Chapter Uma/One

"Okay, so you have your new sea shell bra on, and put lots of oil on. Are you going to get the comb now?" Pearl says to Sapphire as she puts the last slab of oil on her tail, smearing it so no spot is missing. Sapphire moves a lock of blond hair and shakes her head. "Not now Pearl, first I got to do something." Sapphire says as she slowly swims to a mini treasure chest on her drawer. She opens it and pulls out a shiny pearl necklace. It's in the name. Sapphire puts it on and runs her hands through her hair, then looks in the mirror. "I think I'm finally ready." Sapphire swims out the door, twirling around as she goes. "I sure am ready for the comb."

"Come on Aurelia! You can do this." Her green hair flies behind her as she runs the track. Celeste's blue hair bounces as she jumps up and down, clapping. And then there's me, sitting with my legs in criss cross position, silently praying in my mind that she doesn't get hurt. Then Aurelia eventually comes to a stop, she's bending over sweat dripping from her forehead down, her tied up hair in a tangled mess. I sigh in relief and pick up the water bottle laying next to me on the bench. "Here, you definitely look like you need it." She gently takes the water bottle from my hands and cracks it open. She almost finishes like in 20 seconds, I guess she really is thirsty. Celeste comes over to us and as a bright smile plastered on her face. "Guess what?" She than holds up the mini timer and it reads, "0:3:5" Aurelia takes the timer out of Celeste hand and stares in disbelief. "This is shorter than before, and this is just for 6 laps." Celeste nods vigorously and we all laugh. "Good job as always." I comment, as Celeste hugs Aurelia tight. "Thanks." She smiles and unties her hair. She than hugs us both. Later as were walking home, Celeste speaks up and says, "So are you guys come over for dinner? My mom is making lasagna." Aurelia is the first to answer. "Nah, I have extra work from Ms. Allison." Then they both turn to look at me. I blush and shake my head. "I'm helping my mom clean out the rest of the basement." We continue walking until we eventually reach Celeste house. "So see you guys tomorrow?" She says as she walks up the stairs, pulling out the key from her skirt pocket. Me and Aurelia nod and then wave goodbye.

As we walk down Waverly Street where I live, we're both quiet for a certain reason, this is just a usual routine for us. Celeste is usually the one to brighten the mood and start the conversation as soon as she opens her mouth. As we walk still silent down the long slanted sidewalk, every time I catch a quick glance at Aurelia she's blushing a little. The more I look at her the more I really realize she's a super pretty girl. But not only that, she's strong and kind. She's the athlete in our friends group, with her groomed waist length dark green hair, her jet black eyes that always had a forward expression. Her slender shape, I don't know if I want to be her or date her, probably both. Oh, Rosetta what are you thinking? We're just friends...really close friends, and plus your totally straight. I don't know about her though. As we turn another corner, Aurelia pursed lips tell me she wants to say something, but she never says what she has to say. I clench my fist and really want to say something before we reach the destination, but I don't know what to say. We're almost there anyways since I see my pastel colored house, up ahead. *Enter picture* 2 minutes later, we reach my house. We awkwardly both look down at the floor and don't talk at least for 1 minute. I don't know why it's always so shy between us. We knew each other since we were barley able to talk. She then hugs me and blushes, then apologize profusely. I wave my hands trying to reassure her that it's okay. We're best friends after all. I blush a little too and return the hug after a silent 5 seconds.

She just nods and waves until she's no longer insight. I sigh and then fish out the key in my skirt pocket. I hover over the lock, thinking about what just happen. After that little thing, I unlocked the door and went inside. There's my 7 year old sister on the floor, watching some cartoons. Her short brown hair, in a mini ponytail and her dark brown eyes staring intently at the TV, intending that she's not going to let anyone stop her TV time. I go all the way in and lock the door behind me. "Hi Natalie." I say as I put my bag on the couch. She says hi not moving her eyes from the TV. I roll my eyes, I bet she didn't finish her homework. "Is Mom here?" I ask while slowly walking up the stairs. Natalie shakes her head. "Where did she go?" A literally takes a few minutes for her to answer such a simple question. I click my teeth and tap the stair railing. She finally answers me right before I just go upstairs, to finish homework not waiting for her to answer the question. "She went to the store." I say a quick thank you and sprint upstairs. "So I guess I'm helping her when she comes back. I mean I only have two pages of homework left and it won't take that long, I guess that should mean I could quickly do it, then start on the basement. But no, my impatient self just wanted to help. I walk over to the basement door and my hand drifts over the knob. I gulp and go to open it. It's been awhile since I been down here since I didn't really need too. I turn the knob and push open the door, just darkness no inch of light down here. I start walking down my feet lingering on the first step. Come on Rose, it's just a basement. Nothing scary down here worth running away from. I walk down more steps, and the creaking in each one is a small pain to my ears.

I eventually make it all the way down and look around for any light. I then spot a switch and go to flick it on but it doesn't work. Great, just my luck. I just turn around and run upstairs to get my phone. I go into my room and grab my phone off my stand. I then rush back to the basement, this is just like a mini workout. A unkempt strand of brown hair hits me in the face, and I quickly tried to sweep it away while trying to dart down the stairs. I turn on the flashlight and try to make it stand on a box on top of the other. The light shined a few small brown boxes all from Ramazon. This is perfect for starting small, for now. After a few minutes later, I ended up using a separate box for things we can keep and things that we can throw out. It turns out some of these things aren't actually useless. For the useless box we have ripped up magazines, and newspaper dating back to 1970. Then for the Not useless box- (I know very creative.) We have old comics that probably cost a fortune today, and plus it looks interesting. We also have some Pokémon cards, which I absolutely love. Then leftover tools, oh that was where it was at. So mom didn't really need to buy new ones, I guess we can keep that for backup just in case. Then in the Maybe or maybe not useless (Yes I know really long name.) there's, my old 4th grade work book, which could be for Natalie for when she goes to 4th grade. I move the book to Not useless box and continue looking through the maybe box. There's a two Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books and there is definitely no discussion it goes into the Not useless pile. Then after going through a few random post it notes and torn spade cards. Then at the end there's some random shell necklace. I slowly pick it up and inspect it. Where did this come from? Maybe it's Natalie's since she really loves any time of jewelry. But I do love sea shells, and this looks like something I'll make. Then again I never saw her with this on. I just put the necklace on and pick up the now empty box, that was a moment ago filled with maybes.

I take the useless box and maybe box then head upstairs. That was just the beginning of it, when I go back up I was about to head to the kitchen, almost forgetting my phone. I grab my phone and click on flashlight off and put it on top of the box, I put the boxes on the counter and go to grab a quick snack. I see Natalie now laying in the couch remote in her hands, switching channels. I just take a deep breath and try not to get mad at her. "Did you finish your work?" Mom is going to get mad me for not making sure she does her work, but I'm a little pestered that she left a 7 year old by herself, even if she put her contacts on the fridge or made sure she would be okay. I don't even care if she left for 4 minutes. You do never leave a young child by themselves alone in a house, no matter what. "Did you do it?" I query again as I open the cabinet. Still no answer. I take another breath before yelling, I don't know why she's ignoring me. I go over and snatch the remote out of her hand. "Hey!" She yells jumping off the couch. I turn off the TV and smile as innocently as possible. "Now did you do you finish your homework?" She moans and slumps her arms in front of her, her face shows complete boredom. Her lips are pinched and eyebrows are down. She just sticks out her tongue and runs upstairs. "You little-" I just untie my hair and put the bow down on the counter. "Whatever, I don't have time for her now." I just continue searching for a snack and eventually lay my eyes on gram crackers. I take it and sit down then start eating. Should I just throw the Useless stuff out? I don't want to do "that" without permission. I just continue eating the last bit of gram crackers, going upstairs to finish my work until Mom comes home.