As soon as school ended, I headed to the locker room to change for soccer practice. Our practices usually last from an hour to an hour and a half, but since we have a huge tournament coming up, it lasted two whole ours. When my mom picked me up from soccer she was on the phone. She’s always on the phone. I turned the AC on high to cool myself down a bit.
“ Can you cover for me Saturday? My daughter has an important soccer game. Yes, Saturday, that’s correct. Thanks...” Her voice trailed off when I put my headphones in and started blasting Baby by Justin Bieber.
When we finally pulled into our long driveway that leads to a two story grey house with black shutters and a wrap around porch, I sprinted upstairs to get into the shower before my mom could get in and use up all the hot water. The flow of the water on my shoulders was soothing to my aching muscles. Before I realized it, I was already daydreaming about Mark. “I wonder if he’s thinking about me too.” I thought to myself. Was he? I grabbed a towel, quickly dried off and put on my favorite pajamas: Red with white polka dots and a t-shirt my Dad had gotten me from Las Vegas. I grabbed the book I was reading and started where I had left off. I was getting more and more tired with every page I read. Finally I turned my light off and laid my head on the pillow. I started counting sheep in my head to fall asleep, but by 34 sheep, I was fast asleep.
I hadn’t been asleep for long before I started dreaming. I was back in the small hallway. I was laying on the floor with blood dripping down my face; my head was throbbing. I was screaming for someone to help me, but no one would even glance at me. Down the hall, I saw a familiar figure running towards me. The whole world was spinning now and I could barely see who it was. It was Mark. He got down on one knee and picked me up. Immediately, everything got better. The bleeding stopped, and so did the headache. He carried me through the hall and outside. When everyone ignored me, Mark was the only one there to notice me. This wasn’t a nightmare.
I woke up in shock of the dream I had just had.
Chapter 3
Beep. Beep. BEEEEP!
“Ahh!” I yelled, slamming the off button on my alarm. It was a typical morning; the sun shone trough my window, as I got ready for school. I clicked on my TV and turned straight to the weather channel. A brunette lady who was way too energized for six in the morning was giving the daily forecast.
“It will be a very sunny day with temperatures in the high 70s,” exclaimed the lady, “it’s a great day to be outside! This is Meredith Montgomery with your daily forecast!”
A long, cold winter filled with depressing days at home had just passed and now it was spring. Pollen-filled, rainy days, flowers sprouting, sunsets glowing, birds chirping, Spring. Finally. I opened my closet to find something to wear. Big jackets, jeans, long sleeves, gloves, and other winter clothing filled my closet. I had to dig to the back of my messy closet to find something appropriate for the weather. A seersucker skirt from Abercrombie and a white tank top with a light sweater and my favorite pair of white sling backs would have to do.
My outfit got me thinking. I could recall the time I bought the Abercrombie skirt with my mom from the Abercrombie and Fitch in Downtown Charleston. Skirts were in style at my school. If you wore a skirt form Abercrombie, you were popular. I had begged my mom to take me to get one.
“We’ll go on Saturday,” she told me. So, the next Saturday, we drove across the Cooper River Bridge and bought myself a new wardrobe. The whole way there we talked and laughed and just spent some quality time together.
I ran down my wooden stairs and into my traditional kitchen. It had white wooden cabinets with new appliances that we had replaced when we moved in. The charcoal countertops and slate floors complement the blue and white décor. My mom was reading the paper and drinking coffee out of a mug that said Best Mom Ever! at the kitchen table. She was already dressed for work in a black Armani blazer and black slacks. My dad was rushing back and forth from the refrigerator to the toaster, cooking bagels and English muffins. He handed me one layered with cream cheese.
“Thanks.” I said.
“Mhm…” my dad murmured, “I’ll be picking you up from soccer practice after my meeting. This is the last practice before your big tournament, you know.”
“ I’m psyched,” I said with a mouthful of food.
“Be a lady, Ellie,” my mom snapped.
“Sorry,” I shot back.
“Come on Ellie, get your stuff. You better go or you’ll miss the bus.” My dad was always good at stopping a fight from erupting between my Mom an I.
When I got to school, the strangest thing happened to me. I walked through the halls and said hey to all of my friends, but no one looked at me or said hi back.
“Hey Tricia!” I waved to my best friend at her locker. When she didn’t answer I got worried. “Are you mad at me or something?” I asked her. She grabbed her books and walked away as if I didn’t exist. A boy wearing faded jeans and a football jersey bumped into me and I fell flat on my face, all of the books spilling out of my book bag. It was normal, since he was a jock, that he didn’t stop and help me, but when not even my friends would help me, I wondered what was going on. My forehead started sweating and my head was beating. I was on the verge of tears before I heard a familiar voice. A tall, attractive boy was talking to someone from the baseball team. The familiar voice was Mark’s voice. He turned around and looked straight into my eyes.
“Ellie! Are you okay?”
“…Yeah I’m fine… I just dropped my books.”
Mark helped me gather up my books and took me outside to get some fresh air. I immediately stopped sweating and I felt relaxed. Whoa. Déjà vu. The last time this had happened was… My dream.
Chapter 4
It was a hot, sunny, Saturday afternoon. I stood on the freshly cut grass of Patriots Point Soccer Field. My team, SC United, was playing DISA in the semi finals. We were tied at 3-3 and there was only 2 minutes left in the game.
“Timeout!” My coach yelled at the referee for a timeout. All the girls on my team ran off the field to the rest of my team sitting on the bench.
“Alright girls,” My coach explained, “I want you to go out there and play your hardest for the last 2 minutes. You’ve all worked extremely hard to be here today, and now’s your time to show me that all of the practices and games were really worth it.”
“Yes, sir.” A few girls on my team said in unison.
He continued. “So here’s what we’re going to do. Charlie, run the ball about half way down the field. When you get to midfield, pass the ball to Ellie. Ellie, run approximately 30 feet in front of Charlie and be ready for her to pass you the ball.”
Charlie looked at me and we high-fived. The ref blew his whistle, signaling that out timeout was over.
“Hands in everyone,” my coach screamed, “ ’win’ on three! Ready? One…two…THREE!”
“WIN!” My whole teamed screamed at the top of their lungs.
We ran onto the field and got in out positions, ready to win.
As the seconds went by, I ran down the field. My blonde ponytail was swaying back and forth. I looked down at my uniform. It was a blue and white jersey with white shorts. My cleats were white with a light blue Nike Swoosh on the side and neon yellow laces. I looked behind me, and at the other end of the field I could see one of my teammates pass the ball. Charlie yelled something I couldn’t understand and someone passed her the ball. She set off towards me as fast as she could.
“I’m open!” I yelled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a player from the other team jog towards me. She had black hair and was wearing the DISA uniform: green shorts with a green and red jersey. Charlie kicked the ball towards me and I stopped it with my foot. Looking around, I saw that the girl with the black hair was getting closer. I set off, dribbling towards the goal, and the girl followed. Before I had time to react, she was right next to me. She bumped into me, but I kept running. The girl shoved me with her shoulder and I fell flat on m
y face, loosing the ball. DISA got the ball and started approaching towards out goal.
No! What if DISA scores? It would be my fault if we loose! Ref, call a foul!
As if the referee could read my mind, he blew his whistle and the game stopped. He called a foul on the girl with the black hair and told me I had on penalty kick. Shocked, I quickly stood up and ran to my coach.
“How much time is left?” I said, out of breath.
“20 seconds. If you make this, we win. If not, we go into overtime.”
I jogged over to the ref and he set the ball on the ground. This was it. Me against the DISA goalie. If I made this, we were in the finals. Behind me, I could here all my teammates yelling my name.
“Go Ellie!”
“You got it!”
“Concentrate Ellie! You can do it!”
I backed up a couple feet and stared at the goal. One, two, three steps, and I kicked the ball. It spiraled in the air for what seemed like hours. The ball flew to the top right corner of the goal. Time seemed to slow down as the ball flew into the goal. The DISA goalie jumped to get the ball, but it flew past her hands. I was speechless. I had done it. I had won the semi-finals for SC United!
“Yeah!” My whole team screamed
Everyone ran on the field and gave me a huge hug.
Now lets rewind. Sure, winning the semi-finals against DISA was amazing. But the weird thing happened the night before. I had just gotten back from a tough soccer practice. I was extremely tired and I fell asleep without even taking a shower. As usual, I started dreaming. In my dream I was standing on a soccer field. I could feel the sun beating against my back and the sweat dripping down my forehead. I was getting ready to kick a penalty kick. Everyone around me was screaming my name and I was more nervous than ever. My foot soared towards the ball and the ball went flying in the air and into the goal.
I had won the semi finals. Not only in my dream, but also in reality. It was probably just a coincidence. I thought to myself. ...Was it?
Chapter 5
The sound of my Black studded Louboutin sling backs on the white marble floor of the Charleston mall was almost as relaxing as a trip to the spa. My soccer team had arranged a party next Saturday night to celebrate winning the finals. We had played James Island Soccer Club and crushed them 4-0. Now I was walking through the mall trying to find an outfit that was party worthy. My first thought was to go Kate Spade. I tried on about everything in the whole store. A white spaghetti strap dress with blue polka dots and a pair of gold wedges, a pink ruffled tank top with a white pleated skirt and gold sandals, and a green floral A-Line dress with red ballet flats. But out of all the things I tried on nothing satisfied me, so I continued shopping.
Next was Juicy Couture. But just like the first store, I found nothing. So I went to my last option, Bebe. I had never found a cute dress from Bebe before, but seeing that I had found nothing to wear to the party, I might as well give it a try. An enthusiastic saleswoman greeted me as I walked in the door. I stopped for a second and looked around the store. The walls were lined with bright halter tops, and sun dresses. I didn’t see anything that I liked, so I was about to walk out, but then, I saw it. The most amazing dress I’ve ever seen. It was a red one-shoulder cocktail dress. The strap and waist sparkled from the sequins.
This would be ahh-mazing with my black Miu Miu Ruched Pumps.
I immediately went to try it on.
I stepped into the dress and pulled it up over my waist and zipped the sipper in the back. My long, blond, straight hair fell over my shoulders. I looked like I had just stepped off the red carpet. I felt beautiful.
After buying the dress I went to Starbucks to get my favorite: A vanilla bean frap. While I was there, I saw four girls from school gossiping about the latest rumor. Each one of them was wearing the same designer jeans, with matching Louis Vuitton bags that had their initials monogrammed on them. They called them selves The Alphas. These girls were about as stuck up as it got. They ruled the school and no one had the guts to stand up to them
“ I heard that Millie from English got a nose job. That’s why she’s been out for the past two weeks! ” Carly, the leader of the group said.
All the other girls snickered.
“And have you seen Trisha Caldwell? She’s gained at least 10 pounds!” Carly insulted yet another person.
I couldn’t stand this anymore. I grabbed my frappuccino and walked to their table.
“First of all,” I said. “Millie didn’t get a nose job, she had Mono. Maybe you should get your facts straight before you spread rumors. If anyone got a nose job it would be one you four. Ya’ll are as fake as your Louis Vuitton.” The four girls stared at me in awe, along with everyone else in the coffee shop.
I strutted out of the café, got into my white Prius, and drove out of the parking lot before they could say another word. On the way home, it felt like the radio was giving me hints. Teenage Dream by Ke$ha, Just a Dream, by Nelly, and Sweet Dreams by Beyoncé played one after the other. For the past week or so, the strangest thing had been happening to me. Each night I would have a dream, and then when I woke up, I would be living my dream. I had just sen it off at first, but now I was really starting to worry. What could this mean? I hadn’t told anyone, not even my mom. Last night, I had dreamt that I missed my bus and had to walk to school. On the way, I tripped and fell in the freshly cut grass of my neighbor’s yard, ruining my white jeans. And what do you know, that morning, the exact thing happened to me.
“Mom! I’m home! Come see my dress for the soccer party!” I shouted up the stairs to my mom who was just getting gout of the shower. She came down the stairs wearing a pink robe, her auburn hair was dripping wet.
“Let me see it!” She beamed.
I pulled the red cocktail dress out of the black bag the lady at the counter had put it in. My mom’s eyes practically jumped out of her head
“It’ gorgeous! Oh my goodness Ellie this must look amazing on you!”
“It does, Mom.”
“I’m sure honey. Now go upstairs and get in the shower before your dad uses up all the hot water.”
When I got out of the shower I put on my Victoria Secret polka dot pajamas and hopped in my bed. I grabbed the remote from the bedside table and turned on the flat screen TV that was mounted on my wall. I had gotten it last year for making high honor roll. Flipping through the channels, I couldn’t find anything to watch. The Last Exorcism came on at 9:30, so I settled with that. After about 20 minutes into the movie I had screamed almost 10 times and almost wet my bed. Horror movies were not my thing. So I turned off the TV and the lamp, and snuggled up in my Siberian White Goose Comforter. I slept and slept with no dream until about 3 o’clock in the morning. I got up to use the bathroom and when I got back in my bed and fell asleep, I started to dream.
I was in the parking lot at the Charleston Country Club where our soccer party was being held. Charlie was walking in front of me with three other girls from my team. She turned around and started to walk backwards so that the wind wouldn’t mess up her hair. Before she had time to think, a blue van sped around the corner and hit her. She flew over the top of the van and landed on the pavement. I could hear her scream and the cracking noise her head made when in hit the ground.
“Charlie!” I called in terror.
But then everything went black.
Chapter 6
The next morning all I could think about was my latest dream. The last thing I could remember was a Blue van hitting Charlie and speeding away. How hurt was she? Would she live? I had to find a way to stop the van from hitting Charlie. Was it possible to change what I had already dreamt? Well, even if it wasn’t I’d have to try anyway.
On Saturday mornings my Mom and I have made it a habit to go on jogs together. As usual, we jogged three miles, came back and took our showers, and ate a breakfast of waffles and bacon. Since I had a party to go to tonight, I put curlers in my hair. Then I crashed on my couch and sta
rted flipping through the channels. After about 30 minutes of searching, I settled on The Notebook. It was my favorite movie of all time. After The Notebook finished, I watched Dear John. That was also one of my favorite movies. Before I knew it, I had dozed off. My mom shook my shoulders to wake me up and told me to go get ready for the party.
I slipped on my red party dress and headed to the bathroom to do my makeup. I took out my curlers and slipped on my Miu Miu Pumps. As I walked down stairs, my mom and dad got out the camera and started taking pictures of me. After about the fiftieth picture, I told them I had to go and gave them both big hugs.
I pulled up to The Charleston County Club. A chauffer parked my car for me and I headed to the place where Charlie was going to get hit. I could already see her getting out of her car. She had on a beautiful, teal, strapless mini dress and with her was Jane and Savannah.
“Charlie! Charlie, wait up!” I called. She apparently didn’t hear me because she continued waking towards the entrance of the country club
I tried to run to catch up with her but my high heels slowed me down. She was so happy. She didn’t have a care in the world and worst of all, she had no idea what was about to happen.
The next few seconds were a blur. It felt like we were in a movie. Everything seemed to slow down. The blue van sped around the corner. I jumped towards Charlie and pushed her to the sidewalk. One of her shoes fell off and landed in the road.
“What are you doing?!” Charlie yelled at me.
The Meandering Mind - Creative Musings of 7th Graders Page 10
