California Dreams: Alabama Wishes

By Kathryn Wright Smith

Melissa Kellogg was your average teenager from sunny California until that fateful day when her dad was transferred to Alabama. Thomas Jefferson High School will never be the same when this junior comes to town. Melissa learns to make new friends while keeping the old ones. She must learn to juggle family, high school crushes, and broken hearts. Can Melissa make a new life in a new place or will she run to her comfortable life back in Cali?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493156504

Kathryn Wright Smith

Kathryn Wright Smith lives in the Midwest with her husband Dan and their dog Magnum. Kathryn is an avid reader and loves to read all different genres. Her passion for writing began in high school. As a teacher by day, she writes fiction in her spare time. Kathryn graduated from Sam Houston State University with a degree in Spanish and a minor in English. She enjoys crafts and anything that pulls the creative juices. She’s proud of her loving family and thankful for all the support they give her in this new adventure.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by Kathryn Wright Smith.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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 any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 12/21/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

143689

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Acknowledgements

This book is dedicated to my wonderful family.

Thank you for your love and support.

PROLOGUE

It was a gray cloudy morning. I woke up early to clean out the basement. We were having a community garage sale and I wanted to get everything to the garage to mark for sale.

The basement felt damp and dark that morning. I went down the steps looking for the light switch. I turned on the light to see all the boxes everywhere. We had boxes on the floor, on shelves, and even on a table. There were still boxes that we never opened when we moved here three years ago. I looked toward the back wall where I kept my food storage pantry. Next to the pantry was a pile of boxes. These were the boxes I was looking for. They had all our kids’ baby clothes and toys in them. I knew we didn’t really have much need for them. Our kids were older now.

While rummaging through one pile of boxes I found some of my husband’s old things. There was his basketball, a tennis racquet, some old sneakers, and of course old concert t-shirts that he never wore anymore. Right next to it was a box I immediately recognized. It held our high school yearbooks. I hadn’t looked at them in years. I gathered them up and went upstairs. It was rainy and I had run out of motivation to face the basement.

The kids were gone to school and my husband was at work so there were no real mommy chores to do at the moment. I sat down in the big soft chair in the living room and looked through several books. The ones on top were from my high school in Santa Monica and the rest were from Thomas Jefferson High School; where I met my husband.

As I flipped through the first couple of pages, memories of that first summer and first year in Mobile, Alabama came flooding back to me. Wow, how time had flown. Life sure had its twists and turns since that year but to me it had been the end of the world as I knew it.

CHAPTER 1

Buzzzzz! Buzzzzz! What is that noise? It’s getting louder and louder. Wait! Don’t go! Ugh! Gone! It was the alarm clock; that annoying buzzing sound that just had to wake me up from a wondrous dream I was having.

Oh yeah, today was the day! The day I have been dreading all summer long, the first day of school. It wouldn’t have mattered too much except that this wasn’t just any other school year. This was my first day at my new high school. I was officially a junior in a foreign place.

I had been dreading going to school since it was a different high school, different town and without my friends. My parents had graciously moved me from my nice little comfort zone of Santa Monica, California to a hick town in Alabama. I had lived in Santa Monica my whole life and had never even heard of Mobile, Alabama much less want to move there. Just like that one day I was hanging with my friends and the next I was unpacking boxes in a room that I couldn’t call my own. My only consolation was that my parents bought me my own computer so that I could still email and chat with my old friends. Gee thanks! That’s my parents always trying to fix everything. I love them don’t get me wrong but sometimes I felt that they were a little clueless about what made me happy. I would have been much happier staying with my friends than getting a dumb computer.

So here it was, the day that I had been dreading, the first day of school. I didn’t know what to expect. I had only seen the front office when my mom took me to enroll. There weren’t any students there so I had no idea what to expect from the student population. The lady at the front desk seemed nice and all but I think she was supposed to be. As these thoughts rambled on like tumble weeds in the wind through my mind, I headed to the closet.

Now, everyone has to understand the mind of a 16 year old girl. We can’t just go to the closet and pick something out. We have to make sure that we have the right clothes for the right occasion. We can’t just pull something together in minutes or seconds. It takes thought and preparation.

Well with it being the first day of school, you would have thought that I would have already planned out my entire outfit for today but this is how much I was dreading today. I completely forgot to pick out an outfit to wear. Now there I was staring blindly into the closet hoping that something would jump out at me and say, Wear me! But as you can guess nothing did.

Ugh! I hate my clothes. Why didn’t I go shopping when my mom offered? Oh, no I had to be adult about it and say I didn’t want them to spend money on clothes. I had enough. Who was I kidding? A girl can never have too many clothes.

These thoughts continued as I finally settled on a pair of faded jeans, a concert t-shirt of my favorite band, Lifehouse, and a pair of Converse tennis shoes I had since I was in the 9th grade. I shouldn’t get to fashionable without knowing what everyone else would be wearing. I had no idea what the other kids would be wearing and I didn’t want to overdo it. After all, they might get jealous of my keen fashion sense.

I made my way down the hall to the bathroom dragging my feet. I was just not as enthusiastic as I should have been. I took a long slow shower. I hoped that I would wake up, it would all just have been a nightmare and I was back in Santa Monica excited to see my friends.

I looked in the mirror staring back at my wild mousy, brown hair. Hmm, what was I going to do with my hair today? I didn’t have any idea. I brushed through the long tendrils of hair. My hair never did want to cooperate when it was convenient for me. Well… this was Alabama and it was miserably hot and humid today. I thought better of it and threw my hair into a pony tail. Why fight humidity.

I stood for what seemed like an eternity in the full length mirror. Did I look ok? Was I going to be stared at? I had no idea what to expect and I was starting to get nervous. I continued staring at the average looking girl in the mirror. I wondered if I would measure up to the other girls my age. Today I didn’t have time to ponder the question of who was the real Melissa Kellogg.

I went looking for breakfast in the kitchen when my dad informed me that he would be taking me to school. He felt I needed some extra support on my first day of school since I was new at school and new in town. I wasn’t thrilled but it beat riding the bus.

That’s what I loved about my dad. He was always there to make sure that I could adjust to change. Personally, I think he was just having serious issues about having a teenage daughter that can drive. The subject of me having my own car only causes my dad to stare and a vein on his forehead seems to thump wildly.

I smiled sweetly and downed a glass of orange juice because suddenly breakfast didn’t seem like a good idea. My stomach seemed to have developed a thousand butterflies fluttering at once.

You know it’s humiliating enough not knowing anyone at school and being the new kid everyone stares at, but it’s even worse when you are riding with your dad to school in his Audi convertible. Most teenagers would be thrilled with their dad having a cool car but since he was adamant that I was not ever going to drive his car. I don’t even think my mom was allowed to drive it. Did he really like people staring at him as an old man driving a sports car? Old people . . . go figure.

The high school was just an average looking enormous building. This building looked like it had been some ominous official building at one time, a courthouse maybe. I was afraid to go in for fear I might not come back out. Like in the horror movies I was always watching on TV. It was so intimidating from the outside with all its cut stone bricks and marble-looking entry ways. The stairs looked like someone had taken a huge rock and carved stairs in it. I just hope I don’t trip on them and fall down. I could only imagine what it looked like on the inside. I wondered if they used the entire building. As we started to get closer to the school, it really didn’t look like there were that many students out front waiting for the first bell. Hmm… maybe they knew something I didn’t. Maybe I didn’t have to be at school an hour early but dad had insisted. Now I would be the geek who gets to school way to early! Today was going to be super!

As my dad pulled up to the front of the school, I could see a number of kids hanging out by the steps. They looked as anxious as I felt waiting to get into the building. As I searched their faces in hopes of finding someone who might be my new best friend, I spotted a blonde haired Adonis. I couldn’t believe my eyes. He was so confident and didn’t seem to have a care in the world. He was hot! He was tall, lean and had to have been an athlete. His hair was perfect not too short and not too long. I must have stared too long because I finally heard a voice.

Hey, Melissa, are you going to go to school today or are we just going to sit in the car all day?

Oh yeah, I was in the car with my dad. I was in the car with my dad! That’s just great. I see a really cute guy and I’m in the car with my dad. Just as I was recovering from the broken concentration by my dad, I realized that I hadn’t stopped looking at the hot guy. Crap! Did he see me looking at him? I diverted my eyes as quick as I could when I realized the he was looking at me looking at him. That was it. My life was over. I didn’t know if I could make it out of the car because I really wanted to just crawl under the car and disappear. All eyes seemed to be on me now since I had stayed in the car so long. I just knew I was going to fall on my face trying to get out of the car.

I got out of the car as graceful as I could manage hoping that I wouldn’t make an even bigger spectacle of myself. I managed to get out of the car and then my dad did the unthinkable. It happened so fast I had no time to react.

My dad yelled after me, Bye, Missyroo! Love you! Have a great day at school!

Ugh! I was ruined before I even got started!

And this would be my first memory of my new high school as a junior. My dad embarrassing me in front of a few kids I didn’t even know yet. This was going to be a great year!

I didn’t look at anyone as I climbed the steps in hopes that no one had heard my dad’s parting words. As the bell rang, I made my way through the growing crowd of anxious students. Their nervous chatter only added more anxiety as a million questions spiraled through my head. I wondered what my teachers would be like. I wondered if they were anything like the teachers I had back in California. I wondered if anyone would sit next to me at lunch. Would I even be able to find the cafeteria to have lunch? Would I be able to find my way around this enormous building without getting lost? But first thing was first, I needed a friend.

I didn’t worry too much about walking into the office. I figured that I would just walk in and see the lady at the front desk, retrieve my schedule, and go on my way to class. Boy was I wrong.

I walked into the small front office. There were students buzzing around talking to counselors. There were some who looked like they were protesting something. They sat on the floor with their legs crossed looking at each other seeming to read each other’s minds. I felt as if I had gone back in time. I half expected to hear some Bob Dylan music playing in the background. I weaved in and out of students making my way to the counter.

There was the office secretary I had spoken to before when I enrolled with mom. Her name plate said Mrs. Gloria Winters. She was a tall woman with soft hazel eyes and graying hair. By the pictures on her desk, I could see that she had a couple of teenage children. I almost asked her about them but thought she was much too busy to be chatting with me.

Hello. I’m Melissa Kellogg. I just moved here. I was here a couple of weeks ago to register.

Mrs. Winters smiled a blank smile at me. I didn’t think she remembered me at all which might not be a good sign.

Why yes, Melissa… . Melissa Kellogg. I have your file right here. Huh, your scheduled seems to be missing. I’ll have to look for it on my desk. I’m sure it is here somewhere.

I didn’t like the sound of that. I really didn’t like the look of it either as I surveyed her desk. I couldn’t help but wonder how she could find anything. Paper piles were everywhere. Sticky notes on piles of folders. It appeared to be utter chaos to me but hey maybe she had organized chaos. Who was I to argue with organized chaos? I mean really if you could see my room.

I waited patiently, trying not to feel more and more anxious. The students, who were camped out on the floor started leaving and grumbling about the treatment of upper classmen. I wasn’t sure what that was all about and I was more worried about my lost schedule to really care. More students were leaving and Mrs. Winters still had not found it. I saw a tall red haired girl in the corner of my eye. She was dressed in a pencil thin jean skirt with a peasant style blouse that matched her green eyes. At first I thought maybe she was another secretary but then I realized she was my age. She had some papers in her hand. She scoped the room in search of someone. Then she met my stare and asked if I was Melissa Kellogg.

I didn’t know whether to shake her hand or hug her. I was so relieved to meet another person who didn’t look at me like I was an alien from another planet. As I answered her, I didn’t recognize my voice. I had always been confident but today I was unnerved and my voice came across shaky and nervous. I think this new place was having a strange