Dancing in the Rain: 4. Girl meets skateboard....And traitor.

After getting out of school, I took a deep breath of the crisp Autumn air. That school is extremely stuffy, and I can barely breathe in there! Walking out onto the sidewalk, I tripped and fell--luckily into grass. Who tripped me? I thought. Turns out, no one tripped me. Right behind me was a skateboard, dyed in blue, black and white. It looked like a board that someone from New York City would use. I picked up the skateboard, and on it, there were graffiti letters that were hard to understand. But soon, I figured out what it was. It said this, "Liv 4 Life." I placed the skateboard on the ground and looked around. It didn't seem like anyone wanted it, so I rode it on the way home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I looked up at my house. I knew that if I walked in, I would have to stay with Diane for two hours. I didn't wanna do that! I think she hates me! Instead, I hopped on my skateboard and rode to somewhere else. Problem was, I didn't know where I was going. All the sudden, some girl with reddish-brunette hair and hazel eyes ran up to me. "You didn't happen to see my skateboard, did you?" She asked me. Whoops, I thought. Well, I'm in huge trouble. I jumped off the skateboard and picked it up to show her. "Oh." She said, grinning. "Is there anything wrong?" I asked. "Nah," She replied. "I was just wondering where it was, 'cause I was gonna give it away to whoever was lucky to find it." "Why?" I questioned. "It gives me bad memories of dance competition," She said. "And keeping horrid memories in my closet is a big no-no for me." Too bad I have to live with my bad memory. I thought. "So, where is the library around here?" I asked. "Oh, really, all you have to do is take a right up here and go straight," she implied. "Then go straight." "Thanks," I said. "So, who are you?" "The name's Dakota," She said. "Call me Kota. I'm the Rebel around at middle school. And you?" "Well...I'm Jacklyn," I replied. "Call me Jackie. I'm th-the uhh...New girl in middle school." "So, Kyla must pick on you." Kota added. "Who?" I asked. "Y'know? The brat who lives next-door to your locker who thinks she's all that?" She mentioned. "How'd you know?" I quizzed. "My best friend, Lexie used to be locker-mates with her," She said with a shudder. "Not the prettiest thing ever." I didn't even realize it, but while talking, we were walking to the library. It looked old and almost abandoned. "Well, don't worry about the scenery from here," Kota advised. "The library is actually quite a cozy place. Well, see ya'll tomorrow!" "Bye." I implied. Walking in, the place looked very...Uh...homely. It wasn't the prettiest library ever, but it was quite comfy. As I searched the shelves, I found a book on the American Girl section, about the 1970's character, Julie. My dad bought the doll for me for Christmas, and it's sitting on my little rocking chair in my room. I sat down to read it, and someone else sat down across from me. I was swinging my feet, and so was the other person. Soon, we were playing footsie under the table. I took a peek over my book, and the person was a boy! And a really cute one, too! He had a mophead of blonde and brown hair, and the bluest blue eyes I've ever seen! I could feel my face turning red, so I hid back behind my book, mostly because he was about to take a peek, too. "Hey." He said with a wink of his ocean-blue eye. My hands felt so weak, that I almost dropped my book. "H-h...Hi." I replied in a dorky, I-really-extremely-like-you voice. I could almost hear "You Belong with Me" by Taylor Swift playing in my head. My face, I could feel, was probably beet red, but at the time, I didn't care. "You come around often?" He asked me. I could rarely speak without sounding like a geek. "N-n-no, b-but I-I'm...Thinking about it!" I stuttered. "Great. Hey, did you get my invite to see ya at three?" He added. "I think so...but I was a bit uhh...unsure." I implied. "I got a note like that years ago, and a bunch of populars poured water on me." "I can see that." He mumbled. I asked him what he said, and he replied, "Nothing." All the sudden, this random girl just sat next to me. She blurted "Oh hi, Skylar and...What's your name?" "Uhh...Jackie." I replied, shaking her hand. "I'm Lexie, Massabesic Middle school student," She announced as she flung my arm up and down. "And...I see you're already making friends. But y'know, the library's gonna close soon, so-" "Actually, this place is open for another two hours." The librarian interrupted. Her face turned quite red. "Yeah, but the library's a boring place to be. Am I right, people?" "Get outta here, Lex." Skylar added. "Yeah, just leave." I mimicked. Randomly, she grabbed my arm and and tried to run out of the library. "Wait!" I bellowed. "I need to check this book out first." "Fine!" She responded. "But be quick!" So I walked up to the librarian's desk to check out my Julie book plus a few others. As she checked them out, I walked up to Skylar and said. "I'm so sorry about that. I don't even know that girl. But I gotta go. Kay?" "Oh, I don't mind," he implied. "Every person has to eventually leave to go to another wonder of this world." I blushed and giggled, all at once (Which by the way, is actually very hard to do.) I grabbed my books and said, "See ya!" With a joyful chime. I walked out with Lexie, and I asked her where we're going. "To...The skate park! You're gonna love it down there!" As she walked and I skated, I had that feeling of anger inside of me. Probably because she interrupted me from a great moment. Once we got there, the only people there were a few middle-school kids. Good for me. I picked up my skateboard and walked to the half-pipe. Lexie came with me. She took a skateboard out of a rental shack nearby, and rode down the half-pipe. "Why did you want me away from the library?" I asked her. "What?" She replied. "I said-" I was about to blow up, but she answered with, "The kid you were talking to is a jerk." "No he isn't," I said. "He is actually quite the gentleman. And the most mannerly person I've met since moving here." "Well, that explains a lot," Someone out of nowhere rebuked. I canvassed around, and it was Dakota. "Whatcha 'talkin 'bout?" "Skylar the traitor." Lexie said. "You mean the Rattlesnake with blue eyes? Oh, I hate him!" Kota exclaimed. "Well, she just moved here, so we should give her a break." Lexie advised. Well excuse ME! I thought. This is what I meant when I said he's the most mannerly person I've met! "What's so bad about him?" I blurted. Both of them immediately turned their heads to me. "You should explain it," Lexie whispered to Kota. "You do it better than me." "Well, it's uhh...how can I put this...a bit...awkward to explain..." Kota said quietly. "Just get to the point already !" I exclaimed. Then Kota started, "Well, ever since Skylar and his sister moved here, which I think was the first grade, they've been total jerks to every person in Waterboro Elementary and Massabesic!" "But he's not a jerk to me." I interrupted. Kota sighed. "Just listen, kay?" She scolded. "Anyway, that exactly the point. What he does is...well, every girl falls for him, and then he breaks her heart. Because the girl was so tricked, it's a nine out of ten chance that she'll tell that traitor most of her uhh...personal information. Then, if she hates him, he'll bash her on his blog, Simply Skylar." "Why is it awkward to talk about?" I asked. "Well.." Kota started as Lexie practically wilted like a flower. "Lexie was the first to fall for him. After she hated him, he posted about...well, how her family's so poor." "Yeah right!" I said, picking up my skateboard. "Anyway, my dad's probably waiting for me at home. Peace out." Walking away, Lexie whispered, "Well, looks like it's another unlucky victim is walking away. Little does that poor thing know 'bout her future." But I just kept on walking.

*

Dancing in the Rain: 3. "Under the Table...Literally."

I wasn't ready to wake up. Really. I woke up at 6:30, and could've gone another hour or two. But Josh's Country radio alarm was blared to its highest point, stepmom (I think I'll just call her Diane for now on) and dad were fighting, Drew was well...Drew, and Leah was exercising in the middle of the room with Group 1 Crew playing, so going to sleep would be a one out of a million chance. I just jumped out of bed, threw my clothes on, tied my hair in a ponytail, and ran downstairs to do the rest. As I was eating breakfast, Drew walked in and sat down with only a water. "What's up with the light breakfast?" I asked him. "I get a nervous stomach like a newborn cries," He answered. "Therefore, when I get a nervous stomach, I know it's not from my food." Sadly, just sadly, Josh heard us talking. "Wimp!" He shouted. I waved my fist at him, but Drew replied, "Don't worry, sis. I'm used to it." I put my fist down and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, do my Clean and Clear...Yeah, all that. After that, I grabbed the lunch I made last night from the fridge and sat outside, waiting for the bus. I didn't say goodbye to dad, because he left for work, and Diane...Well, that's a bit of a no-brainier. I waited about thirty minutes before the bus stopped in my driveway. I grabbed my backpack and dashed to the bus, right before Drew did. I was stopped by the bus driver. "Your seat is the second row, right seat." He said, pointing to the seats. He wrote it on a slip of paper and handed it to me, but I could memorize it easily. I'll think of Peter Pan. (Get it? Second star to the Right? HAHA!! Oh. That was bad.) I sat down to the seat closest to the window and threw the hood to my black jacket on. I didn't want the whoever was going to sit next to me to see my face. That'd be really embarrassing. After fifteen minutes, the bus stopped to pick a few other kids. After I heard, "Your seat is second row, right seat" To another lid, then my stomach really started to ache. As the kid sat down, my hands started to uncontrollably twitch. "Hey," A friendly voice whispered. "You alright?" I looked up, and I gazed at a boy with brown eyes like Hershey kisses in the light, and his "mop head" hair reminded me of the vanilla frosting on my cupcakes that I had on my tenth birthday. "I'm fine," I replied, as I could feel my face turning red. "Just...Nervous." "Yeah," He said. "So am I. By the way the name's Timothy. Call me Tim." He held out his hand to shake mine. "My name's Jacklyn," I said, holding out my hand. "Call me Jackie." As we shook hands, my face grew hotter and redder by the second. "You look a bit uhh...Red." Tim said. "Do you have like, a fever or...what?" "No," I replied. "It's still nervousness." "Right," He inferred. "I'm guessing you moved here a bit ago?" "Actually, I did." I foretold. After about ten minutes, the bus finally arrived at the school. My stomach calmed down, but I was still nervous. Walking in, I made sure no one was staring at me, so I threw my hood back on. After some random adult showed me to my locker, I packed everything I had in my backpack to my locker. All the sudden, a girl, a bit taller than me, with Asian skin, short black hair and brown eyes, walked up the locker next to me. "Hi," I said, trying to be the friendliest I could. "I'm Jackie. Are you new here?" "No," She remarked. "I'm the team captain of the swim team. And I don't know what a petty seventh-grader like you would be doing here. So move, you're blocking my locker." Just what I didn't want, I thought. I stacked my books in my locker, and moved to my first class, which was Science. I was ready to about fall asleep. "Good morning, class." the teacher said. "My name is Miss Mandela, and I will be your science teacher for the rest of the year." Figures. I thought. I just sat still in my seat, but soon, somebody passed me a note. It read this:

Dear Jacklyn,
Meet me in the Library, 3:00. Don't be late!

Signed,
Good luck figuring that out!

I ain't gonna fall for that! I thought. I received letters like these in the fifth grade, and they ended up to be a bunch of self-centered Goddess Girls that poured water on me. It hurts, trust me. "So, although, it is true that God made the Earth," Miss Mandela implied. "But every day was almost like one thousand years. That is why recycling and saving water is important to this Earth." I raised my hand. "Yes, Jacklyn?" She fumed. "Well, that's not really true." I commented. "And, how so?" She asked me. "Well, plants are supposed to survive by spreading pollen from one of its kind to another, and they can't do that without animals." I concurred "Go on." "So, since animals weren't made before plants, there's absolutely no way there'd be flowers and trees today. Every day was exactly twenty-four hours." "Let me check," Miss Mandela affirmed. She picked up a huge book and flipped through the pages one by one. Meanwhile, I heard kids giggling an "Hi," d jeering under their breath. Miss Mandela looked up to me and replied, "I am very sorry, class. Jacklyn was right. For this she will receive an automatic A+. Congratulations, dear." The room was immediately silent. One kid, I think it was Tim, started clapping, and the another kid, and another kid, and soon enough, the whole class was in applause. Well, I guess that was my fifteen seconds of fame. "Now, shall we go on?" Miss Mandela interrupted. Through the rest of the day, I understood anything and everything clearly. Until lunch.

*

I looked around for a good table to sit at lunch, but nothing was available. Then I found a table with five girls wearing really eye-catching clothes and perfect hair without a strand out of place. Just be yourself, I thought. It isn't that hard, is it? I sat down, and the girls stopped talking. "Hi," I informed, trying to be the most polite person I could be. "I'm Jackie." One of the girls rolled her eyes and grunted. All of them say up and moved to another table OF WHICH I DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT. Then I felt a lump in my throat. I took a peek into my lunch bag, and there was a can of grapes, a ham-tomato-and cheese sandwich, a thermos bottle with a strawberry-banana smoothie in it, an apple, some crackers, and two M&M cookies. This took me all day to prepare, I thought, as a tear rolled down my left cheek. and yet now, I can't enjoy it with anyone. Then I spotted six boys, too distracted to see where they were going, walking up to my table. I slid myself under the table so I wouldn't have to waste my time finding another table. I also noticed that Drew was in the group, and I didn't want to ruin this for him, since he's been struggling all his life to find a friend or two. Once they sat down, I was as still as a doll, carefully sipping my smoothie silently. "Dude, I've heard that this place didn't even have a cafeteria!" That's because it wasn't built yet, retard. I thought. "I have to admit, this place is pretty tricked out compared to Frisbee. Sounds like something I would say. I thought, taking a quiet bite out of my grape. I noticed that Tim, my bus partner was the leader of the group. I looked around (By the way, not too much of a wonderful view from under a table.) And gazed at a girl, the one next to my locker, at a table with a bunch of other girls with jackets the colors of green and white, which, as I thought obvious, were the jockettes. It looked fun to be in that group. I did like the idea of sports. And what the heck, I'm new here, and I need to get a hobby around here. That might just help me break out and be a star...

*