nanowrimo chapter 3!

FINALLY XD

“I forgot to tell you, I sent someone out to interrogate the blonde. She didn’t give us anything useful.”

“Sir, didn’t she say that bit about our subject living in the past?”

“Eh… I guess… We all know that. Even her classmates do.”

“And didn’t she think about comparing her own mother to our subject?, sir?”

“Excellent job. You tapped into her thoughts. Maybe you’ll amount to something someday.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You want to be really useful? Try and interrupt our subject while she’s practicing.”

After an online conversation with runnergirl69, or Evangeline, Kathica sealed herself in her soundproof section of her family compartment. A small black case rested against a bland white wall, providing striking contrast. She picked it up, along with the small paperback book that rested behind it.

Kathica undid the case’s metal padlocks and took out what looked like an intricately carved piece of wood with strings running through it. A violin, as it was referred to in the book she’d found about how to play it. Before she’d done her soundproofing project, she found the violin and book resting in a corner of her room, and was intrigued by them. Luckily, her parents were out, so they didn’t notice the soft screeching noise she made, but she didn’t want anyone else to hear it. Least of all an Authority.

Those screeching noises had, over time, been replaced with something different, something beautiful. The sounds leaped and swerved around the room, flowing gracefully from one note to the next. Kathica’s tanned fingers were a blur, dancing on those thin strings. She controlled the bow and listened as the melody slid from one note to the next. Making these sounds came naturally to her. This was all she was good for, other than knocking out older kids and making good grades in math.

Music, the book called it. Kathica liked the sound of the word. It just felt… nice, comforting. Like she did when she played it. The piece she was working on had mostly high notes, so she took it down an octave. She loved the rich, deep sounds of the lower part of the violin’s range, and preferred them over the tinny higher reaches.

Kathica kept playing and playing and wishing more than ever that she could time-travel back to the past, where her passion wouldn’t be considered a frivolity. She could imagine it: a music-player weaving melodies from air, and other people gathered around, sitting still and listening and loving it. If everyone just took time off from their fighting and seriousness and did something “frivolous” every now and then, she thought, this war-torn world would be a better place. Of course, no one listened to insignificant children like her. For now, these fantasies would have to remain in her head.

Her computer beeped again, but it wasn’t because of runnergirl69 this time. Kathica had received a message, but it was from Address Unknown. She ended her piece with a long fluttering trill, then set her violin and bow down and looked at the screen.

“Report to your compartment’s door at once,” the message said. Knowing better than to trust complete strangers, Kathica ignored the message and kept sawing away at her violin. She was on top of the world. Nothing could stop her now, except maybe being taken away by the Authorities.

Another message arrived for her. “Kathica Finley Perlman, I mean it. Go outside. Now. Your future awaits you.” Finley. That awful word. No one, not even Evangeline, knew her middle name. She hated it so much that she begged her parents not to tell anyone about it. Surprisingly, they agreed.

She packed up her violin and book, setting them in the closet where her clean Uniforms were, and walked out her compartment’s front door. Her parents weren’t home that day, as they were always building some new contraption for the soldiers. Kathica didn’t mind being so distant from her parents, as she was quite independent.

The husky, broad-shouldered silhouette of an Authority blocked her door. Great. They had discovered her “frivolous” hobby. This was the end of her normal, peaceful existence. Her days were most certainly numbered.

“Kathica Perlman. At last, we have proof that your so-called passion is the highest frivolity that exists. You probably know what’s coming next, don’t you?” She did. She knew too well. She was being sent to military training camp, and then on a suicide mission. Even though she could knock out DeSilva and Anderson with one sweep of her fist, she couldn’t intentionally hurt anyone.

“Yeah. Basically, I’m gonna die.” Kathica said those words with bored indifference. “But I have one last wish: to take my violin and book with me. And I want to be able to practice whenever I have time. Oh, and can I message my best friend real quick? In private?” To her surprise, the Authority agreed.

Kathica logged on to her computer and sent Evangeline a farewell message. “I’m leaving today. I don’t know why, but the Authorities are sending me off to training camp. If anyone at school asks about me, say that my parents got relocated. I know you hate lying, Evangeline, but do it just this once. For me.” She knew that she was lying too, but she didn’t mind. Kathica was the best liar she’d met. Still, she cried, beside herself with tears. She’d never cried before.

Evangeline’s reply was quick: “im so sorry kat! :( good luck staying alive!” The message seemed light and insincere, but Kathica knew it wasn’t. She could feel her friend’s panic, could imagine Evangeline’s sorrow at her only companion being gone. Evangeline just wasn’t very good at putting her thoughts into words.

Kathica packed up her computer and a clean Uniform. “You won’t be needing those clothes,” the Authority said. “Training camp has it’s own Uniform. You’ll probably like it better than this one.” She wasn’t so sure about that. If it was a Uniform, it was bound to be awful.

In a failed attempt to cheer herself up, she imagined training camp as a place with green polka-dotted walls and absurdly high ceilings and lots of music and frivolities. It wasn’t actually that funny. In a situation as dire as hers, nothing was funny.

chapter two of my amazing novel!

(BTW, I edited chapter one. Now they live in an underground city. XD)

“The way she handled those young men… unimaginable! No sane, self-respecting girl would knock them over like that!”

“Sir, are you implying that she’s not sane or self-respecting?”

“We don’t know. She could be a real threat to society.”

“Wait… hold on… I have more information, sir! Her thought processes included wishes to time-travel. To the past.”

“Not good. And do you have anything on her little friend? The cute blonde she sits next to on the shuttle?”

“She acts normal, sir. An Authority’s child, in fact.”

“Good. I just need a way to use her.”

Evangeline “Evie” Deschaine’s father didn’t have a head. If he did, she’d never seen it. He ran away from her mom before she was born. Mrs. Deschaine had pictures of her ex-husband, but she always used the cropping tool to remove his head. “A man who leaves his pregnant wife to go become an overarching and evil Authority doesn’t deserve to stay in my memory,” she said, teary-eyed, whenever Evie asked her about her dad. When she spoke the word “Authority,” she spat it, like it was the vilest of curses.

The Deschaines had barely enough money to get by, and it was like that since before the wars, even though Evie couldn’t remember a time back then. None of Evie’s friends noticed or teased her. It wasn’t as if she had many friends, as her closest thing to one was Kathica Perlman, the girl who sat next to her on the shuttle and sometimes exchanged messages with her during class. Evie was too shy to talk to any of the other girls, and too scared to approach boys even though people often said she was attractive.

Kathica was a good sort-of friend to have, especially for someone as timid as Evie. She was strong and didn’t let anyone get the best of her, least of all Marc DeSilva and Keith Anderson, the school bullies. Evie had seen her knock both of them over today right after classes. Now she understood why the other children looked up to her in awe, as if they were a little scared of her and what she could become if you got on the wrong side of her.

The two girls were now studying together, sending messages back and forth, but they ended up talking about the incident that just happened. Kathica made it sound like it was completely unintentional, like it was just her reflexes in action, like she didn’t mean to put two older and bigger boys in critical condition.

“It’s not a crime that I like to live in the past,” typed Kathica, her spelling and grammar looking ancient and flawless and unheard of. “I’m sure there are weird things about you as well, except you’re doing a better job of hiding them then I am.” Evie said nothing. Kathica knew that her dad was an Authority, but Evie never told her about the “headless” part.

Evie didn’t know this, but her mom was standing behind her, reading every word of her conversation with Kathica. “She seems like a good influence,” she said, startling her daughter. “A nice strong girl, knocking down everything in her way instead of whining about breaking a nail. And she doesn’t care about being super popular in school.”

Evie thought her mom acted a little like Kathica sometimes. They were both a little out of the loop and didn’t seem to like using the cool new gadgets and computers that everyone else enjoyed. They preferred older things, like Kathica’s dinosaur computer and Mrs. Deschaine’s famous cookie recipe that had been passed down for generations. And they seemed to loath the Authorities, probably because they wanted to enjoy frivolities like people did in the past.

For a moment, Evie began to wonder if her mom and her only friend were actually from the past. Because time travel hadn’t been invented yet, she decided that they weren’t. It wasn’t as if she cared too much, because they were both good people.

She finished her homework quickly, then stepped out of her compartment to go for an evening run. Evie loved feeling the cool underground air and the synthetic sunlight on her skin. Luckily for her, athletics weren’t considered frivolous, as soldiers needed to be in excellent shape to win the wars. It wasn’t as if Evie wanted to become a soldier. She fainted at the sight of blood.

Half an hour went by, and Evie felt herself getting a bit tired. She slowed her pace down to a walk, trying to get her breath back until she could sprint again. Unknowingly, she stumbled into a dimly lit alley blocked by a dark shape. The silhouette could be nothing but a hulking, enormous Authority. Evie Deschaine’s days were numbered, or so she thought.

“Relax,” he said in a menacingly deep voice. “I’m not going to hurt you, Evangeline. I’ll just ask you a few questions.” Evie tried to stand tall and look fearless, but the man was too intimidating. “It’s about that friend of yours. Kathica. What does she act like?”

For some reason, Evie couldn’t imagine telling this man about Kathica’s face-off with DeSilva and Anderson. She replied, hesitantly, “Kathica’s a nice person, in general. She doesn’t let bullies win her over. And she loves old stuff.” That was all she would say about her friend. She didn’t want Kathica to get in trouble.

“Old stuff?” the Authority asked, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“She has an ancient computer, and when I message her, she always replies with perfect grammar, like people used to. That’s basically it.”

“Thank you for your time, Evangeline. You can run home. Like a good girl.” The big man chuckled and sent a fresh wave of fear down Evie’s spine. She could only hope she wasn’t dealing with her missing dad, but the man’s ample build and enormous shoulders suggested she wasn’t. Her mom was also quite muscular, which made Evie wonder where she got her slim figure from.

Evie breathed a silent sigh of relief and jogged all the way back to her compartment, loving the synthetic sunlight all the way. The only way to feel the real sun would be to go to the surface of the Earth, where war was constantly taking place, so she didn’t mind too much. Up there, Authorities wouldn’t be the only things out to get her.

nanowrimo chapter 1

*I put some of this up a while ago. Sorry for not posting yesterday, this is what I was working on! I don't know the title yet*

“Any new information on our subject?”

“Nothing at the moment, sir. The girl is still attempting to pursue her silly motives.”

“Ha! Look at her, so confident in her frivolous passion. She doesn’t want to know what we have in store for her future.”

“She’ll know soon enough, won’t she, sir?”

“Of course. You’re darn right she will. If all goes according to plan, that is.”

“Sir, are you implying that it won’t?”

“Definitely not!"

The morning was perfect and silent and just felt good in general. As usual, Kathica Perlman woke up in her plain white living compartment. She hated the blandness of her surroundings. If she had a choice in the matter, she would’ve painted the walls and put up posters and drawings. Neon green polka dots would look nice. Sadly, though, the Authorities would consider them “frivolous” and send her on some dangerous suicide mission into a war zone, and Kathica treasured her life too much to risk death in exchange for polka-dotted walls.

The Authorities were so strict because everyone was fighting. World War III was taking place, and one of the powerful nuclear bombs had killed Kathica’s little brother, Walter, a few years ago. She still missed him and would’ve left flowers at his grave, except every garden in her city Etherios had been destroyed in the war. Flowers would probably also be considered a frivolity. And in addition to fighting each other, the countries of Earth were being assaulted by alien armies, unlike any of the friendly and intelligent microbes the astronauts had encountered earlier.

Kathica changed from her sleeping clothes into her Uniform, a tight gray jumpsuit that was made of the most cost-effective material. She hated the Uniform because it choked her, suppressing the pores on her golden-brown skin. And gray just wasn’t her color. It was the color everyone had to wear, because it was apparently the most efficient to make the Uniforms in, so she tried not to mind too much.

After picking up her small computer, she opened her compartment’s door and stepped out, surveying the war-torn city. It was a good thing that the compartments were bulletproof and bomb-proof and had extremely strong padlocks on their doors. If they didn’t, she’d be dead by now. However, if the Authorities were to ever come to her door, she had to unlock it and politely let them in. And Kathica Perlman didn’t do many things politely, but she also didn’t want to die like Walter and so many others.

The shuttle to school stopped in front of her house. She got on, sitting next to a timid and blonde girl named Evangeline. They rode in silence, which was fine. Kathica didn’t have anything worth talking about to this girl whose father was actually one of the Authorities. Evangeline didn’t brag about it, unlike many of the other Authorities’ children did, so that was why Kathica liked her more than the others. Her own parents were military tacticians and engineers, not as brag-worthy. Everyone’s family was somehow associated with the military.

Her teachers droned on and on about ancient history, her first class. Kathica found herself wishing that her parents signed her up for the virtual school, but they were huge proponents of face-to-face interaction. She preferred taking classes in the safety of her compartment, away from the war that took her brother.

That wasn’t the only reason Kathica hated school. Her section of the compartment was soundproofed. She had done it about two years ago, at the tender age of thirteen, but had deleted all records of it in case the Authorities might find out. She knew that none of her information was ever private, and that the Authorities probably found out about her little project, but she couldn’t care less. It was all that mattered to her.

Her computer beeped softly, so only she could hear it. Evangeline was trying to send her a message: “kat how can u actually pay atenshun?! class is sooo boring!!1 im jealous.” She ignored the message, written in the slang that was common among her classmates, and shut her computer off.  

Kathica was the only one in her history class who actually cared about learning, and the message proved it. She loved the class. Learning about how people lived before the war was actually interesting. The pictures and videos that her teacher showed her weren’t even in 3D! This was probably what got the other students tuned out. They loved having the latest and greatest in technology, no matter what the cost was to them or their struggling-to-get-by parents. Kathica called them spoiled. Her own computer was an ancient model, close to three years old. It worked well enough.

She slept through the rest of her classes. Math and science came naturally to her, so those two were extremely slow-paced. She could ace tests without even studying while her peers struggled over something as elementary as quadratic equations.

Class was dismissed for the day, sooner than Kathica expected. She picked up her computer and headed out the door and towards the shuttle, attempting to sit next to Evangeline again. Before she could even get onboard, though, two muscular boys grabbed her tight Uniform and shoved her backwards.

“Like to live in the past, don’tcha, squirt?” asked the taller of the two, slicking his blond hair back. “Kathica Perlman, the history nerd who thinks she’s better than us all. Well, face it, you’re not.” She recognized him as Marc DeSilva, who, at eighteen years old, was the oldest boy in Year Ten. He thought he was the most popular boy as well.

“Hey, is that even a computer?” the other, stockier boy cut in, eyeing the gadget in Kathica’s hands. “I think it’s called… I don’t know… a dinosaur!” Kathica had never seen him before. If she did, she would have remembered a face that mean.

Her green eyes flashed with anger. She hated it when people insulted her way of life. There was no one in the entire school that she couldn’t beat up. In one fell sweep of her fist, she knocked the blond-headed boy unconscious, then punched the short and stout one right in the stomach. When both boys were lying on the floor and Evangeline congratulated her for humiliating Marc, she finally realized what she had unknowingly done and felt infinitely guilty.

In the silence of the shuttle ride, Kathica began to wish she could travel back in time. She didn't care that technology wasn't as advanced. If she was from the past, she wouldn't have had to soundproof her section of the compartment the way she did two years ago. She'd be able to enjoy music and pretty dresses and all those other "frivolities." Including green polka-dotted walls.

confiscating books

I read a lot. Even in classes. So teachers take away my books and I try not to look like I care, because I know I deserved it. But I actually think that confiscating books is actually making me read more...

It's like making up for lost time. I'm the 300-page-a-day kind of girl, and when a teacher takes my book right when I'm at the most suspenseful part, I read like crazy in my next class, which results in yet another confiscation, which results in me reading more... you get the idea.

And class is just too slow for me to actually *SIT STILL AND PAY ATTENTION*. I can ace most tests without studying. (except math. I have the worst teacher >_<) In other classes, especially French (where we work on one silly conjugation for weeks at a time and I read the whole textbook last year), I can't pay attention at all. I know all the stuff already, so why make me listen to it AGAIN AND AGAIN?!? It's boring. A lot more boring than my books.

So basically, if people take away my books, I just end up reading twice as much. Yeah.

#lamepostideas #hashtagssuck

my beautiful persuasive essay

Yes. It is beautiful. Five minutes of my hard work and time, and the person who was supposed to peer-edit it didn't do anything yet. D= (i didn't choose the topic) BTW, sorry for not posting yesterday =(

Imagine a world where everyone is the same, where people’s differences aren’t appreciated, let alone acknowledged. This is what the world would become is we forced our children to wear uniforms to school every day. School uniforms aren’t a good idea because they cost too much, prevent kids from expressing themselves, and send the message that differences are bad and should be hidden.

To begin with, parents are paying through the nose for their children’s uniforms. NOLA.com says that plaid, a common uniform pattern, has to be ordered six months in advance. One set of uniforms for girls (blazer, skirt, vest, shoes) can cost up to $250, according to Peter Houghton. Most parents buy more than one set in case they get damaged or lost.

Also, uniforms decrease individuality. Debate.org points out that by forcing girls to wear skirts, schools with uniforms are actually promoting sexist ideas, which no self-respecting school should be doing. There are enough rules at school that prevent you from freely expressing yourself, so why add one more?

There’s yet another negative lesson that uniforms teach students: it’s not okay to be different from your peers. Peter Houghton states that by making everyone dress the same, uniforms teach children that the best way to deal with differences is to hide them from others. Imagine what these children will act like when they’re grown up, shunning everyone who’s not like them in some way.

You’re probably thinking that uniforms are actually a good idea because they keep students from judging each other based on appearances. Actually, this isn’t true. Students can still form cliques and exclude others based on several things, like speaking style, ethnicity, and grades. If a group of students are desperate enough (which they often are), nothing will be able to stop them from bullying their peers.

Overall, uniforms shouldn’t be used in any decent school. They are ridiculously expensive, suppress children’s natural desire to express themselves through appearance, and don’t properly teach them how to deal with people who are different from them. By enforcing uniforms in 23 percent of American schools (according to educationbug.org), we’re doing more harm than good for our children.

false cadences (my actual nanowrimo)

On March 15, 2069, Kathica Perlman woke up in her plain white living compartment. If she had a choice in the matter, she would’ve painted the walls and put up posters and drawings. Neon green polka dots would look epic. Sadly, though, the Authorities would consider them “frivolous” and send her on some dangerous suicide mission into a war zone, and Kathica treasured her life too much to risk death in exchange for polka-dotted walls.

The Authorities were so strict because everyone was fighting. World War VII was taking place, and one of the powerful nuclear bombs had killed Kathica’s brother, Walter, a few years ago. She still missed him and would’ve left flowers at his grave, except every garden in her city Etherios had been destroyed in the war. And in addition to fighting each other, the countries of Earth were being assaulted by alien armies, unlike any of the friendly and intelligent microbes the astronauts had encountered earlier.

Kathica changed from her sleeping clothes into her Uniform, a tight gray jumpsuit that was made of the most cost-effective material. She hated the Uniform because it choked her, suppressing the pores on her golden-brown skin. And gray just wasn’t her color. It was the color everyone had to wear, because it was apparently the most efficient to make the Uniforms in, so she tried not to mind too much.

After picking up her small computer, she opened her compartment’s door and stepped out, surveying the war-torn city. It was a good thing that the compartments were bulletproof and bomb-proof and had extremely strong padlocks on their doors. If they didn’t, she’d be dead by now. However, if the Authorities were to ever come to her door, she had to unlock it and politely let them in. And Kathica Perlman didn’t do many things politely, but she also didn’t want to die like Walter.

The shuttle to school stopped in front of her house. She got on, sitting next to her sort-of friend Evangeline. They rode in silence, which was fine. Kathica didn’t have anything worth talking about to this girl whose father was actually one of the Authorities. Evangeline didn’t brag about it, unlike many of the other Authorities’ children did, so that was why Kathica liked her more than the others. Her own parents were military tacticians and engineers, not as brag-worthy.

people are gullible

Hello, nonexistent reader. XD

My AMAZINGLY EPIC language arts teacher (Niksch - for those of you who go to my school, I don't hate her at all!) showed us this website: www.dhmo.org

After you zone out on there for a while, do you think DHMO should be banned? I mean, it says a lot of really negative things. Too many people are dying, okay?! And the government doesn't even know! Yup, this is a really serious issue....
...
...
...

Haha, actually don’t ban it! It’s *WATER!*

Dihydrogen Monoxide = 2 Hydrogen and 1 Oxygen = H2O = Water. Yay for chemistry!

Are y’all really stupid enough to ban water? Look up there at the title of this post (in case you don’t know, it’s in neon blue cursive) XD

I figured it out in, like, five minutes. And when I did, I laughed so hard I was almost kicked out of the room ^_^ MEERA, RESTRAIN YOURSELF! :D

anchal's story :)

Posted w/ permission :D
Avani x Readhead Dude is my favorite ship :)

Remember, keep your head low and don’t make eye contact with anyone. I give myself advice all the time. You may think I am giving bad advice to myself, but actually, it can be very helpful. Its just that I am different than the crowd. But i’m not outshining everyone, I’m just hidden under everyone, which suits me just fine. Oh--I’m sorry. Did I forget to introduce myself? I’m Avani Avila. Half-Indian, Half-American. Everyone I meet gets my name wrong. Sometimes I’m Avila Evani, sometimes even Ava Li (that one doesn’t make any sense!).

Nobody bothers to get my name right, probably because I blend into the background so well. Once, my parents didn’t even notice me come into the house. As it grew darker, my parents called the cops, while I was sitting quietly in my room, studying for a math test. Boy, you should have seen how angry they were when they found me in my room. Now, you can probably tell what I’m like. A quiet girl, sitting in the back of the room. Nobody, not even the teacher, noticing her playing on her cellphone in plain sight. It used to bother me some, the fact that everyone forgot me, but now, as I said before, I’m used to it.

Anyways, today is the first day of school, and I expect it to go on like every single first day of school: silently. Every year, the process starts all over. This time, it should be as normal as ever. I mean, what could even happen to a mute girl like me? Well, the truth is, anything could happen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I walk through the rusty, blue door, the peeling paint only adding to the sketchy look of our school. Gretchen High School. Bah. I can find homeless shelters that are better looking than this thing we call a school. I slowly walk to the back of the room, scanning for the seat farthest from the teacher’s desk. Unfortunately, one of the two back row seats is occupied by some kid with really bright red hair. Which means that I will have to sit next to somebody this year. How horrible. I tentatively take a seat, sitting on the very edge, my back facing the kid.

“Are you sitting next to me because you feel sorry for me? You know, being alone and everything? Because I don’t need anyone’s sympathy.” says a voice behind me. I start, but don’t completely turn around.

“No…” I mutter, wondering what else to say. Stupid! You were keeping this whole first-day-of-school thing controlled until now. Oh well, at least you didn’t make eye contact with anyone yet. But for some reason, I keep talking.

“I’m not trying to give you sympathy,” I say, completely turning around to face whoever this is. It takes only a second for me to recognize the face. Mixed emotions burst inside my head like fireworks, unable to grasp one of those feelings. As I learn how to breathe again, the blurry image of a skinny, pale boy with flaming red hair slides into focus.

“Avani? Is that really you?” he asks, looking slightly shaken. This cannot be happening. How could this happen?Oh god, why did this happen? Why does it have to be him?

“I….I….?” I’m speechless. I just can’t get it out in words. Here, why don’t we go back six years. Maybe then you’ll understand this lopsided situation that I’m in right now…

~~~

take these broken wings (so far)

I *MIGHT* use this for Nanowrimo.
The title will make sense later! I assure you!

Someone said that we all act different when we’re not around others, that we have little quirks we never show others. I say that’s completely true. Now, you’re probably expecting me to start a lengthy ramble about how I’m shy around my peers but more outgoing when I’m all alone. That’s true, but it’s not what I meant. I can talk to people who you will never see. It’s not because you aren’t there to see them, it’s that they’re invisible to everyone except myself.  

My name is Ava Marie Costello, and I am most certainly not invisible. I actually have friends that you can see (what a shocker) and two sisters who I’m stuck in the middle of. The older one’s Celeste, and she’s the only girl in her high school class who preferred band over cheerleading. Talia, or Tally, is the baby of the family, and she’s stuck up and “pretty” and popular, Celeste’s polar opposite. I don’t mind being a middle child because I can get away with anything. Or at least I could, until the day that changed everything.

Two weeks before that day, I was walking home from school with one of my “invisible” friends, talking to her all the way. No one heard me because I took a different route than most people. There were only one or two other kids that walked that way. They were all older than me, and they never paid any attention to the way I seemingly talked to myself.

The girl I was walking with was named Cindy, and she was at least a head taller than me. I can still remember her long red curls and her dark blue eyes and the corners of her mouth creasing in a warm smile, but no one else I knew at the time had ever seen her. I’d only met her that day when I was outside running laps to please my evil gym teacher. She ran with me but no one noticed. She had a good pace, not too fast but not too slow.

Our conversation took an interesting turn when Cindy said something like “So this is the twenty-first century, eh? I always thought y’all would have rocket ships and whatnot by now, zooming across the sky like in my time, but here we are, walking home from school like old-fashioned weirdos. I should really read my history books better...” That was how I finally learned the truth about her and the other invisible people: they were time travelers.

If you read as much as I do, you’d know that traveling through time is impossible because you can’t alter the course of history and all these crazy paradoxes would happen if you did. That was why Cindy and her kind were invisible: so they wouldn’t change things too much, so nobody would be able to see and remember and have conversations with them. Nobody, that is, except for a few. Like me.

As we were talking about time travel and other sensitive topics, we were being eavesdropped on. I was too young and naive to even suspect such a thing at the time, but I know better now. I know far better.

The person who was watching us looked to be a typical high school senior, tall and gangly, fists jammed in his hoodie pockets while listening to music through his earbuds. I’d seen him around school for a while. He was on the track team last year with me, and he was one of the best at the 800-meter run. At the time, I didn’t know his name.

Cindy and I reached my house, and she said her farewell. “Next time I come ‘round here, I’ll watch out for you, Ava Costello. You can see me, after all, and that’s something to notice.” The boy who’d been following us was gone, walking off down my street. I didn’t suspect a thing. I just thought he lived nearby when he was actually from a world away.

The next two weeks passed by normally and uneventfully, with Tally rambling on and on about her popular clique at school (she was in seventh grade back then) and Celeste trying to get her in trouble and me, the awkward middle sister, starting to give up on making them get along. To escape the day-to-day chaos of my house, I went on absurdly long bike trips to the library, where I’d sit and read for hours at a time.

On the last day of my first life, I was in that library, poring over a particularly thrilling book, when I felt someone poke the back of my neck. I can still recall the way I jumped, startled, out of my chair, thinking it was a murderer. It was actually Celeste, bringing me the awful news that would change my life forever.

Tears were streaming down her face that day, a rare sight. “Ava…. I…. I’m so sorry,” she wept quietly. “I’ll drive you home. Mom will explain everything.” At the time, Celeste was in her first year of college.

reading list + review-ish thingies...

This is my strange taste in books. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
(notice how this was posted at 4:44... Yay for precise timing and/or scheduling posts for no apparent reason)
(this is in no particular order.)

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card -- I'm not done with this yet, but I love because the characters seem more like... real people, with real flaws. And it's way too suspenseful. Seriously. I almost got it confiscated at least once in every class today (except PE and Teacher Aide, of course!).

A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer -- People don't read this one because it has a lot of REALLY hard words in it and it sounds old-fashioned, but once you can get past that, you'll end up loving most of the characters, like I did! Tyrian annoyed me, though. He's too... perfect.

The Alchemyst (and the rest of the series) by Michael Scott -- This was generally a good series, but the last book had a million typos in it, and it wasn't that polished. I really liked how the author used things from different cultures' mythology in a modern setting. Scathach is EPIC! Vampire warriors FTW!

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass -- The characters in this book are also like real people, and I really liked how three separate stories were woven into one. However, I wished the book would be longer or have a sequel... I want to know what happens to everyone!

Dragon Slippers (and the rest of the series) by Jessica Day George -- The plot was pretty epic and I liked the general idea of the series! (Riding around on dragons does sound pretty cool, right?!) One thing I didn't like, though, was that Creel (main character) seemed to change really abruptly...

The Hunger Games (and the rest of the series) by Suzanne Collins -- I only read this because everyone said it was so good, and I wasn't disappointed at all... until the part where basically all the main characters died. (WHY?!??!?!?!?) R.I.P. Rue and Prim and basically everyone else <3

Divergent and Insurgent by Veronica Roth -- At first sight, this seems like yet another dystopian series, but it's actually worth reading. Tris isn't too annoying and unreal unlike some characters from other books, but I think she changes a little too quickly...

The Game of Sunken Places by M. T. Anderson -- I LOVED the plot twist at the end! And the characters (namely Brian and Gregory) are fairly well-developed. The beginning really got me hooked. The only bad thing: it was a little hard to follow the story and remember what happened before.

If I find the time, I'll continue this later. Right now I have to go... I'm writing two books at once, okay?!

post ideas

• lengthy rants about why you can't think of an idea
• a list of common typos
• reasons why I am amazingly awesome (JKJK)
• why geometry homework is annoying
• how to do vibrato
• random pictures of things
• nicknames of random people 
• why I fail at this (JKJK again)
• a story about a butterfly swimming the butterfly (I just got back from practice, okay?)
• lists of obscure but good books (I might do this in my next post... *coughs*)
• geometry problems (actually, don't. that would be very boring.)
• how to pull an all-nighter (I could use this.)
• a post in which every sentence is at least a hundred words long 
• UGHHH I DON'T KNOW (there's that first bullet point. I wonder why they're called bullet points.... so this is why children these days are so violent! ^_^)

writing stuff

I haven't posted in a while, dear nonexistent readers. I'll *TRY* to make this post not boring. (notice how I said *TRY*)

So... Where do I start? Ah, yes... I've started a new book. Twenty days before Nanowrimo. Yay. I'm gonna put this one on hold for a month so I can work on the new one. It's not very good yet, but if you stalk me enough you'll be able to find it somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight... *tells self to stop being weird*

And I've been reading a LOT too. Books that no one'll ever hear of, mostly. They're not exactly eighth-grade level, but who cares? I just re-read A College Of Magics for the 2394802938th time... Jane reminds me of Anchal ^_^ You're probably looking at your computer, wondering "WHY DOES MEERA MAKE THESE WEIRD REFERENCES?!?!?!?!1" I don't know, actually. Yay.

Okay... what else should I write about?... School. I love my language arts teacher even though everyone thinks she's strict. She's actually hilarious and gives awesome assignments ^_^ I'll have second semester PE with Jenny/Jelly/Kirby and Rhea (who knows me as her beloved stalker kitty). We will all fail at running. Next year, I'll get to do *SWIMMING* in PE! I'm going to do totally awesome at that... until we have to do the butterfly. Yikes. Even though I'm on a team I have no arm strength.

Basically.... HI! BONJOUR! வணக்கம்! (I don't think anyone can read that last one without Google Translate... By the way, I'm now an official teacher at Tamil class! I'm actually my aunt's teaching assistant, so I only grade tests and presentations and take attendance, but at least I get volunteer hours for NJHS.)

Before I go, I would very much like to leave y'all with this kitty that doesn't look like a kitty: (^..^)