Today I, Book One:Hey There, Roxie Chapter 1 I wake up at five. I'm not sure why. I head to bed for another hour until six when I get up for school. I dress in a tight black tee shirt and blue jeans with my grey sneakers and blue socks and grab my black EastSport backpack and a paper sack and throw in a red apple,a turkey-and-cheese sandwich, and a can of Ginger Ale. I roll up the top and put it in my backpack. I make some toast and eat it. I call into the house, "Bye,Mom!" I grab the keys to my red Hyundai Elantra. I drive from my house to Plainview High School and grab my science book and my folder and walk to class and walk in. Mrs. Clark, the teacher, and Ms. Freeman, the teacher's aid, start class. They are talking about blood types and animals. I read and listen about it. The bell rings and I grab the folder and book and head to my locker. Chapter 2 I grab my math book and the next folder and head to math class. As I expected, it's more algebra and division so I listen boredly to Mr. Lucia and pretend I'm circling answers when really I'm ahead. My best friend, Sallie Luciata,was also ahead and I see this now. I see that she is keeping her head away from me. I wonder why. I finally hear the bell ring and me and Sallie meet up. "I have something to tell you." We say at the same time. I stop talking and she continues. "I'm dating your brother..." She says. I smirk. "Me too." I say with the smirk. "Lets go before we miss the ceremony." I say. We run to the cafeteria and I sit down with Sallie. She smiles at me and looks back at the stage. Her brother, Jacob, and my brother, Clutch, walk onto the stage. They look happy but nervous up there. I smile at Clutch and Jacob. Jacob blows me a kiss and I catch it and blow him one. He catches it and I smile at Clutch and Sallie goes with it. She blows a kiss to "Jacob" and she's really blowing it to Clutch. They go on and on until Jacob and Clutch throw up their hats. We step out of the room. I pull out my keys with a pocketwatch on them. "Sallie! Come on! We'll be late!" I drag her through the halls until we reach class. We veer into the room. Chapter 3 I pull the Spanish book out. She does the same. We start off easily because this is an easy class. It's easy because Mr.Senna makes it easy. I grin at her. She smirks at me. We go back to our books. It takes me about five seconds to learn how to say "Hello. How are you? My name is Roxie Ramirez." In Spanish. Sallie has a little trouble so I help her. She masters it in about 30 minutes. Then class ends and the loud bell goes off. I remember there is gym next. I go to my gym locker and grab my uniform-a red short sleeve shirt and tan capris- and change into it. I walk to gym and find a note on the empty chair. No students were in here. I read the note that was on the chair. It read,"My dear students, I have quit to spend more time with my husband and son. I do hope you understand. Sincerely,Mrs. Verna." Chapter 4 I keep my cool but I'm really sad about my teacher leaving. I find my locker and pull my normal clothes out. I find the restroom and change. I put the gym clothes in the locker and walk to the softball field. I find my locker for softball in the dugout and pull the beautifully carved bat out and my memories of the first time I played. I was 5. I remember my father, teaching me. He was helping me hold this very same bat. "Now,swing it as hard as you can!" My mother was pitcher. She pitched the ball and I hit it. My first run was that day. I was sitting on the field on home plate with the bat in my hands as if I was about to hit the ball. The end of the bat was on the ground, though. I smile at the memory. The bell rings and I step off the plate. I put the bat away and walk to my locker. I pull out the lunch I packed this morning. I see Sallie walking past me. I catch her. "Hi,Sallie." I say. She walks ahead again. "Sallie! Wait!" She pauses and I tug her shirt again. This time she flips around and glares at me. I ask her,"What's up? Sallie, you can tell me. I'm your best friend." She faces me with embaressment in her face. "I, um, I," she says, embaressed. I catch her by the collar and flip her around. "Sallie. Tell me." I say, not demanding or anything. She gets out, "I-I-I'm pregnant." Then she flees to the lunchroom. I am shocked but happy for her. I wonder who the father is. I find her and ask her. She tells me and I wish she hadn't, for the child is my niece. Chapter 5 "Clutch. You got my best friend pregnant?! Seriously? You could have waited a few years!" I stalk out of the room and walk to the bathroom. I do a pregnancy test and it reads positive. I call Sallie to come if she can. Then I walk back to my room before I hear a knock on my window. I open the window and Sallie hoists herself in. I pull her up and she climbs up onto the bed. "So, why did you call me over?" She asks. I glance at her stomach and point at mine. She looks at me funny so I point at hers and then at mine. She smiles. "Who's the father?" She asks. I point at her and make a larger gesture with my other hand. She is smirking at me. Then her smirk disappears. She looks at me like "Seriously?!" And says, "Jacob?!" I nod and look down. "It's only fair. You did it to me." She glares at me and I smile. She says, "I don't care. You just should have told me when you found out." It's my turn to glare at her. "Sallie. Be more observant. I would have called you when I did. I just did." Chapter 6 I reach home after softball practice. I race into the den and set my bookbag down on the navy blue chair and I see something on the windowsill outside. I hear knocking on the window so I open it and Jacob climbs in followed by Sallie. Then Clutch walks through the door and we all start yelling about who knows what. Then my mom walks in. "What a beautiful brawl!" She jumps which startles us and separates us. Sallie and I start talking at the same time. "One at a time, girls!" I smirk. "Sallie." She says. "What's up, girls?" We spit out,"I'm pregnant." At the same time. I throw the door shut and lock it. "Don't your parents have a key?" Sallie says worriedly. I point at the wall and she sees the key. "I stole it years ago." I say. She laughs. "Never thought I'd need it. Apparently I do." I grab a purple Nine West purse from the chair and put a black shirt in it. I find a pair of pants and throw them in. I put a pair of socks in the bag. I motion for Sallie to go do the same as I and she goes. Chapter 7 I folllow her and put my 400 dollars in, for I work as a softball instructor and jump out after Sallie. I walk to Sallie's window and see her putting on her track shoes. She ties the light green shoes up. She grabs a backpack and puts her favorite tight red shirt and faded jeans in it. She grabs lavender socks. Then she puts her backpack in the back of her orange Hyundai Elantra and hops in it herself. I follow the move and she drives down 5th street to school and I park and run in and Sallie follows soon after me. She runs to the track and I run to the dugout of the softball field. I grab the bat and put it in with the outfit I picked for our journey. We flash hand signals and I follow her and go in front of her. Suddenly I see a scrawny, flea-riddled dog cross the road ahead. I motion and we stop suddenly but safely. I pull some fleas off of her and think about my dog who ran away a year ago. I want to keep the pup. Sallie jumps out. "What's wrong,Roxie?" She walks over,seeing me pulling the fleas off the thin, mud covered dog. Sallie starts helping me so I know we can keep him. I point down the road at the outline of a dog in neon lights. We decide to take my car and someone tows hers away. We jump into the car. I drive at 50 mph. Then I fall asleep. Chapter 8 I feel happy and catch a glimpse of white tile and a bed with a pair of shoes poking out. But they aren't any shoes. They're Sallie's. This wakes me up a little.I see Sallie and the little puppy. I get up and grab the puppy which makes the little thing wake up. I see her eyes and then see it looks like my black Lab puppy I had a year ago, but it's grown.A lot. It's a big thing now, up to my knee. I see it's fully clean and eating a bowl of chicken and other meats. It has water in it, making it look like a goopy stew. " Sallie? " I walk to the other bed and find her sleeping but safe. She rolls over in her sleep and I gently turn her over so as not to wake her. Then I wonder how we got here. I decide to ask Sallie when she wakes up. Then I look at my wristwatch and it reads 0434. My watch is twenty four hour time. That means it's four thirty -four in the morning. I make the bed- it was originally messy- one blanket, one normal pillow, one small pillow, all various shades of white. The room has a door opposite the beds and a knocked over night table in between them. It is a shade of ivory white and so are the bed frames. On our left, a small window. The right, an open door and a kitchenette ingrained in the wall. The mini-fridge is open, the freezer is off, the toaster is by the window, the blender, on the floor,the oven is by Sallie's and my own bed, the food is everywhere. Next to the door, a coat closet with lab coat hangers filling it. The coats are strewn about.Then the dog whines, waking Sallie. Chapter 9 "Morning, sleepyhead!" I say in a singsong voice. She mutters something about a stupid dog. She looks around the room and says," I knew it!" I ask her where we are and she says,"We've been taken and we're being watched. We're in Alliat, about 20 miles off the coast of Washington." Washington was our home forever. Then the dog whines again. He's finished his soup and wants more." Why were we taken?" I ask." The government is planning an apocalypse with fanalettes and we are supposed to be safe from it because we can give the world new #life, and we are going to be royalty of some kind if ever needed." I stare at her for a while before a camera twitches and stares at me and Sallie for a minute, then droops again. " What about our brothers?" I ask. "They'll be safe too. I promise." She holds out her right hand, so I shake it. Chapter 10 I check my watch. It reads 0500. Five o'clock on the dot. I make Sallie's bed and she strolls over to our kitchenette. I pick up the food, handful by handful and Sallie helps me put it in the cabinet. I walk into the bathroom for a minute and I come back. Sallie is cleaning up our place. She's plugged in the blender and toaster and is putting away our food in the two shelf cabinet. We have two cans of green beans and diced carrots, a loaf of wheat bread, and 4 bottles of water. I turn on the freezer, shut the mini-fridge which had nothing in it, and pick up the nightstand. Sallie has started heaving the oven over and I rush to her to help. Inch by inch, we scoot it into the place it is supposed to be in. I look around our new apartment and see a small gleam under the beds. I look and find two pots and a frying pan. I see three hooks above the oven and put them there. Then I get the small roll of paper towels, dampen it, and start dusting. And, last but not least, I pick up the 4 lab coats and put them in the closet. Then I fall asleep again. Sallie leaves me there and falls asleep herself. Later,I wake up, still on the floor. Sallie's figure pops into view. "You've been asleep for 5 hours. I woke up an hour ago." Sure enough, I check my watch and it's ten thirty-nine. I get up and Sallie offers a plate of toast to me. I take it and eat the two pieces. "What about these two?" I say, motioning to our stomachs. "What about them?" She says, because there's nothing left to say. I ask,"How far along are you?" She replies," 8 and a half months." I say," I'm seven and a half." Chapter 11 11 years later The children me and Sallie had 11 years ago are hunting today. Jacob and Clutch built us log cabins with separate rooms in the woods of Nebraska and we have lived there since. The fanalettes are in Iraq, fighting everyone they come across. I am cleaning our home and stoking the fire in the hearth of the stone fireplace while Sallie sits on a wooden rocking chair on her porch, knitting. I come to my daughter, Mayzie's, room, and see her bed, her desk, and the box of skins in the back. We use the animal skins for clothing and quilts of every kind. Then I go to me and Jacob's room and see our bed, the night tables, and the candles on them. I sweep in both the rooms and leave the house to sit on my own rocking chair. I stitch together Mayzie's new quilt for her bed, because the old one is threadbare and frayed. Then a blade pokes through Sallie's skin and she slumps, dead. I don't even have time to panic or get angry when Clutch is dead, too. Then Jacob appears, pale as moonlight and soon he's dead, too. Then a blade drives through my skin and I see a light. Then everything is black. THE END