• Hi! My name is Jenny. Well, Jenny Rose Parker, to be specific. I will be a junior at GAMI College next year. You might have guessed I am 19, and you’re right, but I am turning 20 on September 14th. My best friend, Samantha, thinks that I am outgoing and a chatterbox, which she says makes me perfect material for a best friend. She also calls me “Preppy” because of the clothes I wear. I would definitely say that the two things I love the most are the sun (that’s why I am so tan) and chocolate (especially Godiva chocolate). I never leave the house without Chap Stick and I always wear a touch of blush, eye shadow, and lip gloss. Obviously, you can’t see me, so I should probably tell you what I look like. I am 5ft. 5 in- don’t forget the ¾- and I have very long legs. My hazel eyes go great with my long, dark brown hair. I have a few red highlights- they aren’t natural, but who cares? I want to be a writer, so I decided to make my first book about my own personal experience. It’s easier for a newbie. (I’m not afraid to admit that I’m no pro) This story could easily find its way into “Chicken Soup for the Girls Soul.” I think it is an important lesson for those girls who are considering doing what I did, which was a HUGE mistake. You’ll see what I mean. In a sentence, this is my story.
    By the way, Sixth grade is about to start. Well technically, It’s about to start in the book. You know the one you’re reading. Here we go.
    “Jenny! Wake up. It’s the first day of school.” my mom said. “It’s the first day of school already? Wow summer flew by. I’ll be down in a minute!” I loved waking up in the morning to my pretty, pink room. Now don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not a girly girl. I try to avoid that in life. I don’t seem to get treated equally that way. But I don’t want to get dirty or act dumb either. That’s going way too far. I just want to be an individual. I slipped out of my bed, not bothering to make it, and got dressed. Thankfully, I don’t have to wear uniforms to go to school. I went downstairs to make myself cereal, and I found my three-year-old sister, Leah, eagerly waiting for me in the kitchen. “Hi Jenny, guess what?” said Leah excitedly. “You’re going to pre-school today?” I said sarcastically. “How did you know sister? Are you MAGIC?” Leah thought out loud. “No I am not. You have been saying the same thing every morning, Leah. I think I would know by now.” I said a bit annoyed. “And you know what’s better?” Leah continued. (Clearly, my sister didn’t realize I wasn’t in the mood for this conversation.) “You get to walk me there!” she said beaming. I could see in her small eyes that she meant “Do it or I’ll scream." I had no choice. She beat me to it. At least I didn’t have to walk too far since her school was right next to mine. I had to look at the bright side anyway. Falling apart on the first day of school wouldn’t help me get through the year. You see, Leah has been saying the same thing every singe day, counting down for the first day of school. I thought what Leah was doing was cute, at first. She was so excited she did the craziest things. One morning, she sat on the end of my bed waiting for me to wake up. Apparently she got a bit too impatient, because she started jumping and screaming on my bed. Thankfully, the count down had come to an end. I guess I thought wrong. Leah is small. Her mouth IS NOT. Leah was talking the whole time we were walking to school. She talked about how school buses are yellow, how grass is green, how the sky is blue, and so on. Maybe she wants to become an artist. She already knows her colors. After I dropped her off at pre-school (I was so glad that was over) I met up with my best friend Samantha. Then, we walked together to the auditorium, where our principal was going to make an announcement. “Welcome, new students. Welcome back, old students. Welcome all to Willow Heights Middle School” said our principal. “Our principal says ‘welcome’ a lot.” I said “Yeah I know. He’s probably reading off cards that the vice principal wrote for him,” Samantha whispered back. “You two are so right,” said a voice. Wait a second? That wasn’t Samantha… I said worriedly. I looked behind me and almost had a heart attack! It was the guy I had liked since third grade. I didn’t even know he still recognized me. “Hi. I didn’t know you still remember me from third grade. I also didn’t know you were going to this school,” I was actually very nervous when I was talking to him, but thankfully, he didn’t notice. “I have a few announcements to make.” The principal continued.
    “Actually this is the first time I’ve seen you… I just wanted to know, well, are you doing anything on Friday?” He actually wanted to go out with me! I was so excited. “First of all, your class sheet will be handed out at the table in front of the bill board.” I had to get the principal out of my mind. It was very easy, too. All I could think about was Josh… And that was the reason that I didn’t see Jennifer walking straight in our direction. “So what’s your name?” he asked me. “My name is Jenny. What’s yours?” I asked. I didn’t want to freak him out by knowing everything about him already. (I had taken notes on everything he did and said ever since I got a crush on him. I was obsessed with Josh and I think that would freak anyone out if they knew that someone was taking notes on them every waking hour.) “My name is Josh. Anyways, are you doing anything on Friday? You never answered me...” He asked. “Oh yeah,” I said, trying to be cool (Even though on the inside I felt completely stupid. At least I could tell that he was also incredibly nervous.) “No I don’t-“I was about to finish when Jennifer cut me off. “I am completely sure Jennifer doesn’t have a life, and she definitely doesn’t know how to dress either!” And, as usual, Jennifer comes and ruins my ONE MOMENT. “I still think Jenny is wonderful, and just because she doesn’t dress like you, doesn’t mean she dresses horrible.” Josh said to Jennifer. I was incredibly happy inside. Josh actually stood up for me! And I have a date with him on Friday! I guess I spoke too soon about Jenny. “So, how about I pick you up at 6:00, Jenny?” He said. I was so excited, I couldn’t speak. Thankfully, once Samantha noticed, she said I’ll be there. “I think that will be all, dismissed!” The Principal said. I was completely dazed. Samantha was the one that steered me to the bill board to see our classes. Once we got there my daze went away. I was actually very disappointed. I didn’t have any classes with Samantha but Science. To make matters worse, I was in every class with Jennifer including Science, meaning that the one hour I got with Samantha was going to be ruined by Jennifer. I got a little better when I saw I was in a few classes with Josh. I was on my way to my locker, when Jennifer came by. I knew that this was not going to be good. “Hi Jenny,” Jennifer was talking like nothing went wrong. She really bothers me. “Hi Jennifer,” I murmured, not bothering to look back. “That’s not a very nice way to treat your future class mate. I just came to pass out assigned seating for each class. Here is yours.” Jennifer kept talking like she actually LIKED me. “Well, I have to go to class. See you later.” Jennifer said then walked away. I stared in awe after she walked away, after I actually WON one of HER attempts to ruin my life.
    After class, Jennifer came back, and this time she was ready to make fun of me. “Jennifer, what do you want with me?” I asked, “I really don’t want to talk with you. I know this probably sounds really stupid, but I’m scared of you. You’re really strange. One minute you act like you didn’t do anything wrong, the other minute you want to ruin someone.” Before Jennifer could even answer, Josh came to the rescue. “Jenny, don’t forget she is rude.” I was speechless, like usual, that Josh seemed to come to the rescue exactly when I needed him. On Friday I was getting ready for the date when Josh called. I was starting to get a little nervous, but then I thought that maybe he just wanted to tell me that he was going to pick me up a little later then we had planned. I decided it would be OK, and I answered the telephone. "Hi. Is it Jenny of the phone?" He asked. "Yes it's me. Why are you calling?" I asked. "Um, I'm going to be a little late. But don't worry, I'll come..." He sounded like he was being forced to tell me this. But I had realized that after the incident. I waited all night for him and he never came. I was extremely angry with him and I promised myself that I WAS going to find out what was going on... On Monday, I was looking for him all over the halls. Then I found him talking with Jennifer. "Hi Josh. I have two questions for you. First, why didn't you come yesterday? And second WHY are you talking to Jennifer?" I asked. "Jenny, I can explain." he begged. I still kind of like him so I let him explain. "I was telling Jennifer to leave you alone. And yesterday I couldn't come because I got stuck in school finishing some homework. I thought I would finish in time to pick you up, but by the time I finished, my mom called and told me to go home. She grounded me for the weekend for not telling her where I was."
    Once he explained, I decided to forgive him because of a weird feeling inside me. I felt like I HAD to forgive him or something bad was going to happen. What I didn’t know was that it was the complete opposite.
    “Ok then, are you doing anything THIS Friday?” I asked. I wasn’t completely happy with him, but I was mesmerized by his good looks. “Now I am.” He smiled at me and it took me a while to realize that he was talking about going out with me.
    After saying goodbye to Josh, I went to my next class.
    I was leaving the school when Samantha caught me by the arm and dragged me to an empty hallway.
    “Ouch! Samantha, what are you doing?!” I was a bit angry and worried because my sister was waiting for me at her school.
    “I want an explanation.” Samantha sounded like I dumped her for something. Then I remembered, I had been forgetting to meet Samantha at her locker like I always do and she probably felt bad. “I’m so sorry I forgot Samantha, but I really have to go.” I started trying to leave, but my attempt failed.
    She grabbed me by the shirt this time and pulled me deeper into the dark hallway. By now I was getting frustrated and I wanted an explanation myself. “Samantha I’m sorry for forgetting to talk to you at the lockers! What do you want from me?! You are my best friend. I thought I told you that I have to go pick up Leah from school.” I was completely bewildered that Samantha was doing this to me. I couldn’t remember that I had forgotten anything.
    All of a sudden she let go and walked away. I was going to follow her, but it was already 3:30 and my sister was waiting for me. Samantha was basically my only friend and I felt the urge to tell someone while I was silently walking to Leah’s school. I wanted to tell someone so bad, I almost blurted out the issue to my sister. Then, I held my breath and decided not to. She would either get scared, or blurt it out to the whole world. I could notice Leah wasn’t in a very good mood either. And I wasn’t in the mood to ask her what was wrong. The reason I could tell was because she normally tugs on my legs until I finally gave in and then she would tell me how her day in preschool went. Today she was as silent as me and wouldn’t talk. I made a note in my mind to make sure she wasn’t sick.
    When I got home, I walked upstairs without even saying hi to my mom and I jumped on my bed. For a few minutes, I sat contemplating what I was going to do about my fight (which was certainly strange) and then I decided that I was just going to write about what happened since school started and then maybe I would have a solution. I grabbed my journal and my pen and sat at my desk. I also grabbed some Godiva chocolate. I was hoping to be able to write in peace for the next hour, but instead I was interrupted before fifteen minutes was even up. It was my mom.
    “Hello Jenny. I noticed that you didn’t say hi when you walked upstairs. Let me just say-“ I cut her off and said, “I know mom. I was being rude and I am not supposed to do that. I just have a lot on my mind.” I paused for a few seconds and then said softly, “I got in a fight with Samantha today. Well really, it was more like Samantha got in a fight with me.” I wasn’t exactly sure how to explain it so I was hoping my mom would get the picture, sort of. “Well, you can tell me. You can tell me anything.” I was a bit surprised that my mom wasn’t busy and she was actually able to sit down and talk to me.
    My mom worked from home and ran her own bakery called “Vicky’s Sweets”. When I was little, I used to help my mom bake cookies cakes for her customers. The reason she is able to work from home is because