Xoxoxo

By Bethany Lopez

The Stories about Melissa series is a coming of age series that follows Melissa, her family, and her friends. Similar to Sweet Valley High, each book is novella length. There will be eight books in the series.

Stories about Melissa reading order:

Ta Ta for Now!
xoxoxo
Ciao
TTYL
Book 5 ~ coming soon

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bethany Lopez
• Release date: Feb 23, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465813817

Bethany Lopez

Bethany Lopez is a USA Today Bestselling author of more than thirty books and has been published since 2011. She's a lover of all things romance, which she incorporates into the books she writes, no matter the genre.When she isn't reading or writing, she loves spending time with family and traveling whenever possible.Bethany can usually be found with a cup of coffee or glass of wine at hand, and will never turn down a cupcake!Sign up for her newsletter and get a free eBook! https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/r7w3w5

Book preview

Chapter 1

First New Journal Entry:

I know, I know, I know… it has been a really long time since I have written anything. In fact, it has been so long, that I decided to get this pretty new journal to replace my other one. That one is old news anyway! When I noticed that the last entry was in October, and it is now April, I knew that I needed to start fresh.

A lot has changed in the last six months. Jess, Jimmy, and I have been inseparable. My parents call us the Three Musketeers (such an old person saying). I am glad that Jess and Jimmy never actually dated because now we are the best of friends! Brian and Layla are still hanging out and are annoyingly sweet to me whenever we run into each other (which seems to happen all of the time!). Megan has started seeing Mark, and he is at our house all of the time now. I can never seem to be in the living room or kitchen for five minutes without them running in and taking over the TV or grabbing a snack. Nothing has really changed with Mikey or Monica, and Mom is still pregnant. She looks like she is about to burst. It seems like she is always in pain and eating weird food, like grits with maple syrup. I feel bad for her!

Have I mentioned that I really do not want to have kids, EVER!!??

Jess, Jimmy, and I completed our first semester of freshman year, and we did so great in our Photography class, that we were asked to join the Yearbook staff second semester. It is the best class ever! We are in charge of getting great action pics of the freshman class. So, we spend a lot of time going to events and takings pictures for Yearbook. It has been so much fun, and it has really kept our social calendar full. We get invited to all of the best parties and have been to every sporting event. We are always there to hang out and back each other up, and I couldn’t imagine having better friends than Jess and Jimmy.

I am not going to lie… I took the whole Brian and Layla thing pretty hard. I mean, I really liked Brian and thought that we were going to have a shot at a great romance, but the whole fiasco with the dance and my parents really messed things up. Then you throw in the Layla thing, and I was totally bummed for a while. Jess and Jimmy did everything they could to cheer me up, but with Brian on the swim team and Layla joining freshman track, they are often the subject of our photos. I see them everywhere! And whenever I see how he is with Layla, I am reminded of how great Brian is! Plus, she is in my Physical Science class… Ugh! We have been friendly to each other, and I really don’t have anything against her anymore… It just makes me sad more than anything. I can’t help thinking, What if?

Christmas was a lot of fun. We had the festivities at my Uncle Lou’s house this year. He lives on Runyon Lake in Fenton, and we had family members travel from all over Michigan to get together at his place for the holidays. It was sooo much fun! I love going to Uncle Lou’s. He has this great house with so many beds in it that you could sleep in a different bed every night! Everyone just shares rooms and space and kind of snuggle together like a gigantic slumber party. I don’t get to see my cousins that often, but when we do get together we have a blast - especially at Uncle Lou’s! Even though it gets pretty cold at Christmas, we all go outside and make snow angels and snow men. I have this new totally cute set of gloves, hat, and scarf. They look like they are crocheted with pink yarn, but they actually have a thick and fuzzy liner, so they keep me warm while looking totally fab! I bought this beautiful charcoal gray coat to match, and I have to say, they look really good together.

There was one day where it was cold enough that the shallow end of the lake froze, and my cousins and I went out and tried to skate around on it. Boy, did my mom and aunts flip out when they saw us doing that… My mom still brings it up when she gets mad at me! What if Monica would have seen you and tried to go out there? You could have been seriously hurt if the ice had broken! Blah, blah, blah… Nothing bad happened, and we had a great time!

Dad and my uncles went out on the last day and built an igloo for the little kids to play in. They just made a big mound of snow and then tunneled into it and hollowed out the inside. The bigger kids went out when they were almost done and decorated the outside to make it look like bricks. It looked pretty cool, and I got some awesome pictures of the kids going nuts as they played in there.

After the holidays, Jess, Jimmy, and I would go sledding on a big hill down the street from Jess’s house. I know, sledding is for little kids, not high school freshmen, but we had the best time. We would take turns going down together, and we would laugh until our sides hurt. We had such a great time, that for the first time, I was not happy to see the snow start melting. Of course, that only lasted for a minute until I felt the sun on my cheeks. I started imagining flowers blooming, walks at Henry Ford Mansion and Greenfield Village, sun dresses, shorts, tank tops, and flip-flops, and I immediately felt anxious in anticipation of spring… Not to mention Spring Break, which begins next week!

It is 11 o’clock now, and I have school tomorrow, so I need to get some sleep. I have caught up, for the most part, from the last entry, and will fill in the rest tomorrow!

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Chapter 2

TGIF:

Okay, it’s the Friday before Spring Break, and I just wanted to write a little before school.

Now that I have a new journal, I want to make sure I am using it. I really enjoyed writing last time. I don’t know why I stopped, but I am eager to get back into writing.

We are gearing up for a fantastic Spring Break! It is still only about 60 degrees here in April, but compared to what it has been, it will feel like a heat wave! Jess, Jimmy, and I plan to hang out at each other’s houses (Jimmy’s is the best, because he is an only child, and they have a Wii, air hockey, and a pool table in the basement), go to the movies, and hang out outside as much as possible. And maybe take some cool pictures for Yearbook.

I spent some time with my mom last night. She was hungry, so I got her some Rocky Road ice cream and sat down in the den with her while she ate. We talked a little bit about the baby.

I am sooo ready for this baby to come out! she said as she spooned the ice cream into her mouth. It feels like I have been pregnant forever and I am just so tired. I cannot wait to see my feet again!

You should be an old pro at this, Mom. I said with a smile. It’s not exactly your first time! I picked up her foot and began to rub it.

Oh my gosh! That feels wonderful, Mis. She sighed, closing her eyes a little. This is nothing like any of my other pregnancies. It has been a lot harder. I was so sick the first few months, and now I am tired and everything aches. Since the baby is still breech, I have to go in Monday so the doctor can try to turn the baby. I am really not looking forward to that!

I know, but I am sure everything will be fine. And before you know it, we will have another rugrat running around the house. I grabbed her other foot and started massaging it. I have gotten pretty good at this over the years. My mom’s feet always swell and hurt when she is pregnant.

This weekend Dad will finish putting the crib and changing table and stuff up in Monica’s room, so it will start to feel more like the end is near, my mom said with a slight smile. Monica is not too happy about sharing her room, but the baby will be in the bassinet in our room for the first few months, so it shouldn’t be too much of a change for her right away.

We talked a little