Grade 7 Speech

Hello teacher and fellow students. My topic is:

Why is ‘family’ the most important people in our life?

Family…… I believe everyone here knows what family is and you must have a lot of experiences. In a dictionary, ‘family’s definition is: A group of people that were related by blood. To me, family is not only a relationship of blood. But more about emotions like love, happiness, influencing and supporting.

First, they are very important that they gave us love and we are able to receive love from them. Love, we can never live without it. It is very important to everyone! A person who doesn’t receive love or can’t feel love is very sorrowful and sympathetic. A person who doesn’t receive family’s love is even more sorrowful and sympathetic! There’s a very famous Chinese quotation. Basically, it is like this: “Mother’s love is the source of peace of the whole world.” It makes a lot of sense. Primarily, a person who doesn’t have family’s love is not peaceful. A person who doesn’t receive love from family would never give love to other people.

For example, if our parents forward love and happiness to us, I am very sure that we all would give love and happiness to other people too! Therefore, everyone receives love from others and passes the love to even more people! So the whole world would be so peaceful and faithful. Once everyone’s family is peaceful, the whole world would be very peaceful too! I believe you can see how strong family’s love is and how influencing to the world is.

Family is important because you get a lot of supports from them. Sometimes, friends might not be very reliable. They might betray you at any moment but you never knew. However, family would never ditch you or forsake you for any reason! Family relationship is like a truth that no one is able to change! NEVER! Family is always supporting you in the behind. Even though we all would grow up and move out someday, it doesn’t mean they don’t love us or we aren’t their kids anymore! They still loved you a lot, and will always love you, support you and care about you.

Family is also our mainly influence, people always say: Parents are children’s role model, children are parents’ mirror. It is very obvious to understand. It means: if parents do something and children would learn to do the same thing! Just the way parents did. When children learned to do something, it is probably because their parents had influenced them.

Sometimes, parents didn’t actually teach or tell their kids to do it, but their behaviors taught them and told them to do it already! Some parents may be addicted to smoking and drinking or they always get mad easily. Therefore, their kids always start smoking, drinking since young age, always fight physically for some reasonless daily things, always bully small kids and is always mean, sensitive and irritable. If parents want their kids to be perfect, they should start to be perfect first! Consequently, parents are always their examples; it is really hard to avoid the bad behaviors on kids unless the parents start to change and therefore set up a good model for their children.

Family loves you so much. Therefore, do you think you should love them more too? Family is family. You don’t want to lose your happy family relationship. No one does. So you should treasure it more! You should always be dutiful to them, because they always deserve it. Remember to always love them with your loving heart!

Thank you!

Sharing (Back from Junior School Retreat)

Good morning fellow sisters and brothers, ­

      Our topic for this year’s Junior School Retreat is: THE PURE IN HEART

      Man was specially created for God’s use. All the things God created are for man. But only man is for God. We need to contain him, or there’s no meaning being a man. We want him to dwell in our spirit first. Eventually, spread through all of our soul and body – our whole being.

Heart is the only gateway that connects our spirit and our soul. A pure heart means a heart without mixture. Our heart is the loving organ. God wants to make His home our heart. There should be nothing more important than the Lord. So He can come in us and fulfill Himself within us. He purifies us through our heart. Jehovah God is the light, and in him there’s no darkness at all. When we open our heart, the Lord is shining in us as the light. We started to love him and experience him after we open our heart. He expends Himself in us. Therefore, the veil is taken away.

We need to confess to Him in order to let Him in. Once we confess, He forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness, because He is the light, he is the life giving spirit, he is faithful! He is the only one who can save us from Satan, because He is God, because He forsakes himself and died for us on the cross. His blood cleansed us from all the sins forever and ever as long as we have a pure heart. At the same time, we loved God even more, and we forget all the other things in the world.

We need to take care of our conscience. Our conscience is what God is trying to tell us to do or not do. Consequently, our conscience is God Himself. God is always standing with our conscience. God never tells us to ignore our conscience, only Satan the devil does. We don’t want to listen to Satan. We need Him to help us take care of our conscience by talking/praying to Him more.

During cabin reading, I also learned we need to love our brothers and sisters. If we hate one of our brothers, that means we don’t love our God, because saints build up God’s body. If a brother can only judge and condemn but has no sadness, it proves that he doesn’t know anything about brotherly love. Hating brothers proves that there is no love in him. I also learned to pray to God to give me more love to the brother. Sometimes, man’s love isn’t always enough for everyone. So we need love from God, because God’s love is always abounding. God is the loving God.

I learned a lot from the Junior School Retreat. I really enjoyed learning the Lord. God is so amazing and so precious. I feel like being filled. I encourage more Junior School sisters and brothers to go next time! So you can love the Lord with your pure heart!

Thank you!

The Elevator (by William Sleator)'s Continuing Ending (by me!)

The Elevator (Original)

By William Sleator

It was an old building with an old elevator—a very small elevator, with a maximum capacity of three people. Martin, a thin twelve-year-old, felt nervous in it the since the first day he and his father moved into the apartment. Of course, he was always uncomfortable in elevators, afraid they would fall, but there was something especially unpleasant about this one. Perhaps it was its baleful atmosphere due to the light from the single fluorescent ceiling strip, bleak and dim on the dirty walls. Perhaps the problem was the door, which never stayed open quite long enough, and slammed shut with such ominous, clanging finality. Perhaps it was the way the mechanism shuddered in a kind of exhaustion each time it left a floor, as though it might never reach the next one. Maybe it was simply the dimensions of the contraption that bothered him, so small that it felt uncomfortably crowded, even when there was only one other person in it.

Coming home from school the day after they moved in, Martin tried the stairs. But they were almost as bad, windowless, shadowy, with several dark landings where the light bulbs had burned out. His footsteps echoed behind him like slaps on the cement, as though there was another person climbing, getting closer. By the time he reached the seventeenth floor, which seemed to take forever, he was winded and gasping.

His father, who worked at home, wanted to know why he was so out of breath. “But why didn’t you take the elevator?” he asked, frowning at Martin when he explained the stairs. Not only are you skinny and weak, his expression seemed to say, but you’re also a coward. After that, Martin forced himself to take the elevator. He would have to get used to it, he told himself, just the way he got used to be being bullied at school, and always picked last when they chose teams. The elevator was an undeniable fact of life.

He didn’t get used to it. He remained tense in the trembling little box, his eyes fixed on the numbers over the door that blinked on and off so haltingly, as if any moment they might simply give up. Sometimes, he forced himself to look away from them, to the Emergency Stop button or the red Alarm button. What would happen if he pushed one of them? Would a bell ring? Would the elevator stop between floors? And if it did, how would they get him out?

That was what he hated about being alone in the thing—the fear of being trapped in there for hours by himself. But it wasn’t much better when there were other passengers. He felt too close to any rider, too intimate. And he was always very conscious of the effort people make not to look at one another, staring fixatedly at nothing. Being short, in this situation, was an advantage, since his face was below eye level of adults, and after a brief glance, they ignored him.

Until the morning, the elevator stopped at the fourteenth floor, and the fat lady got on. She wore a threadbare green coat that ballooned around her, her ankles bulged above dirty sneakers. As she waddled in the elevator, Martin was sure he felt it sink under her weight. She was so big that she filled the cubicle; her coat brushed against him, and he had to squeeze into the corner to make room for her—there certainly wouldn’t have been room for another passenger. The door slammed quickly behind her. And then, unlike everyone else, she did not stand facing the door. She stood with her back to the door, wheezing, staring directly at Martin.

For a moment, he met her gaze. Her features seemed very small, squashed together by the loose fleshy mounds of her cheeks. She had no chin, only a great swollen mass of neck, barely contained by the collar of her coat. Her sparse red hair was pinned in the back by a plastic barrette. And her blue eyes, though tiny, were sharp and penetrating, boring into Martin’s face.

Abruptly, he looked away to the numbers over the door. She didn’t turn around. Was she still looking at him? His eyes slipped back to hers, then quickly away. She was still watching him. He wanted to close his eyes; he wanted to turn around and stare into the corner, but how could he? The elevator creaked down to twelve, down to eleven. Martin looked at his watched; he looked at the numbers again. They weren’t even down to nine yet. And then, against his will, his eyes slipped back to her face. She was still watching him. Her nose tilted up; there was a large space between her nostrils and her upper lip, giving her a piggish look. He looked away again, clenching his teeth, fighting the impulse to squeeze his eyes shut against her.

She had to be crazy. Why else would she stare at him this way? What was she going to do next?

She did nothing. She only watched him, breathing audibly, until the elevator reached the first floor at last. Martin would have rushed past to her get out, but there was no room. He could only wait as she turned—reluctantly it seemed to him—and moved slowly out into the lobby. And they he ran. He didn’t care what she thought. He ran past her, outside into the fresh air, and then he ran almost all the way to school. He had never felt such relief in his life.

He thought about her all day. Did she live in the building? He had never seen her before, and the building wasn’t very big—only four apartments on each floor. It seemed likely that she didn’t live there and had only been visiting somebody.

But if she were only visiting somebody, why was she leaving the building at seven thirty in the morning? People didn’t make visits at that time of day. Did that mean she did live in the building? If so, it was likely—it was a certainty—that sometime he would be riding on the elevator with her again.

He apprehensive as he approached the building after school. In the lobby, he considered the stairs. But that was ridiculous. Why should he be afraid of an old lady? If he was afraid of her, if he let it control him, then he was worse than all the names they called him at school. He pressed the button; he stepped into the empty elevator. He stared at the lights, urging the elevator in. It stopped on three.

At least it’s not fourteen, he told himself; the person she was visiting lives on fourteen. He watched the door slide open—revealing a green coat, a piggish face, blue eyes already fixed on him as though she knew he’d be there.

It wasn’t possible. It was like a nightmare. But there she was, massively real. “Going up!” he said, his voice a humiliating squeak.

She nodded, her flesh quivering, and stepped on. The door slammed. He watched her pudgy hand move toward the buttons. She pressed not fourteen, but eighteen, the top floor, one floor above his own. The elevator trembled and began its ascent. The fat lady watched him.

He knew she had gotten on at fourteen this morning. So why was she on three, going up to eighteen now? The only floors he ever went on were seventeen and one. What was she doing? Had she been waiting for him? Was she riding with him on purpose?

But that was crazy. Maybe she had lots of friends in the building. Or else she was a cleaning lady who worked in different apartments. That had to be it. He felt her eyes on him as he stared at the numbers slowly blinking on and off—slower than usual it seemed to him. Maybe the elevator was having trouble because of how heavy she was. It was supposed to carry three adults, but it was old. What if got stuck between floors? What if it fell?

They were on five now. It occurred to him to press seven, get off there, and walk the rest of the way. And he would have done it, if he could reach the buttons. But there was no room to past her without squeezing against her, and he could not bear the thought of any physical contact with her. He concentrated on being in his room. He would be home soon, only another minute or so. He could stand anything for a minute, even this crazy lady watching him.

Unless the elevator got stuck between floors. Then what would he do? He tried to push the thought away, but it kept coming back. He looked at her. She was still staring at him, no expression at all on her squashed little features.

When the elevator stopped on his floor, she barely moved out of the way. He had to inch past her, rubbing against her horrible scratchy coat, terrified the door would close before he made it through. She quickly turned and watched him as the door slammed shut. And he thought, Now she knows I live on seventeen.

“Did you ever notice a strange fat lady on the elevator?” he asked his father that evening.

“Can’t say as I have,” he said, not looking away from the television.

He knew he was probably making a mistake, but he had to tell somebody. “Well, she was on the elevator with me twice today. And the funny thing is, she just kept staring at me, she never stopped looking at me for a minute. You think…you know anybody that has a weird cleaning lady or anything?”

“What are you so worked up about now?” his father said turning impatiently away from the television.

“I’m not worked up, It was just funny the she kept staring at me. You know how people never look at each other in the elevator. Well, she just kept looking at me.”

“What am I going to do with you, Martin?” his father said. He sighed and shook his head. “Now, you’re afraid of some poor old lady.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“You’re afraid,” his father said, with total assurance. “When are you going to grow up and act like a man? Are you going to be timid all your life?”

He managed not cry until he got to his room—but his father probably knew he way crying anyway. He slept very little.

And in the morning, when the elevator door opened, the fat lday was waiting for him.

She was expecting him. She knew he lived on seventeen. He stood there, unable to move, and then backed away. And as he did so, her expression changed. She smiled as the door slammed.

He ran for the stairs. Luckily, the unlit flight on which he fell was between sixteen and fifteen. He only had to drag himself up one and a half flights with the terrible pain in his leg, His father was silent on the way to hospital, disappointed and annoyed at him for being such a coward and a fool.

It was a simple fracture. He didn’t need a wheelchair, only a cast and crutches. But he was condemned to the elevator now. Was that why the fat lady had smiled? Had she known it would happen this way?

At least his father was with him on the elevator on the way back from the hospital. There was no room for the fat lady to get on. And even if she did, his father would see her, he would realize how peculiar she was, and then maybe he would understand. And once they got home, he could stay in the apartment for a few days—the doctor said he should use the leg as little as possible. A week maybe — a whole week without getting in the elevator. Riding up with his father, leaning on his crutches, he looked around the little cubicle and felt a kind of triumph. He had beaten the elevator, and the fat lady, for the time being. And the rest of the week was very far away.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” his father reached out his hand and pressed nine.

“What are you doing? You’re not getting off, are you?” he asked him, trying not to sound panicky.

“I promised Terry Ullman I’d drop in on her,” his father said, looking at his watch as he stepped off.

“Let me go with you. I want to visit her, too,” Martin pleaded, struggling forward on his crutches.

But the door was already closing. “Afraid to be on the elevator alone?” his father said, with a look of total scorn. “Grow up, Martin.” The door slammed shut.

Martin hobbled to the buttons and pressed nine, but it didn’t do any good. The elevator stopped at ten, where the fat lady was waiting for him. She moved in quickly; he was too slow, too unsteady on his crutches to work his way past her in time. The door sealed them in; the elevator started up.

“Hello Martin,” she said, and laughed, and pushed the Stop button.

      My continuing ending...

              The Elevator Ending

 By Tracey Chen

“Hello, Martin,” she said, and laughed, and pushed the Stop button.

The elevator suddenly stopped at the tenth floor. Martin felt a pain. The fat lady walked toward him, that he couldn’t breathe. The lady laughed even harder and talked loudly, “Hey Martin, why are you so afraid?”

Martin was stuck in a corner of an elevator. He wanted to tell her that he wasn’t afraid. However, he didn’t, because he was too scared to answer. He didn’t even have any idea that he was actually going to answer her. He tried to kick her in the stomach, but her threadbare coat was too large that he didn’t even have any room to let his skinny leg come up.

“Tell me, why are you even afraid?” The lady asked him again, and said, “Act like a man, Martin. Are you going to be timid your whole life!? Come on and fight with me!”

That reminded Martin of what his father had said. His anger was in all the places in his vessels. He took a deep breath and yelled loudly, “You know what!? I am not afraid! You are a freak!” He felt like he was going to explode in 5 seconds, even he was counting seconds in his own mind.

The lady didn’t reply, she grinned and she showed her the two sharp teeth in each side of her mouth.

Martin was so shocked. He had only heard of vampires in the fiction books. He was so regretful that he said he wasn’t afraid, because he was afraid.

The lady walked even closer and said, “It won’t hurt much. Don’t worry. You won’t die either. Just relax.” She suddenly leaned toward him.

As she tried to bite him on the neck, he slipped toward the buttons and pressed the Bell button immediately. Suddenly, the ring bell rang so loudly and the old lady screamed. A bright light appeared, and Martin covered his eyes. When the lights went down, the vampire lady was gone. Suddenly, the elevator stop ringing and it worked again. Martin opened his mouth wide and still didn’t realize what had just happened. The elevator stopped on the seventeenth floor and the door opened slowly. It seemed like nothing had happened. He walked out of the elevator as usual. However, as he walked out of the elevator, the sticker on the Bell button fell off and it showed another word: ‘In case of Vampires’……

The Third Day of Collingwood

The Third Day of Collingwood

Today is the third day of Collingwood. It went pretty well. Well, at least it is easier than yesterday, because we didn’t have French!

The first class was Art. I was kind of late this morning. Actually I wasn’t late. The other students were too early. After I arrived school, I went straight back to my homeroom and put my backpack into my locker. (I finally knew how to use a lock perfectly!) Then my adviser leaded me to the Art Building.

This is the first time for Art and there was a quiz!!! At first I was really nervous, because I have no ideas how hard or easy the Art teacher, Ms Spencer‘s quiz. (Because again, this is my first time.) However, the teacher, Ms Spencer told us this was an easy but creative quiz and we don’t need to worry about it. But now, I changed. I was wondering how ‘creative’ Ms Spencer’s quiz would be.

After I got the test, I viewed the whole piece of paper first. It was a weird quiz. There were 9 squares on the paper. In every square, there were a few lines, or a few circles which weren’t organized at all. Ms Spencer told us that we can draw whatever we wanted to draw from the weird strings. After I viewed everybody else’s quiz paper, I found out no one has exactly same ‘pictures’ as I do.

During the quiz time, a lot of people were talking loudly and ‘cheating’ – walking around, viewing others’. However, Ms Spencer didn’t mind at all. Haha~

The second class was PE. It was ok… Not really fun, because mostly all the teachers did was telling us about the rules about wearing Collingwood PE shirts and runners, walking in the school and showing us where our running track is. By the way, it was a really long track with a lot of up-hill parts!! It is good that at that time, we were just walking, not running. But probably next time, we will start running. Sad… L (Plus, I can feel myself becoming lazier and lazier every day~~ Laugh out loud)

Then we had some classes which aren’t really shocking to me. Therefore, let’s skip it to the last class – drama!

Drama is a new subject to me. We didn’t have Drama Class in my old school. So I brought all my curious thoughts to the Drama Class. The teacher was about forty years old. He was really dramatic and funny. He told us that a lot about the basic things. Even though they were just really basic things, they are still very new for me. It’s really cool~ He told us how we need to not block the other actors on the stage, how to cooperate with your partners, how you need to be dramatic and active, how to become a good actor and etc. What the teacher said had made me think they are so professional. Haha~ Really fun!

So this is the third day of my school was really fun! It made me feel that Collingwood is a really different but awesome school! And I like it!!!

The Second Day of Collingwood

The Second Day of Collingwood

Oh My God!!! My new classmates’ French are soooooooooo good! The teacher who was teaching us doesn't even need to speak any English!!! AND I WAS TOTALLY CONFUSED! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT!!!

Then me and my partner were doing stuff to know each other better and was doing a work sheet. Then, the Later the teacher told us to find a partner and fill up a work sheet. Then the teacher asked people to come up and introduce your partner to your classmates in front of everyone. And my partner raised her hand without even ask me! Then I had to go up and tell people about her. I was so nervous and I can feel my cheek, my neck and back and every part of my body was burning. I was speaking quietly and the students were listening carefully. (That made me feels even scarier!! But I was shocked that why didn't any of the naughty boys laugh at me!? I was really shocked that they could be so respectful too! ) There was a bunch of French words that I have never seen. So of course, when i was introducing my partner, the teacher corrected me for a few times. However, when I was done, the teacher said my attitude was 'FM' (which was the best -- she had told us that before.)

Even though she praised me in front of the whole class, i was still kinda embarrassed... Ugh~ (Laugh out loud)

:O We were learning Spanish too. But it wasn't as hard as French, because the teacher speaks English when he was teaching us Spanish. The second reason that Spanish is not frustrated because the teacher was really off topic. He didn't really teach us any vocabulary, Hehe~

 :( It was a hard day... How am i going to catch up!? not even possible~~ :'( but i will still do my best! Hopefully~ Hehe

The First Day of Collingwood

The First Day of Collingwood

     My new school is Collingwood. It is a really famous private school. In this summer, the leaders of Collingwood emailed my mom a lot about the school information. Some of them are about my new buddy, Tiana. They leader said that every new students will get a new buddy for the first few weeks to know the school better.

Today was the first day of my new school. It was only a 2 hours school day. The first hour is for knowing your buddy and they lead you to your classroom and teachers, show you your locker and show you the school.

I went inside the building and a teacher leaded me to the Grade 7 Library. Then I saw a few girls and a bunch of boys inside. They were chatting loudly. The teacher told them my name and gave me a light blue shirt with Collingwood logo and told me to put it over my shirt. The new students were all wearing the same shirt like me. And all the old students were wearing a dark blue shirt with the same Collingwood logo.

Then a girl walked up to me and asked, “You are Tracey right? I am Tiana, your buddy.” She is an Asian girl. She is about half head shorter than me. Her untied long hair was long to her butt. Her big eyes with single-fold-eyelid made me feel her simplicity.

“Yes I am.” I said and gave her a tight smile.

Then Tiana leaded me to her friends who are all wearing dark blue shirts, and introduced me to them. They all greeted without any shyness. They kept talking and one of the light blue shirt girl joined too. But I was too shy, so the other new girl and me stood beside and listened to them talking.

Then after all the people arrived, the teacher told the dark blue shirts to start working. Then I found out me and all the new Grade 7 girls and my and their buddies are in the same class! So we went together – they leaded us to the gym, the weight room, our classroom, and our lockers.

Our lockers are all with locks on it. The combos (passwords) are all been written on tape which were stuck on the back of the locks. The teacher taught us to use the locks and how to open the lock with our combos. I got it what she taught me to and I did what she told me to. However, I still can’t get it open. (Laugh out loud~)

Then our buddies leaded us to a “Theatre” and the headmaster and all the new Grade 7 boys and their buddies were in there. We were the last group arrived. (Laugh out loud again!)

The headmaster who is really old but psychic showed us a PowerPoint about being a good student and some simple rules about Collingwood School. He taught us we – the new students should start small and grow. We don’t need to be perfect. All we need to do is to do our best on every subject. He taught us to not to worry about making friends. He said every year, there was no students don’t get any friends at the end of the school year. He said maybe your friend will be there at the third term. He told us not to worry or try to impress people, because he guarantees that everyone will get a friend in this year.

He said we need to be honest on the tests and we need to respect our teachers, our student leaders, our classmates, and our school.

Then, all of us rushed outside and had BBQ on the bleachers. I had a hot dog, an Ice cream sandwich which was melting and a Coke. I was full of food and happiness with friends later. The sun was shining straight onto us. We all were complaining about the hot sunny day. After all of us finished eating, we moved onto the clean and pretty soccer field with short grass. We were chatting about our siblings and their class and classmates from last year. Most of my time was lying on the dry cool grass covering my eyes from the sun and listen to them talking.

Then later I made a friend, Barbara. She was really friendly and nice.

Later, all of the new students and their buddies took a photo together. Then all the new students got a new water bottle with Collingwood logo. I got one too! (Hehe, I just got a new water bottle a few days ago. Now I got another new one! Hahaha~)

I can’t believe I am coming here every day since now! How sweet!

It was a really happy 2 hours school day! Not only that, It is an awesome start of my Collingwood School life!!!



You Belong With Me

You Belong With Me

                                                            Chapter One

       This is about a girl names Sydney. She is an imaginative girl. She is the only child of her smart parents who are both imaginative writers. So, of course, Sydney is the same. She writes stories, tells stories, she dreams. Her dreams are so good to her. They are ‘haunting’ Sydney in a good way.

       Sydney was only fifteen years old at that time. That was the time she dreams the most. Her mom always says she could hear Sydney laughing in the middle of the night. Every time her mom asks Sydney what she dreamed, she always answers, “Um… I didn’t dream…” or “I forgot, sorry.” However, her answers were always not true. Who would believe her!? So, sure enough, her mom didn’t either. Once, her mom took her to the doctor, but the doctor had no ideas what Sydney was thinking in her childish big head. So her mom had to give up. And Sydney began her happy dreams all by herself with no bothers at all.

       However, what the heck is Sydney thinking anyways? And the story begins here!

Chapter Two

       Every night, Sydney goes to bed and falls asleep easily. She couldn’t wait to fall to sleep, because every night, it’s like she goes to another world with another life. There is no sadness or darkness. It’s like a game. So every night she goes to bed, she is in her own mind world. She dreams of her school, her classrooms, her house, her locker, her… exactly same place in her real life… but with different stories with different characters. She has only a few friends in her real life. But she has a bunch of cool friends in her dreams.

Chapter Three

       Few weeks ago, Sydney made a new friend in her dream. He is a boy. She played games with him, went to school with him, study with him. They have no worries. Since she made friends with him, she forgot about her other friends. She feels like the boy is the most important thing and exciting thing in her dreams. However, she could not see the boy’s appearance in her dreams. Never! But she could still feel his hotness and coolness.

Chapter Four

       Sydney woke up and went to school. She went to her best friend and said, “Hey yo Lauren! How’s it going?”

       “Good. You seem really happy these days. What’s going on?” Her best friend, Lauren replied.

       “Haha! Nothing…” Sydney pretended she didn’t know anything.

       “Hmmm… You must have something hiding from me. Let me guess. Ha! You got a secret boyfriend!?” Lauren asked loudly, and laughed, “Just kidding girl. Don’t worry.” Then she stuck her tongue out.

       Suddenly, Sydney’s cheeks turned super red. She looked away, tried to avoid Lauren’s curious but scary stares. “Not really…”Sydney replied quietly.

       “What!? You mean kinda!? Seriously!?” Lauren asked excitedly. Lauren stared at Sydney seriously, like she was going to swallow Sydney.

       “Sorta… But… He’s not…” Sydney got interrupted.

       “Oh My! Nice~ Is he hot? How does he look like? Where did you meet him!? When…” Lauren was really excited.

       Sydney looked at her, and said “Shhh!!! He is cool. I don’t know how he looks like, because…”

       Lauren talked over her again, “Wait… Then, how is it possible you are his girlfriend!?”

       Sydney yelled, “Dude! Stop interrupting me!!! First he is not my boyfriend. He is just one of my friend who is a boy!”

“Oh… Someone like Tyler…”

“Right! Second, he is not a real person! I met him in my dream!” Sydney yelled.

“Oh… Dreams… Only dreams…”

“Right! Third, I really have no ideas how he looks like. Again, he is just my dream! A fake character! He is just my imaginations! I know who I am! I am just a unb girl! But you need to know, and you have to know, I am Sydney. I have my own world, a dream and mind world. And you will never understand how wonderful it is. So forget it. You will never understand!”

“Okay. Okay. Sydney, don’t… I mean, calm down. I feel bad for you.” Lauren said softly.

       “You don’t need to feel sad for me because I am not feeling bad! I know myself the best.” Sydney said harshly.

       “Okay. Okay. Sydney, I get it. If you don’t feel sad I don’t, satisfied?” Lauren replied carefully, “but have you ever thought your lovely dreams mean something to you? I mean… do you think it’s telling you something? Like… I don’t know. But all I’m saying is maybe… Maybe…”

       “Oh yea! Maybe you’re right! Oh My Goodness! You are a genius!” Sydney yelled loudly.

       “Haha~ Thanks. By the way, my grandma on my mother’s side is an augur. We can go together after school. And maybe she will tell you something useful.” Lauren said confidently.

       “Hopefully…” Sydney said with worries, but then she looked up and said, “Anyways, thanks, my genius friend! See ya this afternoon!

       “’Kay~ See ya then!” Lauren said and walked away.

       As Sydney was thinking, her friend came. This time, it’s not Lauren. It’s Tyler.

       Tyler is one of Sydney’s friends. He is one head taller than Sydney. He is open, nice and is the really rare kinds of boy. Other boys are mean, selfish, rude and dumb. But Tyler isn’t. He is very understanding, thoughtful and caring. He is always really gentle to girl. He makes Sydney laugh all the time. Sydney can always feel the strong friendship when Tyler’s around. But only friendship!

       “How’s it goin’ Sydney?” Tyler asked.

       “Umm… Good.” Sydney just woke up from the deep wondering.

       “Oh… Cool~ So… what were you and Lauren talking about?”

       “Something cool that is only for girls.” Sydney said and giggled. She didn’t want Tyler who is a boy to know all of her secrets.

       “Ugh~ Wired.” Tyler made a disgusted face.

       “Haha!” Sydney laughed out loud and walked away. Sometimes, Sydney thinks Tyler is even better than anyone else.

Chapter Five

       After school, Lauren an Sydney rode their bike to Lauren’s Granny’s house. Her house looks really normal from the outside and the inside. But there are many odd Japanese pictures hanging on the wall.

An old lady appeared behind the door in from of them.

“Hello, Granny Chika! Long time no see~” Lauren said and ran to her and hugged her.

Grandma Chika is around seventy years old. She has grizzled hair to shoulders. She was wearing an purple and pink Japanese gown with a pair of sandals. What a pure fashion Japanese lady!

“Hi. I’m Sydney, Lauren’s friend, and hi ma’am. I mean Grandma Chi… Chi…” Sydney got stuck. She looked at Lauren who is standing behind Grandma Chika for help.

“Chika!” Lauren whispered.

“Chika! Right! Chika! Umm… It’s really good to see you~” Sydney was really shy. Plus, she couldn’t feel any humor and that made her nervous too.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Sydney.” Grandma Chika replied with nice pronunciations. Then she led them to a room and said politely, “Please sit down girls.”

Therefore, they sat down on different soft low chair, so they could see each other face to face.

Lauren wanted to explain it for Sydney, “So… you see, Granny. Sydney has a problem that needs your help. She dreams every day. In her dreams, she dreams of a boy who is supposed to be her boy…”

But Sydney interrupted, because she didn’t want Lauren to tell Grandma Chika it’s her boyfriend to make Grandma thinks she’s silly. So she said “only friends” instead. She kept going, “We play, we play, we dance… But I don’t know who he is, like his name, his grade, his appearance… I can see his body, not his face though. Does my dream mean something?”

Silence…

“Um… I need to say this. I don’t think he is just your friend. He is probably your boyfriend, but you just don’t know. Maybe your dream is leading you to something or someone…” Grandma Chika said.

“But we don’t do what girl-boyfriends do. We are just like friends.” Sydney said.

“Hmm… Maybe he just doesn’t want you to know that he likes you. Anyways, as I see, your dreams are actually leading you to a person or a thing. The boy in your dram is a boy in your real life. And he, will be your true love!”

Chapter Six

She dreamed of she went to the boy’s place and met his mom. She heard his mom call the boy’s name. She remembered that she was really shocked when she heard the boy’s name. Bu now, she totally forgot. She felt so bad. What a pity! Sydney thought.

Chapter Seven

Sydney didn’t listen to the teachers at school. She was trying to remember the boy’s name for the whole day. However, she couldn’t. Whenever, she felt like remembering it, and whenever she tried to reach it in her brain. She lost the chance.

“Did you get anything yet?” Lauren asked.

“No… Not at all.” Sydney was really upset.

“So who do think your true love is?” Lauren asked again.

“I don’t know. I have no idea.”

“Ugh~ man. That’s bad. But tell you the truth. I think the true love is…” Lauren stopped at there, and tried to get Sydney’s attention. She smiled.

“Dude! Who is it!? Who who who!?” Sydney yelled.

“Ummm… It’s kinda embarrassing though… Do I really want to tell you? Let me think…”

“Yes you do! Yes you do! Tell me!” Sydney yelled even louder.

“Okay! Okay! Shhh! I think it’s Charlie.” Lauren said.

Charlie is Sydney’s old crush before. He has a bunch of friends. He is rich, popular, and hot. Most of all he is the basketball star. Oh yea! He is Lauren’s older brother.

“You still like him, don’t you?” Lauren asked Sydney.

“Ugh~ Stop it. I am trying to figure out who my real love is.”

“What if he is your real love? I can tell he likes you.” Lauren said.

That got Sydney’s attention, “How do you know?”

“Sydney, wake up! He is my older bro! How can I be his sister if I don’t know him? Yesterday, he invited his friends to our house. I heard him tell his friends how cute and pure and smart you are. Don’t you notice the way he looks at you has been changed?” Lauren said and looked around.

“Really!? Oh My Gosh!”

Suddenly, Charlie walked to them and said, “Hey young ladies. Wanna hang out with me?”

“Nah~ I’m out.” Lauren refused.

“Then me either.” Sydney said.

“Com’ on! Sydney. Me and Lauren had a bunch of time together~ Let’s go!”

“Yea! Come on, Sydney! It’s your own shot!” Lauren said.

“Ugh~ Fine.”

Then walked through the field and they were chatting happily. Sydney totally ignored the other girls who were staring at them making jealous faces. Sydney thought Charlie might be her real love.

Chapter Eight

In her dreams, she was arguing with the boy.

“Stop loving Charlie! He isn’t your love! You are going onto the wrong way!” The boy yelled.

“Why not!? Who do you think you are!? How do you know he’s not?”

“He won’t make you happy! He is selfish and mean! I am your true love! And I am not Charlie! That means I am not Charlie! You get it!? He doesn’t love you!” The boy shouted.

“Ha! Shut up! Dude, I know what to do. It’s not your business to care! Sheesh~” Sydney shouted back.

“I… I…”

“Ha! Nothing to say!” Sydney laughed evilly.

“You… You will see how much Charlie loves you. You will see how selfish he is. Don’t come to me if you got dumped! You will see!” The boy said harshly.

They have never been so mad before.

Chapter Nine

Sydney walked to school madly.

“Are you okay Sydney?” Tyler walked straight up to her and asked carefully.

“Yea, I’m fine. Thanks. You know, Tyler. You are so sweet at the whole time. And I want you to know that you are a great friend! Thanks for making me happy. Thanks for making me smile.” Sydney said and smile happily.

“Aww~ Thanks! Here’s a hug for my nice friend Sydney.” Then Tyler hugged her.

Sydney felt better. Much better.

“Hey look people. Someone has been changed.” Charlie walked up and laughed. “Dude. What are you doing here?”

“Charlie, he’s just my friend. Don’t worry.” Sydney said.

“No no no no!! I won’t let anyone hurt you my babe~” Charlie said softly with a wired tune.

“What the hell! You think relationship is more necessary than friendship to me!? No way!” Sydney relied madly.

“Wait… Guys, stop arguing.” Tyler tried to stop the fight.

“Is this your business man!?” Charlie said rudely.

“Seriously! Stop!” Tyler said. Then he pushed Charlie.

“Woo! You pushed me!? Wanna fight?” Charlie yelled and pushed him back.

“Oh man~” Sydney looked down and whispered. She felt embarrassed, and yelled to both of the boys, “Guys! Stop it! I don’t want you two to fight. We will all get in troubles! So, calm down.”

“Right. Charlie, seriously. I thought you loved her right? But do you? You are selfish and mean. Think about her if you do love her. She has her own mind. You can’t stop her from her own friendship!”

“All right. All right. Tell you the truth. I don’t care what she thinks. I don’t care about her friendship. I am mean and selfish. And I don’t love her! Okay. We are done. Bye people.” Charlie said, “Hear me, Sydney? We are done! He, made me to do it!”

“Charlie, just forget it… It doesn’t matter anymore.” Sydney said softly and walked away.

“Ugh man~ I feel so bad.” Tyler who was standing behind Sydney said to himself. And he said to Sydney, “I’m so sorry, Sydney.”

“Tyler, it’s alright. Don’t think it’s your fault. It’s all Charlie’s fault. So it doesn’t matter. You are innocent. I know that. So don’t worry. You’re fine.” Then she walked to him and hugged him tightly and cried.

Chapter Ten

“I feel so sorry for you.” The boy said.

“It’s alright. You are totally right.” Sydney said and asked, “but who is my true love? You? But who are you anyways? Can’t you just tell me who you are? Now, I like no one. So there is no more true love, is there?”

“Sure there is.”

“But how is it possible!? If I don’t love my true love, how can he be my true love?” Sydney asked.

“Once, you know who he is, you will love him. Trust me!”

“Okay. Then… tell me about him.” Sydney said.

“He is someone who understands you, who cares about you, who loves you with all his heart. He is a little part of your daily life. But you are a part of his daily life. Why do you always forget and ignore someone who is always beside? The whole time? You… Belong with him…”

Chapter Eleven

There is still love for me. Sydney kept telling herself.

Tyler walked to her and said, “Sup Sydney!”

“Hey Tyler, I have something to ask you. But it’s kinda embarrassing.” Sydney said.

“Tell me if you want to. But don’t tell me if you are not really yet. But I’ll always be here.”

“’Kay… I’m really now.” Sydney breathed deeply and said again, “So… I was trying to figure out who my real love is. And I thought Charlie is. But I was wrong. So can you think of anyone? Please~”

“Let me see. But don’t be surprised.” Tyler breathed deeply and said, “Here it goes. He is someone who understands you, who cares about you, who loves you with all his heart…”

Have anyone said this before? Sydney wondered.

“He is a little part of your daily life. But you are a part of his daily life. Why do you always forget and ignore someone who is always beside? The whole time?”

Wait… This is exatlly what my true love in my dreams said! So does it mean…Sydney thought.

And Tyler smiled and continued, “You… Belong… With me.”

Epilogue

After that, Sydney never had dreams. She got all she wanted.

Tyler never let her go. They lived happily ever after.