bus that night, I barely noticed the usual tussling and messing around by the bus stop. That is until some boys stepped on my new shoes and placed a big muddy footprint square on my toes. “What are you doing, what is your problem?” I yelled. Josh and Matt, bus-stop regulars, looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Sorry Maggie, chill out,” said Josh. I know I overreacted, but I had been asking for these shoes for a long time until my mom had finally bought them for me. I don’t automatically get the things I ask for, so these shoes were a big deal. In dismay, I evaluated the damage. Big muddy footprint, check; saturated dirty canvas, check; one mad Maggie, check.
I just wanted to get home. I was tired and frustrated. I wanted to get home, go to my room, load some new apps on my phone, wrestle with Joker and get away from everyone for a while.
Chapter 6
Flash forward a few hours later, and I’m feeling much better. I had some time to relax and realize that sometimes I do need to just chill out. Mom and I are on the couch watching escapist TV. I know most would disapprove of our choices, but my mom and I like it. We usually watch popular sitcoms and some reality shows. Some of it is ridiculous; how much money do these people make with these far-fetched scenarios? And the women on the shows are just over the top, with their lifestyles and shopping and what not.
During this time, I also look at my magazines. I like to get ideas and make cutouts for new additions to my locker. Some of them are not my favorites, but I still like a few choice teenage idols as they are called. It’s so funny how every magazine cover looks the same.
The day was long. I’m yawning so I head up to bed. Another day ahead tomorrow and I mentally lay out my clothes for the day. Soft t-shirt with logo on the front, faded jeans, chunky necklace, headband and sneakers minus the footprint. I took a soapy sponge to the canvas and miraculously salvaged them.
I know I’m fortunate. Some of my friends and their parents have had a tough year. Many have moved away and many are hanging in there best they can. My mom and I rent a nice townhouse. It is not nearly as big as the place we used to live in, but it is cozy and nice and we enjoy it. My mom works hard, she is a smart lady and I hope I grow up to be like her. She is a kid at heart, and we laugh together all the time. However, when it comes to night time, she’s all business.
“Time to head upstairs,” she practically barked in my direction. Ok already, don’t have to tell me twice. When I hear that voice, I don’t mess around.
I hadn’t told my mom, but I still had a little bit of homework. I was supposed to be taking my shower, but was wrapping up my civics project instead. My assignment was to develop a political strategy for the upcoming elections. We could pick any election on the ballot and list the pros and cons of the candidate as well as how we could encourage people to elect this person. It was actually pretty interesting. Living near DC gives me a perspective on some of this stuff. Though the project was cool, I was sinking fast. I found myself daydreaming about other stuff. I wanted to switch around my desk, I wanted to get rid of all the stuffed animals that made my room look like a baby’s room and I wanted everything to be back to normal with some of my friends from last year.
I looked around my room and made a silent wish that my room would somehow magically clean itself. I must say, cleaning is not my thing. I don’t even know how this happens. There were clothes all over the floor and mismatched socks and things everywhere. I have a theory. When I dress for school in the morning, I often go through two or three outfits. Somehow the rejected pieces make it to the floor and here we are. I wrinkled my nose at the mess and headed toward the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.
I’m so beat, time to hit the pillows. Nice covers, warm and soft. I drift off to sleep and am so tired I don’t remember dreaming at all.
Chapter 7
The rest of the week passed with not too much drama. It was pretty good actually. We got new music in band, good stuff. I got an “A” on my social studies project and I got a “B” on the science test that I was halfway sweating. We are studying weather and learning about different clouds. It is interesting but sadly, maybe I wasn’t as prepared as I should be. Who could blame me? I was busy party planning and concentrating on many other things. Ok, I do spend time texting my friends, but if you ask me, this is an extremely important part of a young girl’s life.
As customary for Tasha, she invited a large number of girls to her party to make sure nobody felt left out. She’s a sweetheart and is working hard to make this a fabulous 14th birthday party. We all feel that the 14th birthday is an important milestone that needs to be celebrated. What teenage birthday isn’t?
The Friday before the party is here and I think we’re ready for it. Morgan stepped in to lend her hand at the planning and thank goodness, because we really needed her. She’s great at organizing and pulling together the pieces. She also analyzes everything like crazy and it’s no wonder that she wants to be a lawyer someday. She really knows how to be convincing.
The Friday lunch hour was a hectic one for us girls. We had a group of about 10 of us pulling it all together. I mean, the planning might be more fun than the party itself, but probably not. I looked around and realized this was a good bonding experience. We don’t get together and talk like we used to, but today we were laughing and talking like crazy. Jenna on the end was drawing makeup palette colors on her posterboard and not being very productive. She was easily distracted. I’m thinking she might have that attention disorder, but she was having fun.
She always seems a little stressed out. Her mom has always been one of those showbiz-tpe moms that insists on pushing Jenna to do every club and every activity out there. She’s been in pageants, she’s been in dance classes, German language classes, gymnastics, you name it. That seems like a difficult schedule, but Jenna is a good friend, frazzled maybe, but she seems to have her head on her shoulders.
Soon the lunch hour was over and after we had cleaned up the glitter and papers to the lunch teacher’s satisfaction, we were racing to science class. I didn’t know how I was going to grasp the mystery of the cumulous cloud today when my mind was on the party, but I would have to try.
*****
Friday nights are special in our house. The weekend is awesome. Mom and I watch movies and sometimes check her networking page. She doesn’t want me to have my own page, but we share and laugh at the crazy pictures and comments that her friends put up there. Some of the comments are funny, but most of them I don’t really understand and I don’t think most of them are that funny. They are certainly not worthy of the “LOLs” I see as comments. I think my friends and I will stick to texting. I’ve tried some of these things a little bit too, but honestly, I lost patience with it. Luckily my phone has unlimited texting.
I always get to stay up a little later on Fridays and watch the ghost hunting shows. I think the guys dress terrible but the shows themselves are pretty cool. I like how they always throw in the funny subtitles for every sound that can’t be explained. It’s pretty funny. Sometimes it gets scary and I have to turn it off, but most of the time, I’m glued.
It’s been getting colder outside and I know that winter is coming. This is hard to swallow for one who considers herself a warm-weather girl at heart. I have to admit that I like the snow a little bit after living in places where it didn’t snow. But looking ahead to college, I’m definitely looking into some more temperate climates
I look at Joker sprawled out on his dog bed and can’t help but think that this guy has got it made. He sleeps a good part of the day, eats whenever, goes for walks and is generally pretty spoiled. But then again, I’m thinking his life could get pretty boring sometimes.
I’m
