Archive for 7/1/10

Jul 29, 2010

NEW BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here... is... a smallish sort of book I'm writing.
Sort of. 
It's hard to explain... What I mean is that its a series of small stories that make up one book. But they're all kind of different, though one may lead to another.
I don't know the title yet, so if for some quierd (i made that word up, it means queer and wierd put together!) reason, you have a feeling this story should be titled some way, just email me, or comment. Whichever you like (though it'd be nice if you just emailed me... countdown4books@gmail.com ) Right now, I'm thinking of GIFTED AND TALENTED... if you know what I mean.
It's sort of spy-ish mystery. It's not even a real book, a series of small stories. Just that this week, (or last week), during writing camp (yes, I go to writing camp at Brookdale Community College ),  we had to make a character. And real authors, they know exactly about that character. What their favorite color is, favorite food, what shampoo they use, their personality, their deepest secrets, things that they wouldn't even include in the story. But what's good is that it makes a solid character. I made Sally Elizabeth Evans. That's a whole another book/story... Let's not get off track...
So, there are four main characters, one sub-character that's main for a chapter. Ayleen, Alex, Samantha, and Mark. The sub-character is Max. They're four kids who have special Gifts. Yes, they have a Gift. Not a gift, a Gift. (Notice Gift has a capital G.) 
I didn't really write what shampoo they use, but I free-wrote their characteristics.
I'm still pondering whether I should publish their characteristics and person because it is sort of interesting just to read the person. Ayleen Lauren Havenson, Samantha Katherine Puckett, Alex Robert Enzo, and Mark Lucas Emmington. You'll find out their Gifts throughout the story.

Please note the story I write (I'm going to title it The Gifted and Talented, for now...) is still in its draft. I will revise it and change that post, so you may see the same post being changed every day. It's just me and my yellow notebook full of edits. Now that I think of it, the plot is kind of silly. Not silly, but ... just not the plot that would usually get the Newbery Award or all that.

This is an intro to Gifted and Talented.

Gifted and Talented

Ayleen opened the door to her room. She locked the door and pulled out her red pen that said “S.T.W.” She clicked the pen repeatedly, so it formed a pattern, the Morse code. She closed her eyes, letting her fingers do their thing. She sent the message: URGENT CALL. COME IMMEDIATELY.

Fifty miles away, Alex gathered his textbooks to put back in his backpack, when he heard the familiar clicking noise. He pulled out his green pen. It was glowing and clicking. He closed his eyes; it was easier to read when your other senses were closed up. He smiled.
“Finally…” he thought.
Then, all the way in Nevada, sat a bored, miserable girl, named Samantha. She’d had the worst school day possible. Would she ever find some fun? If only…
As if it’d read her mind, her pink pen began to click. She let out a small whoop as she pulled out the glowing pen.
In Oregon, a boy sat in his bed, reading his Harry Potter book. Mark had read the series almost five times, maybe six. Suddenly, he heard clicking. At first, he thought it was Skipper, his sharp paws clicking on the hard polished wood floor. But he realized it was making a pattern, and there was no usual whimper or bark.
“Yesss…” he said, slamming the book shut as he rummaged around his desk to find his glowing blue pen.

*  *  *  *  *

Ayleen pulled out a book from her bookshelf. It was red, green, pink, and blue striped, full of poems and short stories, bound to let the reader fall asleep by the fifth page, probably. She circled the word “Gifted” on page 3. She circled “and” from page 142, and underlined “talented.” three times, the last word of the book, on page 523.
A black screen suddenly appeared, replacing the striped cover, making a faint pop. She showed no sign of surprise as she read the green wording on the screen: PASSWORD? She wrote, “RGPBAASM” It flashed to: PROCEED. She clicked the book back on the bookshelf (there was a special way to put it in to make it click in so nobody else can pull it out), and looked at the picture of the butterfly. It was in a green frame, a red monarch butterfly. She tapped the butterfly impatiently, as it fluttered away and left the tree. She wrote on the frame (with the red pen): TELEPORT. She carefully wrote: GAT HQ on the picture of the tree. It flashed green, and it turned back to its normal picture (of the butterfly). The bookcase split in half and revealed a secret door. She took out her locket and opened it. A small key fell out. She put the key into a hole and a click told her that it had unlocked and a clink told her the key was on the other side of the door. She opened the door, closing the bookcase behind her, and crawled through, grabbing the key. She closed the door and put the key back in the locket. She looked around the room. Same as last time, empty, except the desk and computer. She waited, and realized she forgot to put on her headphones. She put on the wireless headphones, and listening to the buzzing, she knew they were coming.
Sure enough, Alex, Mark, and a fuzzy Samantha popped up, their holograms moving around, looking around the room.

Mark found himself in the familiar, secret HQ he’d joined three years ago, in replacement of his cousin, Max. Max had died in a “car accident.” He knew better.

“Hey, Sam. Your signal isn’t that good. Can you press reset on your headphones?” Alex said suddenly.
“Kay.” A buzzing sounded, and Sam became a bit clearer. “Good?”
“Wait…” Alex muttered as he went to the corner of the room, probably in his room, where all the technology stuff were, and pressed random buttons, which weren’t visible here, so it looked as if he were having some frantic seizure.
The buzzing sounded again, a bit louder, and everyone covered their ears, but that made it louder, seeming that they were wearing the headphones on their ears.
“Good.” Alex said, looking at the clear Sam.

“Sooo…” Sam said awkwardly.
“Why’re we here…?” Mark asked.
“There’s trouble. I think, someone’s onto us, maybe the person who… killed…” Ayleen didn’t need to finish the sentence, they probably knew. She didn’t want to talk about Max’s death, anyway.
“Someone is starting to find out about us,” she concluded.
Mark gaped. Sam let out a small shriek, but Alex didn’t show any sign of surprise.
“Well, that’s what I’ve been noticing, too… last week,” he explained.
“Yeah, and I think I know who it might be, I mean, who killed…”
“Max.” Samantha finished Ayleen’s sentence.
It was silent. An awkward silence came over them. They had nothing left to say to each other. This, was a serious problem.


Hope you liked the Prologue!

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Lost and Found


Lost and Found


On a little playground,
sits a lonely little bike,
waiting for its owner
to come and take it on a hike.

Rusted yellow handles,
with a slightly torn seat,
one of the wheels are flattened,
the plastic melted from heat.

On a little playground,
sits a little shoe,
waiting for its owner,
seeming it has nothing to do.

A small and brown sandal,
some parts ripped and torn.
It seems it's been left here,
a while since it was worn.

In an old little house,
sits a little boy named Billy,
he's looking for his bike and shoe,
it's been gone since January.

He sits and waits,
cries and hopes,
watches all the other kids,
ride their bike and jumprope.

He looks here and there,
but can't find it,
his favorite sandal,
the one he used to wear.

He runs left and right,
here and there,
but can't find his bike,
rusted, yellow and white.

One day, he goes once more,
to the little playground he used to go,
the place he he went every day,
after finishing his daily chores.

For the last time,
he looks here and there,
Up and down,

And to his delight,
he finds what's lost,
his sandal and his bike.

                                          -Celine Choo



PC!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as long as you include my credit!

Please comment, tell me what you think, if you like it, etc.
Thanks!

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Jul 23, 2010

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

Here is another amazing book of the oh-so-famous Harry Potter series, and if you haven’t read it, you should SERIOUSLY conisder reading it. No, don’t consider. Just read it. I’m not kidding, it’s better than it seems. Not that it looks bad. It seems great, but it’s actually amazing. Or it seems amazing, but it’s actually astounding. It seems astounding, it seems... you get the point. It’s really, really, really, really, REALLY  good. I’m not kidding, you better belive me.
This one was not in my top list. Wait, maybe it was. Wait, OKAY I admit it, it was my third favorite. It had so many things I liked about it. Little things. First. Chapter one. Dudley Demented. I LOVE THAT TITLE. Partly because Dudley gets demented... Well, not fully, if you're thinking about the Kiss. And those of you out there who have no clue what I'm talking about, it's dementors. The dementors are beings. Not human, I don't think, but they're alive, somehow, and live feeding off others' happiness. They suck it away out of the place, if you're near them. Never get too near, for if you do, they Kiss you. And its not those kisses you say "euwwwwww...." and cover your eyes when you see it on the TV, no, it isn't. It's worse. They.Suck.Your.Soul.Out.Of.You. That's worse than death. You have no will to live, no will to do anything. Just sulk, and sit. Probably not even eat. Scary. And anyways, Dudley gets almost Kissed, and so does Harry. Why two dementors are there, at Little Whinging, fifty million miles (FYI I'm just exaggerating... maybe not fifty million...) from Azkaban, WE DON'T KNOW (coughVoldemortcough) ...
What was great about that was not the Kiss. Nobody deserves the Kiss, no matter how bad you are. I mean, besides Voldemort. He had million chances and he's never taken one. Kill kill kill... one death after the other. (By the WAY..., I made a APOSTROPHE to VOLDEMORT... it's funny. I'll upload it some other time. Might be uploaded already. Was it?)
Anyway, what was great about that was not the Kiss. Never. the Kiss. The aftertaste. First of all, it was quite amusing, or sudden, to see a neighbor who suddenly was a Squib, tells him to keep his wand out, and says that she hopes Dumbledore kills Mudungus Fletcher, which is quite funny, if you don't take that seriously. if you do,,, well, that's a mean thing to say, but all the same, Harry could have been KISSED by a DEMENTOR!! That's never a good thing.
And, back at the house. The first time I read it, I almost ripped the page (alright, confession, I'm exaggerating again... D=  ) when I saw Dudley blame HARRY on all that. After all, Harry had saved his LIFE!! Well, actually his soul, but same thing... It was furious. I mean, It's so frustrating to see Dudley's parents go all Duddlekins on him and look at Harry as if he were some rather dirty piece of... PooP. 
I was so glad to see Aunt Petunia say that.. By accident. it was rather a shock to me, too, for her to say that so.. casually. I had a happy thought towards Aunt Petunia. Harry is right to be glad that Aunt Petunia is is aunt. Very glad. Great. I think... It was nice to see them, sort of, as a family. FINE. I'm exaggerating again. not like a family. But, they're talking. Without wincing. I think.
It's wierd, awkward, how they're talking to each other about the wizarding world. Funny Uncle Vernon going.. "Eh, them dementoids? What do they do? Eh...? Who's Voldything? Eh????" Really funny. Dementoids? Voldythingy... anyway... How only Aunt Petunia and Harry seems to be getting things through,,, and how... she knows, about Azkaban, first of all. And how he tells her Voldemort is back (quite funny, Uncle Vernon's reaction... "Who's that Voldything?" or something along those lines...)


And the rest of the story is great, too. And the Order. At first, I was angry why Harry was losing his temper so much of a sudden, but when you think about it, when everyone else's in this and you're not, and YOU'RE the one that actually let them know and kind of spoiled Voldything's plans (  =D  ) of not letting anyone know that Voldemort was of power once again... You'd probably get a bit aggravated, might blow your head off...
The end, where Harry thinks Sirius was at the Ministry, with Voldemort, that was so bad. Mean. Well, no big surprise there, because Voldemort's beyond mean, he's -EVIL. Anyway, I thought that was real, and he was going to save Sirius... and Kreacher helps... Though I do start to like him in the last book, or the second to last. No, the last book, he was better in the last book. Anyway... I fell for the trick, along with Harry. BIG.MISTAKE. Really big mistake. Oh... if that hadn't happened, he wouldn't have died, if that hadn't happened, the prophecy wouldn't have..., Bellatrix was so BALDIHFIASUELUSGHFIDUAIGUAKJ (sorry bad temper) to Neville. The Cruciatus curse... such a sad history for Neville. So sad.


SOO....


I will not tell the end, because of its oh-so-great ending. This one has a spooky ending. And a sad one. Very sad. Very very very very VERY  sad ending.
You will see. If you read the book. Book one, two, three, four, and FIVE.
I give it a ten out of ten. READ IT.

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Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire --By J.K.Rowling

          I am in the midst of re-reading this book. It's the second best book I've ever read. The second best book of the Harry Potter series, too. This one has a lot of excitement, and it's kind of new, sort of, with the Triwizard Tournament.






          Obviously, as many of you Harry Potter readers have predicted, right from chapter whatever-it-may-be when Harry's name is popped out of the Goblet, 
Goblet, I knew just then (maybe I didn’t realize right at that time, but I knew I knew), that Harry was gonna win. And since it is the second best book I’ve read, it’s definitely gonna be a great one for you, too. Yes, I’m talking to you. Who’s reading this. And, so... I’m not gonna say anything else about the champion. Okay fine, maybe I am, but. Just know, if you don’t want the story to be ruined, then... Don’t read when I tell you not to. Because then you won't know the end. Because knowing the end of the story never helps when you don’t want to.

          Harry is really brave. Throughout the story, you just know why he was put in Griffyndor. Because of his endless bravery. I mean, in the last book... never mind. But anyway, you notice that the other houses, they aren't as brave. All the trouble usually happens in Gryffindor (if you don't count the Slytherins' futures). Did you see in The Sorcerer's Stone, how Malfoy was so scared? When he saw Voldemort, I mean. In the Forbidden Forest. That was funny. He deserved that. I mean, he'll be. He'll be... Oh I can't say, but I want to. OOHHHHHHHH. It's about Malfoy kid. and. Voldemort. and. uh. his father. and. wizards. and. am i giving too much away? ... He's a coward and a bully and never deserves all that money he has. Because he's mean and selfish. 
          Enough with insulting Malfoy's already insulted self. I watched the movie, and I think it's the best one so far, probably because The Deathly Hallows still has yet to come out. I think in November, the July of next year for the second part. I can't wait. I CAN'T WAIT. I mean, I'm fidgeting... I was hoping it'd come out in about.. August. But no, it has to be in NOVEMBER and JULY 2010!!! I have to see it in theaters.
          Besides my personal plans of what to do, I liked the idea of the Triwizard Tournament. It was mentioned at the Quidditch Cup, and it kept me reading at about RES3~2. 
          I invented a scale. It's called the RES System. (read rehss, meaning Reading Excitement Scale) When a part of a book is exciting, then you find yourself skipping every five words to try to get to the end, fast. The RES System is a simple way to measure how exciting a book is by how many words you skip. For example, Harry is about to die (I'm not gonna say if he is or not, that's up to your responsibility), so you skip every six words, On the RES System (or the REScale [read ree-sckayl), it is a 6. Written RES6. (Notice I'm making this up as I go along... :P )
          Anyway, it made me want to get to the part where they explain. But by the looks of it, I knew it wasn't going to come up for a few pages, a chapter, at least, so I didn't read that fast.
          Speaking of Quidditch Cup (actually, I wasn't talking about it for 3 paragraphs), it was sort of all-of-a-sudden, how suddenly there was the Dark Mark. I guess it "plants the seed," kind of gives an unknown clue to the end. How that. That. Voldemort is rising. To power. Once again.
          To be on the bright side, I thought the Quidditch Cup was quite amazing. Though I don't know if Krum was right to get the snitch, though. Maybe he was. But only if they got twenty more points, they could have won. But I guess he figured that there wasn't much big chance of winning... 
          It seemed so amazing, how they described it. The idea of the omnioculars were so amazing. I mean, how could someone have thought of that. Well, the whole idea of Harry Potter, so no surprise there.
          My wish is that Quidditch is real. I mean, personally, I don't think the Quidditch games we try to imitate is great. I mean, it's kind of pathetic, looking at people with broomsticks under them, running around, hitting each other with soccer balls or whatever. (Go to www.youtube.com and type in Quidditch Games and a bunch of stuff will come up <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YmJob5rbNM> ). I wish I could be in Quidditch. I wish I were in Harry Potter's wonderful world, to be a wizard, to live such great life. I wish...
          Oh, well.


           Once that I've read it again for the second time, it's kind of cool to read the book and know all the answers. So when you see Mad-Eye Moody helping Harry out, you squint and glare at the page, as if to say, "Yeah, right..." and see Cedric and be all sad for him, he shouldn't have put his name in the Goblet... or rather... Voldemort should have thought better, or Harry should have been a bit more selfish to just touch the Cup by himself... But its never someone's fault to what destiny is. 


          Great book, my second favorite, like the movie too. It's cool.
If you want to see the movies, download it... or other... and watch it, after you've read the book. AFTER. (It's never fun to read something when you know almost half the answers...) Rate it only 11 out of 10... I know, I go hard...
=D          

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Jul 15, 2010

Harry Potter The Series Book 1 to 3. - J.K.Rowling

J. K. Rowling is a genius.


               She is, though. I'll start at that. After I've read the series. (I've never read it, only the first one, a long time ago.) Wow...!
               At any age, young, or old, for whoever can read a bunch of words, it captures their mind. Literally! Your mind is on it all day. When you wait for You-Know-Who to die (I'll never say if he does or not), or live. I'll say Voldemort, because of course, there's no effect on you even if I said VOLDEMORT as loud as possible, because there is no someone who is so strong and powerful that you can't even say his name in this world. (Though when you think of it, who wants to be like that? Where no one can say your name? "why, who is it?" "It's uh.. uh.. uhm.. v...v..vo...vol..voldemort..eeeeeekkk!!"   ... well, Voldemort, obviously)
               I know, maybe once or twice I've said that I didn't like Harry Potter. But minds can change. A lot.
It's kind of cool, seeing someone who can do so much.
               Writing can be either terribly boring or amazingly, jaw-droppingly, OHMYGOSHly great and superb. In this case, Harry Potter is beyond the latter.
               It is full of adventure, suspenseful, and mysterious. And I'm waiting for the last movie to come out.


               First of all, I want to be a witch. Second of all, I feel bad for Harry.  But I want to be him, with all that adventures. But, yet again, that would not be great. (As I mentioned in the previous entry) But. I don't care. It is great!! It seems great, I mean.
               At first, I didn't like Harry Potter. Not to my liking. BUT- as said, people can change. And I guess I did. Because I now know why its the national (or was it international) bestseller.






Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

               I wonder, how cool it would be, to be able to go through a something like that. It's almost like a game. With levels. First, you have to go past Fluffy. Then, you have to go past the keys, was it? And so on. You're living in the game.
               Voldemort (squeal all you want... =D) must look very very very very scary. I wonder how the Death Eaters resist. And I wonder, How Harry, being a clueless (well, not that much) first year, got through all that.
               I want to see a Quidditch game with my own eyes. It seems so much fun. Did I mention? J. K. Rowling is another "literary genius," as I would call them. Literary geniuses are either my favorite author or someone who has imagination in the extreme (who is an author). In this case, J. K. Rowling is a literary genius in both ways. Sometimes, I wonderhow, just how an author would come up with this idea. I wonder how J.K.Rowling came up with Quidditch. A combination of basketball, attacking stuff, and oh,-who-knows-what.
               Sometimes, I wish I had that ability. Especially when it comes to testing with writing... =)
               Draco Malfoy deserves a punch right in the nose. I'll leave it at that. He does, though. The way he acts through the story. Anyone would know he would become a Death Eater at one point or another.
               Hagrid is one of my favorite characters. He is, no offense, sort of ignorant, and he is friendly towards friendly people. Meaning he doesn't make friends with the wrong people. His ignorance is used to help Harry, Hermione and Ron figure out the "secret" throughout the book. In this case, it is the Sorcerer's Stone, and Fluffy.
               Harry Saves the Day (and sorcerer's stone and the wizarding world as well as the real)! (I can't say again, because it is the first time.
I say the world because if Voldemort had gotten hold of it... XP

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

               Who ever knew it would be Ginny? The most unexpected. If only Harry had told Dumbledore about the diary, he would realize it was a Horcrux at once and kill it. If only.
               But that's not how stories go. They're not always easy and flowing. There has to be a problem.


               I was almost sure it was Percy who did it. When he was all worried when Penelope Clearwater was Petrified (although it makes no sense, it was just suspicious) and how Ginny was all scared to saysomething in front of Percy to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. 
               I should have noticed that Voldemort had to be in this. Because, in all the Harry Potter books, as you may have, or will, notice, Voldemort is always the problem and always the one he has to meet or even fight in the end. (And gets defeated by Harry...)
               
               And, I hate Professor Lockhart. He is so ignorant. You could feel it from the beginning. And it makes me so frustrated especially when he thinks Harry's going for fame. Because he thinks he's famous (in a way, he is. actually, he is). At first, I was surprised that anyone even bought the book, because it was so obvious all the works he took credit for wasn't actually done by him.     ... then I knew that the only reason they even bought the book was because they didn't believe he did all those things. 
               Blah Blah Blah... and so on, and in the end, Harry saves the day, the school, and the Muggle-Borns of the place (and Ginny)... the school, and Voldemort is defeated, once again, by Harry. (I notice its depending on luck, not skill, otherwise Harry would've been dead in a second or two)


Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

               I realize that the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher always changes, year by year, as if there's a jinx on it. There might be. 
               I like this year's Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. He's nice, and knows how to teach kids so they like it. Right from the beginning.
               The dementors scare me. At first, I thought they were harmless.
...
               Oh, okay, maybe not harmless, but you know, can't kill you and hurt you. Just scare your wits so you go (maybe go) crazy. But then I realized the dementors don't do just that. They have the Dementor's Kiss. Scary. You never ever want your soul sucked out of you. Because. You lose the willingness to live, to love, and, to be. Its worse than death. Maybe you don't even have feelings, just like an orange peel with no inside  (I forget what it's called, or is there even a word to identify it?), a person with no soul.
               I knew Crookshanks meant trouble from the beginning. Well, Ithought. Because it ends up, Sirius-  (should I spoil your ending of the book, to all those who have not read it yet? Brace yourselves. .  .) Sirius Black is... innocent. Because Sirius Black is an Animagus, a dog, and how he has escaped Azkaban, innocent, and free (if you don't count the millions of Dementors after him and ordered to preform the Kiss then and there when they see him), and, he wasn't trying to kill Harry, and he neverhas killed anyone, and would never dream of working for Voldemort. (I wonder, if they were so sure he worked for Voldemort, why didn't they just check for the Death Eater mark on his arm? Sometimes, the Ministry of Magic can get quite ... not-coming-up-with-working-ideas-and-proof.
               Well, Sirius is unlucky, having to live secretly all his life. At least he's happy now that he's met Harry. Or vice versa. Harry's happy because he met his one and only living relative that he likes. Good for Harry!

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Jul 12, 2010

I, Q by Roland Smith

This is not a blog entry contributing to the Countdown for Books. It is my writing, but I give credit to a book. 
That book is I, Q By Roland Smith. I think it's a series (good book, it is, you should try it...) and I wrote it in a different point of view, for summer writing. I assigned it to myself, just to enjoy, and to keep my brain working over the summer. 
It is the first four chapters. Mini-chapters, meaning that when I say chapters, I don't mean by the day, I mean by the new page and Big title. You'll see. The first chapter in the book is Wedding Vows.
(You'll notice I changed some of the titles of chapters.)
Here it is, and I hope you like it. (And if you're interested in it, read the real book, its good.)




Wedding Vows



“Will you, Blaze Munoz, take this man, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and hold. . .”
I sighed once more. Another invitation or some plan having to do with any crowd of people, I’d pass out, or worse.
Time seemed to go slower than –the slowest turtle, as you could put it.
All the heat stuffed into this place made me sweat everywhere. Additionally, the food wasn’t as good, seeming that I was in a horrible condition. The broccoli I was eating was just bland. But I reached for another one anyway.
One more minute in this annoying dress or gown or whatever, and I was about to burst. I began to scratch an itchy hard-to-reach spot on my back. The dress was so tight and sticky. Not the perfect summer dress. Dad had picked it out for me at the mall while he was shopping for his clothes, so I just took it. It seemed okay. Turns out, things can be decieving. I didn’t realize it could be so uncomfortable in a hot weather. The mere thought of my welcoming shorts and T-shirt made my mouth water.
I began to feel a bit woozy with the hundreds of people around me. It was summer,  and being cramped up with hundreds of strangers in the heat of 100˚F isn’t a comfortable thing. Especially when things are suddenly changing when about a month ago, everything was normal and fine.
I checked my watch. The wedding still has some thirty minutes to go, and to me, it probably will feel like about an hour or two. Can’t wait.
I looked at Dad. He had a soft and loving expression, as if Blaze was the most beautifulest thing he has and will ever see. A face, I knew, he’d never given my mother. My birth mother.
*  *  *  *  *  *  *
After what felt like thirty minutes, I decided to recount the place. I’d gotten to two hundred fifty-six, but I could hardly belive that. It felt like a thousand, at least. I began to recount, as to make sure of my number.
As Mom used to say, there should be groups of people, so count the groups. Group by group. Then you remember and add up as you go along. You have to depend on memory, pretty much. This one’s a cinch. Two hundred fifty-six isn’t that big of a number, since I’ve “dealt” with more than that.
At the two hundreth person, I was disturbed. It had suddenly become very silent. You could almost feel the tension and expectance in the silence.
I looked up, knowing what would happen, how after this, we’d be going on our tour to Philly, and how everyone was staring at Dad, waiting for him to say...
“I will.”
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
A loud applause broke out, and I excitedly joined in. When it died down, and the cake was being cut, I took a few pictures, and resumed my count.
Fake Vegetarian and Camera Boy
After many attempts to remember the number I was on, I finally gave up. And I wasn’t
in the mood too start over. I guess I’ll just have to go with two hundred fifty-six, then.
My stomach roared for some meat, but I knew not to, though it was tempting. Being a vegetarian isn’t easy, especially if you’ve been faking it for your dad for almost five years. He’d gotten the idea of becoming vegetarian, being a herbivore, from a book. He wouldn’t let me see it, but I knew it was some health-related book they sell at Barnes and Noble.
I ended up grabbing some carrots and broccoli with dressing and putting it on my plate. I stood by the vegetable table as to remind myself not to get too tempted.
I began to absentmindedly munch on a broccoli. I flashed a look around. Dad and Blaze were dancing to their new hit song. A few other celebrities were dancing along.
I heard a faint click. I looked around, my eyes flicking past Q without looking twice. He was holding his hand up in a casual way. But I doubled back. He had a sly expression on his face. Maybe that was a camera in his hand? I had noticed, at the last meet, he made that same “casual” move. I realized now that Blaze was married to Dad, Q would be my brother. Now that I think of it, I should be calling Blaze Mom now. I began to wonder if he would be a good brother.
He caught me in my act of staring and waved, iniviting himself over.
“Some party,” he muttered. “There must be three hundred people here.”
I smiled. “Two hundred fifty-six, I think.” I corrected.
He looked at me, quizzically.
“Counting guests, catering staff, reporters, and security people,” I continued.
Q looked at me as if I’d gone crazy.
“How’d you know that?” he asked, looking around.
“By observing,” I said, grinning.
He looked over to the dance floor and I follwed his gaze. Dad and Bl –Mom were dancing with a few other couples. It was slightly awkward, I noticed, being alone. With my brother. Being an only child made this a first –having a brother. But we were siblings, now. Desn’t he have to be annoying or something?
As if he’d read my mind, he said, “I think this might be the first time we’ve actually been alone.” Pause. He looked around. “Not that being with two hundred fifty-six people is being alone. But –“
I sighed, I had no privacy ever since their big hit song.
“I know... Between your mom, my dad...” I waved a hand toward the crowd, “... and everyone else, there’s always someone around.”
“I don’t know,” Q said, “but I thought I was going to pass out if the ceremony went on a second longer.”
 “Me too!” I said, “I felt woozy.”
That was about the dumbest thing I’ve ever said. Woozy?  What was I, a kindergardener? Making a great impression as a fifteen year old sister upon a “new” brother who’s only two years younger.
“What do you think caused that woozy feeling?” he asked sarcastically.
“Stress, maybe,” I suggested. I knew how that felt.
“I guess I’ve never felt stress, then, because I thought I was going to puke.”
I abruptly stopped munching on my fifth broccoli. A bad memory of throwing up came back to me, from fourth grade. Embarassing. I shuddered, putting my plate down. I lost my appetite.
Q must have noticed this, because he added quickly, “Aside from the stress, what do you think of all this?”
I sighed. It seemed out life was planned by some music directors from now on.
I shrugged. “I guess it all seems kind of orchestrated, as if –“
“We’re on a reality TV show or something?” he interrupted.
“In a way, we are. They’re going to incorporate the wedding into the music video.” I looked at the crowd. Things would never be the same again.
Sighing, I said, “I guess we’ll have to get used to it.”
“Nahh...” he said, waving his hand. “It’ll be fine once we get on the read. No one’s going to follow us across the country to Philadelphia. You heard what they told Buddy.”
I sighed at the name. He was a total pain in the neck, as good a Personal Manager he could be.
As if saying the name did it, a familiar pounding of footsteps and grunts came. I didn’t even need to look up.
“Speak of the devil.” I gestured towards the sound.





Buddy T.
Why Buddy T. had to be our PM (personal manager) out of the hundreds of PMs, we don’t know. His name is Buddy T. T –we don’t know what that means, either, but Dad claims it stands for To-Do, because the way he talks, he sounds like he’s reading a huge To-Do list.
Buddy is everything you don’t want to be. Arrogant, annoying, has-to-get-it-his-way, but somehow one of the best PMs in the musical business. He has to deal with our schedules, checks on things, with roadies or all that, and he claims its a very complicated job.
But that’s not the only reason we don’t like him. Dad and Blaze aren’t in the best relationship with Buddy. We have about a billion problems to negotiate with.
See, Dad wanted to go as a family on the tour, and he hadn’t even planned the route. Buddy was fuming.
“One platinum song!” he had shouted. “Big deal! Who do you think you two are? I don’t
have enough toes or fingers to count the  number of one-hit wonders I’ve worked with in my life. One of them is a security guard now. Three of them sell insurance for a living. And they were all famous. I mean, really, really famous, for a heartbeat or two. Now look at ‘em!”
Another problem happened when Buddy didn’t want us to go along on the tour. My heart had dropped at his suggestion. Thankfully, Bl –Mom had a different idea: “If they don’t go, we don’t go.”
And when he finally did agree, he wanted us to hire a driver. Dad said he didn’t want a stranger  driving or living in our home.
Finally, Mom told Buddy to lay off. “I got off the road because of Quest. I didn’t want to raise him in that toxic atmosphere. Roger and I are going to do this tour our own way. We’ve taken them out of school for a year to see the United States and arranged for them to continue their schoolwork through the Internet. We’re going to travel and act like a normal family we are. If we can’t find a way to do this as a family, we’ll cancel the tour.
So, why didn’t we just complain and get a new PM? We did, but Mrs. Huges, who was the President of the company, said, believe it or not, Buddy liked us, and he was the one that chose us, not she assigned him as our PM.
Fat chance.
But, Mom, being Mrs. Huges’ long lost friend, agreed and left the matter.

I tried to imagine him liking us, or even enjoying our presence, while he grunted, “Time to go,” with a scowl on his face.
“What are you talking about?” Q suddenly asked, an alarmed expression on his face. “Mom and Roger are supposed to sing before we leave.”
“They’re here to sing, but you and Angela won’t be here to hear it,” he answered. “They’re doing a short set. A couple of songs, max, then they’re outta here. I need you on the bus ready to go. It’s a long trip from here to Philly.”
“Why can’t we just ride over to the bus with them after they finish?” I argued. I wanted to see how they did all this, making the music video and all that. Seeming that your parents were top-hit singers, you couldn’t resist not being interested.
“Photo op,” Buddy grunted, starting to get annoyed. “The wedding’s going to be part of their music video. It hits the air in a couple of days. You’re not included in the video per your parents’ request.”
After a second or two of awkward silence, Q began to open his mouth in protest, as if he’d come up with another excuse, but Buddy interrupted, “Enough chitchat. These two will drive you over,” he said, nodding at two burly security men.




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