LITMIR.BIZ

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for the day. Soft t-shirt with logo on the front, faded jeans, chunky necklace, headband and sneakers minus the footprint. I took a soapy sponge to the canvas and miraculously salvaged them.

      I know I’m fortunate. Some of my friends and their parents have had a tough year. Many have moved away and many are hanging in there best they can. My mom and I rent a nice townhouse. It is not nearly as big as the place we used to live in, but it is cozy and nice and we enjoy it. My mom works hard, she is a smart lady and I hope I grow up to be like her. She is a kid at heart, and we laugh together all the time. However, when it comes to night time, she’s all business.

      “Time to head upstairs,” she practically barked in my direction. Ok already, don’t have to tell me twice. When I hear that voice, I don’t mess around.

      I hadn’t told my mom, but I still had a little bit of homework. I was supposed to be taking my shower, but was wrapping up my civics project instead. My assignment was to develop a political strategy for the upcoming elections. We could pick any election on the ballot and list the pros and cons of the candidate as well as how we could encourage people to elect this person. It was actually pretty interesting. Living near DC gives me a perspective on some of this stuff. Though the project was cool, I was sinking fast. I found myself daydreaming about other stuff. I wanted to switch around my desk, I wanted to get rid of all the stuffed animals that made my room look like a baby’s room and I wanted everything to be back to normal with some of my friends from last year.

      I looked around my room and made a silent wish that my room would somehow magically clean itself. I must say, cleaning is not my thing. I don’t even know how this happens. There were clothes all over the floor and mismatched socks and things everywhere. I have a theory. When I dress for school in the morning, I often go through two or three outfits. Somehow the rejected pieces make it to the floor and here we are. I wrinkled my nose at the mess and headed toward the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.

      I’m so beat, time to hit the pillows. Nice covers, warm and soft. I drift off to sleep and am so tired I don’t remember dreaming at all.

      Chapter 7

      The rest of the week passed with not too much drama. It was pretty good actually. We got new music in band, good stuff. I got an “A” on my social studies project and I got a “B” on the science test that I was halfway sweating. We are studying weather and learning about different clouds. It is interesting but sadly, maybe I wasn’t as prepared as I should be. Who could blame me? I was busy party planning and concentrating on many other things. Ok, I do spend time texting my friends, but if you ask me, this is an extremely important part of a young girl’s life.

      As customary for Tasha, she invited a large number of girls to her party to make sure nobody felt left out. She’s a sweetheart and is working hard to make this a fabulous 14^th birthday party. We all feel that the 14^th birthday is an important milestone that needs to be celebrated. What teenage birthday isn’t?

      The Friday before the party is here and I think we’re ready for it. Morgan stepped in to lend her hand at the planning and thank goodness, because we really needed her. She’s great at organizing and pulling together the pieces. She also analyzes everything like crazy and it’s no wonder that she wants to be a lawyer someday. She really knows how to be convincing.

      The Friday lunch hour was a hectic one for us girls. We had a group of about 10 of us pulling it all together. I mean, the planning might be more fun than the party itself, but probably not. I looked around and realized this was a good bonding experience. We don’t get together and talk like we used to, but today we were laughing and talking like crazy. Jenna on the end was drawing makeup palette colors on her posterboard and not being very productive. She was easily distracted. I’m thinking she might have that attention disorder, but she was having fun.

      She always seems a little stressed out. Her mom has always been one of those showbiz-tpe moms that insists on pushing Jenna to do every club and every activity out there. She’s been in pageants, she’s been in dance classes, German language classes, gymnastics, you name it. That seems like a difficult schedule, but Jenna is a good friend, frazzled maybe, but she seems to have her head on her shoulders.

      Soon the lunch hour was over and after we had cleaned up the glitter and papers to the lunch teacher’s satisfaction, we were racing to science class. I didn’t know how I was going to grasp the mystery of the cumulous cloud today when my mind was on the party, but I would have to try.

      *****

      Friday nights are special in our house. The weekend is awesome. Mom and I watch movies and sometimes check her networking page. She doesn’t want me to have my own page, but we share and laugh at the crazy pictures and comments that her friends put up there. Some of the comments are funny, but most of them I don’t really understand and I don’t think most of them are that funny. They are certainly not worthy of the “LOLs” I see as comments. I think my friends and I will stick to texting. I’ve tried some of these things a little bit too, but honestly, I lost patience with it. Luckily my phone has unlimited texting.

      I always get to stay up a little later on Fridays and watch the ghost hunting shows. I think the guys dress terrible but the shows themselves are pretty cool. I like how they always throw in the funny subtitles for every sound that can’t be explained. It’s pretty funny. Sometimes it gets scary and I have to turn it off, but most of the time, I’m glued.

      It’s been getting colder outside and I know that winter is coming. This is hard to swallow for one who considers herself a warm-weather girl at heart. I have to admit that I like the snow a little bit after living in places where it didn’t snow. But looking ahead to college, I’m definitely looking into some more temperate climates

      I look at Joker sprawled out on his dog bed and can’t help but think that this guy has got it made. He sleeps a good part of the day, eats whenever, goes for walks and is generally pretty spoiled. But then again, I’m thinking his life could get pretty boring sometimes.

      I’m thinking my sleepiness is making me think these random thoughts and I yawn just to prove the point to myself. Actually, I don’t have much choice in the matter as Mom just told me it was bedtime. Once she says that, there’s no arguing or negotiating for additional time. Believe me, I still try, but the effort is always wasted.

      I head up the stairs and grab my toothbrush. What a drag, brushing my teeth is a lot of work but worth the effort I suppose. I know the braces will be coming soon and if I have to have brackets and junk all over my teeth, they are at least going to look white. I also wash my face because scary things happen if I don’t. My neck started to look weird last year and I thought it was dry skin, but it turned out I wasn’t washing it enough. Let’s just say yuck.

      Crawling into my comfy bed; I have been waiting for this. I pull my comforter square under my chin and burrow down in my soft sheets. As I drift to sleep, I realize there is much to look forward to tomorrow. It is party time and time with the girls. Can’t wait!

      Chapter 8

      The next morning brings with it a million tough decisions: what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, what to dress Joker in. Just kidding, he would never allow it. I reach down to pet him, but he moves suddenly and I poke him in the eye instead, sorry big guy.

      I wrap up Tasha’s present and hope she likes it. I bought her a t-shirt from her favorite store with a matching chunky necklace. I always give it the Maggie test, meaning if I like it, then she probably will too. I concur it passes and carefully wrap it in pink and green tissue before arranging it in the birthday gift bag I found with the stash in our closet. There’s no stigma against regifting a gift bag, is there? I hope not. I think it looks fine.

      I want to get there early, so I convince Mom to give me a ride. As soon as we pull into the driveway, I wave a quick goodbye and practically sprint up to the door. Tasha’s place looks great, I mean really cool. There are purple balloons and streamers everywhere and snacks of party mix and chips set up all around. Tasha’s house is really cool and big and open with giant windows, wood floors and granite counters in a spacious kitchen. The

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