Don't Pay Attention

Mom pulled the Mazda into the church parking lot. I could see Ms. Ava loading up the van with our stuff. I could also so MariStella, Allen and Lee all chatting to each other. Noel and Aleeya came running up to the car. Aleeya opened up my door. "Jasey Rae! I haven't seen you inlike three weeks!" she yelled ambushing me with a hug. I escaped her death grip and hugged Noel. " I have missed you. You haven't been to church in forever." she said grabbing my pillow from the trunk. "I know girl! I've been busy packing for good ole Salt Lake City, Utah." I replied. The girls went awkwardly silent. After a few moments of the silence, I couldn't take it anymore. "So, where is Isabelle?" I asked rolling ym suitcase to the church van. Izzy was my other best friend. As if on cue, Izzy's mom pulled up into the parking lot. "IZZY!" I shouted dropping everything onto the ground. "JASEY RAE!" she yelled back. I hugged her tightly. "I miss you so much!" She said. I stepped back and smiled. "I'm so excited you are coming to Caswell with us before I leave." I said. Izzy made a puppy dog face. "Aww, Jasey. SHUT UP! I don't want to talk about it. Let's just focus on the awesome week we are going to have." Izzy's face lightened. "Yeah true. I have this week, and then one more week here untill I leave. I'm taking the first week of school off when I get to Utah so I can help mom with the house and her studio." Mom walked over to me and Izzy. "Bye Jasey! I love you! Have fun!" she said as she kissed me goodbye. I told her that I loved her back and waved as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Okay. Is everyone here? MariStella, Noel, Jasey Rae, Izzy, Aleeya, Allen and Lee? Cool beans! We are off to Caswell!" Ms Ava our group leader said counting us off. I threw my guitar in the back and quickly boarded the bus. In the backseat it was me and Izzy. In the seat infront of us, it was Noel and Aleeya. In the front seat, it was MariStella, Allen, and Lee. "Woo hoo! Caswell bound!!" Allen shouted. The group woo-ed and it wasn't long before we were all in a boisterous chatter. The girls talked about hot guys and the guys talked about hot girls. "Gosh, I am so excited for the breeze and the smell of the ocean" I said stretching my hands behind my head. "Really Jase. Is that all?" Noel asked. "Nahh," I said sitting back up. "Meeting new people, teaching little kids to kick butt in soccer". Noel smiled at my answer and turned back around. I looked at Izzy and smiled at her. "Hey Jase, what wrong with your eyes?" Izzy asked. "Nothing." I said crossly and looked away. The drops and concealer must have worn off. "Jasey Rae, look at me." Izzy said. I slowly turned my head to her. "Jasey, you said you were sleeping again. Why did you lie to me?" I sighed and closed my eyes. "Because," I said getting frusterated. "I'm tired of people saying 'Jasey Rae you need sleep.' or 'Jasey Rae this isn't healthy.' and 'Jasey Rae' this and 'Jasey Rae' that. I'm sick of it!" I leaned my head against the window and huffed. "I'm sorry." Izzy said. I looked at her and smiled. "No Izzy, I'M sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I'm just short tempered from lack of sleep and stressed." Izzy gave me a sympathetic look. "It will be okay in the end." she whispered.

We later stopped at a McDonalds to eat. I looked at MariStella who was just nibbling on a nugget. "MariStella, why aren't you eating?" i asked. She looked scared at my question. She quickly put on a smile. "Oh, just excited you know." she said and popped a nugget in her mouth. After a few minutes and an accident with coke spewing out of my nose, we jumped back into the van. We had about another hour or so. "Oh boy, am I tired!" I said yawning and grabbing my pillow and blanket from the back. "Good idea Jasey, get a nap. You're gonna need your strength for soocer." Aleeya said. "Nighty night Jasey Rae" was the last thing I heard before I nodded off.

It was about an hour later when I heard whispering. I was about to sit up and ask who they were whispering about untill I heard my name. I pretended to stay asleep and even opened my mouth a little to make it convincable. "I'm scared about Jasey." I heard Aleeya say. "What if all of this stress and lack of sleep will cause her to do what she used to? I didn't like that Jasey. And the time I walked in on her, I was so scared." I could hear Aleeya crying now as she choked out those words. "She is finally better now and has been for about five months." Noel said getting kind of sniffly. "Ok girls, just calm down a bit. She will be okay." Izzy said. "Just look at her Iz. She is so HEALTHY now. She used to be so sicky looking and brittle." Noel now said in tears. "Yes, I know, but we really have to calm down. She could wake up at any minute." Izzy said. I knew exactly what they were talking about. I couldn't stand to hear anymore. I let out an exagerated yawn to let them know that I was 'waking up." "Well, good afternoon sleeping beauty." Noel said wiping a tear stain from her face. "Where are we?" I asked sleepily as I fixed my hair from my snooze. "Welcome to Caswell gang!" I heard Ms. Ava exclaim. The van screamed. Good thing I brought a couple of empty notebooks because it looks like I won't be getting much sleep this week.