1 Normal Life

"Anna, class is over now. Wake up!" I nudged my best friend's shoulder, Annabella Danielson. Everyone calls her Anna for short, mostly because it suits her better.

"I'm up…" She responded with her eyes closed and her head still buried in her arms.

I felt a vein twitch as I pulled her visible cheek. "No, you're not!"

"Ow! Easy!" She yelled, signaling that she was now wide awake. "Man, Christa. There's a nicer way to wake someone up." She complained as she packed her things.

"Oh yeah? Well, how about you do us both a favor and get some sleep at night instead of during class." I told her as we left the classroom. "Your grades are already dropping."

"I'm still passing through." She smirked. "Plus, you know I basically work at night."

I frowned at her response. "You need to find a job that will let you sleep at night. At this rate, you won't be able to graduate high school!"

"I don't care about school!" Anna giggled as she grabbed my arm. "I'll protect and support Christa even if it costs me my life!" She yelled, getting the attention of those around us.

"What?!" I looked at her strangely and whispered. "You can't say that!"

"What? Why not?" She gave me a confused face, tilting her head.

"You can't just quit school. Remember our promise about us going to graduate high school and college together? After that, we're going to find our lovers and make our children fall in love with each other."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that." Anna smiled, loving the promise. "If it comes to it, I'll protect you no matter what. That's okay, right?"

I let out a sigh, knowing that Anna was going to stick with that way of thinking. "As long as you don't get yourself killed, I'm fine with it."

My name is Christa Fuller. I'm a normal junior girl at high school and I'm just trying to survive it with my best friend. Anna and I have known each other since elementary school, so we know a lot about each other. I'm an only child so I consider Anna as if she was my sister, even though we look nothing alike. I have light tan-colored skin and thick, black and curly hair. Anna, on the other hand, has a peach skin color with thin, brown hair that curls at the ends.

Even though Anna is my best friend, there are some people who don't like her. You see, Anna's mother is a fashion model, Diana Danielson. Because her mother is always traveling due to work, Anna lives with her mother's parents. Anna is a tomboy despite the fact that her mother is the definition of style. Like her uniform, for example, it's supposed to consist of a navy blue jacket, white long-sleeve button-up, and a red/black striped tie and skirt. I wear it just like how I'm supposed to with the school's shoes which are brown regular dress-up shoes.

As I said, Anna wears hers differently. She has her jacket around her waist, her tie loose, and has black knee-length tights under her skirt. She wears them because she likes to hop, run, and skip without showing anything. Last would be her converse shoes her mom got her for her fifteenth birthday. Anna's hair is always picked up in a ponytail and she rarely lets it down. The only time she has it down is when her mom comes home and that's just so her mom can play with her hair.

Anna doesn't participate in anything school-related and always makes silly excuses to get out of them. Like one time when they asked her to become Student Council President, she told them "Sorry, but if I become the president here, then the mermaids will definitely get jealous cause they want me to become their queen. I told them no and if I say yes to this, they'll drown me!" When they asked her if she wanted to join a club, her response was "I can't join a club! I'm hiding from the Ice King's son who wants to marry me! If he finds me here, he'll never want to leave. Thus the town is going to be covered in snow and ice!" You have no idea how many times people tell me that I should convince Anna to be more feminine, but I like Anna for who she really is.

I know a lot about Anna, but the one thing we don't talk about is her father. She hardly ever talks about him and changes the subject whenever he's mentioned. Every year on Father's day, she always gives her grandfather and even my dad a present. She hides it, but there's always a third present that disappears the next day.

I don't know if he's really alive and Anna just doesn't want me to meet him, or if he's just a figment of her imagination. One time I asked her about it, she just smiled at me and said, "He's looking out for me. Don't worry." Even though I hate to admit it, Anna is hiding something from me.

"Hey, Christa!" Anna snapped me out of my thoughts. "Were you even listening?"

"I'm sorry." I laughed nervously. "What were you saying?"

Anna rolled her eyes. "I need to know what's going to happen tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I thought for a moment. "What was tomorrow again? The twenty-first of May…?"

"Your birthday?" She gave me an annoyed look, letting go of my arm.

"Oh yeah!" I gasped. I had almost forgotten about my eighteenth birthday. Man, I need to relax more!

"Christa, I can't believe you almost forgot about something so important." Anna sighed, shaking her head softly.

"I'm sorry!" I laughed. "So what did you want to know about my birthday?"

Anna glared at me. "What's going to happen? That's what I want to know. What are you guys planning? You seriously need me to clean those ears of yours for you or should I just call a hearing doctor?"

I laughed at her angry face as I thought about it. "Mom is dealing with a client and Dad has a morning shift. When they get out is when we'll celebrate." I looked at her and smiled. "Why do you ask?"

She walked in front of me, walking backwards. "I'm going to crash it by spending the night and keeping you to myself for the whole morning! After that, we're heading to my place to party!" She cheered.

"What? Are you sure?" I thought about her grandparents. They have cared for Anna since she was little and live on the outskirts of town. It was like they lived in another world filled with nature. It made me feel like I was a fairy living in the forest. But the one thing I love the most when going there is her grandmother's garden filled with fruits, veggies, and beautiful flowers. I love that house.

Anna just smiled at me again as she faced forward. Her hands were visible behind her back as she kept walking in front of me. "Nana and Tata already know about it. Also if you were wondering, your parents agreed to it." We had arrived at an intersection that sent Anna and me in different directions. Anna snuck a peek at me as she walked towards her road. "I'll be at your house at seven, 'kay?"

I only shook my head at her grin. "So I was the only one who didn't know." I just sighed as she beamed me with a proud smile before turning her back towards me. "Okay, Princess of Surprises."

I thought I saw her jump, but she just started to skip. "You're going to love your birthday present~!" She yelled as she headed down her path, waving her hand in the air.

"Looking forward to it!" I yelled back as I walked backwards down my own path. Once she was out of sight, I turned around and began walking like a normal person. When I turned, however, I could've sworn I saw a shadow figure of a man in the bushes. When I checked to make sure no one was stalking me, nothing was there.

"Weird…" I shrugged it off and continued my way.

As I walked, I checked my phone to see a picture of my family in the background: My mother, father, and me. Well, he isn't my real dad, but he's been in our lives since I was three and he married in my family when I was five. He was basically a father to me even though I couldn't inherit his beautiful dark brown hair.

My real father is a mystery. My mother doesn't even remember his face, which worries her. I inherited her brown eyes, but not her straight, black hair. My black hair is curly and really pretty if I actually fixed it well enough. Having curly hair that frizzes always annoys me, but I think that's what my father gave me.

I looked through my emails and saw a text from my mom. It said that she and my dad were going to get home late and that there was food on the table for Anna and me to eat. Having a doctor and lawyer as parents is supposed to be lonely, but Anna always gets rid of those negative feelings.

I arrived at my house and entered with my spare key. I headed towards the kitchen and saw the big plate of pasta and chicken. My mouth watered, but I kept my hunger back. I headed up to my room and put away my backpack. Changing out my uniform, I put on a white sleeveless collared shirt with a red tie. A tan shirt and a pair of white thigh-high socks with a pair of my favorite pair of red slip-on shoes. Unlike Anna, I like to look nice.

I went to the guest room and pulled the mattress into my room, on the floor. I know it's weird, but sleepovers have to be in one room, not two. Once I was done with that, I walked downstairs to clean the small messes and to grab a bite from the pasta.

As I cleaned, while taking a few bites from the warm pasta, I looked at the clock to make sure I still had time before Anna came. By the time the whole house was clean, and half of the pasta was gone, I still had about thirty minutes until seven.

"It should take a while until Anna gets here," I told myself, but then the doorbell rang. "She's early. Did she pack beforehand?" I asked myself as I went to the door.

Fear crawled up my spine when I opened the door to a suspicious man. He wore a tan brown hat and trench coat. A pair of sunglasses hid his face and his mouth and nose were covered by a white, dirty cloth. No sign of skin was showing, but his voice made my knees go weak.

"How do you know Princess Annabella of the Spirit Kingdom?"