The Open Door

Part Two



The sun was shinning through my window, painting the purple walls gold. I could hear my mom banging around the kitchen, making breakfast. I stretched and rolled on my back, looking up at the \'Harry Potter\' poster. Daniel Radcliffe was staring at me.



"Uhh, why can\'t I just sleep in on Sunday?" I groaned, throwing my arm over my face. "It\'s 9:30, I wanna sleep." Obviously, this wasn\'t helping because I was still wide awake. After a few minutes of lying there, I finally decided to get up. I tossed the covers back and sat up on the bed, then pulled my black slippers on and stood up. I stopped at the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face, then went to the kitchen. Mom was still in her pajamas, neither of us liked getting dressed if we were staying home. She was wearing grey Tinkerbelle pajamas, and I had a black tank top with purple shorts.



"What\'s for breakfast?" I asked, sitting on the stool in front of the island.



"Pancakes." Mom said, getting a plate for me and setting two pancakes on it.



"Thanks." I smiled; pouring maple syrup on top then took a bite.



"Abby called." She said, getting herself a plate the sitting down. Abby is my 14-year-old cousin on my mom\'s side. She\'s idolized me since she was born. It\'s kind of annoying, sometimes.



"What\'d she say?" I asked, drinking my milk.



"That she was board. You know Becca works." Becca is my mom\'s older sister, and my favorite aunt.



"Yeah, I remember. How\'s Dick?" Mom chocked on her milk, laughing. Becca\'s recent husband Richard Anderson is a total jerk, and he hates being called Dick so naturally I call him that.



"Do you really care?" She asked.



"No, not really." I said. "I just like to make you laugh. And picking on Dickey."



"Carlie called too, asked if you wanted to go to church." Yes, my dad does go to church. I went a few times, but it was always boring for me.



"And you told her?"



"No, of course. I know you Caitlin, I am your mother."



"We\'re still waiting for the DNA test." I joked, finishing my food and putting my plate in the sink. "Can I borrow your beads? I want to get started on that necklace for Ashley."



"Yeah, sure hun, go ahead." Mom said.



I walked to my room to get dressed, \'cause if Carlie called, then that usually means I\'ll be going over later. Once I was dressed in dark jeans a black tank top and a purple short-sleeved jacket, I grabbed my glasses and went to mom\'s office. The walls were painted light beige, to match the sand colored carpet. She had a cherry wood desk and a wooden cabinet that held all her bead stuff. She had put apple green curtains on the small window behind the beanbag chair next to the bookshelf.



I went to the cabinet and got the beads I would need, plus the mat that we used to design. The necklace would be made of mostly chain, so I got the box of chain and sat down.



"Ok, red and purple." I muttered, setting the amethyst and ruby chips, then the brown and tan swirled glass beads. I picked out the chain and the clasp, then set to work. I was just putting the first bit of chain on, when mom came in, holding the phone.



"It\'s Abby, can you talk?" She asked.



"Yeah, sure, I guess." I muttered and set the chain down to take the phone. "Hello?"



"Hey, Caity, how are ya?" Abby\'s chipmunk voice carried over the phone, making me have to turn the volume down.



"Alive. You?" Monosyllabic answers are kinda my thing with Abby. Most of our conversations are about either boys, movies, or both. This time it was about a boy she had a crush on at her school, Austin Reynolds.



"I\'m ok, but guess what Austin did? He is so sweet. I fell down yesterday, again, \'cause I\'m like a total klutz, and he asked if I was ok. It was so sweet." Yes, my cousin is the biggest klutz in the world, other then my aunt Becca, who can get hurt while lying in her bed, not moving.



"Sounds like it." I nodded, holding the phone with my shoulder so I could finish the necklace.



"Yeah, and he loves Marilyn Manson." She gushed.



"I thought you hated him." I frowned, gritting my teeth when the needle-nose pliers shoved under my fingernail.



"No, I love him, it\'s great music." She said.



"What song did he sing on the \'Queen of the Damned\' soundtrack?" I asked, sighing in relief when the chain finally decided to work and hooked to the beads.



"Um, \'Forsaken\'?" she guessed.



"\'Redeemer\'. \'Forsaken\' was done by Korn." I laughed, putting the next set of beads on the wire.



"I knew that." She said, but I could hear that she was upset. After a minute, I heard Abby sigh. "Your right I don\'t know any of his songs. What am I going to do?"



"Well, you like \'Evanescence\'. Maybe you could listen to that with him." I suggested.



"No way, that\'s a chick band." Abby huffed.



"No, \'Aly & Aj\' is a chick band. \'Evanescence\' is cool, you know?" I said.



"Well, I\'ll ask him if he wants to listen." She said. "Um, I gotta go, mom said we\'re going over to Beth\'s place. You know, to hang out with her and Cole." Beth is Abby\'s older sister, and Cole is her new husband.



"Alright, see ya, Abby." I smiled.



"Right, hugs and kisses, bye." She said, the hung up. I set the phone on the desk and put the next set of beads on. I jumped when the phone rang.



"Hello?"



"Hi, Caity." It was Carlie.



"Hey, Car."



"Hey, whatcha doing?" She asked.



"Making that necklace for Ashley." I smiled, hooking the clasp on.



"Cool. I just wanted to tell you, mom\'s pregnant."



"Really!?"



"Yeah."



"How far along?"



"8 weeks apparently." Carlie said, and I could tell she was ecstatic.



"Cool. That is so great." I said, holding up the necklace so I could make sure it laid right.



"Um, I gotta go, Cassie is being a brat. See ya."



"Yeah, bye." I smiled, the hung up. "Mom, guess what?" I called, walking out to the living room.



"What?"



"Autumn\'s pregnant. Eight weeks apparently." I said, skipping slightly.



"That\'s great." Mom said, putting her feet up on the table. "She has been talking about wanting another kid."



"Yeah, I know. Um, I gotta call Ashley, her necklace is done."



"That\'s good." Mom said. "I have to go see grandma today; will you be fine on your own?"



"Yeah, mom, I\'m 16." I smiled, then went to my room. I picked up the sticky note with Ashley\'s number on it and got my purple and black portable phone. I dialed the number and waited.



"Hello?"



"Um, hi, is this Ashley Hill?" I asked, sitting on my bed and tapping my foot.



"Yeah, who\'s this?"



"Caity MaClay." I said.



"Oh, hi Caity. Did you get it done?"



"Yeah, it\'s finished, looks really pretty too." I said.



"Awesome, where do you want to meet? You know, so I can pay you?"



"How about the high school?" I said.



"Yeah ok. 12:00?" She asked. I looked at the clock, it was 11:30.



"Yeah, that\'s perfect." I said.



"Alright, see you then." She said. "Bye."



"Yeah, bye." I hung up the phone and fell back on my bed.



Ten minutes later, my hair was pulled back in two braids on the top and I had wedge heel sandals on. I was still wearing jeans, but had taken my jacket off. I had wrapped the necklace in beige tissue paper and put it in a box. I put that in my bag and told mom where I was going. By the time I was on my bike and ready to go, it was 10 till 12. I rode down to the school, which was 3 miles away, and left the bike by the fence. Ashley was already there, leaning against the wall.



"Hi." I said, walking up to her.



"Hey." She smiled. "How much do I owe you?"



"$3." I smiled, handing her the box. She took the necklace out of the box and smiled.



"This is great." She said, putting it on. I smiled, and couldn\'t help but look at the spot where the necklace was.



"It looks great on you." I commented.



"Thanks, here\'s you money." She said, handing me a $5 bill.



"Uh thanks." I muttered, looking at the money.



"I know you said $3, but I think it\'s worth more." She said, playing with her necklace.



"Thanks." I said, looking at her.



"Yeah, no problem. Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?" Ashley asked.



"Nothing probably, I don\'t do a lot in the summer." I said.



"Well, do you want to go to McDonalds maybe? Just hang out, you know."



"Yeah, I\'d love to." I wanted to jump with joy, but I didn\'t.



"Great." Her face lit up and she bit her lip. "I\'ll see you then. About 3ish?"



"Yeah, 3\'s good."



"Ok, see ya." She said, and kissed my cheek then got in her car. I blushed and waved, then got on my bike and took a minute to freak. Could it be possible that she liked me too? Or did she just think that I was fun to hang out with? Either way I was happier then ever.



I rushed inside and went to my room. My mom had already left to go see my grams. I fell on my bed and took out my diary.



Dear Diary,



Oh My God!! Ashley asked me to go to McDonalds with her tomorrow. I really think I like her. She\'s so cool and gorgeous. She gave me $5 for the necklace, I can\'t believe it! Then, when she left, she kissed my cheek, it was so cool. Oh, and Autumn\'s having a baby. I hope it\'s a girl, but that would mean another \'C\' name. Maybe Cathy, or Cara, or Celia. But I\'ll still love it if it\'s a boy. Conner, Collin, Cameron maybe that would be cool. I wonder if Ashley likes girls. That would be great. Then maybe we could be together. Anyway, I\'m babbling now.



Love Caity.



I put my diary away and rolled on my back, thinking of what I should wear. Maybe that purple dress I just got. Yeah, with my black leggings. That would look good, and not seem like I thought it was a date. Which I hope it is. Either way, I know that tomorrow will be the best day of my life!