Lime Baseball

Dear Readers,

This is Jessie. You're not going to believe what happened!!!!!!

OK, so, the other day I got an invitation to go to Noah's house for a party. (I was pretty sure it was something about the football... [because, you know, I did save them by dressing up as the mascot that one time...... ONE OF THE MOST HORRIBLE DAYS EVER.] but my best friend's emails aren't always the easiest to interpret. =P)

Anyway, so I talked to my mom, and she was like...

Mom: Of course your going! Noah's your best friend!

Me: Are you sure? I mean, from Noah's email, it sounded like just him and his football buddies.

Mom: Of course! I know all of their parents. It'll be fine.

Me: OK, but I'm not going to be wrangled into dressing up as a mascot.

Mom: O course not!

So that's how I found myself standing in front of Noah's house.

"Hey, Jessie!" Noah ran out of the house. "Come on--we're about to start playing Imaginiff." He paused, and then leaned forward and hissed, "By the way, I've just got to warn you that Marcus is here."

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"WHAT?!" my voice squeaked. "Are you kidding!?"

"No," he answered.

"Look," I hissed, "I can't go in there. I hate that kid. I'll probably starting throwing food at him, and I don't want to do that."

"Look," Noah whispered, "it'll be fine. Come on."

He practically dragged me into the house, where his mom was trying to save all of her precious vases and picture frames. (I would've given it up.) Noah's football buddies were running around the house like crazy. (I'm serious. Middle school boys are so immature. =P) Marcus was sitting like a board, glaring, on Noah's couch.

"I need to leave," I hissed. "My mind's already thinking of ways to booby trap Marcus!"

"It'll be fine," Noah told me. "Just relax. Hey, you can go and help Mom in the kitchen, OK?"

I watched his mom catch a picture that was falling off the wall. "Noah, your mom's not IN the kitchen."

"Well, you know what I mean." He pushed me towards the door. "Go on."

I went into the kitchen. Paper plates and cups sat on the kitchen table, next to a bowl full of limes and oranges and a platter of sandwiches.

"What's this party really for, anyway?" I muttered, picking up a lime and throwing it between my hands like a baseball.

CRASH!!! The sound made me cringe and then run angrily into Noah's living room. Marcus was standing with a smug smile over a broken vase.

"YOU HOOLIGAN!" I shouted at him.

And then I did something really awful.

I threw the lime at his head.

"OOF!" He fell to the ground, rubbing the back of his head. Then he stood up and glared at me. "What was that for?!"

As you can imagine, I was horrified.

It ended up that I apologized, Noah's mom cut the party short, and we went home.

HAD I REALLY JUST THROWN A LIME AT MARCUS???????

Oh stink.

Love,
Jessie

Party Horrors

Dear Readers,

Hey, this is Jessie!!

Let's just say that you probably don't want to hear about the dance.

What? You DO?!

OK, your funereal.

(It WASN'T MY FAULT, okay?!)

OK, so, like, I got ready, and then Noah's mom came over and we all went to the dance and got dropped off, and the whole time we were joking all over the place.

And then we finally got there, and the whole thing was totally decked out like this huge castle or something, with streamers and big paper cutouts and lots of crazy stuff. We were pretty much like "are you serious? This was the GYM?!"

So then Noah's mom drove off and we just walked in there like old pals. I think that Noah wanted us to go, but didn't want to go with me and ask because he was afraid that I'd think he was going all weirdo on me. So it was all relaxed and totally friend-to-friend, which was what I wanted.

When we walked in, Summer looked about ready to burst.

"What's her problem?" I snorted.

"Probably ate a sweet pickle," chuckled Noah. "Come on. I think I see some food over there."

Boys. Always thinking about food.

OK, OK, I admit it--I was starved. So we hurried over and attacked the food and then sat on in the chairs by the wall and watched the drama unfold. Pretty interesting.

First, Summer got jealous about Ladasha and "secretly" (not very. We could see the whole thing.) tripped Ladasha so that she fell right into Maurice, who'd been dancing with another girl who I'd never met.

Then Ladasha went and started yelling things that I wont repeat at Summer, which got everybody horrified and hushed. THEN the principal showed up and demanded what on earth was going on. Then Summer lied and said that Maurice had taken her out and then been ignoring her the whole time.

Then Ladasha told her that she was a liar--TO HER FACE--and then they both got taken off to the principal's office.

Then I got wrangled into dancing, and then Maurice asked me, and then I had to dance again with Noah, then I hid over by the refreshment table, and then, and only THEN, did the dance finally come to and end.

I LOVE YOUR TIMING, GOD.

But then something really horrible happened. Summer had somehow escaped the hands of the principal and, just as I was walking out, yelled,

"SO YOU'RE LIKE DATING NOAH, AREN'T YOU, JESSIE?!"

And I was horrified that I nearly fell over, and Noah grabbed my arm and we ran towards the door.

So then I finally managed to escape.

With Noah's help, of course.

#WORSTNIGHTEVER

"Yes, you can go..."

Dear Readers,

This is Jessie. Anyway, more dance details...

So everybody's been worked up into a frenzy over this thing. I walk through the hallways, and everybody's rushing about doing SOMETHING. Sometimes I feel like I'm the only sane person in the world.

It's kind of also hard to concentrate on your studies when all you hear are whispers behind you--"I'm going to wear blah blah blah" "I love your nails!" "What're YOU going to do with your hair?" "I can't wait!"

My teachers tried to take care of it, but you know what middle school's like.

Let's just say they failed.

Miserably.

Mom and Dad have been trying to cheer me up, but I point out that it's annoying and, besides, I'm not even going.

"You're not?" Dad frowned.

"Uh, no," I said. "I didn't think I was allowed to..."

"Of course you're going!" Mom declared. "I went to a dance in middle school and had a blast. After the dance my best friend and I rigged this..."

"OK, so wait." I held up my hands. "I'm allowed to go?"

"Yep," nodded Mom. "Though I don't want you going with anybody. Unless Noah asks, of course. Then it'd just be like a friend-to-friend outing."

"Oh, yeah," I snorted. "I really see that happening. Noah would never ask me, Mom."

"Hmm." Mom's eyes looked away.

Yeah, weird.

Love,
Jessie

Dance Troubles

Dear Readers,

Yes, this is Jessie again.

So, anyway, I went into school the other day and there was this huge sign tacked up on the wall in front of the library.

Every Day's a Fairytale

Middle School Dance Hosted by Dayton Public Middle School

Dance the night away!

I was pretty much like, "what??? A DANCE!? Why not a jousting tournament!?!?"

And then I walked into my classroom and like two boys that I didn't even know walked up to me and asked me out to the dance. 

"Um, I'm not even sure I'm going," I told the first one. "Sorry."

He walked away. And the next one walked up. When I told him the same thing, he took it as a no, too, and walked off, dejected.

"THERE'S A DANCE!" Maya was shrieking in the cafeteria that afternoon. 

The Sisterhood Squad looked about ready to pummel her. I finally located Noah, who'd been dodging me all day, it seemed, and sat down next to him.

"So what do YOU think about the dance?" I snorted, taking a big bite out of my homemade sandwich.

He just shrugged.

I sighed. "Come on. What's bothering you?"

"You," he answered.

I frowned, finished my sandwich, and walked out.

Where I was confronted by Maurice Mendoza.

As usual, the richie from Florida who looked like Spanish royalty was far from nervous. Cockily, he walked up to me and handed me a piece of paper, walking off.

Suddenly, Noah was by my side.

"What's that?" he demanded.

I looked down at the piece of paper. "Uh... I don't know. Maurice just handed it to me."

"Well?" Noah was getting edgy. "Open it up!"

I sighed and opened it up.

And almost puked.

Dear Jessie,

I was wondering if you wanted to go to the dance with me. Leave a replying note in my bag after school.

Maurice

"I'm going to be sick!" I announced.

Noah grabbed the note, looking about read to tear it up. "This is horrible!"

"I know!" I cried. "What am I going to do?!"

Noah looked up, pale. "Well, of course you're not going to go with him, are you?"

"No," I snorted. "I'll just have to leave a replying note." 

I grabbed the note back from Noah and wrote:

Maurice,

Thanks for the invitation, but I'm afraid that I'm not going to be able to go with you. Sorry.

Jessie

Noah grabbed it. "Perfect. I'll give it to him."

I snatched it back. "Of course you're not! I'M going to give it to him, because I'M the one who got the note in the first place!"

He sighed. "Fine." Then he grinned. "Wait a sec. Everybody thought that he would ask like Ladasha or Summer or Maya."

"So?" I snorted.

"Well..." Noah licked his lips, like he was coming up with this brilliant plan. "Maybe we could..."

"I am NOT going to show this off in their faces!" I declared. "That's just mean. I'm going to give Maurice the note and that's that."

"Jessie, wait." Noah grabbed my arm just as I was about to walk off.

"What?" I sighed.

"Never mind," he shrugged. "Bye."

I ran off.

What on EARTH am I going to do about this dance??

The Perfect Tea

How do you have the perfect tea party?

Love, I'm about to tell you. ;D

I hope you enjoy! Maybe you'll even have your own tea. :)

If you do, please tell me!! That would be awesome to know that I helped you get your own tea assembled. :)

First of all, before I begin, I'll say this--you're NEVER too old to go to a tea party. And maybe you have little friends. If they ask you, why not? It's lots of fun!

Of course, I'm sure you all know that tea wasn't just for little girls before.

But anyways.

Perfect tea?

We're starting. ;D

1. Do you have a tea set?

This might sound kind of silly, but seriously--do you have a tea set? Without a tea set, it's kind of hard to have a tea. (parts of a tea set: tea pot, sugar holder, cream pitcher, several cups with saucers, and of course stirring spoons) If you don't already have a tea set, it's really easy to pick one up at a second hand store for a really good price!
Also, if you are doing that, it's way OK if they don't have a huge tea set all together!! :) It's OK to pick out like five different tea cups (or how many you're going to need). It's always fun to pick your tea cup, isn't it? It also gives a sort of style.

2. Compile your guest list.

Who do you want to invite?

Who do you think would come?
Who can have the things that you will be serving?
(you should always make sure that your guests can actually eat what you're serving. For example I have a friend who can't eat products with flour, and I have friends with braces. They might be breaking the rules, but there's still the rules--you're not supposed to have tea or pop when you have braces. Have something else for them like lemonade. Or, for like my friend who can't have flour, maybe have some kind of special treat that they could have. Example: maybe candy. My friend loves chocolate. =D)

Start coming up with ideas before your tea party to see if your party would actually work out. Maybe even ask some of your friends if they would like an idea like that.

Once you know who's coming and everything, most likely the rest of the rules will be easier.

3. Get your perfect spot.
Do you have a spot in mind for your tea?
Outside in your garden?
In your dining room?
Your living room?
Your bedroom?
Or perhaps another place?
When you're planning a tea, you want to make sure you know where you're going to be at. If it's summer, maybe you can plan it outside. Or on a back porch, where the breeze can roll in. Or maybe you can decorate your living room and have it in there. There's lots of awesome places to hold teas.
(Like maybe you could redecorate your barn loft...? ;D)
Real quick here are some ideas for decorating a space to look more Victorian:
Take or hide the immediate modern appliances. For example if you're doing it in your living room, drape a knitted/crocheted blanket over your TV (if you have one). Put doilies (see below) underneath lamps. Instead of lamps, maybe, you could put candles. (if you have them, kerosene lamps are AWESOME!!! :)) Even put like tablecloths or sheets or blankets over small tables that you have. Drape blankets over your couch and chairs. Add pillows, maybe some that you've embroidered. If you have a tea hat, maybe you could hang it on the wall instead of that modern painting. Be creative and don't be afraid to try something out!!! :)

4. Get your "tea" and food ready.
I don't know if you've heard this, but you don't actually have to drink tea at a tea party. Use your favorite drink, like maybe lemonade or soda. You can still have the tea party feel by pouring your drink into your tea pot and cup.
As for tea, try lots of different kinds! Maybe even have several tea pots. It always lots of fun to choose something and maybe even try something new. And you don't have to go for the really expensive teas. Just try some of the cheaper ones. They're lots of fun!! :)
 As for goodies? You can do whatever you want!! Make the cookies that you love, buy some crackers from Wal-Mart, make a cake, just whatever! Also, sometimes it's fun to make sandwiches.
To give the sandwiches extra styles, try doing different "designs" with them. Example: cut off the corners, or make them into triangles. (i.e. on the triangles: take a piece of bread and cut it in half in a way that makes it triangles, from, say, the top right corner to the bottom left corner.)
It's lots of fun!! :) You can also use cookie cutters. Those work really well.

5. Tea Party Decorations.
Do you want that perfect look of beauty and Victorianishness? Then you'll not want to forget your decorations! Though the table above is pretty and attractive, you don't have to go quite to those lengths.
What kind of decorations are good at a tea party?
Tablecloths are a very good idea. Not only are they pretty, but they protect Mom's prized table from little messes that always happen. (don't worry--I always make messes :P)
Flowers are also very pretty. Maybe you can pick some that are in your back yard, or maybe you have fake flowers. Either way, put in a vase or even an old water bottle or something that's decorated with paper, it looks very well on your table arranged around your tea set!! :)
And maybe something else? Doilies are also very pretty. (what are doilies? Click here)(I'm pretty much positive that if you don't know what they are by ear, you'll know what they are when you see them) These are very pretty. Put them underneath your flowers or in the middle of the table.
Also, you can add other decorations to your table, too!! Be creative!! Maybe you have that pretty little figurine that you would just love to put on a doily... try it out!! That's how things are invented. =D

6. Some things about manners.
I don't know if you know anything about proper manners. I don't even know if you CARE about manners. You can either have a really fun time and just be yourself, or you can try the formal.
For the formal tea party: make sure that you serve your guests first. You should do this anyway, just to be polite to your friends. And if you see them glancing towards your plate of goodies, offer them another or make it known that everybody can take as many as they want. You want to be aware of your guests and make sure they have a wonderful time!! :)

7. The perfect outfit.
Not only do you want your party to look perfect, you want YOURSELF to look perfect.
Just dress in something fun!! Maybe your new dress that you got for your birthday, or that really pretty dress that your dad just bought you.
Or, you could go total Victorian and dress up like they might've back then when they went to tea with long dresses, big hats, white gloves, and parasols. Either way it lots of fun!! And if you tell your friends, you can all dress up together. :)

8. The before and afterwards.
Don't forget to send out invitations and thank-yous! You can go either way on these. It's really easy to pick up a pack of thank you and invitation cards for really cheap. Or, you can make your own, whether by yourself or with the help of a computer. Be creative!!! :)

And most of all, don't forget to have a GREAT time!!!!! :)

The Rain of Dressing

Dear Readers,

I came into school Monday morning with expectations and new hopes...... hopes that hopefully Noah didn't actually punch anybody and that there was going to be another football game the next Friday night.

But what happened I didn't expect--like AT ALL.

So I walk in and all of the kids are buzzing in a group. I frowned and walked over, wondering what on earth was going on. When I approached, a girl by the name of Marjorie, "Margie", quickly ran over to me and squealed,

"Summer's actually from California!! Isn't that like awesome?!"

I frowned. "Summer? Who's Summer? And why's she from California?"

Margie rolled her eyes like "what a dummy you are". "Summer's the new girl that just arrived!! And she's from Cal--"

"Yeah, I heard that," I interrupted quickly. "Is that why everybody's in such a buzz?"

"Just listen," huffed Margie. "And from Orlando, Florida, came Maurice Mendoza..."

"So, wait." I held up my hands. "There're two new kids? And they're like from California and Florida...?"

"Yes!" shrieked Margie.

I had to see these kids for myself. I pushed through the crowd and saw that in the middle of the buzz were two kids. The girl was small and petite with luscious, shining blonde hair and bored-looking blue eyes. She wore so much makeup that I was almost wasn't sure if she actually looked like that. Now, makeup isn't bad, and sometimes (very rarely) I wore like mascara for some dress-up nights. But this was ridiculous!

I glanced at the boy. He had curly black hair and dark eyes. Frankly, he looked like he was from Spain or Italy or something and he thought that he was the hottest snot on the earth. I didn't like the look of either of them.

Ugh.

I came to school the next day, and Maya was running around handing out invitations. She even gave one to ME.

"What's it for?" I asked in surprise.

She got that snooty look. "Why, I've invited everybody--including Maurice and Summer--to my house for a party!" she smiled. "Hope you can make it, Jessie!" and then raced off down the hallway, handing the invitations out to everybody.

I looked at my own, and then back at her. Oh, great.

Mom was more than happy to take me to the party. I didn't wear Maya's dress that she'd given me (it was still in the box, in fact), but wore a nice party dress like the invitation suggested. I had no hope of seeing Noah at the party, since he was like grounded (I'm pretty sure, at least).

"This will be great," Mom smiled at me. "Maybe you can witness to them and they'll all become Christians."

I sighed. "Mom, that would be really awesome, but I doubt it's going to happen."

She sighed, too, and focused her eyes on the road. "I suppose you're right."

We finally reached Maya's house. OK, so it wasn't a house. It was a mansion. It was huge, with all of this expensive stuff. Parked outside on the tiles surrounding the fountain was a corvette and a Jaguar. *creepy* Mom stopped by the door and I hopped out.

"Bye!" she called, driving back off for the gate that led out onto the road.

I walked up the ornate steps to the huge double doors. Before I could even knock the door burst open and pop music burst out. A butler was standing in front of me. I glanced around him and saw kids dancing with a disco spraying colors all over the walls. Everything was like topo expensiveo.

"Are you Miss Bender?" he questioned.

My head snapped back to the butler. "Oh, yeah. Here's my invitation." I quickly handed it to him.

He nodded and let me in (he probably would've let me in without an invitation, considering that Maya liked to brag so much). I quickly dodged the dancers and started towards one of the many refreshment tables. It was around lunchtime, and I'm not one of those people who eats like birds. When I'm starving, give me a big mac, people!!!

The only real "good" thing was like a salad. I quickly poured it onto a paper plate and looked around for some Italian dressing. I'll only eat it with Italian dressing. All I saw were all of these really like expensive dressings that looked like puke in a bottle.

I sighed.

"Hi, I'm Maurice."

(Pause for a sec: you're probably wondering why I always get introduced to people. Really, it's not my fault. I know it's weird. OK, Play!)

I turned and there was the snotty hotty from Florida. I managed a smile and a, "I'm Jessie," (you think I was going to tell HIM my last name?!) and glanced around as if I was already busy. But he went on.

"Are you looking for something?"

"Actually," I started, "I was looking for some Italian dressing....."

Maurice clapped his hands and a waiter appeared. If I had blinked it would've looked like he'd appeared out of no where.

"Miss Jessie would like some Italian dressing," he ordered.

The waiter nodded and took off. A few minutes later (it seemed like seconds) he was back with the dressing on a platter. I gratefully took the bottle off the tray.

OK, so I've heard it before--ALWAYS CHECK TO MAKE SURE THAT THE CAP IS ON SECURELY BEFORE YOU SHAKE. But I'd thought it was new. If I'd looked, I would've seen that it was already opened. I would've seen that the last person who'd opened it had been too careless to shut it.

But, I didn't. And I shook it. The cap flew off and and Italian dressing flew everywhere, completely covering Maurice and all of the nearby dancers.

"Yuck!" somebody shrieked.

I'd escaped without having gotten myself all covered.

"I'm so, so sorry!" I cried, handing Maurice a napkin.

He was trying to compose himself. "No, it's fine," he said.

Then he walked off. Probably to change.

I hid for the rest of the party underneath Maya's steps.

But when I got home, I couldn't help but admit that it was pretty funny. :)

Love,
Jessie

Noah's House Gets Wrecked

Dear Reader,

Yeah, so I guessed that it was time for another from awesome me (haha). Yep, it's Jessie!!! So, just to say, I heard that Storyteller had a fire by her place. (well, two, actually......) I also heard that they're pretty much contained!!!! She wanted me to personally thank everyone who prayed for her.

So, um, THANKS!!!!

OK, so what am I going to talk about today?

Like there's any choice!! What just happened to me!!!!

OK, into story mode....

So I was walking down the hallway when all of a sudden Noah caught up with me. He didn't say anything and was walking cryptically quietly down the hallway with me. I was about to turn and yell at him "OK, so what on earth is going on?!" when he turned on me and announced,

"OK, Jessie, hear me out before you say no."

I frowned, suspicious. "OK. So what's the scoop? And why on earth are you acting so weird? Man, you'd think I'd like become an alien or something......"

"OK." Noah took a deep breath. "Jessie, the guys and I..."

"Wait." I held up my hands. "What 'guys'?"

"The football team," he answered, like "duh, Jessie, what other kind of 'guys' are there for me??".

"OK......"

"So, anyway, we were wondering if you would be willing to be the mascot at a party," he blurted.

OK, so our team is called the Spartans. Our colors are black and maroon. Our mascot is this really heavy outfit with a felt Spartan hat and Spartan clothes that I'd been told a million times felt like you were wearing a hundred pounds of wool during the middle of summer.

"You've got to be joking!" I cried. "And what kind of party would you want me to be a mascot at?! Are you out of your mind?!"

"Oh, come on, Jessie!" he cried. His eyes begged. "Please?"

"What party?" I demanded.

"Well...." Noah trailed off. "Our Middle School football team went and invited Norwich's over for a party."

 Norwich. Man, I hated those peoples' guts!! They were like beasts at everything and had been our rivals since God had spoke man into being (OK, so probably not that early, but you see my point).

I gave him a look. "And you're wanting me to dress up as your mascot? For the party? What am I even supposed to DO?"

"Just be a good sport and represent our team," Noah said. "It'll be really easy."

"Why on earth do you guys need a mascot?" I demanded.

"Because Norwich is going to have their's there!" cried Noah.

Either way, I found myself driving up to Noah's house, the place of the party, dressed in a Spartan suit. Well, I was definitely the shortest Spartan ever to be alive.

"Bye, Jessie!" Mom yelled out the window after me, driving off down the street. Bye bye, getaway. Stink.

I was about to get my courage to go inside when the door burst open and the whole team, led by Noah, rushed out to greet me.

Apparently, Noah had told the name of the person inside (me) because everybody was like, "Jessie!" "Thanks so much, Jessie!" "Are you OK in there, Jessie?" "Come on in, Jessie!" "We're just about to eat, Jessie!" "I think the Norwich team's about here, Jessie!"

"Come on!" Noah grabbed my arm and the whole team hauled me inside.

Inside Noah's house looked, as always, like the inside of Hobby Lobby. I was more than surprised that his mother had allowed him to have a party here with who knew how many middle schoolers. I definitely wouldn't have signed up for it. Yet I was here. Stink.

"They here!" shrieked one of the boys who'd been watching the door. "The bus is just getting parked! Hey! There's that jerk quarterback Mansville!"

"Jessie," hissed Noah, "just pretend you're a mascot and disguise your voice to sound like Tony."

"Tony?" I frowned.

"Yeah," He whispered. "Like that tiger dude? Kellogs?"

I was still giving him a strange look when we ran off to the door with the rest of the boys. The door burst open and there was a whole group of boys. Unlike our team, they were all dressed in casual clothes (not like jerseys). In front of them was  a stern man with salt and pepper hair.

"Is this the Darcy residence?!" shouted the man, though, really, it was unnecessary.

"Yep!" cried Noah. "Welcome to Dayton!"

All of the Norwich kids came in unwillingly. Tensions were high. I saw the mascot, and noticed that whoever it was was like two feet taller than me. Ugh.

The boys were playing some games when all of a sudden there was really loud shouting and yelling. I'd been standing quietly by the wall, but since nobody was doing anything, I sighed and threw off the mascot head and ran over there.

"What is your problem?" I hissed to the two boys. "This is a party! For goodness sakes, stop acting like two year olds!"

"It's a girl!" cried one of the boys (he must've been a Norwich boy, because I didn't know he was).

"Of course she's a girl!" cried the other, a boy by the name of Jason Mayberry.

"So you had to get a girl to do it because no real man would ever help you wimps out?" sneered the other boy.

Boy, those are fightin' words.

No truer words than those.

Jason glared and then threw a punch, catching the kid right on the jaw. Another Norwich boy saw it and was like, "Hey!" then he punched Jason.

And so started the most wrecked wrecking of Noah Darcy's house. Kids grabbed pillows and threw them; they punched each other; they hit each other; they almost hit Noah's mother! They threw her vases, they threw her plates, they threw the bananas, they threw the dates! They punched and bit and pinched and screamed, and Noah's mother had them deemed, horrible children, evil sprites, and I was like the only light.

OK, sorry for the poem.

When they finally broke up the fight, all of the Norwich kids were hauled back off to Norwich and all of the Dayton kids were taken home by my mother.

Just to say, I never threw a punch.

And Noah? I don't know. But I think he's going to have a long talk with his parents..... ;)

Bye!!!

Love,
Jessie

Perfect Party

Dear Readers,

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..................

Sorry, I just had to write that.

Finally, I'm writing from my beautiful room in Dayton, Ohio, without worrying about whether I'm going to the Forbidden Land* or not!!!!! (*The Forbidden Land is what I call Alaska. Truly, Alaska's beautiful, but I really wouldn't want to leave my beautiful Dayton!!)

So, I just had to celebrate me not leaving. Noah wasn't going to hear of me NOT having it. And what is my amazing "it"?

A party!!!

Yes, a party.

A party for Middle Schoolers........ (explanation: I was going to invite my friends, but then Mom and Dad were like "are you kidding?! You have to invite everybody!" Hey, it was their idea. I just hoped that they wouldn't trash the house.) Everybody, just to let you know, also includes popular girls like Maya Henderson.

So Mom went and bought me a new dress (awesome summer dress, thanks bunches, Mom!!), got some fun drinks and food and disposable plates and such, decorated the house, and whalaa!!! You've got a house decorated by my mother ready for a party!!

This is Noah's email to me about the party:

To: Jessie Bender <dramaticcrazyjessie@gmail.com> (hey--you didn't think I was going to miss that awesome opportunity, did you??) =D
From: Noah (are you imaging what his last name's going to be??) Darcy (how Pride & Prejudicey is that??) <savethekoalabears@yahoo.com> (I believe he liked koalas as a ten year old......)
Subject: Party!

Jessie,

This is going to be so awesome!!!! OK, since you're like my best friend, do you think I look better in green or blue??? Well?? I know, I know. Asking you for fashion advise. But seriously!! This is going to be so much fun!! You didn't invite Maya, did you??

Noah

I won't put my reply here, but anyway.......

So the day of the party arrived. *excitement!* *excitement!* I just about couldn't wait. I took a shower, straightened my hair, curled it, got dressed, and screamed around the house for the rest of the day helping Mom.

Finally one o'clock came (of course we did it on a Saturday). Everybody started arriving. Of course Noah was there first. He wore a brown and blue and green checked shirt (which is why I decided that it wasn't really necessary to put my email reply because, I mean, he wore both!!!). Then arrived a few more kids. Then Michael. Then a few more kids. Then Lulu and her friends ("Jessie! I really hope we can be better friends soon....." Cool, I know!! Spaghetti fight girl?? AWESOME!! :D) arrived, and then after that.... ugh...... Maya.

"Wow, this party stinks already," she snorted.

To my surprise, she was met with a, "Shut up," by Michael. Go, Mikey!!

We played some great games, ate some great food, and then it was time for people to go. Surprisingly, everybody had given me a "welcome back, Jessie!" gift, even though I hadn't asked for any and it wasn't like I'd really left, anyway.

Noah suggested that I open Maya's first. "Might as well find out what's in it," he shrugged.

I wasn't so eager. I mean, what if it was something that was going to ruin my good looks forever? Like some kind of torch blower thingy that would burn my facial features and disfigure me horribly...?!

"Just open it," urged Noah.

I did. It was a dress. A really pretty dress.

"Wow," I said.

What about that?

Love,
Jessie