Chapter 1 (My home town)

Hi, I’m Serena Starr. I lived in a small town in Pennsylvania known as Buckville. In Buckville there was every thing you ever needed. There was a grocery store which my mother owned and a pharmacy and doctors office right next door which my grandparents owned. The public school was just down the road and was in an old barn. Our town only had about 30 adults and out of those 30 adults only 10 of them had kids. Most people had 5 or 6 kids but my mother only had me and my older brother. Kyle, my older brother was about 7 years older than me and all the girls at my school had a major crush on him. Since my dad left my mom Kyle and me when I was only 4, Kyle was now the man of the house. He already had a job and every thing else.

I never really had a father. After about 4 years of age the doctors told my mother and father that I would have some problems in the future with thinking quickly and that I already had ADD. The moment my father heard that he walked out of the doctor’s office and my mother followed him. I could hear them yelled at each other. All I remember was mother standing up for me and telling father that I would be fine and the doctors just wanted money out of us and stuff like that. Father didn’t agree with mother and walked to the truck. I looked out the window and saw his old red truck pull away from the curb and I never saw that red truck again.

            Well, the doctors were right. I had problems with my ADD and I was really slow with thinking and learning. When I was in 3rd grade my ADD showed and I always got in trouble for it. I didn’t have any friends and the popular girls always made fun of me because I was a slow thinker. I went to public school till I was ready for high school. My mother was tired of seeing me come home in tears every day so her and grandma got some money together and were planning to send me off to boarding school. Grandpa was nice enough to sell some of his junk to help pay for new wardrobe and trunk for me.

            At the end of the summer I was ready for boarding school and mother, grandma and grandpa put me on a bus and I was off to boarding school. The boarding school was in New York in the beautiful country side of Cayland.

            On the bus I met a girl a few years younger than me. She was so nice and she even shared her lunch with me.

            “By the way, I’m Alice, but you can call me Allie.”

            “Hi Allie, I’m Serena.” The bus suddenly came to a fast halt and we jerked forward.

            “Watch where you’re going next time kid!” The bus driver yelled. Every time she said the letter ‘t’ she spit. Allie and I giggled a bit, but quietly so the bus driver wouldn’t yell at us as well.

            “Don’t look now, but its James Bass.”

            “Who is James Bass?”

            “Only the cutest guy in all of PA.”

            “Never heard of him.” I told her.

            “Well, at Fayland all you’ll hear from the girls will be ‘did you see what James wore the other day?’, and things like that. I’ve known James since we were little. We used to be best friends until he became popular.” Fayland was the name of our boarding school. The boarding school about a mile down was for boys only and it was called Mayland.

            James walked down the aisle and almost passed Allie and me but he stopped.

            “Allie, is that you? Wow, you have grown a lot since last summer.”

            “Actually, it was two summers ago,” James gave her a shocked face and she went on, “Hello James, how have you been?” James sat down on the seat that was across from us and he wouldn’t stop talking.

            “I’ve been well. My mother is sick so my step-father has sent me off to go to Mayland to stay there until she gets well again.”

            After about five more minutes of going on about how much he hated his step-father he noticed me.

            “Oh, hello. I’m James. I’m sorry but I didn’t see you there.”

            “Hi, I’m Serena.”

            “What a beautiful name. Serena, Serena, that would make a wonderful song.”

            “James writes songs and poetry.” Allie told me.

            “Yes, I do. Is it alright if I use your name in it?”

            “Of course. Will it be about me?” I asked.

            “If you would like it to be. But if it will be about you I must learn more about you.” I nodded, “Now tell me, Serena, do you believe in love at first sight?”

            “Well, I’m not sure. I think so. I’ve had a crush on this one guy ever since kinder garden, but he is so mean to me.”

            “Why is he mean to you?” James asked.

            “I’m going to go sit in the back.” Allie told us. She moved out of the seat and went to the back of the bus. James moved to where Allie had been sitting and I could smell his sweet cologne and I felt his body heat right next to me.

            “Well, you see,” James pulled out a note pad, “What is that for?”

            “So I can take notes.”

            “Then never mind.”

            “No, please. If you want me to write a song about you I must learn all I can.”

            “Oh, alright. You see I have some problems with taking in information and I also have ADD. My father left my mother and me alone and my mom owns a grocery store and my grandparents own a pharmacy right next door.” James looked at me. I hadn’t noticed before but he had the most amazing color eyes I had ever seen. They were light blue around the outside and as they got closer to the pupil they got darker.

            “What? It there something wrong with my face?” he asked me, feeling his face.

            “Oh, no,” I told him, snapping out of my trance, “It’s just that you have amazing eyes.”

            “Really? Thanks, but they are only contacts, see?” I put his finger in his eye, took it out, showed me and out it back in with in about 15 seconds. “I wear glasses. But I don’t like them.”

            “You wear glasses? Cool, I used to wear glasses too but my mom was nice enough and bought me contacts last summer.” James and I laughed and I told him more about my life. Buy the time every one was getting off the bus James and I had became good friends.

            “Will I see you again?” I asked him.

            “Yup, every month our schools get together and have a dance. Tonight is the first one. I guess I’ll see you there.”

            “Cool, see you there.” I grabbed my small bag from under the seat in front of me and got off the bus.

            “Serena!” I heard some one yell from the bus. It was James; he had the window open and was calling to me, “I was wondering, will you be my date for the dance tonight?” I heard voices behind me gasping. Allie ran up behind me and whispered in my ear for me to tell him yes.

            “Sure.”

            “Really?”

            “Yup.”

            “Cool, what house are you staying in?”

            “I think I’m staying in Princess Diana.”

            “Okay, see you around 7 o’clock I guess.”

            “Sure, see you then!” I waved good bye as the bus pulled away. All the girls (about 100 of them) ran up to me to greet me. I must have been the most popular girl at Fayland.

Chapter 2 (Welcome to Fayland)

            When Ms. Leah told every one to come inside and find our rooms, they followed. We all followed her to a large room with other teachers and teenage girls our age.

            “Find a seat and we’ll start.” Mrs. Leah told all of us. I took a seat next to Allie and another girl name Missy.

            “So, I’ve heard the news about this girl named Serena and she is gonna go to the dance with James Bass. Do you guys know who se is?” Missy asked. I was going to leave it be but Allie opened her mouth and said,

            “Yeah, this is Serena, and I’m Allie.” I smiled and little shy smile and looked down at my legs and rolled my eyes. I didn’t like the idea of every one knowing I was going to the dance with James. He was only a friend, or was he?

Chapter 3 (Snob)

            After the meeting was dismissed, I said good-bye to Allie and Missy showed my house. I walked passed many houses.

On our walk she told me how her parents were one of the richest families in PA and that she was surprised that I didn’t know who she was. After she told me that I kept my mouth shut and acted as if I was listening to every single word she said. But since I had ADD, it wasn’t that easy. On out way passed all the houses girls seem very polite and waved to me. I smiled and waved back happily and proud that so many girls my age were being polite to me. The first house was named ‘Anne Frank’.

            “That’s for the poor people.” Missy told me. After that we passed a few others looking much higher in class. Each one was named after a famous woman in history.

            “I’m staying in ‘Grace Kelly’.” Missy told me. “Well, here is my house. Your house is five more houses down. See you later tonight.” Missy waved good-bye to me and I was very glad to be rid of her.

            I walked passed five more houses and some of the girls greeted me. I walked up to the last house. I was shocked. This can’t be my house, I told myself. The house looked very large and it had ivy growing over it. The ivy was a very nice touch. I looked at my papers and then at the door. ‘Princess Diana’ it said on my papers and doors. I took my key and unlocked the door.

Chapter 4 (New friend)

            The key fit in the hole perfectly. I shook my head when some one tapped my shoulder.

            “Excuse me honey, but are you going to open the door or not?” It was Ms. Leah.

            “Oh, yes, sorry. I’m just having a hard time believing this is my house.”

            “That’s alright. What is your name?”

            “Serena Starr.”

            “Oh, so you’re the girl who is-”

            “I know, I know, ‘going to the dance with James Bass’, I know already.”

            “Oh, really? I was just going to say you’re the girl Allie has told me about. Allie is my niece.”  I blushed and pushed open the white door.

            Inside was a large chandelier and a winding staircase.

            “Follow me, I’ll introduce you to the other girls and the maids and cooks.” said Ms. Leah. I followed her and we met up with a little girl about 7 or 8 years old.

            “Hi, Ms. Leah, how are you?”

            “Hello Grace. I’m well, and how about yourself?”

            “I’m bored, and none of the girls will play dollies with me.”

            “Maybe Serena will play dollies with you.” said Ms. Leah. I smiled, nodded my head and Grace smiled back at me. I noticed she had two missing teeth and I could see her tongue when she smiled.

            “You are sharing a room with Grace, is that alright?” Ms. Leah asked me. I agreed, said good-bye and a butler took my trunk and showed me and Grace to our room.

Chapter 5 (home sweet home)

            The butler dropped my trunk at a door at the end of a long hall and took a golden key out of his pocket. He put the key into the hole and pushed opened the door. Grace and I walked into the room and our jaws dropped. In the room were two beds that were queen size canopies. The room smelled of tea rose and was the color of Regal Rose and Mount Batten Mint. The color Regal Rose was a light pink with a gold tint to it and Mount Batten Mint was a light green with a silver tint to it so the colors went together perfectly.

            Grace ran to the bed to the right side of the room and started to jump on it. I hadn’t noticed it before but she had a doll tucked under her left arm and every time Grace’s feet hit the bed the doll seemed to come to life and her hair flopped up and down.

            “Come on Serena!” Grace called to me. The butler put my trunk at the end of the other bed and handed me the key.

            “I am Albert, if you need anything just press the button over your bed and me or some of the maids will come running. This is the key to your room. I wouldn’t rust the little one with this.” I nodded my head and he left and closed the door behind him. I waited until I couldn’t hear his footsteps any more and put the key down on top of the dresser on my side of the room. Grace jumped really high on the bed and flopped down and sat at the edge of her bed.

            “I heard that you’re going to the dance with James Bass, is it true?” Grace asked me.

            “I heard that your dolly is going to get its head ripped off if one more person asks that question.” I stated to her. She smiled and we both giggled and fell onto her bed.

Chapter 6 (Getting Ready)

            “I can’t believe your mother lets you have make-up at your age.” I told Grace, “My mother wouldn’t let me have make-up until I was 13, and when I was 13 she didn’t buy me any.” Grace and I giggled.

            “But your mommy isn’t a hair stylist.” Grace told me.

            “Good point. Can you pass me the blush?”

            “What color?”

            “What color would look best on me?” I couldn’t believe this; I was asking an 8 year old these kinds of questions. I tried to pretend she was about 13 or 14 but it wasn’t easy.

            “Well, for you I’d use ‘Tan Man’ because it is a tan color which you need but at the same time it isn’t too dark.” She sat me down in front of the mirror and showed me how much to put on and where to put it. She did the rest on my make-up as well and she gave me a gift.

            “These are for you. It has ‘Tan Man’ and ‘Maybe Baby’ lipstick in it.” ‘Maybe Baby’ was a light color pink but it wasn’t bright. Then ‘Tan Man’ was a light tan color that looked like the lightest part of a lion’s mane.

            “Thank you very much, Grace.” I said. She gave a proud grin and went back to doing her own make-up.

Chapter 7 (The visitor)

            Ding-Dong. The door bell rang.

            “I’ll get it.” Alfred said to the upstairs. All of us girls ran out of our rooms to see whose date it was. Grace and I had matching robes on covering out dresses. Grace and I were the first girls to look over the balcony that looked over the door way. The other girls joined a few seconds afterwards. Alfred opened the door and to my surprise, James was standing in the door way looking handsome as ever and he had a dark purple rose in his right hand and his left hand in his pocket. All the girls gasped (including Grace and the other girls her age) when James walked into the front hall. He looked up at the balcony and all of us kneeled down and looked through the bars so he couldn’t see any of us very well but we could look at him perfectly.

            “What are you doing? Go down there, he is waiting for you.” Grace whispered to me.

            “Yes, go, go!” the other girls whispered loudly. They pushed their hands towards me and they all grabbed my robe off of me, some fixed my hair which was styled in a curly loose bun on the top of my head and others fixed my dress once my robe was off. Grace hugged me lightly and pushed me towards the stairs. I stood up and grabbed the railing. My dress was a little wrinkled at the bottom but Grace pull it at the bottom which made it slide down my body a little and revealed my breasts a little. Luckily there was nothing to be ashamed of so I smiled back to the girls and walked down the stairs slowly.

           I was in a sky blue dress that was very long and had a low cut that made a V shape and showed some of my breasts. I wore high heeled shoes that were Cinderella looking. They were made of glass and they both had a diamond in the middle of them. My grandfather had made them for my mother when he was a glass blower for her wedding.

            I walked down a few more steps and I tripped, almost falling flat on my face. James moved closer ready to catch me but I caught myself before I fell and grasped onto the railing tight and my heart felt as if it fell into my stomach. Jason seemed to ease back standing up straight and he had switch the rose from his right hand to his left and since I was more than halfway down the stairs, he had his right hand in offering for me to hold onto. When I reached the bottom the steps, I put my hand lightly in James’s and he kissed my hand which had a white glove on. He handed the rose to Alfred for a moment. He then slowly slid the glove off my arm, finger by finger. Then once it was off he bent his back ready to kiss my hand again but looked at me as if asking if it were alright to kiss it. I smiled in return and he kissed my smooth hand again and I got a tingling up my spine. I titled my head and dazed off, looking at him still kissing my hand. All the girls told me I looked like a puppy who had just been struck by Cupid’s arrow. If I had, then I hoped James had not seen. James looked down at my feet and smiled slightly. What is he staring at, I asked myself. Then James knelt down and lifted me dress a little, looked at my glass slippers and looked up and me and smiled again.

            “So, it’s Cinderella. I hope you aren’t planning to leave the ball so early.” He put down the dress and stood up. We both giggled and he put my glove back on my hand. Alfred handed the dark purple rose back to James who then handed it to me.

            “I hope you like it. It is very rare. Such as yourself.” I blushed and looked away down at the floor. James clasped my face with both of his hands and turned my head towards him. “You shouldn’t look away, then how can I compliment you if I can’t see your beautiful face. But at least I know you must have a large heart.” He told me. I looked at him confused and still blushing. “You must have a large heart to have so many friends wondering about you.” James stated, pointing to all the girls looking down at us. They all giggled and I joined in.

            “I wish I had had so many friends back home. Then I wouldn’t need to be here.” I told James, who was still looking at all the girls and smiling at them with his bright smile. He then turned his head as quick as a whip and gave me a disappointed look.

            “But if you had as many friends back home as you do here, I would have never met you and would never been falling in-” Oh my goodness, was he going to say that very dangerous word, that word I’d always dreamed a guy would say to me? Was he going to say he was falling in love with me? All the girls gasped and James changed the subject. “Well, we better be going. I have a limo out side waiting for us.” I grinned so hard that my face almost hurt. “You’ve never gone in a limo before, have you?” He asked. I lost my grin and frowned. I shook my head and he grabbed my hand tightly and pulled me out the door. “Then we better hurry!” I waved to the girls and I could hear them squealing with joy. It was interesting and I giggled.

            “Where is this place exactly?” I asked James.

            “It’s about fifteen minutes away. It’s at one of the teacher’s house in the back with garden with a tent. I have been told it is very romantic. James opened the door and I got in first. He then got in after me and closed the door. I sat down on the seat that sat right behind the driver with my back to him. My dress was so large it almost took over two seats. When I sat down it made a big whoosh-poof noise and James laughed. I gave a sly smile and blush.

            “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at you.” James told me. He looked down at the floor of the limo and then decided to get the nerves to move next to me. He moved closer and almost sat on my dress.

“May I kiss-”.

Chapter 8 (Kiss me)

            James leaned in closer to me and I closed my eyes. I felt like I had butterflies in my stomach and I could feel James’s body heat coming closer to me. Then it hit me, this would be my first kiss. I was going to get my first kiss by James Bass, supposedly the cutest and most popular guy in all of PA. But we were in NY now, so not all the girls would be all over him; and since I guessed he wasn’t the cutest guy in New York, I let him kiss me. When his lips finally reached mine it came to a shock. I liked the feeling of his lips on mine and they were warm and soft. The rest all came to me naturally. When James and I moved away from each other we were already at the home of one of the teachers.

            “Wow, we’re here already?” James had been holding my hands in his and now let go.

            “James?”

            “Yes? What’s the matter?” He asked me. I looked down at my dress, giving myself a disappointed look. “You didn’t like the kiss, did you?” he asked me. I looked up and smiled.

            “No, it was fine. But, I was wondering why you kissed me.”

            “I like you Serena. You’re one of the sweetest girls I’ve ever met, maybe even the sweetest.” I blushed. He took my hands in his and brought them so they were touching his chest where his heart was. “This, Serena, is my heart. That’s where you are right now, and you will always be.” I gave him the love sick puppy look again and I closed me eyes, waiting for another kiss that I was afraid would never come. About a few seconds after I closed my eyes I felt his lips on mine again. This kiss was no passionate kiss like the fist one had been, but it was still romantic. When we moved away he hugged me, with my head resting on his chest. “Ready to rock and roll, babe?” James asked me. I nodded my head and smiled, happy I was in the arms of a guy at last, and I guy I thought I loved as well.

Chapter 9 (The dance)

            James waited for the driver to open the door before he got out. The driver was about to help me out the James nicely told him that he could handle it from there. I giggled a little and James offered me his hand to help me out of the limo. I put my hand in his and grabbed my rose in the other. I noticed people around us. But when James helped me out of the limo, every one gasped. James held me tightly next to him and some of his guy friends whistled. I blushed and James kissed me far head.  

            The theme of the dance was famous couples. I hadn’t noticed it before, but James was dressed up like a handsome prince and he had a sword with him. How did he know I as going to dress up like a princess, I asked myself.

            “James, how did you know I was going to-”

            “Dress up like Cinderella? I asked Allie who you were planning to dress up as. I called her on cell phone and she told me. I was glad I had brought my sword with me because without it, I wouldn’t look like Prince Charming, now would I?”

            “Oh, but James, you would, you would! You are charming and I could tell you were dress as a prince, so you must be Prince Charming!” He hugged me tighter and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

            A path way led every one from the driveway to the garden and the tent in the back. Music played and people danced. Some girls without dates sat and ate at a table. I notice one girl sitting all alone, it was Allie.

            “I’ll be right back, okay? Can you get me some punch while I’m gone?” I asked James. He smiled and kissed me cheek.

            “Anything that will make my Cinderella stay.” He said. We laughed and we walked in different directions.

            I saw Allie sitting alone at a table. She has a tissue in one hand and a glass of punch in the other.

            “Hi there!” I said as I walked over to her. Her head shot up right away and she wiped her face with the tissue trying to make it seem she hadn’t been crying.

            “Hi, what’s up? Where is James?” She asked, looking behind me as I sat down.

            “He’s getting me some punch. What’s wrong, I saw you over here all by yourself crying. Are you alright?”

            “I’ll be fine. Nothing a little hug can’t cure.” She told me. I opened my arms to her and she fell into them.

            “It’s alright, everything is alright. I’m here, shh, it’s alright.” I soothed to her as she cried into my arms. After about a few more minutes of crying she was all tiered out. She sniffled and wiped her eyes and nose with her tissue.

            “Feeling better?” I asked her. She nodded her head and I went on, “Now tell me, Allie, why were you crying?” She explained to me that her date went off with his ex and went off to dance with her, and left Allie all alone to cry. I told her that he was a jerk and we giggled together. I then told her what James and I had done in the limo and she hugged me and told me she wished she was James’s little sister and so if James and I got married she would become my sister. I told her I didn’t think that James and I would marry and it was just a crush but she begged to differ. But then we began to laugh and could barely stop.

            “Hey Ladies.” James said as he walked over to our table. Allie and I looked at him, looked at each other and started to laugh hysterically. “What did I do? Is there something wrong with my face.” Asked James, feeling his face for the second time that day to see what was wrong. That made Allie and I laugh even harder and we fell to the ground laughing and hugging each other so we could try to stand.

            “All right, fine, be that way. Then I guess I’ll go.” James said. He looked down at us, put down the punches on the table and started to walk away. Allie stopped laughing first and got up and then helped me up. She pushed me towards James.

            “James, wait!” I ran towards where I had seen him go off but I couldn’t see him. I pushed through people until I almost gave up.

            “Hi Serena. I was wondering why James was walking around without you at his side.” It was Grace and she had a little boy at her side. “Serena, this is Jason. Jason, this is Serena, she’s my best friend.” I smiled at the boy and begged Grace to tell me which way James had gone in.

            “He looked like he was headed to the beach. He looked really upset. I think he went that way.” She pointed to the beach and I thanked her.

I ran through the garden until I reached the end of it. At the end of the garden was a rocky pathway which led to the beach. My glass slippers were starting to become very annoying and they were the main thing that was slowing me down, so I took them off carefully. I put them under a thorny rose bush so no one would dare take them or see them. I ran down to the beach with me almost tripping over my own two feet in the dark.

Chapter 10 (Drowning)

When I reached the beach I was a figure in the distance. I called out to it but it didn’t stop. I was in my long Cinderella looking down and so it was hard to catch up to the figure. When I was about twenty feet behind it I yelled to it.

“James!” the figure stopped and turned around. It was James alright, I could see his face being lit up by the full moon’s light. I walked closer and I could see something wet on his face. When I was about five feet away I could see what wet thing on his face was. It was a tear drop, and there was some than one where that came from. I ran up to James and hugged him tightly. I felt a tear drop fall on my bare shoulder and I let it stay there.

“I’m sorry about me and Allie. We weren’t laughing at you, it was just that-”

“No, it’s fine. I understand. It’s not alright for others to laugh at you, but when you laugh at me it is a different story all together.” James said as he pushed away from me and started for the waters edge. He then put his feet in and started to walk in.

“I’m telling you, we weren’t laughing at you. We were just in a giggling mood!” I yelled to him. What was he doing?

“Its fine, I’m going to drown myself so none of you will have to worry about me!” James was already knee deep in salt water. Was he really going to drown himself? I didn’t think he was until he was up to his neck in salt water.

“Good-bye, Serena, good-bye.” I heard James say. He walked a little farther in the water and his head went under.

“NO!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I ripped off my dress and only had my slip on. I ran to the waters edge and I put one foot in. It was ice cold but right then I didn’t care. I dove right in and I could hear people behind me yelling my name. I ignored them and swam after James. All I could see was James’s jacket floating across the top of the water. Where are you James? I asked myself.

There, what’s that? I saw a body in the distance. I swam to it, hoping and praying it wasn’t the moon light and the ocean playing tricks on me.

“JAMES!” I yelled to his body. I hoped I wasn’t too late. When I was almost to his body, it started to sink. I swam faster and faster, not wanting to lose him. When I reached where his body had been, I looked around franticly. I then decided to go under the water.

I tried to open my eyes but it burned. I felt around for anything. My hand hit something. I grabbed a hold of it, and tried to swim to the top of the water. It wasn’t easy but I made it. When I got to the top of the water I opened my eyes and was relieved to see I was holding James’s body. It also wasn’t easy to swim to shore with James’s body in my arms but I did it most of the way. Some of the boys and teachers ran to help me with his body. I could hear sirens coming towards the beach and after a few seconds I saw the lights of an ambulance. Ms. Leah ran over to me and helped me out of the water. I pushed her away and ran to James’s body. It wasn’t moving and when Ms. Leah came up behind, I turned around and hugged her tight and cried hysterically into her chest.

When the ambulance came, James still wasn’t breathing or moving. It had only been about five minutes, but to me it felt like it had been more than an hour. One of the men took Mr. Marcus (James’s house master) aside to ask him questions about James, but he couldn’t answer any of them. The man asked aloud,

“Does any one know things about this young man?!”

“We do!” Allie said as she grabbed my arm. The man asked us a lot of questions and we were both able to answer.

“Who saved him?” he asked us.

“I did, sir.”

“Did he drown himself on purpose?”

“Um…yes sir, he did. But I was my fault. My friend and I were telling each other jokes when James came over to us and we started to laugh when he spoke to us. He must have thought I hated him so he walked off with a disappointed look on his face. Since I think I’m his girl friend-”

“What do you mean by you think you are his girl friend?”

“Well, he told me he liked me a lot and we kissed and hugged.” I told the man. He nodded as if to tell me to go on, “When I finally found James, he was on the beach and going into the water. I tried to stop him but he wouldn’t listen to me. I really didn’t think he was actually going to do it, but he did. I finally jumped in after him, but I think I was too late.” I looked down at my sandy feet, trying to hold back tears. Slowly, but surely they came, finally quick and quietly.

“I think you were just in time.” Said one of the other men trying to get James to breathe. I turned around with a snap of the neck and heard coughing. A few of the men stood up and walked back to the ambulance. I saw James open his eyes and look around. I ran over to him and wrapped my arms around him.

“Hi there.” He said to me while coughing.

“Hi there? HI THERE?! After all I’ve been through? That’s all you can say, ‘hi there’?!” I hit him lightly in the side and he coughed up some water. The teachers told every one to go back to the party and that it was almost over.

“When did this happen?” James asked as he touched my slip that I had forgotten I had only been wearing since I rescued him.

“Since I ran in and saved you.” he gave me a shocked look and held my hand.  

Chapter 11 (my heroin)

            On the ride home in the limo, James laid his head on my lap and we spoke all the way home.

            “I can’t believe you saved me. Weren’t you frightened?” James asked me.

            “For myself-no. For you-absolutely. I was frightened I’d never find you and I’d live forever with the feeling I murdered you. James, I care about you with all my heart and I’d feel horrible if anything were to ever happen to you.” He had been looking into my eyes while I had been talking, but now his eyes rolled towards to floor of the limo.

            “I’m sorry I worried you so much.” He told me. I brushed my fingers through his hair.

            “It is alright, as long as you never do it again.” I told him. I sounded stern, yet sweet at the same time. He looked up at me right away and smiled.

            “Never again! I promise! Oh, Serena!” He said with great joy. He quickly cuffed my face in his hands and brought it close to him.

            “James, I-” I said, but James stopped my talking with a kiss. I relaxed and after the kiss we talked all the way home. With me putting my fingers through his now wet and salty hair, and him telling me about what he was thinking about when he was drowning. It was a wonderful night, despite James almost dying right in front of me.

Chapter 12 (Happy New Year)

            Months passed and I did very well in boarding school. It was almost the big New Years Eve and every one was getting excited. James and I decided to become boyfriend and girlfriend and every one said we made the cutest couple since Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. James and I didn’t think they had been a very cute couple, but we took what they said how they meant for it to seem. It had been about three months since James had almost died and he hadn’t done anything that big since then.

            The night of New Years Eve had come and the all of us girls gathered at Mayland for a New Years Eve party. James and I sat on the large couch watching the ball in Time Square about to go down.

            “Hey everybody, one more minute!” James yelled to very one. Every one became silent and I cuddled closer to James. He hugged me close to him and kissed the top of my head. I looked up at him and saw him looking at the TV. It was like he was a little child being sucked into the TV, or even an old man watching his foot ball game; it was sort of funny to watch.

            “5! 4! 3! 2! 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Every one yelled. James looked down at me and I looked back up at him. He kissed me lightly and then we hugged.

            “Happy new year Serena.” James whispered into my left year. I closed my eyes, smiled and nodded. As I nodded I started to fall asleep.

Chapter 13 (Still there)

            When I woke up early the next morning I was still cuddled next to James. I wondered if he didn’t want to wake me so he fell asleep with me in his arms. I slowly moved his arm off of me and stood up. I looked around and I only saw the boys. Where are the girls? I asked myself. James started to wake up and when he was up all the way he looked around worried. His eyes showed panic until he noticed me. He got up slowly and took me outside.

            “Where are all the girls?”

            “They left you here last night because I his you under a blanket. I’m sorry, but I didn’t want them waking you and I wanted you to stay with me.” James looked down at the ground and frowned.

            “James, this is worse when you climbed the ‘Princess Diana’ house and woke up the whole house! I have to get back before any one notices that I’m gone!” Before I was able to walk back inside James and I heard the phone ring. We looked at each other panicked and ran inside.

            “Yes Ms. Leah,” said Mr. Marcus said into the phone as James and I ran back into the house, “No, I don’t know where Serena-Oh, never mind, here she is.” Mr. Marcus gave James and angry look and handed me the phone.

            “Hello?” I spoke into the phone.

            “SERENA! Where have you been? Every one has been worried SICK about you! I’ll have Alfred drive over there right away and pick you up. Once you get here you are to be punished!” Ms. Leah yelled at me. She hung up to phone and then I hung up the phone slowly.

            “James, how bad is it to be punished?” I asked James. I was staring at nothing which I could tell made James worried.

            “It could get very bad. Some times they’ll starve you for a day, but that’s the nicest they get. The worst I’ve heard that happened is that Mayland and Fayland have dungeons under ground somewhere and they out bad students under there. I’ve seen my good friend Bobby Snow taken down there.”

            “What happened to him?” I asked. I was frightened.

            “I don’t know exactly. For about a week I heard blood curdling cries coming from some where under the main house. It sounded very much like Bobby, but I made myself ignore the cries. One night I heard a few sharp cries, yelling, and then the loudest cry ever and,” James’s eyes widened, “they suddenly stopped. After that, I never heard them again.” James looked at me and I ran over to him and he hugged me.

            “You don’t think they’d ever do that to me, do you?”

            “I don’t think so.” James tried to reassure me, but I could hear the unsure part in his voice.

            About ten minutes after I had spoken to Ms. Leah, Alfred knocked on the door.

            “I have a bad feeling about this James. If they say that I have left the school, and I don’t tell you that I did, then they are lying.”

            “I will never let them hurt you. If you don’t contact me with in five days, I’m coming over there and finding you.” James and I hugged and then I walked out the front door. That was the last time I ever saw James looking tat way, young and handsome.

Chapter 14 (Correct)

            James had been correct, there was a dungeon under the houses, and I was put there. It had been a month before I heard the news about James.

            One night when I was sleeping on the cold floor of my dungeon room when Ms. Leah woke me up with laughter.

            “Poor, poor James. He didn’t know that if he came to rescue you, that he would lose his life as well.” Ms. Leah unlocked my door and threw in James. She then closed the door and locked it. She left me alone with the dying James in my arm.

            “I’m sorry it took me so long.” James wheezed. “Ms. Leah tortured me for about a month and then she tried to kill me. I should be dead soon.”

            “No, James, no. You’ll live, you will.” I told him even though I had no clue if I was telling the truth.

            “No I won’t Serena, and you know it. I just wanted to live so I could see your angel like face one last time, and now that I have, I’m ready to go. Serena, I love you so much, I-” James gave me that blank stare and I shook him.

            “James, stop kidding around. James, I don’t like when you do this.” I shook him and he felt limp and I knew his spirit had gone some where else. I mourned and mourned. It was about fifteen minutes until Alfred took James’s body from my arms. Alfred looked down at me and I almost thought I saw a tear roll down his cheek. Alfred left the dungeon and left me to mourn alone with no body to cry over.

            After about another month of starving, Grace and a few of the other girls late one night found their way into the dungeon and reused me. I was weak so the tallest and strongest girls helped. The girls got me to some farmer’s near by and the farmer hid me there for a few months until my mother was able to come to NY and pick me up.

            When mother heard all that had happened to me she swore she would sue, but she never did. She was always too busy with her store to bother with suing the school.

            Four months after I got home I went to visit the Bass family. When I got there and told them the news of their son they mourned harder than I had. I told them everything from the meeting on the bus to thinking I saw the butler crying. They thanked me and promised they would keep in touch. They also promised they’d sue the school and they were very good to me and kept both promises. They sued both of the schools and Ms. Leah and Mr. Marcus went to jail for life. Alfred the butler had been smart and gotten out of there as soon as he could. There was no sign of him, and which was even more frightening was that there was no sign of James’s body. When I heard the part of James’s body missing, I prayed that it was at peace but knowing that Ms. Leah had enjoyed seeing James dying, I knew his body was not at peace.

            Night after night I woke up, dreaming that James was still alive. One night I had a dream that James was roaming around Buckville. I didn’t realize when I woke up that I had been dreaming so I went into town and ran around calling his name. After about five minutes I fell asleep on a bench next to mother’s store and the next morning I woke to some one calling my name.

            “Well if it isn’t Serena.” The voice sounded familiar. When I opened my eyes I saw two familiar figures standing in front of me.

            “Grace! Allie! I’m so glad to see the both of you.” I stood up and hugged both of them. They told me that Allie’s mother and Grace’s father had gotten married and moved to my town. I was so glad to hear the news so I ran back t my house and got changed.

            A year passed and Grace’s and Allie’s parents had a baby boy and their parents let me name it. Of course, I named it James.

            I heard little from the Bass family after they moved to New Jersey. I only got a letter from James’s five year old brother telling me that he saw James’s the other day and that James was coming to visit me. I laughed and threw the letter away, knowing that he was little and had a large imagination. James was dead, and was never coming back, or was he?