1 Inside the Box (Part 1)

Ding dong!

     "I'll get it, Mom!" I yelled across the room.

     I ran to the door excitedly. I opened the door knowing who it was. It was my boyfriend Kevin; I hadn't seen him in a few months, since I've moved to Darmen City.

     "Kev!" I said in exhilaration.

     "Long time no see, Gemma," he said.

     I pulled the door open more to invite him in.

     "Gem, who's it?" My mom asked.

     "Kevin's here," I spoke loudly to my mom because she was in the kitchen.

     My mom peeked her head from the kitchen.

     "Oh, hi Kevin," my mom spoke.

     "Hi, Ms.Sandoval," he said politely.

     "Um, Mom, Kevin's gonna be staying over for a week," I explained,"because I haven't seen him in a long time and-."

     My mom cut me off,"It's fine, I wish you would've told me first," she remarked."Make yourself comfortable."

     I looked at Kevin while smiling and said,"I knew she would say yes."

     "I just have to go get my bag from my car," he said.

     "Ok," I replied.

     Later on in the night, I called out to Kevin.

     He had gone downstairs to get something from his bag, and he never came back. I peeped out the blinds to see if he was outside. I saw a black figure on the porch. I flicked the porch light on to see who it was. It turned around as if it was startled.

     It was Kevin. I opened the door confused.

     "Why are you outside, I thought you had to get something from your bag?" I questioned.

     "Well, actually I had to get something from my car," he stated,"something for you."

     He handed me a small pink box. It had a little weight to it.

     "Aw, you got me a gift," I said with admiration.

     "Yeah, you can open it inside," he spoke.

     I opened the door and walked to the couch and sat the mysterious box on the table. We sat down, and I opened the lid gradually.

     "Oo," I said amazed.

     It was a dancing ballerina music box.

     "Wow, this is beautiful," I sounded surprised."It looks like an antique."

     I rotated the handle to make it dance, but it didn't.

     "Yeah, I hope you like it," Kevin said.

     "Of course I do, thanks Kev," I said gleefully.

     I gave him a hug.

     "I'm gonna put this in my room and get ready for bed," I told him.

     "Ok, I'll be on the couch, goodnight Gem," he responded.

     I said goodnight as I walked up to my room. I placed the antique on my dresser carefully. Then I went to brush my teeth. As I was flossing I heard something fall. It made a loud thud.

     I turned around quickly and looked in my room, which is straight across from my bathroom. The antique had fallen. I ran to see if it was broken from the fall. The only thing that had fallen off was the bottom. I picked up a tiny paper that fell out of it.

     It read:

     You have three wishes, twist me and they'll come true.

     I had a questionable, skeptic expression on my face. I put the bottom back on the ballerina music box and placed it where it should be. Though, I left the paper out beside it. I finished brushing my teeth then hopped in bed.

     At 3 a.m I got kicked out of my dream. As I turned to find a comfy spot on my bed my ears heard shuffling downstairs. At first I assumed it was my mom. I picked my head up slightly to look out into the dark hallway. Soon I heard slow footsteps coming upstairs.

     It was coming closer to my room. I quickly laid my head down pretending I was asleep. Since my room was dark I peered out the corner of my eye to see who it was. It definitely wasn't my mom, so it must've been Kevin. The person walked away back downstairs.

     I got up slowly to go peer over the stair railing. I peeked my head around the corner to see Kevin packing his bag hurriedly. He then stopped abruptly and looked beside him.

     "What!?" he said in a low angry tone."Leave me alone, you're not my problem anymore!"

     No one was there which made me question.

     "Kev, who are you talking to?" I asked.

     He looked up at me with an alarmed expression on his face.

     "Uh, Gem you scared me," he said shocked."It's nothing, I just have to get going."

     I walked down the stairs to talk to him because I didn't want to be too loud.

     "Why, you just got here?" I voiced lightly.

     "I can't Gem, I'm sorry," he said apologetically as he zipped up his bag.

     "Kev, just tell me," I said, trying to get something out of him."We don't keep secrets."

     He opened the front door and walked briskly to his car. Kevin didn't even think about giving me a kiss or hug goodbye. I tramped quickly, matching his pace, as I followed him to his car.

     "Kevin, what's wrong?" I questioned him.

     He ignored me as he swiftly unlocked his car door and threw his bag inside.

     "Kevin!" I exclaimed, not realizing how loud I was.

     I yanked on his shoulder so he would focus on me.

     "Look Gemma, it's really none of your business!" Kevin roared.

     It was three in the morning, and the last thing I wanted was to wake the neighborhood up with our bickering.

     "Gem, I love you and I'm sorry," his voice said, gently.

     He kissed me lightly on my forehead, pulling me closer to him, but I stopped him. Kevin got in his car ready to leave, and I stood there waiting for him to speed away. Just as he drove off the front porch light turned on, catching my attention. My mom opened the front door muddled about all the commotion. I slouched over to her, feeling dejected.

     "What's going on?" my mom asked, worried."I heard talking while I was in bed."

     "Nothing mom, Kevin just left," I answered, plainly.

     We walked back in the house. I went straight to my room and back to sleep.

     Two months have passed since that incident and things are, now, peculiar between Kevin and me. When I texted him "Hey" he would reply "Hey", but when I sent another message he never responded back. I was thinking the worst had happened: maybe he didn't want to be my boyfriend anymore or he got hurt. When I would try to facetime or call him, he would never pick up. And that made me wonder what could possibly be going on with him. But I shouldn't fret over it since school reopened in three days.

     I was exceedingly nervous about my first day at a new high school. And it didn't help that the three days flew as briskly than a jet. Before I could even prepare myself, it was the night leading into the first day of school. Though it was a school night I decided to stay up late. It was 11 p.m, and I was on YouTube watching a few videos to distract myself from thinking about school and Kevin.

     It was getting late, so I chose to finish the rest of the video I was watching then go to sleep. My eyes were beginning to feel heavy. They began to shut slowly, as I tried to focus on the video, and my head fell leisurely to my pillow.

Some time later, I woke up unknowing I fell asleep. I peered my head to my clock drowsily. I was staggered that I only slept for thirty minutes. I reached, lackadaisical, to my night stand, for my phone. It wasn't there. I turned my lamp on to see better.

     "Uh," I sighed.

     I stopped searching, hoping that I would find it in the morning, and cut my lamp off and pulled my covers over me. I shut my eyes and tried to go back to sleep. It was so still in my room that I could hear my own breathing. But unexpectedly I could perceive something else. It was a muffled sound, even though my room was tranquil, but as the noise continued it got more tumultuous.

     It reminded me of an unsettling lullaby. I peeked my head slowly under my bed. My phone lay in the center of the floor. I got on all fours and reached for it. My phone was playing a video of a chilling ballerina music box song.

     I know I didn't click on that video, so I was shaky. I clicked off and hopped back in bed to go back to sleep.

     Beep,beep,beep-.

     I sleepily turned my alarm clock off. My eyes were a blur as I sat up on my bed. It was 7 a.m. I did my usual school morning routine: Pick out my outfit, do my face and hair, brush my teeth, and eat breakfast. After finishing those things, I went upstairs to pack my backpack.

     As I was stuffing my bookbag, a small paper landed on top of my stuff. It was the paper that fell out of the music box. My fan must've blown it. I glanced at the music box deciphering if I should bring it with me to school.

     Maybe I can take it to school and make a wish,

     I thought.

     I chuckled at the thought of my wishes coming true. I put it in my bookbag anyway and then sped downstairs.

     "See you later, Mom," I said.

     "Alright Gem, have a great first day of school," my mom said, as she finished gathering her belongings for work.

     I made my way outside to the bus stop. It took about five minutes for the bus to arrive. I hopped on the bus and sat in one of the back seats. When we arrived at school, I quickly made it to my class to avoid the chaos in the halls. As I entered my class I began to feel tense.

     "Hello," my teacher said to me.

     "Hi," I responded shyly.

     I sat at a seat nearest to the door. Then I took out a notebook and pencil and waited for the class to begin.

    Dinnnng-!

     "Okay class, let's get started," my teacher announced,"my name is Mrs.Mayler, and I will be your chemistry teacher."

     All the students got silent.

     "Everyone needs to get out a notebook and pencil for the warm up,"she stated.

     I opened my notebook, to write down the question: "What was the most fun thing you did for the summer?" and on the first page there was something written in a sloppy, red pen. "MAKE A WISH." I had never written in this notebook before. I opened my bookbag and reached in and grabbed the music box and small paper. I stuffed it in my jacket, the best I could, and raised my hand to go to the bathroom.

     "Yes," Mrs.Mayler said.

     "May I go to the bathroom?" I asked.

     "Yes ma'am, the passes are in the back."

     I grabbed the pass and headed to the restroom. When I arrived, I observed no one else was in the bathroom. So this was the perfect moment to make a wish and see if it comes true. I knew the saying "Be careful what you wish for", so I crossed out being popular and rich. I thought quickly and decided to wish for a friend at my new school.

     I held the box firmly in my hands and did as the paper read.

     "I wish I had a best friend at my new school."

     I then twisted the lever, and the music played and the ballerina spun.