The Cat That Went to Homecoming Read Free

burst with joy.
     

 
    Chapter
Three
     
    The last day of school is a joyous day for
everyone. The teachers were glad to get rid of the current group of
students and looking forward to a long break from kids. The
students were happy that they were about to embark on a three-month
break from homework. Some were going to summer camps while others
were taking family trips to destinations like Disney World and
Myrtle Beach.
    For years, my summer vacation plans had
always been the same: I was going to lose weight and go back to
school in the fall a new person. Every summer I had failed.
    This summer would be different. This summer I
was going to get plenty of exercise and eat sensibly. I was going
to be the hot new girl in the fall!
    I often daydreamed about the new me walking
onto the bus for the first day of the school year. I would finally
be able to wear a pair of super skinny jeans and a snug graphic tee
without a muffin top! I would be wearing bubble gum lip gloss and
walk straight up to John Peck in the back of the bus. The spot next
to him would be empty, but not for long! He would pat the seat
motioning for me to sit next to him. I would flip my hair over my
shoulder, letting my perfume waft at him.
    I would sit next to him, making sure my thigh
touched his. He would blush and shift a little, seeming
uncomfortable to have such a lush, beautiful girl sitting next to
him. Darcel the Dreadful would be seated in front of him and she
would give me the dirtiest of looks. John would tell her to turn
around and mind her own business. She would start to cry and
everyone would laugh at her. I would laugh the loudest because I
loathed Darcel.
    On this last bus ride for the school year,
Darcel Simmons’ voice broke through my daydream and killed the
fantasy completely.
    “I tried to find you on Facebook Watermelon,
but you probably don’t have a computer at home.”
    She was right; Mom and I did not have a
computer. I did have a cell phone, but the only people who ever
called it were my mom and my grandma. I didn’t even know if my dad
knew my number.
    I ignored Darcel, pretending I was deaf again
but wondering why she would look for me on Facebook. I guessed she
wanted to cyber bully me now!
    “Shut up Darcel!” Cindy Haskel said, “Don’t
you ever get tired of being a bitch?”
    Cindy Haskel and I were good friends up until
we hit seventh grade. That year I began to distance myself from
everyone. Cindy and I were classmates and she lived up the street
from me. Her family had a swimming pool and all of the neighborhood
kids became close friends with her in the summer. Even though they
teased her for being friends with me, she kept on being my friend.
On rainy summer days when no one else was interested in hanging out
with her, we played with our Bratz dolls and our stuffed animals.
We played hopscotch in her garage, we played board games, and
watched TV shows together. We admitted to each other that we each
thought John Peck was the cutest boy in the class, our deepest
secret we’d share with no one else. We giggled like best friends
do.
    In seventh grade I decided to let her off the
hook and blossom into the popular girl she was meant to be. I felt
I was an anchor holding her back. It broke my heart to give her up,
but I thought it was best for her.
    Darcel was a grade ahead of us, and for some
reason she constantly picked on me. She was a very popular girl,
probably the most popular girl of all time! She lived next door to
Cindy in the rich end of our subdivision. Her father owned a car
dealership and they were wealthy. She was one of those girls with
hairdressers and Nikes. She was also one of the many girls who
swooned over John Peck. In fact, she and John had dated a few times
when he and I were in eighth grade. She was a freshman and she took
him to homecoming that year. Boy did he think he was hot stuff,
going to homecoming as an eighth grader!
    Darcel and I were not in any classes
together, and after seventh grade