Best Weekend with a Nightmare by Isabella Clark (young adult books to read txt) 📕

Haley was my best friend; we did almost everything together and we told each other everything. We told each other about our stupid crushes on boys who were older than us and helped each other through our breakups. If I said I didn't miss her from time to time I would be lying, but I know I'm better off because she always found a way to bring drama out of every little thing.

I became friends with Haley in sixth grade when I saw her reading a manga in art class (in my defense, I didn't know anyone else who did read manga and I jumped on the chance). At the time I was also friends with the "popular" crowd and they didn't like Haley because they thought she was a goth (first impression; she wore all black her first day at Waverly). Eventually I moved away from the "popular" table and started sitting with Haley because she was more of a friend then they were.

My mom doesn't usually let me go to my friends’ house, but I think she saw how disappointed I was when she told me Haley couldn't come over after I'd asked about twenty times and she eventually gave in. To say she didn't like Haley would be an understatement; my mom absolutely hated her but I wouldn't give up. The weekend after talking to my mom I was finally allowed to go to Haley's house. I had fun with her; I didn't just enjoy myself, I flat out smiled and laughed more with her and she didn't tell me to break up with someone she hated them, not like the "popular" people did. She was the best friend I had ever had.

A few weeks after we had been to each others' houses and sometime after Christmas break, Haley asked me, emphasizing the y at the end of Izzy so it lasted a lot longer than it should have, "Hey, Izz-y... wanna go to my grandma's with me in a few weeks?" Her grandma lives in Waterville, Toledo and Haley had told me before how much she cared for her and missed her, even though they weren‘t related by blood.

It took me, like, two seconds to say, "Are you crazy? Of course I want to!"

"Will your mom let you? I know she doesn't like me." How she knew my mom didn't like her was a mystery to me and it made me a little sad that she could tell my mom really, really didn’t like her.

I was determined that my mom‘s opinion didn‘t matter when it came to my friends, though. "She'll live. You're my best friend, she has to let me go."

By the end of that week I had finally convinced my mom to let me go with Haley and her parents.

"That's so awesome Izz-y! I can't believe she said yes!" I didn't mention that I begged from the day she asked me to go with her 'til that morning, just before school started. But, in my opinion, it was worth every bit of the groveling because I had the best weekend ever!

I stayed at Haley's house the first night and we left the morning after. It took a few hours to get there but even the ride there was fun. We stopped at a gas station and Haley and I bought these funky, furry, rainbow hats that we wore the entire rest of the way up there. When we got there it was snowing and the pathway to her grandma's front door was covered. I came dangerously close to falling on my butt, but my gold Sketchers kept my feet under me. The house was huge; there was a basement with a pool table and these tropical chairs, fishing poles and fake fish covered the white walls, there was a TV and a computer, and outside the basement doors there was a totally awesome in ground pool, but since it was snowing outside we couldn't go swimming.

Haley's room was amazing, too, though it didn't have much in it; her bed was made with covers that had Full Metal Alchemist (Halley's current favorite anime) and there were anime figurines on top of a dresser, She had a closet full of costumes, her own bathroom. It was a beautiful house and her grandma was so nice. I can't remember her house and I'm not sure she told me, she had me call her Grandma.

We went to anime and manga stores that weekend; Haley and I each bought a different Japanese music CD, which we listened to later that night, and I bought a four dollar key chain with an anime character I liked on it. After we left the store we went to dinner with her family that lived up there; it was her, her parents, her two uncles, her aunt, and me. Everyone made me feel like I was actually part of the family, which was strange because I wasn't used to family dinners, family gatherings, or family anything really.

We left later the next day and I was sad to go. I said 'bye to "Grandma" and hugged her, but I left faster than I should have because I almost felt like I was going to cry. Haley and I slept most of the way back because it was really late and we had a full day, but when we weren't sleeping laughing and talking about everything that we did.

Her parents dropped me off at my house around ten or eleven that night. "'Bye Izz-y! See you tomorrow!" I heard Haley yell from the truck window.

I waved and watched as the rusty red truck pulled out of my long driveway, gravel crunching under the wheels and wishing that I could go with them. A little regretfully, I walked into my house and got ready to hear my mom go on about how late I was and why I just had to go with Haley when I should have just stayed home with her. Yeah, I liked Haley's family and some part of me wished they were my family and that I could have the best weekends ever with them.

Sometimes you just have to take chances and if you do then you’ll gain experience from it. If you don’t plan everything to work out perfectly from beginning to end and be a stickler about every little thing, you’ll have a better time then you cold ever imagine and jut because something doesn’t work in the end, doesn’t mean the road there wasn’t fun.

Publication Date: 10-05-2010

All Rights Reserved