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At the school, Mr. Sweetie was thinking hard because he had just lost two students the day before, due to conflicts—well, you know the story by now. He was thinking about how all the kid’s sides of the story did kind of sound believable. The principal had known us for our whole school career and knew we normally are not bad students until this year. He decided to have a talk with Natalie that would trick her into telling the truth.
He walked out of his small office and said to the secretary, “Hey Amanda, can you send Natalie down here?”
“Yes Nolan, I can do that,” she said while standing up about to go get Natalie from her first hour.
She blankly sauntered over to the door, opened it, walked down the hall, and into Natalie’s classroom, “May I take Natalie from you?” She asked with a smile.
“Yes,” the teacher said. Then Natalie stood up and walked out the door with the secretary. She was very confused but tried to hide it under her fake smile.
“Natalie, Mr. Sweetie wants you.”
“Ok,” Natalie said while in the long hallway where she was still scared and wondered what she could have possibly done to be called to the office. Then she put her fake face on and walked into the scary office.
“Natalie, look, what happened yesterday? I am your grandpa, and you can tell me anything, so what happened yesterday?”
“What I told you.” She gave her attitude; she was kind of scared. She just knew that she was going to be caught up in all of the lies and she would not be able to hide it. All her lies and stories were not lining up anymore.
“Are we so sure, I mean look at the stories they told me and look at what you said,” He paused and sighed, “Four kids can’t fake something like that,” he replied.
“Grandpa, they are smart kids. They were also all sitting by each other before they went in.”
“Natalie, what about the time you came in here and said that I told you to report to me if they were hanging out?”
“Fine, I’ve always been jealous of them I mean Lilian and Hayden have been best friends since day one. He is so hot, and she is so pretty, and I was scared that she was going to be more popular than me. So, I got rid of the threat by pulling strings and targeting.” She smiled.
“Natalie, why?” He paused, “Why did you have to do this? Who cares who is popular? I mean you should have been her friend; I am not happy with you. Think of how Noah and Nadia are going to feel.”
“Please don’t tell them,” She said in tears.
“I have to, I have to run this by the school board as well. You’re going to, most likely, be expelled, I’m going to call some people and you can sit right there and be quiet, ok?” He grabbed his phone and looked out of the window that was behind him. Then he turned back around, “Bulling just isn’t tolerated.”
* * *
MR. SWEETIE’S PLAN had worked and then Jackie had received a phone call from Mr. Sweetie saying how sorry he was, about an hour or so later. Hayden and I could have our records erased and Natalie was expelled. I honestly don’t even know if records are real, but they are real in movies.
Friday finally came and both of our families- the Parkers and the Rosses- left around seven and would get at the airport around nine. The flight left at ten, so we were on time, it is always said “get at the airport early.” Or whatever, that is just what Jackie and Jason always tell me.
I was so bored and eager in the car. I had coloring books and my tablet, but nothing could help me stop the excitement and eagerness.
I started to get drowsy after a while and fell asleep. It was an extremely uncomfortable nap, but it was still worth it. In my dream, I was in the middle of dancing when I heard, “Lilian, wake up we are here,” coming from the front of the car.
“Give me ten more minutes,” I said complaining.
“No, Lilian wake up!” Jackie grunted and rolled her eyes, “We need to get in there we are running late!”
“Ok, ok, what is the big deal anyway?”
“We are here!” I looked up and saw an airplane taking off.
“Oh, why didn’t you say anything?” I had this big smile on my face.
“I did, let’s go inside. Hayden and the twins are already inside.” We are usually in the place waiting on them, so this is ironic.
When we got in there, we all met up and sat and ate some food that came out of a vending machine, because what is better than eating food?
“Want to sit by me on the plane?” Hayden asked.
“Yeah, sure who else would I sit by lol,” I replied.
“Where are we all even staying?” Hayden asked.
“I really don’t know,” I said, “I thought my grandparents but now I am rethinking. There is a bunch of us, and I don’t know how big their house is.”
“Hey guys finish up eating because we are going to board our plane fairly soon,” Jackie told us.
“Ok,” Hayden replied as Jackie walked away.
“Do you like gummy worms?” Hayden asked me. I looked at him confused for asking such a far-out question.
“What, yes, I do, but why do you need to know that?” I asked, questioning him.
“Good I packed them then,” Hayden replied, not answering my question. “In my carry on, of course, I think that you can do that.”
“Amazing,” I said with a large grin on my face.
“Now boarding plane 10,” said the intercom.
“Come on guys let’s go get on the plane,” Summer said as everyone grabbed all of our luggage and struggled as we followed Summer to the crowded plane. I did not know how many people were going to California!
We all got on the plane and sat in pairs of two, Jackie and Jason, Summer and Nathan, Carley, and Harley- the twins, and me and Hayden. The trip was long, so first, Hayden and I ate candy then we played Una.
“I win again!” Hayden said in triumph, as he took his sucker out of his mouth.
“Hey, you only won twice out of four games,” I replied, “and if I applied my math right, we have both won the same number of games.” I was being a brat.
“That’s true, wanna play again?” Hayden asked.
“Sure,” I replied.
Then we played again which we ended up getting bored and not playing the whole game. I began to be myself— complaining because I was tired.
Solving my problem, I went to sleep, Hayden stayed awake and ate more candy. Of course, he did. He is the skinniest person that I know, and he eats the most. Finally, after finishing a share-size bag of small colorful chocolates Hayden naturally fell asleep.
On the plane, there were your average people, little children, teens, adults, and babies. Eww! A few seats in front of us were these two little boys that were very hyper. They had a rubber ball that they were tossing at each other, then one of them finally decided to be done with the ball and threw it behind them. The ball hit me in the head, and I woke up from my beautiful beauty sleep. I was extremely confused but then I saw the ball.
I decided I had slept long enough and got a few colored pencils out of my bag and a coloring book and colored the rest of the way to California. I was still really tired, so I woke up Hayden. Decided that he had to suffer as well as me.
“I’m tired!” he complained, “let me sleep!”
“Me too,” I announced, “And I’m not going to let you sleep because I got woken up and I need someone to talk to. I am extremely bored,” I complained to him.
“So why did you wake me up?” He asked, “And not let me sleep? You could have socialized with anybody on this plane!”
“Yeah, but I am shy. Also, Jackie and Jason are sitting way back there! That is why I woke you up!”
“Oh whatever,” He replied, “The twins are seriously right behind you.”
“Oh, I know but I want you to be awake!”
“Oh well, what do you want to do?”
“Looks like you ate some Chocolate while I was sleeping,” I said looking at all of the open candy bags that had nothing in them.
“Yeah, want some?”
“The bags look empty.”
“I have more.”
“Of course, you do,” I sarcastically rolled my eyes. Then, I chuckled.
“Did you hear Natalie got expelled?” He asked as he searched his bag for more chocolate.
“Yeah, did Summer get called too?”
“Yes, but I think Jackie and my mom were talking and still want us to go to the catholic school.” He made this face, an ugly face.
“I’m fine with that as long as you are going to that school too.”
“Yeah, but Conner and Ashley will not be, and they will still be there with the clueless principal. I’m going to miss them.”
“True, I will miss them too,” I sighed.
Hayden pulled the Una cards out of his backpack to finish the game that we were playing earlier, more like a restart. Hayden won and he got bragging rights. Then he got hungry again and eagerly looked in his bag for more food and could only find gum, so Hayden took a piece out and offered me one. I took one then we chewed our gum together.
“This is your captain speaking, please put on your seatbelts, we are coming in for a landing,” the plane intercom said.
Hayden and I listened, we put our seatbelts on and packed up all of the candy that we had eaten. Then the plane abruptly landed, and people began to pile off the plane.
We were the last people off because we had to wait for the twins who were extremely slow. When everyone finally got off the plane, I saw my grandparents and ran to hug them. I even began to have happy tears. Summer and Nathen went to go and rent a car. I did not know that was a thing, but it obviously is. They got all of their family’s bags and put them into their rental car.
Summer and Nathen exceedingly left Jackie and her family for their hotel room. Then Jackie and Jason grabbed their bags and put them into the trunk of my grandparent’s car. My grandparent’s car!
Bill drove the car to his house, and I was filled with excitement as I sat in the back of the car with my face pressed up to the glass. I did not recognize any of the fields, but it felt as if I had been there before. As if I was finally home.
I knew that that feeling must have been from when I was a baby, with my mother. My mother, I began to feel sad knowing that I did not have one.
Bill entered the car into a long driveway where there were two houses at the end. He stopped the car, and I was amazed at how big the house was. “Is this your house?” I asked in awe.
“Yes, this is where Jackie grew up and you will be staying,” Nona answered her granddaughter, ME! I am seriously seeing my grandparents! I am in freaking California! Wow!
“Grandma, it’s weird how I don’t remember any of this house. Should I?”
“You were just a small baby, you were cute too,” Nona said while she opened the door and went inside. I followed I had a big eager smile on my face. The house was bigger than my imagination and I never would have dreamt of the house is that big.
Later, Summer and her family found their way to the house, from past knowledge and GPS. Hayden and the twins were also in a state of wonder when they got there. California is just so... Beautiful. The house was gigantic and lovely... Beautiful.
“So, Jackie will you give the children a tour of the house?” Nona asked pleasingly.
“Sure, if I still know where everything is,” she said giggling.
“You grew up here, I think you know where everything is still.”
“It’s been over ten years since I have been here, wow! It looks really pretty!”
Jackie gave Hayden, the twins, and me a tour of the house. It was a two-story house with five bedrooms and four bathrooms.
After the tour got over, I sat down next to Hayden and my grandma to eat. There were two kinds of pizza, taco, and pepperoni. I obviously had taco pizza while Hayden had pepperoni, and we both had the garlic sauce on our breadsticks.
“G-ma can I sleep in mom’s room?” I asked; my mother practically two bedrooms. (one of the guest bedrooms had been attached to hers.) They had never done anything to the bedroom because... because... I cannot actually answer that. Ask them.
“Um,” Nona answered looking around like someone was about to tell her the answer. “Yeah, I guess if that is what you want. But I do not want you to feel all sad about what happened, it was a long time ago and we are mostly over it.”
“Thanks, G-ma, I don’t think that I will get sad.”
After we ate pizza, the Rosses went to the hotel and made plans for the next day over the phone with Jackie.
Jackie got off the phone with Summer and started a conversation with her mother, who is my grandmother and is the one and only Nona Collison—that I know. “Mom, they still don’t except her.”
“I know,” Nona answered in a sigh. “They don’t like me either.”
“I don’t understand why though,” She ignored the last part of what Nona had said, “you accepted Sabrina and she was younger.”
“Some people are different.”
“Mom, Hayden is so cute, if only they would have given her a chance.”
“Do, you think Summer ever regrets leaving Hayden here while she finished college?”
“Yeah, but she shouldn’t, I mean she missed his first Christmas, but his dad has missed all of them.”
“Jackie, you have no idea what it is like being a mother. The bond you hold with your son or daughter.” Jackie did not take it that well.
* * *
THAT NIGHT, NONA WONDERED if Summer’s parents even knew that she was back in California. She thought that it was awful that they did not even want to get to know their grandson because of a mistake made over ten years ago.
I woke up early the next morning and ate pizza for breakfast. I decided to take a shower and wondered if my mom had ever taken a shower in this shower. The bathroom was in her room, so she probably had taken one in there. I got out and went downstairs and saw Jackie. Jackie looked very blue to me.
“You look sad,” I said.
“Well,” she answered biting her bottom lip and her eyes tearing up.
“What?” I was scared.
“I think I lost the baby,” she paused, “I’ve had a lot of pain since the plane, and it kept me up all last night.”
“No, you’ve got to be kidding.” my eyes began to tear up too.
“Jason and I are going to go to the hospital we will be back,” she said getting up from the table, I helped her to the car. Then watched as she left.
I was incredibly sad and decided to go talk to Nona about it. We talked for about an hour then there was a knock on the door. At this, the time was around 11 o’clock. It was Summer and her family at the front door knocking, Nona got up and walked over to the door. Summer let herself into the house and started talking, “I heard what happened, where is Jackie?”
“She is at the hospital,” I gloomily said with teary eyes as I sat at the kitchen table staring off in space blandly.
“Ok, Nona will you watch the twins and Hayden?” Summer asked, “I need to see Jackie.”
“Sure,” Nona replied while Summer and Nathan had already left for the hospital, “Or, just don’t give me the choice.”
“Hey, maybe it is a good thing for Jackie and Jason; she is supporting them,” I said to her as Hayden and the twins walked into the house, the twins were clueless and looked like they were about to cry but Hayden was horror-struck and comforted me. He is so sweet.
* * *
MEANWHILE, AT THE HOSPITAL, they were fully examining Jackie the baby. The baby was having issues because Jackie drinks a lot of coffee, I think I really don’t know. Every few minutes it would stop breathing and put Jackie in a lot of pain and everybody in a state of suspense.
“Ok, we think we are going to get the baby out of you, Jackie. Since it is so premature it’s probable that it will not live,” The doctor told Jackie and Jason very glumly. Jackie looked down and it felt as if there was a hole in her heart. This must be the bond of the mother to her baby that Nona was talking about.
“What are the chances of it living?” Jason asked trying to stay positive.
“It is a 50/50 chance, maybe less.” The doctor replied admiring Jason’s optimistic attitude.
“Ok, so let’s get it out of me, it definitely will die if we don’t get it out,” Jackie said while following Jason’s positivity.
They got all ready for Jackie to have the baby and she had it. The baby weighed ½ a pound it was a little boy and they named it Jacob Thomas. The doctors rushed the baby to the NICU.