Chapter 7 Alicia's Dream

I finally woke up at noon, but instead of being on a very uncomfortable shuttle bus seat, I was in a bed very much unlike my own, but with the same comfort. Jordan was lying on a bed right next to mine, his eyes wide open, staring at me. He had his chin resting on his hand, mesmerized with me, I guess. I stared back at him with a stare very intense, but, instead of it being funny, even when I raised my eyebrows in a sarcastic gesture, we fell into the pools of each other’s eyes. I couldn’t see for the brown in his eyes, and he must have been lost in my blue. The world, though cliché sounding, seemed to stop spinning. I couldn’t see anything else but his eyes. I really don’t remember what happened after that, though I know that nothing totally naughty went on.
“Jordan?”
“Yeah, Rori?”
“Where are we?” I said, and then he laughed as he carefully made up both of our beds.
“We’re at my house.”
“Your house? I didn’t know this was your house, Jordan!”

Chapter 6 Journey

I knew I would end up in the principal’s office. Probably end up going to court for breaking her jaw. I sat there, in that unfamiliar, yet seemingly comfortable chair, wagging my foot in time with the death tune playing in my head. The principal came out, and dragged me into her office. Consequences will come, I told myself, as I sat in her very un-comfortable plastic, black chairs.
I looked up at her, and she smiled. Huh? Why would she smile? Though it was more of a smirk.
“Mary, I don’t want this happening again, and you won’t do it again, will you?” I thought of every consequence before saying, “No ma’am, that won’t ever happen again.”
“Good, Mary, now, since no one has heard about it, we will keep it hushed, as long as you promise never to do it again.”
“Of course, Mrs. Langstrom, I won’t ever do anything of that…caliber again, and will make sure to apologize.”
“Good, thank you, Mary, for your services.” She shook my hand, and I left. I loved my awesome Irish luck.

Chapter 6 Journey

Then, unexpectedly, a girl with dark blond hair, Old Navy jeans, a bright blue t-shirt that displayed a “Top Gun” depiction, and ugly brown slippers, came up to me.
“Hey, Cinnamon!” Everyone who was “cool” called me Cinnamon, a funny saying of my real last name, Zimmerman.
“Yeah, what do you want?”
“I want my ten bucks!”
“What ten bucks? The ten bucks I owe you for our bet on Jordan and Aurora?”
“Yeah, if you don’t give it to me, I’m gonna punch your face in!”
“Yeah, right, you wouldn’t even touch my face!”
“Oh yeah?” She swung out her fist, and déjà vu hit me hard…literally. My nose started bleeding, and all the students were watching, but I didn’t even care. I had my own life to think about. I swung out my own fist, impaling her cheek, probably breaking her jaw. My knuckles hurt like hell, but that was okay; I had won. She dropped down on the ground, whimpering like a little baby, trying to see if her jaw was okay.

Chapter 6 Journey

I stalked through the halls, looking around for Jordan. Since I had studied him earlier in English, I knew he was wearing a blue and black polo, dark jeans, red DC’s, and a black baseball hat that had the slogan, “We are all unique, just like everyone else.” I smiled as I thought about his hat, and then nearly ran into Aurora.
“Excuse me!” I yelled at her. Unfortunately, she did not flinch at all.
“I’m sorry, you might try being more careful next time.” Ooh. She had gotten me good, and now everyone was staring at me as she walked away. I watched her as I took refuge from at least some of the stares at my locker. She stood with Jordan at his locker, and they looked as though they had not a care in the world that anyone else was there.

Chapter 6 Journey

I woke up, like most mornings. My window yielded no light. At five o’ clock in the morning, it’s usually dark outside. My jaw was intact, and life went on. I stepped into a clean pair of jeans, and tugged a clean shirt over my head. My brain went through all the insecurities of school, only two hours and ten minutes away from this very minute. I scanned my room: nothing out of the ordinary. Swinging my backpack over my shoulder, I grabbed my jacket and old cell from my dresser. The radio blared from the bathroom just outside my room as usual, but today, somehow, I was able to tune it out. My stepmom’s excruciatingly annoying behaviors, somehow, didn’t faze me this morning. I opened my door, and then closed it behind me, trying not to wake up my sister. I wished my dad could be home with us in the morning, but he never was. He was always at work by the time I got up.
I made the journey through the small hallway downstairs, and ascended the stairs, as I went through all the possibilities of me not having to go to school.

Chapter 5 Alicia Recovers...

The lady in the black dress suit led us to a small waiting room that had only two tables, ten chairs, and a small vase on a coffee table. The lady told us that she would go consult the doctor, and then come and get us. Ms. Lykes wrung her hands, and Jordan and I stared around the room, never making eye contact. The lady in the black suit came back and led us to Alicia’s room. She was sitting on a hospital bed in a respectable room. She had a pink cashmere blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and tons of toys, cards, crayons and paper scattered around her on the bed. As soon as she realized who had come with the lady, she jumped up off her bed, and ran to Jordan. She hugged him first, then Ms. Lykes, and then hugged me! I was really surprised when she did, but was enthralled. She was twirling, and I marveled at her curly, rich, brown pigtails following the pattern her body made.
The doctor spoke with Ms. Lykes outside her room, and Jordan and I were left alone with her. She looked up at us, and with her cute little face, and tiny little features, all I could do was smile.

Chapter 5 Alicia Recovers...

I was glad that we were off the plane now; it was raining pretty heavily; ok, who am I kidding, it was coming down in sheets, and we all pulled out umbrellas as we scanned the streets for our shuttle. As I saw the green lettering blinking “Orlando International Airport/ Florida Children’s Hospital,” we hopped onto the shuttle as it came to a stop, and said hello to the driver as we jammed our luggage into the racks. No one else boarded the shuttle, so we switched seats for a while until we were comfortable once we took off, and then we settled on the very back seat. Ms. Lykes sat in the seat in front of us, doing her knitting, looking stressed, and Jordan sat right behind her, beside me. We sat so close, that the dull drone of the pounding rain must have made Jordan even more nervous, so he put his head on my shoulder, and I slid my hand towards his. He got the hint, and squeezed my hand in his. I was glad Rita and Chris didn’t give a crap what happened to me.

Chapter 4 Project Electricity

We found our seats as we boarded the plane, and put a few of our bags in the over-head compartment. Jordan kept his backpack, and pulled out his I-Pod to help him calm down and get some rest. I felt relieved that Jordan was in the middle seat, and I was in the window seat, and Ms. Lykes was in the aisle seat, because either seat on the sides would have caused him more stress. As I buckled up, I could just faintly hear the chorus of “Say,” by John Mayer. I wondered whether or not Alicia was going to be alright. I had barely gotten to know her before she got sick again. Now I could hear the soft musical notes coming from Jordan’s I-Pod fading fast as the plane started to rumble down the runway. As I drifted off to sleep, my quiet breathing mixed with the drone of the plane’s engines, I felt Jordan’s hand close over mine…

Chapter 3 The Kiss of Love

So, as we sat there, enveloped in each other, the rain started to pour. It started as a whisper, and grew into a shrill whistle, so that Jordan’s tears falling were no match for the rain now coming down in sheets. Um… can I interrupt the story for a minute? No, okay, maybe it’s a bad time. Well, the rain continued to pour, and I understood what Jordan was feeling. His mom was somehow sick from Alicia, and although it didn’t make sense that he wasn’t sick, I ignored that thought, and continued to hold him. I guess I just didn’t know enough about her sickness to diagnose anybody right now. As we sat there, Jordan’s head cradled in my arms, his wet tears falling into my lap, the rain almost seemed as though it were singing a song. “Can you feel it? Can you feel it? Rushing through your hair, rushing….” It was so peaceful, although it did seem as though the storm were trying to tell us something. I was glad Rita was busy with the Chris situation. And sure enough, Jordan fell asleep. I laid my head on his, and carefully positioned myself into a sleeping position, so that I would not wake Jordan up, and fell asleep.

Chapter 2 A Story Beginning

“So, Jordan, what’s wrong with your sister, exactly?”
“Well, she’s-alright, but my uncle Freddy came over one night, to have dinner with us, which he never did, before, really. Anyway, while we were in the kitchen getting the food ready, the drinks were out on the table, and Freddy was sitting with them. Personally, because he had a criminal record anyway, I thought that it was a bad idea, but my mom insisted.
“So, when my mom, Alicia and I got into the dining room, and Alicia had her drink, I knew something was wrong. My uncle would continue to stare at her, until she looked at him, and then he would look away, with a gleam in his gray eyes.”
“So, you think he poisoned her?”
“Well, sort of. Freddy’s a scientist, so he could have come up with a concoction that would hurt her only gradually. She didn’t die, and hasn’t yet, obviously, so it couldn’t have been normal poison. But, she has been going to the hospital. And getting checkups. She’s been there three times this week, and on Tuesday, she went into a coma.” I gasped, and sat there, staring at him.

Chapter 2 A Story Beginning

Awhile later, the bell rang for lunch, and I decided to go sit outside, seeing as it was a perfectly beautiful day. Rita had packed me a lunch in an old Bowling For Soup tin lunchbox. It was kinda’ creepy having Rita pack my lunch, and I was especially sick when I saw what she had packed me. As I flipped open the lid, my eyes met the horrible sight of a soggy, brown, sandwich, oozing yellow liquid that looked too much like pus, and I threw it back into my lunchbox, furious at Rita. Why did she always have to pack me horrible stuff when I could just as well buy a lunch? She never understood me, why couldn’t she now? I quickly looked up when I heard the swish of jeans; Jordan, of all people, came to my table, bringing with him a steaming hot pizza slice upon a blue tray, with buttery green beans and a mouthwatering chocolate chip cookie on the side next to his cool, refreshing white milk.

Chapter 1 Gangs

On the floor, Destiny lay, the little baby, with her sleeves pinned to the floor, and her feet expose, and raw. A chill ran through my body as I looked up. Chris’s gang stood there, leaning against the kitchen’s counters, smoking rolled up leaves. Pot. They all looked high, except for one white boy, the only white boy in their group. He was hunched over, scrounging around in a dirty white Adidas duffle, looking for something unknown to anyone in the room. He took out a knife, and then, noticed me. He mumbled something to Tony, the gang leader, and I heard small sections of it. What he said, I cannot repeat, unless of course you are over thirteen years of age and don’t mind swearing. What I got out of it was that he had said, ’”That baby is a flippin’ traitor! She has no flippin’ right to be here, when she was stolen from my house!” Tony addressed the white boy as “Gringo.” “Gringo, that ain’t your baby sister. She’s black. You’re white.”
“So what! She is not supposed to be alive! My mom bought her to slaughter her so we could get some money at the market.” I swallowed. He was going to sell a baby’s meat at the market so he could get money? I was guessing he was poor, but that’s a bit over the top.