Ta Ta for Now!

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: Jun 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458099488

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

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TA TA FOR NOW

Copyright 2011 Bethany Lopez

First Edition 6/1/2011

First Revision 12/31/2011

Second Revision 9/1/2013

ISBN: 9781463563387

Cover Photograph by K Keeton Designs

Cover Design by Makeready Designs

Image Design by Once Upon a Time Covers

Edited by Kristina Circelli

Ebook Formatting by White Hot Ebook Formatting

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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For my family and friends

who always believe in me.

I love you!

Chapter 1

First Journal Entry:

I always hear people say that they wish they had lots of brothers and sisters. I guess they’re lonely because they’re only children or their siblings are older, but they can’t possibly understand the magnitude of what they’re saying. If they knew what it was like to be the oldest of four kids, they’d thank their lucky stars, shut their mouths, and be grateful for the peace and quiet.

My name is Melissa (don’t call me Missy), and I’m fourteen years old. I live in Dearborn, Michigan, with my mother and father and my brother and sisters. Yes, my parents are still together and have been married for sixteen years. I know, it is weird, but they seem to be happy. Of course, they have me to help with all of the things that they don’t want to do (Did I mention that I’m the oldest?). Not to sound ungrateful, I love my parents (and occasionally my siblings), but sometimes I just want to go into my room and be left alone for twenty-four hours. Just one day, that’s all I’m asking; it doesn’t seem like an unreasonable request!

So, my sister Megan, who’s twelve, gave me this journal for my birthday. She said that maybe if I write down my thoughts, I won’t talk so much (She is the queen of the backhanded compliment). I never had a journal before, and I like the idea of having somewhere to express my thoughts and feelings. I don’t know how much I should say, though, because I would hate for someone in my family to find it and read it. Anyway, as I was saying, my birthday was yesterday and tomorrow is my first day of high school. I’m nervous, but so glad that it’s finally here; I feel like I 've been waiting to be out of middle school forever!

It’s been a fun summer, and I’ve enjoyed working on my tan, but my best friend went away to visit her dad for the summer, and I can’t wait to see her again. I’m ready to get back to school and show everyone how much I have grown over the summer! My hair is longer, I think I have grown at least an inch, and I (finally!!!) have started to develop in the way that only girls do. Did I mention I have a fantastic tan? It seems like it has taken forever, but I am finally starting to like the way I look! With a little makeup and the right outfit, I plan to knock Brian Jackson’s socks off. I vow to make him notice me this year!

I’m getting ahead of myself. I wanted to start off explaining how my crazy family functions, not jump right into my plan to make Brian Jackson mine!

So, I told you about my unconventionally normal parents, Craig and Linda. He works at Detroit Diesel, and she is a teacher at Dearborn High (Yes that is the school that I start tomorrow, the one dark spot on my sunny day!). They were high school sweethearts, went to Central Michigan University together, got married, and started having enough children to start a basketball team. Their proudest moment was, of course, the day I was born. I don’t know why they didn’t stop there and realize that I was all they would ever need, but they didn’t, and next came Megan.

Megan is alright. She will be in seventh grade this year and is a total tomboy. I mean, the girl does not know the meaning of good hygiene. She is always running around playing some sport, and doesn’t care if she leaves the house without brushing her hair, let alone taking a shower. She can be embarrassing sometimes, but for the most part she is tolerable.

So, they had two girls, you would think that would be enough... not for Craig and Linda; they had to keep having kids, and along came number three, Mikey, who is a nine-year-old pain in the neck. He always gets what he wants because he is the son, and gets away with murder! He is the only boy in the family and therefore runs around like he owns the place. He is always breaking stuff and blaming it on the rest of us. He makes faces behind our parents’ backs, and is just an all-around brat.

Finally, my parents had the accident that they call Monica (Yes, they have a weird obsession with the letter M). Don’t get me wrong, Monica is cute. She doesn’t get in my way, and she doesn’t break my stuff, which is pretty good for a five-year-old. I just don’t understand why my parents felt the need to keep having kids.

Was I not enough for them? I am cute, funny, and a lot of fun to be around. We could have had a great time together without all of the fighting and craziness that comes with having four kids! I can’t see the upside of that many kids in one house! Think of the amount of laundry (I know because I have to do it), and how much they could save on groceries if they had stopped after me! Oh well, there is nothing that can be done about it now; although, I often fantasize about them dropping Mikey off at a fire station. But it just doesn’t look like that is ever going to happen!

Okay, enough about them, I think you get the idea! Now, let’s get to the important stuff like what to wear on my first day of school!

Mom picked me up a couple of cute tops and jeans, but I don’t know if I want to wear jeans or a dress, or maybe a skirt. I want to look killer and make a good impression. To do that I need to wear something that makes me feel good. Maybe I will wear something blue. I have noticed that Brian wears blue a lot; maybe that is his favorite color. Let me tell you a little about Brian... he is tall, with dark hair and blue eyes. He is on the swim team and the football team. He is so totally dreamy and seems like a really nice guy. I had him in my P.E. class last year, but I didn’t get to talk to him much because he was always participating in sports and games, and I was always doing my best not to participate in sports and games. I watched him though, and he always seemed like someone that I would get along with really well. His eyes are so beautiful; it is like looking into crystal blue water! And his smile, Oh My God! His teeth are perfect and white (he must have had braces), and his smile just lights up the whole room. Did I mention he is totally hot? I cannot wait to see him tomorrow!

I think that is enough for my first entry. I need make sure I have everything in my book bag and get my clothes situation figured out for tomorrow! I will write tomorrow and let you know how my day goes!

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Chapter 2

First Day of School:

WORST DAY EVER! First, my outfit did not turn out the way I wanted it to. I felt uncomfortable and awkward all day. Second, Brian wasn’t even at school. I looked for him everywhere and then Jimmy Rogers said that Brian has been sick for a week and didn’t come to school today. To make matters worse, my best friend, Jess, apparently became a super goth chick over the summer, and now I am not cool enough to be her friend. She spent all of lunch in the courtyard with her new friends, smoking and eating fries with ketchup. I tried talking with her on my way to English Lit, and she acted like I wasn’t even there. She said something to the chick with black-and-white makeup about me being an annoying "cheerleader