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= = = Exposition/Inciting Incident =

"Ding Dong" the doorbell rang as I hurried down the stairs to open the door.

"Hey Jackie!" my best friend, Amy Resamay said with a smile as she walked inside my house, which was as quiet as a mouse because my mom and I were the only ones awake. When Amy took off her hat, I just stared because her hair looked as crazy as a bird’s nest!

"Hey," I said with a laugh. "What in the world happened to your hair?!" Amy laughed too.

"It's so windy outside, you wouldn't even believe! These March winds are so strong they could probably destroy the whole town!" I laughed, Amy has been known to overreact, and always exaggerates.

"Girls, breakfast is ready!" my mother hollered from the kitchen.

"Coming!" we both yelled at the same time as we ran inside.

This is what we would do every morning. Amy would come over my house before school and we would eat a delicious breakfast of pancakes dripped lightly with syrup and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Then we would usually walk to school, but because of the strong wind today, I asked my mom to drive us. Amy and I practically do everything together! We go shopping together, have sleepovers together, and much more. We have been best friends since we were born! Our mothers met each other while working out in a gym. They were both pregnant with us at the time and once they started chatting, the rest was history! What I love about Amy is that she's so confident in herself and doesn't care what anyone else thinks. I really admire that about her. Amy has smooth light brown hair down to her shoulders and clear hazel eyes. The strong scent of her pink sugar perfume smells so good, and I can always smell that sweet scent from a mile away.

"Bark, bark!" my dog yelped loudly as she scratched my leg from underneath the kitchen table.

"Ow!" I yelled "Molly, stop that! You're always begging for food!"

My puppy Molly was only two years old and very boisterous but she's very unique because she has a shiny silver coat of fur but a golden head. Her tongue was a bright pink color and her nose was always cold and wet. I love her very much but sometimes she could be a pain.

"Oh, look at the time," my mother said. "It's 7:25 A.M.; school starts in 5 minutes!" Amy and I shoved the rest of our food down as fast as we could and we all quickly ran outside in the blustering winds with our feet splashing in the puddles along my driveway, as we made our way into the car. The strong winds were blowing my hair right into my face and I could barely see anything! When we finally got into my car Amy got in first, so I expected her to hold the door open for me like she normally did. But when I was about to step into the car she slammed the door right in my face! I was a little annoyed with her but I didn’t think it wasn't that big of a deal. Yet, little did I know, it was going to become a big deal.

= Rising Action =

As I sat in my 6th grade math class, practically falling asleep, I was completely startled when the bell rang. The sound of the bell told us it was time to go to our next class. As I rushed through the busy hallways to try and find Amy, I saw kids speeding to their next class, lockers closing, and many kids hanging out with their friends. It was almost as loud as New York City traffic! Just then I saw Amy talking and laughing with another girl. She was on her way to gym which was really weird because we would always wait for each other and walk to gym together. I really like gym. All the sports that we play, I’m usually pretty good at. But running laps is like torture! I considered those laps to be very similar to a tick on dog. They’re very hard to avoid and they’re really annoying. But to my surprise that day in gym we were playing basketball! I was so excited because I was really good at basketball and I was even on the basketball team! Our team, Ridgedale Middle School Panthers, was an undefeated team. I don’t usually play a lot because I’m in 6th grade and 6th graders usually sit out for most of the games because we are the youngest on the team. But when the coach put me in I always gave my all. Florham Park may be a small town but watch out for our girl's basketball team! I was even more excited when Amy was chosen to be one of the captains. I was positive she was going to pick me first. She was staring right at me...

'Umm… Jessica" she yelled so everyone could hear.

I was in shock. How could she do that?! We always pick each other first when one of us is a captain and she barely even knows Jessica! Something was definitely going on with her and I had to find out. I decided to ask Amy if she wanted to walk home with me after school she told me that her mom wanted her home that day.

"Sorry," she said nervously. "Um, I can't." and with that she walked away looking down at her feet.

"Sure," I thought to myself. "You really expect me to believe that?!"

So as I walked home from school, "by myself", I admired the crystal clear blue sky above me and I could feel the soft winds hitting my face. Then all of a sudden I realized my birthday was coming up soon and I felt a rush of excitement. My birthday was on March 15th which was still a week away, but I really hoped that Amy would start acting like herself again by the time it was my birthday. When, I got home I decided I should call Amy, maybe she would tell me why she was acting so different. But I tried calling her 12 times and every time I would hear her voicemail and it would always say the same thing, "Hey it's Amy I can't come to the phone right now but leave a message and I'll be sure to call you back. Bye!" After the 12th time I just stopped trying. I knew she would never pick up. I didn't bother to leave any messages. I was so angry with Amy so I threw my phone against the wall and it slid through the narrow crack on the side of my bed.

"Jackie, dinner's ready!" my mom hollered from the kitchen.

"Coming!" I cried back as I stomped down the stairs angrily.

= Climax =

Some one once told me, the grass is much greener on the other side. I wonder if that's true because the side I'm on is a complete mess! Amy hasn't talked to me this whole week. No phone calls. No instant messaging. No e-mails. Nothing. I've barley seen her. I'm getting really worried because I can't remember a time that Amy and I have gone this long with out talking. She doesn't even come to my house before school anymore! Does she not like me anymore? Am I unpopular? I don't know what the problem is, but I really miss her. I never realized how tough life was with out her. She’s always been some one I could talk to and trust. But now I have no one... I mean I do have other friends like Sally, Jessie, and Marie who are all really nice, but it's just not the same. Today at lunch, Amy didn't even sit next to me. I sat by myself quietly as I watched Amy laughing and talking with her "new friends". Our lunch room was like most lunch rooms in schools. There were several different lunch tables set up and there was also a long lunch line near the cafeteria that extended usually a couple feet when many students lined up to get their hot lunch. But as I saw everyone sitting and laughing with their friends I could feel my cheeks turning bright red and I could feel steam coming out of my ears. What did I do to deserve this?! Why was Amy not hanging out with me?! It just wasn't fair. When the whistle blew we all ran outside. Lately Amy has been hanging out with a girl named Brittany. She's defiantly the most popular girl in the school, but she's also really mean. She's a bully to everyone especially people who she doesn't like. I really hoped that Amy wouldn't become just like her. Just then I saw Brittany, Amy, and some other girls walking straight towards me. Was Amy coming to apologize? Was Brittany coming over to tell me how cool I was because I knew Amy? I hoped it was one of the two.

"Um, Becky…" she said with a smirk.

"It's Jackie." I said back shyly.

"Whatever. Um, well you kind of have something on your shoe." she said trying hard not to laugh.

I was afraid to look down. Was it something totally embarrassing? I didn't want to know so slowly I looked down at my foot…

"Hey look everyone!" Brittany cried out. "Becky's got a banana on the bottom of her boot!"

It was true. On the bottom of my boot there was a bright yellow banana peel hanging! I couldn't believe it! How could Amy not stick up for me?! I was so embarrassed... And to make things worse everyone started to gather around me! Eventually a couple of giggles that came from all the students, turned into a roar of laughter. I couldn't even believe how much this was going to ruin my school reputation. I desperately wanted to yell at Brittany and tell her how I felt, but I knew that would just make things worse. Just then I saw Amy in the large group of kids. She was looking right at me. I could smell her pink sugar perfume, and I could tell she felt really bad. But just then Brittany turned around and glared at Amy, giving her a look that said "Why aren't you laughing?!". And all of a sudden Amy started laughing and pointing at me, like nothing was wrong! I could tell tears were coming. I knew that people would make fun of me for the rest of my life because of this, but I just couldn't help it. I immediately ran into the bathroom and stood inside the stall. No one had followed me in so I sat there for a while weeping by myself. The gray color of the stalls and disgusting smell just made me feel worse. As I sat and cried I started to think about everything that had happened during this past week... All this time I had wanted Amy just to apologize to me and we would become best friends again. But now I wasn't sure if I even want to forgive her.

= Falling Action =

My face was dripping wet; I could feel the tears rushing out of my eyes. All of my emotions were building up inside me. I realized that I hadn't told anyone how I was feeling this whole entire week! All of my sadness, anger, and frustration just kept pouring out. I knew I had to tell some one how I was feeling. So as quickly as I could, I ran into my teacher's classroom. When I got there, I saw that she was eating her lunch. Luckily she was eating in her classroom and not in the teacher's room. My teacher's name was Ms. Randy; she was a literature/writing teacher and she seemed to be in her mid-20s. She would always wear her hair in a perfect bun and wore a white peal necklace around her neck. She was very beautiful. Every day she would smell like her Burberry perfume and wear a perfectly matching outfit. Her classroom was also very well decorated. Ms. Randy was very organized and nothing in her classroom was ever out of place. The books were always lined up just right and the desks were always in place. I mean I think I'm organized too, but nothing like Ms. Randy. I loved the sound of the fan spinning around and hitting the ceiling. Click, click, click. I really admired Ms. Randy, so that's why I decided to go to her for advice. As soon as she saw the tears that were pouring out of my face, she immediately ran over to me and a worried look came across her face.

"Jackie! What's wrong?! Are you alright?" she asked me.

"Well," I said still sniffling from before. "Amy is... And I was... She laughed and..."

"Here have a seat." She suggested as she pulled up a chair next to her desk. "Now why don't you take some deep breaths and when you're ready, you can tell me what's going on."

I sat there and cried for a couple more minutes and took deep breaths. When I was finally calm again I explained to Ms. Randy what had happened.

"Ok, you know my best friend Amy right?" I asked her.

"Yes," Ms. Randy responded. "You're always together."

"Yeah, I know, and that's part of the problem. Well Amy and I have been best friends for a really long time. Since we were born! We've been through everything together and we never get into fights. Except for this week. I don't know why but for some reason she just keeps ignoring me! She won't do anything with me after school like we normally do, she won't answer any of my phone calls, and just now, when we were all outside for recess, she didn't even stick up for me when the whole school was laughing at me; she didn't even care! Do you think I should start treating her the way she's treating me? Maybe she'll see how mean she's being..." I said thinking about how my idea could possibly work.

"Jackie, I wouldn't do that if I were you. You know two wrongs don't make a right." she told me.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said admit tingly.

"Now, I appreciate you telling me all of this and I'm glad that you can trust me. But what I think you should do is just try and talk to her alone. Tell her how you're feeling. If she's a good friend she'll understand."

"But every time I try a talk to her in school..."

"Well maybe you should try talking to her when it's just the two of you. Maybe she doesn't want to talk in public. Maybe something’s going on with her that she doesn’t want to say in school."

Wow, Ms. Randy was a genius! I was so glad I had come to her for advice!

"Thank you so much Ms. Randy for all your help!" I said grinning from ear to ear, as I got up to leave. "Hopefully everything will go back to normal."

"Yes, I'm glad I could help. Good bye!" She said I as walked out the door. I was in such a great mood. I knew Amy would talk to me when we were alone. I wasn't nervous to talk to Amy at all! I knew everything was going to work out! And just when I thought things couldn't get any better, I realized it was my birthday tomorrow! = Resolution = "Amy, I think we need to talk." I spoke as firmly as I could to Amy the next day. I wanted to let her know how serious I was. "And I understand you may not want to talk in public, so do you want to come over after school? Maybe we could have dinner together for my birthday."

I was really nervous. I didn't know what she was going to say. Would she completely ignore the question? Would she make up another excuse about why she couldn't come?

"Yeah, sure. That would be great" she said with a smile as she went off to her next class.

Wow, that wasn't at all what I had expected! I was so relieved. Maybe things // would // go back to normal after all. Amy told me that her mom was going to drive her back to her house after school and then she would come over. So I just decided to walk home. When I got to my house I noticed that all of my lights were off. It was almost as cold as an igloo and everything seemed so dark. My mom must have not been home yet. As I walked up my path there was a freaky, creepy scarecrow that looked like it wanted to eat me! So I quickly ran inside. As soon as I opened the door brightly colored lights practically blinded me and screams and cheers came from a swarm of people surrounding me, saying "SUPRISE! !" There was a big blue banner hanging above my fireplace and a cake sitting on the kitchen table. Music was blasting from Amy’s stereo and loads of snacks were laid out on the counter. I couldn't believe it! All these people?! Here for my birthday?! I was in shock! I stood there with my mouth wide open. My mom came running up to me and smiled.

"Were you surprised?" she exclaimed while giving me a hug.

"Yes!" I screamed happily. "Did you know about this the whole time?!"

"Yes, but it was all Amy's idea. She wanted to surprise you so she told me not to say anything." she told me. "It was sure hard but I'm glad you were surprised!"

"Thanks so much mom this the best 12th birthday ever!"

Then all of a sudden, Amy came rushing up to me and gave me a huge hug! She squeezed me so tight I could barley breath, but some how it felt comforting to know we were best friends again.

"Aw, I love you Jackie! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" she said practically crying. "I'm so sorry I've been avoiding you all this week! I know you must think I'm a terrible friend, but the reason I tried to stay away from you was because I didn't want to spill the secret. You know how bad I am at keeping secrets and I wanted this to be a total surprise for you! So I just wanted I'm sorry again, please don't hate me!" she laughed while giving me another huge hug.

"Amy! It’s okay, I understand! And why would you ever think I hated you?! You are my best friend!" I said smiling as I hugged her back.

"So are we friends again?!" she yelled out so everyone could hear.

"Nope." I said giving her a serious look.

"What?" she questioned, looking confused.

"BEST FRINEDS!" I exclaimed, and with that we gave each other another big hug and from then on I knew that we would always stand by each other and have each other's backs no matter what.