| Title: |
Suprises |
| Written By: |
Ave |
| Description: |
- |
Chapter 1: I Was Just Too
Young To Understand
When I was three, my two best friends, Chris and Greg, moved to
the other side of the country. Chris moved to New York, and Greg
had gone to Florida. We had no idea what was going on. We played
in my room as Chris and my parents talked about the move. Greg's
parents hadn't come. They were already in Florida. They had left
Greg with Chris's parents. They would take him to Florida on their
way to New York. I didn't understand that we would never see each
other again, or at least for a long time.
After we had been quietly playing for three hours in my room, our
parents walked in. "Chris, Greg, time to go." Greg's mom
said. The two boys obediently got up.

"Ling
Ling," My mom said, "Get up and say goodbye. They're moving
away."

"Bye
bye." I gave the two boys a hug.
Chris and Greg, being three years older than me, understood what
it meant to move. Greg looked at Chris's Dad, "How far?"
He asked.

"Very
far." The man replied.

"Will
we see Ling Ling again?" Chris asked.

"I
don't know." Chris's mom replied. Chris and Greg started to
cry. I didn't understand why. I was too young. Chris's parents picked
up the two boys and carried them away. I saw their car packed with
boxes, but again, I was too young to know what it meant.

"Mommy,
why Chwis and Gweg so sad?" I asked, "And why theiw caw
have boxes?"

"They're
moving away." She replied.

"I
see them tomowwow?"

"No,
baby." I went back to my room to play.
Chapter 2: I Grew Up
Now, twelve years later, I was fifteen. I had forgotten all about
the two boys that I had once known so well. My best friend was now
a girl who went to my school. Her name was Chevalia. We were two
completely different people, which was probably why we got along
so well.
She was black, and I was white. I had blond hair. Her's was black.
Mine was long, and her's was short. I kept mine in braids, she kept
her hair regular, but sometimes in braids. I had green eyes, and
she had brown. I called her Strawberry Brownie. She called me Sugar
Cookie.
Her favorite color was Red. Mine was Midnight Blue. I was unusually
loud, with the inability to be quiet. She was quiet, but when she
wanted something known, she could be louder than me. I was always
very colorful, wearing jewelry that I had made or bought. I always
wore something shiny. She hardly ever wore anything like that. I
had a very bad temper, and everything made me mad. Chevalia was
almost never in a bad mood, always smiling.
I loved pop, rap, and rock. Mostly pop though. I was in love with
Backstreet Boys, Nsync and others. She mostly liked rap. She loved
Lil' Bow Wow and B2K. The one thing that we did have in common was,
we both had really horrible taste in guys.
I had recently developed an obsession with a new boy band called
Dream Street. The weird part was, two of the guys looked really
familiar. I couldn't place where I had seen them before. One day,
after school, me and Chevalia decided to look for old pictures in
the basement of my house. I was redecorating my room, and had rows
of shelves that need something on it. "Hey Mom, me and Chevy
are gonna go look for pictures in the basement." I said.

"Ok,"
She replied, "Have fun." The two of us ran up and turned
on the light. We each grabbed six old boxes, and went back down
to my room, We went through all the boxes, and took out all the
pictures I wanted. In the last box, I found a picture of me, and
two boys in my backyard. We looked like we were eating. We were
sitting on a blanket eating brownies. We had chocolate all over
our faces.

"Happy
Birthday Ling Ling!" Said a little boy with brown hair.

"Yea!"
Said another boy with dark hair, smiling.

"Brownies!"
My mom said, as she brought out a plate of them. Me, Chris and Greg
sat down in the grass and ate them.

"These
are yummy!" I said.
"Ave?" Chevalia said, "Earth to Ave. Come in Ave.
Paging doctor Ave" She waved her had in front of my face.

"Huh?
What?" I asked, startled by the sudden movement in front of
my face. I had gone of into space. The picture had brought back
a memory of a time when I was little. The two boys from the picture
were in the memory. I had no idea who these boys were. No clue at
all.

"Are
you OK?"

"Yea,
I am. It's just… I remember this day. I just can't figure
out who these two boys are."

"Why
don't you go ask your mom?"

"Good
idea. Let's go." We ran downstairs to ask my mom. "Hey
momma."

"Yea?"
She replied.

"Do
you know who these boys are?" I asked. She looked at the picture
in shock. "Mom!"

"Um…
I don't remember. What do you girls want for dinner?" She replied
quickly. "Pizza ok?"

"Yea."
I replied slowly. Then we made our way back up to our room. "That
was weird." I said as I opened my door.

"Yea.
She looked so startled, and then she acted like she didn't even
know them."
I put up the picture. I looked at the others. One picture caught
my eye. It was the picture of my mom and my dad's wedding. (They
divorced when I was five) There were two boys, about two years old
in the back ground. I wasn't there because I hadn't been born yet.
"Hey!"

"What?"
Chevalia asked.

"Look,
here they are again. She has to know who they are. They were at
her wedding!" I started to leave the room.

"Where
are you going?"

"To
ask her again."

"There
must have been a reason why she didn't wanna tell you who they were,
so try waiting until she's ready to tell you."

"OK.
I guess you're right."
Chapter 3: Huge Suprises
A month later, Chevalia was sleeping over at my house. We had gone
out to the mall. When we came back, my mother was talking to four
people. I didn't recognize them. "Hey momma." I said.

"Hey,
there's a surprise for you in your room." She replied.

"Cool."
I grabbed Chevalia's arm and pulled her up the stairs. I opened
the door, There were two boys sitting on my bed.

"Hi
Ling Ling." Said a boy with the spiky hair.

"Who
are you and how do you know my nickname? Almost no one knows it."
I asked.

"You
don't remember us?" The second boy asked.

"No,
I don't." My computer was on, and my screen saver was flashing
pictures of Dream Street. I saw the kid with spiky hair on the screen.
I shook the mouse, and there was a picture of the other kid. It
was Chris and Greg from Dream Street. My mouth dropped open as I
looked from the computer to the guys. Now I remembered where I had
seen them before. I walked over to my pictures. I picked up the
one of me and the two boys eating the brownies. I took out the back.
I looked at the back of the picture. It said: Ling Ling, Chris,
and Greg. Ling Ling's 3rd birthday. I ran from the room, I ran outside,
climbed a tree, and stayed there. Twenty minutes later, Chevalia,
Greg, and Chris came out to look for me.

"Chevalia,"
Chris said, "Where does Ave go when she wants to think?"

"Well,
she likes to be up high. That's why her room is in the attic."

"A
tree! I remember one time, she got mad at me, and she hid in the
tallest tree." Greg said.

"I
remember that. " Chris added. "It was…that one."
He pointed to the tree I was in. He climbed onto the branch next
to me. "Hi."

"What?"
I said.

"What's
your problem?"

"This
is just too weird. I-I mean, I haven't seen you since I was three.
You never made any effort to contact me."

"You
never tried either."

"Momma
never told me about you. I just found out I knew two little boys
when I was three last week. I asked Momma who they were and she
just said she didn't remember, and she asked if me and Chevalia
wanted pizza for dinner. I mean…I've had pictures of my best
friends all over my room for the past year, and I never knew. No
one would ever tell me who the two kids in the pictures were."

"What
about your dad?"

"I
hardly ever see him. They divorced when I was five. But you wouldn't
know that cuz you never tried to talk to me."

"We
barely found out about you two months ago."

"Two
months! I bet your parents had no problem telling you either."

"You're
right, they didn't"

"Why
didn't you try to talk to me?"

"I'm
sorry. Me and Greg didn't know we had been best friends until I
moved to New York and we joined Dream Street. That's when our moms
told us. All our lives, the two of us have had memories of a little
girl called Ling Ling. We asked our parents for years before they
told us. All they told us was that we were best friends until you
were three and we were five, when we moved.

"They
wouldn't ever tell us your real name. That's why we never called.
We didn't know if anyone would remember who Ling Ling was. And,
we asked our for your number, but they wouldn't ever tell us. We
asked for your last name, but they wouldn't tell. Just today we
found out."

"Oh."
I started to climb down from the tree. Chris followed. We walked
back inside. I went into the kitchen and stood behind my mom.

"Hello
Ling Ling," Greg's mom said.

"Hi."

"So
how old are you now?" Chris's dad asked.

"Fifteen."

"You
look much older."

"Probably
my hair."

"Well,
we'll let you guys go back upstairs to catch up." Greg's dad
said. We all walked upstairs. I sat in my computer chair. They sat
on my bed, and Chevalia sat on the floor.

"Maybe
I should go home." Chevalia suggested. "I mean…cuz
you guys haven't seen each other in ten years."

"No."
All three of us replied. We were pretty nervous around each other.

"Ok,
I'll stay." She laughed.

"So,"
I said, "You guys are in Dream Street now, and I feel really
stupid for having my best friends pictures plastered on every wall
in my room."
They laughed, looking at the walls, "It is sorta funny."
Greg laughed.

"I
dunno how I can stand sleeping in this room when I come over,"
Chevalia said, "Too many people watching my every move."
The guys laughed, even though they didn't get it. "She means
the pictures look like they're always watching you." I explained.

"Ooooooooh."
They said.

"So…uh…how
long are you guys staying here?"

"We
just came out for today. We persuaded our parents to let us come
out and see you." Greg said,

"Oh.
So, uh, whatta ya wanna do?"

"How
'bout we go to the mall?" Chris suggested.

"We
could always use another round." I said. We left to go to the
mall. "Hey, Momma, me, Chris, Chevy, and Greg are gonna go
to the mall."

"Ok."
She replied.

"It's
so great that they can get along after they haven't seen each other
for twelve years." Chris's mom said.
When we arrived at the mall, we walked around. "Hey,"
I said, "Let's go get brownies.

"Ok."
Greg replied.

"You
always did love brownies." Chris laughed.

"That
could be why we were eating them at my third birthday." I laughed.

"Hey,
Sugar Cookie, Chocolate Swirl up ahead." Chevalia said. I stopped
laughing and looked up. We always talked in code, using our nicknames,
when we saw someone that we liked, or really hated.

"Ah,
shiz. Um… just keep walking. I have an idea." I said.
We started to walk towards the brownie stand.

"Who's
Chocolate Swirl?" Chris asked.

"Carlos,
my ex." I said. We walked up to where Carlos was standing.
I acted like I didn't even see him, and walked right into him. "3-2-1"
I counted backwards, under my breath, waiting for Carlos to blow.

"What
the f*** b****?!" Carlos said.

"You
did not just call her a b****" Greg said, turning around.

"Perfect."
I whispered to Chevalia.

"Who
are you?" Carlos asked, "Ave's big brother?"

"No,
her best friend."

"Funny,
she's never mentioned you."

"Long
story." Chris said, walking up to help Greg. "Now why
did you call her a b****?"

"She
bumped into me on purpose." Carlos said.

"How
do you know she didn't see you?"

"How
could she miss me?"

"You
are pretty short." I giggled.

"Shut
the f*** up Ave."

"You
may not wanna piss me off, they may kill you." I smiled, pointing
to Chris and Greg.

"I
would never do anything to piss you off, Beautiful." He moved
toward me and started to pull me into a hug. I pulled away.

"Don't
touch me." He put his arm around my shoulders.

"I
believe she just said not to touch her." Chris said angrily.
I pushed Carlos's arm off my shoulder.

"Whatta
ya gonna do about it?" Carlos replied slyly. Chris's usually
shiny, hazel eyes turned into a dark, angry brown, making him look
almost scary. He grabbed Carlos's shirt and pulled him up of the
ground. Carlos's friend Mike walked up. He saw me first.

"Hey
Ave. What's-" He started to say what's up, but he saw Chris
and Carlos, "Whoa. Would someone mind telling me what the f***
is going on?"

"Carlos
pissed me off, then he pissed Chris off, and now Chris is gonna
kill him." I replied.

"Ooh.
Ya think, maybe you could get Chris to give him another chance before
he kills him?"

"Yea,
sure. Hey, Chris, Lay off him until he pisses me off again."
Chris let Carlos drop to the ground.

"Why?"
Chris asked.

"His
friend here asked me too."

"And
you're gonna listen to this guy…why?"

"Cuz,
he's nice. He's not like Carlos."

"So,
ya think, maybe we could hook up?" Mike asked.

"Dream
on baby boy."

"It
was worth a try."

"You
are as stupid as Carlos." I laughed.

"Was
he tryin to hit on you?" Greg asked.

"Relax
Greg." I said, "It's ok, he's cool. He got some stupid
a** friends but he's cool."

"Ok,
now that we're done here, let's go shop." Chevalia said. The
four of us waked away, leaving Mike and Carlos alone
Carlos watched us leave, and when we were out of earshot, he said,
"Well, it's gonna be hard to make Ave cry."

"Why
would you wanna make a beautiful girl like that, cry?" Mike
asked.

"I
hate her."

"You
ain't got no reason to. She ain't done s*** to you."

"I
know, I just don't like her."

"Ave,"
Chris said, "Did you bump into him on purpose?"

"Sorta.
I mostly meant to walk between him and his friend, just to make
him mad. I didn't really mean to bump into him."

"Oh,
ok."
Chapter 4: What Now?
We went back home that night, expecting that Chris and Greg would
have to go home. "Hi Momma." I said.

"Hello.
Did you guys have fun?" she replied.
We looked at each other, and laughed, "Uh…yea."
Greg said.

"So…how
would you boys feel about staying here for two months?" Chris
mom asked.

"H***
yea!" We all ran up to my room. We sat around talking about
what had happened that day. The next day, we decided we were gonna
go to the mall again. We walked into Clair's, one of my favorite
stores. I dragged the guys around the mall. Then we went out to
the parking lot, and we were looking for the car.

"Where
did you park?" I asked Chris. We couldn't remember.

"I
dun-" Chris started, but never finished. Someone had speeded
past in a red car.

"Chris!"
I screamed. He didn't say anything. I started to cry. "Greg,
call an ambulance." I handed him my cell. I stood up. "Chevalia,
I recognized that car, I just can't remember where I've seen it.

"When
Carlos picked you up to go to the movies the first time you went
out, didn't he pick you up in that car?"

"He
did!"

"Didn't
you see a guy with blond hair, and one with brown in the car?"

"Yea,
I did. But wait…Mike would never let Carlos do anything like
that? Mike likes me."

"Mike
looked like he was gonna wet his pants. I doubt he knew Carlos was
gonna do that." Then I heard a siren. I looked up and saw the
ambulance. We were all allowed to ride in the ambulance with Chris
to the hospital.

"Did
you see what happened?" The paramedic asked us.

"Sorta."
Chevalia replied.

"A
car hit him." Greg said.

"We
were looking for our car, and I asked Chris where he had parked,
and he started to say he didn't know, and a red car speeded past
us, and hit him." I added.

"Do
you know who was in the car?"

"My-my
ex, and his friend."
"Carlos,
you a**!" Mike yelled. "You just hit Chris."
"That's
what I wanted to do."
"He
could die now."
"Your
point…?"
"Dude,
you're not that desperate to make her cry now…are you?"
At the hospital, me, Greg, and Chevalia sat in the waiting room,
hoping that any minute, we would get news of how Chris was doing.
Then a doctor walked up to us. "He's going to be ok. He broke
his right arm and left leg. He can leave in two days." The
three of us let out a long sigh.
"Can
we go see him?" I asked.
"Yes
you can." At this, the three of us ran into Chris's hospital
room.
"Chris!
How ya feelin?"
"Sick.
These pain killers are makin me wanna puke. You guys have any
idea who hit
me?" I nodded slowly, not really wanting to tell him. "Who?"
"Give
you one guess." Greg said.
"Carlos?"
"Yup."
Chevalia replied.
"I
thought I saw two people in that car."
"You
did. It was Carlos and Mike." I replied
"Mike?
I thought you said Mike was cool?"
"He
is. He didn't know Carlos was gonna do that. We wouldn't have
gotten in the car with him. He would've told me." We stayed
at the hospital for a couple more hours.
"Well,
we better go back to Ave's and tell our parents what happened."
Greg said.
"Yea,
ok." Chris said. We walked out of the room. We walked back
to the mall, and found Chris's car. Greg drove Chevalia home,
and we went to my house. Me and Greg walked slowly into the house,
and into the kitchen.
"Where's
Chris?" My mom asked.
"Um…in
the hospital." I said.
"What
happened?" Greg's mom asked, concerned.
"My
ex hit him with a car. He's ok. He broke his right arm, and left
leg. He can leave the hospital in two days." I explained.
"OK."
Chris's mom said. She didn't seem concerned at all.
"Ok,
I'm confused here. You're his mom and dad, shouldn't you be concerned?"
Greg grabbed my arm and dragged me to my room before Chris's mom
could answer.
"Ling
Ling. There's something you should know about Chris's life at
home." Greg said.
"What?"
I looked at him, confused.
"His
parents…don't care about him. They let him do what ever
he wants, and they don't care what happens to him." I looked
at him, still confused. "When he does something wrong, they
hit him." I gasped. "Didn't you see the burn on his
hand?" I nodded. "He broke a window with a baseball,
and his dad turned on the stove and held his hand over the flame
for five minutes. And he has welts on his back. His dad hits him
with a belt, and lets the metal part hit him. Do you remember
before we left?" I nodded, "His parents didn't let him
stay with us. They forgot to take him with them to Florida. He
was at my house when they left. They forgot to bring him."
I didn't say anything. I just started to cry. Greg Sat next to
me on my bed, and hugged me. "I know it's a lot to take in
right now." He said. "Don't tell his parents I told
you, and don't tell them I know. Don't tell Chris you know either.
He told me not to tell you." I nodded, agreeing not to tell.
The next day, Me, Greg, and Chris's parents went to the hospital
to see Chris. It started of normal. "Hey!" We all said
at the same time.
"Hi,"
He replied weakly.
"How
ya feelin?" I asked.
"Better."
"How
many times do we have to tell you not to be so careless?"
His dad asked. Chris looked at him, confused. I looked at him
in Horror. I couldn't believe his dad just said that to him.
"Do
you know how much money this is gonna cost us for the ambulance?"
His mom added.
"
I can't believe you are so careless as to walk in front of a car
and get yourself hit."
"It
wasn't my fault." Chris said.
"DAN'T
YOU ARE USE THAT TONE WITH US YOUNG MAN!" His dad yelled.
"I
was just saying it wasn't my fault!" His dad raised his hand,
as if to hit him.
"DON'T
YOU DARE HIT HIM!" I yelled. "It wasn't his fault. My
ex doesn't like him. He hit him with the car. Chris didn't know
it was gonna happen."
"So
now you've gone and picked a fight with someone, and he hit you
with the car."
"I
DIDN'T PICK A FIGHT WITH HIM!" Chris yelled. His dad raised
his arm again, and this time, it was in a fist. It connected with
the side of Chris's face.
"YOUR
SON IS IN THE HOSPITAL. YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT HOW MUCH MONEY THE
AMBULANCE IS GONNA COST. YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR OWN SON. IF
YOU WEREN'T GONNA CARE ABOUT HIM, WHY DID YOU HAVE HIM? NOW, GET
OUT OF HERE!" I yelled at Chris's parents. They turned around
and walked out. I sat down in the chair behind me. Chris and Greg
were staring at me in shock. "You're not going back to New
York with them.
"I'm
sorry you had to see that." Chris said. He looked like he
was holding back tears. I guess he didn't want me to see him cry.
I guess he was embarrassed. I could see the tears welling up in
his eyes.
"Go
ahead and cry Chris." He let it all out.
"I
hate my parents!" He cried. "I don't wanna go back home
with them. They beat me, and they burn me. They don't care about
how I do in school, but if I do bad, they hit me."
I walked over to Chris and hugged him. "I know you don't
know me very well, but if Chevalia were here, she'd tell you,
that I never ever let anyone hurt my friends. I've had this happen
once before, and I'm not gonna let it happen to you."
"How
do you plan on preventing it?" Chris asked.
"I
don't know, but I'll find a way. I always do."
© Ave