This is kind of really long...
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Chapter one - Ava
I sat on my bed and listened to the rain pound on the roof, my Spirit CD playing in the background. I had Ben and Jerry’s ‘cinnamon bun’ ice cream on the table next to me.
The sun was shinning right in my eyes. With a sigh I got up and pulled the blinds down. ‘You Can’t Take Me’ was playing. I sung the words in my head, careful not to sing them aloud for fear of somebody else hearing.
Don’t judge a thing until you know what’s inside it. Don’t push me – I’ll fight it
Never gonna give it up – never gonna give it up no
Hey, don’t judge me just because I like the movie and soundtrack Spirit (stallion of the Cimarron). I love that movie. There’s something about that horse that I just love – his courage, pride or that he fought for his dreams?
I also like Peter Pan (just a little, not much though), but then again it IS a really stupid movie. But that alligator always cracks me up. Okay, so I’m really not the most normal person in the world but hey!
“C’mon, Ava!” Mom called from downstairs. She was trying to get me to go to the Fair with her. I didn’t want to go at all; crowds were not at the top of my list. I say I’m claustrophobic, Mom says I’m not. Whatever.
“Only if Maddie can go!” I yelled back. Maddie is one of my many, many friends that I have. But out of fifth-teen friends, I have to say she definitely ranks number one. She’s been my best friend for ten years and I’m fourteen. So since we were four, babies!
“Okay, whatever.” She loved Maddie, too. I picked out tan pants and a blue t-shirt with white flip flops and headed downstairs. Mom was just picking up her purse. I followed her out to the car.
We finally pulled into an empty parking space. It felt like we had been in that traffic for years. I was glad that we had finally gotten a parking space. I wasn’t glad that we were two hundred miles away from the actual Fair. Okay, I’m being sarcastic with two hundred miles but that’s what it felt like when we walked it.
We went to the rabbit barn first. I followed Mom down the isles that were lined with metal cages. She pointed at the rabbits she like the most. I spoke when I was spoken to or just made some remark for her to know I was still alive. Okay, I was plainly bored.
Halfway through the middle isle, a lady stopped us and told us we had to leave because they were getting ready to show them. Mom was thrilled by the idea of that so we had to watch kids bring their rabbits out to a table and the judge pick them up and do whatever.
It looked a little cruel, what they were doing to the poor rabbits. They were being touched in…places I wouldn’t want to be touched and I wouldn’t want my mouth pried open or be held by the ears.
We sat on the bleachers, which were very uncomfortable. They were twenty-five minutes into the show when a girl came out, her rabbit in her hands. My eyes soaked in the features of her. Green eyes, brown hair, tall, skinny, just like my five foot, 3 inch body. Exactly like me.
I watched her as the judge came over and did what he did with the other rabbits. I watched as she smiled at the judge and answered whatever question he asked her. Then she scooped the rabbit in her arms and walked back to the barn. And it was over.
“C’mon, let’s go,” Mom said. She was beginning to get bored with this. I don’t blame her, it was boring except couldn’t she have thought of that before she suggested watching it?
I followed behind her through all of the animal barns and even on a few rides. We got some Fair food; funnel cakes, lemonade, the usual. It was about two thirty the time we were heading back towards the parking lot, where the rabbit barn was. I hoped to get a glimpse of that girl again.
“Mom, let’s see the rabbits one more time, ‘kay?” I asked. She didn’t argue or agree, just followed be like I had been doing to her for the whole day. I could tell she didn’t really want to go because her pace slowed. Seeing rabbits once today was enough for her.
Right when I walked in the rabbit barn I saw her. She was holding a trophy. She looked up and our eyes met. She smiled at me, and I smiled back.
“Can I see that?” I pointed towards her trophy.
“Sure.” She handed it over to me, not even hesitating once.
There was a little gold rabbit at the top. At the bottom it said ‘Grand champion, Eva!’ Or something along those lines. My eyes stopped on her name, Eva. Ava (me!) and Eva. Wow, we had a lot in common.
I handed the trophy back. “Congratulations!”
“Thanks! What’s your name?” She asked me.
“I’m Ava. You?” I wanted to be polite and ask even though I already knew that.
“Eva,” she said, smiling. “I bet you figured that out from the trophy. Dad had to tell them that they had to put my name on it or else he was going to burn it and then throw what’s left of it in the trash. I don't know why they cared.”
I laughed. Mom cleared her throat, telling me to hurry. I rolled my eyes. “I have to go. Nice talking to you, Eva! Hope to see you again!”
We walked away, then. Something seemed to bug Mom as we walked away from Ava. The air around her seemed calm and reassured when we finally reached the car. I was confused but didn’t care too much. She was Mom, she worried. Worried about what this time, though?
It took longer getting out than in. There were cars still parked in their spaces, trying to get out. They probably were in there for an hour or so. We got lucky; there was someone so nice to let us go in front of them. That was a total of forty-five minutes in the parking lot, an hour and a half in line to get out, and the traffic on the street took another forty-five minutes to get through. So in all we were in traffic for about three hours. Three very long hours.
God, they really need to organize those things. There were so many impatient people there, just honking away. Mom gave some of the really rude people the middle finger. When she wasn’t looking the other person would give her the finger back or a really dirty look and I’d secretly return it right back at ‘em.
I know, not very polite to do, especially for a four-teen year-old. If I got caught I’m not sure how Mom would have acted. She’s very unpredictable. Some days you can do something she would really hate like make your room messy and then if you do it another day she’d get all P.O.
It was ten o’ clock when we got home and it was beginning to sprinkle. We were supposed to get a few heavy rains; no storms, though. Thank God or Marrie, our dog, would be sleeping with me. And let me tell you, you do not want to do that; you’ll wake up with a mouthful of hair.
Dad wasn’t home from his two week business trip yet so we could do whatever we wanted without getting yelled at. Mom went straight to bed. I stayed up and watched Spirit. (Hey, I’m addicted.)
I sung all of the songs. Right in the middle of the scene where Spirit is letting everybody from the Fort ride him but kicks them off I was interrupted. I heard somebody gasp. I turned around, mortified that somebody had probably heard me singing.
Mom was standing there, eyes wide. I stared at her, not sure what to do. Our mouths were opening and closing (like they didn’t know if they should be open in shock or closed in fear) like goldfish. It’s a pretty stupid thing to do, opening and closing your mouth like a goldfish. Now I feel like a retard.
She finally got over her semi-shock and said, “Honey, you’re singing! Why don’t you do choir?”
Uh, because I hate singing in front of people, especially groups of people. I’m so self-conscious (sometimes), so my friends say. Of course they’ve never heard me sing. Okay, only Maddie has heard me sing but still the idea of my mom knowing I can sing so good is just so…so…Oh, I don’t know.
“I don’t like singing in front of people,” I said, trying to get over my own shock still. She wasn’t staring at me, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish anymore. Now she was staring at me with awe, which is worse than staring at me with shock, a million times worse. Why is it worse, you ask. Think about it.
“Nobody would make fun of you with that – your voice. Wow, Ava.”
“Mom,” I groaned. Why did I have to sing? Why? “What are you doing anyways?” I asked, trying to change the subject, which worked, thank God.
“Oh, I had to go to the bathroom and then I was hungry.” I’m guessing that she heard me when she was getting something to eat. Who gets up from a deep sleep just to eat? Seriously, I wouldn’t. Well, I guess it would depend upon the situation; like if I hadn’t eaten in a week, then I definitely would eat in middle of the night.
“Oh, okay. I’m going to bed.” I got up before she could answer and-slash-or react and went to my room. I kind of went running, and not walking calmly. Okay, so this all is really embarrassing. I looked at my newly bought clock, which was faded for an old look. It was five minutes ‘till eleven. Wow, only forty-five minutes since I’d been home. Time went by fast.
I picked up my cell and surfed through my contacts. I came up with Duckie, Maddie’s nickname. Pressing send I lay back in my bed and closed my eyes.
“Hello?” she mumbled into the phone.
“Hey, Duck. Can I come over?” Hey, it would be easier in person at this point. Plus I had this weird, embarrassing feeling that I needed to get away from my mom. Good thing Maddie lived next door.
“Yeah, sure, can you come over in twenty minutes? Tap on my window.” She hung up. Okay, so she was half asleep during that phone call and she’d forget that I’d be coming over but whatever. It’s Maddie, she won’t get mad.
I packed my stuff and headed out. “I’m going to Maddie’s for the night!” I yelled, hoping Mom would hear.
I heard a faint ‘kay that sounded like it came from her room. I flipped the porch light and ran around the house to Maddie’s and around her house to her backyard. I climbed up the ladder and tapped on her window. No answer. She was asleep, I guessed, so she wouldn’t be answering.
She always left her window unlocked. Okay, so she didn’t really. I just knew how to unlock it from the outside and you shall never know for fear of my friend’s safety. Of course, I’m sure you wouldn’t harm her because you don’t know where she lives! Ha!
Okay, I need to stop talking – writing. I’m seriously making myself sound really dumb. Please, don’t think I’m dumb, I’m not. Even though I say it sometimes (as a joke with my friends) I don’t mean it. You know how people say things and then don’t mean it (like joke wise…) well I do that a lot.
I climbed into Maddie’s room and walked over to her door (which, by the way, had a light coming from underneath it. I figured the rest of her family was getting to sleep). I hoped her parents wouldn’t be too mad at me. They love me, too so probably not.
“Maddie,” I whispered and shook her softly. She wasn’t going to wake by a soft shake and a whisper; she was a very heavy sleeper. I knew what would get her up. I dug in my bag and pulled out a can.
I pressed the button at the top and the really loud noise came out that would scare the crap out of her. I’m not sure what they’re called; I completely forgot the name. Oh, well, who cares?
She shot up in bed, eyes wide, screaming. I didn’t have the lights one so I looked like a black figure to her, like she looked to me. I turned on my flashlight and pointed it at me. “Shhhh,” I hissed.
“Oh, it’s you,” she sighed – more like taking a breath of relief or something. “If you ever do that again you are total cereal. If my parents were here you would be in trouble.” Sometimes, I just didn’t get Maddie. Who does? If you met her, I know you wouldn’t. Well, you’d have to get to know her at first (when you first meet her she’d probably be a little shy) but once you were great friends you would see the true Maddie.
"Were are your parents?" I asked.
"Out of town. It's just me and my brother."
I didn’t say anything as she flipped the light on. “Okay, I have something important to tell you,” I said and started telling her.
When I finished telling her about Mom catching me singing she asked me to sing for her.
“Sing what?” I asked. “You need to tell me something to sing.”
“Sing…uh…sing the birthday song.” I rolled my eyes but sung it.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear…Maddie. Happy birthday to you.
I looked away as I sung it in my best voice which was totally weird because I’m not used to singing that song like that. Usually you only sung it casually, not with your best voice. Yeah, I felt really stupid.
As soon as I looked up I froze. Maddie was looking at me with complete shock.
