Dream Station

Chapter 3

    The time of the sleepover finally came.

    I was bouncing up and down on the couch thinking: Come on guys! Come ON! Can't you get over here any faster? Calm down Riley. Breathe in and out. Okay. Calm. I am TOTALLY calm.

    The doorbell rang, but before Mom could even reach the handle I zoomed over and pretty much broke the door as I opened it.

    "Eh-hem!" Mom signaled me and gave me "The Look." I smiled and nodded slowly.

    Crystal's mom was waiting on the steps, but Crystal was trudging across the lawn. She was holding a green sleeping bag that was obviously too big for her to carry. Dangling from her pinky was a small, colorful backpack.

    "C'mon Crystal! You can do it! Hop that last step!" her Mom was yelling to her enthusiastically.

    "I-I can't!" huffed Crystal,"Mom! I'm practically an undersized Walking Stick! I mean-*huff*-just look at these skinny arms!" She dumped all her baggage onto the top step and flapped her arms for dramatic effect.

    "Aw, man! My braids are all messed up! Guess I'll have to redo them for the one-millionth time!"

    Crystal took her gold headband out of her golden hair, and brushed some stray strands of hair out of her eyes. Then she steadily put the headband right back in place.

    I giggled a little.

    "Crystal, we're probably going to be smashing pillows into each other's faces. I don't think you'll have enough time to redo your headband every time I beat you." She smirked. Mom gave me "The Look" again and I held my tongue.

    "Anyway," I gestured towards the house,"come on inside! We can get your stuff set up."

    "See you sweety." Crystal's mom kissed her on the four head, and stepped back down to her car. Wish my mom was always that cheerful. I thought.

    Crystal and I grabbed different bags of hers and trudged upstairs. We rolled out her huge sleeping bag; that practically covered half the room.

    "POKE!" I teased as I poked her arm.

    "HEY!" she yelled and began chasing me around the room with a fancy pen she had pulled out of her backpack. We both tripped and fell onto my bed. Laughing hard, I pulled her up, and we had a jumping contest on my bouncy bed.

    It took a while for us to calm down; we finally started to wonder when Sierra would arrive. Then, I remembered my question.

    "Crystal?"

    "Yeah?"

    "What's your bracelet made of?" That question caught her off guard. She started looking around the room and wouldn't make eye contact. "And, where did you get it?" I began pointing at the clear, fuzzy shape on her wrist. She saw where I was pointing and covered it with her sleeve.

"Oh, that? It's just an ordinary friendship bracelet."

    "Sure it is." I moaned sarcastically. "I bet that's why you're making sure I can't see it, huh?" I began creeping towards her. "What are you hiding? Friends don't keep secrets Crystal." Narrowing my eyes at her she crept away, sliding herself away from me on the bed.

    "I'm not keeping secrets..." she whispered,"...I just haven't told you yet that's all."

    "So what is it?!"

    "I told you it's a friendship bracelet! Sierra gave to me when I was...four. Yeah. She, uh, made it! Sort of..." she began kicking her feet on the edge of the bed really hard. "It's made of-" she stopped short. Crystal looked down at the ground, as if thinking about how to put it without completely lying. "...it's made of crystal. Yup, that's-that's how it's made."