SunniSummers

**I am excited about the wiki because we can post media (which I did not expect to be allowed) and we have freedom to write whatever! I think it will help improve my reading and writing skills, because we are writing frequently about the book or I can just free write. I think the whole blog was a great idea overall!**

10/14/11
= **__I Don’t Know Why__** =

“Look at that one! I could probably eat her! There is only a two-year difference, but look at her! She’s so small just like a little peanut.” Meghan pointed towards an unusually small sixth grade girl, that didn’t even reach the height of Meg’s hips.

“You know, some of things you say are really disturbing. You worry me, Meg.” In return, she smiled her mischievous smile. She has a really good smile. I mean if you really think about it, have you ever seen someone with a horrible smile? I know haven’t. Smiles are symbols of happiness, so they can never be ugly. But Meghan’s, well, lets just say her orthodontist had to be amazing for that great of a grin.

As we turned to enter the room, we saw everyone lined up against the wall. “Aw, no! I don’t want assigned seats!” I complained. And it wasn’t in groups of four, like it was before. Now, it was two desks facing each other.

“I know right,” Jay, who was standing next to me, grumbled. “This sucks.”

Once every student had arrived, Ms. Magger began talking. “Alrighty guys, I am going to read off your new seats and then I’ll explain why your seats are changing.”

She read off names. Of course, she didn’t say mine until absolutely last. “Ok in the back corner, it will be Lily Colton,” I began walking to my seat but turned abruptly on my heels as she said, “and Drew Keegs?”

“Keggs. That’s how you pronounce it.” He informed, while walking over to the desk across from mine. Then, he began pushing his binder into the desk. Wow, this is for real.

“Thank you for the clarification,” She noted. So, were we talking too much or something? Cassie and I yapped the entire class yesterday, and she kind of had to tell us to stop about a million times. I looked to see who Cassie was sitting with and I saw the unmistakable auburn hair of Jessie Lathworth. Her and Jessie do field hockey together. At least they have something in common.

“So, for the seating change, I saw mainly who you interacted with and talked to over the week. Thus, that is how I paired you up with the person I think you need to get to know better.” Oh, well that explains a lot. “It’s your eighth grade year, and you want to leave knowing that you made an effort to be friends with everyone, correct?” All the students shook their heads in agreement. “Very good. I think you will enjoy this experience. But if not, it is only for a month.” I nervously twisted the ring on my finger. “Now, for your first assignment: Write a paragraph about the person sitting across from you, otherwise known as your ‘unfamiliar classmate’. You have about seven minutes.”

We both looked at each other, once she was done talking, and stared at each other for a long time. I studied Drew Keggs very carefully. Of course I noticed that he was cute before, but I never noticed how good-looking he was until now. He has these deep brown eyes that have gold flecks spinning from the inside out. Plus, his hair is so cute. It isn’t too long or short, and it isn’t pin-straight or lumps of curly either; it is the perfect amount. He is pretty tall, but not intimidating tall and his skin color is olive tinged with a summer tan and….

I noticed I was spacing out and realizing all this in my head but not writing anything down on my paper. I took a glance at Drew’s paper. He already wrote three sentences about me! Three sentences and I can’t think of one thing to say! So, I decided I would write about the only thing I could be descriptive about: his appearance (leaving out all the details of his cuteness).

What else is there to know? Drew gets good grades, well I assume, since we are in honors Language Arts. He has a good group of friends, I think. I mean I see him sit with a group of guys at lunch everyday. And I think he plays sports, because doesn’t everyone? How would I know though, since I never talk to him? I have never had a conversation with Drew about something somewhat meaningful, ever. After going to school together for eight years, nothing besides “what’s the homework?” has been a discussion between the two of us.

And I don’t know why.

// I am sitting across from a girl named Lily Colton. // First sentence: down.

I study her appearance as she studies mine. //She has goldish-brown hair.// Second Sentence: complete.

I look around the room for ideas. I see Ryan, sitting across from super-hot Gina, wearing his student council shirt. //She is on student council.// Third sentence: done.

She looks at my paper and her eyes seem to widen with panic. Geez, did I say anything that was insulting or something? She frivolously begins writing her paper again. //She likes to write.// Fourth sentence: I’m on a roll.

When you don’t know what to say don’t you just say they are nice, even if they aren’t, right? //She is nice and talkative//. Fifth sentence sentence: one more to go and then, you reached the minimum amount.

//She is my unknown classmate.// Paragraph: finished.

I look around the room and notice I was the first one to finish writing. Well, if I was partnered with anyone else, this might be an easier job. I don’t really know anything about the girl besides what Ryan has told me. Ryan and her are close friends, but Ryan well, lets just say he is working on turning it into something more. “She never picks up on any hints,” He exclaimed in frustration, “So, either I have to spell it out for her, or she knows and is like silently rejecting me by not saying anything.” I tell him it probably isn’t that but whatever. I’m not exactly the best at giving relationship advice.

I look back at Lily’s paper. Her pencil is down and she is twirling her hair. Lily is actually pretty gorgeous, with her long locks of hair and stunning smile. She seems nice enough, as a person in general. I can see why Ryan likes her.

Jay taps me on the shoulder and points to Ryan. Ryan mouths, “Tell me if she says anything about me.” I mouth back, “Alright, I’ll do what I can.” I decide talking is better than sitting in an awkward silence.

“So,” I cock an eyebrow, “What did you say about me?”

She giggles in return. “It isn’t anything you don’t already know.”

“Ah, so you talked about my incredible hotness I see. And my muscles.” I flex my muscles and make a loud grunting sound, which causes everyone to turn and look at us. Lily is laughing hysterically at that time, covering her mouth with her hand from laughing so loud.

“Um, Drew, you okay over there?” Ms. Magger eyes me suspiciously.

“Yup, just uh, telling Lily about my strength. You know, for the paragraph thingy and all.”

“I see. Maybe a little less grunting and more writing would be nice?” The class laughs and I give her a thumbs-up. “Since everyone seems to be done, you can put your notebooks away. At the end of the month, you will be assigned to rewrite this paragraph and explain the differences between the original and the new paragraph. Just remember to keep that in mind” Yeah, like I will remember that in a month. I can’t even remember what I ate last night.

The rest of the lesson was about figurative language and it was as boring as watching paint dry. However, the reason I was able to endure the class was, because Lily was eating up my jokes and laughing at all of them. It wasn’t one of those, “Huh. Funny,” kind-of-fake laughs. It was completely genuine. She would be paying attention to the teacher like her life depended on it and I would either 1) twist the Ms. Magger’s words or 2) just say something relevantly funny at the moment and she would turn into some cackling maniac. Luckily, she laughs so hard that no sound comes out, so we pretty much joked the whole time without getting caught.

I’m usually not the troublemaker or “class clown” or whatever the heck it is called. I’m usually just me, doing my own thing, and talking to people I like and avoiding the ones I don’t. But this was the first real impression I made on Lily and she seemed to like it. That meant something more to me, more than I would like to admit.

And I don’t know why.

5/3/12

“Hey yo, Collie, wait up!” Sam came rushing out of social studies, and grabbed my arm as I was heading towards my advisory class.

“Collie? Isn’t that a dog? That isn’t very nice to call your friend a dog, now is it Sam?” Jay playfully interrogated her.

“No, Collie is a combination of her name: Lily Colton. It’s just sorta flipped. But I don’t have a nickname. I see how important I am to you now. Thanks a lot.”

Her words were practically dripping with sarcasm. I responded with, “Well, yeah obviously, you aren’t important. Go make me a sandwich!” She was laughing as she faked slapping me and I dodged out of the way. We probably insult each other more than even people who dislike us, but that is one of the perks of having a best friend.

“Ah, I see. Alright then, just don’t go around calling people dogs, ladies.” Jay said, while walking away.

“Will do!” She yelled, giving him a thumbs-up. She turned to me, questioning, “What’s going on in L.A.? Why are we getting assigned seats?”

I gave her the little shortened chat that Ms. Magger gave us. I told her I was sitting next to Drew and she said, “Hmm, that is interesting. Isn’t he your little secret-but not so secret- admirer’s best buddy?” I could tell where this was going, from the quirk of her head and her sly smile emerging.

“Who are you talking about?” I knew she was wrong. She had to be. There was no way.

We heard some loud laughter from behind us, Sam turned her head, then muttered, “Speak of the devil…”

Ryan came walking up and easily said, “Hey Lily, Sam.”

I was going to say hi in return but I was interrupted by, “Hey, we were just talking about you!” I jabbed Sam in the stomach with my elbow. Ryan gave me a funny look, but he didn’t look mad in the least that we were talking about him.

“Oh really, what sorta stuff?”

“Oh, you know, just that you are incredibly dreamy,” I exclaimed sarcastically and he laughed. Sam pretended to gag.

“Gosh Sam, that’s pretty harsh. I know what you want me.” He winked at her and Sam’s face broke out into a look of disgust.

“Whatever. In your dreams, pretty boy. I’ll be in music when you are…” She smiled at me, “Finished.” She swiveled on her toes and turned down the hallway.

Ryan looked at me, “That was awkward.”

“Tell me about it. Sorry, she is just an awkward person.” We laughed and I asked, “So, are you staying after to decorate for the dance Friday?”

“Yeah, are you… going with anyone to the dance?”

He cares if I’m going with someone? I asked if he was decorating, but that is totally different, right? It isn’t like he asked me to the dance, but that means he probably wants me there. Or maybe I am just being crazy? “Nope forever alone over here,” I smiled not wanting him to think I am desperate or anything.

“Maybe, maybe not. And it’s not bad; I am too, so no worries. Hey, you should go before you are late. I’ll talk to you later.” As he walked away, I made a mental plan to have the girls do my make-up extra good for the dance.

Wait, why would he be flirting with me? We are friends, right? Why now?

Well, I don’t know why.

I flop on the couch and stretch out my legs. What’s the point of going to school on a Friday? No one pays attention anyway. My phone buzzes and it is a text from Alex. “**U mind** ** giving me a ride to the dance ** ,” he sent. I resist the urge to write back, *YOU but instead I say, “** Nah man I’m not going **** .” **

Some people like them, I get it. The girls spend like an hour straightening their hair, even though it looks fine naturally, and guys get their excuse to move in on the girl they have their eye on. In my case though, I don’t really care. If I want to dance with a girl, I’ll walk up to her and ask, “Want to dance?” I don’t need a crowded room filled with sweaty people and some lame DJ as my reason. And do not even get me started on the music they play. It’s absolutely sickening. So what’s the point of going?

“**ahh, come on please”**

“ My mom isn’t even home. “

“** Fine, but u prob are gonna end up wanting to go ** ”

Now, I am interested. I quickly type back, “ And why is that? ”

“ ** cassie just broke up with connor ** ”

**“** I’ll pick you up at 6:50.”

The first hour goes by really slow. All the girls are hugging each other like they haven’t seen each other in years, when in reality they saw each other like five hours ago. I kind of just walk from group to group, but mainly I hang with Alex. I scope out the scene and see Connor is talking to two girls, both of which are not Cassie. “It is too early,” Alex tells me, “Wait until the end of the night.”

Another hour passes when I finally catch up with Ryan. I avoid him at these things cause he just dances with everyone and talks with everyone, it is just too much for me to handle. “Hey guess what Alex just told me!” How did he find out abou-“Apparently, Gina has a thing for me.” Phew, at least he doesn’t know about the one thing. I stare at him for a few seconds and he goes, “What are you looking at?”

“You, idiot. What about Lily? Remember her? That won’t really help your cause if you go dancing with other girls.”

“I danced with other people tonight.”

“Did they ask you or did you ask them?”

He thinks about it for a moment, as if trying to recall. “They asked me…I mean…why does that even matter?”

“Because if you ask another girl, especially someone like Gina, she’s going to think you aren’t interested.” How does he not get common logic?

He pats me on the shoulder and says, “Don’t worry, buddy, I am interested. I just want to find out if the Gina-thing is,” The most annoying sound I have ever heard begins to play for a horrific second time, “True. Hey, I’ll talk to you later and maybe we can hang tomorrow!” I don’t even get a chance to respond before he’s out a sight and I am drifting a different way.

I head over to the hallway to get a drink when I spot Lily sitting to the side. Why is she alone? Was it Ryan or something else? I still barely know the girl, but no one deserves to be by herself without anyone who cares…right? This somehow compels me to change the direction I am walking.

And I don’t know why.

I went and sat down on the ground like a typical wallflower would. I didn’t really want to sit alone, but it wasn’t like I was going to stop my friends from dancing to over-produced garbage. Out of nowhere, Drew sat down next to me and started talking, “Didn’t feel like dancing, huh?”

“I did the first time, but twice? There is only so much ‘party rock anthem’ I can take in one night.”

“I know right! Once is fine. The music could be a whole lot worse, even if isn’t my thing.”

“So, what music do you like?”

“Probably never heard of it, nor would you like it.”

“I doubt that.”

“Is that a challenge?”

I playfully snapped, “No, it’s a promise. Don’t you dare try to test me!”

We smiled at each other and then familiar tune of “You and Me” by Lifehouse began to play. He stood and held out his hand. I raised an eyebrow at him. “No? I am not doing this properly? Hold on, give me a sec.” He adjusted his shirt, over-dramatically fixed his hair, and then bowed, while extending his hand. “Ms. Lily Colton, would you like to dance?”

I laughed. “Why certainly, sir.” I clasped my hand into his and he pulled me up from the ground. We walked over a little ways from the wall and he gently put his hands a few inches up from my waist. I questioned, “I thought you didn’t want to dance?”

He shrugged his shoulders and my arms, thrown around his neck, moved up with them. That was the thing about slow dancing; it feels as if you are intertwined. Every movement they make, you make as well. It’s rather weird and strange, but glorious in one whole package. “I figured it was better than just sitting there being the only ones not dancing.”

We swayed in silence for the rest of the song, but I didn’t mind. When the song ended, we dropped our hands and pulled away from each other. “Well, I’ll, uh, talk to you later.” I stammered. He nodded and replied, “Yeah, sure. Talk to you later.” I barely walked a step before Sam slammed into me.

“Ryan was just dancing with Gina!” My jaw must have dropped, because she quickly pulled me into the hallway. “But I think he is going to ask you when the next song is.”

“Why did he dance with Gina?!”

“I don’t know…why were you dancing with Drew?” She eyed me skeptically.

“We are just friends! Okay, Sam?” I argued.

“I didn’t even know you were friends! Oh, and Cassie and Connor danced together again. Total mistake on her part! You know we love the girl, but sometimes she makes poor choices.”

Meg and Ally ran up. “Did you Ryan see dancing Gina they together!” They rambled so fast at once I barely could understand them.

I sighed, “Thank you again for reminding me of that. Sam told m-“ I was interrupted by “Home” By Daughtry exploding from the speakers. I turned, nonchalantly, and saw Ryan heading my way. “Someone explain to me what happened with Cassie and Gina later! Excuse me, ladies.” He tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey, want to dance?”

“Yeah, of course.” I was overjoyed he asked me to dance, but it something changed, either with him or with me.

And I don’t know why.

10/15/11
**__Our Last Year__**

Everyone is buzzing, fluttering little bees I can feel it in the air; things are changing right in front of me A caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly We just finished saying hello but what happens when we say goodbye?

So we venture off and go our separate ways Don’t take this time for granted; lets enjoy these glory days

(Chorus) So grab a friend, take them by the hand, and run into the sunset Open your eyes, to your surprise, and see the best hasn’t even came yet Have some crazy times, change our minds, and fall in and out of love Share memories, more than you would believe, and never have enough Laugh and smile lots, like ten million watts, and don’t stop shining Try new things, simply be everything, and live like you were dying Cry on my shoulder, as we get older, and know everything will be okay And when it is finally over… That’s when we will have to walk away

Here’s to now, we have reached the top But we keep on climbing and we’re never going to stop Don’t be afraid of anything, because I have your back Don’t worry about the future, even if we take separate paths

We have made so many friends, some old and some new The ones that shine with the best of gold and the trueness of blue And all these people that are like my second family If family is forever, then why do we have to leave?

Being together for so long, a bond has formed between us and this place Better savor this while it lasts, time is running away like a race

(Chorus) So grab a friend, take them by the hand, and run into the sunset Open your eyes, to your surprise, and see the best hasn’t came yet Laugh and smile lots, like ten million watts, and don’t stop shining Try new things, simply be everything, and live like you were dying Have some crazy times, change our minds, and fall in and out of love Share memories, more than you would believe, and never have enough Cry on my shoulder, as we get older, and know everything will be okay And when it is finally over… That’s when we will have to walk away

A different road can be rather scary to face Especially when life is written in ink, no way you can erase Just remember to live it up and that nothing else can replace The memories I have shared with all of you

(Chorus) So grab a friend, take them by the hand, and run into the sunset Open your eyes, to your surprise, and see the best hasn’t came yet Laugh and smile lots, like ten million watts, and don’t stop shining Try new things, simply be everything, and live like you were dying Have some crazy times, change our minds, and fall in and out of love Share memories, more than you would believe, and never have enough Cry on my shoulder, as we get older, and know everything will be okay And when it is finally over… Oh no, no, no

So listen close, to the music notes, everything I feel but can’t find the words to say And when it is finally over, and when it is finally over, and when it is finally over… Tomorrow will bring a new day

I just wanted to make this clear: this song wasn’t suppose to make anyone sad. Everyone is posting about how the year is flying by and I completely agree. Some of my best memories are of being here and all the friends I have made. I don’t want all that to end, rather it continue on forever. If you read through the lyrics, you can see symbolism of SMS and my perspective on the situation. But the song isn’t entirely about moving to the high school. Personally, I meant it as a guideline for a great year. However, someone has just read this and thought something different. That’s the beauty of music. Interpretation is left up for you to decide. What do you think it was all about? What does the year entail? Will you have the best memories of your life? Questions we all like to know the answers of, but making the memories, that’s the better than the final answer. I hope you enjoyed my song and I know we will have an amazing year! Sincerely, Sunni