Stolen Friendship

By Anitha A. Sharma

Best friends Jorge and Pedro are both a little nervous about their first day at a new high school as incoming freshmen. Luckily, they have each other to lean on for support and encouragement, just as they have throughout their entire childhood. But when Pedro falls ill and misses the second day of school, everything changes.

With Pedro home sick, Jorge has an opportunity to make a new friend. Although he is reluctant at first, he and Juan eventually have so much fun hanging out together that he soon forgets about Pedro. When Pedro returns to class a few days later, he makes a crushing discovery. His friendship with Jorge has been stolen right out from under him. As he attempts to grapple with life without Jorge, Pedro must decide whether to fight for the friendship or walk away forever. But it is not long before the three boys all realize that life is full of unexpected surprises.

In this juvenile novel, two best friends begin high school together where they soon become immersed in a friendship triangle that leaves them both wondering what will happen next.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 29, 2019
• ISBN: 9781532077425

Anitha A. Sharma

Anitha Anant Sharma was born in Yonkers, New York, on Christmas Day in 2001. She loves to write, play flute, and volunteer. She enjoys seeing smiles on people’s faces when she volunteers. She was inspired to write during her early days at school while reading other books. As a middle school kid, she loved to read books and create scenarios in her head that would later become her stories. Anitha blends her real-life experiences and incidents into her fictional works. She started writing short stories initially, and by age fourteen, she wrote this chapter book, which she kept as a secret. Hence, it remained unpublished for several years before she decided to reveal its existence. She is currently working on a new adventure story called “True Genius.”

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Copyright © 2019 Anitha A. Sharma.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-7741-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-7742-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019908742

iUniverse rev. date: 06/28/2019

Contents

Chapter 1   Jealous Fury

Chapter 2   The Troublemaker

Chapter 3   Lovebirds

Chapter 4   A Spooktastic Day

Chapter 5   Unexpected Experience

Chapter 6   Goodbye, Grand Trio

About the Author

Chapter 1

Jealous Fury

It was the last Friday of summer vacation, and Pedro was home watching TV in his room. His parents had gone to work, so he was home alone. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, and the birds were chirping outside. But Pedro felt really hot because the air conditioner in his house wasn’t working. What was he to do?

He got up from his bed to crack open a window but tripped over his binders and pencils. Ouch! he yelled.

His room was a mess from his window to his bed. He was too lazy to clean up and pack his things for school. He looked around his room and said, Oh well. I’ll just clean this up on Sunday.

Monday would be his first day of high school, and he wasn’t too excited about it because summer break was over and it was a new school. However, there was one part he was happy about: getting to see his best friend, Jorge, who would be attending the same school. He had spent almost his entire childhood with Jorge, who was a sporty guy and loved to play soccer. They spent so much time together that they almost felt like brothers.

As Pedro was thinking of Jorge, his phone rang. He picked it up to answer the call.

Hey, Pedro, it’s Jorge! Do you wanna hang out today? his friend asked.

Sure, that’ll be fun, Pedro replied.

So … my place at six? Jorge asked.

Okay, but what do you want to do? Pedro asked.

We could check our school schedules and see if we have any classes together, Jorge suggested.

Good idea! We could also go watch a movie, Pedro said.

Yeah! We should make the most of today since it’s the last Friday of summer vacation, Jorge said.

Definitely. And do you know what will make this day even better? The amusement park! We’ll have the time of our lives there on all the scary rides, Pedro suggested.

Wow! That will be awesome. I’ll see you this evening, Pedro, Jorge said.

See ya. Pedro hung up.

When six o’clock finally came, Pedro went to Jorge’s house. It was really dim and quiet.

Where are your parents? Pedro asked.

Oh, they’re just in the basement, cleaning up. We’re going to get our basement finished, so it’s better for us to go upstairs to my room, Jorge said. So they did.

Wow, Jorge! Your room is really clean. You should see my room.

Jorge laughed. Well, my parents sort of made me do it.

All right then. Let’s get the fun started! Pedro said.

They both checked their class schedules.

I have English, Spanish, gym, history, and biology, Pedro said.

Jorge stared at his phone and then said, I have geography, orchestra, chemistry, Spanish, and gym.

They fell silent for a few moments and then said at the same time, "Yes! We have Spanish and gym together!"

After that, Jorge asked his parents if they could go to a movie and the amusement park. His parents agreed and took them to the movie theater first. They watched a mysterious movie that made them eager for its sequel.

Wow, that was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen! Pedro said as they left the theater.

It was mind-blowing! Jorge exclaimed.

Next, Jorge’s parents took them to a wild amusement park and bought them tickets for the rides.

Jorge’s mom said, Okay, you two. I’ll let you guys go on your own on the rides of your choice, but please be careful. Don’t go on scary rides or rides that will give you nightmares. Do you understand?

Aw, but we came here to have the time of our lives, Jorge said.

You guys can have fun without scaring yourselves. Here are tickets for both of you. Now go and enjoy yourselves, his mom said, handing them their tickets.

Jorge and Pedro went to look for rides. They rode slow and easy rides at first but soon started to get bored and want more fun.

Pedro saw a ride called Bloody Horrors. He pointed at it. Jorge, that ride will be so much fun!

Pedro looked at it and replied, Yeah, I know, but your mom told us not to go on such rides.

Oh, come on, Pedro. My parents are nowhere to be seen. They’re never going to find out. Besides, we’re going to be high schoolers in a couple of days. High schoolers take risks, and they don’t have to always listen to their parents.

Pedro glanced around and then said, You’re right. I guess we can take the risk.

"Yes!" Jorge exclaimed.

They ran over to the ride and got in line.

The ride went up and down, and a red substance fell from the ceiling. "Ew! What’s this disgusting thing?" Jorge asked.

I don’t know. It’s probably the bloody part of Bloody Horrors, Pedro said.

Suddenly, it got dark and there were scary noises all around.

"Aah!" they both screamed.

Finally, the ride ended.

Oh man! I can’t go through that again, Jorge said.

Yeah, it was more of a torture than fun, Pedro agreed.

Just then, Jorge saw his parents walking toward them. Pedro! My parents are coming! They can’t figure out about our ride.

Don’t worry. We won’t tell them, Pedro said.

As his parents came closer, Jorge felt tension building in his body. Then he noticed they were holding corn dogs and bags of popcorn.

So, boys, did you guys have fun? Jorge’s dad asked.

Pedro and Jorge nodded slowly.

Any interesting rides? his dad asked.

No, Jorge and Pedro said together.

Okay, well, we bought some food in case you guys are hungry, said Jorge’s mom.

They found a bench nearby and sat down to eat.

All right, so are you guys ready to go home? It’s pretty late, Jorge’s dad said when they had finished.

Yeah, Pedro said.

Dad, can Pedro stay over at our house for a sleepover? Jorge asked.

Sure, if he wants, but just remember not to go to the basement, his dad replied.

Great! Pedro, do you want to come over? Jorge asked.

Sure, but I’ll just call my parents and let them know, Pedro said.

After Pedro informed his parents, they went back to Jorge’s house and upstairs to his room.

I’m so glad your parents didn’t figure out about the scary ride we went on, Pedro said.

Yeah, I was kind of afraid of the things they might do to me if they figured out, Jorge said.

Anyway, it’s all over now and we’re all safe, Pedro said.

Jorge yawned. All that fun made me tired. Let’s go to bed, Pedro.

Okay. Good night, Pedro said.

Jorge slept on his own bed, and Pedro slept on the floor in a sleeping bag he had brought from home.

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Pedro woke at ten o’clock the next morning and saw that Jorge was not in his bed.

He cried out, Jorge! Jorge! Where are you?

There was no response.

Pedro checked all around the house but still couldn’t find his friend. Then he remembered the bathroom in Jorge’s room. He ran back there. The door was locked. Pedro knocked on it and shouted, Jorge, are you in there?

Jorge responded, Of course I am. Who else would be in here, dude?

Pedro was relieved.

Jorge quickly dressed and came out. He was wearing a tropical shirt and brown shorts.

Dude, why are you dressed like you’re going on vacation? Pedro asked.

Jorge simply shrugged. Then Pedro went into the bathroom and got ready. He put on a pair of black pants and a gray T-shirt. Then they went downstairs.

Jorge’s dad was sitting on the living room couch, reading a newspaper. His mom was in the kitchen, making food.

Good morning, boys! What do you want for breakfast? she called.

I think we’ll just have some cereal, Jorge said.

Okay. Well, the cereal is in the pantry, and you can get some milk from the fridge.

They both ate Cheerios. When they were done, Jorge and Pedro went to the computer room to play video games. Soon it was time for Pedro to go home. His mom came to pick him up. The rest of the day flew by, and before they knew it, it was Sunday.

Pedro decided to tidy up his room and get stuff ready for school the next day.

Freshman year of high school, here I come, he said as he packed his backpack.

The rest of Sunday flew by too.

Suddenly, ring, ring! The alarm went off at six the next morning. Pedro woke up, but his eyes were half-closed. Still half-sleep, he got up and