It Was Him *EDITING*

Ch. 1: A Weird Day

               "Stella, I told you it's time to get up!" My brother, Zack, hit me with a pillow. I attempted to swat it away, but with no luck. 
               "Fine, I'm up!" I groaned, still unmoving.                                                                                                                          
               "Then prove it," Zack challenged. Just to "prove it," I rolled off of my bed and stood up. 
               "Ta-da! I'm up," I sarcastically announced.
               Zack rolled his eyes. "Get ready for school," he mumbled as he left my room.

              I rolled my eyes and walked over to my closet. Hmm, what to wear? Oh, the struggles. I reached into my closet and picked out a random t-shirt and jeans. I was just going to school, so I didn't really care about what people thought of my outfit.
             Since I eat breakfast at school, and it's only a block away, I decided to just walk there today. I headed out of my room, grabbing my backpack as I went. "Need a ride?" Zack asked. Aw, so sweet. He never offers me rides, like, to anywhere.
            "Uh, no, it's okay. I'll walk," I assured him. I knew him well enough that there could only be two reasons why he would offer me a ride now. Either he wanted to lecture me about staying away from boys (typical protective older brother behaviour) or he'd want something in return for the ride, like for me to buy him pizza or something. Yeah, no thanks.
           "Okay," he responded, stuffing a breakfast burrito into his mouth. Mom and Dad worked mornings at the local library, so it was just us right now. Zack's eighteen and still hasn't moved out, which is kinda funny because he's been anticipating having his own house since he was six. Even though we're only two years apart, it seems like ten. Zack can be very mature for his age. Can be. Doesn't mean he is.
          When I got to school, I decided that I wasn't hungry. I walked to my locker and stacked my books inside. No later had I shut my locker than my friend Kacey Ilchiburg skipped to my side. "What's up?" She chirped in a quirky voice. I turned to face her. I was so jealous of her short brown curls and green eyes. I have long blonde hair and medium brown eyes, which Kacey always sad she was jealous of. I laughed her off every time she said so. I found it hard to believe.
         "Hey!" I smiled. "Did you finish the biology homework?" Kacey's smile instantly faded.
         "H-homework? I didn't know we had homework," she whimpered.
         "I'll help you later, before that class," I assured her.
         Kacey's smile appeared again. "Cool, thanks!" The bell rang, signaling the beginning of first period. Her and I both jumped at the sound.
       "Well, see ya," I smiled. Kacey smiled back and headed the opposite direction. We didn't have first period together, sadly.
       Kacey was an interesting friend, in the sense that she was always there for me at school, and yet we barely hung out outside of school. Whenever I called her, she seemed distant and guarded, like something else was always on her mind. I never said anything about it, though; I didn't want to offend her. And Kacey was the only friend I actually had, so I just kept quiet and pretended everything was normal.
 

     The rest of my classes dragged on, until the final bell rang and everyone rushed out the door. I was, of course, the last to leave. I didn't share my last class with Kacey either.

       I walked out to the parking lot and jumped when my phone rang. I fumbled to get it out of my pocket. "Hello?" I answered.
      "Hey, it's Zack. I'm coming to get you, okay?"
      "Wh-," I began, but was quickly cut off.
      "Don't move, I'll be right there." Beep. Great. I went to the nearest bench and sat down.
      "You trying to ditch me?" A familiar voice asked. I turned around to see Kacey.
      I smiled. "Now why would you think that?" I playfully asked.
     Kacey giggled. "So, I'll see ya tomorrow, 'kay?"
     "Yeah," I grinned. Just then, Zack's black truck pulled into the school driveway. "Bye, Kacey," I called as I opened the passenger door.          "Bye," Kacey said as I got in. As we drove away, I saw her waving. Once we were out of the parking lot, I turned to Zack.
     "So, what's with you suddenly wanting to give me a ride?" I asked.
     "You'll see," he mumbled, without even glancing at me. I sighed as I rolled my eyes. Whatever, I thought.
     The rest of the drive was silent. Zack and I didn't really know what to talk about. And I know that if I asked him what the deal was again, he still wouldn't give me a straight answer, so it wasn't even worth it.
      When Zack pulled into the driveway, I rushed out of the car and to the front door.
      "Wait," Zack called, just as my hand touched the doorknob.
      "He speaks," I said, rolling my eyes as I turned around.
      "There's a surprise in there for you, but we may have gotten here a bit early," he said, as if he hadn't heard me. "So you may need to wait out here."
      I crossed my arms. If this was one of his usual surprises, it would probably be better to run than stay.
      "And, no, this isn't my regular surprise, so you can trust me," Zack promised, reading my mind. He may be a trickster, but he's honest, so I knew I could trust him. And yes, being a trickster and honest at the same time sounds unlikely, but what can I say? That's Zack for ya.
       "Okay..," I mumbled. Zack walked past me, unlocked the door, and stuck his head in the doorway. I heard frantic but excited whispers on the other side of the door, which intrigued me. I tried my best to make out what they were saying, but I couldn't. Darn.
        "It's not ready yet, so you're gonna have to stay out here, okay?" Zack said, taking his head out of the doorway.
        "Yeah, that's fine," I responded. Zack smiled before heading into the house and shutting the door behind him.
        After a few minutes, I tried the doorknob. It didn't budge. Darn it, he knows me so well. I sighed in defeat as I sat next to the potted plant on our porch. What a weird day.

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       Hey, readers! Let me know how you liked the first chapter! If you enjoyed it, it would mean so much if you could leave a vote and/or a comment. I'll see ya in the next chapter!