I can’t believe what I did! Chloe trusted me with something super important, and I totally messed it up!
She’s been writing this novel about a girl who has a crush on a character in a book…who comes to life and asks her out! (That’s so like her, huh? That girl’s all about books and romance!)
Anyways, she decided to write it by hand because the characters are from a long time ago, and she thought it would make her feel more connected to them to write like they would have written.
I didn’t even know she was working on this until yesterday, when she handed me what looked like a diary in the library.
At first, I thought it was mine, and I TOTALLY spazzed out!
I whispered yelled, “Oh my gosh! Where did you find that?!”
Then she said, “I didn’t…my dad gave it to me.”
Then I REALLY started freaking! I said, “Your dad? How did he get my diary? Did he read it? WHAT DOES HE KNOW!?”
After I said that, I realized I was being super dramatic. It’s not like I wrote about running through a public park in my underwear. There wasn’t anything THAT bad in there!
But it didn’t matter anyway, because Chloe said, “He didn’t read your diary, because this isn’t your diary. It’s not a diary at all! It’s my book!”
I was SO relieved…and intrigued!
She explained that she’d started writing the book as an assignment for English class, but then she got really into it and decided to expand it into a full-length novel. She wasn’t sure if it was any good yet, so she wanted my opinion.
I was totally flattered, and super excited to read it! Not only was it written by one of my closest friends, it sounded like a really good story!
Luckily, I didn’t get too much homework last night, so I planned to hide out in my room after dinner and dive in.
And it would have been a great plan…if my mom hadn’t decided to turn dinner into the Nikki Interrogation Hour!
I swear, she asked me every possible question a mom could ask a kid!
“How was school today, Nikki? Was anyone nice to you today, Nikki? What did you eat for lunch today, Nikki? Thinking of joining any new clubs, Nikki? Any new kids in school, Nikki?”
Then she started asking me questions about what I’ve learned recently, and it felt like a pop quiz…except even more annoying, because school was over, and there was no bell to save me!
After asking about math, biology, and English, I thought for sure she was going to ask me to recite the Gettysburg Address!
Finally I said, “Wow, look at the time! I have some reading to do, so I’ll just be heading upstairs…”
But then my mom said, “Oh, OK. It’s just…I miss you! We never catch up anymore. But I don’t want to keep you.”
After that, I felt AWFUL! She seemed so sad and lonely, kind of like those starving dogs with the big eyes in the animal abuse commercials. I couldn’t just leave her like that!
So, I stayed downstairs until about 9:00 talking about all kinds of stuff. When I finally got upstairs, I realized I actually had one homework assignment I’d completely forgotten about, so I didn’t get to start reading Chloe’s book until around 10:00.
It wasn’t at all what I expected. It had aliens, and the Easter Bunny, and Lady Gaga. Then I realized when my alarm clock went off that was actually a dream. I’d fallen asleep reading her book…and I’d drooled all over it!
Two of the pages were ripped a little, and there were stains and smudges in a bunch of places.
Chloe asked me what I thought in school today, but I hadn’t gotten past the first page, and I didn’t know what to tell her about my drool damage! So, I just said, “Wow, you have quite the imagination!”
I know she probably won’t get too mad, and it’s only the beginning of the book, but I just feel so bad about it! What do you guys think I should do?
