Ciao E-Book

Bethany Lopez

• Herausgeber: Bethany Lopez
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Melissa has had a fantastic summer hanging out with her friends and making new ones. Life as she knows it will change when they all come together to begin their sophomore year at Dearborn High. Connections will be made and friendships will be tested. Will Melissa’s family and friends be able to help her through the challenges she will face in the upcoming months?

Leseprobe

Ciao

Stories about Melissa, Book 3

Bethany Lopez

Contents

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Untitled

1. Entry 1

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Also by Bethany Lopez

CIAO

Copyright 2012 Bethany Lopez

First Edition 09/01/2012

ISBN: 9781477545089

Cover Design by Makeready Designs

Editing by Red Road Editing / Kristina Circelli

Formatting by Bethany Lopez

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please don’t participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Created with Vellum

To Jamie, Joseph, Jacinda, Diego, and Katie

~You can do anything you set your mind to~

I love you!

1

My Fifteenth Birthday:

Happy Birthday to me... That’s right I’m now fifteen years old. You may be wondering where I have been all summer, since I haven’t written since the day of the Buddy Walk. Well, that last entry filled up my journal. I can’t believe I filled two journals already. I didn’t realize how much I like to write! I kept meaning to get another one, but I have been so busy that I just never got around to it. I have to say, I have really missed writing things down at night. I was so happy when I opened Megan’s present, and she’d gotten me another journal for my birthday. She said it is going to be a tradition, and she promised not to write in this one!

I know I have a lot to write about my summer, but I have to tell you about my birthday party first. I had such a great time.

My actual birthday was yesterday, so I celebrated with the family last night. We all went out to dinner and then they gave me presents when we got home. Mikey gave me some nail polish and Monica drew me a picture of the two of us playing Barbie’s (I think that was a hint!). My parents gave me some gift cards, because I like to pick out my own clothes rather than have them pick them out, and they also gave me a new iPod, which I totally needed. Max smiled at me, so I took that as my gift from him. He is turning into a really cute little guy.

To celebrate with my friends, I wanted to do a BBQ deal at the house and just invite everyone over for a great party. So I contacted my friends and told them to invite their friends, and my dad agreed to man the BBQ and try not to be too intrusive.

I went with pink and white colors, because I just love that combo, and my friend, Cassie, helped me pick out decorations and decide what to wear.

Cassie just moved to Dearborn. She moved in a few doors down from my house at the end of June. Being the outgoing and super friendly person that I am, I went down and introduced myself. Turns out she’s really cool, and we’ve spent a lot of time together this summer. She will be starting DHS as a sophomore with me in a few short days. She already knows Brian and Jimmy, of course, but the BBQ gave her a chance to meet everyone that she will be going to school with this year.

Anyway, it turned into an all-out bash! I was feeling particularly cute (yoga is making me totally toned!) in my baby doll pink ruffled tank with white shorts and white sandals. I wore my hair in a side braid with pink hoop earrings and this sweet white flower ring that Cassie gave me as a birthday present. Mom kept Monica and Max entertained and Megan wandered outside a couple of times to grab cheese cubes and a hotdog, but was ghost most of the day. Mikey hung out with my friends the most, but it didn’t bother me. He played catch and basketball with some of the guys and stayed out of my hair.

Brian brought Mo along with him, but promised that there wouldn’t be any trouble, and there wasn’t. They’ve had football practice for about a month now to get ready for the season, so they brought some of the guys from the team along with them. Jimmy brought Kasey, Joshua, and Joe, who run track with him, and they brought their girlfriends. I hadn’t talked to any of them very much since my fallout with Layla, but they were all really cool. The others who came must have heard from word of mouth, because I had about fifty people from school at my house. It was awesome!

The biggest surprise came about halfway through my party. I was looking for Jimmy and couldn’t find him anywhere. He’d told me to come find him later, so he could give me my present. Just when I was about to give up, I saw him coming out of my house, and I started toward him. He caught my eye and smiled and then turned to motion to something behind him - and Jess walked out! I let out a “Whoop!” and went running up to hug her. She wasn’t supposed to be home until the day before school, so this was totally unexpected.

“OMG, Jess! What are you doing here?” I squealed, holding her close and not wanting to let her go.

“I wanted to surprise you. Happy Birthday, Mis!”

“You totally did! I’m so happy you’re here!” I said as I led her down the stairs.

“Jimmy, you knew about this didn’t you?” I accused, laughing as I turned toward him.

“Yeah... It was tough not telling you, but I knew it would be a great surprise!” he explained, grabbing Jess for a quick hug and telling her that he missed her too.

She hugged him back and smiled. Then she turned to Cassie, who had come up next to me and said, “You must be Cassie. I’ve heard so much about you. I feel like I know you already! Welcome to Dearborn!”

“Me too! I mean, I feel like I know you too, with as much as Melissa has talked about you. Thanks, and welcome back,” Cassie replied, looking quite stunning. Her hair is a striking red and she has brilliant green eyes. She totally looks like a supermodel and I would hate her if she wasn’t my friend. She would be intimidating if she wasn’t so sweet and friendly.

So, the party was pretty much perfect after that. My mom even gave me a letter from Ben, which she’d saved for me, since he wrote “Happy Birthday” on the front of the envelope. In fact, I have been saving it and didn’t think about it until now, so I’m going to sign off now so that I can go and read it. I’ll write more later to fill in the blanks about my summer vacation!

2

More from the Party:

Hey... So, I read the letter from Ben last night, and it was super sweet. We’ve been “pen pals” since he left for basic training. I’ve never written so many letters in my life, but it’s kinda fun, especially when I get one in the mail from him. It was a birthday card that said he wished he could be here to help celebrate with me. He mentioned a little bit about his training and how hard it has been, but he really seems to love it.

Okay, so, more about my party. I reread yesterday’s entry, and I realized that I didn’t even mention Giovanni, although I did sign off Ciao... lol!

Giovanni is from Italy... He’s totally hot and has that sexy accent going for him. He’s here for the next year doing a sort of foreign exchange thing. His aunt and uncle live here, and he came to experience America for a year. He is a junior at DHS and has been hanging out with the football team to learn about American football. His aunt and uncle live over by Brian, so that’s how we all started hanging out with him. He is super cute! All tall, dark, and handsome... And that accent! It’s enough to make you weak in the knees.

Anyway, he always says “Ciao,” and it is oh so cute, so I just had to use it to close my journal entries.

No... We are not an item or anything. I mean, no doubt he is drool-worthy, but I have enough boy drama, I don’t need another guy. I can, however, appreciate how fine he is, and I love to hang out with him and ask about Italy. I totally want to go there some day.

The real fireworks started when he met Jess! I thought Dad was going to have to turn the hose on those two.

After she showed up and met Cassie, she was going around saying hi to everyone and I introduced her to Giovanni. I had mentioned him to her on the phone, but a mere conversation can’t prepare you for the full-on experience of meeting Giovanni in person!

“Giovanni, this is my best friend, Jess.” I barely got the introduction out before he got to his feet and grasped her hand in his. She had to look up when he reached his full height, and I could see the blush starting across her cheeks, as he pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

“Buongiorno, Jess. Piacere di conoscerti!” Giovanni said smoothly, his dark eyes scanning every inch of her flushed face. “What I mean to say is... It is nice to meet you! My pleasure!”

Jess let out a giggle, and Jess never giggles, “It’s nice to meet you too, Giovanni.” She said his name like it was a breath of fresh air... Oh, boy!