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The faintest knock on my door caused me to awake immediately. I shot up from my bed and stumbled over to the door.
"Stupid house cleaning..." I mumbled as I removed the chair from under my doorknob, that I had placed last night. I slowly opened the door, and the person knocking gave me quite a shock. The person was neither a maid, nor a butler, but "Ms. Perfect-Hair-And-Skin," perfectly dressed in a black mini skirt and a maroon halter top, with a black hat that you see people in France wear while painting on the streets.
"I'm sorry if I..." the woman examined me from head to toe and looked at me with disgust. Obviously, she found my plaid baggy pajama pants, oversized t-shirt, and extremely bad case of bed head unappealing, but she continued, "Um, interrupted you." I ignored her apology. I wasn't in the mood for getting sucked up to today.
"What the heck are YOU doing here?" I asked.
"Well aren't you Ms. Moody today," the woman put her hands on her hips, "FYI, I live here. I moved in with your father, like, months ago, and second, I was coming to fully introduce myself." I raised an eyebrow. What was she trying to get at? Can't she tell that I don't care?
"Well, I'm Gina, and I am SO not going to baby-sit you this summer if that's what you’re thinking," then I realized that unlike everyone else I had met here, Gina wasn't British. I wonder how she and my father met. "So, yeah, Garry wanted me to tell you that he was going to be in a meeting until eight, so he said until then we should spend "quality time" together, I mean, after he got that phone call and all from your mom...So, how about we go downtown and..." I didn't even listen to the rest of what she said. Did she say PHONE CALL? From MY MOM?! What on earth did she say?!
"What?" I asked blankly.
"Downtown. You know, shopping? As in with money. You know, you pick something out and buy it from the-"
"No, I mean the phone call!" I yelled. I was VERY annoyed. Maybe it was because I was tired. Maybe it was because she was being a pain. Maybe both.
"Oh, the phone call...yeah, he said something about not knowing you were coming, and about it not being his fault about being drunk, and something about you walking in on us, and something being a misunderstanding, then he said that you just don't know me well enough, then he hung up, and BOY he was PISSED and he told me to spend the day with you, and then he left, and then I ate pancakes with butter and syrup, and then got dressed and then I knocked on your door, and then-"
"ALRIGHT! I get it!" I practically fainted from her talking so fast. I didn't need a reenactment of her entire day! She is so stupid!
"So, basically we have to spend an entire day together..." I said.
"Yeah, so, about shopping, there are no malls around here, so don't ask, so we should go downtown. Oh! We can go to the cute little boutique by the coffee shop. I need a new pair of boots anyway. These are sooooooo last season," she pointed down to the shiny black knee high heeled boots she had on her feet, "Oh, and also I need..." She then went off into a never ending list of wants, as if she were on Santa's lap in the mall in the middle of December. I would've hated seeing her when she was little near Christmas time. She must have been so spoiled. God, how can someone be that spoiled? What kind parents would spoil a kid that much? I wonder if-
Suddenly my thoughts were cut short.
"Helloooooooooooooooooooooooo?! I SAID, 'Go get dressed!'" I heard Gina yell in my face, "Hurry up and get dressed..." she paused, "And comb that humongous knot on your head!" She then turned on the toes of her feet and stomped out.
"FINE!" I shouted after her, though I knew she was too far away to here me. I just needed to blow off steam somehow. I then ran over to my suitcase. I had an idea. I opened my suitcase and quickly searched for anything disgustingly ratty. I wanted to make sure that I looked awful. Then I pulled out my black "I *Heart* NY" t-shirt that had a big grease stain and it barely touched the waist of my muddy black jeans, with holes in both knees and loose threads where my pockets had been. Then, for the final touch, I put my hair into a messy, lame attempt at a pony tail. PERFECT! I was about to leave when suddenly I noticed my laptop sitting silently on my desk. It was calling to me. No, really, it was calling to me.
"You've got Mail!" it said. Hm...I must have left on my computer last night... I went up to it and opened my new mail. The first Message said:
**************************
OMG! May, NO WAY! I KNEW this would happen! But I wouldn't believe it! I never thought your dad could be so low! So was he drunk, huh? So, was his gf? Well, just don't panic. I'm here! lol! Alright, tell me more. later.
Julie
***************************
I quickly responded:
***************************
Yeah, I'll tell you more later, but now I've got to spend a whole day with waffle lady! God, I wish you were here!
***************************
Then I noticed a second message. Who’s this from?
**************************
Oh, May, I’m so sorry! I knew this would happen! Don’t worry, May, honey, I’ll take care of it. Your dad and you should try to work things out. I’ll have him have dinner with you and discuss things.
Love,
Mom
**************************
Oh, no! I have a feeling my mom said a lot more in that phone call than Gina told me. DISCUSS?! With my dad. This can’t be good. I was trying to come up with a response to her email when suddenly I heard a loud honk from outside. I quickly shut down my laptop and ran downstairs. On my way out I quickly grabbed my sweatshirt and tied it around my waist as I ran outside and toward the limo. I quickly hopped into the backseat, and right across from me was Gina. She was checking her hair in the mirror of her compact. She quickly snapped it shut sending a loud cracking sound throughout the limo. She gave me a long, annoyed glare.
“What took you so long?!” she whined. She then focused her attention on Will, “Alright. We’ve got her in the car! Chop-Chop, Phil!! I need to go to the boutique before it closes for lunch!” Will started the car and drove off.
“My name is Will,” I heard him say under his breath. I could tell he was even more annoyed with Gina’s bratty attitude more than I was. But, from what I’ve heard, Gina’s been living with my dad for months, so Will has probably gotten a MUCH bigger dose of Gina than I have.
“What? What did you say?” Gina asked, with her eyes focused on her reflection.
“I said, ‘Yes, Ma’am’” he said innocently. He was lying right through his teeth. *So, he isn’t as innocent as I thought,* I thought as I watched Will go back to staring down the street as if it were nothing. I wonder if-
Once again, my thoughts were cut short by Gina.
“So…,” she leaned closer to me and lowered her voice to a whisper, “You like Bill don’t cha.”
I leaned forward so our faces were inches away, “Who?”
“You know,” she said slyly, “The limo guy.”
“Don’t you mean Will?”
“Will, Bill, same difference!” she rolled her eyes. She was definitely annoyed. Gina pulled her head away and flipped her golden hair, “So, do you?” Me…Will…Uh, no, no, no! I hardly know him! Is she crazy? I can’t believe her! Sure, he’s good looking and all, but…Oh, never mind. Nope, he’s not my type. I could tell I was getting redder by the second, and the more I thought about it, the more red I became. I got redder and redder, until finally I thought I had turned into a beet because of my extreme redness. I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could say a word the limo stopped and Will called out, “We’re here.” I shot up as if his words were a fire alarm. I couldn’t wait to see the rest of the city. I only got a glimpse of Britain yesterday, with getting lost, and the rain and all... I then looked at Gina who had a big smirk across her face. She then put her finger to her lips and winked, as if to silently say, “Don’t worry. Your secret’s safe with me.” I looked at her as if she were crazy. But, then again, maybe she is crazy. No, no, no, no, no. I could tell this was going to turn into a disaster.
Will opened the door for Gina and offered her his hand to help her get out. She got out, but neither took his hand, nor LOOKED at him. She tossed something over her shoulder, which Will caught with one hand. “There’s you tip, Dill,” she said over her shoulder as she walked onto the side walk. She started to immediately gaze through the windows of the shops, as if she were a little girl passing by a toy store. Will opened his hand to see what his tip was, but then he looked at it disappointed, rolled his eyes, and stuffed the money in his pocket. Obviously it wasn’t much. I felt sorry for him. Who could STAND waiting hand and foot on GINA? Not to mention I’m sure he doesn’t get paid much in the first place. What if he really needs those tips?
When Will came to my side of the car to open the door I took his hand graciously and stepped out of the car. I then reached into my pocket and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. I smiled at him and handed him the money. “Keep the change,” I said, “Sorry, but all I have is American money.” He looked down at the money, and then looked at me surprised,
“Really, I can’t accept this.” He tried to hand me back the money, but I refused.
“Take it, you deserve it,” I said as I pushed his hand trying to give me the money back away. He smiled at me and put the money in his pocket. I felt good now. Like I helped someone.
“Thanks,” he said, though, I could tell he still thought the tip I gave him was too much.
“No problem. I just-” I was interrupted by Gina, once again. How many times will I get interrupted by this lady?
“May, let’s go!” she whined like a little school girl, “You can flirt with cute limo guys later, Darling,”
The last part of what Gina said caused Will and I to both turn red. “I’ll, uh, see you later, then,” he said quickly. He, then, quickly got in the limo and drove away. Ugh... Gina ruins everything. I was about to actually talk to the guy. But I don’t like him. I mean, like like him. No, you see, I like him as a friend, but not as a boyfriend. But a friend that’s a boy? Well, yeah, if he’s a boy and a friend I guess he’s a “boy friend,” but not a “boyfriend.” I do like him as I friend, I guess. Wait? Didn’t I meet him just yesterday? It seems like more. Either way, he’s just a friend. But then again... Oh, never mind. I’m confusing myself.
I watched the limo drive off into the distance, until it eventually took a turn behind a building, and the limo was unwatchable. I then turned and walked up to Gina.
“Honey, I’m sorry,” I heard her say. Wow. She? Apologizing? What happened? I smiled. Maybe I misjudged her. She then she continued, “But, he’s too old for you.” My jaw dropped. I completely take back what I thought.
“What?!” I heard myself say.
“Well, you see, he’s going off into his second year of college. And what are you? An 11th grader in High School? Nope. I’m sorry, but, it’s just not going to make it.” My mouth gaped. Why is this lady doing this to me? Will and I can’t “make it” if we never even started! This lady is getting on my last nerve.
“You’re crazy,” I heard myself say. It was like I had no control over what I said anymore.
“Fine, don’t take my love advice. I was just saying. Your just going to end up hurt,” she said as she flipped her golden hair over her shoulder, then, finally, she noticed what I was wearing. Boy, that took a while.
She scrunched up her nose, “Ewe... Where’d you find THOSE clothes? The dumpster?”
I smiled. My plan was definitely going to work. “Well, I did go dumpster diving in them once. They’re my lucky clothes. And I never wash them, because they might wash the luck away...,” I could tell she was getting grossed out. All I needed was something to top it off, “Wanna smell?” I could tell Gina was near the barfing point. PERFECT!
“I don’t even WANT to know what your mother’s like,” she said as she began to walk down the side walk. I had to run to catch up to her. She was an extremely fast walker. My guess was that she was from New York.
When I had finally caught up to her I was jogging to keep up with her pace. Her very FAST pace I might add. Once Gina noticed I had caught up, however, she looked down at me with disgust, then put on a pair of HUGE sunglasses, and held her head high. Obviously, she was embarrassed to be with me. The thing that surprised me the most was that, she was even taller than me. In fact, I have a feeling she was at least 6’5 with her heels on. She even made ME look short. Obviously my height will get me nowhere with Gina. In a way, Gina kind of scared me. She made me feel tiny, small, and useless whenever I was around her. I was going to debate the matter more in my head, but I stopped. I didn’t want to think much about height today. Not with such a big city before me. It seemed just ready for exploring. I looked up at the signs on each of the buildings. “Dana’s Hair Salon,” “William and Harry’s house of Beef,” “Peggy’s Clothes Shoppe,”… Wow, there were a lot of places to go to. Their seemed to be a store for everything; Shoes, Chinese food, tennis clothes, sport supplies, furniture, feet massaging products...anything you could name was there. And what surprised me most was that they were all independent stores. And there wasn’t a mall in sight. Gina was right, for once. We walked through oceans of building. Big ones, small ones, yellow ones, green ones, there were too many to count. Gina quickly turned into a small purple shop with a humongous neon sign that said “Lilac’s Beauty and Boutique,” I quickly ran after her into the store. The walls inside were a soft yellow were covered with full length mirrors and the ceiling was lilac. There were enough clothing racks with covered with clothes to clothe a small army, and there were stands with vases of lilac flowers in every corner of the room.
Gina ran across the room and immediately started to pick things out. Within five minutes she had her arms filled with clothes. I sat down in a chair next to the clothing booths, stared at the ceiling, and waited. Time passed. Slowly passed, but sure enough passed. It seemed like I had been sitting there forever after only five minutes.
There was no clock in the room, but the last time I check my watch I had been sitting in that same spot for over three hours and I didn’t even WANT to see how long it’s been since then. I wish I had brought a book or something. Finally Gina came up to me with her arms completely with her arms filled with clothes, and an assistant carrying even more.
“Thanks, but I can take it from here, Joe,” she said to the assistant. The assistant looked relieved. He quickly placed the clothes on the chair next to me, and disappeared into the oceans of clothing racks. Gina peeked from behind the humongous pile of clothes her hands were holding.
“Sweetie,” she said, as if “sweetie” was my name. Obviously she didn’t remember my real one, “Can you hold these for a sec?” I was automatically going to say no after looking at how much she wanted me to hold. It was WAY to much. I opened my mouth to answer she had already plopped the clothes onto my lap. The extreme weight of the clothes knocked the wind out of me. She stared at the pile on my lap with her index finger to her cheek. Finally she grabbed a dress from the pile. She swung it over her shoulder and walked toward the changing booth. “Thanks, Hun,” I heard her call over her shoulder. So now was “Hun” my nickname?
I heard the rustling of clothes coming from the booth for what seemed like forever. Finally, she burst from the booth wearing a stunning pink halter dress.
“So, what do ya think?” she asked as she made a suggestive pose.
“Whatever,” I said dully. I was bored. And the LAST thing I wanted to do was be Gina’s clothing consultant. Gina frowned, then grabbed another dress from the pile sitting on my lap and strode back into the clothing booth. There was rustling once again, then, she swung the curtain aside to reveal an orange strapless mini-dress, that had a hot pink stripe on it. She did a catwalk across the room, and ended in a pose with both arms in the air.
“How ‘bout this one?” she asked.
“Gina, honestly, does it look like I care?” I asked with an annoyed look on my face. A scowl formed on Gina’s face. She snatched another dress from the pile and stormed into the booth. I could feel my legs getting numb from the weight of the clothes. Eventually they fell asleep. And I have a feeling I did too, because the rest of the Gina trying on clothes was a big blur.
I awoke to Gina shaking me violently.
“Get up! Get up!” she said to me.
“Huh?” I asked starting to get up. Then I noticed the pile of clothes on my lap had vanished. I must have slept for a while.
“Let’s go, it’s time to go to the café down the street,” she said childishly. I stood from the chair and dragged my feet across the hardwood floor of the boutique. Finally I had reached the door. Gina quickly swung it open and walked outside. I, being as tired as I was, didn’t catch the door when it came swinging back, and because of that the door hit me square in the face.
“Ow...” I moaned. I then swung the door back open and exited the shop. Gina was waiting outside for me.
“That’s what you get for not paying attention,” she said in a matter-of-factly tone. I rolled my eyes, then I noticed something was missing. Where were her shopping bags?
“Hey, Gina, where are your shopping bags?” I asked.
Gina flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled, “Oh, I couldn’t find anything I liked, so I didn’t buy anything.” My mouth gaped. WHAT?! I sat there for over three and she ended up not buying ANYTHING?! Ugh... Does this lady WANT to kill me? I simply shrugged as my reaction, though, and quickly followed Gina through the millions of shops; finally, we came upon a café. I had never seen it before, but the inside reminded me somewhat of Starbucks.
We walked into the quiet store. There was nobody there except for the cashier and a young guy that looked around my age sitting at a table sipping coffee as he read a book. Gina and I walked up to the cash register.
“Welcome to Coffee Deluxe, my name is Meg. How may I help you?” the young cashier groaned. She looked tired, like she had been there all day. I felt sorry for her. The frown on her face said it all. She was miserable.
“Ya, Peg, I’d like a Mocha Swirl and..., oh, one of those low fat pound cakes,” Gina then paused and looked at me, “Ya want anything?”
“Uh, no, I’m fine,” I whispered. I wonder if Gina has hearing problems, because everyone she meets she never remembers the names of. I’m positive she said Peg, when the cashier’s name is Meg. It even says on her name tag “Hello My Name Is Meg.”
“Alrighty then...,” Gina gave me a How-Can-You-NOT-Want-Something look, but ended the conversation there.
“Ok, that’ll be-” the cashier started to say, but before she could finish, Gina had left the money on the counter and had walked off to sit down. The cashier sighed and put the money in the cash register. As she counted the money I noticed she was around my age, if not younger. Personally, I’d hate having to work my entire summer at a coffee shop, especially because it looked like business was bad.
Once the girl had finished putting away the money she pulled her sandy brown hair from her face and went to make Gina’s “Mocha Swirl.” As Meg worked solemnly I quickly slid a twenty dollar bill next to the cash register. Attached to the money was a note.
It said:
**********************
Meg,
I can tell you’ve been working hard. You deserve this money more than anyone else. I hope your summer is filled with hopes and dreams.
May your summer be filled with happiness.
Sincerely,
May
A.k.a. The tall brunette sitting at the back table.
P.S. I think the person at the other table likes you. He’s been looking at you.
***********************
I quickly darted off to the back table. As I sat and waited at the table, I noticed at the table across from me there was a computer. Then, on top of computer there was a sign reading “Computer for Customer Use Only. Computer has internet access.” After reading the sign I anxiously got on. Then I quickly signed on AIM, and Julie automatically IMed me.
***********************
JulieOoly12: how’s ur day w/ waffle lady?
MayzinglyCool: horrible, i watched her shop for over 3 hours straight…
JulieOoly12: ouch!
MayzinglyCool: i need to escape b4 she kills me!
JulieOoly12: lol! well, there’s the british dude!
MayzinglyCool: zack?
JulieOoly12: yuppers! maybe u could call him on his cell, and he could pick u up.
MayzinglyCool: YEAH!!!
MayzinglyCool: uh-oh...
JulieOoly12: wat?
MayzinglyCool: uh...i kinda don’t have his cell #
JulieOoly12: well, that’s ok. u can call him at home!
MayzinglyCool: um... i don’t know that one either
JulieOoly12: alright, u can visit him. u have his address, don’t u?
MayzinglyCool: uh...no?
JulieOoly12: well u can IM him. rite?
MayzinglyCool: nope.
JulieOoly12: email him?
MayzinglyCool: nada.
JulieOoly12: DO U EVEN KNOW HIS LAST NAME!?
MayzinglyCool: ...
JulieOoly12:?!
JulieOoly12: MAY!!!!!!!!! how can u ever see him again if u know nothing other than his first name?!
MayzinglyCool: I dunno
JulieOoly12: i mean, he could’ve been the one!
MayzinglyCool: plz jules, cut the bs today! i’m not in the mood! and, enough with the “the one” crap. let’s just get this one thing straight. I DO NOT LIKE LIKE HIM!!!!!!!!!! he’s a friend, nothing more. and after what happened b/w me and paul, i really am in no mood to get in a relationship again!!
JulieOoly12: geez. someone’s touchy today!
MayzinglyCool: will u just SHUT UP?!
JulieOoly12: fine, but just 2 let u know. Ur not going to get anywhere if u keep sulking over paul!!
~JulieOoly12 has signed off at 3:02 pm~
**********************
GRR!! I hate Julie when she’s like this! Sometimes she never understands me.
I was about to go on about all of the things I hate about Julie in my head when suddenly I noticed Meg had found the note I had left for her. She had the note in one hand and the money in the other. She quickly scanned the room, suddenly her eyes locked with mine. I quickly looked away, and pretended to be extremely engrossed in the computer. I could feel her eyes staring at me, and I could tell a warm smile had wiped across her face. Don’t ask how I knew she was smiling. I just knew. It was like a six sense or something. Then, when I could tell she had taken her eyes off of me, I turned around. And I was right, her attention had moved to someone else. Instead of looking at me I saw her smiling shyly at the guy at the other table. At first he seemed to not notice Meg, but a few moments later he put down his book and picked up his coffee, as he sipped he noticed Meg looking at him from afar. He put down his coffee and smiled back. Then Meg blushed, and I smiled. Yes! It’s going to work! Then the guy at table put down his coffee and walked up to the cash register. I quickly turned around and started to turn off the computer, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Meg and the guy starting to talk, and Meg started laughing. Mission Accomplished.
I happily strode over to Gina who was stirring her coffee and reading a magazine. Right when I sat down with Gina she put down her magazine and began to talk.
“We’ve got to go in fifteen minutes,” she began, “Hair appointment.” I nodded and watched her slowly pick up her magazine and become engrossed in one of the articles. Once I was sure she was completely into the article I began to talk, “Oh, Gina, can I go for a walk?”
“Huh?” she said with her eyes still of the magazine and her hand still using a spoon to stir her coffee, “Oh, sure. Sure.”
“Ok,” I said slyly. I can’t believe this is actually working, “I’ll meet you home in the evening.”
“Yeah, sure,” I heard Gina say.
“Thanks,” I said quickly. I got up as fast as I could, and ran for the door. In the corner of my eye I saw Gina jump out of her seat, as if to just understand what she had let me done.
“Hey, wait!” I heard her call. But she said it too soon. I was gone.
I darted through the streets and past crowds of people. Many people stared at me, but most didn’t even notice me because of my extremely fast pace of running. I rounded several corners until finally I had to stop and rest. I leaned against a nearby news stand and gasped for air. I think that was the fastest I had run in a LONG time. As I finally began to regain energy I heard a loud honk, causing me jump several feet forward. I stood up straight and turned around and found a small convertible car. The hood was up, so I couldn’t tell who was riding in the car. I cautiously walked up to the car and attempted to look through the window on the driver’s side. Suddenly the window rolled down to reveal the last face I thought I’d ever see.
ZACK!! Then, I noticed he wasn’t alone, for behind him were two more familiar faces. Larry and Kyle. Both were waving, Larry was of course was waving frantically with both hands, while Kyle waved politely with one.
Zack grinned, “Hey stranger,” he joked, “Long time, no see.” He then looked into the rearview mirror. I did the same. In the mirror we saw Gina down the street running at full speed with a face clearly showing nothing but anger. Zack looked at me and blinked twice.
“Need a ride?”
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