Chapter 1
“Completed” I mutter to myself and stroke the books cover. Over the mountains by Daphne Bloomfield was and always will be my favorite book. This book always left me wanting to go on an adventure like the books protagonist Sara.
“Clover! Finish your damn fruitloops.” My mom yelled from the kitchen, where she was probably baking a cake. My mom is obsessed with baking, and that probably is the only reason I exist today. My dad met my mom at this bakery she worked at and well you can guess what happened.
“I don’t want to eat them. They are too soggy, now.” I scream back my response and start walking towards my room “Clover Mary Brooks, I want you on the table immediately.” my mom’s voice echoed. Okay, maybe I’m being dramatic but it was definitely loud enough to wake up our cat, George. Me being the rebel, I ran up the stairs to my room and locked it.
I jumped on my bed staring straight at my ceiling. At that moment, I don’t know what made me call Elise and blurt out the first thing on my mind “Let’s make a bucket list” I said through the phone “Well, good morning to you to” Elise replied groggily. She was probably still hungover after that supposedly second graduation party she went to last night. “How much did you drink? And with how many people did you hook up?”
“I drank lots of vodkas and excuse me, stop thinking of me as a slut. The only person I hooked up with was Andrew Lopez, He is such a good kisser,” she sighed and started to tell me more but I cut her off “I really didn’t ask for details” I gagged “But Elise, can you come to my place in like an hour?”
“It depends on, if your mom is baking a cake then I’ll be there in half an hour,” she says and I roll my eyes “Elise, when is my mom not baking a cake? I want you here in half an hour and if you’re even one minute late you’re taking me to Juliet’s café. It's 10:15 am right now and I want you here by 10:45 am oka-” she hung up on me, and yet she is going to take me to Juliet’s café.
After exact thirty-five minutes, Elise was standing on my veranda with her hands on her bent knees trying to breathe. I looked at my watch and said “Five minutes late, babe. We will leave for Juliet’s café at two. Now, let’s go to my room.” and turned away and started walking towards my room.
“Bitch” Elise muttered, “I heard you.” I say without looking at her and sit on my bed. “Good, because you were supposed to.”
“Elise, I want to make a bucket list,” I tell her and she looks at me with a blank expression and starts laughing “You will make a bucket list?” she says between laughs which I admit was hard to understand because she laughs like a dying whale.
“That’s what I said, Elise. Stop laughing like a freaking whale” now, that made her stop laughing, I smirked and she frowned “Clo, you don’t just make a bucket list, you have to do the things you have written on it”
“I know, El” I roll my eyes “I’m not the dumb one, remember?” I ask her and she replies “You’re also not the adventurous one, remember?”
“Exactly! I want to change that” I tell her and she sighs “OK, get a sheet of paper and a pen” and I smile and hug her “I love you, Elise”
“I know, you do” she smiles and starts writing the bucket list.
After half an hour, Elise’s stupid suggestion and 47 things later we were thinking of three more things to complete our bucket list.
“Oh, my god!” Elise screamed “We could put 'visit Marylyn Monroe’s grave' on the list”
“Wow, since when did you turn so creative?” I raise my eyebrows and she looks away “I saw it on the internet, okay?” and I smirk “I knew it”
“Anyways, two things more” she closed her eyes and started rubbing her temples. “I have an idea,” I say and she opens one eye and raises her eyebrow in a ‘what’ way “We could put ‘visit Los Angeles’. You know how I’ve always wanted to visit the states”
“OK, but then the next thing we write will be my choice,” she tells me and I look at her with a reproachful eyes “OK, what is it?”
“Fall in love”
“What is wrong with you?” I ask her and put my back of my hand to her forehead “I’m serious, Clover”
“You really are?” I ask her and she nods her head “Yes, I am” putting fall in love might just look a bit lame and sort of impossible. I still have time to find my prince charming, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to find him anytime soon. But, my best friend won’t stop looking at me with her famous puppy dog eyes and how could I resist it? So I gave in “fine but stop giving me that look” to which she responded by engulfing me in a bear hug which left me gasping for air.
“Is this how you girls hang out, now?” my mother’s sweet as sugar voice might just be the only good thing.
“Hello, Ashley” My mother had always insisted Elise to call her by her first name which sounded very weird, believe me, “What cake did you bake today?” You mention cake and my mom turns ten times happier and chirpier “You’d be pleased to hear what I baked today”
And Elise instantly knew what mum baked.
“Red velvet cake” and my mum smiled “come downstairs, I will serve you both some”
“I can barely move, Clover” Elise groans while I wear my converse “I never asked you to eat five pieces of cake”
“But, it was too good. Blame your mother for being such an amazing baker. I wonder how you’re not so fat” she puts a hand on her flat stomach and groans once again.
“Get up, El,” I tell her and take my car keys “I crave coffee, especially Juliet’s coffee”
“You just want to make my life a living hell” she groaned again and started walking slowly.
“My grandma walks faster than you,” I tell her and she snickers “You and I both know your grandma carol walks slower than a snail”
“You are exaggerating” I roll my eyes and sit in my old beat up ford and insert the key in the ignition
“To Juliet’s café”
