A Kiss In Time

Book By: Alex Flinn  Paragraph By: LH6

A Kiss In Time, which has the themes of lost love and princess-and-commoner, is one of my favorite books! It’s like a modern-day Sleeping Beauty story. Once upon a time, Princess Talia was cursed by a witch, pricked her finger on a spinning wheel, and her entire kingdom fell into a deep sleep. 300 years later, a boy named Jack discovers her in a tower by mistake, and kisses her for a dare and for the fun of it. What he didn’t know is that her entire kingdom would awake! They all blame him for waking them up their princess, and they want to get rid of him! But Talia is convinced that Jack is destined to be her true love. When he escapes, she comes with him. But imagine being away for 300 years! Everything has changed, and Talia has no idea about any of the modern things in our world. Between partying, learning about every new thing in the past three centuries, trying to get Jack to love her, trying to find work, and trying to escape the witch who cursed her, Mavolia, how will Talia survive in this new world? This book is romantic, sweet, and funny, and will always be one of my favorites.

Have you ever wondered what daily life was like in the Medieval Ages in Scotland?

Life was very different than what it is like today. Back then, women basically had barely any rights. Their main purpose was to have children. And back then, most marriages were arranged, and the husband had complete control over his wife. And what about the food? Back then, poorer people mostly ate bread, garden vegetables, and fresh meat. During the winter, they would eat the meat preserved in salt, although salt was very expensive. And guess what? They ate things like peacock and porpoise! They also had never heard of potatoes. You may ask, how was religion different back then? Well, religion was a very important part of daily life back then. A lot of men and women became monks and nuns. There were a few towns that were built off of churches. 

Have you ever wondered about the level of knowledge of medicine back then? First, in order to become a doctor or apothecary, you had to have studied for 10 years, much longer than now. Complicated battle surgery was performed on soldiers. And they believed that your blood had to be perfectly balanced, so they would remove some sometimes!

Have you ever thought about living in a castle? Life at the castle was the good life indeed. The king had loads of servants that would work in the kitchen, do household chores, and entertain the nobles with music and reading. Romance stories were read and acted as entertainment mostly to richer people back then. Music was played one note at a time on a variety of instruments. The castle was very colorful and alive.

And what about clothes? Have you ever thought about what kind of clothes they wore back then? The way it went then was: the simpler your clothes were, the poorer you were. Nobles had access to any fabric they wanted, while peasants and lower classes wore belted tunics (longer for the women), leather shoes, and stockings. Later on, some people wore hats. Lower class women’s clothes were made of wool, but richer women’s clothing was very layered and had colorful and detailed fabric.

Have you ever thought of what would happen if you were in an arranged marriage? How would you feel if you married someone you might not have met before in your life? This might be how the women felt back then. The law says that women were able to marry at 12 years old (that’s how old I turning next week! I could never imagine getting married now!) and boys could marry at 14. Noble weddings normally ended with feasting and celebration.

And that’s how life was in Medieval Scotland!

Sources:

• Education Scotland: “Scotland’s History” 30 Jan 2012 http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/scotlandshistory/medievallife/religionfestivalsandbeliefs/index.asp 


• Achlin, L.K.: “Medieval Ages” 20 Sept 2006 31 Jan 2012 http://www.middleages.org.uk/middle-ages-women.htm 


• Langley, Andrew. Medieval Life. 1st. 1. London: Dorling Kindersley Books, 1996. 18-19,22-23. Print.

         I love to swim. I have been on swim team for almost seven years now. Swimming puts you under a lot of pressure sometimes, though. Take this instance from last year.

My team was facing the toughest team in our area. They had beaten us every single year for the past twenty years. We really wanted to win.

I could tell by the anxious looks in the judges’ eyes that we were neck-and-neck with the other team. It was all coming down to the final race: the freestyle relay.

The last event was an eighteen-and-under boys relay. The other team’s swimmers were fierce. They even looked stronger than our boys. Both teams hopped up on the blocks.

I stared at our swimmers on the blocks’ faces. They were anxious, every part of them shaking with anxiety.

And then the horn blew, and they took off.

They were neck and neck the whole time, even with their boys being stronger. I could tell that our boys knew that they needed to go fast. Our team depended on this race to win.

And then the two final swimmers came up to the blocks. Our swimmer was shaking all over, staring at the tall, muscular guy next to him. I could tell that there was a lot going through his mind. We depended on him, all of us.

It seemed as though the swimmers in the water touched at the same time. And then the final leg was off.

I think half of us in the crowd lost our voices, including my friends and I. We were screaming at the top of our lungs for our team. It looked like it would be a tie.

And then they touched the wall, and it seemed as though it was.

And then the scores appeared on the scoreboard.

We had lost by less than half a second.

Everyone’s faces fell. We had lost the meet by three points: 456-453.

I felt so bad for the guy who was our last leg. He was just wading in the pool, face underwater, shaking all over. I would have said words of comfort to him, but I had lost my voice cheering.

Winning the championship meet had slipped out of our fingers.

And all I could think about was that poor last leg in the water.

I am almost certain that this was how Casey felt, except I think he was overconfident.

I definitely think that professional athletes should not only be able to work hard and have skills in that particular sport, but they should also be a roll model for other people. If this player gave up during a game, his fans would think that it would be okay to give up, too. As an athlete, it's your responsibility to have a  good influence on your fans. People looking for athletes to join their team should not only look for athletic ability, but their attitude as well. Jackie Robinson was chosen for the Brooklyn Dodgers not just because of his athletic ability, but because he had a great attitude and was able to stand up against prejudice against him. 

I think that prejudice can be found almost anywhere. Even today, I have seen prejudice toward black people in all sorts of places. I’ve seen people judge other people by their height, disabilities, and race without even getting to know them! I’ve seen people talk behind others’ backs about things about they don’t like about them. For all they know, the person that they’re talking bad about could turn about to different than you thought. People who judge by skin color are wrong about their acts, because it’s what’s on the inside that counts. It doesn’t matter if you look different. We are all equal in God’s eyes. 

I have three goals for this year: one academic, one spiritual, and one social. My academic goal is to make a better grade in my Honors Pre Algebra class. I feel like I’m falling behind in it because I’m learning  a lot of new, hard concepts. To make my goal, I need to be more organized with my homework, and spend more time checking it when I finish, that way if I catch a wrong answer, I can correct it. I also want to study harder. I think that that will improve my test scores. I want to make this goal by the end of the semester, when our final grade is posted.

My spiritual goal is to go to church services more often. Normally I go every other week, but I want to start going every week instead of skipping because I don’t feel like going. Sometimes, I just go to Confirmation, but then skip the service, but I want to start doing both so that I can can get closer to God. By the end of the school year, my goal is to have gone every week that I can.

My social goal is to stop becoming easily jealous of other people. Sometimes I get jealous of certain things my friends have, like when I was the only person in my group of friends without a cell phone for a long time. I definitely need to stop being jealous of my friends by being more grateful for the things I have, and not spending all my time wanting the things that other people have. I want to meet this goal very soon.

How would you feel if you found out you were a wizard?

Harry Potter does not have the best life. Raised by his mean relatives after the death of his parents, he's been kicked around for years. But his life is changed when he finds out he is a wizard and gets accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Who wouldn't want to go to a school of magic? He has a great time learning magic and magical sports and making new friends, but soon learns that not everyone at Hogwarts is good. In fact, there may be someone who is trying to bring the darkest wizard of all time back...by finding a hidden object inside the castle and killing Harry? The darkest wizard, Lord Voldemort, was almost destroyed when he tried to kill Harry, leaving Harry with a lightning scar. If he were to return, there would be chaos unimaginable. Can Harry, along with his new friends Ron and Hermione, stop them from stealing the object? Will Harry survive?

Somewhere in a jungle, a girl is tasting chocolate that changes her life. She needs to escape.

Cass and Max-Ernest are back in this exciting third book in the Secret Series. Cass' mom falls for Senor Hugo, a mysterious blind chef that Cass does not like. They are invited to his exsquisite restaurant, where a life changing event happens. Cass' mother is kidnapped by Senor Hugo himself. It's up to Cass, Max-Ernest, and their new friend Yo-Yoji to find Cass' mother and save her from the Midnight Sun, the organization Senor Hugo supports. Can they save her in time?

The whole book of One Day for Love didn't get posted, so I will try it again later.

Cass' life is changed when a real estate agent drops off a mysterious box at Cass' grandfathers' house, along with the news that a magician had died. She then meets Max Ernest, a boy who talks way too much, and they decide to investigate the magician's house. They are caught by a seemingly young couple and run away, but not before discovering a mysterious journal. The young couple comes to their school to look for the two kids, but end up kidnapping a synesthete (getting your senses mixed up in your heAD) boy named Benjamin Blake. Cass sees the name on their truck as they drive away, THE MIDNIGHT SUN. Cass disquises herself as a celebrity to save the boy. Will the Midnight Sun discover her true identity? What secrets does the Midnight Sun hold? 

You'll have to read it to find out.

I'm still trying to decide on a title so for now I'll just call it "Valentine's Day"

Chapter Two

Madison was selling.

Sitting on top of her desk, arms extended, showing the bracelets off of her wrist to everyone who wanted to buy. Sales were doing great. She already had sixteen orders and 19 other people had boughten some of the bracelets that she had put on her wrists.

“I want the pink and gold one,” Jenny said. “And the blue and black one.” She held out four quarters. Madison gave her the bracelets and took the change. She stuffed it in her pocket right as the bell rang. That was when Thomas entered the room, casually flipping his hair.

“Hi Thomas!” she said. “Do you want to buy a bracelet for fifty cents?”

Thomas looked at her wrists. “Who would want to buy that?” he said.

Madison was hurt. He had already hust her feelings this morning. She had hoped that he would have bought one. But not because she liked him...

No, wait....it was because she liked him.

She scowled at him, and then slid into her seat and started playing with the shoelaces on her Vans.

It was then that a teacher entered the room. He looked at Madison and said, “Miss Madison, may I buy one of those bracelets in Arkansas colors?”

Madison looked down at her wrists and slid one off. The teacher handed her two quarters, and she handed him the bracelet. “Thank you,” he said. “I understand that you’re selling these all day.”

She nodded.

“Then I’ll buy another one later,” he said.

Madison beamed and opened her computer. She looked at the screen and started chatting with Jenny online.

“Alright, class,” the teacher said. “Open your Mesopotamia notes to section three, we’re going to start with the monotheism of Israel...can anyone tell...”

His voice dragged on, and Madison continued to look at the screen.

But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thomas looking at her. He was smiling.

------------------------------------------------------------

Matt was hiding.

In the janitor’s closet, that is. He had run off after he saw Ada crying out of the corner of his eye as he had left homeroom that morning.

It must have been something about that card, he thought to himself. I wonder what it said...

And then he saw it through the crack in the door. There was a single, crumpled-up pink card in the middle of the hallway. He so desperately wanted to read it, but he didn’t want to get caught outside his classroom.

So carefully and quietly, he reached his arm out as far as possible and touched the corner. He tried to pull it to him, and it took several times before he grabbed it.

He crept his hand back into the closet and turned on the lights. Then he shut the door.

He opened the card. It read:

Back off Matt. He’s mine.

Matt couldn’t believe it. He had just realized two things. One: Ada may like him. Two: Jess was jealous. Matt couldn’t imagine Jess being this mean to anyone. Especially Ada. What was there to be mean about? She was so nice...

But so was Jess.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, he had this feeling that.....well....maybe Ada was better for him.

Wait! Hold up, Matt! You have a girlfriend, he thought. You can’t like Ada.

“I can’t like Matt,” came a voice. It came from the other side of the wall. “He has a girlfriend.” They were talking about him.

“You can still like someone with a boyfriend,” another voice said. Matt was sure this was Madison Black’s voice.

“I know,” the other voice said. “But I think it would be, you know, mean to Jess.” 

“You hate Jess, though.”

“Still.”

Their conversation stopped because they heard a crash.

That crash happened to be Matt crashing into a bucket of water, face first. He had just realized that it was Ada talking, and had tripped.

“What was that?” Madison said.

“I don’t know,” Ada said. “C’mon. Let’s do our homework now.”

“Okay,” Madison said.

Matt sat up, face drenched, just in time to see the door open, and his angry social studies teacher staring down at him.

“Detention,” he said.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Jenny was mixing.

She sat in her seat in the science lab, safety goggles over her glasses. She was measuring how much of the solution was in a graduated cylinder.

Science had always fascinated her. What didn’t fascinate her was that James was in this class.

Sitting across from her.

Being her partner.

Well, he was occupied with talking to Thomas.

Jenny carefully studied the graduated cylinder for  number eighteen. She wrote down the answer for cylinder eighteen: citric acid and water. That was the last problem.

“Done!” she said happily.

Thomas looked up. “Great,” he said. “Now let’s compare answers.”

“What took you so long?” James mumbled. Jenny scowled and ignored him.

“Okay, what did you guys get for one?” Thomas asked the two of them.

“Four and fifty six hundredths,” Jenny said. James mumbled the same thing.

“Same here. Okay...number two....” Thomas went on. The three got the same answers for the next twelve problems. And then they reached problem fourteen.

“5.98745 mL,” Jenny said.

“No,” James said, not mumbling this time. “It’s 5.88745.”

“No, I think my answer is right,” Jenny said, rising from her seat slowly.

“Um, I think I have the right answer.”

“Um, no, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Yours isn’t correct!”

“Yours isn’t! You’re such a WART!”

“A wart?!”

“Yeah, a Wrong Answer Reaching Toad!”

“That’s so dumb, James!”

“Yeah, like YOU!”

Jenny raised her eyebrows and smirked. “Is that another acronym?”

“No,” James said. “But I can make in one! You Overrated Umbrella!”

“That’s even stupider!”

“Kind of like your face!” And then James threw his hands in the air, knocking over seventeen bottles of mixtures and solutions over. They all shattered, and the liquid squirted all over Jenny’s white polo.

The whole class gasped. Jenny’s mouth was open in astonishment as she stared down at her ruined shirt.

“Oh my God,” James said. “I am so sorry!”

Thomas looked at Jenny, and then at James. “That totally ruined your chances, man,” he said.

Jenny was furious. She looked at James with a scowl, and the bell rang.

“Jenny dear,” the teacher said. “Go to the front desk. They’ll have another shirt for you.” The teacher looked at James. “James, go with her so that you can get another shoe.”

James and Jenny walked out of the room, avoiding eye contact with each other.

“I am so sorry, Jenny,” James said.

“Guess what?” Jenny said, her voice full of fury. But then she realized how mean she was being. “Just forget it, okay?” Her tone lightened. “Pretend like it didn’t happen.”

“I’ll still make it up to you, though,” he said. “Look, I know we’re partners tonight. How about I buy you a smoothie of your choice when the thing is over?”

Jenny looked at him, and for a second she thought she saw the old James, the one that she had met on the first day of school a while ago, before they had become enemies....

“Okay,” she said. On the outside, she had a smile. But on the inside, she was confused.

Had James just asked her out?

---------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas was laughing.

About the James and Jenny situation, even a period later. His Bible teacher got on him about breaking out in a fit of laughter randomly in the middle of class.

When the bell rang for lunch, Thomas was the first out of the classroom and weaved his way through other people to get to his locker. He was stopped by Matt about halfway there.

“Did you hear?” he said.

“Yeah,” Thomas said. “Real mess they got into, right? And to think, he liked her...”

Matt shook his head. “No, not that,” he said. “Although, that was kind of funny...”

“You were saying...” Thomas said.

“Oh, right! The Greek Festival is tonight! I’m thinking of going to their restaurant...”

“I thought the Greek festival was in October...” Thomas said.

“They’re having a second one. There’s going to be souvlaki, gyro, tsitsiki sauce...”

“Where are you learning these words?”

“Madison. She loves Greek stuff.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s tsitsiki sauce?”

“Cucumber sauce,” Matt explained.

Thomas gagged.

“But I really think you should go,” Matt said. “I know for a fact that Jack’s going, and...”

“I’ve got it!” Thomas suddenly blurted out. “I’ll ask Madison to go with me!”

“Um,” Matt said, looking like he didn’t know what to say. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks!” Thomas said, and ran to his locker. He stuffed his computer case in it and ran down the hallway and through the doors.

He was so excited. Now he had an excuse to ask her out....now that he knew that she liked Greek stuff....

And it would be a DATE!

He was so excited that he tripped over one of the short brick walls and landed face-first in the grass. He was feeling dazed.

He didn’t even notice that Madison walked by and smiled at him.

---------------------------------------------------------------

James was eating.

Well, eating and writing at the same time. He was in the cafeteria, finishing up a Language Arts assignment that he had forgotten to do last night because he was on Buzz until 11 AM.

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around.

It was Ada.

“Hey,” she said.

“What do you want?” James said. “He personally thought that Ada was kind of annoying.

“I’m giving out valentines,” she said, and the took a blue one out of her pocket. “for other people. They give them to me and I give them to the person that they’re for.

“Do you know who this one’s from?” James asked, twirling the blue valentine in his fingers.

Ada shook her head. “No idea,” she said.

“Oh,” James said. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, and then skipped off down the table aisle.

James looked at the card, and then opened it. Inside, there was a drawing of bottles of chemicals, and words in messy handwriting:

APOLOGY ACCEPTED. SEE YOU TONIGHT. JENNY

James almost choked on his pizza. Jenny had accepted his 10,000 apologies!

And he stared at the words. What did they mean?

Was there a possibility that Jenny liked him back?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ada was skipping.

Around the playground, delivering valentines. She had just finished delivering a group from Abbie, the most popular girl at school, to a couple of boys playing ultimate frisbee. They had been extremely happy.

And so was Ada. She was spreading happiness around the school. She had almost forgotten about Matt...

And then he walked up to her. “Hey, Ada!” he said, and waved.

Ada shyly waved back. “Hi,” she said.

He smiled. “Can you deliver this valentine for me?” He handed her a beautifully created card with gorgeous hand-drawn flowers on every inch. In the middle was “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

“Make sure you deliver it last,” he said. “I don’t want it to get in the way of your other deliveries.”

“Okay,” she said. “I will.”

“And don’t look at the name yet.”

“I won’t.”

He smiled. “Good. See you around,” he said. And then he took off toward the pavilion, where she could see Thomas and James.

He’s so cute, Ada thought.

Then she continued with her deliveries. She had about twenty more before she delivered Matt’s. She wanted to hurry so that she could look at who Matt’s pretty valentine was for.

Luckily, Madison had taught her to run very fast, and she was able to deliver all of the valentines except for Matt’s before the bell rang.

And as she walked back to the junior high building, she looked on the inside of Matt’s valentine to see who it was for. On the inside were a few words.

U R Beautiful.

She gasped. It was not because of those words, but because at the top of the page, clear as day, were the best words that Ada had ever seen, and she jumped for joy.

To Ada

Chapter Three

Madison was walking.

“Hey, are you going to the Greek festival tonight?” came a voice behind her.

She turned around. It was Matt.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe.”

“Do you think it sounds interesting, though?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “But I don’t have enough money to buy a ticket.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. The food is my favorite part.”

“By the way, thanks for teaching me those Greek food words.”

“You’re welcome. Why did you want to know them, anyway?”

“Greece unit in Social Studies.”

Madison raised her eyebrows. “That’s not until the next six weeks,” she said. She knew he was lying. “And we’re studying ancient Greece.”

Matt ran off without saying a word.

“Boys,” Madison muttered. Then she followed Matt. She knew he was up to something now.

Thank goodness this period was a free period. She could not miss a class. 

She followed him around the corner and out across the quad (a large area of bricks in between the junior high and high school buildings), until he walked up to a bush. Madison hid behind a nearby tree, watching.

And out from the bush came Thomas.

She listened to their conversation.

“She says she wants to go,” Matt said. “but she doesn’t have enough for a ticket.”

“They’re seven bucks,” Thomas said. “What girl doesn’t have seven bucks?”

“She doesn’t,” Matt said. “So you’d have to buy her ticket. It’d be a nice thing.”

“Do you honestly think that I have an extra seven dollars on me?”

“No.”

“Then how in the world would I buy her ticket?”

“I’ll loan you some...as long as you pay it back.”

“Thanks, man.”

She saw Matt slip Thomas some cash.

“Now go ask her out.”

Madison gasped and ran off from behind the tree, hoping that neither of them saw her. 

She was smiling and laughing now. The guy that she liked liked her back! She jumped up and down and then pulled out her iPhone and texted Jenny.

Thomas is gonna ask me out!!!

Jenny’s response: Really?

Yah.

How do u no

overheard him tlkng 

kool but u said u didnt like NE1

i may have lied. g2g

bye

But I have to pretend like I didn’t overhear him when he asks me, Madison thought to herself.

So instead of dancing to her locker, which she would normally do in a situation like this, she walked sophisticatedly.

But inside her head, there was  a celebration.

-------------------------------------------------------

Matt was planning.

He knew that Jess was mean, but he had still promised to take her on a date tonight. Maybe he would break up with her there. Although...it would be kind of mean to break up with someone on Valentine’s Day. 

Nah, Ada was worth it.

He smiled as he thought of Ada opening the card and seeing the message that he had written....she was rather pretty.....

Matt, get ahold of yourself! You’re planning a date with another girl! Stop liking Ada! he thought to himself.

Here was his plan so far (he had written down):

Step One: Show up at her door with flowers (lilies)

Step Two: Take her to her favorite restaurant (Mellow Mushroom)

Step Three: Take her to the fireworks display at Medlock Park.

Step Four: First Kiss (hopefully)

He was still a little nervous about step four, though, because he knew that it would make him give up completely on liking Ada. 

Was it worth it?

No, it would hurt Ada too much. He knew that she liked him now, and if he were to stop liking her (she knew that he sort of liked her via the card), she would burst into tears and ruin her happy streak.

That would be awful. Because a day without Ada is like a day without happiness.

And as soon as he thought that, he knew that Ada was who he really liked.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jenny was tying.

Her shoelaces, actually. They had come undone.

She was on her way to Media Literacy, her second to last class of the day, with Ada. She and Ada were somewhat friends, they always talked, but they weren’t best friends like Jenny and Madison.

“So James kind of asked you out?” Ada said.

“Yeah, I guess,” Jenny replied. “He offered to buy me something after church at McDonald’s.”

“But wasn’t that just to make up for spilling those chemicals on you?” Ada asked. She giggled.

Jenny giggled. “I guess,” she said.

“Wait,” Ada said, and stopped where she was. “You sounded dissapointed when I said it wasn’t a date. Hold on.”

Jenny swallowed hard. Did Ada figure out her secret.

“Oh my Gosh,” Ada said, and a smile came across her face. “You like him!”

Crud, Jenny said inside her head.

“So what if I do?” Jenny said, speeding up her pace a little. They were going to be late now.

“Nothing,” Ada said. “I just think it’s surprising.”

“Well you like someone,” Jenny said.

Ada’s smile faded. “How do you know that?” she asked.

“I observe people carefully,” Jenny said, which was true. She had followed Ada’s dreamy gaze towards Matt earlier that morning.

“Oh,” Ada said.

Jenny felt bad. She had taken the brightness out of Ada. She put a reassuring hand on Ada’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” Jenny said. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Ada smiled. “Thanks, Jenny. I knew I could rely on you.”

----------------------------------------------------------

Thomas was eager.

Now was his chance to ask out Madison. He spotted her in the hallway.

“Wait!” Thomas called, running down the hallway. “Madison!”

Madison turned around, almost smacking her bag into the wall. “Yes?”

“Can—um—I buy a bracelet?” Thomas said nervously, twisting his shirt collar.

I'm still trying to decide on a title so for now I'll just call it "Valentine's Day"

Chapter Two

Madison was selling.

Sitting on top of her desk, arms extended, showing the bracelets off of her wrist to everyone who wanted to buy. Sales were doing great. She already had sixteen orders and 19 other people had boughten some of the bracelets that she had put on her wrists.

“I want the pink and gold one,” Jenny said. “And the blue and black one.” She held out four quarters. Madison gave her the bracelets and took the change. She stuffed it in her pocket right as the bell rang. That was when Thomas entered the room, casually flipping his hair.

“Hi Thomas!” she said. “Do you want to buy a bracelet for fifty cents?”

Thomas looked at her wrists. “Who would want to buy that?” he said.

Madison was hurt. He had already hust her feelings this morning. She had hoped that he would have bought one. But not because she liked him...

No, wait....it was because she liked him.

She scowled at him, and then slid into her seat and started playing with the shoelaces on her Vans.

It was then that a teacher entered the room. He looked at Madison and said, “Miss Madison, may I buy one of those bracelets in Arkansas colors?”

Madison looked down at her wrists and slid one off. The teacher handed her two quarters, and she handed him the bracelet. “Thank you,” he said. “I understand that you’re selling these all day.”

She nodded.

“Then I’ll buy another one later,” he said.

Madison beamed and opened her computer. She looked at the screen and started chatting with Jenny online.

“Alright, class,” the teacher said. “Open your Mesopotamia notes to section three, we’re going to start with the monotheism of Israel...can anyone tell...”

His voice dragged on, and Madison continued to look at the screen.

But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Thomas looking at her. He was smiling.

------------------------------------------------------------

Matt was hiding.

In the janitor’s closet, that is. He had run off after he saw Ada crying out of the corner of his eye as he had left homeroom that morning.

It must have been something about that card, he thought to himself. I wonder what it said...

And then he saw it through the crack in the door. There was a single, crumpled-up pink card in the middle of the hallway. He so desperately wanted to read it, but he didn’t want to get caught outside his classroom.

So carefully and quietly, he reached his arm out as far as possible and touched the corner. He tried to pull it to him, and it took several times before he grabbed it.

He crept his hand back into the closet and turned on the lights. Then he shut the door.

He opened the card. It read:

Back off Matt. He’s mine.

Matt couldn’t believe it. He had just realized two things. One: Ada may like him. Two: Jess was jealous. Matt couldn’t imagine Jess being this mean to anyone. Especially Ada. What was there to be mean about? She was so nice...

But so was Jess.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, he had this feeling that.....well....maybe Ada was better for him.

Wait! Hold up, Matt! You have a girlfriend, he thought. You can’t like Ada.

“I can’t like Matt,” came a voice. It came from the other side of the wall. “He has a girlfriend.” They were talking about him.

“You can still like someone with a boyfriend,” another voice said. Matt was sure this was Madison Black’s voice.

“I know,” the other voice said. “But I think it would be, you know, mean to Jess.” 

“You hate Jess, though.”

“Still.”

Their conversation stopped because they heard a crash.

That crash happened to be Matt crashing into a bucket of water, face first. He had just realized that it was Ada talking, and had tripped.

“What was that?” Madison said.

“I don’t know,” Ada said. “C’mon. Let’s do our homework now.”

“Okay,” Madison said.

Matt sat up, face drenched, just in time to see the door open, and his angry social studies teacher staring down at him.

“Detention,” he said.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Jenny was mixing.

She sat in her seat in the science lab, safety goggles over her glasses. She was measuring how much of the solution was in a graduated cylinder.

Science had always fascinated her. What didn’t fascinate her was that James was in this class.

Sitting across from her.

Being her partner.

Well, he was occupied with talking to Thomas.

Jenny carefully studied the graduated cylinder for  number eighteen. She wrote down the answer for cylinder eighteen: citric acid and water. That was the last problem.

“Done!” she said happily.

Thomas looked up. “Great,” he said. “Now let’s compare answers.”

“What took you so long?” James mumbled. Jenny scowled and ignored him.

“Okay, what did you guys get for one?” Thomas asked the two of them.

“Four and fifty six hundredths,” Jenny said. James mumbled the same thing.

“Same here. Okay...number two....” Thomas went on. The three got the same answers for the next twelve problems. And then they reached problem fourteen.

“5.98745 mL,” Jenny said.

“No,” James said, not mumbling this time. “It’s 5.88745.”

“No, I think my answer is right,” Jenny said, rising from her seat slowly.

“Um, I think I have the right answer.”

“Um, no, you don’t.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Yours isn’t correct!”

“Yours isn’t! You’re such a WART!”

“A wart?!”

“Yeah, a Wrong Answer Reaching Toad!”

“That’s so dumb, James!”

“Yeah, like YOU!”

Jenny raised her eyebrows and smirked. “Is that another acronym?”

“No,” James said. “But I can make in one! You Overrated Umbrella!”

“That’s even stupider!”

“Kind of like your face!” And then James threw his hands in the air, knocking over seventeen bottles of mixtures and solutions over. They all shattered, and the liquid squirted all over Jenny’s white polo.

The whole class gasped. Jenny’s mouth was open in astonishment as she stared down at her ruined shirt.

“Oh my God,” James said. “I am so sorry!”

Thomas looked at Jenny, and then at James. “That totally ruined your chances, man,” he said.

Jenny was furious. She looked at James with a scowl, and the bell rang.

“Jenny dear,” the teacher said. “Go to the front desk. They’ll have another shirt for you.” The teacher looked at James. “James, go with her so that you can get another shoe.”

James and Jenny walked out of the room, avoiding eye contact with each other.

“I am so sorry, Jenny,” James said.

“Guess what?” Jenny said, her voice full of fury. But then she realized how mean she was being. “Just forget it, okay?” Her tone lightened. “Pretend like it didn’t happen.”

“I’ll still make it up to you, though,” he said. “Look, I know we’re partners tonight. How about I buy you a smoothie of your choice when the thing is over?”

Jenny looked at him, and for a second she thought she saw the old James, the one that she had met on the first day of school a while ago, before they had become enemies....

“Okay,” she said. On the outside, she had a smile. But on the inside, she was confused.

Had James just asked her out?

---------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas was laughing.

About the James and Jenny situation, even a period later. His Bible teacher got on him about breaking out in a fit of laughter randomly in the middle of class.

When the bell rang for lunch, Thomas was the first out of the classroom and weaved his way through other people to get to his locker. He was stopped by Matt about halfway there.

“Did you hear?” he said.

“Yeah,” Thomas said. “Real mess they got into, right? And to think, he liked her...”

Matt shook his head. “No, not that,” he said. “Although, that was kind of funny...”

“You were saying...” Thomas said.

“Oh, right! The Greek Festival is tonight! I’m thinking of going to their restaurant...”

“I thought the Greek festival was in October...” Thomas said.

“They’re having a second one. There’s going to be souvlaki, gyro, tsitsiki sauce...”

“Where are you learning these words?”

“Madison. She loves Greek stuff.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s tsitsiki sauce?”

“Cucumber sauce,” Matt explained.

Thomas gagged.

“But I really think you should go,” Matt said. “I know for a fact that Jack’s going, and...”

“I’ve got it!” Thomas suddenly blurted out. “I’ll ask Madison to go with me!”

“Um,” Matt said, looking like he didn’t know what to say. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks!” Thomas said, and ran to his locker. He stuffed his computer case in it and ran down the hallway and through the doors.

He was so excited. Now he had an excuse to ask her out....now that he knew that she liked Greek stuff....

And it would be a DATE!

He was so excited that he tripped over one of the short brick walls and landed face-first in the grass. He was feeling dazed.

He didn’t even notice that Madison walked by and smiled at him.

---------------------------------------------------------------

James was eating.

Well, eating and writing at the same time. He was in the cafeteria, finishing up a Language Arts assignment that he had forgotten to do last night because he was on Buzz until 11 AM.

Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around.

It was Ada.

“Hey,” she said.

“What do you want?” James said. “He personally thought that Ada was kind of annoying.

“I’m giving out valentines,” she said, and the took a blue one out of her pocket. “for other people. They give them to me and I give them to the person that they’re for.

“Do you know who this one’s from?” James asked, twirling the blue valentine in his fingers.

Ada shook her head. “No idea,” she said.

“Oh,” James said. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, and then skipped off down the table aisle.

James looked at the card, and then opened it. Inside, there was a drawing of bottles of chemicals, and words in messy handwriting:

APOLOGY ACCEPTED. SEE YOU TONIGHT. JENNY

James almost choked on his pizza. Jenny had accepted his 10,000 apologies!

And he stared at the words. What did they mean?

Was there a possibility that Jenny liked him back?

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Ada was skipping.

Around the playground, delivering valentines. She had just finished delivering a group from Abbie, the most popular girl at school, to a couple of boys playing ultimate frisbee. They had been extremely happy.

And so was Ada. She was spreading happiness around the school. She had almost forgotten about Matt...

And then he walked up to her. “Hey, Ada!” he said, and waved.

Ada shyly waved back. “Hi,” she said.

He smiled. “Can you deliver this valentine for me?” He handed her a beautifully created card with gorgeous hand-drawn flowers on every inch. In the middle was “Happy Valentine’s Day!”

“Make sure you deliver it last,” he said. “I don’t want it to get in the way of your other deliveries.”

“Okay,” she said. “I will.”

“And don’t look at the name yet.”

“I won’t.”

He smiled. “Good. See you around,” he said. And then he took off toward the pavilion, where she could see Thomas and James.

He’s so cute, Ada thought.

Then she continued with her deliveries. She had about twenty more before she delivered Matt’s. She wanted to hurry so that she could look at who Matt’s pretty valentine was for.

Luckily, Madison had taught her to run very fast, and she was able to deliver all of the valentines except for Matt’s before the bell rang.

And as she walked back to the junior high building, she looked on the inside of Matt’s valentine to see who it was for. On the inside were a few words.

U R Beautiful.

She gasped. It was not because of those words, but because at the top of the page, clear as day, were the best words that Ada had ever seen, and she jumped for joy.

To Ada

Chapter Three

Madison was walking.

“Hey, are you going to the Greek festival tonight?” came a voice behind her.

She turned around. It was Matt.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe.”

“Do you think it sounds interesting, though?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she said. “But I don’t have enough money to buy a ticket.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. The food is my favorite part.”

“By the way, thanks for teaching me those Greek food words.”

“You’re welcome. Why did you want to know them, anyway?”

“Greece unit in Social Studies.”

Madison raised her eyebrows. “That’s not until the next six weeks,” she said. She knew he was lying. “And we’re studying ancient Greece.”

Matt ran off without saying a word.

“Boys,” Madison muttered. Then she followed Matt. She knew he was up to something now.

Thank goodness this period was a free period. She could not miss a class. 

She followed him around the corner and out across the quad (a large area of bricks in between the junior high and high school buildings), until he walked up to a bush. Madison hid behind a nearby tree, watching.

And out from the bush came Thomas.

She listened to their conversation.

“She says she wants to go,” Matt said. “but she doesn’t have enough for a ticket.”

“They’re seven bucks,” Thomas said. “What girl doesn’t have seven bucks?”

“She doesn’t,” Matt said. “So you’d have to buy her ticket. It’d be a nice thing.”

“Do you honestly think that I have an extra seven dollars on me?”

“No.”

“Then how in the world would I buy her ticket?”

“I’ll loan you some...as long as you pay it back.”

“Thanks, man.”

She saw Matt slip Thomas some cash.

“Now go ask her out.”

Madison gasped and ran off from behind the tree, hoping that neither of them saw her. 

She was smiling and laughing now. The guy that she liked liked her back! She jumped up and down and then pulled out her iPhone and texted Jenny.

Thomas is gonna ask me out!!!

Jenny’s response: Really?

Yah.

How do u no

overheard him tlkng 

kool but u said u didnt like NE1

i may have lied. g2g

bye

But I have to pretend like I didn’t overhear him when he asks me, Madison thought to herself.

So instead of dancing to her locker, which she would normally do in a situation like this, she walked sophisticatedly.

But inside her head, there was  a celebration.

-------------------------------------------------------

Matt was planning.

He knew that Jess was mean, but he had still promised to take her on a date tonight. Maybe he would break up with her there. Although...it would be kind of mean to break up with someone on Valentine’s Day. 

Nah, Ada was worth it.

He smiled as he thought of Ada opening the card and seeing the message that he had written....she was rather pretty.....

Matt, get ahold of yourself! You’re planning a date with another girl! Stop liking Ada! he thought to himself.

Here was his plan so far (he had written down):

Step One: Show up at her door with flowers (lilies)

Step Two: Take her to her favorite restaurant (Mellow Mushroom)

Step Three: Take her to the fireworks display at Medlock Park.

Step Four: First Kiss (hopefully)

He was still a little nervous about step four, though, because he knew that it would make him give up completely on liking Ada. 

Was it worth it?

No, it would hurt Ada too much. He knew that she liked him now, and if he were to stop liking her (she knew that he sort of liked her via the card), she would burst into tears and ruin her happy streak.

That would be awful. Because a day without Ada is like a day without happiness.

And as soon as he thought that, he knew that Ada was who he really liked.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Jenny was tying.

Her shoelaces, actually. They had come undone.

She was on her way to Media Literacy, her second to last class of the day, with Ada. She and Ada were somewhat friends, they always talked, but they weren’t best friends like Jenny and Madison.

“So James kind of asked you out?” Ada said.

“Yeah, I guess,” Jenny replied. “He offered to buy me something after church at McDonald’s.”

“But wasn’t that just to make up for spilling those chemicals on you?” Ada asked. She giggled.

Jenny giggled. “I guess,” she said.

“Wait,” Ada said, and stopped where she was. “You sounded dissapointed when I said it wasn’t a date. Hold on.”

Jenny swallowed hard. Did Ada figure out her secret.

“Oh my Gosh,” Ada said, and a smile came across her face. “You like him!”

Crud, Jenny said inside her head.

“So what if I do?” Jenny said, speeding up her pace a little. They were going to be late now.

“Nothing,” Ada said. “I just think it’s surprising.”

“Well you like someone,” Jenny said.

Ada’s smile faded. “How do you know that?” she asked.

“I observe people carefully,” Jenny said, which was true. She had followed Ada’s dreamy gaze towards Matt earlier that morning.

“Oh,” Ada said.

Jenny felt bad. She had taken the brightness out of Ada. She put a reassuring hand on Ada’s shoulder. “Don’t worry,” Jenny said. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Ada smiled. “Thanks, Jenny. I knew I could rely on you.”

----------------------------------------------------------

Thomas was eager.

Now was his chance to ask out Madison. He spotted her in the hallway.

“Wait!” Thomas called, running down the hallway. “Madison!”

Madison turned around, almost smacking her bag into the wall. “Yes?”

“Can—um—I buy a bracelet?” Thomas said nervously, twisting his shirt collar.

Valentine’s Day

By LH7









Chapter One

















Never judge a book by its cover.

    If you judged this book by its cover you would probably assume that it’s a mystery book, right?

    If you suspected that, you’re wrong.

    This is actually a love story. Well, my love story. And Jenny’s. And Thomas’. And Ada’s. And a few more people’s. And it takes place on the love story day itself:

    Valentine’s Day.

    Yeah, this whole book takes place on one day, so now you think it’ll be short and boring, right?

    Again: Never judge a book by its cover.

    Especially this one.

                        Enjoy, Madison

---------------------------------------------------------------------



Madison was braiding.

    String, that is. She was making bracelets to sell at school on Valentine’s Day, which was tomorrow.

    PING! Her phone beeped.

    She let go of the string and picked up her iPhone off of the table. She had gotten a text from her friend Jenny. ‘Sup? it read.

    Nothing, she texted back.

    U realize that Vday is in 40 sec, rite? Jenny replied.

    Yea, Madison replied.

    R u excited?

    No

    Y not?

    Bcuz I’m not in luv.

    I understand i guess.

    U do?

    Yea.

    Really?

    I guess

    So u dont like NE1

    NO

    hmmm....

    see u 2moro then.

    KK :)

    Madison now had a suspicion that Jenny was hiding something from her that had to do with liking someone.

    And then the grandfather clock down the hallway chimed loudly. It was now officially Valentine’s Day.

    Madison picked up her string again and started braiding. She tried her hardest to make herself believe that today was still the thirteenth of February, not the day of love.

    She would never admit who she wanted to ask her out today.

    She would never even admit that she liked someone. She was good at hiding it, because people just knew her as Madison: the nice, quiet kid who loves football and apple smoothies, not boys.

    She wouldn’t admit anything.

    She tied off the last bracelet and threw it into a pile of about 50 others.

    At least there was one thing to keep her occupied with today.



Matt was typing.

    He was working on a new story about today. Valentine’s Day.

    He looked over at his clock. It was four in the morning. He could certainly not fall asleep now. He knew he would have to get up in two hours anyway. So he went back to typing, which got boring after about five minutes. He had been working on his story since midnight. That was definitely enough pages for today.

    He clicked out of Word and went online, where he opened Buzz. 40 new messages were awaiting him (because he had not checked it at school, there were a lot of comments that he had missed).

    He read through about thirty useless ones about brick tag, eyebrow dances, Caramelldansen, and tables pranks. And then the thirty-first popped up.    It was from Jess, his girlfriend. He smiled. It read, Happy V-day every1! Cant wait for Matt and my dinner date tonight!

    He clicked like and stared at his computer for a moment, thinking about her. Her profile picture looked back at him.

    He couldn’t wait either.

    Although, there was one other girl that caught his eye. She wasn’t incredibly pretty, but she was just so...nice....to EVERYONE! That was hard to do, Matt thought. He thought of her for a moment: her brunette shoulder-length hair and soft, grey eyes. He pictured the way she smiled at him at school, and how she had placed that bandage on his ankle when he had sprained it in third grade....

    No. Stop. He had a girlfriend now. He couldn’t think that he might possibly like Ada Blackwin.

-----------------------------------------------

Jenny was waiting.

    She was standing in front of the apartment building, looking at the parking lot. No sign of her mom yet.

    This is not like her, Jenny thought. She’s a half an hour late to pick me up.

    She shivered. Wearing nothing a white polo and a khaki skirt, not a jacket in sight, she was freezing in the October weather. She tried sticking her arms inside of her shirt, but that didn’t help. She pulled her arms out just as her mom came around the corner in her red Kia Soul. Jenny had always admired her mom’s style when it came to cars. Instead of a minivan, she had a bright and bold square car.

    When she hopped in, she tried to ask her mom why she was late, but Maroon 5 was blasting so loud that Jenny’s mom couldn’t hear her.

    “MOM!” she finally screamed louder than the music, and her voice cracked.

    Her mom reached for the knob to turn the music down. “What? I couldn’t hear you,” she said.

    “I asked you why you were late to pick me up,” Jenny said.

    “Oh,” her mom said. “I was enjoying a nice organic all-natural smoothie with Mrs. Dolan across the street and I lost track of time, I guess. Oh, dear, Happy Valentine’s Day!”

    Jenny sighed. “At six in the morning, mom? And thanks,” she said.

    “It’s not bad to be an early riser, Jennifer,” she said, and her eyes shifted to Jenny’s bare arms.

    Jenny’s mom sighed. “We have got to get you a new jacket,” she said. Jenny’s white jacket that she had gotten a few weeks ago had had organic orange juice spilled on it that was apparently permanently staining.

    Jenny’s mother pulled out of the parking lot and around the corner, and turned onto the highway.

    “Mom,” Jenny asked. “What time is it?”

    “It’s 6:30, sweetie,” she said.

    “Yes!” Jenny should, pulling her laptop out of its case. “They should be posted!”

    “What?” Jenny’s mom asked.

    “Our partners for that mini project that we’re doing tonight at six, remember?”

    Jenny’s mom gasped. “I forgot about it completely! We have to get you all ready.... maybe you’ll agree to wear some more mascara than usual...”

    “Mom!” Jenny said. “It’s just a school activity! No need to get fancy!” Jenny felt that her mom wanted everything to be pretty all of the time. Just for school, Jenny had to curl her hair, wear makeup, and wear earrings that had to have at least three layers of dangles.

    “I know, sweetie, but there’s never an excuse to not look your best,” she said.

    Jenny opened her computer and turned it on. She got onto Safari with no problem (for some reason, her computer could connect to a Wi-Fi network almost anywhere) and opened up her school page. The names were posted on the front page.

    “Here they are!” Jenny said. “Let’s see…ta ta ta…aw…” Jenny felt like her whole shop was shutting down. She clenched her fists.

    “What’s wrong?” Jenny’s mom asked.

    “I’m paired with James,” she said.

----------------------------------------------------------

James was angry.

    For one thing, he was riding on a crowded city bus with no one to talk to.

    Another thing: he was missing a shoe.

    Another thing: he was partners with Jenny.

    Jenny was his enemy. She had accidentally spread rumors that he had picked his nose in fourth grade (which so wasn’t true!), and they had been enemies ever since. They hadn’t even spoken a word to each other in almost three years. And there was that little thing haunting him about her....

    He couldn’t work with her. It would end in an all-out fight.

    And he might be kicked out of the group.

    Forever.

    Stop it, James, he thought. You might jinx it.

    The bus came to a halt outside of the school. “All students of Ashton Middle School may exit the bus at this time,” said the voice over the intercom.

    James and two other people stood up. One was Thomas, James’ best friend (who James had not even realized was on the bus). He had dark hair that hid one eye and a pale complexion. The other was a girl with very long brown hair and green eyes. Madison.

    Thomas walked over to James. “Guess what?” he said.

    “What?” James said. “No...let me guess....um.....nah, I got nothing.”

    Thomas smiled. “I think I’m going to ask Madison out today,” he said, his eyes shifting, probably making sure that she was not still on the bus.

    “Good luck with that, man,” James said.

    Thomas raised his eyebrows. “Are you saying that you think she’ll turn me down?” he said.

    James shrugged. Thomas playfully punched him in the arm.

    “So,” Thomas said. “What’s up with you?” They stepped off the bus and onto the pavement.

    James looked down. “I’m missing a shoe,” he said.

    “That’s interesting,” Thomas said, smiling. “Come on! It’s Valentine’s Day! Why aren’t you happy?”

    “Because Valentine’s Day isn’t a day to be happy about,” James said. “It’s a day to have happy couples make you envious.”

    “Ah,” Thomas said, a smile coming across his face. “You like someone, then?” He nudged James with his elbow.

    James shrugged. “I guess,” he mumbled.

    “Come on,” Thomas said. “Tell Thomas. Please?”

    James mumbled something so low that neither of them could understand it.

    “What?” Thomas asked.

    “Jenny,” he whispered.

-------------------------------------------------------

Ada was thinking.

    She was the only one in homeroom that Friday morning, Valentine’s Day. Stuffed inside her jeans and jacket pockets were 34 homemade valentines that she was ready to hand out to her friends.

    She had already stuck one inside of Matt’s locker, along with a fake rose that she had bought on her way home from school at the dollar store. She hoped that when he looked at it, he would recognize her handwriting and ask her out...

    ...and they would live happily ever after.

    But it probably wouldn’t happen.

    But there was still a chance that it would.

    Maybe.

    Possibly.

    Her thoughts were broken by the sound of someone knocking on her desk. She opened her eyes and saw that many more kids had come in. How long had she been thinking? And then she looked up, and there was Matt and Jess.

    Oh, how Ada hated Jess.

    And it wasn’t just because she was dating Matt....

    No, wait. It was.

    “Hi, Ada,” Matt said. Jess scowled behind him. Ada looked down a little and started crying on the inside when she saw their hands interlocked.

    “Hello,” Ada said softly. She hoped that she wasn’t blushing.

    “What’s up?” he asked.

    She shrugged. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” she said.

    “Yeah, I guess. Listen, Jess and I came here because she wants to give you a valentine.”

    Ada raised her eyes in suspicion. Why would Jess want to give her a valentine.

    Jess smiled (which Ada could tell was totally fake) and pulled a pink card out of her pocket and handed it to Ada.

    “Thanks,” Ada said, doing her best to look happy. She tried so hard to be nice to everyone...but that was really hard to do when it came to Jess.

    “Okay, see you around!” Matt said, smiling. And then he and Jess walked out of the room, still holding hands.

    Ada looked back at the pink card. It had one silver heart on the front of it. She opened it up. Inside were five words in neat handwriting:



Back off Matt. He’s mine.



She could feel a tear sliding down her cheek.

    And then Matt appeared in the door. “By the way, I got an annonymous valentine today. Do you know who it’s from by any chance?”

    Ada wanted to tell him so bad that it was her, but instead she said, “No.”

    And then Matt shrugged and disappeared, and Ada buried her face in her hands and let the tears pour out.

   

   

   

how would i design the library of the future?

by: LH7



    I would love to design it (as long as books exist in the future)!

    If I designed the library of the future, I would make everything look modern and futuristic. I would make all of the bookshelves made of glass so that you could see through them, and I would make each shelf a different genre, and all the books in the genre would be arranged alphabetically. This would help you if you knew what kind of genre you wanted, but didn’t know which book to choose. You would have all of your options in one place instead of scrambled about.

    And let’s say you had a certain book in mind. I would make it so that you could say the title of the book and it would come to you using whatever technology is around then. This would be good for if you were in a hurry to get somewhere, but wanted to get a book first. It would make library searching much easier.

    Of course, just because it’s the future, there would be a robot scanning and checking out books for everyone. Librarians would still be helping around the library, and they could still help check out, but the robot would be for when they were too tired to check out books.

    And, if you would prefer to read books on a screen rather than on paper, there would be a Kindle lab in the back with all of the newest models, which would each have all of the books in the library on them.

    There would be a floating seating area where you could sit in chairs that hover over the floor. This would be a great place for enjoying the book that zoomed right into your hands.

    And last, I would create rooms in the back for if people wanted to meet there for a book club. They would be open to all, and I could rent them out for a certain number of hours to each group.

    Does this sound like a good future library? I know I would want to go there.

If my name could be anything... by LH7

It would be

August

My great-grandmother’s name was Augusta, and she went by August when she was younger. But as soon as my family grew bigger, she went by Grandma Gus. She was really close to me, but she died in April, right before her 94th birthday. I think that if my name was August, then it would help me remember her and feel like a part of her was still in me. It’s not that I don’t like my name, I just think that August fits me better.

What is prejudice?

By LH7

When I hear the word prejudice, I think of people letting people of there kind do things that another race, religion, or group is not allowed to do. For example, sometimes in the 19th century, people would not let black people vote because they were different than white people. I hated how white people thought that black people were horrible just because of the difference in skin color. They would never talk to black people, so they would never know that they were really nice people.

I also think of discrimination. People treat other people differently because they look or believe differently than them. Like not letting women work in Afghanistan because the men believe that their only purpose on earth is to work inside and have kids. I think the men there should actually talk to their wives instead of just dragging them around like a dog on a leash. The women there must feel ashamed because the men treat them with such disrespect.

I think that prejudice is awful because just because people look different doesn’t mean that you should treat them with disrespect. I am so glad that we don’t use prejudice against black people anymore (well, at least in my area).

I looked up the definition, and this is what came up:

prejudice 

noun

1 preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience : English prejudice against foreigners | anti-Jewish prejudices. See note at bias .

verb [ trans. ]

From Dictionary.com.