Ok well I just finished Chapter 1 of City Girl. I'll post it a chapter at a time in about a week at most.




Kelly Parker rushed through the sea of people, clutching her books. She looked at the clock on the wall. “9:00,” she muttered under her breath. “Great, it's my first day of high school and I'm already late.” She practically ran to the door of her homeroom and tried to sneak in without anyone noticing. She tiptoed past her best friend, Sarah, and was almost to her seat when - “Kelly!” the teacher boomed across the classroom. “Where have you been? Do you have a late pass?”
“No, Ms. Howard, I-”
“Enough! I believe I'm going to have a talk with your parents about this. Sit down and read. It's almost time for first period.”
Kelly sat down and unzipped her backpack as soon as the first bell went off. With a groan, she zipped it back up, grabbed her books, and headed towards her writing class. She stepped out the door as she just realized she'd left the map of her school at home. Her alarm had gone off so late that she forgot to grab it on the way out. There was no way she could face her teacher after the first impression she had just made. “Great...” she mumbled. She was about to go get Sarah when the entire class had literally pushed her out the door. Her only hope was to go ask the front office. She dashed down the hallway as fast as she could. She burst through the office door, breathing heavily. “Do you know... if I... could get... another map?” Kelly asked, still trying to catch her breath. “Of course, sweetie,” the lady asked. Sweetie. That was the name her mom used to call her. Her mother had died in a car accident only three months ago. Now Kelly despised it when someone called her “sweetie”. When the office lady whirled her chair around to finger through the file cabinets, Kelly hung her head, pressed her lips together, and kept blinking to try to hold back her tears. “Here you go,” the woman said, extending her arm out for Kelly to take the map. “Thanks...” Kelly said in a quiet voice and ran into the hallway.
The day carried on. She went to all her classes: P.E., Math, Science, History, Technology, Home Economics, etc. She made a few new friends, hung out with Sarah, and learned a lot that day. But on the bus ride home, something hit her. She wouldn't be able to tell her mom about her first day of high school. She wouldn't be able to burst through the door, grin from ear to ear, and hug her while smelling her cinnamon scented shampoo. No, things were going to be different this year. This time she could only talk to her dad about it, and she had hardly spoken to him the entire summer. But that didn't matter. This year was HER year, and nothing was going to get in the way of that. She was going to get on the honor roll and be popular. So, why did it feel like she was missing something?

Kelly was almost finished with her math homework when she heard a knock on the door. “Come in,” she yelled. Her dad peeked through the door. “Um, Kelly? Can I talk to you?” he asked quietly. “Sure,” she said, pushing her papers to the side.
“You know Carol, the lady I work with who's been over here a lot these past few months?” he asked, putting his hand on his neck.
“Yeah, with the annoying little twin brats that do nothing but torture me whenever I babysit them?”
“They aren't brats, Kelly. They're sweet little angels. Anyway, yes that's the one.”
“What about her?”
There was a long pause, until her dad broke the silence.
“Well, believe it or not... I'm going to marry her.”
Kelly looked at him and laughed. “Wow, Dad! That's a good one!” she said while she was giggling. “Kelly, I'm serious. We're getting married next month,” he said with a stern look in his eyes. Kelly suddenly stopped laughing and her eyes popped wide open. “What?! I...I hardly know her! You know what? Just get out of my life!” she yelled as she ran out the door, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Kelly, wait!” he yelled. She turned around and said. “No one asked me if I wanted a new mom! I hate you!” She called back, then ran as fast as she could towards the graveyard where her mom was buried. Rain started pouring down as if God was crying with her. She look one look at her mother's tombstone, covered her eyes with her hands, and then sank into a dark hole of sorrow and disbelief.