The Makings of a Ninja

Chapter one: (skylar)

I drive up to the school and pull into the handicapped spot, even though im not handicapped. It was just happened to be the only spot available. Charlie slaps my arm and glares at me. My twin needs to lighten up a bit. After all we have been through, you would have thought she would be used to this kind of stuff.

"Calm down! If i didn't take that spot then we would have been late to school!" i protest.

"But... fine."

"Good"

I climb out of my truck and slam the door. There waiting by the door waiting for us, stood Jack. I guess you could say he is our best guy friend. Charlie jumps out, lightly closes the door, and comes and joins me. Together we walk up to Jack.

"Hey Jack! You shouldn't have waited for us today! We could have made you late!" i yell.

"Ehh i don't care. I swear if Mrs. Trombe calls me out again for wearing a turtleneck..." he shakes his head.

We laugh and push open the door. Charlie turns right and calls out "See you in math Jack! Oh and Skylar.. I think you put your shirt on backwards" She gives me a smug little smile and walks away.

I turn quickly to Jack and ask, "Is my shirt really on backwards?!"

He looks me up and down and says "Yup, but i think it looks good on you! Seeya skylar." He winks and walks away.

I blow air out of my mouth and look down at my purple blouse, frustrated. If i stop to go to the bathroom then i will for certain be late for class. I decide to brave it and walk to homeroom. I make it into class just as the bell rings and sit down heavily in my seat. My teacher gives me a funny look and then continues taking role.

"Max?"

A tall reddish-blonde boy raises his hand. I only recognized his name because Charlie pointed him out to me the other day.

"Here"

"Ok, Gwen?"

My friend looks over at me and smiles before saying, "Here Mr. Roth."

Mr. Roth gives Gwen a grin. Gwen is very good at impressing teachers and all of her teachers adore her.

"Grey?" i sigh. I am the only one in his class that he calls by last name.

"Mr. Roth, you know you call me by my first name." i reply.

"Ms. Grey, the day that i call you by your first name will be the day that you get an F on an essay." I am seriously considering flunking just so i can be called by my first name. He continually tells me that i am too great a student to be called by my first name.

The bell rings announcing the end of the homeroom period. I hurry to pack my stuff. Its bad enough having Mr. Roth for homeroom but i also have him for english. Being a good writer can be a real pain sometimes.

As i walk out of the classroom, i feel a tug on the back of my shirt. I turn around and see its Matt. As usual his hair is a little messed up. He towers above my 5'2 inch height and looks into my face with his blue eyes.

"I like your style, Sky" he says with a grin.

"Thanks, it was kind of unintentional," i say smiling.

"So are you going to Edward's party tonight?" he asks.

"Nah i have better things to do." I really do not like the guy. Ed was always finding new ways to get on my nerves. Like stalking me and my sister in his Jeep after school. I really have no idea how the guy got to be so popular. But I'm not lying just to get away from him. I really do have things to do. Very important things.

"Aw, thats too bad. His parties are awesome, man!" Matt pats my thigh and then waves as he trots on to his first period.

The rest of the day consists of the same old stuff as always. A food fight broke out during lunch and i threw a good portion of my mac and cheese at some freshmans. A timed writing assignment in Mr. Roth's class. A toxic explosion in chemistry. The sad part about that was that the teacher was the one who caused it. A mile run in PE at the end of the day.

When school finally ends, i collapse in my truck and start to fall asleep. A tap on the glass awakens me. I open my eyes to see a face plastered against my window. I jerk up and scream.

"Cody! Get your dirty face of my window!" i yell. Our friend Cody takes his face off my truck laughing. From behind his skinny form, i can see my sister's face is red from trying not to laugh.

Cody is our extremely annoying neighbor, but we still like him. And we hang out a lot since he is one of Jacks best friends.

"Thats it! I refuse to drive you home today! Both of you!"

I take out my keys and start up the engine. As i pull out of the handicapped space, Cody and Charlie are bent over laughing. Im not worried about them. They would probably get a ride from Jack.

As i drive out of the school parking lot, i see two figures running after my car in the mirror. I stop and stick my head out of the window and almost get smacked in the face by my friend Mandy. She is followed by her boyfriend, Tyler.

"Whoa! Slow down girl!" i say pulling my head in quickly.

"Oh! Sorry! Listen, Skylar. Can you give us a ride?" Mandy asks, giving me the puppy eyes.

Tyler finally catches up to her, carrying both of their instrument cases. They are in the school band and are both pretty good. He is breathing really hard and i feel kinda bad for him. Its not his fault that he is such a nice guy. He is perfect for Mandy and i am happy for her.

I look at the clock on my dashboard and calculate how much free time I have until I have to get home. I look over at Tyler's red face and think that a little favor won't hurt too much.

"Well, since your boyfriend will probably die if i don't, ill give you a ride," i say. "Where are you guys going?"

"We have to go to the music center by town hall," Tyler says, still trying to catch his breath.

"You guys are going to have to guide me, I never been there," I apologize.

I get out of the car to help them load things into the back of my truck with a little difficultly and pile into the cab. Mandy is pretty tall so I am not surprised that she bumps her head on the ceiling while trying to sit down. Tyler does the same, as he has grown over the years. Once upon a time, Mandy was the slightest bit taller than Tyler. I am jealous. I don't think I will ever be called tall. But at least I won't have the problem of towering over the population, like Mandy and Tyler.

After a few wrong turns and some dead ends, we finally get to the music center.

"Remind me not to ask you for another ride," Mandy jokes.

"I'm sorry you guys! Did I make u late?" I have a bad habit of always being late or just barely on time for everything.

"I don't think so," Tyler says, grinning. He knows all about my bad habit.

I breathe a sigh of relief. I don't care if I make myself late but I don't want my friends to suffer for it.

"Thanks Sky!" Mandy calls already halfway to the building.

"Yeah, thanks." Tyler runs to catch up with her.  

I'm curious about what they are doing at a music center. They usually just practice band at the school. I will just have to ask one of them tomorrow at school.  

I look at the time and realize I only have seven minutes to get home.  

"Ahhh!" I hit the gas and race home.