Summer's Out! Read online

  Chapter 6: A slip-up in Homeroom

  As Elsie got up from her seat to go sharpen her pencil, a voice shrieked from the hallway. “ELSIE HANES! GET BACK TO YOUR SEAT!!!!!!!!!!!”

  Elsie stammered, “Bu-But-But I wa-was just get-getting up to sharpen my-my-my pencil!”

  “I don’t CARE!” The voice replied, “Do you REALLY want to get in a write-up on your first day of MIDDLE SCHOOL?!”

  “Uh-uh-uh-uh...No,” Elsie said as she backed up to her spot.

  “Good. Now sit in your seat, and STAY THERE.” The person finally walked in the room. It was a lady with long brown hair with blonde highlights, blue eyes, a T-shirt with a globe on it, and jeans.

  “I’m sorry for this rude introduction,” The lady smiled, “Elsie and I have had a very bad experience with each other, and she hasn’t even been in my classes yet!”

  Charlotte leaned over to Bloom to explain what happened between the lady and Elsie. “Elsie got in trouble so much last year, Mrs. Cramer had to send her to detention three times. In one week!”

  “Who’s Mrs. Cramer?” Bloom asked Charlotte.

  Overhearing the conversation, the lady walked up to the two girls and said, “I’m Mrs. Cramer, your teacher. What is your names, young ladies?”

  “Charlotte,” Charlotte glumly replied, knowing she was about to get in trouble.

  “Hi, Mrs. Cramer! I’m Bloom Angelle Willow!” Bloom smiled, not knowing that she was in trouble.

  “Well, Ms. Charlotte and Ms. Bloom, I’d like to ask that you not talk about your peers, and please keep the overall talking to a minimum!”

  “Sorry, Mrs. Cramer,” Charlotte sighed.

  “This will be considered as a warning.” Mrs. Cramer walked away to begin teaching.

  “Ok, as you may have just heard, I am Mrs. Ami Cramer, but I’d like you to call me Mrs. Cramer, and I am your homeroom teacher. Since I know this is a whole new school for most of you, we are going to play a game to get to know each other. I will point to you and I want you to tell me something about yourself.”

  First, she pointed to a girl in the corner. “Hi, I’m Ally, and I am part of the Green Reef Theatre, and I will play in the Christmas Play this winter.”

  Then she pointed to a boy in the back. “Hi, I’m Sebastian, and I play for the Green Reef Football team.”

  She pointed to about 11 other kids until she pointed to Elsie. “Hello, wonderful class, My name is Elsa Hanes and I love everyone except my sister, my brother, the teachers, the principal, the janitors, my cousins, most of my classmates, and Charlotte Kelly.”

  Charlotte scowled at Elsie. Jerk, She thought.

  Chapter 7: Elsie and Wilma’s Evil plan

  Charlotte and Bloom had several other teachers throughout the day. For second hour, they had Mrs. Rally, the social studies teacher. She was very strict and usually sent people to detention. Third hour they had Mrs. Ilma, the English teacher. She absolutely hated the kids. Fourth, they had Science, taught by Ms. Maree. Ms. Maree was nice, but everything she did had to be perfect. They had lunch and then recess. Fifth they had P.E., and the teacher was Mr. Landon, who was just an average coach, but smelt like gym socks. Sixth, they went to math with Miss Wally who was very nice. Finally they had Mrs. Lilly, the Spanish teacher, who was also nice, but overly hyper.

  That afternoon, as Elsie was getting on the bus, a girl with long brown hair and dark brown eyes motioned Elsie to come sit with her.

  “Hey, Wilma,” Elise sighed.

  “What’s wrong, sis?” Wilma, Elsie’s twin sister, replied.

  “It’s Charlotte again,”

  “What? Is she not getting humiliated the way you planned?” She slyly asked.

  “No,” Elsie groaned, “She has a FRIEND. Her name is Bloom. How did she get a friend and I didn’t? What are we going to do?”

  Wilma sneered, “I say, let’s split them apart. Make them not friends anymore.”

  “And how on earth is that going to work?” Elsie snorted.

  “How’s what going to work?” Asked Tommy, Elsie and Wilma’s little brother.

  “Nothing, Tommy.” Wilma groaned. “Elsie, we will talk about this at home. Alone.”

  Soon the twins got off of the bus and ran straight to Wilma’s room.

  “Ok, Wilma! What are we going to do?” Elsie excitedly gasped.

  “First, I’m going to tell Bloom I’m a new girl too, and become friends with her. Then, I’m going to get Charlotte mad at me enough until she hits me, calls me a name, or something else. It will look like Charlotte is bullying me, and Bloom will get mad and fuss at Charlotte.”

  Elsie groaned. “But they will still be friends! That’s only one tiny thing!”

  “BUT I’M NOT DONE!!! If we frame Charlotte for enough things, she’ll get in trouble! Bloom won’t want to be friends with her! And if that’s not enough, I’ll get Bloom to tell me her biggest secret, and then I’ll tell you. Then you’ll spread the word around the school, and tell everyone that if Bloom asks them about who told them, they say Charlotte told them. Finally, you’ll tell Bloom that everyone knows the secret because Charlotte told them, and then they will hate each other! Bloom will be OUR friend!”

  “Wilma,” Elsie sighed, “You’re a genius.”

  Chapter 8: Bloom and Charlotte’s Bad Day

  Days quickly passed for Charlotte and Bloom. They were doing okay, until one little slip-up on the fifth day of school changed everything.

  “ALRIGHT, KIDDOS! TODAY WE WILL BE STARTING OUR FIRST LESSON!!” Shouted Mrs. Rally. “CAN ANYONE GIVE ME A GUESS ON WHAT WE WILL BE LEARNING?!”

  “Um, history?” Sebastian asked.

  “CLOSE!” Mrs. Rally replied. “THE HISTORY OF WHAT?”

  “Uh, Egypt?”

  “NOPE!”

  “The U.S.?”

  “NO!”

  “Green Reef Middle?”

  “NO WAY!”

  “Chocolate bars?”

  “NOW THIS IS JUST GETTING RIDICULOUS!”

  “Sand?”

  “WHAT?! NO!!”

  “Magic Girls?”

  Bloom had quietly asked. Hey, she was just guessing! The whole room fell silent.

  “What on Earth is a MAGIC GIRL?!” Elsie rudley snorted. Charlotte groaned and put her head on her desk.

  “Well,” Bloom smiled, “A magic girl looks like an ordinary everyday girl. But she’s not. She contains the powers of fire, water, wind, ice, fairy, and mermaid! She can also fly and breathe underwater, but I’m not sure if that’s all the powers they have yet because I haven’t found out if I can get more….”

  “INFORMATION!” Charlotte blurted out before Bloom could say that she had powers. “Information! She needs more information before she… uh….. tells you anymore.” The class and the teacher gave her an odd look.

  Mrs. Rally had no idea what the girls were talking about. She decided just to continue with her lesson. “OKAY, KIDS! YOU’RE ALL WRONG! WE ARE LEARNING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF GREECE!”

  At lunch, Charlotte and Bloom sat together. “What kind of stunt was that?” Charlotte growled.

  “What?” Bloom smiled as she bit into her sandwich.

  “In social studies! Really?!”

  “Oh, that.Yeah. Sorry ‘bout that. I just got a little carried away!”

  “CARRIED AWAY?! Bloom! You could have exposed our secret to everyone in the class!”

  “What secret?” Someone asked. Charlotte turned around to see a tall girl with long brown hair and brown eyes behind them.

  “Nothing, Wilma.” Charlotte groaned.

  “Really, Charlotte! I want to hear it! I’m great at keeping secrets!” Wilma smiled innocently.

  “NO, WILMA!” Charlotte began to shout.

  Wilma thought for a second. Then she gasped, “What? How do you know my name? I’m new to this town!”

  Charlotte groaned, “Wil, you just said my name five seconds ago. Even if you were new, how would you know my name?”

  “Maybe I hea
rd of you somewhere! I am new to this school! I don’t know anyone here!” Wilma cried.

  Charlotte began to get angry, and Bloom noticed Charlotte’s fists slightly glowing pink. Uh, oh! Bloom thought, If Charlotte gets any madder at this new girl, she might lose control of her powers! That would be bad!

  “Wilma Hanes, you have been in this town for five years and EVERYBODY KNOWS IT! DON’T GET BLOOM THINKING THAT YOU ARE THE NEW GIRL BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU’RE NOT!!!!”

  “So much for a great day….” Wilma cried and ran away.

  After Wilma left, Bloom asked, “Charlotte? Since when are you such a bully?”

  “Bully?” Charlotte quieted her voice. She felt hurt to be called such a name, “Can’t you realize she’s faking? She’s trying to make me look bad! She’s Elsie’s-”

  “No she’s not.” Bloom interrupted before Charlotte could say “Twin”. “I can tell that that pretty girl is not lying! She just wants to fit in!”

  “Bloom!” Charlotte was frustrated with her. “Forgive me if I was being mean, but Wilma Hanes has been at Green Reef for 5 years! Again, she’s trying to make me look bad!”

  “I’ll forgive you!” Bloom smiled, “If you promise not to be mean to the new girl again!”

  Charlotte rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Bloom!”

  Chapter 9: Franny's Bad Day

  Ding, Dong! Charlotte’s day was bad enough. Who could be at the door? Bloom and Wilma? Everything was horrible for Charlotte. Bloom called her a bully. Her parents still weren’t out of California. Aunt Celeste was supposed to be watching the kids, but Franny, Jenny, and James were making it hard for everyone. There had been at least five nights in which Franny convinced Celeste to leave them with just Charlotte for a night, such as the night at the beginning of the book. Jenny and James were constantly getting sick, so that left Charlotte with Franny, Thomas, and Aleah for a day.

  Charlotte opened the door. Of course. It was Aunt Celeste, Franny, Jenny, and James. “Sorry I took so long, Charlotte!” Celeste gasped. Charlotte could tell she was trying to hurry. “When I picked Franny up from school, her teacher asked me for a conference. I couldn’t say no. Sorry!”

  “It’s ok!” Charlotte smiled, although her day had been rough.

  “Now, I have to pick up groceries for James’s 2nd birthday party this weekend. Can you watch them?” She gasped again.

  “Um, sure?” Charlotte answered. Great. Her day had been bad enough.

  “One more thing. Franny’s really upset about something that I don’t have time to talk to her about. I’ll talk to her when I get back, but for now, can you try to comfort her? Thanks! Bye!” Celeste slammed the door and took off to SuperMart.

  Franny? Upset about something? Charlotte thought. If I know Franny, something must be really wrong! That girl is tough!

  Franny was on the couch, crying. “Franny?” Charlotte asked soothingly as she sat down beside Franny. “What’s wrong?”

  Franny sniffed. “Well, you know my friends, the Jenkins triplets? Mya, Mia, and Marco?” Charlotte nodded. “Well, Marco did something real bad. He ripped apart Mya’s dolls. Marco said he would give Mia a candy bar if she told Mya someone else did it. And guess who Mia blamed? ME, CHARLOTTE! SHE BLAMED ME!”

  “And then what happened?” Charlotte asked understandingly.

  “Well, Mya got mad at me. I said Marco did it and that Mia was an idiot! Now Mya’s mad at me for ripping her dolls, Mia’s mad at me for calling her an idiot, and Marco’s mad at me for blaming him! Now I have no friends!” Franny wailed and sobbed.

  “Oh, Franny,” Charlotte sighed, “It will be all right!”

  “NO IT WON’T!!!” Franny stamped her foot on the ground. “YOU’RE NO HELP AT ALL, CHARLOTTE!!” She wailed and ran up the stairs.

  Charlotte sighed and picked up the phone and dialed a number. Mrs. Kelly answered. “Hello? Mom?” Charlotte asked.

  “Hey Char,” Mrs. Kelly answered. “I have some bad news. The flight back to Florida was cancelled. There’s a big storm coming through, and I’m afraid we won’t make it back until Friday.”

  “But today’s Tuesday!” Charlotte groaned. “Mom, how bad is the storm”?”

  “Not too bad,” Mrs. Kelly replied, “Not like a hurricane or anything like that. Just enough to get Dad’s and my flight cancelled. So, how was your first few days of Middle School?”

  “You have no idea,” Charlotte laughed and went into detail about everything but the magic girl part.

  “Wow, Charlotte! I guess your first few days were rough! But I promise you, it will get better. Now, about the Franny part,” She sighed, “Try to do whatever she wants, just for tonight.”

  “Thanks, Mom!” Charlotte smiled. “I’ll go have some fun with Franny. Love you!”

  “Love you too, honey!”

  “Oh, and tell Dad I love him, too!”

  Charlotte hung up the phone and smiled. “Oh, Franny!” She shouted in a sing-song voice. Soon, she found herself in her room with Franny.

  “Ok, Charlotte! I want you to read this book to me!” Franny handed Charlotte a big, pink, sparkly book. “Everything in it is true! I’ve read it fifty times because I love, love, love it!”

  “Ok, Franny, I’ll read it. If you like it, I should too!” Then Charlotte glanced down at the title. The Big Fat book of Magic Girls.

  Chapter 10: A Big Mistake

  In shock, Charlotte gasped. They have a BOOK about MAGIC GIRLS?! And FRANNY has it?! She thought.

  “Um, Franny?” Charlotte stammered, “Are you sure you want to read this?”

  “Of course! Magic Girls are so cool! You need to learn about them so we can play pretend later! We can both be Magic Girls and battle dragons and villains! Jenny and Aleah could be Magic Girls, too! Thomas and James could be the yucky dragons! Come on, Charlotte! Read it! It’ll be so fun!” Franny smiled.

  Charlotte sighed and opened the book. At least I’ll learn more about the power stuff. She thought. “Chapter 1:” She read, “What is a magic girl? A Magic Girl is a girl who has powers from the Pink Sparkle Stone. The Pink Sparkle Stone was created by the first Magic Girls so that they could carry on the powers. It has been hidden and no one has ever found it.”

  “Yeah, right,” Charlotte sighed to herself.

  Charlotte knew most of the things in the book. Although she had known just about everything, one chapter caught her eye.

  Chapter 6: New Powers

  Every Magic Girl can gain more powers if they perform certain tasks. They can upgrade each power they have, or they can gain new powers. Although the new powers may be amazing, each one must come with a sacrifice, such as another power.

  Charlotte was stunned. After reading the book, Franny asked, “Charlotte? Can we play the Magic Girl game now?!”

  “Um, no, Franny. I have to go somewhere.” Charlotte replied. She was going to go to Bloom Island.

  “But I thought Mommy had to be here!” Franny whined. Charlotte thought about it. She was right. Celeste had to be with them for Charlotte to leave.

  “Ok, I guess we will play.” Charlotte sighed.

  The game was very uncomfortable. Charlotte was a Magic Girl named Carol. Franny demanded that her Magic Girl was named Charlotte. Jenny named hers Aleah and Aleah named hers Jenny. James and Thomas were the evil dragons. Thomas’s secret weapon was his spiky tail that the fairies had to dodge. James’s secret weapon was his ear-piercing scream. James did not want to take part in the game.

  Finally, Celeste walked in the door. “Hi, Aunt Celeste!” Charlotte hugged her black-haired Aunt. “Can I go swimming in the ocean?”

  “Sure.” Celeste sighed as she handed the five kids a scoop of ice-cream.

  Charlotte put on her swimsuit and took off out of the door. “Mommy? Can I go swimming too?” Franny asked after Charlotte had left.

  “Sure.”

  Charlotte ran down to the docks. She made sure no one was looking, then transformed into a mermaid and swam to Bloom Island. Little did s
he know, someone WAS looking. A five-year-old with frizzy brown hair and blue eyes named Franny was looking.

  “Oh. My. Gosh.” Franny gasped. Charlotte had just made the worst mistake of her life.

  Chapter 11: A Sleepover Surprise

  “So, how was your afternoon yesterday, Bloom?” Charlotte asked at school the next day.

  “Awesome! I went to the park, and guess who I saw? Wilma and Elsie! And guess what I found out? Elsie and Wilma are twins!”

  Charlotte sneered. “They’re both mean, you know. Wilma’s trying to make me look bad in front of you.”

  “No she’s not!” Bloom laughed. “Elsie’s really nice, you know. We went to Ice Cream World yesterday and we had a lot of fun!”

  Charlotte gasped. “Did you just call Elsie NICE?!! You must have lost it, girl!”