Prologue
“Anna! Why are you still in bed? You’re gonna be late!” My mother’s shrill voice filled my tiny bedroom, announcing that school was, once again, about to start. I stole a glance at my alarm clock, 6:30am. As usual, my mom was over exaggerating. I smiled when the smell of breakfast hit my nose, and drooled a little at the sound of bacon sizzling as it hit the frying pan. Untangling myself from my pink and purple polka-dot bed cover, I threw on my Powerpuff Girls t-shirt and my jean skirt. Mom would help me with my hair before it was time to leave. Then I glided down the stairs in a much better mood than the one I was in when I first woke up.
Today is the first day of 3rd grade…and my ears are tingling. I could not be in a better mood. On my 5th birthday, the day I got my puppy Max, my ears tingled. The day my mom surprised me by taking me out of school in the 1st grade to see Anastasia on Ice, my ears tingled. When the ears tingle, it’s a good sign. However, sometimes I mistake tingling with tiny pain. I felt a little sting in my ears the morning my mom checked into the hospital to give birth. But instead of bringing home my baby brother, she came back with so many tears that I thought she would never be happy again. I felt that same pain in my ears when, after years of screaming at each other, my parents sat me down and told me they were getting a divorce. So, long story short; ear-tingling is good, ear-stinging is bad. I’ve never been able to explain the sensation to anyone, but there it is.
Breakfast and the walk out to the bus was a blur, but I was almost sure that my ears were tingling and not stinging. And I knew that I was right when the bus driver sat me next to Johnny. He had dirty-blonde, messy hair, cute little Harry Potter-framed glasses, and the clearest, crystal blue eyes I had ever seen. When he looked up at me and smiled, I could feel my heart slowly melting. “Hi,” he said, “my name is John Way. And if you say ‘no way,’ you can forget about sitting next to me.” Then he winked. I laughed and said, “Well then I won’t say that.” Not the cleverest thing I’ve ever said, but then he patted the spot next to him and I forgot everything. We got to talking and once we were at school, we realized we were both in Mrs. Cooper’s class. By the end of the day, I was saying his name wrong so often that he decided I was the only one he would allow to call him that; Johnny. When I got home that afternoon, there was no doubt in my mind. This morning, my ears had been tingling. How could meeting Johnny possibly lead to anything terrible in my life? I don’t know much about falling in love, I’m only 8. But I have a feeling that this is pretty close to how Ariel felt when she saw Eric dancing around on his ship.
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