared work shirt owning the name of Griffin, and a pair of blue platform Vans with Care Bear shoelaces.
Next she had to let her dogs out and bring them back in, feed them, and feed herself. Then she made a lunch, which was a soda, some rice, and a bag of Doritos. After that, she swung her bag over her head, grunted over how heavy it was, and then ran out the door to catch her ride from her next-door neighbors, taking her to her first day as a sophomore at Blake High School.

Amy was up before her alarm clock went off. This was quite unusual because she wasn’t exactly a morning person either. Amy was a year older than the other three girls were, so today was her first day of driving, with a permit, to school. Too bad it was her dad’s station wagon and not the Volkswagen Beetle she wished for. She lived right near Jess, but went to Paint Branch High School with Jen, one of Jess’s and Amy’s good friends.
Amy was the more bossier out of the four, but still good and fun to be with. She always had an egotistical sense about her, but a positive one. And she was often found to be very stubborn, but Amy was always one you could count on to keep a secret and one who would almost always share your happiness, no matter what the news. And you would always have a good time with her. She was a great friend that was always there. She had long shoulder-length straight hair. It was light brown with the tint of red in it from pink hair dye she had out in it. She was on the shorter side at the height or five foot and three inches, but was very muscular from her Scottish dance classes and cheerleading in freshman year.
That first day of sophomore year, Amy was wearing her extra-long jean flares. Along with the pants, she wore her brown shirt with the Snickers logo on it, but instead of the “Snickers”, it said “Punkers”.
Finally, Nate, Amy’s brother as well as licensed driver, was ready to go. Off they drove down the road to Amy’s first day as a sophomore at Paint Branch High School.

Jen was awakened by her mom who was trying to wake up Jen’s little brother. He was starting sixth grade at Briggs Chaney Middle School that day. After Jen just lay in bed for a while, she finally got up to get ready for school. Jen was more of an outgoing person, but still a little shy at times. She had a great sarcastic sense of humor. And although she tended to get jealous and upset occasionally, sometimes over small things, she had great qualities as a friend, who was always there to help you out. Jen was a little bit on the shorter side at five foot two. She had blond hair to about the bottom of her neck. She had a tint of purple in her hair that she had done early freshman year and had continued it since.
That day, She wore a pair of long khaki wide leg jeans, which formerly owned to Amy’s brother and blue shirt with Curious George skydiving out of an airplane. She had a bagel for breakfast, just as she did every day.
Before Jen left, she called each of the other three girls to make sure that their get-together after school was still on. Right after she hung up, she called, “goodbye”, to her family and ran to catch the bus for her first day as a sophomore at Paint Branch High School.

Brittany was carefully braiding her pigtails. She had been awake for a while, and now just doing her final touches on her hair. Along with it, she wore her khaki overalls and a gray baby-tee-shirt. She couldn’t wait to go to school. Each year she would be so hyped up to see her friends again. Friendship was a very important thing to her. Although, she was more of the practical and serious type out of the four, she could make you laugh with her spontaneous humor. She was also a little stubborn, but always had advice to give. Brittany, along with Amy and Jen was slightly shorter than Jess, with the height of five foot four inches. She came from a Jamaican heritage but had an American accent. She had long black frizzy hair, which she usually kept up in a bun unless it was a more special occasion.
“Brittany!” her mom called from downstairs.
“Yeah, mom?” Brittany called down.
“Are you ready yet? We need to leave soon.”
“I’m coming! Just hold on a minute,” Brittany then tucked a piece of hair she missed behind her ear and then ran downstairs to get her book bag and get into the car. Brittany’s mom had to drive her to school because the high school she went to didn’t have any bus routes driving through Brittany’s neighborhood. So, off they drove to her first day as a sophomore at Good Counsel High School.

The school day was long and tiresome. Though, they all reunited once again at Columbia Mall. All four met in the food court at Vie de France, where they each got a salad and a soda. For about five minutes, they all talked about their schools. Then Brittany paused the conversation.
“We have so much to talk about, but I wanna know how Amy’s first day of driving with Nate went.”
“Well, he’s better than having Leah in the car with me. She’d be yelling her head off. But I did accidentally, emphasis on accidentally, go through a stop sign,” Amy replied.
“Wait. How come Nate was there with you? I thought he graduated last year,” Jess said and then took a bite of her salad.
“He’s going to the University of Maryland. Once I got to school, he took the car, and I went home with Jen. Then Jen’s mom drove us here, and my mom’s picking us up,” Amy explained. They all nodded acknowledging.
“Well, back to school. Brittany, are there any new guys at your school?” Jen asked.
“Yeah, there’s a few.”
“I mean the cute ones.”
“Oh, no. But Mark’s graduating this year, and you guys know I’ve had a crush in him for three years now.”
“Same here. Pat’s graduating this year, and I’ve liked him for four years,” Amy said.
“Um, there is one new guy at Blake. He’s kind of cute,” Jess spoke up.
“Really? What’s he look like, and what’s his name?” Jen wanted to know.
“Well, he’s about 5’10”. He had bleached hair and baby blue eyes. He kind of looks like Mark McGrath. You know, the leader singer of Sugar Ray. I think his name is Mike, but I’m probably wrong,” Jess took a sip of her soda, and then said, “No, wait! It’s Matt.”
“Oh,” they all said, and had a few minutes of silence to symbolize that they were eating.
“Oh, guess what!” Jen all of a sudden said, “Next week is George and mine first year anniversary.”
“Congrats, but how do you plan to celebrate?” Brittany asked, “He’s your online boyfriend that lives in Austin.”
“Boston!” they all corrected her.
“Whatever,” Brittany said and then waited for Jen’s response.
“Well,” Jen started, “We’ll probably use Jess’s conference call.” Jess stopped eating and abruptly looked up to follow the conversation. She tended to space out a bit.
“Huh?” she asked.
“I might have to use your conference call to call George,” Jen replied.
“After four years of knowing him, your mom still won’t let you call long distance?” Jess asked. Jen nodded, “Well, you’re not using my phone, and that’s that.” Then she went back to her thoughts.
“Another alternative is,” Jen continued, “that him and whoever, probably Dana, will come down for a weekend and hang out.”
“That’s a better idea,” Amy said, “because then we can all hang out instead of a short phone conversation with Jess listening in.”
“Huh?” Jess came back from her own little world again. The other three just giggled and said, “Nothing.”
After that, they continued to talk about guys, school, and where they would shop that day.
First, they made a quick stop at Spencer’s. Then they went upstairs to Claire’s and the pet store. After that, they bought a few little trinkets from Another Universe. Jess bought yet another poster from there. Her bedroom walls were covered with posters. At 5-7-9, Brittany got an outfit that she thought was very cute.
Time was running out, so the four girls made double time to Sam Goody, where Amy bought the newest punk CD by Assorted JellyBeans. Soon before they stopped by Haägen-Daz for ice cream, Jen got a card for George and a picture frame from Hallmark.
After they ate their ice cream, they were racing through the mall to get to the food court, where Amy’s mom was waiting to pick them up.
“Okay, Nikki, are you driving today?” Mrs. Prusinski said as she greeted the girls. Nikki was Amy’s nickname that her family often used.
“Uh…sure. I just need directions,” Amy replied.
“Oh no! Amy’s driving?” Brittany said, “Dun, dun, dun!”
“Duh, duh!” Jess finished.
“It doesn’t go like that. There’s only three ‘duns’,” Brittany argued.
“Well, I say it with two ‘duhs’ after your three ‘duns’!” Jess argued back.
“Then you’re just weird!”
“No, I’m gifted!”
The four friends laughed. This disagreement occurred frequently.
Once each of them caught sight of Mrs. Prusinski’s van, they all started fighting over the window seats.
“I get the left window seat in the back!” yelled Brittany.
“I get back right window seat!” Jen shouted.
“I get driver’s seat,” Amy said unenthusiastically.
“Huh? Oh, I get front left window,” Jess added.
For the rest of the car ride, the girls laughed and talked and just had a great time. Sooner than they wished, Amy was turning down Brittany’s road. She lived in a rich neighborhood, so the road was quite long to fit all of the large houses on it. Also, it just so happens that Brittany’s house was the very last one. As the car drove along the road, they all ‘oooh’ed and ‘aahh’ed.
Brittany’s house was fairly large. It wasn’t the largest and it wasn’t the smallest. There was a small pond in her front yard, which had fish in it. Once in a while, there were frogs living in the pond. Also, there was a turret in the front of the house, which was also Brittany’s room.
“Come on guys! Let’s go in for a minute,” Brittany called to the girls as she was getting out of the van. Jen started to get up, but then Jess said, “Sorry, Britt. I really gotta be getting home.”
Mrs. Prusinski and Amy agreed. Jen then sat down, and Brittany moped as she walked up the brick steps to her front door. She yelled a weak good-bye to her friends, then disappeared inside. Obviously, Brittany hates not getting her way. They would’ve invited Brittany over, but she had to stay home until someone with a bit more authority was home.
As Amy drove into Jen’s driveway, as usual, they each brought up the subject of Jen coming over. Amy’s mom let Jen and Jess come home with them, though Jess had other things to do.
“Sorry guys, but my mom’s making this big deal about getting a part time job and taking responsibilities and all that junk,” she explained, “but maybe I can talk to you guys online.’
“We can’t,” Amy said.
“Excuse me, dear, but why can’t we?” Jen asked disappointed.
“Because we’ll be too busy talking to George if Jen’s over,” Amy said trying not to laugh.
“Well, pardon me if I wish to stay updated with my sweetie.”
“Yes, yes, due time. Though, don’t you think that you should ask your mom first, Jen?” Jess brought up.
“Oh yeah!” Jen started getting out of the van.
“Oh yeah,” Jess said in a mocking tone. After a minute or two of waiting, Jen came back running saying that she could go home with Amy.
Then they drove off. Amy, Jen, and Jess all lived in little suburban neighborhoods. The kind of neighborhood where the same house design is used every other house. In fact, Amy and Jess’s houses were the same design, only reversed.
Once Jess got home, she said hello to her dogs, let them out, and went upstairs.
“Hi, mom. I’m home. Hi, Susan,” she stopped in to say hello to her mom. Mrs. Lemmon’s business was stationed at her home, and Susan was her co-worker.
“Oh, hi!” Susan remarked. Jess just smiled and left to check on her hamster. Teddy (the hamster) was running low on food, so Jess refilled it. After that, she started up her computer on her desk. A year ago when Matt, Jess’s brother, went to college, he left her his computer and got a new one.
Jess logged on to AOL. Sure enough, Amy and Jen were on talking to George. Jess decided not to disturb them, so she started checking her mail.
Suddenly, an IM popped up:
SMGlacier1: Hey there
It was Jay, one of her online buddies.
EvRcLR1639: Hey, wut’s up?
SMGlacier1: n/m, how was ur first day of school?
EvRcLR1639: not bad, I mean it’s not that different from last year
EvRcLR1639: well, except that there’s this new guy that’s kinda cute
SMGlacier1: oh? Really?
Their conversation was interrupted by another IM:
NIKNAK1432: hello
It was Amy and Jen.
EvRcLR1639: hi, what ya guys up to?
NIKNAK1432: nothing
NIKNAK1432: can we come down?
NIKNAK1432: please
NIKNAK1432: ????
EvRcLR1639: not so many IM’s at once, ok? And no, u can’t call George
NIKNAK1432: y not? Can’t we at least do a conference call????
EvRcLR1639: NO!

SMGlacier1: hey, where’d ya go?
EvRcLR1639: oh, sorry, brb
SMGlacier1: k

NIKNAK1432: hello?
NIKNAK1432: ya there?
NIKNAK1432: hurry up
NIKNAK1432: hello?
NIKNAK1432: hello?
NIKNAK1432: hello?
NIKNAK1432: hello?

Jess’s computer froze. So, she turned it off and went downstairs to get something to eat. She wasn’t really enjoying her time online anyway.

“Ah! She got off?! I am so insulted!” Amy said.
“Well, it gives us more time to talk to,” Jen paused and then said dreamily, “George.”
“No,” Amy complained, “he’s too boring.”
“Nah-ah!” Jen disagreed.
“Uh-huh!” Amy replied.
“Nah-ah!”
“Uh-huh”
“Nah-ah!”
“Uh-huh!”
“Nah-ah!”
“Let’s call Brittany,” Amy suggested.
“Okay,” Jen agreed.

The Omess’ phone rang about two times before Jeremy, Brittany's brother, answered it.
”Hi, is Brittany there?” Amy asked.
“Yeah, hold on,” he replied, “BRITTANY!!!”
There was a long pause, and finally Brittany picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hi!” Amy said.
“Hi!” Jen repeated.
“Hi, Amy. Hi, Jen,” Brittany replied.
“How’d you know it was us?” Jen asked.
“I’m psychic.”
“Oh, uh-huh.”
“Hey Britt,” Amy started to ask, “is um…ya know…Pat there?
Pat, whom was Amy’s crush, was also Jeremy’s friend, so Brittany wasn’t so thrilled about it.
“Yeah,” Brittany answered with a sigh. Amy made a little sound that expressed her happiness, “I have to go to the bathroom. You can talk to him until I get back.”
“Brittany, no!” It was too late, she had already called Pat’s name. Soon enough, he picked up the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Amy. Brittany told me to talk to you.”
“Oh, okay. So, what’s up?”
“Nothing much. How was your first day as a senior?”
“It was okay. What are you now, a sophomore?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.” There was an awkward silence when all of a sudden Amy and Jen heard a beep symbolizing call waiting.
“Um…Pat?” Amy said.
“Yeah?” came the reply.
“I got a call on the other line, so hold on.”
“Okay.”
The call was Jen’s mom telling them that Jen was supposed to be home in an hour. Jen said, ‘good-bye’ and they reluctantly went back to Pat.
“Hi, I’m back.”
“Well it’s about time,” It wasn’t Pat anymore, but Brittany instead.
“ Oh its you.”
“Of course. None but the best,”
The rest of the conversation went on with gossip, laughter, and just all around girl talk.
Soon, Jen had to go, so they bid their good-byes. As Amy, Jen, and Mrs. Prusinski were about to get into the van, Mrs. Twigg, Jen’s mom, drove up the driveway.
“Oh!” Mrs. Prusinski said surprised, “We were just about to drive Jen home.”
“Really?” Mrs. Twigg stated, “Well, Jennifer has a drum lesson in fifteen minutes, so we have to go now.”
“Bye, Amy,” Jen said as she got in her mom’s van, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
There Jen and her mom left Amy and her mom standing there on the driveway, watching the car back up.

Next day at school, Jess wasn’t feeling well. Though, she couldn’t go home because her mom was away at appointments all day and no one could come and pick her up. Her friend, Julia, noticed that Jess wasn’t looking too good, so she wrote her a note.

Hey, what’s wrong?
Hi! I’m not feeling good and no one’s home to come and pick me up
Oh, that sux.
Yeah
Have you checked out that cutie 2 rows over?
Yeah, he’s in a few of my classes
Really? What’s his name?
Matt
Oh, ok. Do you understand what Ms. Ellis is talking about?
No, I don’t think anyone does
I hate science.
Ditto

They continued to pass notes back and forth until the bell rang.
“I dare you to say, ‘Hi’, to Matt,” Julia said as they exited class.
“I will if you do it too,” Jess said.
“Okay.” The two walked up to him.
“Hi,” Jess said.
“Hi,” Julia repeated.
“Hey,” he said.
“You’re new, right?” Jess asked.
“Yeah, I’m new. My name’s Matt, what’s yours?” he stated quietly.
“I’m Jess, and this is my friend, Julia.”
“Cool.” There was an awkward silence.
“Well, I have to go to French now. Bye,” Julia said as she left the two.
“What’s your next class?” Jess asked.
“Science,” Matt replied.
“Same.”
“Cool.” They walked the rest of the way to class in silence.

It was lunchtime for Amy and Jen. As they and their friends ate lunch, they began updating their knowledge on who likes whom.
“Next week will be George and mine’s first year anniversary,” Jen said for the umpteenth time, “I can’t wait to talk to him again so that we can arrange for his stay down here.”
“Jen, you are too pressed,” Amy complained, “I still like Pat, though.”
“Still?” their friend, Teresa, said, “How long has it been?”
“Four years, but he’s a senior now and will be graduating. I might never see him again,” Amy pouted.
“Then it’s your year to stand up to him and tell him how you feel,” Katy, another friend of theirs, said.
“Yeah, I know,” Amy acknowledged frowning.
“There is an advantage with him being a senior,” Jen stated, “If he says, ‘No way in hell, get out of my face’, then he’s leaving, never to be heard of again.”
“That’s no too reassuring,” Amy said and continued eating.

Brittany let out a long sigh as she watched Mark play a game of football with his friends.
“What’s wrong, Britt?” her friend, Becky, asked.
“Oh, nothing. It’s just that Mark’s graduating this year,” Brittany replied.
“So?”
“Well, I’ve liked him ever since eighth grade.”
“Oh.”
There was a long silence while they both watched Mark. Then their friend, Jasmine, came up to them.
“What’s up, guys?” she asked.
“Mark,” they replied gloomily.
“Oh. He’s graduating this year and you guys like him,” Jasmine guessed.
“No, only Britt likes him. I have a sweet, loving, and loyal boyfriend, remember?” Becky complained.
“Oh yeah. I forgot about Snott,” Jasmine said as she sat down.
“Scott!” Becky corrected.
The three quieted down and just sat and thought about their guy problems. This usually happened when the senior guys got together and played football.

TogaDaMan: hi
It was George. Jess had just gotten home and immediately got online. She had to tell her friend something.
EvRcLR1639: hey
TogaDaMan: sup?
EvRcLR1639: n/m, I hear ur coming down here next weekend,
TogaDaMan: yeah
EvRcLR1639: that’ll be cool
Suddenly, another IM popped up.
Wonderduckies: hi, guess what!
It was Julia.
EvRcLR1639: what?
Wonderduckies: that Matt guy from school asked for your phone number
EvRcLR1639: Really?
Wonderduckies: yeah, and he has AOL too, his screen name is NOFX5568
EvRcLR1639: cool
EvRcLR1639: lemme see if he’s on
Wonderduckies: k
Jess went to add Matt’s screen name to her buddy list. He wasn’t on.
EvRcLR639: nope, he isn’t
Wonderduckies: o well
EvRcLR1639: yeah
Wonderduckies: gotta go now, I just wanted to tell you that, bye
Julia signed off. Jess was about to go back to George, but he had signed off too. No one else was on, so she got off to watch some TV and wait for Matt’s call.

Amy was out practicing right hand turns with Nate. So far, she hadn’t been doing so well.
“Amy! You’re in the wrong lane,” Nate yelled, “Now we have to go to the next intersection.”
“Do we have to be doing this?” Amy asked, “Why can’t I wait for Mom to get home?”
“Fine,” Nate said, “I have better things to do anyway.”
“Okay. So, we’re on Old Columbia Pike. I keep going straight for the next two intersections. Then I turn right on to Hidden Valley Drive, then left to Hidden Valley Lane,” Amy explained.
“And then we’re home.”
“Okay. Let’s go!”

“Mom, can I go online now?” Jen asked her mom.
“Then you can’t go on later, you know that,” her mom replied.
“But that’s not fair”
“You want to chip into the phone bill?”
“No, not particularly.”
“Well, then there you go.”
“But Mom?”
“No ‘buts’, Jennifer! I said no, and I mean it!”
Jen stomped off to her room.
“It’s not fair!” she said to herself, “How else am I going to talk to George?”
She threw her pillow at her desk. Many papers and various items, including a week old bagel with a bite in it, fell to the floor. Then right in front of Jen fell the Briggs Chaney Middle School directory from eighth grade. It had just so conveniently flipped open to Jess’s name.

“Hello?” Jess said into the phone receiver.
“Hi, this is Jen.”
“Oh, hi.”
“Um…any chance at all that I – er, I mean we could call George.”
“You wanna use my conference call is what you’re saying.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I have a solution. Just ask your mom if you can make one long distance call and see what she has to say.”
“No, I can’t. She just gave me her ‘chip-into-the-phone-bill’ lecture.”
“Oh.”
“So, can we call George?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I have to go. Bye!”
“Grrr. Bye.”
The two hung up. Jen went back to her pouting. Jess went back to watching TV and waiting for Matt’s call.

“No one’s on?” Amy exclaimed while looking at her buddy list. She had just gotten online, “I’m gonna get off then.”
“What?” her grandma, who was sitting behind her, asked.
“Nothing, Grandma!” Amy said a little bit louder. Grandma, who had been living with the Prusinski's for three years now, had trouble hearing.
“I was just thinking out loud,” Amy explained.
“Oh, okay, dear.”
Amy gave a long sigh. There’s nothing to do, she thought, is no one at all home?

“Hello?” came Amy’s voice from the phone receiver.
“Hi, Amy!” Brittany said.
“Hi, what’s up?”
“Nothing. Pat’s here.”
“Ooooh.”
“But you can’t talk to him today.”
“Aw man!”
“But I will tell him you said hi.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be right back.”
There was silence for about a minute or two. Then Brittany came back.
“He says hi,” she said.
“Hi, Pat.”
“I’m not going back downstairs to tell him that, sorry.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t expect you to.”
“So…”
“Why did you call?”
“Just because.”
“Oh, okay. So, what do you wanna talk about?”
“You’re trying out for the pom squad at Paint Branch, right?”
“Yup. Jen won’t, though.”
“That’s okay.”
“How was your day at school?” Amy asked.
“Not good, but not bad.”
”Oh, those kind of days?”
“Yeah. Me, Becky, and Jasmine – you know who they are, right?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay. Well, we spent the whole afternoon watching Mark and his friends play football. I like him so much!”
“I know what you mean. Sure ya don’t wanna go tell Pat I said hi back?”
”Yes, I’m positive.”
“Oh well.”
“Hold on a second. My mom’s talking to me.”
“Okay.”
In the background, you could hear Mrs. Omess complaining about Brittany’s messy room.
“Clean this up, Brittany,” Amy could hear Mrs. Omess say.
“But Mom, I’m on the phone with Amy,” Brittany said.
“You’re on the phone?”
“Yes.”
“Give it to me.”
“But Mom…”
“Give it to me.”
Then Mrs. Omess took the phone.
“Hello? Amy?”
“Hello, Mrs. Omess,” Amy said.
“Hello, um…Brittany has to go now.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Okay. Bye-bye.”

“I’m having trouble trying to sleep…” Jen sang to ‘Brainstew’ by Green Day. She was still moping in her room. So far, she had tested to see if her week old bagel was still good. It wasn’t. She had counted every single bead there was on her beaded curtains. She attempted cleaning her room, but gave up. Now, she was on her fifth CD. First, she listened to Eve6, then Prodigy, then Green Day’s Nimrod CD, then Green Day’s Dookie CD, and now she was listening to the Insomniac CD by Green Day.
Soon, Jen began to get that eerie feeling that someone was watching her. She turned around to see her younger brother hiding behind the door.
“Michael!” she yelled. He came out of his so-called ‘hiding place’.
“Mom told me to tell you that dinner’s ready.”
“Already?” Jen turned to look at her clock, “Da – I mean, Wow! It’s 6:45 already? Well, I’ll be down in a minute.”
“Okay.” Then he ran downstairs to go eat his dinner. He probably knows the basic cuss words by now, but I still need to be careful with my ‘potty mouth’, Jen thought. Then she turned off her CD player and went downstairs.

“Hi, is Julia there?” Jess said into the phone receiver.
“Hold on,” came the reply.
“Hello?” Julia asked.
“Hi, it’s Jess. I didn’t think you’d be online, so I called you.”
“Okay.”
“Um…oh, now I remember what I was going to say. Matt didn’t call!”
“Not my fault.”
“Oh well. Sigh.”
“Yeah. Well, I have to eat dinner now, okay?”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Then there was silence.
“Where’s Mom and Dad?” Jess thought out loud, “wait. They had a meeting tonight. Ugh. That means I have to make dinner for myself. I’ll just make French balls.” French Balls was a meal that her grandma invented. The recipe was passed down to Jess’s mom and then to her.
After she was done eating, she started to feel lonely. I’ll call Amy, she thought.
The phone rang twice, and then Amy answered it.
About five minutes later Amy was walking up Jess’s driveway. Jess came out to greet her. Then Lily, Jess’s younger dog, jumped up on Amy.
“Hey! How’d she get out here?” Jess asked.
“You left the door open, reject,” Amy replied. Jess turned around to see Phillip, her brother’s dog, waiting patiently by the open front door.
“Oh,” she said.
The two of them went inside and watched TV for a while. Then, after watching an episode of “Friends”, they got a phone call from Jen.
“Hello, Jen!” Amy said.
“Hi, Jess,” responded Jen. Amy and Jess laughed and continued to play along.
“What’s up?” Amy asked.
“Not much. I am so bored, but I’m gonna go online soon.”
“Oh, okay.”
Amy wanted to put the conversation on speakerphone, but as she did it, she accidentally hung up on Jen.
“Oops,” she said.
“That’s okay. I have an idea for when she calls back,” Jess explained.
The phone rang, and she answered it.
“Domino’s Pizza, how may I help you?”
“Come on Jess. I know it’s you.”
“Um…I think you have the wrong number. Bye.”
Jess hung up. This happened a few more times with Amy and Jess alternating turns. When it was Amy’s turn, something unexpected happened.
“Ledo’s Pizza, how may I help you?” Amy asked.
“Uh…I think I have the wrong number,” came a guy’s voice over the speakerphone. Jess plunged for the phone.
“Wait! Who is this?”
“Um…my name’s Matt, and I’m calling for Jess. Is this 301-384-5872?” he asked.
“Yeah. This is Jess. Sorry about the pizza thing,” Jess had then taken the conversation off of speakerphone.
“Yeah. Well, um…what’s her name…Julia gave me your number, so I decided to call.”
“That’s cool.”
“Who is it?” Amy asked Jess.
“No one,” Jess whispered.
“Who’s that?” Matt asked.
“That’s my friend, Amy.”
“Oh, okay.”
“Hello?” Amy had picked up another phone and joined the conversation.
“Hello?” Matt said, “Who’s this?”
“Who’s this?” Amy asked.
“My name’s Matt. Is this Amy?”
“Yeah.”
“Oh, cool.”
“How do you know Jess?”
“I go to her school.”
“He’s in a few of my classes,” Jess said.
“Oh,” Amy acknowledged.
“Well, Matt, can I call you back when I don’t have such company around?” Jess asked.
“Hey!” Amy complained.
“Sure,” Matt replied, “Actually, I’ll call you. When’s a good time?”
“Anytime after 7:30.”
“Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
“Bye, Matt!” Amy said.
“Bye,” Matt hung up.
“Bye, Jess,” said Amy.
“Bye, Amy.”
Then Amy and Jess hung up and went upstairs to go online.

Jen was online already.
Tigress983: bonjour, mon cheri
TogaDaMan: uh…hi
Tigress983: bonjour = hello
Tigress983: mon = my
Tigress983: cheri = dear
TogaDaMan: oh, hey
Tigress983: so, is Dana coming w/ u next weekend?
TogaDaMan: yeah
Tigress983: that’s great, where ya staying
TogaDaMan: um…motel if we’re old enough to check in w/out an adult
Tigress983: Dana’s 18, right?
TogaDaMan: yeah, and I’m 16
Tigress983: well, w/ Dana there, you’d probably be able to do it
TogaDaMan: k, thanx
The two of them talked for about a half an hour, and then George had to go.
Tigress983: ok, bye, I love u
TogaDaMan: luv u 2, bye
Then Jen decided to talk to Jess.
Tigress983: hi
EvRcLR1639: hi, this isn’t jess
Tigress983: then who is it?
EvRcLR1639: guess
Tigress983: it’s not amy or britt cuz they’re at home
EvRcLR1639: ya sure
Tigress983: amy?
EvRcLR1639: yup
Tigress983: oh, k
Tigress983: wait – where’s jess?
EvRcLR1639: talking on the phone w/ britt

“I know how you feel. I’ve waited months, even a year for a guy to notice me,” Jess said to Brittany on the phone.
“Try three years,” Brittany reminded her.
“Oh yeah. Poor you.”
“He’s so cute. Why can’t he like me too?”
“Sorry, that’s just life.”
“Humph! Hey, is Amy there?”
“Yeah.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“Sure. Hold on.”
“Hello?” Amy asked.
“Hi. Guess what!” Brittany said.
“What?”
“Pat’s here.”
“So?”
“Oh no. Don’t tell me you’ve changed your crush again?!”
“Uh-huh, and this guy’s a sophomore, too.”
“Amy, Amy, Amy. What are we ever going to do with you?”
“Huh?”
“Nevermind. So, what’s his name?”
“Doug. I met him going ice-skating. He looked familiar, and he’s really cute. I started to forget about him, but then he came up to me. And he said, ‘Hey. You look familiar. Do you go to Paint Branch?’ So, I said, ‘Yeah, I’m a sophomore, you?’ Then he said, ‘Yeah, me too.’ So, then I said – “
“Okay, Amy. I get it!”
“But I was just getting to the good part!”
“Too bad. I wanna know who Jess’s guy is.”
“What about mine?”
“Later. Now tell me, who is he?”
“All I know is that his name is Matt, and he’s in some of her classes.”
“Oh! Oh, oh, oh, oh!”
“What?”
“Remember when we were at the mall, and Jess said there was a new guy that was kinda cute? And his name was Matt! I know this for sure!”
“Okay, Britt. Calm down now.”
“I’m so smart!”
“That’s nice. Bye, bye,” Amy hung up on Brittany.
“Huh?” No one was there, “hello?”

“Why’d you hang up?” Jess asked Amy.
“She got boring.”
“Oh, okay.”
Then the two continued to talk to Jen online.

Soon after Amy had gone home, Jess settled down to start on her homework. The phone rang. Jess ignored it, forgetting she was the only one home. When she remembered she hurried so the caller wouldn’t hang up.
“Hello?” Jess asked.
“No Ledos’s?” came the response.
“Who is this?”
“Matt. I called after 7:30, didn’t I?”
Jess looked at the clock that read 7:31.
“Yeah, you did,” she said.
“So, did you do the math homework?”
“Yeah. I’m doing it now.”
“What room of your house did you find the geometric measurements for?” Matt said in a mocking tone.
“My room, you?”
“The bathroom.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It’s the smallest room.”
“You have a point there.”
“Um…what was our science homework?”
“I don’t know. I was either too busy passing notes or sleeping.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll call someone else later.”
“Okay.”
“So…”
“Um…”
Jess’s doorbell rang.
“Can you hold on a minute? There’s someone at the door,” she said.
“Okay.”
When she opened the door, there was a Pizza Hut delivery guy with a pizza in his hand.
“Okay. That’ll be $14.50,” he said.
“But I didn’t order a pizza.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have a pizza here for a Ms. Jessica Lemmon at thirteen Hidden Valley Court. Now is this you or not?”
“Yeah, that’s me, but I didn’t order a pizza.”
“Come on. Just take it. It’s my coffee break now, and I still have another pizza to deliver.”
“Fine, but I’m not paying for it.”
“Then you’re not getting your pizza.”
“Oh well. Bye.”
She was about to close the door before she realized how hungry she was. I haven’t eaten all day! What am I doing? she thought.
The pizza was paid for, and Jess placed it on her kitchen table. She was about to open the box when she remembered about Matt.
“Sorry about that,” she said into the phone, but she only heard the dial tone.
Jess sat down with a sigh and opened up the pizza. Inside was a note:

Guess what! You are now apart of the pizza chain.
Send this to one of your friends giving them this same note.
Good Luck!

It was Jen’s handwriting. What has this world come to? Jess thought, Pizza chain letters? She ate the pizza by herself and thought about her conversation with Matt.
“Hmmm…he likes me. I mean it’s very obvious. He’s really cute. I see him everyday. This just might work out,” she said out loud.

Brittany, Jasmine, and Becky were wandering through the mall that same night. They had been shopping for about an hour or so when Jasmine became thirsty. Becky agreed she was hungry. Brittany was about to join them when she saw Mark across the way with a couple of his friends.
“I’ll catch up with you guys in a few minutes. I just remembered I saw this outfit I really wanted to try on real quick in a store over there,” she said.
So the two groups departed and Brittany walked as fast as she could without running to the Abercrombie & Fitch Mark had just gone in to. She spied them looking at the new vests in the front of the store. I have to find a way to get him away from his friends, she thought. Then, just as he took his hands out of his pocket, his wallet fell and dropped to the floor, right as he turned to leave.
“Oh my god! Thank you! Thank you!” Brittany said aloud to herself. She rushed over to the wallet and picked it up. She chased after Mark, calling his name.
Outside the store, his whole group of friends stopped and stared at Brittany. Mark was staring extra hard, trying to figure out who she was. And then it just clicked.
“Oh, hey. You’re Jeremy’s little sister, right?” he asked.
“Well, I do prefer to be called Brittany, but yeah. Him and I are related.”
“Alright.” He then turned to his friends and said, “I’ll meet you at the food court in fifteen minutes, okay?”
The group left, leaving Brittany alone with Mark. Her heart was racing. This is was she was waiting for. Oh he is so adorable. I need to do everything I can to keep him here.
“So, what did you want?” Mark asked.
“Oh! Sorry. I saw you drop you’re wallet. Here it is,” she replied as she handed him the wallet.
“Thanks! I didn’t even notice I dropped it.”
He took the wallet. There was a moment of silence. Brittany was sure he was about to leave, but then he started talking again.
“So, do you shop here much?” he asked.
“No. Not really. Just when I see something I like.”
“Oh, well I work here on the weekends, so I could show you some stuff that would look great on you.”
“Sure! That’d be great!”
Before she knew it, Brittany’s arms were filled with clothes Mark had picked out with the help of one of the salesgirls. Brittany went to the fitting rooms, and showed the clothes to Mark. When she got to a really short and tight dress in the color of florescent pink that he had picked out, she was reluctant to try it on. Ewww!!! She thought, how do people wear these things? I look so fat in this! Even though she had her doubts, she still went to show it to Mark.
“Hmmm…it’s nice. It could be better,” he remarked.
“I look so fat in it!” Brittany repeated out loud.
“Yeah, you’re right. And I think you might want to wait until you’re another bra size up.”
“What?!” she couldn’t believe what Mark was saying.
“Well, now that you mention it, two would be better.”
“You are so insensitive! You jerk!”
Brittany ran into the dressing room and changed. When she came out with the rest of the clothes, she threw them at Mark and ran out of the store. A few minutes later, she met up with Becky and Jasmine. They asked her how the outfit looked. The reply was, “I’m fat!”

“Hey, Jen! Guess what!” Amy had called Jen before school the next day.
“What?” Jen replied.
“It’s Friday! I get to see Doug!”
“Oh. Cool. Is that all you called me about?”
“No. Is something happening today? I feel like I’m forgetting something.”
“Yeah. It’s a half day.”
“Oh! Even better.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So, are you coming ice skating tonight?”
“I don’t know. Let me ask my mom.”
While Amy waited, she poured a bowl of cereal.
“Mmm…Team Cheerios,” she said sarcastically.
As she went to put the cereal back in the pantry, Amy tripped over one of her dogs. This made the cereal that was in her hand spill all over her.
“Benji!” she yelled at the dog that had tripped her, “Bad dog! Very bad dog!”
“Woof, woof, Amy. Yeah, I’m really a dog,” Jen said over the phone, thinking Amy was talking to her.
I think I’m gonna have a bagel for breakfast, Amy thought, it’s less harmful.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” she told Jen.
“Oh. Well, my mom said-“
“Can I call you back or see you at school? I have a big mess to clean up.”
“Oh. I see how it is.”
“Okay. Bye,” Amy hung up on Jen to go clean up the Cheerios.

“Amy? Hello?” Jen was still on the phone, “Amy, it’s not funny. Hello?”
She finally hung up.
“I can’t believe she hung up on me,” she said.
“What?” Mrs. Twigg, who thought Jen was talking to her, asked.
“Nothing, Mom,” Jen responded.
“Amy hung up on her, Mom,” Michael, Jen’s brother, said.
“You are such a nuisance!” she complained, as she walked away to get her schoolbooks together.
“Jennifer, don’t speak that way to your brother!” Jen’s mom called after her.
“Hey! Where’s my binder?” Jen called from upstairs.
“It’s down here,” her mom called, “right next to your backpack!”
Jen came downstairs again. She put her shoes on, then her coat, and finally she slipped her arms through her backpack’s straps.
“Bye, people! I’ll see you later,” she said as she walked out the door, “oh, Mom, I forgot to tell you it’s a half day today. Bye!”

When Jess got to her locker that morning, there was a note attached to it. As she took it off, she was looking around, wondering whom it could be from, as if he or she were still around watching her.
Hi. Wussup? It was cool talking to you. Hope to talk again soon. Bye.
“Who wrote this?” Jess asked herself. Then she saw Julia coming down the hall towards her.
“Hi,” she said, “what’s that?”
“Oh, this?” Jess said, referring to the note, “I found it on my locker.”
“Let me see it.”
As Julia scanned the note, Jess started to unpack and continue to think about whom the sender could be.
“Okay, I got it,” Julia stated.
“What? Tell me,” Jess demanded.
“Chill out. It’s fairly simple. Who did you talk to last night?”
“Oh my god! I am so stupid!”
“Yeah, so who is it?”
“Of course!” Jess quickly finished unpacking and ran off to her first period class, leaving Julia standing alone and confused.
“Hi, Matt. I got your note,” Jess said as she sat down in her class.
“Cool,” he replied.
“Very creative.”
“Thanks.”
“Do you want to see ‘House On Haunted Hill’?”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“Well,” Jess explained, “me and some of my friends are gonna go see it on Saturday. Wanna come?”
“Sure. But isn’t it rated R?”
“Well, yeah, but you see, I have these friends from Boston that are coming down for the weekend and one of them is 18, so it all works out.”
“Cool. Who else will be there?”
“Um…Julia. My friends, Brittany, Amy, Jen, and her boyfriend.”
“Cool.”
“Okay. I’ll call you Saturday to give you more details.”
“Miss Lemmon, could you please answer the question?” the teacher asked.
Gulp, she thought.

“Hey, what are you writing,” Becky asked as she sat down next to Brittany at lunch.
“A note to myself,” Brittany replied.
“Oh.” There was a long pause. Then Becky asked, “Can I read it?”
“If you must,” Brittany said and handed the piece of paper to Becky.
Becky was obviously confused. She tried to use sentences, but nothing came out of her mouth. Finally, she was able to share her say.
“Brittany?”
“What?”
“What is this?! It says, ‘I hate Mark!’ like a hundred times!”
“So? What’s wrong?”
“You were crazy about him just yesterday.”
“Things change, okay?” Brittany turned the other way.
Just then Jasmine came and sat down next to Becky. She noticed that Brittany seemed mad, so she whispered to Becky.
“What’s wrong with her?” she asked.
“Hold on,” Becky then asked Brittany, “Can Jasmine see the note too?”
“Sure. I don’t care,” Brittany mumbled.
When Jasmine saw what was written on the paper, her mouth opened wide, and her eyes saddened. Then she noticed something Becky had missed. At the bottom of the right corner, the last sentence was not, ‘I hate Mark!’, but ‘And I’m fat!’ instead.
“Brittany, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Do you guys think I’m fat?” Brittany said quietly.
“No!” Becky stated.
“You have a great body. And we’re not just saying that because we’re you’re friends. You really do,” Jasmine commented.
“Do you think my chest is small?” Brittany asked.
“No,” Jasmine reassured.
“And I know for a fact that Daniel Rolland doesn’t think so either,” Becky shared.
“Why are you asking us this?” asked Jasmine.
“Mark thinks I do,” was Brittany’s reply.
“That…..that….,” Jasmine trailed off.
“That ass!” Becky yelled.
“Exactly, “ agreed Jasmine, “he is a self-centered ass that thinks he knows all. It’s about time you found that out for yourself.”
“You really think?” Brittany asked.
“Yes!” they both agreed.

Before sixth period started, Amy came running up to Jen. She was obviously happy about something. Jen sighed. If Amy was happy, she soon became obsessed.
“Jen! Jen! Jen! Jen!” Amy said in a high-pitched tone.
“What? What? What? What?” Jen asked.
“Remember Doug? He asked me out! I’m so happy!”
“That’s cool. I’m so happy! Let’s get to class.”
“Do you always have to spoil good things?”
“Not always.”
There was a substitute that day in their science class. His name was Mr. Crispbell. He was a short and chubby man. He wore thick glasses that lay on the tip of his nose. It was obvious that he was wearing a cheap toupee on the top of his head.
When Jen saw him, she giggled quietly.
“Can I help you miss?” Mr. Crispbell asked her.
“No, sir. Nothing’s wrong,” Amy and Jen tried not to laugh until they got to their seats. Once they got there, they let out quiet laughs as the teacher took attendance. Jen started passing notes between the two of them when they calmed down.

Mr. Crispbell is funny.
You mean that in he’s retarded kind of funny.
Yeah.
Okay. So, I was thinking of inviting Doug to our movie this Saturday. Should I?
Yeah. That’d be cool.
Good. I’ll ask him next period. He’s in my class.
If only Jess and Brittany had guys, then we’d all be happy.
Yeah. But I think Jess has found someone. Remember that Matt guy she was talking about at the mall on the first day of school?
Yeah. That’s her guy?
Well, let’s hope. And then what about Britt?
She still likes Mark.
Nope, not anymore. She called me this morning about a trip to mall where she saw Mark and a lot of other crap happened too. I mean bad crap.
Oh. Poor Britt.
Yup. Uh-oh. Here comes Crispbell.

“Excuse me, ladies,” he said as he reached for the note, “but what is this?”
As he read it, he had a small vein between his eyes that would pop in and out when he became mad. Jen couldn’t help staring at it.
“Well,” Mr. Crispbell said once he was finished, “I thank you girls for interrupting my class. So, as your reward, both of you stay for after-school detention.”
Amy and Jen heaved out long sighs as most of the class laughed at them.
“Well, at least we’ll be together,” Amy said.
“Yeah, right,” Jen added and opened her science book.

Jess’s bus wasn’t very crowded that day. She chose a window seat and sat down. Most everyone was sitting in the back. They were talking loudly.
I am so tired, she thought, why can’t everyone just shut up and leave me alone? < BR> “Hi!” Katie, one of Jess’s friends, said to her.
“Hi, Katie,” she replied.
Katie was a freshman, but she lived down the street from Jess. They weren’t close friends, but they talked once in a while, mainly on the bus and at the bus stop.
“What’s wrong?” Katie asked.
“Nothing big. I’m just really tired,” Jess said.
“Oh. That sucks. So, what are you being for Halloween?”
“What?! Halloween isn’t for another month!”
“Sorry. So, what are you gonna be?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, think!”
“Fine,” Jess said with a long sigh.
“So,” Katie started, “have you thought yet?”
“NO!”
“Sorry. I’ll leave,” Katie quickly got up and joined the rest of her freshmen friends in the back of the bus. Jess was often jealous of Katie. She hated the thought of someone younger than her having so many more friends and boyfriends.
Jess put her hands in her pockets and found a note. She pulled it out and looked at it. It was Matt’s note. Jess smiled and put it back in her pocket. Katie’s not the only one now, she thought.

“Brittany, how was your guitar lesson with Amy?” Mrs. Omess asked.
“Fine,” Brittany replied.
“That’s good. What do you want from Chinese?”
“We’re having Chinese? I want some shrimp fried rice.”
“Okay. I’ll add that. Do you have any homework?”
“No, Mom. I did it in class.”
“Okay. Did you feed the dogs?”
Brittany didn’t answer. Her mom put down her pen down and looked up.
“Brittany, did you feed the dogs?” Mrs. Omess repeated.
“No. I’ll do it now,” Brittany said and got up.
Brittany had two large black labs, Spot and Shadow. The Omess’ had a very big backyard, and the dogs were fenced in on the other side of the yard. When Brittany approached them, the dogs started barking very loudly.
“Oh, shut up,” she told the dogs.
One of them jumped up on her in which she fell into the dog’s water dish. The dogs left Brittany lying there to eat the food that had spilled across the ground. This made Brittany furious, but all she did was lay on the ground, wet and muddy. It took about five minutes for her to recuperate. By then, Spot and Shadow had eaten their share of food and had gone back to their doghouse.
“Bad dogs!” Brittany yelled.
“Brittany,” Ms. Omess had walked onto the deck, “what are you yelling about? Why are you all dirty? Get in here before you catch cold!”
Brittany went straight to her room without a word to her mom. She got into the shower, and started crying. She stopped in a minute or two and finished washing up.
Later, after dinner, she called Jen.
“I have had the worst day ever!” she told Jen.
“I’m sorry about Mark, but come on, Britt,” Jen said.
“It’s not about Mark, okay?” Brittany yelled.
“Calm down now, Brittany.”
“Sorry. I’m just really mad at the whole world, I guess.”
“Oh, one of those days, huh?”
“Yeah. So, George is coming down this Friday?”
“Yup! I can’t wait!”
“That’s nice. Well, I think I’m gonna go to sleep early tonight.”
“Okay.”
“Bye,” Brittany said.
“Bye? Why?” Jen asked.
“I’m going to sleep.”
“Now? It’s only 8:45.”
“Yeah. Bye”
“Fine. Bye.”
The two hung up and Brittany fell asleep within three minutes.

Around noon on Saturday, George and Jen were eating at a nearby Pizza Hut. They had ordered a medium cheese pizza. George was on his fourth slice and Jen was on her third. They had been enjoying a peaceful afternoon lunch together when Jen remembered about her pizza chain letter and wondered if it had actually worked.
“I’ll be right back,” Jen said. Then she walked up to the front counter and said to the cashier, “Hi. Is um…what’s his name…Greg here?”
“Yeah. Hold on,” the cashier guy replied and left for the moment.
“Who wants to see me?” asked a guy about six feet tall with enormous clothing and messy brown hair.
“Hey. I was just wondering if Jessica Lemmon got her pizza,” Jen explained.
“Yeah. She got it.”
“Okay. Thank you. Bye,” Jen was about to leave when the pizza boy stopped her.
“Yo, wait! Now what’s in it for me? My woman just dumped me and I’ve been lonely lately,” he said.
“Yuck! That is so disgusting!” Jen said, and then walked back to her table where George was waiting.
“What was that about?” George asked.
“Nothing. I just needed to ask about a pizza,” Jen replied.
“Okay.”

“Britt, you have to meet Doug!” Amy said over the phone to Brittany.
“Okay,” she replied.
“Well, don’t sound so excited.”
“Okay!” said Brittany with more enthusiasm, then continued, “so, when do I get to meet this wonderful Doug of yours?”
“Tonight! He’s coming.”
“What’s happening tonight?”
“We’re seeing, ‘House On Haunted Hill’. Remember?”
“Oh yeah! No, wait!”
“What?” Amy asked.
“I can’t go,” Brittany replied.
“Why not?”
“There’s an Animorphs special on tonight.”
“Come on, Britt! Don’t you think you’re a little old for that?”
“No I do not! Come one now. Winnie the Pooh – you love him right?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s for little kids. And trick-or-treating, you always go. And let’s see….what else? There’s your menagerie of stuffed animals. You’re love for Disney films…”
“Okay, Britt. Chill.”
“Sorry. Just don’t say that my interests are childish.”
“Alright, I won’t. Now what do think I should wear tonight?”

“So are you coming tonight?” Jess asked Julia over the phone, “I asked Matt if he wanted to come, and he said yes.”
“That’s cool. I wish I had a guy to bring,” Julia said.
“Well, why don’t you take Dawson?” Jess said teasingly. Dawson was the boy at school that reminded Julia of James Van Der Beek from Dawson’s Creek. Jess often teased Julia of asking for his autograph, although Julia never did it.
“Funny. Haha. Good thing I’m not going.”
“You’re not going?”
“No, I can’t, “Julia said.
“Why not?”
“I have to babysit.”
”Oh, but you have to come! Besides me, he only knows you. And I need someone for him to talk to if I get too nervous. And he’s kinda shy, so I’ll be the only one for him to talk to, and I’m running out of breath.”
“You really like him, don’t you?”
“No! Of course not! Kinda. No!”
“You’re silly, Jessie.”
“I’m taking that as a compliment.”
“Fine, whatever. I have to go now. See you on Monday.”
“Bye.”

“Where’s Britt?” Jen asked Amy once she got to the theater that night.
“She had to watch the Animorphs special tonight,“ Amy responded.
“That girl is too obsessive o ver TV.”
“Oh well. She’s already seen this movie, so she’s not missing anything. Where’s George?” Amy asked.
“Parking the car. Where’s Doug?”
“Talking to a friend he saw.”
“Oh.”
About the same time George was sighted walking up the sidewalk to the group, Jess and Matt came out of Matt’s brother’s blue 99 Honda.
“Get a ride home, okay?” Matt’s brother told them. Josh nodded and they joined the other two couple waiting for them.
“Hey guys!” Jess called, “This is Matt.”
“Hey,” Jen, Amy, and Doug said. George hadn’t joined up with the group yet. Jess noticed this and asked where he was.
In response, Jen said, “Behind you.”
Sure enough, when Jess turned around, there was George walking towards them. She gave him a hug, and greeted each other with many Hi’s, Hello’s, and How are you’s. When Matt started to look uncomfortable, Jess explained that her, George, Jen, and Amy had been friends for about three years. This was the second time they met. The first was during the previous summer.
They bought three popcorns and six sodas once they got inside. Amy and Jen went to the bathroom before they all went into the theater. Matt and Doug started talking about skateboarding, which Jess was practically ignorant to, so she started talking with George.
“So,” she said, “where’s Dana?”
“Oh, he’s out somewhere. I tried to get him to come, but he didn’t want to see the movie. So, I just got him to give me his ID, so I could get us in.”
“Oh, well, his loss, our gain,” Jess said. Then Amy and Jen came back, and everyone was ready to go.
Inside the theater, the six of them sat in a row towards the back in the middle. Doug was on the far right, and to his left was Amy. Next to her was Jen, and then George. Then sat Jess and Matt on the end. During the movie, they talked a lot. Though, no one was around them to hear. Afterwards, once they were outside, they talked about the movie. There were lots of laughs, memories, and inside jokes shared. Then Jess and Matt remembered that the needed a ride home.
“It’s okay. We’ll take you,” George offered.
“Thanks,” Jess smiled at him and continued her conversation with Matt. Things were often awkward with Jess, George, and Jen. In eighth grade, both Jess and Jen liked George. Finally, George chose Jess over Jen. They had a relationship for about six months, when he confessed that he had been seeing another girl named Stephanie. There was a lot of fighting. Jess and George kept their distance, but made up at George’s birthday when Jess sent him a birthday card saying that she still wanted to be friends. Jen, on the other hand, stayed good friends with him the whole time. That’s how they got together. Once George broke up with Stephanie, he admitted he had always liked Jen, and they started a relationship themselves.
George found Matt’s house easily. He had dropped Jen off at her home and was going back there after he dropped Jess ff. As he drove into Jess’s driveway, she started gathering her things. When she got out of the car, so did George. He walked her to her door and before she went inside he gave her a long, passionate kiss.
The whole world seemed to stop in that one moment. This was what Jess had been waiting for her whole life – her first kiss. She had never had much luck with guys, and therefore had only had one boyfriend, which meant nothing and lasted only a week. She had never gotten anywhere with a boy either. As well as the only person she had really cared about so far in her life was George.
When the kiss was done, George just stood there looking down at Jess, still holding on to her and said, “I love you and want to be with you.”
“I love you too. Very much,” Jess said, still surprised, “Oh, god. Why did you have to do that? Now I might have to believe in fate.”
“What?”
“Remember when we were…ya know…and I made that promise that you would be my first kiss? Even if I never kissed anyone till I died, you would be it. Well…”
George leaned over to kiss her again, but Jess backed away.
“But…” she said
“But what?” he asked
“You’re Jen’s.” Jess continued.
“I don’t have to be.”
“No! You’re Jen’s. Damn it, I wish you could be mine, but you’re Jen’s. And there’s a really good girl waiting to celebrate her first year anniversary with the best guy I know. This guy’s so wonderful, all the girls want him. So I’d have to say Jen is pretty lucky. Good-bye, George,” Jess said, gave George a gentle kiss on the cheek, and walked inside.
She walked up to her room, and once she got there, she cried herself to sleep as she held the stuffed animal he had given her a long time ago.

Jen jumped up and ran to the front door when the doorbell rang, which meant George had just come back. When Jen opened the door, George walked in and gave her a big, long, loving hug. He looked down at her and said, “I’m lucky to have you, aren’t I?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Jen replied. They hugged again, and George kissed Jen’s head. Then they went up to Jen’s room and talked.

Amy was practicing a song on her guitar when she heard the phone ring. Someone downstairs picked it up, and a moment later Nate called up to her, telling her she had a phone call.
“Hello?” she said once she picked it up.
“Amy? Can you drive me somewhere?” It was Jess. She sounded like she was crying.
“Hold on. Let me ask if anyone can come,” Amy replied.
“Hurry please.”
Amy went downstairs and found Nate watching TV. Her mom was asleep in her room, and her dad was at work. She then said to Nate, “Hey Nate! Can you drive me somewhere?”
“Why?” was his reply.
“Because Jess needs a ride.”
“She has parents.”
“Nate! Please?”
“No, I’m busy.”
“You’re so mean!” Amy yelled at him and then went back upstairs and picked up the phone, where Jess was anxiously waiting. “I’m sorry. No one can take us.”
“You don’t understand. I might have made the biggest mistake in my life! Are you sure you couldn’t drive by yourself just the once?” Jess pleaded.
“No, I can’t! My God, what is the world coming to when Jessie Lemmon asks me to break the law?”
“Please! It’s less than a month until you get your license. This is very important!”
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you in the car.”
“But…”
“Amy, you know me – I wouldn’t suggest this unless this situation is of utmost importance.”
“You have a point.”
“So you will?”
“I don’t know…”
“Please!” Jess said, about to break into tears again.
Oh no, Amy thought, she’s adding tears. I know that something really big has to be going on, but I don’t know if I want to break the law for it.
“How far away is the place?” she asked.
“Not far at all. I swear the whole thing won’t take any longer than five minutes…maybe ten,” Jess reassured.
“No more than seven minutes, starting now! So…get your ass up here and tell me the story on the way.”
“Thank you, Amy! You won’t regret this. Oh, thank you so much. I love you!”
“Just get up here.”

“I can’t believe I missed the movies for that!” Brittany said to herself. She had just finished watching her “Animorphs” program. She complained about how bad the show was all the way up to her room and into her bed, where she lay alone and bored.
Why did I turn down a movie invitation on a Saturday night? Brittany, you’re so retarded, she thought, I wonder what everyone’s doing right now. I guess I’ll call someone to talk to.
When she called Amy’s house, Nate picked up the phone and said, “I don’t know where Amy is. Call back later.”
“Okay. Bye,” Brittany replied and hung up. She decided to call Jess, but her mom answered the phone. “I’m sorry. Jessie’s not here. I’ll tell her you called, though,” was the response.
Brittany tried a couple of her other friends from Good Counsel, but no one seemed to be home. By then she was convinced she was probably the only teenager home that Saturday night. Finally, she thought to call Jen, but was reluctant, knowing that George was most likely still there.

Jen had gone downstairs for some snacks for her and George, leaving him alone in her room. While he was browsing through Jen’s CDs, her phone started ringing. Since Jen was not available, and he assumed she would have preferred to know who called, he decided to answer it. He said into the receiver, “Hello?”
“Who’s this?” came the response on the other end.
“I think the question we’re searching for is who are you.”
“No, I’m positive it’s who are you.”
“You should know. You’re the one that called.”
“Yeah, I called for Jen. And unless she got an overnight sex change or her voice is going through some changes, you’re not her.”
“Is this Amy?”
“No. It’s Brittany.”
“Oh, hi.”
“So, George, what are you doing at Jen’s?”
“Nothing, just chilling. She’s busy right now getting food. Do you want me to have her call you back?”
“Making her work already? I can picture it now – ‘Get me my food, woman!’ you’ll say, and she’ll of course bow down to you and do everything you ask.”
“You are the strangest person, you know that?”
“Yes, and in fact, I’m pretty damn well proud of that too!”
“You want to leave a message or not?” George was getting frustrated with Brittany.
“No.”
“Okay then. Bye.”
“You have to go too?”
“No, but I want to.”
“I am insulted!” Brittany said into the phone, and when there was silence, she continued, “Well, fine then. Good-bye.”
“Bye.” George then hung up.

“So you gave him to Jen, but now you realize you really want him for yourself?” Amy asked Jess on their way to the motel that George and Dana were staying at. Jess had been pouring out the whole story between tears. And now Amy was trying to understand it and give advice or comfort, whichever she could think of.
“Yeah,” Jess said, “I know it sounds desperate and selfish, but…”
“But what?”
“I don’t know. Just drive.”
In a moment or two, they drove into the motel’s parking lot. Jess went into the front office to find out what room George and Dana were in. She came out running towards the car. She ran up to Amy’s window and motioned for her to open it.
“Alright, they’re in room 204. It’s upstairs and around the corner,” Jess informed Amy.
“Then what are you waiting for? Go for it, girl!”
“Okay, wish me luck. I’m about to change lives here.”
“Good luck!” Amy called after Jess, as she started to run towards the motel again.
She ran up a flight of concrete stairs, darkened and damp from rain that had fell earlier during the movie. Once she reached the top, she turned the corner and walked quickly, yet cautiously, down four rooms. She approached the red, metal door with chipping paint. She knew this was her last chance to duck out and forget about it, but she also knew this was her last chance to have George if she wanted him. She pushed away all feelings of question and uncertainty, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
There were voices, both male and female, inside, followed by a lot of moving and rustling around. Someone ran to the door, as footsteps running away were also heard. Finally, Dana opened the door without a shirt on. There was a girl peeking out from the bathroom, in the back of the motel room.
“Oh, I am really sorry,” Jess said as sincerely as she could, “I was just wondering if I could talk to George.”
“He’s not here. He’s at uh…Jen’s house,” Dana replied.
“He is?” she was about to cry right there, but she toughened up and apologized for disturbing them again. Then she ran back to the car where Amy was waiting with the engine and radio still on.
“That was quick. What happened?” Amy asked.
“He wasn’t there.”
Amy thought for a second where he could be, and then realized. She replied with a simple, but sympathetic, “Oh.” After a moment of silence, she put the car in drive and drove off. At a red light, halfway home, Jess asked if Amy had her cell phone with her. Amy put her arm in the back seat and rummaged through piles of papers and various items. Her hand finally emerged with a black cellular phone. Jess dialed Jen’s private number. It rang twice. Once the phone was answered, it wasn’t Jen.

“Hello? George said into the phone.
There was silence.
“Hello?” he said again, “If you’re calling for Jen, she’s busy, okay?”
Still there was silence. Then he heard a click. Whoever it was had just hung up on him. George wanted to know who it was that had called and thought they couldn’t talk to him. As he dialed *69, he thought of the possibility that it was just a prank call, but still he wanted to know. The message played, and he got the number. Unable to recognize it, he waited for Jen to come back so she could identify the number.
“Hey, who’s at 301-974-2296?” George asked Jen when she entered the room with their food.
“That’s Amy’s cell phone number. Why?” Jen said.
“She just called a minute ago, but didn’t say anything. She just hung up.”
“Call her back.”
“Okay.”

The phone suddenly rang in Brittany’s room. She was in the bathroom at the time. She quickly flushed, washed her hands, and ran out to her room. While she jumped onto her bed, she yelled, “I’m coming,” to the awaiting ringing phone. It was answered on the fifth ring.
“Hey Britt. It’s Jasmine.”
“Oh, hi! What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“Same here. I’m really bored.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“So, why’d you call?” Britt asked.
“There’s a party at Chelsea Emery’s house tomorrow. I was wondering if you want to go.”
“Okay. I have nothing else planned.”
“That’s so sad.”
“Shut up! What time is it at?”
“Seven, but we’ll come pick you up around six-thirty.”
“We?”
“Becky, me, and my brother.”
“Jason’s going?”
“Yeah. Please don’t make a big deal about it, though,” Jasmine pleased. “Becky went into hysterics when I told her. It took her five minutes to calm down. I think that girl was about to cry.”
“That sounds like Becky. Well, I’ll be looking forward to it even more now.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Bye.” Brittany just stares at the phone she had just hung up. Then she lets out a loud dreamily sigh. “She has the hottest brother in the whole world that is driving me – ME – to a party of which he will also be attending, and she says don’t make a big deal about it. HAH! I have to get something to wear. I’ll have to do something with my hair. Hmm…what color should I paint my nails? God, there’s so much to do now that Jason’s coming.”

“Hello?” Amy said into the cell phone.
“Hey. It’s George. Why’d you call?”
“I didn’t. Jess did. Want to talk to her?”
“Jess?” there was a change in his tone, but then it went back to normal, “Um…okay. I’ll talk to her.”
“It’s for you,” Amy said, handing the phone to Jess, who had a puzzled look.
“Hello?…Oh, hi…….Yeah. Sorry I hung up….There was something wrong with the phone……No. I was calling for you….Uh-huh. I was wondering when you were leaving for the airport……………………Okay. I’ll be sure to be there………Of course. I couldn’t let you leave without me saying good-bye…………Okay. Bye.”
“You should have told him the truth,” Amy said after Jess hung up.
“Oh, come on! He’s alone with Jen in her room. And he said they were ‘busy’. Now what could that mean?” Jess explained.
“You do what you want with your guy. I’ll do what I want with mine.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know. I just felt like saying it.”
“You think I could sleepover?”
“Sure. I’ll go with you to the airport tomorrow. Hey, maybe I could drive.”
“Huh?” Jess asked.
“I do have to admit that driving without Nat is a good feeling”
“Oh,” Jess said. The two laugh and drive the rest of the way in silence to Amy’s house.

George and Dana were finished packing and loading their suitcases in a cab they had called. Jen was helping them out and would also be joining them at the airport. Amy and Jess were to meet them there. It took about an hour to get to the airport and another half hour to park and unload the cab. There was a long line to check in, which gave the three time to look for Amy and Jess. After they were checked in and had eaten a personal pan each at the Pizza Hut Express, there still was no sign of Amy and Jess. First class was called to start boarding, and they weren’t there yet. “Where is she?” George asked under his breath.

“Amy! Hurry up!” Jess yelled. They were looking for a parking space in the airport garage. There was also terrible traffic in the garage, to make matters worse.
“Tell that to the cars in front of me!” Amy told her.
“It looks like there’s going to be some rain soon, so keep your umbrellas handy. Now, coming up, Limp Bizkit…” announced the radio.
“Oh, I hate them,” Jess turned off the radio and continued to look for a spot. When she saw one, she pointed towards it and yelled, “There! Right there! Get it!”
“I see it. Calm down, “ Amy parked the car and turned off the engine. Then she grabbed an umbrella from the back seat in case the radio announcer was right. She looked up to find Jess already at the elevator to take them to street level. Amy ran to catch the lift Jess was holding for them.

Minors and handicapped were called to board the plane. George was getting nervous. He was reluctant to start to doubt that they might not make it.
“I can’t leave without saying good-bye to her…I mean them,” he said.
“Hey, if they’re not here by the time, we’re called, I’ll go on and wait for you. If they try to leave without you, I’ll say something to try to stall,” Dana suggested. “Okay,” George agreed.

There was a loud siren coming around the corner behind Amy and Jess. It came from the handicapped cars that circulate airports. This one happened to be empty and was heading in the direction of George and Dana’s gate.
“Amy, we’ll never make it on foot. Let’s catch this thing,” Jess said.
“Give me a handicap and I’ll go it.”
“Use your umbrella.”
“Huh?”
“Use it as a cane. Pretend you have a limp.”
Amy complied, and Jess hailed over the car. They told the driver which gate theirs was and that they were running late, so it would be greatly appreciated if she hurried.

“Would rows 28-36 please board now?” an announcement said over the loud speaker at George’s gate.
“Well, that’s us,” Dana said, “I’ll meet you on the plane.” Then he walked down the passageway to the airplane.
“Where are they?” Jen asked.
Suddenly, Jess could be seen helping Amy off of a handicap car. Amy seemed to be limping. Though, as soon as the car passed them, they ran to Jen and George. Finally, Jess reached George’s arms. They excused themselves and walked around a corner to talk.
“I couldn’t leave without saying good-bye personally. I know I shouldn’t have done what I did last night. But I do love you. And I’ll never stop,” George said.
“Same here,” Jess exclaimed. They hugged and she said, “ I know it’s probably too late now, but I spent most of last night realizing that I really wanted you. In fact, I need you. I have needed you since eighth grade! And now finally when I have you, I give you up. I know that that was the right thing to do, but my heart just won’t allow it. I guess what I’m trying to say is...will you still take me?”
“I don’t know. You did reject me last night,” George replied. Jess opened her mouth to speak, but George stopped her with a kiss – a long, passionate kiss, similar to that of the night before.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jess said quietly, “What’s Jen going to say? She’ll hate me.” “No, she’ll hate me,” George explained, “I’ll tell her the truth. I lured you in with my charm. You had no choice but to give in.”
“Don’t flatter yourself so much. But I guess it’s good enough.” Jess still hesitated. She didn’t want George to tell Jen at the airport right now because she would be there for Jen to yell at.
“Don’t worry,” George reassured her, “I’ll tell her over the phone. That way she can’t throw anything at us.”
“Okay. I guess that works better.”
The two kissed and hugged again. Then Jen came and told George he had to get on now. Before he left, Jen gave him a kiss, and as to not act suspicious yet, he kissed her back. He also gave Jess and Amy a hug each. Then as he was walking, he turned around and called to Jen, “I’ll call you!” After that, he waved and was on his way back home to Boston.

*


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