Tuesday, July 4th, 2017:

I am so mad at your sister right now, Ross! Remember in my last entry, how I said that she assured me that there would be no pranks this week? Well, get this: this morning, I'm woken up by none other than the tickle of a raven's feather and a handful of shaving cream in my face! 

I know what you'd say. Oh, how do you know it was Rydel? Well, when I opened my eyes and got face full of shaving cream, Rydel was sitting there next to me with a the raven's feather and an evil smirk drawn right across her face. Ugh, I just can't even write about that anymore. It makes me so ... infuriated, I could just scream at her right now. 

So, as I came storming out from the bathroom, Stormie made a joke from the stove as she made bacon, pancakes, and eggs. "Someone's a frowny-clowny today." 

"I don't wanna talk about it," I seethed and stormed outside. At least the warm summer air would put me back in the right piece of mind.

 I pulled out my phone from the pocket of my jeans and pulled up my lockscreen where a notification popped up. 'One Missed Called.' The notifications were so vague, at the moment, I assumed it was merely a now-worried Vanessa back at home. If I didn't call her soon, she would freak out. 

I opened up to my homescreen in means to call her back, but there was no reception according to the top corner of my phone. I shoved my phone into my back pocket and slammed my bare feet into the sharp gravel. An agonized scream shot through my chest. The scream didn't stop as I stumbled over to a cozy spot on the steps of the patio. 

I looked down at my foot. Blood oozed out of my heel. For a moment, my throat was retching. You know that I hate looking at blood. We were partners in biology, remember? When we started the dissection unit, my entire system shut down for about five minutes. When I woke up, I was on the ground next to your feet. At least you were there to rescue me before anyone noticed and we flew through the units with an A-plus.  

Stormie and Rydel rushed to my aid. "Oh my word, it's swelling," Stormie exclaimed. 

In breathy syllables, Rydel said, "Hospital. Now."

They loaded me into the backseat of the van, where I laid, writhing in pain as Stormie sped down the highway on our way to the hospital back in L.A. meanwhile, Rydel was on the phone with who hoped was my sister. It was. 

"Damnit, Laura," Vanessa said on the other line. She sounded like my mother when she found out about my rebellious tendencies - I mean, the detentions you and I got just so we could get an extra few hours together on a school night. But that's just between you and I. For all my mother knows, I have the tendency to rebel. "Why did you have get an infected wound in your heel?" 

I stammered. "I - I don't know. By-by  the-the way-ay, did-did you call m-me last-last night?" 

On the other end of the line, Vanessa scoffed. "No. I'm not that uptight. I was just about to call you and check in, but it seems as if I'll get to see this for myself at the hospital."

My staggering breath managed to gasp. "You-you wouldn't dare!" I attempted to seethe but my vocal chords came out more strained with all the agony my current state was in. 

"Oh, I dare," Vanessa said with an overpowering cackle that made all Disney Villains jealous. With that she hung up, and the line went flat. My shaking hands handed the phone back to Rydel in the passenger seat. 

"To-to be honest," I admitted with a strained laugh. "This-this isn't the worst Fourth of July experience I-I've had." Somehow the numbness kicked in and I could talk normally. "It was le jour d'assiettes cassé."  They gave me a weird look. I forgot they didn't take French. "The day of broken plates." I went into the story. 

"It was the Fourth of July and Vanessa and I were in the middle of an enormous argument. She had destroyed my favorite CD while she accused me of getting paint all over her costume for Beauty and the Beast. One thing lead to another, my mother's priceless china plates were being smashed onto the ground as her and I bickered endlessly for the entire day."

"Never happened, right," Stormie offered. 

I sighed and nodded. I just needed a relieve that this wasn't the worst 4th of July yet. "Never happened." 

Later in the hospital, Vanessa paced around the room while Rydel and Stormie sat patiently in the chairs near the hospital. We were awaiting the results from the x-ray the doctor had taken to make sure I hadn't fractured anything in my foot. 

"Vanessa, dear," Stormie said. I took a deep inhale as my sister stopped pacing for a minute to hear what your mother had to say. "Take a deep breath. Now, is there anything we can talk about that might take your mind away from the current situation? Like, what did you dream about last night?" 

"I dreamed I was a unicorn farting rainbows," Vanessa answered. If I could've had water at that moment, I would've been able to do the perfect spit-take. My throat hurt too much to laugh, but if I could've, I would've. 

Eventually, the doctor said that I would need to stay over night for my heel to heal. So we all settled in for the night. Once everyone was asleep and the lights were down low, I reached for my phone and opened up my lockscreen. There, in the notifications was a text message from an unknown number: 

When are you gonna tell everyone you're leaving for Yale early? 

My shaking fingers went across the keyboard and formed words in the bubble: 

What?! Who the hell are you?! 

There was no answer. Suddenly, the world seemed to shrink in on me. The safety I once felt, I couldn't find it. Who is texting me?

- Laura S. Marano