Sworn Read Free

up her white puffy North Face winter coat and found her radio. She slammed her hand down on the off button, and randomly turned the tuner.
    Rachel unbuttoned her Levi’s and pulled them off her legs. She didn’t realize she’d put on a few pounds since last Spring, but apparently she had.
    Rachel saw a pair of faded-black Target leggings rolled up in a ball on the floor. She put them on, not having any other options. (At least, none that were unpacked.) The good thing about leggings, Rachel thought, was that no matter how many ice cream cones she had they’d always fit.
    Rachel reached for her Stones tee and put it on. She didn’t have a mirror in her bedroom, but hoped the outfit looked all right.
    Rachel picked up her black nylon toiletry bag and knocked on the bathroom door again. No answer. Rachel turned the doorknob; the door opened and clouds of soapy smelling steam hit her in the face.
    Rachel made a fist and wiped off a large circle in the mirror so she could see her face. She peered into the mirror and saw a small zit beginning to form right in the center of her forehead. She quickly reached for her Proactiv, washed her face and put on a spot treatment. She hoped this zit would disappear by eight o’clock; she didn’t want to be known as the new girl with the huge zit.
    Thinking about time, Rachel looked down at her purple Swatch Watch and realized she only had twenty more minutes until she had to leave for school.
    She let out a big sigh and quickly reached into her makeup bag. She opened up her Urban Decay blush and swiped it onto her cheeks. Then she opened the cap of her Cover Girl mascara and layered it on her lashes, one quick stroke at a time. She pulled out her Maybelline baby blue eye shadow and put one stroke on each lid and closed the case. She reached for her hairbrush and ran it through her tangled and knotted mess of bed head hair. It was still a little frizzy and definitely not what she had hoped for her first day of school, but it would have to do.
    Rachel grabbed her black high-top Converse and her Kipling backpack and headed downstairs for breakfast.
    When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she could already hear Mark and Sarah bickering over who got to sit in the front seat of the car on the way to school.
    “Give it a rest,” their dad said in a firm, loud tone.
    Rachel walked briskly into the dark, smelly kitchen, which she disliked with a passion, and sat down at the kitchen table.
    In front of her were two boxes of cereal, Golden Grahams and Cheerios. Rachel reached for the Golden Grahams, tilted the box, but nothing came out. Empty.
    Rachel looked up at Mark and Sarah who were happily eating their bowls of Golden Grahams, which were heaping out of their bowls.
    “Thanks a lot, guys,” Rachel said.
    “Sucks to be you,” Mark replied with a huge mouthful of cereal.
    Rachel forcefully reached for the box of Cheerios and poured some into her bowl. She hated plain cheerios. She picked up her spoon and put a small bite into her mouth and started chewing.
    “So, you kids ready for your first day?” their dad asked.
    “Yup,” said Mark. “9 th grade – high school, here I come!”
    Mark was fine with the move because he was just starting high school and didn’t have any qualms about leaving Pennsylvania. He always wanted to get out of that small town anyway, so this was a blessing for him. It was also not so hard for Mark, because he was entering in 9 th grade and that was much better than starting in 10 th . Everyone expects there to be new kids in 9 th grade.
    Sarah looked down at her Blackberry and smiled, “Gary says hello and wishes everyone a fab day.”
    Sarah’s boyfriend, Gary, had just started college at Skidmore University, so that was lucky for Sarah because it was now only a short train ride away.
    Rachel looked at Sarah and rolled her eyes. She couldn’t understand how her sister could be so perky and upbeat all the time.
    Rachel’s mom came dashing into the