Dancing in the Rain: 2. "Out on the open Road!"

A loud blast of my favorite song, "Live Free" by Lecrae, shot through my ears. "She's up, mom!" Whitney exclaimed. I realized that Whitney had put a pair of earbuds in my ears, turned on the iPod touch, and blasted it all the way. "Sheesh, what was that for?" I shouted. "You fell asleep in the van," Mom...Excuse me, my stepmom said. "We were afraid you were dead. Now get some breakfast, sweetie." I sighed and grabbed a granola bar out of my carry-on. I was about to get a glass of water, but there was a glass, water and ice, untouched, on the table. I sat down, and as I was unwrapping my granola bar, Drew set his Trix cereal down next to me. The both of us ate our breakfast in an awkward silence. "So, how's life with m-m-mom?" He said. I knew he was trying to break the ice. And I also noticed that it was hard for him to call our stepmom, "Mom." I slid a bit closer to him. "Why ask?" I said quietly. "You know that I don't like her." "How come?" He asked. I leaned in and whispered, "Would you want your mom reading your diary and looking over your shoulder when you're on the computer EVERY DAY?" I slid back into my seat and finished my granola bar. I threw my granola bar wrapper in the trash, and changed into a t-shirt with all of my friends names on it, and a pair of destroyed jeans with paint splattered on them. When I walked out of the bathroom, there was a you're-not-really-wearing-that look on my stepmom's face. I rolled my eyes and sat myself on the couch, arms crossed. "Honey, take those clothes off," My stepmom lectured. "You look like you just built our house." I kept myself silent. If I responded to her, she'd kill me. I picked up my diary and a pencil and wrote:

Dear Diary,
It's been only an hour on the road, and I already hate it. My stepmom hates my outfit, and it's so boring out here! And I think the dude next to us is going faster than we are! I just hate it out here. Dad isn't on the bus. Instead, he's on Whitney's car. So it's just me, Whitney, Drew, Josh, and my stepmom. And to think, I just woke up. :P Amazing, huh?

I closed my diary and looked out the window. Well, maybe Maine won't be too bad, I thought. Maybe Maine might have a few surprises to it. We stopped at a parking lot in Connecticut to eat our lunch. "So, what's for lunch, pops?" Drew asked dad. Dad shushed him because he was on a phone call. Our lunch turned out to me Potato salad in a sandwich. Eww. But luckily, Drew secretly packed his special trail mix. His trail mix has m&m's, cashews, chocolate chunks, almonds and pretzel pieces in it. Yum. After a few minutes, me and Drew hopped back into the RV, waiting for the rest of the family to get back on the road. While waiting, I took out my digital camera and looked at the pictures from the good-bye party. But Josh took it away from me. "Hey!" I shouted. "Give it back!" "Make me!" Josh responded. Drew popped up and pinched his pressure point. "Ouch!" Josh howled as Drew took the camera from Josh's grasp. "Go along!" Drew shouted as he threw the camera to me. I caught the camera and put it in my pocket. I ran back inside the RV and hopped in the front seat. I grabbed my Diary and wrote,

Dear Diary,

This day just got worse. I had a potato salad-stuffed sandwich. Eww. My stepbrother, Josh, tried to take my digital camera. My dad is stuck on the phone...Again.I just hope that Maine is worth my trouble. I hope...

Mom...Excuse me, stepmom, went back into the RV and started it. Whitney and Leah were right behind her. The RV was back on the road in no time. After a few more hours, we finally arrived in Maine. It was about Seven Thirty when we arrived at our house. Dad, Drew and Josh carried the big stuff, like mattresses, furniture, and other stuff, while me, Whitney and Leah carried our bedding and clothes. We had to sleep in the RV because it would take a while before moving everything in. But I didn't care--At least I was in Maine.

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It took the family most of August to rearrange and set up everything in our house. I collapsed onto my bed with my red PJ pants and black tank top on me. Whitney walked into my room with her car keys. "You wanna take a ride around town?" She asked me. It was three in the afternoon, and I didn't have anything better to do. "Sure," I said. "Let me just change into my jeans." "Okay," She responded. "I'll wait outside your door." I changed into my almost-destroyed jeans, and slipped my pink flip-flops on. Whitney was downstairs, waiting for me to come. "You ready to go?" She asked me. "Yep," I replied. "All prepared." "Okay," she said. "Dad! Is it okay if I take the van out for a spin?" "Sure," He responded. "But be careful...And don't get lost." I hopped into shotgun as Whitney started the car. As we drove out of our driveway, She asked me, "What do you wanna do when we get home?" "I don't know," I said. "Maybe we could...Choose our outfits," She inquired. "That could occupy our time." "Maybe we can fix our lunches for tomorrow," I added. "Or just do both." "Yeah," Whitney agreed. "That's cool." "So," I said, trying to start a conversation. "Are you afraid of the new school you're going to tomorrow?" "Yeah," She replied. "I'm a Junior in high school now, so even at this age, I still get nervous." "Maybe you'll find a great guy while you're here." I said. While our real mom's quote was, "Take your Time," Our stepmom forced Whitney to get a guy at Sixteen. And that's how old she is now. "You nervous?" She asked me. "Why wouldn't I be? Junior high is pretty rough, and I'm afraid of what might happen." "Don't worry about it," Whitney said. "You have God. And as long as you have him, You'll be fine." After another fifteen minutes, we were back home, and we forgot something. "So what about our clothes and lunch?" I asked Whitney. "Oh," She said. "I completely forgot!" After a few giggles and thirty minutes, we put completed our dream first-day-of-school lunch and put together our first-day-of-school outfits. I chose a black short-sleeved shirt with headphone graphics on it, a pair of dark denim straight-leg jeans, a pair of hot-pink volleys, and a gray fedora. Whitney chose a maroon scoop neck tunic with a dark-brown belt, a pair of below-the-knee jean capris, and light-brown colored boots. "Girls!" my stepmom shouted. "Time for bed!" After I kissed my parents goodnight, I slipped my red PJ pants on and hopped into bed. I know tomorrow won't be easy, I thought. But you've got God, right?You'll be fine, Jack. I let the thoughts run through my head, and I, once again, fell asleep.

Dancing in the rain: 1. Just another horrible Day....

"I can't believe you're moving, Jackie." Ruby said to me, as we were laying on the grassy ground, looking at the clouds. "Well, ever since dad got a job at Anthem, he's been making plans to move to Maine," I replied. "But it's like, the coldest state in the Country." "Well, it gets cold down here too." Ruby corrected. "Well, it can be a hundred degrees in Maine, and I'll still miss you," I said, rolling onto my side. "Besides, God's already stripped away half of my life." "Don't judge God!" Ruby lectured, rolling onto her side. But even she knew it was true. My favorite mom in the world died in a car accident, so God replaced her with a snoopy step mom. My dad loves his job so much, that he ignores the whole family. (Except for step mom! DUH!) It was hard enough to share a room with Whitney. Now I have to share a room with her and my hyper stepsister, Leah. I also have two new brothers: My thirteen-year-old stepbrother Drew, who is extremely silent, and my eleven-year-old stepbrother Josh, who is a thorn in my side. Drew is one of those kids who has a hairstyle called a "Mop head." Y'know, when a boy's hair is like, three inches longer than average? Yeah, that style. Now I have another horrible change to add to my change list: I have to move from Pennsylvania to Maine. As I packed up the items in my room, I came across a scrapbook. It had a picture of me, Whitney, dad, and my actual mom on the first page. In cursive letters on top of the first page, it said, "The Dramatic and Exciting adventures of the Thompson family." I flipped through the pages for a while, but I mostly paid attention to the pictures of mom. She had soft but vibrant blue eyes, and chocolate brown hair like a Hershey's bar, and an independent spirit. What did I have? I have layered blonde hair, which is wavy from top to bottom; I have blue eyes, like, as dad would say, "Two shining seas." As I closed the scrapbook, a drop of water dripped on the plastic cover. It was one of my tears. I knew that dad didn't want to be reminded of mom, but that scrapbook is the only memory of mom I had. So I quickly stored it with my other books, and closed the box. "Hey, Jackie." Someone behind me said. I turned my head to see it was Whitney in her black tank top and her Seattle wash jeans. "What are you doing here?" I asked her. "You mean I can't walk into my own room?" She said. "Now c'mon, I promised miss Step mom that I'd take you, Drew, Josh, and Leah to shop. I slipped on my ballet flats and hopped into the shotgun of Whitney's KIA van. I knew that Leah deserved the front seat more than I did. But really, I don't wanna sit next to Josh while he poked me, twisted my arm, or pulled my hair. When Whitney started the car, I turned on Air1, my favorite radio station in the whole world. But then Josh let out a hoot. "Aw man!" He shouted. "I hate this station!" That ticked me off. "Well, it's what you're getting." Whitney lectured. "Fine." Josh mumbled as he crossed his arms across his chest. I could see Drew from the rear-view mirror; he was looking out his window as he cradled his head in one of his hands. Honestly, I feel horrible for him. I've never seen him smile. Maybe a slight grin, but never a smile. But anyway, Whitney parked herself at JC Penny, and I urged myself out of the car because I was so tired. And because I was tired, I got a bit left behind walking into the store. Luckily, Drew wasn't far from me, so I caught up with him. The first part of the store we went to was the Juniors' section. Josh was complaining at the top of his lungs, but Drew pinched one of his pressure points. "Ow!" Josh shouted. "What was that for?" Drew, being the silent one, just shrugged his shoulders. "Hey Leah," Whitney said, giving her half of her money. "You don't mind watching the guys while I take Jackie to the girls' section, do ya?" "Nah! I don't mind!" Leah exclaimed. "C'mon skippers! Let's get cha some apparel!" As Leah skipped down the isle, Whitney picked up some clothes and went to the girls' section. "Aren't you gonna try those clothes on first?" I asked her. "I will," She said, inspecting some skinny jeans. "In the girls' fitting room." I tried on a pair of size 14 slim jeans, a red top with a black vest and a plaid scarf. I also tried on a black tank top, a pair of black and gold sweat pants, a black sweater, another pair of jeans with rhinestones on them...Endless shopping. Whitney already tried her clothes on, so we decided to see how the boys were doing.

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"Hey, guys!" Leah exclaimed. "Hey," Whitney responded. "So, how are the boys 'doin?" Drew walked out of the dressing room in a plaid shirt with the sleeves at the elbows; he also had a pair of light straight jeans. Josh came out with some practically destroyed jeans and a shirt that said, "I have a million excuses. which one do you wanna hear?" "I guess it depends." I said, drawing my eye towards Drew's outfit. "Which brother?" Whitney gave me that oh-be-quiet look. I immediately sealed my mouth shut until the shopping trip was over.

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I was forced to listen to country music because of my big-mouthed stepbrother, and I hated it. Fortunately, Whitney let me listen to her iPod touch, so I listened to that for a long time. Instead of being in shotgun with Whitney, I was in the backseat with Drew. "Could I have one of your ear buds?" He asked me. Well, that was a first. I've never heard him talk before. "Sure," I said, taking out my left ear bud. "Put this in your left ear, so it won't fall out when we move." "So why is it that you hog the earphones when I want them, but you gladly share them when he wants them?" Josh complained. "Because he doesn't drop them in the toilet!" I replied. drew started chuckling a bit. That's a first, too. YAY!! I thought. I'm being a good sister! Once we got home, I grabbed a bag, ran inside, and collapsed onto the couch. after a while, I packed up my clothes and slipped my PJ's on. "Honey!" Dad shouted. "Can you bring your box into the RV?" "Sure," I replied. "No problem." Since I couldn't find the my PJ's top, I threw my black tank top on. Luckily, it matched the red PJ pants I had on. I slipped my black Converse shoes on, picked up my box, and trudged outside. I threw the box into the moving trailer, and took out my digital camera. I took a picture of my house, since it would be the last time I'd see it. I decided to hop into the RV, and collapsed on the couch in there. I flipped through the pictures of the good-bye party our family had a week ago. I looked at the photos of me, Ruby, and my other friend, Michelle. I could feel a lump in my throat, and started crying. I set the camera down and flipped sideways on the couch. After a few minutes, I could barely keep my eyes open, and I fell asleep.