Chapter 1
It was a hot summer morning and the timer rang continuously to wake up Lila. Lila moaned as she barely held up her hand to stop the ringing. Lila pushed her up and yawned. As she rubbed her eyes, she realized it was her last day of summer break. She jumped up and jotted into her closet. She picked a white t- shirt and some skinny jeans and selected out a black pare of socks.
After she put them on, she checked the time. 8:40. She wasn’t late. Lila was supposed to meet with her friend, Mary today. She brushed her teeth super fast and pulled her yellow cross bag on her shoulders. She headed for the cafe, where they planned to meet the day before. When she arrived, she sat down on the nearest table and waited for Mary. After she waited for 10 minutes, she became kind of bored. So she picked up her phone and texted Mary.
Lila: Mary? Where r u? Mary: sorry Lila I missed the bus and I am running there. Lila: what?! But you live 5 minutes away from here! Mary: I actually followed the bus to a strange hotel. Lila: oh, Mary! Why would you do that?!Mary: I wanted to look cool- I am so so sorry. I’ll be there in five minutes. Promise!!
Lila sighed and tucked her phone back into her bag. She looked out the window to watch if Mary was almost here. She waited 3 minutes and Mary jumped in, panting. “Lila!!SO sorry I am late. Did you order anything?” Lila shook her head. “Ok. Let’s go get a drink.” Mary winked.
Lila stared at the menu. Mary did the same. “I’ll have a cup of lemonade please.” Lila said. “I’ll have ice coffee, thank you!” Mary added. As they sat down, Lila asked Mary, “are you allowed to drink caffeine?” Mary grinned and shook her head. “Not at all! It is a secret between you and me, okay?” Lila didn’t like the sound of that, but nodded. She liked it when Mary said “you and me”. And, she didn’t want her to get in trouble.
“Hey their girls! Your drinks are here! And you, are you allowed to drink coffee?” Mary nodded as if it was obvious. The cashier shrugged and handed each of them the drinks. “Yes! My first coffee with Lila!” Mary squealed. Lila giggled. “Me too. It’s actually the first time eating with a friend!”
Mary gasped. “Your first time?” Lila nodded. “Oh, you poor thing! I went shopping 6 times, and went to a sleep over 12 times!! And this is your first time? Oh, dear.” Lila rolled her eyes secretly. She sipped her lemonade and looked away.
“Well, I think I gotta get going, Mary.” Lila murmured. “Oh, really? I can play for a hour or so, but if you’re busy, you can get going. I’ll be kind.” Lila turned away without responding, and hurried her steps to her house.
After she arrived, she noticed a memo on the fridge. It said: honey, you and your dad is bringing Lina to the mall to buy her a dress. We will be home late- there are sandwiches in the fridge!! Lila sighed. Her younger sister always made her stay lonely in the house. She turned on her favorite music, “Hailey likes” and put the volume to MAX. The singer’s voice boomed out of the speakers and Lila closed her eyes.
When she woke up, it was 12:00 and it was time for lunch. She noticed that her breakfast was only a few quick sips of lemonade and she was starving. She quickly turned off the music and picked a salmon bagel out of the drawer. She wanted to tell her mom that she didn’t eat any lunch. She presses the salmon on the bagel and ate a bite. She didn’t use any dishes, and cleaned all the crumbs.
After two hours of reading, she was bored. She decided to call her friend, Kristy. But she forgot her number, so she couldn’t. She slumped on the sofa and sighed. She had no idea what to do! So she grabbed the remote and turned on Netflix. “Babyish, babyish, babyish..” Lila muttered. She turned off the TV.
Lila got up and started calling her friend Teresa. “Hi Tess! How’s your day?” Lila asked, cheerfully. “Hi Lila. I’m fine. Are you ready for your first day of second semester tomorrow?” Lila gasped. Second semester! She didn’t even think of that! “Oh my gosh! I had absolute no idea. I gotta go shopping NOW! Oh, and do you know Kristy’s number?” Teresa told her and Lila quickly hung up. She left a message that she’ll go shopping and might get home at 5.
While she rode a bus to the mall, she listened to her favorite podcast, “Debate about debate”. When it was half way over, the bus suddenly stopped, making her spring to the front. As she fell, she wobbled her arms helplessly, and caught something, but pulled it down with her. “Ow!” Someone said. It was Kristy, and Lila shortly realized she pulled her to the ground while she fell. They stood up, and… burst into laughter. Dust puffed on their heads, they laughed without knowing or caring about the other’s stare.
Lila noticed that Kristy was going to the mall because of the same reason as her, so decided to go together. It was actually the next stop. After 5 minutes or so, they arrived. They stopped by a small cafe and bought themselves drinks and headed for the gate. By the time they went in, the people there to visit a concert were all leaving. They rode the escalator to upstairs and looked around happily. When they reached the school supplies section, they grabbed a plastic bag and ran around the place wanting to look for everything. They stuffed their bags with new clothes, pencils, erasers, pens and much more things they couldn’t expect at home. It was only a short hour, but they were both happy then ever.
