Turning Over A New Leaf

Chapter 3

Author's Note:

Hey, this time I'm early! But that's because I'm going away on a school trip - to Ontario &Quebec (I'm from Alberta) - so I won't have my laptop. Also, Next weeks' might be a little late, because that's when I get back.

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January 20, 2010

It’s Friday, and it’s last class. Jacki is coming with me on my bus and we’re going to have a sleepover. We are trying to spend as much time as we can together as we can, to make up for when I’m gone.

I haven’t started packing yet. Joey hasn’t either. He stays on his computer most of the time, when he’s home, anyway. Mostly he’s in town. He drives all his friends around. He drives his girlfriend, too. I only know he has a girlfriend because it’s on Facebook. He never drives me around.

Penny is pretty much done packing, except for things like her toothbrush, because Mom packed for her. Mom has been packing up the house nonstop. Everything is in our the landlord’s garage, in boxes. The only things in our house are food, clothes, toiletries, and cardboard boxes.

Scarlett                               

Jacki and Scarlett were sitting on Scarlett’s bed, backpacks and textbooks stacked carefully on the floor by Scarlett’s desk. They had come in the back door to avoid going through the garage.

“Let’s give each other make-overs!” Jacki squealed. The girls jumped up and ran out the door. They raced past Vicky, who was holding a basket full of clean laundry. Suddenly realizing this, Scarlett dug in her heels and slid to a stop. Jacki didn’t stop running, however, and went crashing into Scarlett, knocking her to the floor with a loud thud. They burst out laughing and Vicky set down the basket of laundry as she quickly walked over.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

 Scarlett tried to get herself under control. “Yup! We were just coming to see you to ask if we could borrow some make-up and hair stuff.”

“We’re giving each other make-overs!” Jacki exclaimed.

Vicky smiled. “You didn’t have to make such a commotion to get my attention! You could have just asked! Sure, follow me.” She picked up the laundry and walked past the heap of girl lying on the floor. Scarlett and Jacki untangled themselves and followed.

“Here,” Vicky said, giving Scarlett a large make-up bag and Jacki a flat iron and curler. “Try not to use it all!”

“We won’t!” Scarlett promised, and she and her friend walked out the door, slower this time.

An hour later, Jacki, her hair in a high curled ponytail and about a pound of make-up on her face, was standing behind Scarlett, finishing her hair. With a look of concentration, she stuck one more bobby pin in, and smiled. “Done!” she proclaimed, spinning Scarlett around to face the mirror.

Scarlett gasped. Her almond shaped, sky blue eyes looked much too big and bold with a thick line of black eyeliner underneath and on her eyelids. A dark purple eye shadow was messily thrown onto her eyelids, making it seem that she had two black eyes. Mascara was slathered onto her lashes, too thick, Scarlett thought. The lipstick was too dark and patchy. Scarlett looked like a china doll with perfect circles of blush powdered onto each cheek.  Her hair, however –

“I used about 63 bobby pins on your hair. You better like it!” Jacki warned, with a glint in her eye. Her able hands had styled Scarlett’s thick, light blonde hair in two perfect ringlets, pinned to the back of her head. The rest of her rib-length hair was perfectly crimped. It may not sound very pretty, but in person, it was beautiful.

“I…I love it!” Scarlett exclaimed. “It’s so pretty!”

After fawning over her hair for awhile, the two got a box out of Scarlett’s closet and started playing Polly Pocket. They made sure never to mention it to anyone, but it was one of their favorite things to do at a sleepover.

January 20, 2010, 10:34 PM

I know it’s late. Jacki just fell asleep. I have news, though! My LA teacher told me I should keep my notebook (the one I’m writing in) and write down everything that happens after I… move. Wow. It’s really happening! Mom started shipping some of the bigger things over to Grandma Sophie’s. I’m really not excited to move in with Grandma Sophie. She smokes a LOT, and by a lot I mean about three packs a day. She is 67 years old and she is very bossy about her house. We have to leave everything exactly as we found it, or else we get grounded for two days. Mom doesn’t know how to stop her from grounding us, or maybe she just doesn’t try.

Scarlett

Scarlett closed her Social textbook slowly. She had promised Vicky that she would start packing as soon as she was done her homework. The only homework she had was Social, and she was done that in five minutes. She stood up and surveyed the room. She couldn’t take any furniture, because that belonged to the landlord. She couldn’t take her blanket or pillows either, because Grandma Sophie didn’t like her grandchildren using ‘foreign objects’ in her house. So that left clothes, toiletries, and books. Scarlett went to her desk and pulled out a notebook.

Packing:

Sweaters

Shirts

Pants

Socks

Underclothes

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Hairbrush

Shampoo

Books

Scarlett considered her list. It was very short. Ignoring that, she went into the storage room beside hers and grabbed the first suitcase she found. Coming back into her room, she threw the suitcase onto her bed and flipped the lid open. She picked up several books from her bookshelf and walked over to her bed to set them in her suitcase. Suddenly, she screamed and dropped the books onto her floor. She backed up and pressed herself against the far wall, as far away from her suitcase as she could. Scarlett heard footsteps running up the stairs and Vicky raced into the room.

“What’s the matter? Are you okay?” Vicky blurted out, concerned.

Scarlett shook her head, eyes bulging and breath held. She raised a shaking hand and pointed at her suitcase. Vicky hastily walked to Scarlett’s bed and looked in the suitcase. She visibly relaxed. “Oh, it’s only a spider.”

“ONLY A SPIDER?” Scarlett gasped.

Vicky turned around and grabbed a Kleenex from Scarlett’s desk. She squished the spider and walked towards Scarlett. Scarlett screamed again. She jumped around her mother and onto her bed. Vicky laughed.

“I’m only throwing it away!” she turned around and deposited the tissue into the garbage can that Scarlett was standing in front of.

“Oh. It’s dead? Like, really, really dead?” Scarlett cautiously stepped down from her bed.

Vicky sighed, her eyes sparkling. “YES, Scarlett. It’s really, really dead.”

“Okay.” Scarlett walked slowly towards the almost empty garbage can, took a deep breath, picked it up, and bolted for the dumpster in the back.

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Author's Note:

Not much to say, other than VOMMENT!