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Chapter 1
“Today class, I am assigning you a reading assignment.” A preppy looking teacher told her class of freshman. “I know that it is only the second week of the school year, but as your teacher, I believe you guys should read this book.”
Near the back of the classroom, someone raised a lazy hand.
“Yes, Amani?” The teacher asked.
“What book are we reading?” Amani asked.
“One of my favorite books! The Wizard of Oz.” The teacher bounced happily.
Amani raised her hot pink eyes towards the ceiling. She had seen the movie but she had not read the book. She didn’t like fantasy books or movies. They were too unrealistic. Amani always thought the book should be realistic; else people would start doubting the adventure they had in their lives.
“I would like you to go to the bookstore and look for this book.” Her teacher, Mrs. Fern, dragged her out of her thoughts. Mrs. Fern was a short woman with short brown hair that had a green tips at the end. She also brought life into the school.
Amani was dragged out of her thoughts when she heard the dismissal bell ring. She pulled her bag over her shoulder and maneuvered her way around her classmates. Weatherly High School was a big place. Three floors, five buildings, and a whole bunch of people. Amani wasn’t a fan of crowds. Thankfully she had never been to a concert, unlike her best friend. Phoebe Dering. AKA, the future Mrs. X. X, rock star extraordinaire, had already made nine albums. “Richest star in the country”, some people say. More like richest cake that everyone gets sick on after one bite in the country. Amani didn’t think that his music was bad. It’s just that he seemed like a conceited jerk all the time. Always bossing people around, demanding to have to best seat in the house, things like that. But that’s just how some stars are. Self-centered. Not that Amani could blame them. She would be like that too if she had that much money. But with her parents owning a gift shop, she didn’t have much money. She would be lucky if she got an allowance. The shop wasn’t doing so well at the moment.
Amani closed her locker to find herself being face-to-face with the #1 X fan herself, Phoebe.
“Phoebe, could you please give me my personal space?” Amani asked rudely yet politely. If that was even possible. Somehow, Amani made it possible.
“Ummm…I need a favor of you Ama-chan.” Phoebe said, nervously staring at the ground. Her silver hair and lavender eyes matched perfectly with the outfit she was wearing. Amani rolled her eyes at that. She was such a fashion queen.
“Don’t call me that!” Amani regained her composure. “And what would the favor be?” She forced a smile.
“Well…you see…” She started nervously.
Amani took a wild guess. “You want me to go cut class with you tomorrow so we can go to The Music Shop and have X give us his autographs?”
She gasped. “Are you psychic?” She whispered.
“More like psycho.” Amani muttered.
“Don’t say that!” Phoebe’s screech was so loud that the whole school could probably hear her. “You shouldn’t degrade yourself!”
“I was just kidding.” Amani shrugged her bag back over her shoulder again. She looked at Phoebe’s blue and yellow backpack. “Aren’t you going to do some studying for the Spanish test tomorrow?” She asked.
“I don’t see your bag stuffed!” Phoebe huffed. “And besides, we are skipping class anyway.”
“I’m not skipping my test for some stupid autograph signings.” Clearly, grades were more important than autographs.
Phoebe gasped. “How could you say that!?” She screamed into her ear.
“If you’re going to scream, do it somewhere else!” She dashed down the hallway, ignoring all the curious looks. How could she care more about some stupid guy more than her own best friend!? What kind of friend is she!? Amani turned down into another hallway, and found it luckily empty. Didn’t she ever stop for a minute and think about someone around her!? Amani continued her silent tantrum. If only Phoebe knew what was happening to Amani’s family right now. Her parents were currently in dept and the only option is to sell the shop they had worked so hard to get. Their gift shop held so many wonderful memories. Like when they had gotten Spots, the family dog. Her father had told everyone to come down to the shop saying that he had a surprise for the whole family. They all jumped into the car and zoomed over the shop, nearly knocking each other down along the way. He was dressed up in a dog costume and a gift box was in his hands. Turns out, inside the gift was a puppy! Amani chuckled at the memory.
“What’s so funny?” A cold voice came out of the blue. Amani could feel a vein explode. Could this day be any worse?
“None of your business, Zale.” She spat out his name. Zale Worth. Though he wasn’t worth a penny. He had silvery white hair and auburn eyes. He was holding a cigarette like he usually did and he was eyeing her…like he usually did. If there was one guy in the world that she hated, it was him. Always with a girl, always late to class, always caught bullying some freshman. He was the worst type.
“Don’t be like that Ama-chan.” He said, emphasizing on the chan.
“Don’t call me that!” She felt her face getting hot from anger. No one is supposed to call her that!
He chuckled. “Are you blushing?”
“Yes, I’m embarrassed by your stupidity.” She snarled.
“You believe that I’m stupid?” He asked with a small pout.
“I don’t believe. I know.” She was very close to punching him now. She needed to get home. Her family would worry if she didn’t. Then they would send her older brother, Justis, to see if she was still at school. And she didn’t want that. She wasn’t in the mood to be embarrassed in front of the school at the moment. “Go away!” She snapped.
“But Amani,” He whined her name. “I want to talk to you.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Suspicion was dripping off her words. He was eyeing her neck again. The tattoo-like birthmark that had the appearance of a perfect yellow star. She raised her frail hand to cover it.
He raised his eyes up to her face. “That birthmark you have. You know that I have one very similar to it, right?”
“The blue crescent along your face.” She stated simply.
“Yes. They are very strange birthmarks aren’t they?” He took a step closer to her. She wasn’t fazed by his movement and stood her ground. “Maybe we’re made for each other.” He wrapped his arms around her small frame.
“Back off, Zale!” She shoved him away from her. “You should learn about personal space!” She yelled and darted down the hallway.
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