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Chapter 1
“Adam! No! Stop!” I shouted through giggles as my big brother tickled me. He was 17, and I was turning 15 in a few days.
“I don’t think so, Abby!” he laughed.
I pushed on his muscular shoulders to try to get him off of me. When I succeeded, I got on top of him and tried to hold his arms down. I looked into his circular, brown eyes and at his messy, dark brown hair.
I always longed for an older sister, not that I didn’t love Adam. He was so much fun! And he was good to me, too. But sometimes I got lonely. I mean, I didn’t want to talk to my mom about not knowing where I fit in at school or who I could trust. And Adam wouldn’t understand. Well, maybe he would. But…he was a boy, my brother. I’d be too embarrassed to talk to him. My best friend, Kelly, thought that I should’ve tried talking to him about that stuff, though, because he’d already been through it and all that. But I don’t know.
Adam interrupted my thoughts.
“Sorry, Abby. I should probably go study for that big Chem test tomorrow, or else mom will flip out.”
“Ok. I’ll go call Kelly.”
“Jeez,” he said, “Don’t you two ever get tired of each other?”
“Yea, but we’ve been best friends since first grade. We’re not going to give each other up now.”
I went into my room and picked up my cell phone. When I dialed her number, it seemed to ring and ring. When she finally picked up, I could tell she had a smile on her face. She’s always very upbeat, and that’s why I love her.
“Hello?” she asked cheerfully.
“Hey! What’s up?”
“Nothing much. You? Oh, do I have something to tell you!” she said even more excitedly.
“What?!”
“Mom said that I can go to your birthday dinner, and sleep over!”
“Awesome! I so can’t wait for that!”
“Yea!” she said. “Me either. You’re going to absolutely love the present I got you!”
There was a silence, which happened quite often between us. We’d been friends for so long that we considered silence even as “talking on the phone.” When we were physically together, however, we never shut up. There was always something to talk about, whether she was brushing my thick, straight coconut colored hair or I was brushing her long, wavy, brown hair, or we would sometimes chat online to our other friends.
I think she’s so pretty. She’s tall, not too thin but not too heavy, and she has these really pretty, brown, big eyes. She’s a big athlete, and she’s very outgoing. But the most beautiful part of her is her personality. She’s sweet, kind, and selfless.
“Hey, Kelly?” I asked.
“Yea?”
“Do you think my mom and dad are going to have to leave early to do something else? I mean, their boss is such a jerk. He told them once that if they ever don’t show up at work for a reason other than illness or family trauma, he’ll fire them.”
“Abby. I’m sure that if they do, they’ll make it up to you. Do you remember that time they told our third grade teacher in front of our whole class that she was the worst teacher you’d ever had? Remember? When she told you that your life was worth nothing?”
“Yea,” I laughed. “I do.”
         “See? Sometimes they’re not there when you want them to be there, but they’re there when you need them.
         “Yea,” I smiled. “You’re right. Thanks, Kelly. “
My parents are both dedicated newsmen, and the minute something big pops up, their boss forces them to run out. Always. No matter what they’re missing. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had made them miss my birth.
Kelly and I talked for a little while longer before she had to go. Then I decided to go for a walk before dinner.
Chapter 2
“Abby! Wake up!” My mom came into my bedroom the next morning…at 6:00!
“Noooo mom. I wanna sleep! It’s Saturday.”
“Exactly,” she said. “Which is why you’re getting up.” Then she was out of the room as suddenly as she had come in.
I decided to get up and get dressed before she had one of her hissy fits. I sluggishly made my way to the bathroom and cleaned myself up. I decided to wear a pink mini skirt, a white tank top, and a pair of flip flops. I put my hair in two pigtails that kind of looked childish. But I didn’t really care.
When I trudged downstairs, I asked my mom angrily, “Ok. Why’d you make me get up?”
“Because,” she said. “The amusement park in Ocean City opens in two hours, and it takes about two hours to get there. I want us to be there for as long as possible.”
“But why…,” and then a smile spread across my face. “Thanks, mom. You’re the best.” I went over and gave her a small hug. Then mom, dad, Adam, and I hopped into the car. The car ride seemed to go by really slowly.
  In fact, mom and dad got bored.
  I can't tell if my dad really liked the song or if he was pretending to like it because it was so stupid, but when "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake came on the radio, he turned up the music and he and mom started dancing like fools. Despite how embarrassing and weird it was, it was kind of funny.
  When the next song came on, they all of a sudden got hot, opened the windows to the mid August wind, and started singing/shouting the song at the top of their lungs. People were looking over at us from other cars.
  "Mom, dad, please stop. You're so EMBARASSING!"
  Then mom answered, “Come on, Abby. We’re allowed to have our fun. Right, daddy?” That was another thing about my parents. They called each other mommy and daddy. At the movies, in the mall, at school concerts. EVERYWHERE. Now THAT was weird.
I decided not to argue with my mom. I knew she’d win, considering the fact that they were in their annoying moods.
  Once we finally got there, I hopped out of the car and ran to the booth with the big sign hanging over it that said it was the ticket booth. Mom, dad, and Adam were still way behind me.
After we had bought the tickets, Dad said, “Ooooh. Abby! We have to go on that Dragon Coaster!”
“Can we go now?” I asked excitedly.
“Yea! I wanna go!” Adam said. Mom did, too.
The roller coaster ended up being totally awesome! There were two loops in a row and three hills! Our feet dangled from the bottom, and you never knew what was coming next.
  Once we were off the ride, we passed by a picture booth which had pictures taken of people on the ride.
    In our picture, while mom and dad were just screaming with their hands up, Adam and I were in the front seat and looked hysterical.
I was holding on to the bar in front of me with my eyes closed, screaming, and Adam had his arms wrapped around me. (Later he told me that he had done that on purpose to make the picture look funny. I didn’t believe him.)
After that, Adam and I decided to go on the Whip. It was this ride where little carts banged around in an oval, but once they got to the curve, they were “whipped around.” Get it?
At one point Adam’s baseball cap flew off, during which I started to laugh. Mom and dad took funny pictures of us, too.
The next ride, however, wasn’t so much fun.
Adam insisted that I go on this ride with him where you sit in a cup, and the cup spins. But there were 4 discs, which each held three cups. They spun, too. And then the big circle that held all the discs spun. It was absolutely awful. I started to feel pressure in my neck and my mouth felt all pasty. Before I knew it, I was throwing up all over the place, and I couldn’t stop.
“Stop the ride!” Adam shouted. “She’s sick! Stop the ride!”
I ran to the nearest garbage can as quickly as I could. Dad came and rubbed my back, and mom handed me a water bottle, but I could still taste that disgusting taste.
“I want to go home,” I mumbled. “My head really hurts.”
“I’m sorry, Abby. I thought you’d have fun,” Adam replied guiltily.
“It’s ok. I understand.”
I fell asleep on the way home.
Chapter 3
When I woke up, I was in my bed in my pajamas with my blanket pulled up to my chin. My stuffed animals were laid down next to me and my hair was scattered around on my pillow. My head still really hurt, and I felt so hot.
“Mom?” I tried yelling out, but my voice came out weak. Then, a little stronger, ”Mom!”
Mom and Dad came walking in while Mom felt my head. “Hmm, your fever seems to have gotten higher. How do you feel?”
“Really bad,” I said. “How long ago did we get home?”
“Honey,” Dad said. “You’ve been throwing up all night.”
“All night? I thought we just got home a few hours ago.”
“No. We got home around 5:00 yesterday evening and I carried you to bed, but around 11:00 you started throwing up. You don‘t remember?”
“No,” I said miserably.
“Well,” Mom said. “I think your body just had a really bad reaction to the ride.”
“That really doesn’t make sense,” I answered.
“The body works wonders,” she said.
Dad kissed me on the forehead. “My poor baby.”
Mom rubbed my shoulder. Then they both left to let me rest.
I decided to take some Advil for my fever and headache, and then there was a knock on the door.
Kelly came in with a plastic bag full of stuff and a bowl of soup.
“Is it safe for me to come near you, or are you going to throw up on me?” She started to laugh hysterically. That’s what else I love about Kelly. She cracks herself up.
“I’m fine, you snot,” I said with a smile.
She came over and sat on the edge of my bed and felt my head. She seriously looked worried.
“Are you here to take care of me?” I asked.
“Mmhmm. When I came, your Mom and Dad seemed pleased because they said you’d want to see me.”
“Yea. I’m glad you came. Thank you for trying to make me feel better.”
“Well, I love you, so it’s no big deal.”
In Kelly’s bag, she had a bunch of sad movies, a box of tissues, and her favorite blankey, which I stole.
“So, how did your parents do while waiting for me to come to the rescue?” she asked jokingly.
“They did fine. Apparently they stayed up with me last night while I continuously had my head in the toilet.”
Kelly laughed. “Yea, they’re pretty good to you.”
“They are,” I said. “I don’t know what I’d do without them.”
That night, my headache was pretty much gone and my fever was back down to normal temperature. I asked, but Mom and Dad said there was no way Kelly could stay the night because of possible germs. I’d have to clean my room before she slept over again. (Oh, La Di Da!) But we all went out for ice cream.
At the ice cream parlor, we found a table under a little gazebo type thing and ate our ice cream. I had ordered a vanilla milk shake, and Kelly ordered a sundae. I don’t remember what anyone else ordered.
“Hey, Kelly?” my dad asked.
“Dad,” I butt in. “Leave her alone.” My dad used to enjoy picking on Kelly because of her funny reactions to it, but he was only kidding. I always tried to stop him, which I now regret.
She looked at him with those I-know-you’re-going-to-pick-on-me eyes. “What?”
“Did you get really bad sunburn or something? I mean, come on! It’s July! Wear some sunscreen!” he exclaimed.
“What are you talking about?” she asked, confused.
“Your face. You look a little BLUSHED!” He was making fun of her make-up, not that she had too much of it on.
“It’s blush,” she smiled.
“Flush? Yea. I know. I always flush the toilet.”
Kelly laughed. “No! It’s blush!”
“Ohhhh! Mush! Come on, Kel. This ice cream isn’t THAT bad.”
“No, Mr. Emmings.” She was laughing hysterically. “It’s BLUSH! You know. Make-up?”
“Oh. Ok,” Dad said, and then he just moved on to something else to pick on her about.
         “Eww. What’s that in your ice cream?”
         Now Kelly is a germ-a-phobic. You have no idea. “Oh my gosh! Where?” she shrieked. She was freaking out!
         “Right there.” He pointed.
         “Where?” she asked, her voice rising.
         “That thing right there.”
         “Where?!” she screamed. People turned and looked.
         “That red thing right there!”
         There was a silence.
         “Mr. Emmings. That’s a sprinkle.”
         “Oh,” he said matter-of-factly. “I had no idea.” She smiled. 

Chapter 4
The next day, around 5:00 PM, the doorbell rang. When I answered the door, it was Kelly.
“Happy birthday!” she exclaimed, and wrapped me in a big hug. She handed me my present.
Other than Kelly, it would just be my family celebrating tonight. We decided to order a pepperoni pizza. My favorite!
During dinner, we decided to talk about the current movies in the movie theater we liked…and then the phone rang. Mom picked it up.
“Hello?” she asked. “Oh hi Bob! How’s it going?…Oh, nothing. We’re celebrating Abby’s 15th birthday today!…No kidding…Ok…We’ll be right there.” Then my mom turned to my dad. “There’s been a robbery at Jen’s Jewelers in town. Bob’s making us cover it.”
“But didn’t you tell him it was Abby’s birthday?” my dad asked.
“Do you think the jerk cares?” my mom asked, angrily.
         “It’s ok. You can go. I understand. Really,” I butt in. “In fact…nevermind.”
         “What is it, hon?” dad asked.
         “Nothing,” I said. “We’ll celebrate later!”
         My mom smiled, appreciating my understanding. And I did understand. 
My parents both kissed me good bye.
“Bye, sweetie,” my mom said. “Happy birthday!”
They both walked out and closed the door behind them. Kelly, Adam, and I were left around the table.
“You know what, Abby?” my brother said. “I’m gonna go with them to make sure they hurry up.”
I smiled. “Ok.” He kissed me on the forehead and ran out after them.
There was an awkward silence between Kelly and I. Then she broke it.
“So, ready for cake and presents?”
I decided to open my present from her first. The problem was, she wrapped it so tight! I could barely get the tape to come off, and then I had to take off, like, 10 layers of wrapping paper before I finally reached…a beautiful, ivory art set!
“Oh, Kelly,” I whispered. She knows I love art. And she also knows I’m really good at it. But I never thought she’d spend that much money on me, “I can’t believe you did this for me. Thank you.”
“Abby, you’re my best friend. You totally deserve it.”
We looked at each other for a second with eyes full of appreciation. Then we had a nice, long embrace.
         “Hey, Abby? What were you going to say before?”
         “Oh, I was going to offer to go with them, but I don’t want to see Bob.” We both laughed.
Afterwards, I decided to wait to open my presents from my family because I thought they’d want to see, so Kelly and I had some cake. It was so good! It was mint chocolate chip ice cream with chocolate cake under the layer of ice cream, white frosting, and Oreos on top. On top it said, “Happy Birthday, Abby! We Love You!”
That brought tears to my eyes. How could I have not gone with them? Why couldn’t I have forfeited one night to go to work and be with them?
Kelly noticed my guilt and put her hand on mine.
“It’s ok,” she said. “They know you love them, too.”
She stuck 16 candles into the cake, 1 for good luck, and sang a solo version of Happy Birthday to me. Then I closed my eyes and made a wish.
I wish that my life would get more exciting. I’m so tired of the same old routine..
“What’d you wish for?” she asked.
She knew I wouldn’t tell. She’d asked me to torment me, so I just ignored her.
Later on, we went into my room so I could try out my new art kit. The minute we walked in she sneezed.
“God, Abby! When was the last time you cleaned your room? It’s so dusty!.”
I laughed, “That’s what you get for asking me what I wished for. Oh, and by the way, bless you.”
“Haha,” she said. “Whatever.”
She went to open my windows while I set up my easel and new paints. When she got back, I was already beginning to paint. She leaned her head on my shoulder.
“What are you painting?”
“You’ll see.”
She started looking around my room at everything.
“Hey, Abby?”
“Hmm?”
“What’s your biggest fear?”
“Umm, I don’t know. Why?”
“Just wondering,” she answered.
“What’s yours?”
“It’s stupid.”
“I’m your best friend. What is it?” I demanded.
“I’m scared I’ll never figure out who I am.”
I continued to paint. “Aw, Kel. Why?”
“I don’t know. I just am. I don’t know anything anymore. I’m losing friends here and there for everything, and I just can’t love myself. You can’t love a stranger, Abby.”
“Well, no matter who you end up being, unless you’re a bitch, I’ll always love you.”
She smiled and whispered, “Thanks.”
“Well, I guess my biggest fear is that someone I love will let me down. But you know what I do when I’m scared or sad or something?”
“You paint.”
“Yea,” I said. “I paint. I paint on paper. I paint on clay. I paint on my driveway. But you know where else I paint?”
“Where?”
“In my head. I always imagine myself in this beautiful place, full of beautiful things. Flowers, clouds, sun, rain showers I can dance in, the people I love. And hope. I can only hope and pray that everything will be ok.”
“Yea…,” Kelly thought about it. “I guess you’re right.”
Chapter 5
Later that night, Kelly and I were watching a movie. It was 9:00 at night, and mom, dad, and Adam still hadn’t arrived home yet. I knew, though, how bossy Bob always got, so even Adam and my birthday probably couldn’t give Bob an ounce of kindness.
When the phone rang, I figured it was them calling to say they were on their way back and they were so sorry. I was wrong. I was horribly wrong.
“Hello?”
“Hi. Is this Abby?” It was Kelly’s mom.
“Oh, yea. Hey, Mrs. Jenson. Wanna talk to Kelly?” Kelly looked at me. “Sorry. My parents are home. Something happened in town and…”
“Abby. I need to tell you something,” Mrs. Jenson said. Her voice was shaking.
This sounded bad. “Your mom and dad…well…something happened in town tonight, and I don’t mean the robbery.” That’s when I stopped breathing.