Chapter 3 of No Name

"Ally? Ally? Did you hear that?" I shook my cousin's arm lightly.
"Hmmm?" Her eyes cracked open a little then opened wide. They drifted over to a zebra print digital clock on her desk.
"Nat, it's three in the morning! Why are you waking me up?"
"I heard a noise down stairs and well, I got scared!" I replied scratching my head a little embarrassed.
"You've been in this house for five days and I've been woken up every single night since you've been here! Every night it's something different, Natalie, either you hear a noise or you think the house is on fire or you think I peed on you from up here on the top bunk!" Ally's voice sounded annoyed and angry. "Go to sleep and, please, don't wake me up again!"
With that she tossed the zebra print comforter over her head with an annoyed, "UGH!"
I swung myself back down onto my small bottom bunk and sat cross legged on my bed.
I looked around the room thinking of how much it had changed since the day after I first saw it.
The UPS man had brought all of my stuff [And Gabby's stuff, of course]. My room had been pink in my old house so everything now in Ally’s room had a splash of pink. My bunk had all my pink cashmere blankets and my pink fluffy throw pillows and my sheets.
My dog, a poodle named Maggie, had her bed [which was pink], in the corner beside the desk which now had two laptops and a bunch of hair brushes, hair elastics, and head bands.
I put on my dark purple flip-flop slippers and walked through the darkened room to the bedroom door.
I walked down ever last step until I arrived in the living room. I went through the dark dining room and into the kitchen where I flicked on the light switch.
I shielded my eyes from the bright kitchen light until the sharp pain went away and then I waddled over to the refrigerator and pulled out some orange juice and a glass from the cabinet and poured me some.
I sat at the small breakfast table and drank my orange juice down then went back up to my room.
"Maggie, I'm going to break the rules!" I whispered. I grabbed the small puppy and carried her and we crawled in to my bed.
I would have probably worried about consequences any other night but tonight, worrying was for in the morning.
*******
“Natalie! Are you insane?” I heard a whisper-scream from Ally.
“What are you talking about?” I opened my eyes, sat up, and started petting Gabby.
“You’re so lucky I woke you up before mom did or you’d be in so much trouble!” she grabbed the small dog out of my arms and placed her back in her doggy bed.
“Why’d you do that?” I gasped.
“I’m trying to get you out of trouble, if you haven’t noticed!” Ally yelled walking it the bathroom and looking at her reflection and picking at her curls which were pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head.
A heavy silence fell for a few minutes until I finally woke up and realized what happened.
“Hey, Ally?”
“Yeah?” Her voice less angry.
“Sorry. I was still partially asleep and I’m glad you did what you did.”
She kind of giggled and then answered. “I’m sorry I yelled at you to and I was also still asleep! I’m just not used to sharing a room with other people so I’m just going to have to get used to it, huh?”
“Same here!”
“I have a question.”
“Is it personal?”
She giggled. “No it’s not like my last question!”
“Good,” I sighed.
“How do you look perfect even in your sleep? I mean, I wake up and you’re laying perfectly, your hair is in the perfect position your clothes look absolutely perfect on you and your lips are glossed and you look perfect!”
I laughed. “Dad always told that! And I don’t really even try!”
I heard the shower go on and the snap of the shampoo bottle closing then a beautiful hum escape out of Ally’s lips. I then got up and went to the closet and pick out an outfit. A Marc Jacob khaki pencil skirt called to me so I folded it putting it on the freshly vacuumed carpet and picked out a turquoise Versace silk tank top and a pair of Miu Miu brown sandals with a turquoise flower on the tips. I remembered going to the mall with all of my friends and seeing the shoes where on sale for only six hundred dollars and charging them on Dad’s Visa Platinum credit card.
I could still remember the smell of hot dogs mixed with giant pretzels and soda fountains that was the way the mall smelled. Kind of like my Grandma her house always had the same sweet smell of cakes and clean laundry.
The mall was my own little comfort zone that I visited twice a week to buy clothes, magazines, and to eat the best sushi in Manhattan with my clique. My clique!
I felt sick to my stomach. Had I really forgotten about my best friends? I thought about Hannah once or twice but I completely forgot about calling them.
I ran over to my bedside table where my cell phone was plugged in to the charger even though it beeped telling me it was charged yesterday night.
I unplugged it and speed dialed my best friend Caitlyn.
After two rings I heard her say in the background,” Isn’t it spectacular?” then she said,” Hey, Nat!”
I immediately felt a hard wave of guilt splash into me. I felt like a one of those friends who says,” I promise I’m not in love with your boyfriend!” and then the friend finds out that you’d been dating him for a year and then she dumps her boyfriend and won’t even listen to the fact that he liked you and asked you out first even though you know your just lying because you need at least one person to have your back. But instead your falling back wards into a pool full of misery. Then one day you’re too tired to keep your balance and jump backwards off the ladder going down fast with tears in your eyes and nobody to catch you.
“Hey! What’s spectacular?” I asked.
“Oh, my new hair style! I went on a shoulder length, curly meets straight approach. I’ll send you a picture.”
“Sounds cute!” I said. “Who else is there?”
“All your girls! Okay I sent you the picture and you are now on speaker phone!”
“Caitlyn, they’re your girls now! You’re the leader of the clique since I had to make the most horrific move in the entire world!” I looked at the picture and Caitlyn’s blue eyes sparkled as usual her brown hair down and her lip in a position like she was about the kiss the camera screen
“Aw! Thanks, Nat! But I you’ll always be the Big Boss and I’ll be the super visor!” She giggled and then said,” We have some big info about the newest crushes, right girls?”
“Uh, Yeah!” They all said at the same time.
“Hey, Natalie!” Kinsey’s voice talked into the receiver. “I’m now dating Nathan Richards!”
“No way!” I shouted as the shower turned off. “Oh and I absolutely love the picture. It’s so cute!”
“Thanks! Hannah is dating the same, Luke! And Rebecca is down to nobody right now!”
“Hey I got to go, girls!” I sighed.
“What? We haven’t even heard about you yet!” Rebecca objected.
“Hey, BNI!”
“Oh, yeah! I love your brand new ideas!” Caitlyn said then I heard the girls squealing and clapping. “Go on!”
“Okay, every Saturday night we’ll have a check up meeting starting next week. ‘Kay?”
“Okay, bye!”
“Bye!” I hung up as Ally walked out of the bathroom rapped up in a purple towel her hair rapped up in a white towel.
“Who were you talking to?” She asked walking past my clothes and starring.
“My old friends.”
“Hmmm…” She didn’t seem as interested in what I said and more interested into my clothes. “Marc Jacobs? Miu Miu? Versace? Gosh! How much did this stuff cost?”
“A lot!” I replied as she looked at me and then at the tags and then at me.
“Well, you need something more Wal-Mart quality.”
“Wal-Mart?” I said it like somebody might say ‘Drink your snot’. “Never in a million years will you catch me in Wal-Mart clothes!”
“What’s the big deal?” Ally walked into her closet bringing out a yellow sundress with a big blue bow on it. “I got this from Wal-Mart and I absolutely love it! It’s my best outfit!”
“I would die of shame if anybody caught me wearing Wal-Mart, Gap, and J.C. Penny brand clothing! DIE OF SHAME!” I squealed.
“Well, sorry to break it to you, but our family doesn’t have the money your family had so you’re kind of stuck because we live on a farm and we take care of our cows and dogs and horses and chickens. You’re apart of this family now, which means you also, have to work in the farm and I’m telling you that you’re definitely not going to want to shovel cow manure in your Stella McCartney heels!”
“What are you saying?” I asked even though I knew what she meant.
“I’m saying you need some farm clothes and when your Prada jeans get stained and too beat up to wear any more. You’re not sharing my clothes.”
“Puh-lease! Like I would be caught dead in your clothes!” I snickered at the thought. “And by the way beat up jeans are in style. Maybe you should read some of your sisters fashion magazines!”
With that I yanked my clothes out of her grip, walked into the bathroom slammed the door behind me and locked it.
“Well money doesn’t buy love!” Ally yelled through the door.
My pajamas were putting to the hamper under the sink and I then walked into the shower and took a long bath.
“Feel the rain on your skin,” I sang the old hit ‘Unwritten’ by Natasha Bedingfield. “No one else can feel it for you. Only you can let it in. No one else, no one else can speak the words on your lips. Put yourself in what’s unspoken. Live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins. The rest is still, unwritten!”
I heard over the rushing water Ally singing along and some how I just knew that when I got out we were going to act like nothing happened and the whole morning had been peaceful.
“Thanks Natasha!” I said under my breath then continued singing.
________________________________________________

From Emily,

I just wanted to say that I absolutely LOVE Natasha Bedingfield and her new hit 'Pocketful of Sunshine'!
That's about it! :)
With ♥, Emily