The Third Choice

Chapter 1

A pale skinned girl lay silently on her bed. Her hair, wavy golden strands, all criss-crossing around her head. Her blue eyes were brightly shining even when they were tightly shut.

Yup, that's me. The name's Rikko, and this year, seventh grade's my game.

Suddenly, a shriek screamed into my ear. 

I slammed my hand against the bedside table, attempting to hit the snooze button on my alarm clock. "Ow!" I yelped. Nice start to the day...

I leapt out of bed, snatched my clothes from my desk chair and raced into the bathroom.

Loud stomps scurried down the old stairs outside my room, each creak sending a shiver down my spine. Easily, I knew the stomps belonged to no other human being than my fifth grade brother, Learon.

Ugh... brothers. I thought.

I took a peek at the time on my alarm clock, realizing that it was already 7:20am.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no! I'm gonna miss my bus!

Grabbing my backpack, I rushed downstairs.

"Well, good morning, Rikko," Mom called.

"Hey, Mom." I said as I skid towards the door.

I slipped my sneakers on, leaving the laces loose, and dashed out the door, towards the bus stop. I quickly turned back towards the house, realizing I hadn't even picked up my lunch.

I slammed the door open and ran to the counter where my lunch kit was planted.

"Expected that." Mom taunted.

"Sure you did..." I mumbled through my panting.

"That's no way to talk to your mother!" Learon yelled from the table. "And do you plan on leaving me behind again?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Yeah, that was the plan."

"Well you ain't leaving me this time!" He grabbed his lunch from the counter, slipped his basketball shoes on, and ran out the door, dragging me behind him.

"Bye, Mom!" I said as I locked the door behind me.

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I pushed my way to the back of the bus, where my best friend, Thea, always saved me a spot. Learon followed behind me.

"Hey there, Thea!" I beamed.

"Hey, Rikko!" She replied

"Hey there, Thea!" Learon mimicked.

Thea glared.

"Alright, alright!" Learon plopped himself down in the seat in front of us.

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I entered in my lock combination, the door screeching as I opened it.

"Hey." I heard a boy's voice call behind me.

I sighed. "Hi, Nash..."

"Shouldn't you at least be a bit glad to see me?" He leaned against the locker beside mine.

"Yeah. Just a bit."

"Come on! I've known you since K!"

"Just leave me alone and let me go to the classroom." I closed my locker door and pushed Nash aside as I walked to class. "And if you don't mind, stop following me."