All American Girls

By Jim Wagner

Wendy and Misty are two typical American high school girls who are happily involved with their busy teenage lives.
Wendy is a sophomore who plays in the high school marching band. Misty is a senior, at the same school, and is a popular cheerleader who dates the dreamy looking quarterback. They meet each other one stormy night when a devastating tornado viciously slams into their town. They are not outdoors type people and are totally unaware of their physical strength and survival instincts. They must become a team and courageously battle a variety of evil forces that are out to destroy them.
This book empowers girls to overcome the stereotypes that they face on a daily basis. It forces them to focus on their lives, on their strengths and weaknesses, rather than what people say or think about them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Wagner
• Release date: May 24, 2015
• ISBN: 9781921947445

Jim Wagner

I was born in Cincinnati and grew up in the American Mid-West. I graduated from the University of Notre Dame and received a Masters in Education from the University of Cincinnati. I became a teacher and found a job teaching English and Film and Television at Trinity Bay State High School in Cairns, Australia. As a teacher I wrote many One Act Plays that students enjoyed performing in. I became the Rugby coach at the school and began writing novels that my students could read, relate to and understand. I decided to publish the novels under the name of Teen Friendly Books. At present I have 24 written and 15 published. My plan is to write many more books for teens to read and enjoy.

Book preview

Chapter 1

A Rainy Friday Afternoon

Wendy sat in Biology class on Friday afternoon doodling in her notebook. She stared out the window at the grey afternoon. Rain continued to pour down. The weather had been wet all day and the forecast was for it to continue until Saturday morning.

Jason Brown sat next to her and asked, What are you drawing?

I don’t think that I am drawing anything, Wendy mumbled as she showed him her book.

To me it looks like a picture of a girl playing a flute in the rain, Jason told her.

You have quite an imagination, Wendy replied. "I see rain but no girl and certainly no flute.

And this girl is walking in the rain and smiling, Jason added as he pointed to the doodle.

Now I know that you are making that up. If that is a girl, and I rather doubt that it is, she can’t smile because she has no lips, Wendy told him as she laughed.

Aren’t those two squiggly things lips? Jason asked as he pointed to the picture.

They look more like worms on a fish hook, Wendy replied.

And by looking at his picture I can tell that this girl likes playing in the school band, Jason continued, and she is willing to play in all weather conditions and in front of the whole school.

Wendy twisted her face as she looked at Jason. Most people think that you are mildly deranged, but since you are my friend I know that your derangement is more than mild.

Jason ignored Wendy’s assessment of him as he asked, Don’t you play in the school band?

Now you’re getting weird, Wendy replied. You know that I do.

Jason turned away and pulled out his phone and checked his messages. Oh, its Friday. We have to go to the gymnasium for the big pep rally.

When Wendy heard the word pep rally, she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to be sitting with the band at this very moment and playing her clarinet while the rest of the student body arrived to cheer on the team.

She hurriedly started to pack up all of her school gear as she grumbled, You could have just asked me why I was still sitting here when I was supposed to be in the gym, you know.

What’s the fun in that? Jason told her. I wanted to see how long it took you to remember, and it took quite some time, and an obvious clue.

Yeah, well, my head has been really full of information lately, Wendy informed him.

Oh, yeah? Why is that? Jason challenged her.

School is filling my head full of facts and figures and dates and formulas, Wendy explained.

You’re only a sophomore, what is it going to be like when you’re a senior? Jason asked.

Hopefully I’ll have a bigger head so stacks of more data will fit more comfortably in it, Wendy told him. I’ll see you tonight after the game, if its still okay if a get a ride home with you and your father.

You won’t forget will you? Jason teased.

No, I think that I can remember how I am going to get home on a Friday night, Wendy stated.

Jason and Wendy were sophomores in high school. They lived opposite one another on the same street in Silverton, seven miles away from the school. They had gone to the same schools for six years and were very good friends.

A bell rang and Mrs. Forester, their Biology teacher and the wife of the football coach, shouted out very enthusiastically, Alright, everyone get up and move to the gymnasium. Its time to go to the pep rally to fire up and excite the Clarkesville North Cougars for their big game tonight. Go Cougars! All the way to V I C T O R Y.

Mrs. Forester jumped and leaped and yelled as she spelled out Victory letter by letter.

All of the students in the class stared at her as if she was insane.

Our team sucks, Darryl Piedmont called out. Can’t we stay here and learn some more stuff about maggots?

The Cougars need more than a pep rally to help them, Percy Stevens shouted. They need about twenty new team members.

Everyone laughed.

The Clarkesville North Cougars are terrible at football. We are going to lose by at least 30 points tonight. Billie Winters alerted everyone.

We’re playing t he Bristow East Tigers, the best team in the league and maybe the state, Tim Sullivan confirmed. The best that we can hope for is that everyone survives, and is back at school on Monday without broken legs and arms,

Tonight is going start ugly, then get very ugly, and end up even uglier, Marvin Abbott added.

Everyone in the room knew that to be the truth, except Mrs. Forester who shouted out for everyone in the school to hear, The Cougars Will Conquer!

All of the students in the Biology lab put their hands over their ears as Mrs. Forester continued to shout Go Cougars!! very loudly and very repetitively many, many, many times.

When she started to sing the Cougar’s fight song, kids bolted out the door. The Biology Lab was empty in less than five seconds.

Chapter 2

Rushing

Wendy rushed out of Biology and tried to sprint to the gymnasium. She did not have a lot of luck.

First she tried to run through the corridors of the school but they were totally filled with students who were making their way to the pep rally.

Not one of the hundreds of them was in a hurry. Is it possible for all of you to move slower? Wendy shouted out.

That comment did not help. A hundred students stopped and turned around and looked at her as if she were from another planet.

Wendy stopped and declared, I’m in the band and I’m late for the pep rally.

No one took any notice of her or her plight. They created a solid wall of humanity as they all dutifully held their cell phones and religiously stared at them and methodically checked their messages or texted the latest gossip to eagerly awaiting friends.

Wendy tried to weave through the sea of students and phones by stepping left, then quickly right and then left again. She was successfully zigzagging for a short time but unfortunately she should have zigged when she zagged and ended up bashing into the shoulder of a very fiery redhead who shouted out, Hey, watch where you’re going little girl! and she pushed Wendy into a group of boys walking next to her.

The boys growled at her and collectively shoved her into the row of lockers that lined the hallway.

Wendy banged her elbow against the metal and dropped her clarinet case as well as her books. She bent down to pick them up and two boys who were busy concentrating on their phone business tripped over her and landed on top of her on the ground.

Ten other students walking immediately behind them stumbled and fell onto the pile, creating a mound of teenagers.

The fall did not distract anyone from texting or staring mindlessly at their phones.

Wendy was on the bottom of the pile. She could not move as bodies were sprawled all over her. She saw arms and legs and faces lit up by the glow of their cell phone screens.

Can someone on top please stand up so the rest of us can get off the ground? Wendy called out.

I was on top, but now seven kids are on top of me, a voice replied.

Kids keep tripping and falling onto the pile and making it bigger, another voice reported.

How are we going to stop kids from tripping over us? Wendy shouted.

Everyone text a friend and tell them there is a massive pile of students in the hallway, a voice suggested.

What do you want them to do, take photos? someone asked.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a video of this mass of bodies on You Tube, one more voice commented.

We could all become famous, added another voice.

Or we could all be squashed to death, a louder voice pronounced.

Text a friend and tell them that there is a girl’s shirt was accidentally ripped open and she is virtually topless in the hallway near the gym, a boy’s voice yelled.

What good will that do? someone questioned.

All the boys will move to the gym much quicker because they will be looking out for that girl, the boy replied.

Everyone in the pile started to text. As the texts made their way to other students, the strategy began to work. The clutter in the hallway began to clear as hoards of people started to move much more quickly to the gym.

The kids who were sprawled all over each other were slowly able to move, but not very gracefully.

Hey, you’re stepping on my head, a voice called out.

Sorry.

Thanks for the elbow to the ear.

Anytime.

Whoever has their foot on my back, would you please remove it!

"Like I can move my foot with two