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Chapter Three
I was woken up the next morning to my dad shaking me. "Come on darling. You have got to get ready for a big day of
shopping!!"
"Go away." I groaned. I tried to lift my arm out from the covers
to swat at him, but had no such luck. "Nope, get up or I will bring your sister in here and she will bug you until you get
up." "Okay, okay." I tumbled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Mom had unpacked the towels yesterday before she got
too tired, so I grabbed one and hopped in.
Thirty minutes later I was
ready and I headed downstairs. My hair was pulled up into a half ponytail and I was wearing low cut jeans and a sparkly blue
tank top. As I headed down the stairs I nearly collided into Chelsi.
"Oh! Al. I have been looking for you everywhere."
She said. "Mom can't take us to the mall. She woke up not feeling well. Dad just gave me the money and car keys, so we can
go."
"Okay... Let's get this over with. Give me the money and the keys."
I held out my hand and she grugidly handed over the money and keys.
We
headed to the car and about five minutes later, we were pulling up into the parking lot. You couldn't exactly get lost, it
wasn't that big. I got out of the car and got a good look at the mall. It wasn't half bad but still was nothing compared to
Chicago. We headed inside and walked over
to one of those maps that showed where everything is.
"Where do you
want to go?" I asked.
"Oh! Lots of places actually. American Eagle, JC
Penny, Macy's, Gap, Old Navy, Abercrombie and Fitch. Oh, and a lot of other places to." She rambled on.
I
sighed "Okay, let's get this over with." You see, it's not like I don't mind the mall. I just don't really get excited about
going unless I have a date or something. And believe me; I do NOT get excited about going to the mall with my family. Speaking
of my family, why did my parents have to do this to me? Why did we have to move in the middle of my Junior year? As I was
thinking of all of this, all of my anger suddenly left and I was beginning to be overcome in grief. All I wanted to do was
leave. Would Chelsi get really mad at me if I told her that all I wanted to do was leave and curl up in my bed? As I was wondering
what I should do, I suddenly heard my name.
'Yo Al!" I I turned around
to see Carmen waving at me. She had a group of kids with her. Three guys and two girls. I grabbed Chelsi's arm and dragged
her over to the group. "Hey Al. I didn't know that you would be here today." Carmen said. "Yeah, well we had to get some new
cloths and stuff." I shrugged. "By the way, this is my little sister Chelsi." "Oh! I can be such a dork sometimes." Carmen
laughed. "I forgot to introduce you to my friends. Guys, this is Allie or Al. She just moved here. Al, this is Kristy, Maddie,
Todd, Ryan, and Max. Kristy and Todd are twins." She said introducing everybody.
I did a double take when she said
Ryan. Sure enough, it was the same Ryan that I bumped into and that was my neighbor. "Yeah, I already met Ryan." I said casually
while looking at him through the corner of my eye. "He's my neighbor." "Really? That's cool." Maddie said.
I
looked around at the group. Kristy was a blonde like me, except that it was a little bit more like dirty blonde. It went about
to her shoulder and then curled underneath. She has soft baby blue eyes and looked to be about 5'4 or 5'5.
Todd
looked exactly like Kristy. He had the same dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. But his eyes showed a little bit of mischief
in them. He could be about 5'7.
Maddie had a young cute look about
her. Her hair was a medium brown that stopped at her chin. It was cut into layers and looked to have blonde streaks. She also
had big brown eyes that looked as innocent as a child's. She only looked slightly taller then me, so around 5'4.
Josh
was probably the second tallest. Ryan was definitely the tallest. He looked to be about 5'8. His brown hair was put up into
short little spikes and was highlighted at the very tips. He had light green eyes that also danced with mischief that Todd
and he had a goofy grin on his face.
"Hey, how about you and your sister
join us." Max said.
"Yeah, we were just about to go to Pete's. It's an
awesome pizza place." Carmen added.
I bit my lip. "That's a great offer,
but I promised Chelsi that I would take her around the mall, and we just started."
"It's
okay." Josh smiled. "Are you going to go to Kennedy Tomorrow?"
"Um, yes.
I believe so."
"Cool, then we'll see you tomorrow." Todd said.
Ryan
grinned. "Yeah. You're bound to have a class with one of us."
I smiled.
"Okay, thanks. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Besides, Carmen already promised to show me around the school and give me the 411."
"Right
and that I will! See ya!" Carmen waved and they headed off toward the exit.
"They
do seem nice." Chelsi said, a grin slowly coming onto her face. "That Ryan guy sure is a hunk."
I
gaped at my sister. "You're 13 Chels. He is 16. Why don't you try to get along with his sister first? And don't talk like
that! Now come on. Let's start shopping. The sooner we start, the sooner we will be able to leave.
We
stet out and about three hours later, we were finally finished. We got back to the car and put everything in the trunk. And
after hearing Chelsi beg during the whole time we were at the mall, we stopped at McDonalds and got some food. By the time
we reached home, it was about 4 o'clock. We
each grabbed our things and headed inside. "Mom!! We're back." I yelled.
"Oh
honey! Im upstairs in my room. Can you come up here for a minute?"
"Sure."
I headed upstairs and dropped of my bags then went to my parent's room to find her unpacking.
"Hi
dear. I just wanted to tell you that your dad called the electric company. We set up everything like the computer, TV, and
phone. So all you have to do is unpack it and set it up." Mom said cheerfully. Here and dad have been cheerful an awfully
lot lately now that I think about it.
"Really!?" I asked excitedly. "Does
that mean I can call my friends from Chicago?"
"Sure honey." She said without hesitation.
"Yes!!"
I darted out of the room and began to sort through the boxes in my room. After about five minutes of looking through boxes,
I finally found my phone. I plugged it in and quickly dialed. "Come on! Please pick up the phone.."
"Hey,
this is Jeff. I'm out. Leave a message or call back later! BEEEEEEPPP.
"Grr!!
I don't want your stupid answering machine Jeff!" I slammed down the phone and quickly dialed another number.
"Hello?"
"Carrie!!!"
I nearly screamed.
"Al? Is that really you?"
"You
better believe it!"
"Wow! I can't believe it! What's new?" She said.
I
groaned. "Everything is new Car." I quickly filled her in on the house, the people, and the town.
"Well,
it doesn't sound all that bad."
"I guess, but it's not Chicago. And that's where I want to be."
"I know, but you have to be realistic.
Try to make the best out of this move. Try out for the sport teams and give the town a chance. We all miss you like crazy,
but that wont change the fact that your in Tennessee and will be there for a while." She said.
"Yeah,
maybe you're right." I said thinking about what she said.
"No Al. You should
know me better then that! I am right." She said teasingly. "I have got to go. I have collar ID so I have your new number.
I will make sure to give it to the rest of the gang. We miss you!"
I smiled.
"I miss you guys to! Oh one more thing before you leave. Do you know where Jeff is?"
"Oh
yeah, he is probably at his new.uh at hisnew club!" She stuttered.
"His
new club?"
There was a slight pause. "Um yeah. After you left, he decided
to join a new club at school because he had a lot of spare time."
"Okay.
Well, tell him and everyone else that I miss them."
"I will. Bye."
"Bye"
I
hung up the phone and plopped down onto the bed. The whole Jeff in a club thing isn't right. He never has any extra time.
But maybe Carrie is right about the town. Maybe I should just accept the fact that I am stuck here and make the best out of
it. I mean, it can't hurt... Right?
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