Working Title

A Ten Month Year

"She sells she shells… no. Wait, I can do it! She sells seashes. Argh!" Little Charlie made me laugh. She was absolutely determined to get the damn tongue twister straight. She's been trying for 3 hours now. Its: She sells seashells by the sea shore. But she would never get that, not with the tooth missing.
         Charlie is my little sister. Actually, her name is Charlene. Don't let her catching you call her Charlene; she will kick you in the shin. For about the past three years, she has been nothing but a tom-boy. Wearing jeans and T-Shirts. God help us when she is going to start to need training bras.
         Charlie's teacher had taught them over 10 tongue twisters today, and she's been able to nail 7 of them. Exactly how much wood, would a woodchuck, chuck? She asked me that all day. Constant badgering and questioning- I hate that. I would've smacked her, except she "pranced" away like how a woodchuck would. That is- if a woodchuck could prance. She is such a goof-ball. She makes up these completely random things - out of THIN AIR! I was sitting watching TV, and she turns to me and says "bottled water." Yeah, as if I knew what she was talking about. I look at her, raise one eyebrow, and say "Juice Box". She fell over laughing and wouldn't stop for 20 minutes! Total goof-ball, I tell ya.

         I look at my schedule for the first time this year. Ugh, I have Stanson… again! I had her last year for English, now I have her for SAT Prep. If there was one thing I couldn't stand my freshman year, it was Stanson. I can't tell if having her 1st period is a blessing or a curse. I get the worst subject over first, but I have nothing to look forward to in the morning as I wake up. I have decided that this is going to be a very, long year.
As the homeroom bell rings, I look around the hallways frantically, looking to see if I can catch where people's lockers are. I see Chris at her new locker. She was wearing a black tank top, with a cute white button down to cover her shoulders, while wearing black jeans and high heeled boots. The same thing I wore last Christmas. As I'm walking toward room C520, someone jumps behind me and covers me eyes. You know that typical-guess-which-of-your-friends-this-is. As if I couldn't tell by all the cold silver on the fingers. It was Katie. She always wore these rings on all of her fingers, but you could never catch another piece of jewelry on her. I saw a good 15 people I knew immediately.
         The scariest thing is walking into the 1st period class, not knowing who is in your class yet. I hold my breath and enter. Low and behold, there is Ms. Stanson holding out a piece of paper for me to take.
         "Ah! You again!" She looks at me, knowing that this year; she is going to have fun torturing me again. She seems, quite delighted. "Take a seat, anywhere." To my surprise, I was the first one there. Not so bad, I get to watch as everyone else enters.
         By the beginning of class, I'm calmer. Now that I know 4 of my friends are in the class with me, sitting behind me, in front of me, and beside me. Toward the end of class, I'm fine, because I realize we have no homework- (except to get the needed materials). At the end of class, I'm miserable because Ms. Stanson separated my friends and me, knowing that we would just be the regular chatterbox - which just isn’t true. I never talk. I pay attention and get good grades. Or at least that's what my grandmother wishes.
         The rest of the day is like that. The best part is lunch. I find Jeff, and met some of his friends, and then catch up with my friends once I spot them. I sit next to my friend Julie. I call her Jewlz (kind of like the singer.) She slips me a note and it reads:

Yo-
Yeah so I don't know where you are right now, but I have this total hottie sitting next to me in Geometry. I wish you were here. What do you have 7th period? I have lunch. I don't know when I'll give this to you but we have to get together after school and work out our schedules so we know where each other is, so we can chill between classes. Mkay? Dude! I have this new code we can work out for out notes this year! But we might get tired of doing it, so maybe not. Josh is SUCH a cutie… why on EARTH did you brake up with this babe? So, uh.. yeah. I'll talk atcha lata!
Luv - jewlz.

         Jewlz is so funny, isn't she? Last year we gave each other notes all the time, and we worked out this code. It's awesome as anything, but it got old, like she said, so I don't think we'll do that again.

         "Grandma, Grandpa, I'm home!" I scream through out the house. Then I hear the thumping of footsteps down the stairs. Sure enough it's Charlie.
         "How was your day? My day was great! There is this kid in 4th grade! He's 9. He's going to be turning 10! 10! Can you believe it? 10!!! That's DOUBLE DIGITS! I cannot wait till I turn 10. Because then it will mean I'm on the same level as you and Grandma and Grandpa. Mrs. Kay said I had the best back-pack. I told her my sister helped pick it out! Oh did you know that I'm going to be learning how to write in script? Yup! She said the secret was to learn the 'flowiness' of your hand. I don't know what she meant, but I think I can do it! She said that we'll be learning our times tables too! And there is this kid in 4th grade. He's 9. He's going to be turning 10! Wait, I already told you that. What haven't I told you yet? I know there was something I was supposed to tell you! Umm… I can't remember." Charlie is such a girl down at heart.
         "Woah - slow down kid! Take a breath." I laugh at her and walk towards the kitchen for a quick drink. "Where's Grandma?" I ask her as she plops down at the kitchen stool.
         "Oh yeah! That's what I had to tell you. She went to bring Grandpa to the hospital. She came into my school and told me while we were learning to spell Mississippi." I am slightly worried as she says that, but since she doesn't look worried, I don't want to look worried either.
         "Do you know why?" I ask her as I take a sip of my apple juice, looking on the fridge for any signs of a note. None.
         "She said he tried to stand up and fell over, and hurt his arm. Can you get me a drink?" She points to the cabinets as if I don't know where they are. I hand her my cup and tell her she can have the rest. She drinks it all and hands me the cup to put into the sink.
         "Go do your homework." I tell her as she gets off the stool.
         "You go do yours!" She hisses back at me.
         "I don't have any." I stick out my tongue and shake my hips and butt. She laughs, runs upstairs and pulls down her backpack full of paper. She pulls out this spiral notebook with Hello Kitty on the cover. I know that in the course of 10 months, that cover will be colored on, and ripped apart.


Chapter 2


         "Grandpa! How are you feeling?" He looks around the house.
         "He took a nasty spill. I had to call the ambulance, I couldn’t lift him. You know my bad back." Yeah, my grandma has to take care of my grandpa for now on. Since about 3 years now. It's ok now that we have Jeff to help us out. He just moved back into town, so he can help us all the time.
         "Grandpa, are you okay?" I look at him in the eyes, so he can see me talking to him.
         "Say Eh?" Well at least he knows I'm here today. Sometimes he can be out in another world. "Where is my daughter? I want my daughter!" I look at my grandmother.
         "You don't have a daughter, grandpa. You have a son." He looks around the room.
         "Nah, I want my daughter, Jeff." A laugh comes out of me. Wait till I tell Jeff that.
         "Jeff is your Grandson, Grandpa. Not your daughter." I pat him on the shoulder, giving a sign of relief.
         "You sure?"
         "Positive. And I'm your Grand-daughter. I'm one of your son's daughters."
         "You sure?"
         "Yes! I'm sure." I laugh.
         "You sure?"
         "Just don't answer him. You're confusing him." My grandmother buts into the conversation. I walk into the other room and wonder where your mind goes, when you enter into a state like that. Your mind can't be completely gone, can it?

         I talked to Jewlz on the phone for about an hour or so. She was going on and on about my ex, Josh. “If you like him that much, you have my permission to go out with him.” I told her.
         “Nah, that’s cheesy. I don’t want to date him. He’s not what you may call date-material. I just like to look.” She said. I could tell in her voice that she was completely full of it. “Hey, when is your cousin coming over again? He’s cute too.”
         “I wouldn’t know.” I replied. I kind of meant that to answer both her comments and it served its purpose. “Hey, you have Stanson, right?” I asked.
         “Uh… does she have red, curly hair?” She asked. I pictured Stanson in my mind. Odd, I never actually noticed she had red hair. Most redheads stick out in my memory, but I never completely noticed.
         “Yeah. I guess so.” I finally said. It took me a while. “Anyway, Stanson wants me to bring in last year’s notebook. I didn’t save it. What am I supposed to do?”
         “Don’t bring it in?” Jewlz couldn’t have been more sarcastic. “Really? Dakota, who saves their notebooks? I certainly don’t.” she said laughing.
         “Hey did I tell you my grandfather fell again? He had to go to the Emergency Room. I guess he’s okay, but whatever. I’m worried about my grandma. He’s going to die soon, and she’s going to be all alone. She’ll have to raise us completely on her own. Not saying that Grandpa is a help now, he’s more like a big kid anyway. But still, she still feels like she has a companion.” I went on and on. Jewlz knows my family just as well as I did. That’s because we’ve been friends since 4th grade. I’ll love Jewlz till the day I die. She’s my sister.
         “Aw. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he was that bad so soon. It’s been tough, I know.” Jewlz stopped this conversation, and went on one of her talks of how much she thinks Josh is a hottie and how my cousin is so sweet. If only my cousin’s personality was in Josh’s body. Wow, that’d be one heck of a guy.

Chapter 3

         The snow crunched with each step I took. The world seemed quiet, and I seemed to be disturbing it. We had snow the morning before, and it was still fresh, and untouched. The schools were closed, and the driveways had to be plowed. I took it upon myself to help out, and I shoveled our 30 foot drive. We had been in school for four months now, and already I was sick of it. Projects and papers due every week, my life seemed as if to be like the snow, calm, until someone had to tromp all over it. I heard the train go by in a distance. Odd, it was early. It usually comes around three or so, but that morning it came at eight.
I felt a vibration down at my leg. It was my cell phone. I remember it was Rye. He wanted to talk to me about the snow, and how fun it was to build snow men again. We haven’t gotten a good snow fall in 5 or so years.
I remember that snow fall too. We were ten and eleven then. We went down to the park and slid on the hills. Rye chipped his tooth on a tree branch when he fell. I laughed thinking about it. The white snow had turned red. I also remember him saying that he didn’t want to go home. Not that day. He wanted to stay with me until night. So we went home and had hot chocolate, with marshmallows. Rye and I had some real good times when we were kids.
When my cell phone rang, I didn’t expect it to be Rye. At that point we hadn’t talked in 3 years or so, so imagine my surprise. “Hey Rye! How’s it going? Long time no talk!” I said into my cell.
“Hey DK! Pretty good! I know, I had to call you. The snow reminded me of when we were kids! Listen, want to get together this weekend? We can have a blast in this snow! Just like old times. I don’t think a winter without you would be the same.” Rye said.
“Sounds great! I’m shoveling the driveway, so I can’t ask my grandma right now. Dude, it’s been ages! I can’t believe you remembered my number.” I laughed.
“I didn’t. I had to call J to get it.” He said. He started laughing too.
“Jewlz? You called Jewlz? Why did you call her? I mean, beside to get my phone number.” I wondered. Then I remembered that I didn’t have a cell phone when Rye and I were buddies. Of course he had to call someone to get this number.
“Uh, well. I called her to ask her your number, and she gave me your cell. And I asked her what she has been up to the past couple years. And it was like old times.” I laughed so hard when he said that.
“You hated Jewlz when we were kids. You couldn’t stand her! There was never a civil moment between you.”
“Did I not just say it was like old times? It was hard to get your number! I had to go through a lot of effort to get it. So you better be happy!” He laughed. I laughed too. There was something I always liked about Rye. He could always make me laugh. When my parents died, he was the only one who could get a smile on my face. And it wasn’t even like he was trying to make me feel better. He just could.
“Why did we ever stop talking? This is awesome. Oh, I’m getting chills just thinking about how much fun were going to have this weekend!” I said.
“WOW! Who said anything about fun? You have to help me with a term paper. You’re the smartest person I know, and I know your hobby is entertainment, so I thought you might help me with a biography on a couple of famous people.” His voice was stern and strong. His voiced has really changed since I last talked to him.
“You’re kidding, right?” I knew he was. I was just kind of stunned.
“Yeah… well. We can still have fun. I just need you to help me a little?” He said.
“You’re serious. I can’t believe you! You call me up from nowhere and ask me for help on a paper? You’re an ass.” I said.
“And you’ve become gullible. You were never that gullible when we were kids. Learn to take a joke.” He said.
“Well, learn to give one.”
“Well, learn to take one.” We laughed. “Nah, I’m kidding. Your just as I remember you.” He said. He was probably looking at himself in the mirror as he said it. That is, if I remember him correctly.
“But your not! Listen to you! My goodness, Mr. Deep voice over there. How tall are you? Are you still 4’11” with cute little dimples and a tooth missing?” He laughed real hard.
“Yeah, if you’re still 4’8” with size 5 shoe, and the cutest little nose.” Well, he got the nose part right.
“Nah, I’m 5’4” and size 8 ½.” I said. I looked at the snow. ‘And about 3 scars more than he remembers, with a couple more piercings and a few more quarks.’ I thought.
“Well, I’m 6’, perfect set of teeth, after about 2 ½ years of braces and caps. And uh, dimples. Yup, still got ‘em.” I could tell he was sucking on his teeth when he said that.
“Cute,” I said. “…my little baby is all grown up. Tear. God, so much has happened in 3 years. I missed every day of your metal mouth. Those would have been good opportunities for me to pick on you. Can I make up for lost time? So what’s up metal mouth? How’s it going brace face? So, do you get a radio signal with them things? When are you getting them off? Can I kiss you with those things on?” It became very silent after that. It was an awkward silence.
“Um, you finished?” He sounded like he heard all those before.
“Well, no. Can I?” I asked.
“Can you what?” He seemed annoyed. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
“Can I kiss you with those things on?” I said, I added a little cuteness to my voice, with a little sexiness.
“You can kiss me whenever you want.” I smiled. It seemed as if there were sparks flying between us right away. Three years we haven’t talked. And it seemed as if not a day has gone by.
“Well, I have to take a look at you first. I don’t kiss strangers.” I said. I had never heard myself flirt so bad over the phone!
“Since when am I a stranger? We’ve known each other since we were 4 years old. There is nothing that you don’t know about me. I haven’t changed. Except for appearance, puberty kind of does that to you, especially between 12 and 16.” I couldn’t wait till this weekend.
“Do you still live on Osmoth Street?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He replied. “Why?”
“I’m coming over. Is that okay?” I twisted my hair. Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.
“Uh, hold on. Mom? Is it okay if Dakota comes over?” there was a long silent pause. “Is it okay if Dakota comes over?” he said again. “Dakota! Dakota Pedtic. Remember DK?” There was another pause. “Yeah, you can come over.” Make sure your grandparents can come pick you up or something.”
“Sure. My grandma can. My grandpa is a little gone.” I said.
“He died? When?” He was surprised and very sympathetic.
“Nooo, I’ll explain later.” I said laughing. “I’ll be over around one? That cool?” I asked.
“Definitely. See you later, DK.” He said.
“Bye Rye.” I hung up my cell phone. That conversation was 5 minutes long. Only five minutes! What’s wrong with me? After only about 3 minutes on the phone with about 3 years past, I was already hitting on him! I must have really liked when we were kids, and I just didn’t realize it? I’ve become much bolder since those days, and it didn’t bother me to say how I feel now a day, where it did before. I brushed the idea out of my head. I stomped the snow off my boots, took off my snow gear and went inside. “Grandma, you have to drive me over Mark Rye’s house!”
“Oh I remember him! He was that cute little kid at your parent’s funeral, right? He was the one with dimples, right? He was the little kid that would not leave your side. Oh he was adorable. When did you get in contact with him again?”
“Wait, he wouldn’t leave my side? What are you talking about?” I wanted to know all the details.
“Well, I told him how you were very upset, and it might not be good for you to see anybody, and he should let you calm down. But he told me that he was your best friend, and he wanted to help you. He said that he would never leave your side as long as you’re sad.” She smiled and asked where he lived.
“Um, he lives over on Osmoth Street.” I said. “I said I would be over there around one, so we don’t have to leave yet.”
“That’s fine.” She said. She went back to the kitchen to finish breakfast.