The Middle Element

Chapter One

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!! My eyes flew open and my heart pounded. My vision was still blurry and my mouth tasted bad. I sit up, and realize what day it is. I rub my eyes and turn to slap the alarm clock. It is still going off, as obnoxious as ever. I hit the alarm clock on where I think the snooze to be, but instead finding the button that makes it even louder. Dread flows through my body, then excitement. Maybe today won't be too bad. In fact, Im ready. well, readyish. My eyes are still blurry as I continue smacking the alarm as my mother yells up the stairs to me, "Liberty?!Where are you? You have 10 minutes to eat, get dressed, put together your books, brush your teeth, AND do makeup and hair! HURRY UP!!!" "JUST GIVE ME ONE MINUTE!!" Ugggg! I groan in frustration. I hear a pound on the door. "What do you need!?" I can barely hear myself over the constant yell of the clock. "Liberty?" My little sister Iz calls through the door. She lets herself in. "Mommy says you have to hurry up and get to the kitchen or you aren't going to get a ride to school. Also why is the clock still going?" I rip the cord out of the wall in frustration. "Tell her I will be there in just a second." With a wink I add, " You look very cute today! Have fun at kindergarten today!" I give her a peck on the cheek and usher her out the door. I shower then put on my first day of seventh grade outfit on, tribal print knee length dress with brown flats. I scrunch my curly brown hair, put on my makeup and run down the stairs, I trip and hit my head on the railing. My parents don't even look up. This is a regular display of clumsiness for me. My dad turns around smiling. " Ready for your first day? Also would you like eggs with tomato or spinach on them?" I gag. "Let's go with tomato. Something that doesn't taste terrible." My dad laughs. "Zane said something like that" gesturing toward my little brother who was starting 4th grade today. Zane grins as I look over at the clock. "We should probably leave soon, we can't be late for the first day." Zane's smile disappears. "I don't understand why I can't stay home and take care of Jeepers and Mazie! They want me to stay home too!" I laugh, seriously doubting that my fluffy cat and my pug cared too much, my mom isn't working today, so she is staying home and can play with them. My mom looks over at my dad. "We should leave soon, it's getting pretty late. Why don't we drop Liberty off and take these two into school then drive to the meeting." She starts getting Iz ready and my dad has Zane get his backpack. I grab my books and finish my eggs, just to realize I already brushed my teeth, so all day I am gona have egg breath. Great. Just great. I swipe a piece of peppermint gum off the counter and hastily run out the door. I hop in the car. So far my year has been just dandy.

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When I get to the school, Brielle is already there. "Liberty!!!" She sweeps me up in a big hug. We haven't seen eachother in what? Three days? "So," she questions, "what locker number did you get this year?" I smile, feeling better already. "I'm not sure. I was going to wait for you, Ella, and Savanna before I looked. What about you?"
"You know we are a lot alike""I love your outfit! Where did you get it? She was wearing low cut brown boots, skinny jeans, a three quarter length grey striped shirt, and a dolphin necklace. Her blonde hair is naturally just below her shoulders . "Not sure, a mix of places, Loving yours too!" We laugh. I turn around to see Savanna and Ella running through the doors. All of us start screaming at once. Brielle and I run to give Savanna and Ella hugs. We examine eachother's clothes. Ella is in an Aeropostale shirt, dark denim capris and vans. Her almost black hair falls straightened to her chest, and she is tall. Her light brown skin is making her look so pretty. Savanna is in a flowy black skirt, black flats, and a grey shirt with a flower on it. Her blonde hair is thickly braided to her waist. " You guys look great!" I smile at them. "What are your locker numbers?" Savannah's is 146, next to the office, Ella has 239, the second floor by the cafeteria, Brielle has 192 by the first stair flight, and I have the top floor by the auditorium. 312. Ella looks at her watch. "We had better get our books in our lockers, we only have ten minutes until the bell rings. We all split ways and I climb up the stairs to my new locker. I put my books inside, and the shelf breaks, spilling out all of my supplies. Yay. I put everything back in, fixing the broken shelf. I grab my things for the next few classes and stick them in my new backpack. I walk to home room, where very few people I know are. The bell rings. "Hi! Welcome to to the East Philadelphia Anthony Middle School. Better known as EPAMS. I will be your teacher, Mr. Lukas. We will be starting with a quiz.......
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The bell rings, and my fourth period teacher, Ms. Cliff, (who has a strange liking to cats, not that I dislike cats) dismisses class and I walk out of the class, and slam into the door. The teacher gives me a pathetic smile before telling me "I would ask you if you were ok, but I suspect this happens a lot. Have a good lunch doll." I smile at her, and nod. I turn around, this time I don't slam into anything. I walk down the stairs to the second floor and meet Savanna on the way."So how were your first classes?" She looks pretty excited. "Well, my classes are ok, gym second period isn't the best though. What about you?" We walk down the next stair flight to the first floor. "It's all pretty good, I am just excited for volleyball tryouts tonight." We walk into the cafeteria where Ella and Brielle have saved us a seat. We search the Room until we find our seats. "How are your guys classes?" I ask Ella and Brielle. Brielle concludes that hers are ok, and Ella says hers are the most fun ever. "We learned how to make a volcano!" As we eat we chat about our classes. Soon a girl walks up to us. We all smile, and Brielle is the first to talk. "Hi! I'm Brielle. This is Savanna and this is Ella." "And I'm Liberty!" we all smile. I ask, "Wanna sit? We have plenty of room!" She glares at me. Her glossy brown bob cut shimmers. "Umm actually, I just came to tell you that this is our table." She gestures toward two girls behind her. "And we want it now." I realize that they all have one thing in common. None like us. "Look," I start. "You can sit here with us, but we are not moving. So you can leave without us, or sit with us. Your choice." "I said you need to move" "And I said no." "This sure won't be the last time your going to hear from me. Here is your last chance to be alias. Move. Now." Ella looks nervous. She isn't to great in situations like this. She starts to get up from the table to do as this new girl said, but Savanna grabs her arm and rolls her eyes toward this new queen. Brielle pipes up. "Looks like we aren't getting another ali." The new girl glares at us and rolls her eyes. The red haired friend to the right talks "Come on Alex. Let's leave these losers to their dumb table. The one by the other window is way better." With one final glare, I guess her name is Alex, calls to her friends and sits by the other window scowling. We all look at each other awkwardly. In a minute, our friends Amber and Dylan join us. They fill us in on their first day, and before any of us know it it's time for class.
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The sound of the final bell sounds through the halls. I walk out the steps and check my phone. Three messages.
Ella, Brielle, and Savanna are all going to the ice cream parlor to hang out. I grab my long board and cruise to the hang out. We talk some more and then I have to leave. This will be an interesting year.