When Life Gives You Lemons Read online

  Gina sighed. “Don’t, Izzy. Lea’s a jerk.” Izzy rolled her eyes. She walked in her house to make the drink. That’s when I got the idea! I could put the potion in the lemonade! It was for Lea, so no one else would drink it!

  Then, Nikki knocked on the door. “I made it!” She opened the door and showed me the little glass bottle with the pink liquid. That made me wonder again, how could pink go with lemonade? PINK lemonade, of course! “Do you know how you are going to do it?” She asked.

  “Yes, I do, but you can’t let me do it until tonight!” I slyly smiled. She looked at me suspiciously.

  “Ok,” She nervously smiled. That night, at around 11 o’clock, Nikki dropped me off in their driveway. I tried to opened the door.

  “It’s locked.” I whispered. Does it count as breaking into someone's house if you are giving them something? Santa does it all the time, and everyone loves him! That’s when I got another idea! The chimney!

  “You’re kidding, right?” Nikki snorted when I told her my idea. “You seriously want to go down Lea’s chimney? ”

  I nodded my head. Nikki rolled her eyes. “How are you going to get up there?”

  “Like this.” I spread my hand and vines grew from the green grass. They grew into the shape of a ladder until it reached the roof. Nikki handed me the potion and I started up the ladder. As I climbed up, I pricked my finger 13 times on the thorns.

  I finally clambered onto the roof. I had a hole in my pants that needed to be fixed. My left thumb was bleeding. Stupid thorns. I walked up to the chimney, praying Lea hadn’t lit a fire. Looking down, I was relieved. I placed my first foot into the hole and sighed. This was going to be a LONG drop! I placed my other foot in and next thing I knew, I was sitting in a pile of ash.

  “Ow,” I whispered. I had a big bruise on my arm. I got up and walked into Lea’s kitchen. There, of course, was a big glass of lemonade on the counter. There was a little pink card beside it that said, To: Lea /From: Sissy .

  “Perfect.” I said to myself. I carefully poured the sparkly pink potion into the drink, and walked out of the house.

  The next morning, “Selena! Sel!” Nikki was on my bed, shaking me hard.

  “What?” I groaned.

  “We have a big problem!” I got up and looked out the window. To my surprise, I saw Gina, at her lemonade stand, handing out PINK, SPARKLY, LEMONADE!

  “Uh, oh!” I gasped.

  Chapter 7:

  Lemonade

  By: Gina Smith

  I woke up the next morning at 7 o’clock, so I could set up my stand early. I got up went to my closet. I picked out my orange shirt with the lemon on it, to give me good luck. I ran downstairs to mix my lemonade.

  I opened the fridge, and of course, we were out of lemons. I groaned. I had to go outside and PICK all the lemons!

  But then, a sparkle caught my eye. There aren’t usually sparkles at my house, unless you’re in Izzy’s room. I noticed, on the counter, Izzy’s drink she made for Lea. It was a tall glass of PINK lemonade, with a sparkle.

  I was confused. How did Izzy get it to turn it PINK?! We don’t have food coloring, strawberries, cranberry juice, or anything else that could possibly turn it PINK!

  I took a small sip. Actually, it wasn’t that bad, considering Izzy made it. That’s when I got the awesomest idea ever. I made sure Lea or Izzy wasn't looking, and I dumped the glass into my lemonade pitcher. But, it only filled about 1/20 of the pitcher. So I went outside to go pick more lemons.

  I got revenge on Lea. That’s what she gets for making me sit in gum. I stole her drink! Ha, ha! I yanked five lemons off of the tree and proceeded back inside to begin making lemonade.

  Just then, Izzy trotted down the stairs. “Gina!” She gasped. “My lemonade is GONE!”

  “Um, Izzy, uh, I accidently spilt it.” I nervously laughed.

  “Oh.” She sighed.

  “Wanna try mine?” I asked.

  “Sure!” She smiled as she took a sip and poured another cup. “I’m giving this one to Lea!” She went back up the stairs. I frowned. Well, the whole stealing the drink was pointless.

  I grabbed a small table and brought it outside. I doodled a small sign that said, Gina’s Lemonade, on the front. I hung it on my stand. Then, I put my lemonade, the tip jar, and my change on the table. I was ready!

  Around 8:30, I got my first customer. “Um, excuse me, miss?” Said a tall man who passed. He pulled out his wallet. “Are you selling something to drink?”

  “Yes, um, it’s lemonade. Want some?” I asked.

  “Why’s it sparkling like that?” The man asked when he looked closer to the pitcher.

  I honestly didn’t know. What DID Izzy put in there? “Um, uh, it’s glitter!” I stammered. Well, it sounded like something Izzy would do to a glass of lemonade! That girl LOVES glitter!

  The man looked surprised. “Glitter?!” He scoffed. “I don’t want to drink GLITTER!” He put his wallet back in his pocket and continued jogging.

  I didn’t get another customer until around 10 o’clock. Of course, it had to be the last people I wanted to see. Can you guess who it is?

  “How are you doing ALONE?” Beth sneered as the three walked by.

  “Great.” I lied. Ella sadly sighed. Kate just looked away.

  “Good,” Beth fake smiled. “Now give us some.” She held out her hand.

  “For a dollar.” I replied angrily.

  “No.” Beth evilly smiled. She grabbed the pitcher, poured the three of them a drink, and handed some to Ella and Kate.

  I just stood there, not knowing what to do. After taking a sip, Beth looked in her cup in disgust. “Ugh! Gina, it’s pink and sparkly! Why’d you do that?! You know I hate pink!”

  “I didn’t make it for YOU!” I cried in return.

  “Um, I think it’s pretty good.” Ella whispered.

  “Yeah, me too!” Kate smiled as she took another sip.

  Beth scowled. “Don’t drink this stuff!” She shrieked as she yanked the cups from Ella and Kate and slammed them on the ground. “Come on, let’s go.” She urged them to leave my yard.

  All of a sudden, a shout came from across the street. “GINA!! NO!!!” It was Selena and Nikki, waving their arms like fools and screaming like idiots. Beth, Ella, and Kate glared at them. Selena whispered something into Nikki’s ear, and they both darted back into their house.

  “Who was that?” Ella asked.

  “Neighbors.” I said. Why did they have to embarrass me like that in front of Beth?!

  “Gina!” Lea called from inside the house. “It’s time to start setting up the party!”

  Great.

  Chapter 8:

  A very Awkward Moment

  By: Selena Johnson

  “What are we going to do?!” I shrieked.

  “I don’t know!” Nikki screamed. “But there’s nothing we can do now! It’s too late! She’s already given it out to everyone!”

  I sighed. Why did I ever even have the stupid idea to put a fairy potion in lemonade?! Why, oh, why didn’t I think that THIS might happen.

  I glanced out of the window again. Gina had gone inside to set up the party. Her three little friends had proceeded back down the road. “Well, what do we do now?” I asked.

  Nikki just hung her head low and walked to her room. I sighed in guilt as I sat down on the sofa. Now, Lea, Gina, Izzy, and who knows who else is a fairy like us! Then, many questions crossed my mind. How are we going to tell them? ARE we going to tell them? What will happen if we don’t? What if they find out BEFORE we tell them?

  I got a really bad headache. I grabbed a glass of water, took some medicine, and turned on the TV.

  About an hour later, Nikki walked in the room. She sat down beside me and stared at me for a couple minutes. She didn’t say a thing, she just stared. I would have asked why she was just staring, and to look away, but I didn’t have the heart. I sighed. “Tell them.” I heard. I turn around and Nikki was still staring, but just a little m
ore serious.

  “Tell them. Now. Before the party starts. So they can cancel it.” Nikki repeated, pausing several times.

  “No,” I replied. “They’ll think we’re crazy.”

  “But imagine what’ll happen if we don’t!” Nikki exclaimed

  I took a deep breath. “Let’s go.” I said as opened the door. This was going to be awkward! What if they don’t believe us? Wait, what am I saying?! Of course they won’t believe us! If someone came up to you and said that both of you were fairies, of course you wouldn’t believe them! Who on earth WOULD?!

  A few seconds later, I found myself knocking on Lea’s door. “Selena? Nikki? Why are you here so early? The party starts at 2:00! It’s only 11:13!” Lea laughed.

  “Well, um, “ Nikki sputtered, “We want to help set up! And, uh, we HATE being late.”

  Lea smiled. “Well then okay! Come right in! Nikki, you can come help me set up the cupcakes. While you’re at it, you can take a few.” Lea pointed to a box of pink mini cupcakes that needed to be put out on a rack. “Selena, you can go play with Gina and Izzy.” I nodded.

  I walked upstairs to see Gina playing teacher with Izzy. “Hey, um, Gina!” I nervously smiled. Gina looked up at me and frowned. “What’s wrong?” I asked sympathetically.

  Gina started to tear up. “I never got enough money from my lemonade stand!” She cried and hesitated. “Just because I put sparkles in it!” I jumped back. Liar.

  “No you didn’t!” I yelled. “I did!” Oops. I meant to tell them when everyone was around! Not just me, Gina, and Izzy!

  “What?” Gina asked. “No, Izzy did!”

  “I did!” I screeched back. “I put the potion in! I did!”

  “Potion?!” Gina scrunched up her nose. “What on EARTH are you talking about?!”

  I sighed. BIG mistake. “Look.” I groaned. “Follow me downstairs, get everyone together, and then I’ll explain.”

  “Explain what?” Gina asked as she grabbed Izzy and we started walking down the stairs.

  I paused and took a deep breath. “I’m going to blow your mind!”

  Chapter 9:

  The truth

  By: Gina Smith

  I had no clue what Selena was talking about. Fairy potion? That girl’s been watching too much Cra-Z fairies! I sat down on the sofa. “Lea! Nikki!” I yelled at them. They were all the way in the kitchen.

  “What?” Lea hollered back.

  “Selena needs to talk to everyone.” I replied. Nikki walked in and sat down beside me. Lea sat next to Izzy on the floor. Nikki bit her lip and closed her eyes. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because she knows what Selena is going to tell us. But why would she act all nervous? Maybe it’s something embarrassing….or maybe something we weren’t supposed to know at all.

  Selena sighed. “I’m going to tell you a story.” She nervously smiled.

  “A STORY?!” Lea shrieked. “I stopped setting up the party just to listen to a STORY?!” She put down her coffee mug and stood up. “Nikki, come back and help me. Gina and Izzy can listen to your sister’s story.”

  Nikki didn’t budge. She opened her mouth to speak and then closed it. She simply shook her head no.

  “Why?” Lea asked. Nikki shot her a look that said, Sit down! “Fine, whatever.” Lea groaned as she sat back down.

  “Is everyone ready?” Selena asked. We all nodded, except Lea. “Okay….um…. once upon a time, there were two fairies.”

  “Aw, come on!” Lea groaned. “This is a baby story!”

  “Just listen!” Selena snapped back. “The two fairies lived in Montana, and they had to move to a town in Oregon.”

  “Really?!” Izzy gasped. “That’s where WE live!”

  Selena nodded. “Well, the two little fairies were very lonely. They wanted to go meet some friends, but they couldn’t let anyone know their secret! So, the youngest fairy decides to make new fairies! Then they could show the secret to them!”

  “Did they do it?” Izzy asked. I could tell she was very involved in the story.

  “Yes, they did. They looked around town for the right people. Finally, they came to a house with three kids. They decided they were perfect.”

  Lea began making a face. I didn’t understand why. “That night, the young one snuck into the house, and saw the oldest of the children’s lemonade on the counter. She knew the oldest child would have to drink it, so she dumped the potion in the lemonade. But then, the next morning, the middle child had stolen the potion and was selling it in a lemonade stand!”

  I snickered. Why would a kid steal a potion and sell it?! “Why’d she do that?” I asked.

  “You tell me.” Nikki sneered.

  Selena sighed. “And here’s the best part,”She reached into the back of the shirt and pulled out a pair of green sparkly wings. “It’s true!” She giggled.

  Wait a second. It’s TRUE?!?! Hold on. If Selena and Nikki are the two fairies, then who are the three kids? I look around and see Lea passed out on the floor. Izzy’s gazing at Selena’s wings. That’s when it hit me.

  Lea, Izzy, and I were the three kids in Selena’s story!!!!

  Chapter 10

  Easier than I thought

  By: Selena Johnson

  I wasn’t exactly sure how they were going to react. I mean, if someone walked up to you and showed you that she was a fairy, it’d be pretty weird.

  Izzy just stared. I’m guessing she doesn’t understand yet that her sisters had drank a fairy potion. Lea passed out at the sight of my wings. Gina made the most horrific face I’ve ever seen.

  “S-s-so y-y-you mean WE are f-f-fairies t-t-too?!” Gina stammered. I slowly nodded.

  Nikki interrupted, “Yeah. Just one question. Why’d you give it away in a lemonade stand?!” She shrieked.

  Gina was shocked. “I-I um..uh… Lea was being mean… a-a-and I um… thought the pink lemonade w-w-was something Izzy m-m-made for Lea, and...I um….. tried to...uh… get revenge… and… um… I’m sorry!” She cried.

  “Sorry?!” I laughed. “SORRY?! You don’t have to be SORRY! The potion was for your sister! I would have to give you one eventually!”

  Gina slowly smiled. Finally, Lea woke up and started to talk. “If.... we’re… fairies....” She wearily asked, “Do...we...get... powers...like… the….ones….in…Izzy’s …..show?”

  “Yup!” Nikki replied.

  “Awesome!” Lea immediately came to. “How do we find them?”

  Nikki walked up to Lea. She yanked the back of her shirt and bright, light blue wings poked out from Lea’s back. “Whoa…” Lea gasped.

  “You have water powers.” Nikki smiled.

  “Awesome!” Lea squealed. “What do I do with them?” She stretched out her hand at the vase above Izzy. The water in the vase overflowed and poured all over Izzy.

  “S-s-issy!” Izzy screamed. Water poured out of her nose.

  “Whoops.” Lea giggled.

  “What about me?” Gina asked.

  “Oh!” I laughed. “I almost forgot about you!” I yanked the back of her shirt, but no wings came out.

  “Where’s the wings?” She asked. “I don’t get anything?”

  Nikki sighed. “You’re older than five, and, um, you drank the potion, so I don’t understand why she doesn-”

  “Potions!” I cried. “She’s like you, Nikki! She makes potions!”

  Nikki groaned. “Are you sure?”

  “Awesome!” Gina giggled. “But I have one question. What kind of potions can I make?”

  “Anything, actually.” Nikki replied. “If you would come to my house, I could show you a few recipes.”

  “Okay!” Gina smiled. “Lea, could I go?”

  “Sure,” Lea replied.

  “But what about my party?” Izzy cried. “Can we have it first?”

  “No. No party today. We’ll schedule it for tomorrow.” Lea said.

  “Perfect!” I squealed. “Let’s go!”

  We opened the door and began walking dow
n the road to our house. Lea picked up her pink cell phone. “Hey, just calling to let everyone know the party’s been rescheduled for tomorrow because...um.... Izzy’s not feeling well...um...she’s not sick, but...um… we don’t want her feeling bad during her party. Thanks….um… bye.” She said into everyone’s answering machine.

  “That’s a lousy excuse.” I snickered.

  Lea scoffed. “Well, then what do you expect me to say?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Something besides that.”

  We walked into our house. “Whoa.” Gina gazed around our living room. “Your house is AWESOME.”

  “I know.” Nikki smiled. “That’s why I bought it.”

  I smiled. This was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be!

  Chapter 12:

  Making Potions

  By: Gina Smith

  Best. Day. Of. My. Life. Or so I thought. Let me tell you the story of how this afternoon went entirely wrong, like you saw in the prologue. By now, you’re wondering how a volcano, a cage, Selena going insane, and lemons ruining everything has to do with any of this. Well, it’s a long story. Actually, it’s not that long. But, it’s not short enough for me to just tell you in a couple of sentences. Actually, I could, but that would make this a VERY short book. So I am going to give you every last detail. Oh, and Selena will tell some parts, too.

  Alright, um, where was I? Oh, yeah.

  After they gave us a tour of the house, Nikki and I walked down into the basement. “Okay, Gina, are you ready to start making potions?”

  “Yeah!” I smiled. “Of course!”

  “Great! Because you can’t start yet!” She laughed.

  “What?!” I shrieked. “Why?!”

  “First you must learn the rules and safety regulations of being a potion-creator.” She said as she sat down on a pink chair. I sat down on the blue one next to her.

  “First, you must know that potion-making is very hard and takes lots of concentration and patience. It blah blah blah blah……” I stopped listening after the words ‘concentration and patience’. It was too boring.

  After a half hour of (not) listening to Nikki’s lecture, she finally said, “Alright. It seems like you know everything there is to know!” She stood up. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, ma’am!” I said as if I were in the army. She rolled her eyes as we walked to her desk.

  “Okay, Gina. What kind of potion do you want to make?” She pulled out a glass bottle. “How about you start with something simple, like a color-changing potion...or, um… a-”