The Good But Bad News

“Umm, I’ll get 2 pretzels,” Anna said. She and her best friend, Tegan, were at the concession stand. It was summer time and they were watching the Hewitt Huskies play Gardendale, and the Huskies were obviously going to win. They walked back to their seats and started eating their pretzels. The score was 20-17 with the Huskies winning.

 “Wanna go walk around?” Tegan asked Anna. 

“Sure,” Anna said. They walked to the track down below where the field was. “TOOT!” The whistle blew and all the players jogged off the field, happy to have a break. The girls watched, grossed out, as the players chugged down gatorade. 

“Hey Anna!” The voice sounded familiar but wasnt recognizable. The girl caught up with Anna and Tegan. 

“Oh, hey Blair.” Blair was in Anna’s 5th period and they hung out sometimes.

”What are you guys doing?” Blair asked, looking at the field. 

“We were just walking around,” Tegan said. It was silent for a second until they heard some music.

 “Yay! The marching band!” Blair screamed. Once the marching band was over, they walked back to their seats. Ding! Anna looked at her phone.

 “Aww, come on. Hey guys, my mom is waiting for me in the parking lot.” 

“That’s ok,” Tegan said.”See you at school tomorrow.” 

Anna walked to her mom's car where her 2 brothers, Tyler and John, her dad and her mom were waiting. 

“Why is everyone here to pick me up?” Anna asked. 

“Well, I thought it would be fun to go get some ice cream on a Thursday night. What do you say?” Her mom asked.

 “Umm yea! Let's go!” Anna almost screamed. 

The next day, Friday, was like any other boring school day. Class after class after class. It was the 7th period.

 “Ugh. Why is math so boring?” Anna asked Tegan who was sitting beside her. 

“I don't know,” Tegan said. 

“Girls, quiet please.” said their math teacher, Mr Danson. They sat there doing their work for not even 30 seconds when a girl named Layla turned around. 

“Do you guys know the answer to number 4?” She asked Tegan and Anna. 

“Umm, I'm not on that one yet.” Anna said. 

“Girls in the back, I don't want to have to tell you again!” Mr. Danson looked and sounded like he was getting annoyed, so they were quiet again. It was so quiet she could hear the clock ticking. This boy named David started humming annoyingly. 

“Shh!” Tegan and Anna both said. They both shushed louder than expected. 

“Ok! That's it! Detention, both of you!”

CHAPTER 2

Detention

Detention is usually in the principal's office. You sit there with the principal staring at you awkwardly. He gives this long, boring speech about how detention will be good for you. Anna and Tegan walked into the principal's office. The walls were painted black with wood shelves and a desk in the middle. Mrs. Ryan, the lady at the front desk, walked toward them. 

“Names please,” she said dully. 

“Tegan Smith and Anna Armstrong.” Anna said. She felt like she was going to cry because she had never gotten detention before, and her parents had been complimenting her on how well she had been doing in school. The girls sat down as they looked at the other 5 kids there. Just then, the principal walked in 

“If it's your first time here, welcome,” he said. “The others know the drill. At detention, we usually pick up trash on school property or clean the paintbrushes in the art room, but today you are just going to read a book or do homework for a couple of minutes. I’ll see what I can think of.” He sat down in his desk chair and everyone started pulling out their binders and books… except Anna.

“Miss Armstrong, why aren't you getting out your homework?” he asked.

“I don't have any. I finished it all.”

“Oh ok. Then you can just sit there.” Eventually detention ended and they finally got to go home!

CHAPTER 3

The pet store

Anna and her family were in the car going to her little brother's baseball game. Apparently it was a really big deal. It was a State tournament but the only reason Anna was going was because her parents were making her.

”It’ll be fun!” her mom had said. So far, it wasn't. 

“Ok John, if you win this game, I will take you to the pet store and you can get something small,” their dad said.

 “Really?!” John and Anna screamed at the same time. They have been dying to have a pet for so long, Anna didn't even remember the very first time she asked for a pet.

 “Ok. John, you can win this game! You got this!” Anna screamed. 

“Ok, ok. Settle down. We are here,” their mom said. They got out of the car and headed to the baseball field, where John was going to play. They did a warm up and eventually started. The game stayed close the whole time. First, their team would winning, but the other team would catch up. It was like this the whole game until the game ended. 

“Yay! You won! We get to have a pet! Yes!” Anna screamed as she ran towards her brother.

They headed home and ate lunch. After that, they were at the place Anna has been wanting to go to since she was 7. She looked at the entrance. 

“Petco! Here I come!” Anna said as they walked in. 

“Umm, I get to pick out what we get. You know that right?” John questioned Anna. 

“Yep, of course,” Anna said, half listening. She went over to the animal section where she saw snakes, hamsters, rats, fish, cats, and hedgehogs. There were rows and rows of glass tanks. There was every color of fish; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, even pink! She walked through the isles with the stench of hay that hasn't been cleaned in a while in her nose.

“Yuck,” Anna thought. “These poor animals, I know they live in a good home right now, but I wish I could take them all.”

 “We have to get a hamster!” John yelled across the store to their dad who was in the dog toy section. 

“Yes! Please dad, Please! Can we get one?!” Anna screamed and questioned at the same time. 

“Well, if that's what y'all want, then we can get one,” their dad said. A couple minutes later they all were staring at a white and brown hamster in a box. 

“We are going to name him Fred!” John said. 

“No, we are going to name him Charlie!” Anna argued back. 

“I knew this was going to happen. You two haven't even had him for 30 seconds and you are already fighting over him. Since you both can't figure out a name, I'll name him.” Their dad said proudly. 

“What?! No way!” Anna said. 

“Umm yes… or you don't have a hamster at all.” he said back. 

“Ok fine, you can name it,” Anna said, annoyed. 

“That's what I thought. Dad thought for a while and finally said, “We are going to name him Steve!”

 “Ok that's fine with me,” Anna said. They walked out of the pet store.

CHAPTER 4

The Terrible News

Anna was sitting in her room, thinking. The past week Anna’s parents had been acting a little happier than normal. Like they went out to eat ice cream and had been buying them things they usually wouldn't. It was weird to Anna and she knew something was up. She walked into the living room to find her dad, her mom, John, and Tyler sitting there.

 “Ah, there you are.” her dad said. 

“Umm, what's going on?” Anna asked as she sat next to her dog, Oreo, on the carpet.           “There's something your dad and I need to tell you all,” her mom said. It was silent. 

“We decided  that it's time to venture off, go somewhere new… and we have decided we are moving!” she finished. 

“What?!” Anna yelled. “Like moving houses?! We can't! I was finally starting to make some new friends and now I can't!” A tear rolled down her face and she ran to her room, slamming the door on the way in.

“What?! You're moving?! No way! You can't!” Anna was on Facetime with Tegan and Anna of course was still crying. Anna stared at her friend, who also had a tear running down her face.

 “When?! Where?! Why?!” Tegan cried. The girls were too sad to talk about it. “I’ll see you tomorrow at school.” 

Anna walked down stairs to see her family sitting at the table, eating dinner. 

“Care to join us?” her mom asked. She was too tired to even be mad anymore so she sat down and ate dinner, which was mac and cheese and vegetables. 

“We are moving in a month, Anna. I just want you to know that we are moving to a town that's about 10 minutes away from here. You will still be able to hangout with your friends and go to football games. And plus, our new house is going to be bigger than this one. Everyone will even have their own bathroom.” Anna cheered up a little after hearing that news. She has to share a bathroom with both of her brothers and it was starting to get annoying because they are messy and Anna likes everything clean. Anna reached over and gave her mom a hug. 

“Thanks,” Anna whispered.  Her mom squeezed her back and they started talking about funny stories.

CHAPTER 5

Moving Day

“Wait, so you're not mad or upset about moving anymore?” Tegan asked. 

“Not really. My mom told me that it's only 10 minutes away from here and I can still hang out and go to football games with you,” Anna responded. She and Tegan were talking on Facetime… again.

 “Oh! That's so good because without you, I don't know what I would do!” Tegan said, relieved.

Beep… Beep… Beep! Anna slapped her alarm clock.

 “Ugh.” 

“Anna honey, time to get up! Today is moving day!” Honestly, Anna was excited for this day. She put on her favorite shirt and jeans and went downstairs. Her house was basically empty, except for the couch and TV.

 “Morning sleepy head. Today I’m checking you at 1:00 and we will head to our new house!” Her mom exclaimed. 

“Yay!” Anna said. She gobbled up breakfast and practically ran to school. 

At school, time ran at a snail's pace. Finally, 1:00 rolled around. 

“How was your day?” her mom asked. 

“Good.” Anna replied. 

“Are you ready to see the new house?” 

“Yea! Let's go!”