One Vanilla Iced Latté

Chapter 1

  "Ring Ring! Ring Ring!" Vanessa's phone rang. She picked it up from laying on her bed the entire afternoon, reading the latest issue of "Tiger Beat."
"Hello?"
"Heyyyy" Vanessa closed her magazine, being sure to fold the corner of the page that had the best face cream out there.
"What's up Rose?" Vanessa asked, sitting up in bed.
"I was just wondering if you wanted to go to Starbucks with me for breakfast tomorrow morning. I can drive if you would like." Vanessa pondered this idea for a moment.
"I'd love to go Rose! I'll just have to ask my mom..."
Rose cut her off. "Nonsense. It's breakfast at a coffee place. With your best friend. As long as you tell her where you're going, I think you'll be fine."
  Now our little Vanessa is definitely not the type to step out of line. She's always followed the rules, does what her mom tells her to, gets schoolwork done on time and does it well, stuff like that. It's not that she's a teacher's pet or anything like that, it's just that she doesn't want to make her mom worry about her, or let her mother down. Vanessa's mom is a single parent, and has to work day and night shifts at their town's local gas station, just to keep the family in good shape. Vanessa has been trying to find a job, but no one is hiring at the moment.
  Rose, on the other hand, is definitely the type to rebel. Despite her cutesy flower name, she's always been the rule breaker. She does well in school, but she has always been the curious and adventurous type. Rose cares dearly for her friend, but she's trying to teach Vanessa that she can have fun and not worry about her mom.
And now that you have some background info, let's continue with the story.
"Ok Rose. Meet me outside my house with your car tomorrow morning at 7." Vanessa looked around nervously after that, but eventually calmed down.
"Yes! Thanks Ness. See you tomorrow!"
"Ok. Bye." Vanessa then got out of bed, and went downstairs to the kitchen. She grabbed a granola bar, and saw that her mom left a note for her.
"Dangit. I knew I missed her." She wanted to tell her mom where she was going tomorrow morning. She sat down on the bar stool, started munching on her granola bar, and read the note.
Hey Nessa, I'm working from 10-6 tonight. I'll be home in about an hour. I went to go get supper. Love you, Mom.
Vanessa frowned. She didn't like the thought of her mom working from 10pm to 6am and then get no hours of sleep... Vanessa really wanted to see her mom right now, and give her a hug.
"It's a Sunday afternoon. I'm not busy for the rest of the day, so...ah! The backyard!" Vanessa said to herself. She had one of those above ground pools, and since the nicer months were just beginning, she decided to take a swim. She grabbed her favorite floatie, and jumped in, clothes and all.
"NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE." She immediately jumped out of the pool, since it was freezing cold. She ran inside, and quickly got out of her wet clothes before she got hypothermia or something. She took a shower, got into some pajamas, and sat back on her bed. She looked over to the magazine, which she had flipped over. The back of the magazine read,
"Wish for all your hopes and dreams to come true? Dial (830) 476-5664 for your chance!"
"Why not? I have nothing better to do." Vanessa said. She dialed the number, but all she got was the busy tone. She tried again. Nothing. She tried once more, and just as she was about to hang up, someone answered.
"Hel-Hello?" Vanessa chirped.  She knew someone picked up the phone, but no one was talking.
"Hey you've reached the Magic Hotline, where the Magic always happens. Here's your fortune: eidlliwuoy"
Then they hung up.
"Well that's dumb. It's just a fortune telling number that didn't even give me an understandable fortune. What does eye-dill-wyou mean? I have so many questions."
So as you can tell, Vanessa talks to herself. A lot. But that's ok, we all do it. But you'll find that she really likes to talk to herself. But why wouldn't she? She's always alone in an empty house.
She angrily laid back, and closed her eyes. She saw flashes of a room. A dark room with one light. It had chains on the walls, and a table with belts in the middle under the light. She immediately bolted upright, in a cold sweat. She looked around her room. Her clock said 8:49. She had been asleep without realizing it for almost 2 hours. She ran downstairs, and saw her mom cooking supper. She ran to her and gave her the biggest hug ever.