ONE: The girl who lived

THE GIRL WHO LIVED (yeah. Harry Potter much?)

 Being a kid in the 21st century America's not as snazzy as you think, 

believe me. Coupled with the fact that the pressure to succeed is KILLING,

you've got to pick a career that sounds professionally UN-fashionable just

to look good. You're either an engineer or something KA-bonkers, like a 

physiotherapist or a paleontologist without even the slightest fashy ring to 

it. But believe me, if my mom thinks I'm a total nerdy genius with the KAYRAY-ZEE ambition of becoming a lawyer or a doctor ( Eek!) then she's 

crazy. I've got to deal with the fact that my older brother Henry's a 

colossal idiot and Danny a 2 feet 10-inch size grenade waiting to explode 

to handle studying stuff that doesn't even sound REMOTELY sensible. 

 But then there's the worst of all American horrors.

HIGH SCHOOL( Gulp!)

I'm not ugly you see but for some reason, I've never really had a 

reasonable boyfriend. I'm tall, slender, and light-skinned with your nice cool

blonde hair which I believe is the trademark of every potential diva queen

and high school CCP which BTW means cute cool, and popular. That's what 

high school girls with money, beauty, popularity, cool hair, and most of all, a 

cute hunk BF call themselves. It's the clique of the blonde and beautiful. 

The cool and popular. The hot and rich. And that clique is chaired by Cathy

Walker, the school's meanest, nastiest witchiest CCP there is. Cathy's 

night in daylight, winter in summer. And God do I hate her! I mean, every 

dork and a social freak in school hates her, even her clique of friends that 

call themselves the B&B's, the blondes and beautiful. They're almost 

always gossiping about her behind her back. To everyone else, Cathy's a 

queen, the A student, the nice cheery cheerleader. But to we dorks, she's 

Halloween at Christmas. Cathy doesn't make lemonades out of lemons. She 

just squeezes the juice into other people's eyes. And she's my every 

a nightmare come true. 

 I'm sure you're wondering where Summer Scotts (obviously me) fits in. 

Well, let's be explicit, shall we?

 I'm your typical high school cutie, jeans and shoes and all but I'm 

majorly a dork. A fashion-obsessed dork. Yeah I know you can't find that 

anywhere but it's true. And that's why Cathy Walker HATES MY GUTS. I

don't get laughed at, or bullied, or ruined online. Up until now, the worst 

thing that could have possibly happened to me was having a bad hair day or

a gigantic pimple on homecoming night. But all that changed as soon as I 

met Cathy Walker. 

 On any normal day, I'm either in class or out hanging out in the loos with

my besties, Shayna, Carlizza, June, and Dawn. We've been friends for like, 

FOREVER and together, we make up the EPC, short for the event planning 

committee. We plan and organize small events in town. Birthday 

parties, discos, grad school parties, and any event we can make 

money from. and that's exactly what I was doing on that cold chilly 

September morning of my freshman year, hunting desperately for events 

and parties to organize before Christmas. The EPC has a really 

long history, starting with the fact that Shayna, June, Carlizza and I have 

been friends since seventh grade while Dawn and I since like forever. The 

EPC was finally born in tenth grade ( cheesy story hunh? NOT!)

 So there I was, hunting people down and begging for party offers from 

jock to nerd with a cup of hot swirling coffee in one hand and a small sign 

up clipboard. Yeah, no one said success comes easy. Cathy was giving a little 

vote-me-for-prom-queen speech on a raised platform held by Jenny and 

Jess, her two gum-addicted minions. And I didn't mean it though. It was a 

complete accident but then I slipped shamelessly over my own feet, 

tripped over Cathy's platform and my hot sizzling coffee came spilling 

through her champagne Zac Posen party dress and her smooth obviously 

FAKE tan skin. In one hilarious minute, Cathy'd migrated from cool, hot, and

popular to REAL hot and dress-all-soiled. She jumped and squealed, yelling 

for help and going hysterical over her 'poor delicate skin', her 

'expensive dress that could easily be replaced but still' and her ' poor 

brain choking in the epic embarrassment'. Yeah, I felt terrible about it. I 

hadn't meant to embarrass her, not that I haven't fantasized about it, 

course I have. The thing with Cathy's that she a little psycho... 

understatement... very psycho. And when she hates you, your life's a living 

hell. Literally.

 Long story cut short, I grabbed a tissue from my emergency supply of stuff I 

keep this in case the world gets colonized by aliens and tries to wipe the mild coffee 

stain that looked too much like bluey ( don't ask. I beg you). I've had this 

terrible paranoia of aliens taking over the world ever since I'd watched 

terminator as a kid. Now, I carry an emergency bag everywhere, not wanting to 

be taken unawares in case it finally happens. The bag had been four feet long 

ten years ago so a normal bag pack size IS a welcome change and a reason why 

I'm not called dorka the bag pack like Mary Parker in tenth grade. However, no 

amount of preparation had me prepared for the humiliation I suffered after 

that day. Or the embarrassment afterward. That guys was the beginning of my misery. Cathy never forgot that day and till today she claims that I'd ruined 

her dress and her self-image. She put beetles in my locker, stained my seat at 

every class we had with mud that made me look like a kindergartener with 

diarrhea. She got me into detention over and over again. Name it, Cathy's done 

it. The only thing that's got me going is my very best friends, Dawn, Shayna, 

Carlizza and June. Apart from the EPC, we call ourselves the we-biz-girls and 

we're the dorkiest dorks in Heather-Ville's world of dorks. And we're pretty no 

doubt about that and pretty normal, without the freckles or food problems and 

weird sense of fashion. Well excluding June. She's as nerdy as Cathy's mean 

with freckles and yes, a very weird sense of fashion. Never seen someone wear 

plaid skirt and a chequered shirt to a school disco party? Well, June can and 

WILL wear that donned up in a leather jacket and pantyhose even when the 

skirt's knee-length. If that's not your definition of weird then I don't know 

what is? Nonetheless, she's pretty, with shoulder-length brown hair and a 

straight model-like figure.

 After school, we like to have our meetings in the loos. We don't do much.

Just check up on our progress events but Dawn takes it VERY seriously. She's 

always there 10 minutes early with a punctuality book and with, like now, a tight 

crossed frown that makes her look like a weasel... no offense there. She wants 

to be some business CEO or something and is always looking for who to practice 

her boosy skills on. Just wait till she speaks...

" You're two minutes five seconds late Summer" Uh-oh

" It's actually two minutes two point three seconds considering the fact that 

she's been in here for two point three seconds already" June piped dawn glared 

at her. 

" Yeah, June we all have math notes and watches. The point here is that she's 

late, not two point three seconds" Yeah that's Dawn alright, power lady, and your

A-type control freak. She's tall and willowy with long waist waist-length blonde hair 

and dark blue eyes that she got from eye-color-changing classes. Dawn's a 

survival mode expert, an amateur engineer, and knows a thousand other things 

she learns just in case (I still don't know what 'just in case' means) Dawn's 

weakness; Give her something she can't handle and she freaks out. Believe me 

you DON'T wanna see her freak out. The last time that happened, she pushed 

me of a tree house and I wore crutches for two weeks. Ask me why. Cause I 

told her she couldn't have a party, homecoming, and homework in one day. Then she 

put me to a bet and lost! And she's still pissed off about it, believe me. 

" Wanna have some choco chunkies?" Shayna said, beaming at me with chocolate-stained teeth and holding out a hand filled to the brim and overflowing with 

every chocolate flavour in the world and believe it or not, she's got a hundred 

more in her bag. Yeah, that's Shayna alright, a living breathing junk and stuff. 

Shayna could totally gobble an entire sack of dirty skeezties and a box of 

chocolate in ten minutes and be still fit enough to shove down a triple fudge 

ice cream cone topped with something as gross as hot dog or something even 

worse. Shayna's sunshine in winter, an unstoppable force of energy just waiting 

to be free. I have to tie Shayna to my bag to keep her from 

cartwheeling her way to every class. Plus, she's addicted to junk, a 

terrible stress eater and the joker of the crew. Shayna's stress eating is a bag 

of toffees, ten buckets of popcorn, and a sack of sweets. and believe me, when 

she's heartbroken she eats two times that size in one sitting. Wonder how she's

still willowy from it all, don't know. And like I said, she's pretty, very pretty in 

fact with long brown hair and shiny blue eyes that lighten up whenever she 

smiles. I sat down beside her and took a toffee with a smile.

" Thanks" Carlizza glared at my hand and the toffee.

" That is so unhygienic Summer. Do you what a chocolate toffee contains?"

" Chill out Carliz," Shayna said with a mouthful of chocolate " It's just one"

" You're a hopeless junk addict and it's contagious. Don't corrupt her"

" Too late," I said, grabbing another " Come on Carlizza. It's just chocolate. 

Can't you see how cute it is? See." I held it up and did a perfect impersonation 

of the gingerbread man. " Look at me. I'm so teeny weeny and cute and I'm 

going down Summer's cute little belly. Weeeee!" Everyone laughed and Carlizza 

shuddered when I held one out to her. 

"You should try one. It's tasty"

" Or not. I'm a vegetarian remember?"

" Oh. Your self-imposed curse" Shayna muttered. " Got it"

" It's not self-imposed. It's a healthy living lifestyle"

" Yeah I'm so not doing that till I'm old and gray," I said.

" I agree though the vegetarian lifestyle is becoming a trend now. just last year 

over 30% of the Asian population's vegetarian and that's like 30..."

" June!" We shrieked. Trust June to turn a harmless conversation into a uni-lecture. 

" Yeah, that's enough chatting for today," Dawn said, whipping out her clipboard 

which is like so out of place in ANY high school. " we've got work to do. it's so 

UNFASHIONABLE, it's gotta be banned in some schools"

" You're late Summer by the way so that's one more dot in the punctuality list" 

She muttered, murmuring to herself as she wrote " Two minutes five seconds..."

" Three" June corrected.

" Three is not late so chill Dawn. What's up? You look tense"

" Why wouldn't I be? We just got chosen to organize homecoming howl!!!!"

" What?!!!" I shrieked " Really? That's great news" Carlizza squealed, June 

yipped and Shayna did a cartwheel. 

" Yeah, it is," Dawn said " That's why we have to put in our very best". Yeah 

Dawn's the vice president of the EPC and though she was all in support of me 

becoming president, I know she still wishes she was president and that is 

something I don't want to see happen. 

"So, are there any events or shows for the week?" Dawn ran her eyes through 

her clipboard, ticking stuff off. 

"Well, there's not much to do. We've just got to do a few decorations at the 

Miller's, cater at the Horseman's party and perform at the grand gala opening 

down the street."

"Then that's no problem. Dawn and I will do the decorations, and Carlissa will cater 

at the Horseman's and Shayna will perform at the gala. Can I have the days and 

time Dawn?" She checked.

"The Miller's on Friday by 4, the Horseman's Saturday by 8, and the grand gala's 

next week."

"Then that's a lot of free time. I guess we should start planning"

"It's going to be the grandest!" Carlizza cried.

"It'll be the most AMAY-ZING day in the history of Heather-Ville High!" Shayna

shrieked, flailing her arms out wide. Dawn shot up to her feet and did a little 

twirl.

"We'll paint, decorate, and put everything together splendidly. It'll be the best"

There and then, June decided to speak.

"But what if we don't get the gig?"

"Aw!" We cried " Come on June! You're better than this!! Why spoil the mood?"

We all said all at once, crumbling down to the floor. June's analytical no doubt 

and smart and brainy and all but she's the most negative person ever. She always

manages to see the bad side of everything. 

"Come on guys! I'm just being realistic. What if it proves too much to handle? 

We've got to be sure first"

"You don't have to be so pessimistic all the same June. Who else could handle 

Is homecoming better than us? That's enough to keep us positive" I said. June only 

grunted something that obviously didn't mean 'Ok-I-got-you-now'.

" I've learned to expect disappointment and never get disappointed. You should 

learn that too" She muttered. 

"No thanks," Dawn said, hissing quietly and rolling her eyes at her. We're best 

friends and all but for some reason, June and Dawn don't click. 

"Ok girls," Shayna said, brightening up the room with her cheekiest smile. " So 

how was your Summer everyone?"

" Aaaaah!" Everyone but me cooed. Mine had certainly been bizarre.

"My summer was the best!" Shayna said with a twinkle in her eyes. "My mom and 

I went shopping and now, I've got a whole year's storage of junk. We went to the

beach, the movies, and even attended a short concert in Paris"

" Paris!!!!" We screeched, wide-eyed in shock. She was definitely telling the truth

because she'd left on a short trip last week. I envy Shayna sometimes. She's got 

the perfect parents. Her mom's rock star pretty, hot, chic and so new school. 

The last time we went for a sleepover at her place, she'd taken us shopping twice

the next day and then to the cinema the next. She knows practically every dress

in vogue and has an entire room full of designer bags, clothes, and shoes. Boy! 

Shayna's so lucky to have such a pretty fashionable mom. Some of us just don't 

get all the good things in life you know.

" Come on!" Carlizza said wide-eyed. " Tell us all about Paris"

" Oh Paris is such a lovely place," Shayna said dreamily. "We got to see the 

restaurants, bays, the Eiffel Tower, it was just beautiful"

" Oooooh…" We cooed

" We went to the cinemas and ocean sides"

"Aaaaah…"

"And…I fell in love!"

" You fell in love?!!!!" We screamed.

" Yes, dearies. He's tall, cute, blonde, and super hot!"

" Oh tell me more!" Carlizza said excitedly, snuggling closer. Give any random boy

an accent and cool hair and he's Carlizza's soulmate. " Tell me, what's his accent

like?"

" Up and right down French"

" How'd you meet?"

" Oh well, it's kinda funny. You know how crazy I am about chocolate bars?"

" Wait let me guess you stole his?" I tried.

" Exactly! It was at a hors d'oeuvres restaurant. He wasn't really interested in 

the bars so I stole them when he wasn't looking"

" And he caught you red-handed?" Dawn asked.

" yeah. We bumped into each other on a train the next day and we got talking"

"Did you get his phone number?"

"Yeah. We've been madly in touch ever since"

"Oooooh!" Carlizza shivered, looking up dizzily. "What a blast! Imagine how fun 

it'd be to have a foreign boyfriend"

"But you're not going to see him again are you?" June asked in her usual sullen 

manner. Trust June to always spoil the fun. Shayna looked at her quizzically.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you can only call him up and probably chat but that's as close as you can 

probably get"

"Don't be silly June" Dawn said.

"But I'm being realistic. What's the use of having a boyfriend you can't see or 

touch?"

"That's why it's called a pen pal June" Dawn scowled. "And that's why you have 

WhatsApp and Facebook" June glared hotly at her. 

"Of course, I know what Facebook is. My question is, how can you call him your 

boyfriend when you don't even know who he truly is. For all we know he could be 

smooching off with a girl right now…"

"June!" I shrieked, placing my hand on her shoulder. Was there no limit to her 

negativity? "Please, for once could you keep your 'realistic' thoughts to 

yourself?" She looked away and didn't say a word. 

"Good! Thank you!!" I sighed and turned to Shayna " Tell us more about Mr. Cute. 

What's his biceps like"

" EXTREMELY fit!" She shrieked wide-eyed and we laughed. Dawn had spent 

most of her holidays at the beach and cinemas, Shayna had gone on several 

shopping sprees, Carlizza had taken a vacation to Florida to see her aunt and 

looked better than she'd ever been with a nice little tan that suited 

her just fine. Sincerely, I'd wished that someone had had a terrible vacation like

me but no one had; Not even June whose life has barely a tint of fun. She'd had 

a swell time staying in a small holiday inn beside the sea. She told us all about 

the roller coaster rides, Ferris wheels, the cranium shakers, and things that were

a lot more fun than camping out with a bunch of dumb kids. When it came to me, 

I was lost and high dry.

"Well it was fun," I said simply.

"We know it'd be fun. Just how fun. Tell us everything."

"Just fun. Quirky and fun"

"Come on Summer!" Dawn said. "Tell us" I sighed.

"There's nothing to tell 'cause there was no Summer. I spent every day at home. 

Though there was a lot of food and peace and a few picnics " The girls 

went quiet and I nodded.

" Bizarre right? Yeah, I know."

"Absolutely not! "Shayna said. " I didn't enjoy mine. All the shopping and 

outings and having to meet people... I didn't get any time to just sit back 

and relax"

"Same here. My aunt's mean and my cousins are SO lame!" Carlissa said.

"I know you're just trying to cheer me up but you don't have to"

"no summer," June said "

we

're serious. We'd rather spend a day just whiling time 

and watching the sunset rather than doing all the things we did" I stared at them, 

dumbfounded.

"Are you serious?"

"Darn serious" Dawn piped. I frowned and looked at them, feeling bad and 

worried that my crazy Summer story had driven my friends certifiably mad. 

Then we talked about homecoming and who we were going to ask but believe me, 

no jock or high school hunk was on our list. That would be a total waste of time 

spiced up with MASSIVE embarrassment. 

"I'll ask Harry Taggart. He'll say yes!" Shayna said.

"And I guess Elan Burner's ok" Dawn added. "He's just too nerdy to be comfy 

with"

"You're nerdy too," I said, nudging her "You're the perfect match. How about you 

Carlissa? Who are you asking?"

"It's Carlos forever! He's the best and do you know that he speaks Spanish too!!"

"The accent guys" Dawn whispered, shuddering. Accent boys meant a term's 

worth of watching Carlissa babble Spanish like the ultimate girlfriend. Last time 

that happened, Carlissa directly insulted the Spanish teacher and got a month's 

worth of detention. That just goes a long way to prove that the more the 

accents, the more the trouble.

" Who are you going with June?" Shayna asked.

" No one"

"What?!!" We shrieked "Why?"

"Because I don't want to"

"Come on June! You've never missed homecoming. Why now?"

"I have no one to ask," She said sadly.

"Oh," We chorused sadly as well. June's a bit of a nut crack case. She actually 

has this massive crush on the school's uptight top-notch detective journalist, 

Cameron Williams writes for the school newspaper and magazine. Cameron 

Aka tattling weasel Aka nerdy swarms swot is the uptown boy who feels like the 

world's under his bathroom flip-flops and likens having a crush to being under 

the devil's influence but above all, the dude's a jerk. And that's who 

June chose to crush on( Crazy much?) And as much as we all know that 

Cameron'd never feel the same way for her till pigs probably fly and aliens 

invade earth, we're still solidly behind her and almost always giving her boy 

advice. 

The worst thing is that she hasn't even talked to Mr. Weasel yet. The last time she 

tried, she choked on a cheeseburger ( The mystery of where that burger came 

from has NOT been solved) While Cameron left an I-wish-you-could-see-howstupid-you-look-right-now glare on his face with a can't-you-see-I'm-so-NOTavailable-and-will-never-be pasted all over his forehead and now I still wonder 

why June JUST CAN'T SEE IT!!!!! Everyone falls for the prince or at least the 

prince's friend and NOT the villain. 

"Well, you have Cameron…" Dawn began.

"He won't say yes. He doesn't even speak to me. He hasn't not even once"

" Then you could ask someone else. Consider Barry Monde, Rick Schemer, or even

Coby Tar…"

"no! it's him or no one else" she said stubbornly, glaring.

"Come on June. There are a dozen thousand boys in school to make your pick 

from. It doesn't have to be Cameron"

"No! it has to. I like him. I like him so much and it's him or no one else" 

Shayna rubbed her shoulder affectionately while the others huddled 

round looking sorry. I felt so sorry for her as well but boy, she's got

to grow up. Cameron Williams is a total NO go already. Why would she even

want anything to do with him?

 But as they say, with some girls, you never really know ( Ok now like WHO 

says that?).