The ride to school was bumpy, but I finished my chapter before my self made deadline. I gave my dad a kiss on the cheek and opened the door. The cool breeze made me shiver, but it was over as fast as it started. The commotion in the school yard was crazy. People fighting with eachother, people laughing at jokes, some crying about breakups. High School is a never ending drama, the only scene change is when everyone packs up to go home.
“Jojo!” I heard my name being shouted from deep inside the hallway. I smiled, when I saw Tyler, one of my best friends come running up to me. “I didn’t think you were coming today. I wanted to read the end of your chapter.” he said, grabbing the notebook from my hand and opening it up to where he left off yesterday. I rolled my eyes and walked over to my locker, he followed.
“I was up late writing that, my dad had to wake me up ten minutes before or I would have been late to class. I don’t even remember what I wrote so it mike suck.” I said, finally getting my locker open and setting my homework in my locker.
“You know that everything you write is great. Your going to be a famous author one day, just you wait!” Tyler said, giving the note book back to me and ruffling up my hair. Tyler is 6’1” (about 2’ taller than me) with long brown hair that just hangs over his shoulder. I remember in the first grade when we first met eachother. I definitley had a huge crush on him back then.
“I’m sorry kids, but its raining outside we can’t go out for recess today.” Everyone groaned, even I did. I wanted to finish reading my Dr. Seuss book so I could tell Ms. Adams that I read it all by myself. But, now we had to finish the homework that was given to us and then converse with the other kids.
“Can I sit here?” A little boy asked, holding his lunchbox in his hand. I never talked to a little boy before, I didn’t want him to steal my book. “I wont get anything messy. I promise.” he said, sitting down next to me without an answer. I rolled my eyes and looked back at my book. “I’m Tyler, today is my first day. What’s your name?” he asked, eating on a carrot stick while he was asking me. I winced at the thought of another boy running around this room. But, the way he looked up at me while I was reading my book couldn’t have been more friendly.
“I’m Joelle, but my friends call me Jojo.”
“Jojo? You alright? I think you blacked out for a minute.” he said, waving his hands in front of my face like I passed out.
“Sorry.” I said, shaking my head and looking up at the clock. “Come on, we have to get to class.” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to Mr. Buds room. Mr. Bud is our English teacher, and right now we are learning about Creative Writng and what we can all do with it. This was definitely one of my favorite topics in this class so far. I sat down right in the front, hoping to get Mr. Buds to give me more ideas for my fiction project. Tyler rolled his eyes and sat down next to me.
“Good morning class. Today, I am allowing you to look at what surrounds you. Go outside, get some fresh air. Relate your pieces of work with what you see out in the wild.” Everyone started cheering and Mr. Bud raised his finger and spoke, “You have to be working though. I want you to get as far on this assignment as you can today.” With that, everyone got out of their seats and started walking to the door. Tyler grabbed his books and got out of his seat.
“Come on, I want a good seat outside.”

By the time we got outside, the good seats were gone and we had to sit on the grass instead. I couldn’t wait to start writing, I just didn’t know where to start first.
I slowly walked down the path in the forest. The person that was chasing me was gone. I walked across the path and ended up by a cabin closer to the lake in the woods. I grasped onto the handle, and felt the cool touch of the metal against my fingers. I winced in shock and then turned the handle to see what was inside.
Everything was dark, everything was queit; it reminded me of the goldy locks story where the young girl went into the house, hungry for a bowl of soup. But it was still different. It seemed like no one has lived hear for years. Something that is hard to explain yet interesting to the eye. The cold wind was blaring through the open door and I quickly shut it behind me. I knew that a storm was coming and I was so glad that I found shelter when I did. Once the door was shut I had a chance to look around the place. There was a small bed in the corner of the room, with two doors on each side of the small room. I am assuming it was the kitchen and the bathroom. I yawned, taking in a deep breath and walking over to the the one blanket covered bed.
“Jojo, we have to go. The bell rang like ten minutes ago.” Tyler said, lightly pulling on my hair with a smirk on his face. I shook my head again and got up from my position on the ground.
“Sorry, I was really getting into it.” I said, running a hand through my hair as we walked into the hallway, children grabbing their books before the late bell rang for next block.
“Are you kidding? You practically fell asleep there. You really need to go home and get some sleep.” he said getting a tighter grip on the books he was holding. We turned the corner and I nearly ran into someone. I groaned while Tyler started laughing.
“I can’t, I work tonight.” I said, walking into Mrs. Erikson’s room while Tyler walked down the hall to Mrs. Sanderson’s room. I plopped down in my desk and opened up my notebook. I read through what I had just wrote and knew that I had to change some things. I started getting my eraser out of my bag when a hand sat down on my paper. I looked up to see Mrs. Erikson looking down at me.
“Not, now. That was for English class. Your in Science now.” she hissed grabbing the paper from my hands and giving my a worksheet instead. “You can have this back at the end of class.” I rolled my eyes and looked down at the paper she had handed me.

What is the name of the region where icy bodies that lie beyond Neptunes Orbit?
What system plays a vital role in the existance of the human species?
The tough protective outside skeleton-like protrusions of a sponge are called?

I couldn’t think properly knowing that she had my hard work for last block. I needed that back. I raised my hand, hoping she would think that I had a question but she never came. She knows that I don’t need help with this subject. I groaned and leaned back in my chair quickly answering the questions that were given to me on the paper. Before I knew it, the bell had rung and everyone started filing out of the classroom for lunch. I stayed behind to get my fiction back.
“Joelle, you are very good at this writing thing.” Mrs. Erikson said giving the notebook back to me.
“You read my story? That was my privacy! You can’t do that!” I yelled grabbing the paper from her.
“I had to see what you were hiding from me. I didn’t want it to be something bad and I would have had to turn you into the office.” She said, leaning over her desk as I ran out of the room. This was uncalled for, certainly not how I wanted my day to start. I sat down in the lunch room, practically shaking from the humiliation that was put upon me. I got out my notebook and started to write.

 A knock at the door awoke me from my sleep. I shivered as my warm body hit the cold floor as I went to look who was outside the window. I didn’t want to do this, but I knew I had to find a way out if something bad was about to happen to me. I peeked out of the curtain and ran my fingers through my snarled hair. Outside was a man, about 6 and a half feet tall, bright red eyes and hair that remined me of a grizzly bear. I quickly shut the curtain and ran over to the bed. I tried with all my might to move the bed by myself but I was too small.
Another knock at the door, I wanted to scream out from all the scared feelings I was getting but I just couldn’t find my voice. A bang, hitting the door, trying to get the door to fall down. I had to get out of hear know. Another bang, practically bringing me to my feet and running into the small bathroom. I locked the door behind me and stood onto the counter trying to get the small window open. I pushed on it, I pulled on it and all that happened was make it loose a little. I needed more power, more strength to get me out of here. I heard the door fall down in the main room, I pushed harded trying to get the window open. Finally, I hit my fist against the window and the glass broke but right when the door opened behind me.

“Joelle.”
“Joelle! You have to stop writing that stupid story!”
This got my attention, I averted my gaze from the story to a tall figure standing in front of me. Tyler. He looked angry, more angry than I had seen him in years.
“What’s your problem! I was just trying to finish this chapter.” I said, getting the dirt off of my pants as I stood up with my back pack.
“You have been ‘trying’ to finish this chapter for weeks now. I need some time to spend with my friend. I miss you and all you care about is that stupid book!” he yelled, storming over to his red beat up truck. I rolled my eyes and started walking to the front of the school to wait for my dad. Today was just not my day, everything turned out wrong. I practically lost my best friend, I ran out of a classroom, and basically everyone is mad at me.
“Joelle, get in the car!” my dad yelled from the window of our small Toyota. I packed up my notebook and walked over to the car, tiredness coursing through my blood stream. I slammed the door behind me and put my head against the cold window.
I was angry, more than angry I was infuriated! I couldn’t concentrate on my homework that night, I just laid in my bed and looked up at the ceiling. The feeling inside of me wanted to scream out in pain and disgust.  I never thought one of my teachers would do something to get into my personal space like that. I looked in every corner of my room, trying to find a theoretical reason for why she did it. Then, on my last look around the room I saw my notebook on the floor. I jumped up from my bed and went to grab it from the soft white carpeting. I held the ragged notebook in my hand, and decided that I would finish this book tonight so I could hand it to Mr. Bud in the morning. Why can’t people understand that I love to write and that I can’t wait to see the finished product?
I took a deep breath and walked over to my desk that was across the room. I was going to finish this thing.

Tyler’s P.O.V.
It’s not easy having a best friend with one of the most smartest girls in the school. It’s not easy yelling at your best friend either. But, I just can’t understand why she is so excited about that project! Something just wants me to pull all of the pages out of that notebook and burn them. I just wish everything was back to normal, that Mr. Bud never gave us that assignment and that Jojo would come back to me for help instead of that notebook. I need that notebook gone so I can spend more time with my best friend again!
 

Joelle’s P.O.V.
It’s not fun running around in a dark area full of bugs and animals that could hunt you down. I realized this as I walked across the rock path that was formed above a small ravine. Everything out here is scary, some stuff I don’t even know is real, it all seems fake to me. In the small town of Wentworth Kentucky anything can happen, even if that means someone trying to capture me for something my father did.
Father was being a jerk. Yes, he wanted to sell all the cars that he could but he was being a cheat about it. If it wasn;t for my father selling no good cars maybe I wouldn’t be in this situation right now. The wind blew harder and before I knew it I was basically wrapped up in a tornado. No way to get out, no where to go home. I started running faster, until I was out of breath. I knew by then that I was going to pass out, before I knew it I was lying down on the ground, everything was spinning, and then everything went black.
I decided that  was where I was going to stop for the night. I didn’t want to make any more interruptions for my dad who was down the hall trying to sleep for work tomorrow. One thing lead to another and before I knew it I was fast asleep.
 

I woke up shivering, like I was outside. I felt like I was covered in dirt and my pants were ripped at the knees. I slowly opened my eyes and I looked around. Everything was dark, cold, and wet. I felt around me and it felt like I was lying in cold grass. I slowly sat up from my bed, wait. This isn’t my bed. This isn’t my room. This place looked awfly familiar though. I stood up from my crouched position and started walking. I heard birds chirping, wind clapping against the trees. I shivered as I walked through a small puddle on the path. I heard people yelling behind me, and I started to run. I don’t know why, but I knew that I had to run. I tripped on a branch and landed on the ground. I didn’t get up fast enough though, I looked up and angry men were staring down at me. Then, I suddenly remembered where I was. I was in my story.
I was swinging back and forth as a big burly man carried me down a hill. I couldn’t get away from them fast enough, they grabbed me by my arms and tied me around a really big pole. The man then carried me from his shoulders. I felt like fresh meat that he just killed. I tried squirming out of the rope but it wasn’t working. I was stuck to it.
The man who was carying me said something in a language that I didn’t understand. What kind of men did my father sell bad cars too? The man tripped over a rock and I came plumeting forward. I groaned in pain and noticed that my arms were free. The other men were helping the guy that fell to the floor and I started running. This was my only chance. I knew that I was close to town, I could hear traffic. I ran as fast as I could, I don’t think the men knew I was gone yet.
I ran down the curvy path towards the road and dogged past bikers and trail walkers. I needed to get to a safe place. Somewhere where no one would find me. I felt my heart beating in my chest, as if a train was going to plow through it in a matter of seconds. I didn’t like this feeling, I had to stop whatever was happening. I turned left, hoping something would look familiar for me. I ran a little farther, my feet pounding now from the pain of all the running. I wanted to take a break, I wanted to stop running, I wanted to eat somehting; but I knew that was out of character. I had to keep moving until their is nothing left of me. I ran into a small church just off of the highway. It was rather cold, but I knew I would be safe in here.

 I shivered as I rested my head against the small pew. My hair full of dirt and residue from the action that took place outside. No one came into the church yet, I assumed everyone was in their warm houses next to a fireplace or a warm lamp. I wanted what those people had. The ones that were warm and with their family away from the cold and the rain from outside. I felt a tear slide down my cheek when I discovered that all I wanted was to go home. All I wanted was home…

 I woke up with a jolt, a sudden burst of pain from my leg. I groaned and rolled onto my side. I looked around at the room and saw that I was back at home. I was in my room, with my dad making bacon down stairs. I smiled, running down the stairs and into the kitchen. There my dad was standing in his basketball shorts and over sized t shirt. I smiled, running over to him and enveloping him into a hug.
“Hey Jo, what’s up with you?” he said, laughing and bringing me back into the hug. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I just missed you, that’s all.” With that, I ran out of the house and went to Tyler’s.

His mom opened the door. She was still in her pajamas holding a bowl mixing up some pancakes. She smiled and whipped some hair out of her face.
“Hi dear, Tyler is in his room.” she moved to the side and let me go passed.
“Thank you!” I said running up to his room. I knocked on the door and he answered with a ‘come in’. I opened the door and he was lying on his bed, reading a text book.
“What do you want?” he said, running his hand through his hair and closing his text book. He sat up in his bed and crossed his arms. “I thought I told you to not hang out with me anymore.” He said, getting up from his sitting position and walking passed me to close the door.
“I know and I’m really sorry about it. But, I was writing that story and I somehow became a part of it. It’s a really long story but I started to realilze that my friends and family is where I need to be. I need to take time out of my day to hang out with you and my dad. I understand now that I should only work on the story during my time, not yours, not my dads, but just mine. When I was put into that story something changed within me, and I don’t ever want that to change.” Tyler was quiet, he didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know what to say after my episode either.
“Wait, you were sucked into your book?” he exclaimed, grabbing my shoulders and started to shake me. I rolled my eyes.
“Seriously, that’s the only thing that you made out of that whole story!” I hit him in the bicep, he didn’t know it was coming and winced in pain.
“No, I understand. It’s just I told you not to get too involved in your book, and you did and looked what happened! I can’t believe that you were sucked into that stupid thing.” he said, ruffling my hair and grabbing his coat. “Let’s go for a walk.” he said, grabbing my arm and turning me around.
“Writing isn’t that bad, like Hemingway once said, “There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling a rock and then blasting it out with charges.” I whispered, quoting Earnest Hemingway. Tyler rolled his eyes and laughed at me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer.
“You know what? That Hemingway guy sounds like he really knows what he’s talking about.” That was the last thing that was spoken about on that walk. It was quiet, but not the eerie quiet that was in my story. It was a calm quiet, something that I didn’t want to leave. I don’t know how long it took me to realize that family is the only thing that won’t keep someone from chasing their dreams. All they need is the right person to get them to keep going.
Tyler helped me finish my story and then I helped him with his. We both got a passing grade but I got more than that. I got a story that made me realize how important my friends and family are in my life. Because of this, I have my idea for the next novel that I write, home.