The Missing Piece [Discontinued]

Chapter Five

“Faith, I’m not going to allow you to sit around with that hole in the wall, do you understand me?” Nina spoke crisply, leaving no room for any arguments, her hands on her hips. Skittles, lounging on the crummy couch in the living room, looked up at her mother.

            “Mom… what are you saying? That you want me to fix it up magically or something?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

            “No, I’m telling you that you will need to fix the hole in the wall,” Nina replied, her eyes firm and set on Skittles, not amused.

            “What? Like pay it off? I don’t have the money!” Skittles argued, standing up from the couch.

            “You are going to fill in the hole, and paint over it. I am not going to help you in any way. You created this problem; you are going to fix it.”

            “Wait, what?” Skittles shouted, realizing what Nina was saying. “You’re insane! How am I supposed to do that?” Nina shrugged, unsympathetic.

            “I don’t know. It’s your problem, not mine.” Skittles mouth fell open at Nina’s reply: how could she be so heartless?

            “Whatever, doesn’t mean I have to do it!” Skittles mumbled to herself, then kicked the couch leg.

            “You better not be kicking things again!” Nina called from her room.

            “How am I gonna get myself out of this mess?” Skittles groaned.

Over the rest of the school week, Joy started hanging out with Juliana. The two were becoming fast friends, and Joy was happy to finally have someone to talk to. Bird, on the other hand wasn’t doing any better socially.

            “Jenna, girl, you’re the only one who will ever get me,” Bird said, collapsing onto his bed, hugging Jenna.

            “Woof!” replied Jenna, Bird’s old Golden Retriever.

            “I know you missed me while I was at school, I missed you too,” Bird said, pretending he could hear Jenna talk to him.

"Um, Adian?” Leo—Bird’s older brother—called, pushing open the door to Bird’s bedroom.

            “Yeah, what?” Bird replied, shooting up from beside Jenna, embarrassed. Leo pretended not to notice the awkwardness of the whole situation.

            “I’m going on a date tonight,” he exclaimed, clicking his tongue and snapping, “with a girl!” Bird rolled his eyes, like he couldn’t care less.

            “Nice. Hope the date goes well.”

            “Thanks, buddy-o!” Leo said, and then sauntered out of the room, cheerful.

            “Jen, are you going to be the only girl that ever will love me?” Bird asked, looking up to the ceiling and wishing someone would come along. Someone who would like him, no matter how much of a loser others think he is. Jenna replied by hopping up, leaving Bird alone, sprawled on his bed.

            “Well,” he sighed, giving up, “I guess not even you are willing to stay with me.”

            “I’m not sure,” Juliana said doubtfully to Joy, “I think that that long emerald dress would look better on you.” Joy was lying on Juliana’s bed, hanging out at her house after school, propped on her elbows as the two looked through a magazine of fancy dresses.

            “This maroon one is definitely made for you,” Joy commented, pointing at a shimmering, slightly ruffled, sleeveless maroon dress. Juliana stared at it, thinking.

            “The color and design are nice and all, but I don’t know if I would spring for sleeveless.” Joy flipped the page.

            “Ohhh!” Juliana exclaimed, stabbing at a picture of a dress in the middle of the page with her finger. “That one would look brilliant on me!” The dress was a deep purple, tight around the middle, but flowed outward farther down, and had spaghetti straps.

            “You’re right! Purple would look great on you,” Joy agreed. Juliana nodded, then tossed the magazine off her bed. It hit the floor with a slap. Joy stared at the magazine, wishing she had time to pick out her perfect dress.

            “I’m bored,” Juliana declared, bouncing slightly on the bed, “let’s do something.” Joy hoisted herself up on her knees, watching Juliana.

            “Like what?” Joy asked.

            “I don’t know,” Juliana shrugged, “something exciting!” Joy looked suspiciously at Juliana.

            “Exciting?”

            “Yeah!” Juliana replied, bobbing her head up and down. “Let’s…” Juliana thought for a second, before her eyes lit up. “Let’s throw a party!” Joy was taken aback at the idea.

            “A party?” She asked, starting to sound like a parrot, repeating everything Juliana said.

            “Yeah. A party. It can be at my house. We can have it tomorrow night—since it’s Friday.” Juliana reached across her bed, picking up a remote from her end table next to her bed. She clicked a button and “Friday” came blasting through her iPod’s speakers.

            “Sound like fun?” Juliana asked, raising an eyebrow at Joy. Joy fidgeted on the bed, still not exactly on board with the whole idea.

            “What kind of party? What kind of food would we get? Who would we invite? How would we get the word out? Are your parents okay with all of this? What if it got out of control?” Joy shot out questions at Juliana, but nothing seemed to affect Juliana.

            “Don’t you worry,” Juliana said, waving her hand dismissively, “I’ll figure that all out. But since the party is tomorrow, we should probably go shopping for some food. I’ll go ask my mom if we can host the party here—I’m sure she’ll say yes—and if she can drive us to the store.” Joy took a deep breath, realizing that there was no stopping Juliana now.

            “Alright, fine. But this is crazy!” she exclaimed. Juliana tilted her head slightly, showing her perfect teeth as she smiled.

            “Not crazy. It’s exciting!”